Nothing to Do

I didn't leave the house all day yesterday or today. I watched t.v. and sat on the couch. I did a few stair steps today out of boredom. All my friends were busy and my folks went to town without me and my brother had to work so I had nothing to do and nobody to do it with. I suppose I could have folded my laundry but that would have been boring. Doing nothing at all was so much more exciting. At least the cat has stopped avoiding me. That's got to count for something right?

Sick and Tired

I was sick and tired all morning. I didn't even eat so much as a cracker until one o'clock.  By five I felt up to some soup. By eight I had some cheese pizza. I spent pretty much all day on the couch vegging out to a Forever Knight marathon via hulu on my laptop. Now my legs are sore but it's too late to get up and go anywhere. On the bright side, I did manage to get caught up on all my facebook games and none of my online pets died. They may have gotten filthy and depressed but they didn't die. Unlike those stupid gaia online fish. At least facebook pets don't die on you. Now if only I could find my real cat, I sure could use a warm and fuzzy hug right about now.

After Christmas Shopping

Since I recieved that wonderful money for Christmas I've been doing some shopping the past few days. I went with L. G. to the mall in v-town and got some perfume for half off at bath and body works. I wanted to get this pair of boots I had my eye on before the holidays but they were all sold out of my size. On the bright side I got to hang out with L's new kitten Morgan and her nice neighbor guy.




Today I went with my dad to Duluth. We went to six different places looking for the right spotting scope. One place smelled horribly of dead fish. We actually managed to get a table at the olive garden. The manicotti was delicious. After that we stopped at the mall. Ther were sold out of those boots in my size there too. I got a couple books at barnes and noble with a gift card. Then we came home. My maunta sent a gift home for me with my mom. I got scissors and ear warmers. And a cat book from the cats. I'm so tired I might actually go to bed before one o'clock for the first time in four days. Yay for sleep.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Sherlock Christmas

My folks and I got up early Christmas eve to cook turkey and tatoes and gravy and stuffing from scratch. Then we got to haul it and presents to my grandma's house for dinner with the family. We had a ton of leftovers because my aunt J and uncle L left in the morning to beat the storm that never came. I got money from my other aunts an uncles. Then we came home to have our separate Christmas. I got a Duluth pack purse and some sweatshirts. This morning I cleaned my room and the basement and dusted and helped my mother clean. My dad and I put up mom's new bird feeder. She really liked it. Then me and dad went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was way better and funnier and awesomer than I thought it would be. When we got home the old 1930's Sherlock Holmes was starting. It's really campy. I like the new one better.



- Posted from my iPhone.

Twas the Night Before Christmas Eve

I went with my folks to Hibbing today. My dad had a va appointment and me and my mom wandered around the dilapidated mall. I talked her into getting me a new sweater. We also had to get a new washer because the old one broke this morning. It was thirteen years old anyway. My mom helped me cut out and frame the fairy pics (ok she really did all the work while I just printed the poems and suffered from a tummy ache). I convinced my dad that we have to go and see the Sherlock Holmes movie on Christmas. He found a preview online and I think he's really looking forward to it. He read all the Sherlock Holmes stories by the time he was sixteen. Twice. It makes me want to read them again myself. We have a nice leather bound collectors edition. In the meantime I have to go to bed. I have to help my dad cook tomorrow starting at six. AM.



- Posted from my iPhone.

Hangin With My BFF

I slept untill noon today. My brother woke me up by bellowing "is anyone else home!?!" I made us some mac and cheese for brunch. Then I took my time getting dressed and pretty before going over to K. R.'s house. We exchanged x-mas gifts and I pretended to help her bake banana bread. Really I just stood around talking. We watched half of the movie P.S. I Love You (also the name of the perfume I gave her and wish I'd also kept for myself). Then her dad came home and took over the tv.

We went to Hibbing and stopped at the fabric store and got a tunic pattern to make next summer's ren fest costumes. They were closing in five minutes so we didn't have time to get material. We got carribu coffee and K. had fun messing with the games on my iPhone. I showed her the pics of my Scottish tour guide and she agreed he was yummy. We went to see the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was good. And it's true, beagles do love blueberries. Then it was home for bed. So good night, or rather, good morning.

- Posted from my iPhone.

I'm Gonna Fish and Get Fat

Finished my last final today and came home for break. I helped my dad finish mom's present. We met ma in town for Chinese and listened to the new Gaelic Storm cd I bought. One song was especially good. We both decided to adopt it for our retirement plan, to fish and get fat.





The new family joke is that the monkeys on the album cover are my brother and his girlfriend. They're green because they ate bad cheesecake.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Aside From That...

My maunta P. stopped by today and bought two of the fairy pics from J.F. After that I went with her to a late lunch at some dark bar and grill called who's? I came back to my room and watched t.v. Then J.F. and I went to see that new avatar movie. It was really epic and possibly worth getting on DVD. My only complaint is that once again the humans were portrayed as the nature destroying bad guys. Aside from that, awesome.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Finals Week

Monday I was a little late for class but I was just in time for student presentations. One group had a brief history of the English language. It wad really interestig. Too bad they don't have a class on that. Tuesday was pretty boring. I went to class and finally finished reading Shadows Edge. It was scary and good, scary good. Today I slept in since I had no class it tests. I went to lunch with P. We had Chinese. J.F. finished coloring the pictures and printed off small copies. Things are really coming along. In the meantime I got a really mean comment on my fifteen minutes fiction that was all n words and f's. I deleted it. What gets me is that my poem had nothing to do with black people and I'm not black. Besides that, who would say such a horrid thing anyway?I just hope it won't happen again.


- Posted from my iPhone.

A Partidge in a Christmas Tree

Went home for the weekend. I decorated my little Christmas tree with bird ornaments, apples, icicles, and a partridge on top. I suppose it would have made more sense if I had used pears but I didn't have any of those. I finally got to sleep in. I helped my mother vacuum the living room. Then I watched some of the Army Navy football game with my dad (maybe this only works with real goats? Ha!). After that I helped my dad haul in the tree from the garage, we put it together but haven't decorated it yet. We also built something to go with the thing my dad got for my mom's Christmas gift. I can't say what it is yet because she might read this and it would spoil the surprise. I also wrapped the gifts I got for my friends and my cousin. My dad and I went to the grocery store and when we got back we had tuna helper for supper with an apetizer of smoked salmon. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great. At least it was healthy, specially with that fake butter we used. I didn't do any laundry but I have enough clean things to last until semester break. I'll have a whole month off to wash things. And sleep in. Yay! I  also wrote another poem about Christmas Snow. Check it out at White Fox: Silver Crow and on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction.

Seriously?

I finally finished all my homework. The only thing I have left to do is study for various tests. I guess that means that I'll be able to go home this weekend and haul home half my stuff before semester break. There are some extremely loud and annoying people camped in the hallway right outside my door. I have to brush my teeth but I really don't want to have to go out there and confront them. Maybe if I ignore them and keep quite they'll go away. Only one semester to go. Then I'll never have to live in a dorm again. Also, white people can be victims of racism too, despite that dumb grammar article that says that view only belittles the meaning of the word. I just saw a big thing about white firefighters not getting promoted even though they passed the test simply because the authorities didn't want to make the minorities feel bad even though the minorities had failed the test. Luckily the courts overruled it and gave them (the white firefighters who passed the test) the promotions anyway. It only took them four years. Seriously, what is wrong with people these days?

One to Go

J.F. and I did some shopping over the weekend. We got lost and wound up in Bentlyville. It was pretty but cold.





After that we went to see the new Boondock Saints movie. I liked it. J. hadn't seen the first one and didn't get it. I finally finished three of my papers on Monday. I also finished all my Melville reading. Now I just have nine pages to read on sexist language so I can write a third of a page report. Oh joy.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Poetry is a Song Without Music

I finally started on my paper on Kilwa palace for my African Archeology class. At least that one is half pictures. I also got an interview for my poetry grammar paper. Unfortunately she didn't say what I was hoping she would. She wound up so worried about not bashing new age experimental crap (my word there not hers) that I couldn't get her to admit that simply throwing any old thing on a page and calling it poetry doesn't count. I am in firm agreement with my dad on this one. Poetry is a song without the background music. It should be written musically, lyrically, with rythm and verse and the occasional rhyme. Good poetry lends itself to being put to music and sung, like the Star Spangled Banner or Waltzing Matilda, or any of the really old country songs. Meanwhile, it drove me nuts that our grammar to enhance writing book didn't use any rhyming poetry examples and that when they were quoting lines from a poem they used as an example, one of the lines was not actually in the poem. Where the heck did  it come from?

Only a couple more weeks till school is officially over for the semester. My papers are going to be due soon. Luckily, I've at least started on them all by now. Maybe I'll finally do something productive with my weekend and finish them all by Monday. At least then I won't have any more homework to worry about, just tests. Also, I finally got around to writing the poem about my great, great grandpa Valetine Karki, the one who rode with the rough riders and Teddy Roosevelt. It can be read on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction.

At Least I Finished Something

I stayed up late this morning finishing my reading response for grammar and watching Craig Ferguson. He's so funny, and scottish, and old (my three favorite things). I still haven't finished any of those papers yet but I'm working on it. I did finish my second Jack Frost inspired poem, which I had started on a few weeks ago. That's something anyway. It can be read at White Fox: Silver Crow and on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction. Enjoy.

Also enjoy the next installment of Christmas lights on my route back from school. Hopefully I'll get them all before Christmas.

Papers

I made it back to school in time to finish a rough draft on poetic grammar for my grammar class. Now I just need to find someone to interview for it. I spent my five hour lunch break finding an article on Jordan for my middle east class. I found out the paper has to be ten pages long. Three of them get to be pictures and it is double spaced but that's still four pages. And I haven't done anything for my Africa paper and that's ten pages too. Plus I have to read 90 pages worth of Benito Cerino for mellville tomorrow. Can't I have one class that doesn't require a huge amount of homework the last two weeks of school? On the bright side I snapped another picture of random Christmas lights. And it wasn't foggy this time.


- Posted from my iPhone.

600 Pages

I spent most of today reading. I read the last 600 pages of the Way of Shadows. It was good, kind of freaky but good. Too bad all I have time for is school papers. I'd love to write something about an assassin good enough to get published. Oh well, guess I'll just have to live vicariously through authors I've never met or heard of before.


(Stupid phone cropped my picture funny)

Posted from my iPhone.

Leftovers

I came home wednesday for thanksgiving. I checked some books out of the library for my papers but haven't had a chance to write anything yet. Went to grandma's for thanksgiving with the family. Turkey pickings and coke (because my brother took the last dr pepper) for appetizers. Good conversatio, good food, good night. I don't know if it was something I ate or what but I woke up this morning and was sick. Not how I would have chosen to taste leftovers. Feeling better now. I might do something with K.R. since she's home this week. In the meantime, do we have any soup?

- Posted from my iPhone.

Christmas Already?

I found out I have another report to do for Monday. That's two papers I have to write over break. I found out that my Wednesday class is cancelled so that kind of makes up for it. There are quite a few houses with Christmas lights up so I thought I'd share a picture of one. If it's fuzzy that's because there was a dense fog out tonight.


- Posted from my iPhone.

Thanksgiving?!?

I'm back at school from the cities where I hung out with relatives and saw my sister to the airport so she could go to Japan for two years. My mom and I stopped at the mall and we got crocks for my grandma and grandpa for x-mas. My ma already told them that's what they were getting which is why I can post it here. After I got back I went with J.F. for ice cream. She told me that people don't decorate for thanksgiving because it wouldn't be politically correct. What!?! Thanksgiving isn't even a totally religious holiday. Politically correct? Geez, she's just lucky I was tired from being in the car all weekend or I would have really let her know what a whacky idea I thought that was. Thanksgiving! Geez. Anyway, I have some reading to do and then I think I'll turn in early.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Busy Week

I've been having quite the busy week this week. I finished reading Typee. Much easier than Moby Dick and a lot more entertaining. I registered for classes next sememster. There was only one class I was required to take for itself, then I had to take two history classes for credits but they could be on anything. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of choices. I wound up with native american history and topics in world history (that's the one you take to learn how to teach history). I did get to take one just for fun class so I picked northern narratives because we get to read a different Paul Bunyun story every day. I really miss Paul Bunyun land, I don't see why thay had to close it.

I got assigned a ten page paper to write on Kilwa Castle in african history. Luckily that's double spaced and half of it is supposed to be pictures. That means it's really only two and a half pages. I only found one book that menitons it in the library though. Also, Jack frost made the featured writing gallery at fifteen minutes of fiction. My sister has to be at the airport in minneapolis on friday so her and my mom will pick me up after my nine o'clock class and I'll get to spend the weekend in the cities. I really hope we can get into an olive garded or something similar. I've had an alfredo pasta craving for ages now and every time we try to get into the olive garden on the hill they have a two hour wait.

Tom Sellek and Jack Frost

I finished my Iraq presentation last night while I watched Meet the Robinsons on t.v. The best part of the whole movie for me was when Louis was relating who in the family he had met and pictures would flash up showing what they looked like. When he got to Cornelius the father he had to ask, what does he look like and the other kid said "Tom Sellek". After that a picture of Tom Sellek popped up whenever he said Cornelius. It was Awesome! Mostly because I think Tom Sellek is awesome.

I met with my maunta P. to visit between classes. I wrote a poem about Jack Frost and she didn't know what bower and dour meant. I explained. The poem can be read on my page at fifteen minutes of fiction and at White Fox: Silver Crow. In the meantime, I still have a hundred and seventy five pages of Typee to finish reading.

Snow for Home

I went home for the weekend. I picked up a book of cowboy poetry at barnes and noble cuz I had a coupon. My dad has pretty much taken it over till Christmas. That's ok, I need to concentrate on finishing typee by Tuesday. Only 190 pages to go. It snowed pretty good up north all day Saturday, mostly from Britt north. Our house got a good two inch dusting, the roads were pretty icey this morning but the ice melted by the time I left.

My mom traded in the mini van for a silver (I forgot the name, the one with the antelope thing for it's symbol), it's very sophisticated looking. Gets better milage too. I hung out with L.G. downtown while my folks were at the car place signing things. We went to the paper back book exchange (books on chesnut) and I got a book for me and one for her, her birthday being next week. I also found two WWII books in the quarter rack for my dad.

This morning my ma made French toast. I washed my dirty dishes and did a load of laundry before heading back to school. My mom was watching the Vikings game when I left. I didn't know she was a big fan but she referd (I know I spelled that wrong) to the other team as "the enemy" so I guess she is. Apparently we're doing well this year,7-1,whatever that means.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Some Poetry

After a boring day of discussion and essay tests in school today I wrote a leprechaun poem called the Tale of Flynn and Lynn that can be found on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction and at White Fox: Silver Crow. I also wrote something called the Father of Invention as well. I also found some old pomes by Silver Crow and Snowy Owl in the back logs of White Fox: Silver Crow that I thought should make it onto the blog. Speaking of old poems, my mother called this afternoon to say that she had been showing off some of my old poems to her friends at school and one guy said I should get my masters and teach college English. Apparently having spent a couple weeks in London he found my London Underground poem to be exactly accurate it its description. If only I wasn't so sick of school. Maybe I should just publish a book of poetry and live off royalties for the rest of my life. As if I could get that famous that quick.

A Song

This week being national kindness week I decided that I don't wish I'd called J.F. something horrible and holding a grudge is unhealthy. Also, I got some free stuff at the kindness stand, a hacky sack, a paddle ball thingy with a too long string, and a nice pen. I also found this book about Julius Ceasar in the library. I might check it out. Roman history has always been really interesting to me. I just wish they offered a class or two on that, instead of Muslim world or middle east conflict. Before I forget, I wrote a song on my tin whistle last night. Workin title: Misty Mountain Springtime or the Robin and the King. If only I could post a sound bite, or if I had a video camera. I'll try writing some sheet music and post a picture later.

- Posted from my iPhone.

Toad and Melville

So J.F. called me Sunday night to yell at me for saying her idea was whacky just because I didn't agree. If it sounds like a whacky, looks like a whacky, smells like a whacky, trust me, it's a whacky. So I said I was sorry, not because I meant it, but because I realized that if I piss off the artist illustrating my book she might botch the art or quit. Now I wish I had called her something a lot worse, something worth apologizing for, like a freaking brainwashed psyco, for example. Anyway, the important bit is she's so gullible she actually thinks I'm sorry.

Moving on, I turned in my Iran paper yesterday. I'm the only one who actually finished by the official deadline. Today I went to school an hour early for breakfast, got heckled by some highschoolers, and forgot my wallet. I went to class hungry then walked back to my room for my wallet. Then back to campus for taco Tuesday.

I went into the greenhouse today. The thanksgiving cacti were in bloom.



Then there was the freaky toad in a glass case.



And an entire palm tree.



And that pitcher plant I mentioned a while back.



I spent an hour in the library basement looking for Typee. Now I don't have to buy it. Yay me!

- Posted from my iPhone.

What?

I took my second grammar test on Friday and I think I did pretty good. J.F. and I went to Red Lobster for dinner. I took a picture of the bridge accross from the parking lot. It raises up for ships to go under into the bay.



Today we went to petco to visit the ferrets. It was pet adoption day and they had lots of puppies and kittens. If it wasn't for dorm room rules I would have taken a kitty or two home. We got some groceries at wall mart.

We got in a big fight because I said there really wasn't an equivalent to black history month for people of other races. J.f. said that the Irish have st. Patrick's day and that makes up for it. How can one day devoted to mass marketed clover pins and drinking equal an entire month devoted to history and great past leaders of a group of people? Answer: it doesn't. Not in a million years. Especially since the Irish were treated so badly in Americas past as well. But then she was like, the Irish were white. So what? Does that mean their suffering doesn't count? A lot of Jews were white, does that mean the holocaust doesn't count? And she has the audacity to say I should move to the cities in order to get some perspective. Seriously? Can she be any more of a whacko? So now she's mad at me because I took it too personal. Jeez, if common sense means I take things too personal then sign me up.
- Posted from my iPhone.

The 5th of November

Remember remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes twas his intent to blow up king and parliment... And I forgot how the rest goes. Happy Guy Fawkes bonfire day anyway. I just wish it was more of a holiday in America, today would have been a great day for a bonfire, fireworks, and party food. At least we get Thanksgiving.

Flapdoodle

I finished my presentation on moby dick. I wound up doing financial and mechancical imagery. It only needs to be five minutes. I guess I'll find out how long it will be spoken tomorrow. I think I'm finely getting the hang of my grammar class. The last two assignments had no answer key and I still did pretty well. I found the leather journal I bought last year. I don't know if I'll ever put anything in it. I still have one I'm trying to put all my poems in. I've had it for five years and still haven't finished putting my poems in it and I only have fifty. I guess ten a year is too much work for my lazy bones. I don't want to turn into a flapdoodle so I better quit before I start babbling.


- Posted from my iPhone.

Heaven

I went home for Halloween. I put together a stunt pilot costume using my bomber jacket, white scarf, bomber hat, tan slacks, cream shirt, and pleather boots. It looked pretty cool, especially after my dad took me to L&M and we found some old fashioned looking pilot's goggles. I wanted to go and see that Amelia movie but it was only showing in Duluth. Instead I went with my dad to Hibbing. It had snowed the night before so all the trees and shrubs and everything was covered in a layer of hoarfrost. It was beautiful. We only got around ten trick-or-treaters and they all came in the same car, well, two cars. I washed my socks on Sunday and them came back to school. I stopped at the bookstore to use the restroom and wound up getting  a book. I just can't help it. I realized I forgot my toothbrush. That's o.k. I decided it was time for a new one anyway. In fact, I only brought it home to throw it out. I just wish I'd remembered to grab a new one first.

I found a few sources for my Moby Dick imagery presentation, something on the shadow, something on financial imagery, and something on something else. It only has to be a five minute presentation. I'm just surprised there was nothing on death imagery. We talked about that one a lot in class (that's probably why, if we did it in class we shouldn't have to present on it). I also have a four page paper to write for Middle East history. It's double spaced so it's really only two pages and besides, I got the highest grade in the entire class on our last test (if only I did that well in grammar). What I wouldn't give to have some free time to read what I want. Only six months to go. Then I get to either find a job or go to grad school.

I'm starting to think this whole life thing is a waste. What's the point if you don't have time to read the stuff you want to? I bet heaven is a library, with red carpets, leather chairs, fireplaces, and floor to ceiling bookshelves filled with leather bound volumes. I bet it smells like dust and paper and ink and I bet everyone walks around in their jammies drinking hot cocoa and reading aloud to cats. I bet if I don't stop thinking about heaven I'll forget to do my homework. Heaven will always be there. My homework has a deadline.

Soaked Through But Still O.K.

I finally finished reading Moby Dick. At least the ending was somewhat exciting, once you got past all the fancy words. Everyone but Ishmael dies. I then found out how they all felt drowning by walking back to my room in a downpour that soaked through my pants, my shoes, my socks, my hat, but not my jacket (pleather is waterproof). The pocket where my phone was was black with rain water.





Lucky for me the pocket was a double layer and the rain didn't make it to my phone. It would have been quite the shock if it had shorted out (no pun intended, well, maybe kinda intended).

- Posted from my iPhone.

Tightrope Walkers and SciFi

Today there was a group of kids practicing tightrope walking on a strap tied between two trees on the campus lawn. This whole circus vibe must be contagious. I still have another hundred or so pages of moby dick to read and some research to do on the major imagery. I can hardly wait untill it's over. J.F. Came over and we watched another two episodes of Firefly. I'd almost forgotten what a great show it was. I should look into getting Buffy or Angel on DVD, Joss Whedon had a knack for great tv.


- Posted from my iPhone.

Mel Gibson Movies

Today I spent watching t.v. There was a Mel Gibson Movie marathon on. First I watched Maverick, then We Were Soldiers, and then the Patriot. All good movies. They switched it up a little and now they're showing the Gladiator. I suppose they started with an Americana theme and slowly worked their way into war movies in order to follow up with something completely different yet still somehow relateable. Now if only N.T. hadn't commented on facebook with Mel Gibson movie quotes from Mad Max and Braveheart, thus making me wish I could watch those today as well, I would have been perfectly happy. Now I'm just really happy.

Real Fire

Yesterday J.F. and I went to the mall and hung out at the bookstore. I couldn't resist buying another book. I believe it was called Desolation Road. After that we picked up a pizza at Dominoes and went back to my room to watch a couple episodes of Firefly. I've finally gotten J. into watching a series I like. Today I went with J. so she'd have someone to go eat with while she waited for her car to get fixed. Something to do with a headlight.

We just got back from the movie theater. I wanted to see the Vampire's Assistant or Model Citizen? (that one where the guy's family is killed the cops let the killer go and the guy starts offing people from prison). Instead J. insisted that we see Where the Wild Things Are. It was o.k. I wouldn't pay to see it again. I'm still slightly upset that I had to pay for both tickets as J. paid for lunch and said I owed her. At least it wasn't a horror movie.

On the bright side, when we got back to the dorm there were some kids in the parking lot twirling fireballs on ropes. Real fire. On ropes. Being twirled by kids in the parking lot. Unfortunately the flames went out right when I was going to take a picture so, like that fire twirler in Edinburgh, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Blogpress post

I finally figured out a way to post to my blog from my phone. I found this free app called blogpress so Now I don't have to go online, find my blog, and do the post in HTML. I can even upload pictures from my phone as well.



The fireplace in the library was actually on today. Isn't it nice?

- Posted from my iPhone.

Better or Worse?

It rained all day long yesterday. I was miserable. On the bright side, I woke up this morning and found out that my Recipe for Useless Junk poem made the featured writing gallery on Fifteen Minutes of Fiction. I've been getting a few things featured lately. Either I'm becoming a better poet or the admisnistrator is lowering his standards, either way there's a chance that if the site does another best of book that some of my stuff might be in it. How cool would that be?

A Successful Reading

I am still trying to figure out how to post from my iPhone. I'm not sure how successful I am as of yet. Today is national writing day and there was an open mic reading event in the cafeteria during which I gave a successful reading of It Happened One Night in Winton: The Ballad of Great Grandpa Joe. If I can figure out where I posted it on white fox: silver crow I will post a link. Meanwhile, I have lots of grammar exercises to do so I had better go and do them.

New Blog Template

I found this new blog template online but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it. I think I'll leave it up for a while to test it out. I kind of wish I had found it before my trip this summer as it incorporates both Superior, Wisconsin and road signs from England. My only complaint is that the title is a little harder to fit.

Some Blog Stuff

I woke up this morning and just felt terrible. Unfortunately it wasn't the flu so I had to get out of bed and go to class, even though I really rather felt like sleeping for another six hours instead. After grammar class I did some important blog things on the library computer. Mostly all  I did was switch the web address of my blog White Fox: Silver Crow so that the new blog address is the same as the title of the blog. So don't worry if none of my old White Fox: Silver Crow links work anymore. Nothing's been deleted, just moved. If there's something you really want to find just click on my new White Fox: Silver Crow link here or in my sites of interest and search the white fox:silver crow blog archives. Anything linked to Fifteen Minutes of Fiction will still work as that site hasn't changed at all.

After spending a few hours on the computer I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything all day so I went to the snack bar and got a grilled cheese and a coke. Then I went to history of the middle east class and took a test. I'm pretty sure that I got most of them right. It was mostly matching with a word bank and a couple short answer questions. I also finally got around to posting a link to that maunta poem like I said I would. It can be read on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction and on White Fox: Silver Crow. Also check out my oppressive weather poem at White Fox: Silver Crow. And my recipe poem.I think I'm going to hit the sack early tonight. The medicine my maunta brought me helped but I still don't feel as wonderful as I did yesterday.

To Steal a Phrase

I forgot my wallet in my room yesterday so my maunta had to buy me lunch. Maunta is my new name for my mom's friend P.S. who's kind of like a mom, an aunt, and a grandma combined. I even wrote a poem that I may post a link to later on. I haven't gotten around to typing it yet. I had another test today, this one on the early history of homo sapiens and other hominids. Boring but I think I did o.k. on it. Most of it was matching with a word bank. I got complimented on my boots today. See, they weren't such a frivolous waste of money after all. I read the first hundred pages or so of Moby Dick. Apparently the first hundred or so pages are plot, most of the middle is philosophy, and then towards the very end it picks back up on plot again. Not sure I'm going to like the middle at all. The book was a total flop when it first came out. I suppose I'll soon see why but for the moment the beginning is o.k. with lots of humor, especially that cannibal. He's just so delightfully contradictory (to steal a phrase from a classmate). In case I forget to post again I will be heading home for the weekend tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be nice. It's been cold and either snowy or rainy all week.

It's Only Tuesday

My iPhone is really addicting. I'm a little dissapointed in myself for getting hooked on it so fast. I found out that the class average for the grammar test was 80, I don't feel as bad about my 78 anymore (especially since the teacher said she plans on grading on a curve if the average drops below that). I also found out I got a B on my Poe test in literature. I got a 90 on my quiz today. I guess that means overall I'm doing pretty good in all my classes. I made an appointment with my advisor to have her help me out with some grad school stuff tomorrow and I even went online to the career services site and started working on a resume. See ma, I'm thinking about my future. In the meantime, my immediate future includes finishing the last of my current grammar assignment and going to bed. I've had quite the week already and it's only Tuesday.

First Post Fom My New iPhone

O.K. so the only thing I managed to post via iPhone was the title. I couldn't figure out how to post the actual post part. Now, how did I get an iPhone you ask? Well, I decided to stay at school for the weekend. Last night I went a little shopping crazy and bought myself two pairs of boots, jeans, a t-shirt, a scarf, and four books. I did not, however, buy myself an iPhone. The iPhone happened when I woke up this morning at nine at was bored. I called my folks and told them they should come and visit me because my friends' folks come and visit them all the time but they never come and visit me. They said they'd think about it and call me back. I cleaned my room and washed some dishes. They called back and said they were on their way and that my mom had finally decided to quit dickering and switch to at&t for cell phone service. Everyone got new phones and they'd gotten me an iPhone. My old phone would quit working in 30 minutes but they were bringing my new iPhone down with them to give to me. How unbelievably cool is that? Not only do my folks finally decide to come visit me at school but they get me an iPhone too. Sweet! The internet didn't work at first but the gal at the mall reset it so now it works just fine.

I went with my folks to the mall, Sam's club, best buy, and then out to eat at Red Lobster. I wanted to go to the Olive garden but they had a forty minute wait. It was really cold today. In fact, it snowed two inches back home last night and there was a dusting on the grass in Duluth and Superior. My weather app on my new iPhone says it never got above 37 degrees in Duluth. I was really wishing I had a thicker coat and some wool socks every time I had to walk outside.I'm going to have to wear my sweater every day this week. Oh, and before I forget, that t-shirt I bought the other day, the gal forgot to take the security tag off so I had to bring it back today and get the tag removed. I wanted to wear that shirt today but had to wear something else instead. Oh, well. Can't have everything can you? Where would you put it?

In For a Quiet Weekend

I've been putting off my homework lately. I now have a list of sources for my annotated bibliography, I just need to annotate and bibliophy them by tomorrow. J.F. wants me to go with her tomorrow to fall con in St. Paul. If I went we wouldn't be heading home untill five o'clock on Sunday, followed by a three hour drive. I wouldn't be back untill nine or ten depending on if we stop for food and I would have no time to do any homework all weekend. It sounds like I would get bored at the con after the first two hours anyway, and it lasts all day long on Saturday and Sunday. Anyway, I decided I probably won't be going. I've got lots of reading to do anyway. I did do something creative today. I wrote a new fairy poem called The Tale of Hannah and Anna. It can be read at White Fox: Silver Crow and on my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction. Enjoy.

Whatever Happend to the Happy Ending?

Boy, it's been ages since I last posted something. I had two tests last week which I hopefully passed. Aside from class and homework I haven't done a whole heck of a lot, not that I did much homework either. I figured out what was wrong with the VCR in the dorm basement. Turns out some idiot unplugged the jacks and then plugged them back into the input in section instead of the input out section. J.F. and I watched the first two hours of the Dune miniseries I had on tape. J.F. also came up with me when I went home this weekend. We went with my mom to do so me shopping up in Ely. We didn't buy much, I got a Robin Hood graphic novel at the book store and J.F. and I got some dice with animals on them. We had planned on going fishing but the weather had been lousy all week, rain, wind, cold. It was still raining when I drove back last night. It didn't rain much today though.

I just finished reading New Tricks, the second book in the Dog Days series. It had such a horrible ending. The main chick turned out to be the bad guy and dissolved into a mass of lesions, sores, and horrible pustules at the end before dying. It got me thinking about how many books I've read of late have the main character or bad guy dissolving into sores and grossness, either through disease, backfired magic, or torture. At least three that I can think of off the top of my head. And those Poe horror stories we have to read for class aren't much better. Just once I wish I could read a story that doesn't involve pain and grossness. Seriously, whatever happened to the good old fashioned happy ending? Although, I must admit, even the ones you think have happy endings turn out not to if you look into the originals too closely. I dread getting to the end of Robin Hood. Maybe I'll just skip that last chapter and pretend it really does end with Robin and Maid Marian getting married and living happily ever after. Ignorance being bliss and all that.

Inukshuk

Turns out the test for middle east history is tomorrow, along with my test for grammar. I hope I put enough notes on that one allowed sheet of paper. We're going to be studying rock art next week in archeology, which prompted me to look into inukshuks. I figured 'hey, they're rocks, the're art, they might be worth a show and tell'. I remember how we used to see them all the time on our Canada fishing/camping trips, on the sides of roads, in the woods, on the rocky shores of deserted islands, etc. My dad has even built a few up at the shack. I was going to look up some information online so I called him and asked how to spell inukshuk. He e-mailed me a picture of Chuck(y) the inukshuk on the picnic table. I found out that inukshuks were built by native inuit peoples as markers and signpost for trails, sacred sights, and landmarks.

Test?

I decided to stay in my dorm instead of going home this weekend intending, as it were, to do some homework. Turns out I was too lazy to do anything but sleep and watch movies. I did finish reading King's Shield by Sherwood Smith. It only took me three days to finish while the first one took me four months and the second four weeks. Either I'm becoming a faster reader or the author is becoming a better writer. Though I must say I missed all the nautical pirate adventure that was so very prevalent in the second book. I made up for it by watching the second Horatio Hornblower movie, The Fire Ship. I'd watch the third now but it's nearly ten already and too late. I did manage to make a wall mart run for some frozen Chinese, ice cream cups, and a twelve pack of diet Dr. pepper cherry. Maybe I should have gotten some fresh fruit? Anyway, I should at least try and get some sleep for tomorrow. I think I might have a test in middle east history. Here's hoping it's easy.

The Fox and the Crow

I found this little animation while tooling around on the internet and thought it was worth sharing. It's called The Fox and the Crow. I'm sure most people already know the story and if not, now's as good a time as any to learn it. Enjoy.

Free Plant and a Story

I got a free boston fern plant from the greenhouse today. It's kind of cute. I hope it doesn't die. I discovered a new online comic last night about foxes. I believe it was called Crimson Flag. If I find it again I'll post a link. Meanwhile, I did some homework, went to class, and generally lazed about doing not much of anything. I did come up with a couple of interesting paragraphs for a short story about a fox. Check it out at White Foxx: Silver Crow. I might or might not continue the story. Posted comments could influence my decision so if anyone reads it leave a comment.I'm just watching the end of the Adventures of Robin Hood on TCM. Witty dialog never gets old, even though the costumes get more dated by the second.

Something About Carnivals

I finished reading The Road to Home for my middle east class today. It was interesting but not very exciting. I don't usually read based on a true story novels, especially holocaust memoirs, but this one was O.K. I met P.S. for lunch. We went to this little cafe down the street and got pancakes. Watched a movie on the Arminian holocaust for class. Went back to my room and watched the premier of Heroes and House. I can't be absolutely certain but I'm pretty sure that the guy who plays the new carnival leader guy in Heroes is the same guy who played one of the sicko bad guys in Prison Break. Also, I noticed that while I was flipping channels both shows wound up taking place in carnivals and had similar type situations. It's almost like the time Psych, Leverage, and Monk all had episodes where the main character gets trapped in a bank while it's being robbed. You'd think, what with them all being fairly recent new shows and all, that they would be able to come up with more original ideas. I guess that Writer's strike thing isn't as resolved as they said it was. Also, my president poem If I Were President made the featured writers gallery at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction and I forgot to mention yesterday that J.F. and I visited the ferrets at the petco. I'm so getting a ferret for my future pet.

White Fox

The rest of my week was pretty boring. I did some homework and went to class. I stopped at Barnes and Noble on my way home Friday where I finally got a copy of the third book in the Inda series. I also got the first two books of a new series I've been meaning to get for ages now. They didn't have the third one so I'll probably wait to start on it till I get the third one. They didn't have Tuck though, so I'll have to wait to find out how that one ends. I went fishing with my dad over the weekend. I caught a nineteen and a half inch walleye. We also caught seven nice keepers which we fried up in beer batter and had with sweet potato fries ( I should say my mom fried them). It was delicious. I watched 300 again, Troy, running man, and one other goofy movie that I can't quite remember the name of. I did a four loads of laundry and washed my dishes. My mom helped me die my hair a very light auburn and then I went to great clips for a trim. We stopped at the dollar store and I got Whales (offbrand goldfish) and ginger snaps for school. I finished packing up and came back to school this morning. I went with J.F. and let her drag me to Enger Tower. She thought it was really cool and I suppose it would be for someone who's never been in a real castle or climbed up a real mountain before. Compared to Scotland it was o.k. but it wasn't as awesome as she seems to think it was. I just agreed with her 'cuz I didn't want to spoil it for her and make her think I was really whiney. After that we went to the mall and I got the complete Horatio Hornblower series on DVD for 40% off. I also got a white fox stuffed animal that's really cute and fuzzy. When we got back to the dorm J.F. watched the first Horatio Hornblower movie with me. I remember how much I enjoyed watching them with my dad when they were first on t.v. I might re-wrap the box and give it to him for Christmas (or not since I really love those movies so much myself). I did finish my grammar homework. Mostly I just looked up the answers in the back of the book and in the answer key on D2L. I know I shouldn't have though because I'll never learn it for the test that way. Oh well, if the professor really wanted us to learn it the hard way she'd make it harder to get the answers. Meanwhile, me and my white fox are going to sleep.

Instead of Homework

First off, that nice guy from Trafford never did call me back today like he said he would and besides, it looks like J.F. and I are going to put the publishing thing on hold until all the pictures are finished and we've had time to explore our options more fully. I was doing some looking online at lulu yesterday and found out that I could probably self publish my own book of poems very cheaply. Aside from that, I have been putting off my homework reading in favor of other books. I finished reading Scarlet and now I really want to get Tuck so I can find out how it all ends (even though I have a sneaking suspicion that it will end like most of the other Robin Hood tales, that is, happily; unless you count the original in which maid marien took sick and died, robin hood got shot by the sherif and died when his cousin bled him, and the merry men were killed off one by one).

I also finsished reading this book called Ratha's Creature about a prehistoric cat (related to the sabertooth s what the back of the book said) named Ratha who lives with her intelligent kind by herding deer and horses. She is driven out when she tames the creature fire and is forced to live among the un-named who appeare to be the same species but for the most part they are unable to talk and are not intelligent like her people. There was a very sad bit in the middle where she turns on her mate (who is intelligent but whose father was dumb) and her cubs because she finds out her cubs will never become smart or speak. There is sort of a happy ending when Ratha returns to her people after they have been scatered by the un-named and teached them how to use fire. Very interesting book but, like I said, a few very sad bits and a lukewarm ending.

I also wrote two psuedo political poems that wind up criticizing Obama. Called The President and Me they can be found on my page at White Fox: Silver Crow. I think I'll turn in early tonight as I'm not feeling too well (I knew I shouldn't have eaten that chilli cheese dog for supper).

Too Good to Be True?

I was sitting in the library today reading a book when I got a phone call. Not just any phone call. A phone call from a publisher. It was a representative from Trafford publishing, one of the people I sent an e-mail to about submissions on Friday. Traffrod is like a self publisher with a ton of benefits, they format everything for you, edit everything for you, market everything for you, you get an ISBN, a library of congress number, a deal with barnes and noble for see inside the book, amazon marketing and sales, the ability to set your own book selling price and royalty rate, and personal publishing counslor to guide you through every step of the process. The catch is, with evey thing included it will cost 1,084.10.

Even though that seems like a very reasonable rate considering all you get for the money you know what they say, "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is." I talked to my mom and she said that a person could probably do a lot of that stuff themselves and not have to pay as much for it. Anyone can sell anything on Amazon, ISBN numbers and Library of congress numbers are usually dirt cheap if not free, and retired english teachers make great editors who don't expect to be paid. Besides, can I really afford a thousand dollars right now what with school, and loans, and cost of living without a job? (technically, since the book is a colaboration I would only have to come up with half the money but five hundred is still a lot.) I guess I'll take J.F.'s advice and sleep on it. Besides, her mom might agree with my mom and then where would we be?

When Poe Said

I did some more reading for school the past few days. There really wasn't much to do around town. I did go and hang out at the library today and I discovered a random book that looked interesting so I checked it out. I might not have time to read it but it was nice to check something out that wasn't particularly school related. I'm still reading Scarlet and so far it's pretty good. I do, however, have to agree with Poe when he said that novels lose much of their power if they cannot be enjoyed in one sitting. After all that homework reading by the time I finally got back around to reading it again I had to re-read the last few pages just so I knew where I was in the story. It's still an excellent book though and I would highly recomend the series to anyone interested in a re-telling of Robin Hood with a unique and new twist. I'm still trying to find Tuck, the third book, in paperback.

Remember Remember 11 September

If I could figure out how to post a Copy of Darryl Worley's Have You Forgotten? I would. I haven't forgotten. Apparrently some of the people in charge have. I was just watching Fox news. If it only took us 400 days to build the empire state building in the 1930's, why has it been eight years and all we have to show for it is a hole in the ground where they said they were gonna build the Freedom Tower?

Enough politics, I just took my first steps toward getting my book project published. I talked to M.S. today and showed her the project, then I talked to B.S., who gave me this book called Poet's market with 1,800 places to publish poetry. He also told me he has a friend who's getting something published with Raven press in Ely, so I looked them up online and sent them a line. I also found this other publisher online who does consulting and marketing that I might look into and one other local Ely publisher called Scenic River that takes manuscript submissions. I sure hope I hear something back soon.

Other than that the past few days have been pretty slow. Reading, watching t.v., hanging out in the library (man, those couches are comfortable), etc. I did go and see that Time Traveler's Wife movie with J.F. She didn't get it but I thought it was great. It's a wonderful movie if you want to go and have a good cry, touching and sad and happy all at the same time. (J.F. wanted to see inglorious basterds. Jeez, does idiocy know no bounds?) Also, I finally got around to downloading those full moon pictures I took when I was home last Saturday. Enjoy.

What?

After class today I ran into M.S. the professor I had in Scotland. I told her about the possible book of poems and illustrations I've got going with J.F. and she's very interested in taking a look at it and trying to help us get it published. Aside from that there was nothing eventful in my day, or I didn't think so anyway. I watched Cool Hand Luke with J.F. and now I'm trying to finish my readings for class tomorrow. It's just so Borning! At least for African Archeology there were plenty of pictures and for Grammar the chapter was only ten pages, even in Major Author at least I get to read poems and short stories. But Middle East History? Dryer than the desert it takes place in and twice as likely to melt my brain. At least I got promoted another level in Mafia Wars. That's something anyway. And did I forget to mention the fire and brimstone preacher out front of the student center? Apparently one guy with a bible warrents four security guards, a squad car, and a video camera crew. A little overkill if you aks me. And while we're on the subject of overkill, I went into the greenhouse today and talked to the greenhouse lady. Apparently there's a plant in there of the pitcher variety that eats whole mice. Who knew?

I Miss BBC!

Yesterday was quite eventful. While heading to the shack to help my dad haul firewood me and my mom hit a doe. We broke her back but there was no damage to the truck at all. We went back to the house for a rifle to put the deer out of her misery but wound up waiting for my dad to get there and take care of it himself. It was so sad. Me and mom cried. Dad wasn't happy. My folks got into a huge fight during wich threats were made about lawyers and movings out. Nothing came of it and they seemed to have forgotten the whole thing before dinner. I guess death makes people a little volatile.

I watched a little t.v. this moring before heading back to school. BBC America was showing a Torchwood marathon. I hated to leave before it was over but I had to get back to school. It's too bad the basic cable package here doesn't include BBC, or any movie channels for that matter. I did some reading for school (the first three chapters of human origins for my african archeology class, you'd be surprised how often they managed to fit the evils of loggin and man made polution in a book that's really about nothing but some old bones that were burried millions of years ago). After that I watched the first half of Robin Hood Prince of Theives with Kevin Costner while eating that chinese I got from Walmart last week. I played Mafia Wars on Facebook and now I think I'd better get to bed. I doubt I'll be able to sleep though (that's what you get for downing a bottle of mountain dew just before bed).

Boredom, Music, and Looms

I made it home for the weekend and discovered that there really wasn't much of a reason to come home. Things are just about as boring here as they likely would have been had I stayed at school. I went with my mom to wish my grandpa a happy birthday yesterday. I was going to look up the tinwhistle sheet music for happy birthday online but I got sidetracked by a video of a girl playing galway girl on the whistle. It made me look up sheet music for galway girl instead. I'm just not sure if it's the version I wanted. Maybe I'm just not playing it right.

Grandpa gave us one of the small looms he made to take home. I really want to weave something on it but it's in pieces right now. Besides, my mother is under the impresstion that we have noplace to put it anyway. On the way home we stopped at the wooden table inn for burgers and onion rings. Then it was home, lay about watching scifi channel (sorry, ScyFy, they changed the spelling for some reason) and then go to bed and sleep till eleven. At least I still have one more day before school starts again.

Libraries Rock!

After enduring the same usual speil on class policies for my new classes I got bored. Me and J.F. decided to wander over to the library building and found out that it was finally finished. We went in and it was Awesome! Three whole floors, fireplaces, couches, a section of tables for eating lunch, and all the books I could ever read in the basement. Ah, the smell of old paper in the afternoon. I found a copy of a book that is a collection of all the old original poems, songs, and stories of Robin Hood and just had to check it out. I'm a little obsessed with Robin Hood right now. After reading more of that Hood book this morning I had to call my dad and remind him that I wanted that Longbow for x-mas. I also found that they had the English Majors prairie home companion cd and checked that out too. Libraries Rock!

Must Have Longbow

I woke up early today (around nine). I printed off my class schedule and found out I don't actually have class until tomorrow. I walked down to the student center and got a new ID card to replace the one I had because it didn't swipe anymore. The new one was free of charge. I went back to my room and read more of Hood. Later I went with J.F. and her guy friend R. to the mall. I got some new shoes (now if only I could get the song on my iPod). We had sborro for lunch. Me and R. went in on a buy one get one hats at spencers. We saved barnes and noble for the last stop. I wound up getting two books. One was a continue for dog days called New Tricks and the other is the continue for Hood called Scarlet. We stopped at cub foods and they got soda and this japanese soft drink called... I forget, but it had a really funky bottle with a glass marble in it and tasted like bubble gum. I got to try one while we watched this goofy anime called Save my Earth. All the guys were sissies and not nearly enough stuff exploded. Besides, it defeates the purpose of blowing stuff up if the guy starts crying. All the guys kept crying and there was even a sappy embarrassing two guys kiss scene. So glad it's over.

I had to go back to my room and read more of Hood to balance out my adventure/action ratio (and make up for all those effeminate crying every three seconds kissing each other men).I'm so hooked on that Hood book now. I can't sleep because everytime I close my eyes I keep seeing an epicly dressed Robin Hood with a longbow in this Awesome forest pulling off impossible shots. Also, I can't stop thinking about that left handed longbow I saw in the cabella's catalouge. I MUST HAVE IT!!! If I don't get it for christmas I think I'll cry. If I do get it for christmas I think I'll cry (but for an entirely different reason). If my folks won't get if for me I'll buy it myself with that leftover money I have on my traveller's visa. Anyway, I best try and get some sleep, though how I'll be able to stop picturing myself with that longbow long enough is beyond me. Here's to trying.

Back at School

I finished packing up my stuff this morning and moved back into my dorm room this afternoon. My folks helped me carry stuff up the three flights of stairs to my room. After unpacking and getting everything put away I found out that I forgot my backpack and flip flops (because you know I was going to forget something). Hopefully I won't need my backpack right away. Maybe I can get P. to bring it down for me. She has day classes this semester. The bunk beds were on the other side of the room this time so now I can see the t.v. from bed. Unfortunately there's nothing on so I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep.

Ren Fest Rocks, Etc.

Let's see, what have I been up to for the past week... I went adventuring with dad to international falls. We had giovanni's pizza and looked around this antique store some guy had turned his house into. For some reason it gave me a really creeped out bad feeling. I practiced some more archery and managed to get four arrows in the black and my middle finger is still slightly numb after four days. I did some laundry at some point as well and managed to get everything I need for school packed in my car. The main event of the week was going with K.R. to the cities and attending the Renasiance Festival.

We got a bit of a late start on Friday because K.R.'s class ran late. The costumes weren't finished either and we had to wait an extra hour for her mom to finish sewing the sleeves on K.'s costume. When we left the cloaks still hadn't been hemmed. I drove the first part of the way down and we switched off and Hinkley (where we also got white castle for dinner). The trafic actually wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be (but that could have just been the fact that we didn't get to the cities until eleven thirty at night). We crashed on the couch at my auntie J.'s house. I got woken up at around seven in the morning by the dog and cat, K.R.'s alarm went off at eight. Jane came down and helped us fix out costumes a little bit. We didn't sew anything but we did cut off the cloaks so they were even. My cousin A. went with my uncle and them to the state fair. K.R. and I went and picked up J.F. at her house. J. had enough canned food for two discount coupons but the guy gave us three anyway.

The Festival was Awesome! Totally the best thing ever! Though I didn't actually get really excited while I was there. We got complemented on our costumes quite a bit as well as asked where we got them and we were even mistaken once for workers/performers (Just like my aunt said we would be). I got more complements for strangers at the fest then I have gotten the entire rest of my life (if you don't count people who are related to you). There were a ton of booths and stores and shops around. There were armories selling all sorts of weapons. I would have gotten a sword but they were really expensive, I mean four hundred bucks cheap expensive. You could get just about anything immaginable made out of leather, including braziers (one even had spikes all over it as well). The pickle man was full of innuendo ("everybody likes my pickle") and there was a guy walking around selling "insults, get your insults! For a small contribution I will insult you, a friend, or a family member. I also do compliments of the flowery variety. Insults! Get your Insults!" There was another guy with a board strapped to his back on his hands and knees in the middle of the street and his sales pitch was "Place to sit! Place to Sit! Rest your weary bones a while, Place to sit!" Not to mention everybody in costumes of all sorts and the many different stages with shows going on and musicians playing at crossroads and corners. It was Amazing. We saw one show called Puke and Snot that was hilarius, though when he did his republican joke only one person in the audience clapped. I was surprised. J. and I saw a glass artist and he made a little unicorn on top of a marble. We also saw some minstrels who pulled people from the crowd to play a princess, a prince and a dragon. They sang a song and had the people act out the story. At the end just when the prince charged in to save the girl "the dragon fried him to a crisp, 'cuz sometimes the dragon wins!" It was great. At the end of the day I got a very nice walking stick for my souvinere. We left just before it started getting dark, stopped at noodles for dinner (the macaroni was the best), and dropped J. at her house just as the sun was completely set. When we got back to Aunt J.'s house we watched some t.v. with my uncle L., J., and my cousin A. L. made frying pan popcorn but put too much butter on it for my taste. We made fun of my dad for eating popcorn with a spoon (too bad he wasn't there to hear it, not he would have been able to hear anyway what with his bad hearing and all). We went to bed around ten, ten thirty and slept until ten thirty this morning.

We packed up the car and hit the road but only made it a few blocks before we had to go back because A. had forgotten something. K. drove most of the way back. We stopped at Tobies for lunch/breakfast. We dropped A. off at my grandma's house in brit and I drove the rest of the way home. I left my costume with K. and her mom since it still needs to be hemmed before I wear it for anything else. The edges are so scraggily looking now. I've been reading a book by Steven R. Lawhead called Hood. It's pretty good. It's an alternate version of Robing hood and it's supposed to be a series. If it keeps my interest all the way to the end I may even buy the next one in the series.

The clouds on the way home looked like the scottish flag after a jet flew by.

A street at Ren Fest.

One of the little model houses in the enchanted forrest at Ren Fest.

A close up of my arrows in the black.

Addicted

Finally going to bed after getting hooked on Mafia Wars for three hours, I'm addicted for sure. I spent the last few days sitting around and watching t.v. and playing games. I stopped by my grandma's house to pick up a book and show her my scotland pictures but really, nothing much exciting went on. I decided to take my bow out and get some target practice in. Twenty One out of Twenty four shots actually managed to hit the paper on my target. Also, I did finally get the batteries charged for my camera so there will even be a picture of it. Enjoy!

I'm finally going to bed now. I did my laundry today and still haven't put the sheets back on the bed. By the time I do it will be tomorrow. Oh, well. What can you do? I had a chat with P.'s sister D.B. while I was on mafia wars. She says there's nothing better than crawling into fresh sheets. I sure hope she's right!

Planning

Didn't do a thing but watch t.v. all day. I did talk to my aunt on the phone and my friend K.R. and my other aunt as well. The plan for the Renasiance festival is for me and K.R. to leave friday evening and stay at Aunt J's. Saturday will be spent at the ren fest, we'll pick J.F. up on the way. We'll come home on Sunday and we'll be bringing my cousin back with us. She'll be staying at Auntie J's that weekend as well while her folks are off on some trip. Other than that I sat in the comfy chair and did nothing all day. Boy is doing nothing exhausting.

Binky, Ha!

Yesterday I went into town with my brother. He had to pick up some books for school. I dropped off some old paperbacks at the book exchange. We got arby's for lunch and they forgot my curly fries. I was almost ticked enough to make my borther turn back but we were already out of the city limits. I played assassin's creed for six hours straight when I got home.

I finally finished taking out this year's student loans today. My life is going to be miserable for the next twenty years. Unless I join the military (I am not going to be a marine). I had steak for dinner at the shack with my mom and dad and my dad's friend. My dad's friend let me shoot his .22 ruger mach III pistol. I knocked over six gophers and hit four swinging targets. It was really easy once I knew what I was doing. I played a little assassin's creed, about three hours and then I watched the new Psyc on USA. Binky, Ha! After that I got hooked on Mafia Wars on Facebook for a couple hours. Hopefully this post makes it in before midnight so I can go to bed tonight and not tomorrow.

Comic Book History?

I went to Duluth with my dad today, he had a doctor's appointment and I had to stop at UWS to pick up some school books. I totally broke the diet and had chicken nuggets and fries and a huge thing of diet coke for lunch. With a side of ketchup (though it did rain all day long so there was water). I did some comparing and found I could get most of my books cheaper on Amazon so I only got four of them from the book store. Surprisingly one of the books I got for history is a comic book, sorry, a "graphic novel". Who new? And just think of all those mother's who rag on their kids and tell them they can't read comic books and play video games and have it count for school. Apparently they can (I saw a special on t.v. about people who play video games for a living like pro sports people). Of course, this whole thing could also be an exercise in the dumming down of the education system so that nobody gets left behind, no matter what their elementary reading level happens to be. My dad blames the liberals. I blame karma. After carrying around the complete works of william shakespeare in one volume all of last year (talk about a workout), I figure it's about time I get to do a little light reading.

Goofy Goggle Glasses and a Side of Water

After cleaning the kitchen with my mom and then the basement, and then the living room, I went into town with my mom. We stopped at grandma's house to give her one of my sister's airforce pictures. I'm a little jealous of the picture but that changed tonight when I saw the other one of her with her goofy goggle glasses whe she couldn't wear her contacts. Ha! We got some picture frames at target and had arby's roast beef for lunch.

Today I slept in. Then I watched t.v. Then I went into town with my mom again to check those rail cars. We stopped at the super one and bought healthy stuff. Me and my mom decided to go on a healthy diet. We bought bananas, pears, peaches, yogurt, milk, deli turkey, and deli co/jack cheese. For dinner we had spinach, chard, mushrooms, and toast. With a side of water. The garden has gone totally nuts. It's like a jungle. The lettuces are waist high and everything else is huge too. Except the tomatoes. Still no ripe tomatoes, just ones that look like green grapes. The grapes are doing well as well. We went to visit P. at the lake. I broke the diet and had a soda and ground sausage burger. Yay for meat!

Great Scary Something in the Woods

After being woken up by first the cat, twice, and then the beagle, twice, I sat around all day and watched t.v. I did take the beagle on a short walk around the corner. We almost caught a black vole thing but it scurried away in the grass and I didn't feel like chasing it.

It rained again for the third day in a row. I orderd a pizza for me and my brother for dinner. I watched more t.v. My folks called at ten pm to say they would be home at 2 am. I still think they're nuts for driving home toninght. Why don't they wait untill morning? I ran the dishwasher but everything else is gonna be a mess. I guess tomorrow will be my cleaning day.

I took the cat out for a walk around the the house and she got all puffy and scared. There was a great scary something in the woods with glowy eyes. O.k., so I didn't really see any glowy eyes but there was definetly a largish shadow where there shouldn't have been one.

She Smells Like Soap

The rail cars did finally show up yesterday morning, which was good. There shouldn't be any penalty fees for us since it was the railroad's fault the cars were two days late. I stopped at target on the way home and got the latest Keith Urban CD. It's pretty good. I got taco stuff from the short stop and made tacos for my supper (which is important as the leftovers made up all three of my meals today).

I did a load of laundry today but I haven't gotten around to folding it yet. I checked the railcars again this afternoon, so far three out of eight are loaded. I stopped at grandma's on the way home, said hi to grandpa and the puppy, then climbed through a thorn bush to hang up grandma's new flag. After that I headed home for more leftover tacos and some random t.v.

There was a Jean Claude Van Damn movie on that was pretty good although, I always wondered where he got that bumb on the head. It's always there at the beginning of every one of his movies long before he ever gets into a fight. It drives me crazy. There was also a special on animal planet called the heart of a lioness about a wild african lion who adopts a baby gazell(?). She took care of it for a month and a half until some mean old man lion showed up and ate it. It was so sad.

The beagle was outside in the rain, (funny how it always waits to pour and thunderstorm the day after I water the garden) so I gave her a bath. She smells like soap now.

Again

The railcars were not there when I went in early this morning. They are still in keenan because the federal government was running some sort of inspection on everything and the railroad wasn't allowed to move anything. Apparently this happens every once in a while. Isn't it just my luck they picked the week I was in charge of stuff. I had to call all the guys and let them know. I spent the rest of the day watching t.v. and being lazy. I did turn the airconditioner on for a while so that helped. Today was the second 90 degree day in a row and tomorrow is supposed to be the same. I made hamburger helper for supper. I watched a special on animal planet about that lion named christian. It was pretty good. I remember seeing the book somewhere. Anyway, I will have to get up early tomorrow, again, so I'm going to bed.

Kayaking Beagle

After waking up at six this morning and forcing myself out of bed, I grapped a quick breakfast of rasberries and cream and drove all the way into town to check the rail head only to find out that there cars weren't there. I got some Mcdonald's to go and stopped off at my grandma's on the way home to give her a jar of rasberries I picked the other day. I even said hi to Grandpa and the puppy.

After I got home and rested for a while I got in touch with the head honcho in charge of this railcar thing and found out that the cars were still in Keenan, which is one 7 miles from the railhead and exactly where they were yesterday morning. They won't be at the siding until tomorrow morning. I had to call all the guys and let them know, one got realy annoyed (not at me thank God).

I had a t.v. dinner for lunch and then I went with the beagle and my friend K.R. to my mom's friend's cabin at the lake. We went kayaking around the bay for a while. I even got the beagle to get in with me. She seemed to enjoy it once she conquered her desire to jump out. We swam for a bit. I told beagle to jump off the dock and she did. Unfortunately she didn't expect it to be that deep and panicked, K. and I had to haul her back out. And my dad said that dog could swim and had jumped off docks before. I left her on shore after that. We dried off in the sun (it was still over eighty five degrees when we left the lake). I stayed for dinner at K.'s house and then went home in time to catch the last half hour of the new episode of Leverage on TNT. Unfortunately, since those railcars didn't arrive today I get to get up early and check again tomorrow so I really should get to bed.

Mwha ha ha ha ha!

The folks left this morning and the house is now mine! Mwha ha ha ha ha! I went for a walk with the beagle. I should have gone earlier when it was still cool out but by the time I went it was at least eighty degrees out and rising. I watched some t.v. and did nothing for pretty much the rest of the day. I did run into town to check the rail car siding this afternoon and there weren't any cars. This means I get to get up early and go check them at six tomorrow morning. Yay me! (That was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it without hearing the voice to go with it.) My Brother made banana milkshakes for a snack and they were really good. I'd share the secret recipe but it's so simple no one would believe it. In the meantime I'm going to try and get some sleep. I tossed and turned all last night for some reason. Here's hoping tonight will be better.

Ha!

Today I did some shopping in town with my friend L.G. I didn't actually do a whole lot of buying. There was this jacket at Target that I really wanted only I don't have any pants to wear with it and I would have had to buy pants and a hat to go with it and it would have been seventy bucks for an outfit and it just wasn't worth it. I wound up getting a copy of the old movie Cool Hand Luke for fourteen instead. I just love the bit where the warden says to Paul Newman's character "What we have here is a failure to communicate" in that really annoying southern accent. It's a classic. After that we walked over to the mall and didn't find anything there. We had a light lunch at Grandma's. I had soup and L.G. had salad. There was also a breadstick involved which we split.

After I got home I just wound up going right back into town with my dad. He had to pick up a few things for his trip to Texas to see my sister graduate from Airforce Basic training next week. I helped him pick out a shirt. We got Dave's pizza on the way back. I probably shouldn't have eaten so much of it because I think I gave myself some kind of indigestion. I took some pepto bisol and I'm fine now. I was going to watch Cool Hand Luke but got sucked into the draining the ocean's thing on discovery channel my dad was watching. Apparently deep see shrimps survive by eating their own armpit gunk which is full of bacterias (yeah, that'll cure indigestion).

I'm going to bed now but I feel like I should mention the miraculous miracle I performed. I just snatched a mosquito right out of the air in front of me and killed it in one try. Ha! Beat that Mr. Obama!

The Deer Ran Away When I Got Too Close

Aside from buying a new pair of boxers the other day I did nothing at all worth posting an update about for the last few days. Well, I also went and saw that Proposal movie with my friend K.R. It was pretty good. Today I started reading the book People of the Sacred Oak. So far it's really intersting. Sad, but intersting. I'm halfway through it already.

I saw a deer eating grass on the other side of the road while looking out the window so I went outside with my book and walked over by the apple trees to get a better look and it ran off. I think it was a doe. It didn't have any antlers anyway. After that I sat down under the biggest apple tree in the grass and read my book for a while. My cat Monster came by and rolled in the grass which I noticed had ants in it. I ran my fingers in her soft sun warmed fur. Then I got bored, went inside, and took a nap until dinner. Ma made rice a roni and hamburger. Then I watched the new episode of Psych on USA. It was awesome. Finally, I watched a few random reruns and now I'm going to bed.

It Is a Walk In Closet

After a breakfast of diet Dr. Pepper and a turkey t.v. dinner (I'm still mad at my dad for eating my other turkey one) I went with my dad to check on the railcars in town. After that we stopped at his friend P.'s Dad had coffe I had a pepsi. I showed them my picture of the whiskey bottle our tourguide got us in the highlands of Scotland. My iPod then froze and was stuck on that picture. After P.'s house we went to L&M for bird seed and ammo. Then we stopped at some berry farm so my dad could talk to another guy. After that we went home.

I finally finished cleaning my closet. I vacummed the floor and everything. I lined up all my shoes and got my bags organized in a box. There was even a hook leftover for my cloak. Turns out it really is a halfway decent walk in size once it's cleaned up a bit. I even had time to watch a few acts on America's Got Talent. I really liked the magician, even though I totally know how he did it (that's what happens when you watch magic's biggest secrets revealed). I don't usually vote for t.v. shows but I'm tempted. Maybe if the magician makes it to the top ten I'll vote. In the meantime I think I'll sleep on it.

Oh, and before I forget, I did get my iPod unfrozen (I'm still thinking about getting a new one, maybe once my mom figures out the whole cell phone plan thing I'll get an iPhone) and while I was consolodating some boxes I found my original iPod cord. Sad to say the one I borrowed from my sister for my trip is still missing. I guess that's just how these things work though.

Walk in Closet?

I spent most of this moring cleaning out my closet and the floor in my room. I got everything off the floor and found out my iPod cord went missing. I guess I'll just have to borrow my borther's till I get a new one. I took everything that was on the floor in my closet out and started sorting it. Surprisingly I have 34 pairs of shoes. They are now occupying all the carpet space on my bedroom floor. I threw out a whole nother bag of trash and organized my winter hats, scarves, and mittens. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with all the bags I found. Backpacks, sacks, a fanny pack, etc. Maybe I should put up some hooks. On the bright side, all I have left to do is vacuum and put everything back in the closet. It's actually a pretty decent walk in size once it's cleaned up and all the stuff is off the floor. Keeping that way is gonna be the hard part.

I went with my mom to the grociery store. We had steak and sweet potato fries for dinner. Delicious. After dinner I went for a four mile walk with Lucy/Maggie/Molly. At least, my dad said it was probably four miles. I just went in a big square. My dog said hi to K.R.'s dog. I did a little facebooking and now I'm going to bed.

Kettle Corn for Breakfast

Today I didn't get up untill eleven at which point I had leftover kettle corn for breakfast and again later for lunch. I spent pretty much the entire day on the couch watching movies on the telly. I did eventually do some laundry and I managed to fold and get it all put away while watching some old reruns of 7 Days on Slueth channel. That Frank Parker character is just so funny. I threw out that takeout box after I ate the chicken so it looks like I won't be posting that plane picture. I did find the camera in my suitcase which, I'm pleased to say, is almost completely unpacked from that weekend trip to the cities to see J.F. Now that all my clothes are put away I can work on cleaning up the rest of the floor. By the time I have to leave for school again my room will be clean.

Meet Me in St. Louis, Lois, Meet Me At the Fair

First, a quick recap of the past two days. I went to the VA with my dad. We had a four hour drive down, a three hour wait at the hospital, and a four hour drive back with a stop at the old country buffet for lunch. I had green beans, corn, steamed carrots, sweet potato, some kind of mellon, watermellon, salad (o.k. so it was taco salad and had some meat in it), and corn bread. I never new a veggie meal could be so filling. We also stopped at the outlet mall on the way back and I got a couple t-shirts and a pair of pants for school. Yesterday I spent watching t.v. I did compose a poem about the wave pool to the effect of 'I never knew quite how it felt to be a drowning rat'. It can be read at White Foxx: Silver Crow and my page at Fifteen Minutes of Fiction.

Today I got kind of bored so I stole H.'s hightops (isn't it nice when you and your siblings have the same size feet) and went to the St. Louis County Fair with my mom. We went inthe animal tent and I composed a little fair ground ditty titled "All the Bunnies Bite and the Pigeon Laid an Egg" because, honest to God, all the bunnies had "I Bite" signs and one of the pigeons laid an egg. Also the Llama peed and there was a cowboy Napping with the goats in one of the pens. You can read the whole thing at White Foxx: Silver Crow and Fifteen Minutes of Fiction. We went for dinner/lunch after at this little place across from the Hibbing Airport called the Airway Inn. Our waiter was from Jamaica and he was really nice. My mom's friend and my pseudo aunt P. made me compose a poem. It can be read at White Foxx: Silver Crow and Fifteen Minutes of Fiction. There was also a little sketch of a plane I drew on the takeout box. If I remember where I put my camera I may post that as well.

We watched the movie "Swing Vote" at P's house. I noticed the democrat kept changing his position to win the vote and the republican didn't. I got the impression the democrat was a sellout. I don't know if that's what they were going for but that's what I got out of it. We did make it home before midnight, barely, so I should get some sleep.