And so we meet again

That's why they call them business socks.

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:12:04 GMT

I had my first culinary final today.
That has to be probably the most boring beginning to any livejournal post ever.

However, I must say I was extremely nervous. Nervous to the point where I actually thought maybe it would be best to just stay home and not go. Ever. We had three items we were suppose to make, and we weren't told what items they'd be until we got to class.

So we're all getting to work, and it's quiet, and no one is talking, and it's........ bizness tyme. Not to be confused with business time.
Which I love, but that's old news, and let's not get too sidetracked.

So I'm mixin' the dough, mixin' the dough in complete silence. The Chef has stepped out of the classroom, and all of a sudden all of my nerves are completely calmed. Partially because I feel good about things, but also because out of nowhere, a boy in my class starts to sing "A Whole New World" - A Disney classic from Aladdin, as you all know. Not only was it funny just because, but it made me think of this boy in the video, and I wondered if my classmate could secretly do the same thing. (Watch the whole thing)

After he finished the song, everyone felt so much better, and thought it would be something else if everyone joined in and sang and danced in unison for when the chef returned. Seems like that's a Disney Movie in itself.
EDIT: And this one too!
EDIT EDIT 2 : AH! AND THIS ONE!

On that note, I think that's the most random livejournal post ever

(Edit 3: On that note, this Nick Pitera guy deserves a whole livejournal post just on him.)

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:51:30 GMT

Because I have the attention span of a pea, I will write this in bullet form.

I started culinary school. I love it. I love it to a nerdy point. For example, we had orientation the other day, and when the chefs were introducing themselves, I was so excited, and everyone else around me seemed so bored. It made me feel like a goon because my eyes were so wide with excitement, and I was probably unintentionally smiling and doing crazy jazz hand moves that i wasn't even aware of.
I don't know if I am actually older than the people in my class, but my classmates so far are a bunch of goons. They seem bored, uninterested, tired, and forced to be their by mommy and daddy. This is shocking to me, because I always felt like culinary school isn't just something you do to kill time. I assumed it would be a place where everyone really wanted to be. I also receive looks from some of them for saying really NOT WEIRD comments. For example, the chef used our table as a demonstration the other day, which meant we didn't have to prepare anything. We were all cleaned up and finished when the rest of the students were just starting to bake. So I looked at my partner and said "welp, that was easy for us, huh?! hoho..." as a means to break the ice since we hadn't spoken. She gave me a blank stare, and said nothing in response. I looked at her for a moment to ensure that she wasn't deaf, but got nothing. ha, I think we will be great friends when this is all said and done based solely on our great ability to relate and speak to each other.
Another boy when introducing himself to the class, instead of talking about where he works, he instead mentioned how he loves animated horror films. It was funny and awkward.
My biggest competition in the class (not that it actually is a competition) is a boy named "Skippy", apparently. As in, that's what he likes to go by. I'm not a fan, to be honest. Halfway through class on the first day, I looked over at "skippy" and noticed that he had made a name tag for himself, without being asked. It read "SKIPPY" in pretty bubble letters and crazy designs. He must have made it at home. I mean, he put serious time into this un-required name tag. Skippy is about to graduate, and is pretty pleased with himself because "he's pretty sure he'll be getting a pretty sweet job at TGIFRIDAYS." He speaks very highly of himself when he discusses how he has to cut up vegetables for the restaurant EVERY. DAY. Imagine that. Cutting vegetables. Perhaps working at the Chop House has made me more critical than I should be.

I get my uniform this week, and even though we aren't allowed to wear them ever outside of class, I feel like it would be great fun to ....... WEAR IT EVERYWHERE! You know, grocery shopping, to the mall, the bank... out to the bar, to church. EVERYWHERE. And my knife set? Yeah, I'll carry that as if it's my purse! I want to show those babies off!
I feel so motivated and happy. I love reading about things and thinking "that makes total sense." I just have a feeling of wanting to learn everything.
I feel really lucky.

ok. Time to go.

News in a single sentence

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:24:31 GMT

I applied to culinary school today.

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:27:28 GMT

It's a new year. Already.

My brother came home for christmas, and was home for two weeks. It was different than any other time he's ever been home. My brother, sister, and I bonded in a lot of ways, which is something that seriously hasn't happened since we were little ones. I can now say that I actually have an understanding for my brother. We Gentry kids er crazy & bald!

For Christmas we went to my Grandma's house, which is never very thrilling. It is normally spent with people who are either a-too old to see, and often confuse people with a blizzard outside b-very silent to the point where you wonder if they are still living and c- extremely strange!

This christmas my grandma invited 99 year old Great Aunt Helen who had to be carried in because her legs weren't working. Soon after, very distant cousins arrived with their mother. They are all grown ass men, but are apparently still not to the point where they can introduce themselves. Therefore, each 35+ year old was introduced by their mother.

We first had "Michael from New York." Not just Michael, but "Michael from New York." Mind you, we re-meet these people every year, yet we are still emphasizing the fact that hotshot made it to New York. Michael is an aspiring actor who has been seen on Law & Order. Apparently he has actually had a few lines, but I find it hard to believe that he is much since he's spending Christmas in a teeny tiny town with 99 year olds and extremely distant relatives. However, everytime he comes he wears the FANCIEST suit you will ever see, yet the same one he has worn each year. This is all fine and dandy, but his brothers are straight from the farm of 1974, so do I feel as if he is only doing it for show? Yes I do. Also, during his time in New York, he somehow managed to gain a british accent. Do I find it to be fake? a wee bit.

Next we met ... so and so "from Toledo." Also introduced by his mother. The location is key. So and so is shaped like a 6 foot tall woman with large hips. He told a very interesting story about how he has been in search of a table lamp.
"I went to Hobby Lobby and asked if they had one of those table lamps" he explains while pointing to a piece of furniture in my grandma's living room. You know, one of those deals where it is a table connected to a lamp... all in one. Not just a table, not just a lamp, but the full one piece deal.
"They pointed me to just regular lamps that you set on a table!!!" he says while laughing hysterically.
"I then said 'no no, a lamp table!!' thinking maybe they would understand then.. but they just showed me tables that you would set a lamp on top of! I told them that I wanted a TABLE LAMP that's all connected! hohohoheahrohar. they were so confused!!"

Soon after he told a long story about how he named his kitty "puppy", and just how funny that was because his kitty was not a puppy. His voice makes his stories even better because for whatever reason, this son somehow acquired a SOUTHERN accent.

Next we met "Sam from Onstead." If you know anything about Onstead you would know that he obviously gets the shit end of the deal for being introduced after "Michael from New York." He didn't even have an accent. Imagine that, three brothers all from the same mother, and he's the only one without a random accent. Something ain't adding up.

Needless to say, My brother, sister, and I responded to their strange stories in a way that any civil person would....

By doing this:

That's us. What brats.

Ashley was home as well. I was able to spend an evening with her mother, baby sissy, and Ashley. We ate tostadas, and later learned about young pop culture from Ashley's little sister who has blue hair. What a rebel!

I didn't even tell her to pose like this.

New Years was lovely. I spent it with many of my favorites, minus a few. We spent the evening riding motorcycles, and drinking chocolate milk. And by chocolate milk, I mean not chocolate milk.

skizzle skazzle, skipping around.

We had a farewell sweater party in honor of my brother a couple of nights ago. If I could only say a few words about it, I would say "it was an awkward ball of fun."
It was an odd crowd which included, but was not limited to :
-a 21 year old nun
-a marine
-a jew
-a dog wearing a sweater

I feel like that could be the beginning of a great joke. "a nun, a jew, and a marine enter a bar..."

You can only imagine the kinds of conversations they had. It was nuts. It involved many f-bombs from my brother, which seemed to be funny enough in itself given the crowd.

Jamie proves that one can never be too old to paaaaaarty.

She is a nun, and proud of it.

Shinanigans.

I can now say that I have held Brutey a total of 4 times. For anyone who knows Pooch, that's a huge deal.

This fella is coocoo for cocoa puffs, but that's another livejournal post entirely.

dirty dirty.

He taught me simple ways of killing someone in 10 seconds! I feel like that could be a title to a Martha Stewart show.

This was the most half assed post, but you get the idea. It's been a great month. I'm so glad my brother was home. My brother is absolutely hilarious, and I really respect him. His life is crazy, but I get it now. Things are completely different between us all, and that's great.

I hope you all had a lovely December/Christmas/New Year as well.

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:48:09 GMT

It's been a big week full of really great things. Rob and I went to Chicago and stayed in a snobby hotel for free. They only had valet parking, which I guess isn't that unusual, but when I asked if Marriott employees get a discount on parking (which they normally do), the women just paused and said nothing. So I got attitude with her, and it felt great.

We did your typical touristy things, but we did a lot of exploring. We walked nearly every corner of downtown(that we know about), tried on fancy clothes, bought new jackets, ate pizza every.single.day, and found a new love for martinis.

For whatever reason, I'm always pointing at something in pictures.

This picture is funny because I have wonderful bedhead, and clearly thought it looked good at the time!

The picture above is in the snobby hotel.

This is Rob kissing the city. He does that.

I don't know.

I find this picture to be funny not only because I look like a huge creep, but also because it appears as though my face was photo shopped in.

As you can see, this is a Bar called Gentry, which I'm sure everyone has heard about before me. I was so excited that we ran inside simply so I could show them my ID and say "hohoho, check out that last name!!" However, it was a Monday night near last call so no one was even really in there.

This was taken at The Redhead; a piano bar which we thought would be just lovely. When we walked in, it was filled with groups of old nasty businessmen on a date with one young girl. Everywhere we turned there were old nasty men making out with young ladies. It was sick. Towards the end, one of the businessmen started to take his pants off to show his underwear off. That's when we left. The city seemed to be filled with these people everywhere we went. I'm hoping its because we were there on odd days. We tried to get a picture of everyone making out, but it didn't work out.

I uh, just liked this picture.

What we ate every second. With Martinis because pizza and martinis are like... coffee and cream..? Yes.

This is the front window of Macy's. There were huge crowds starring at them during all hours of the day. I tried to take excited tourist pictures in front of them, but it didn't work.

The drive home was long, and hence the 90,000 pictures TAKEN OF MYSELF. 90,000 is not an exaggeration. We were in the car for so long that we even were listening to Backstreet Boys. You probably don't understand how the two go hand in hand, but they somehow do.

and then I realized it might be fun to try to get your whole body in one picture for like, myspace or something.

Enough already.

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For Thanksgiving, my Dad, sister, and I broke tradition, and did something new. We normally go to my Dad's side of the family, who are all cooo cooo for cocoa puffs, but that is another story and another LJ cut entirely. This year just the three of us went out for a nice dinner.

During dinner my sister and I were telling my Dad how thankful we are for how much freedom he's always given us to basically do whatever we want, and how whatever we wanted to do, he'd always support us. My Dad isn't known for being the greatest listener in the world, so while we were talking he was barely paying attention because he was so intrigued by the food he was eating, and eventually responded with "HOW do they get these noodles like that?!!?H" Let's just say the noodles were basically just spaghetti. This was followed shortly with "I really just want a drum set for Christmas!%!" I guess it is a good thing that my Dad is so carefree, and doesn't have a worry in the world.

This is my dad showing how he doesn't believe in doing yard work.

A pose my dad thought would be funny. We humored him

My Dad wanted a picture of him beating the dog with a stick, which is ironic because I've never seen my Dad even slightly upset in my life.

and of course, a senior picture pose.

and so on

My Dad says we look alike when we make this face. He calls it the gentry face

because my sister [and myself I guess] can never have too many POSED pictures.

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I don't know how the weather was where you were, but Thanksgiving night got really foggy out, and it was very mysterious and spooky looking out. So I took creepy pictures of my lovely sis, who will probably yell at me for posting these.

Look at the fog!

This is our backyard! It's so spooky looking!

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Ashley, Zach, Adam, and I all went to Ann Arbor and had a lovely time. If this livejournal post weren't 90,000 pages long, I would go into more detail. Moral of the story: I love you guys and I love it when we actually get to see each other.

woooo, bar pictures...

and because I couldn't resist, this is Brutey sleeping. He makes that bed everynight with his little paws.

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Katie had a lovely birthday filled with joy, laughter, music, cupcakes, and dancing. Happy Birthday K Bear.

My camera is always blurry. sweet.

Clapping to the music.

The helmet that I made Marissa and Rob try on and pose with.

The photographer refused to take pictures when people were ready.

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Conclusion [because this is so long, I feel there should be a conclusion]:
I've had a wonderful week. Friends, Family, and Cupcakes. What more could a girl want.

perhaps a real update for once?

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:46:11 GMT

You know what? I had a really good day today.
Right when you're starting to feel out of it with feeling like everyone is moving away, and having the ideas of wanting to do the same, yet feeling trapped with school issues and the "what are you doing with your life" questions, is when you call up a friend and get a cup-a-joe. I mean, it's basically fall now.

Today that friend happened to be Eric Nicole Louise Moonbear. We drank good coffee, said farewells to Michelle over a shoarma, had good conversations, and even met the mysterious celebrity-like girl who i always see flying around town with high heels on while riding on her hip moped. I'm sure you know her.

It's crazy how refreshing a cup of coffee can be at times. Especially when it's in a new setting.

We bought new art, talked to nice local artist people, and felt artistically motivated. We also purchased a new antique blue couch. Come sit on it. It's pretty. On top of that, we finally found a new roommate. Her name is Kim, which I like to believe is short for Kimmy Gibler.

This place ain't so bad after all. In fact, it's very nice. I feel like everyone had a good day today. Yeah? I like to believe it's because today is Ashley's birthday.

p.s. are any of you going to 80s night? I know perhaps it's been played out for a while, but it seems like an appropriate time to go. eh?

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:07:01 GMT

If any of you are curious about the old southern ladies who have stayed with us at the hotel for a year...

They got kicked out. I'm not even kidding. Pushed out onto the streets!

Marquette: The shortened version

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:43:38 GMT

I visited the Upper Peninsula for the first time in my life. Marquette to be exact. It's amazing how beautiful it is up there.

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This "did you get a loada how pretty these trees are" picture basically sums up how I felt the entire car ride there and back.

As well as this picture when I saw Lake Superior.

And Rob.

This is where I learned that Lake Superior is often referred to as a she. i.e. "She's lookin' good today." or "Looks like she's brewin' up a storm right now." From what I've heard, she can be pretty fierce.

I went to visit Ashley, my long lost friend who I see only around important holiday's such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, and in this case, the most important holiday of all. labor day. The view from the car alone was beautiful enough, so you can only imagine how beautiful it was on top of a large cliff.

We hiked across the lake to an island, and up the cliff. BAREFOOT. Marquette kids do not mess around, and it's times like this when us Grand Rapid folk try to pretend like this is something we do everyday as well. I don't think I convinced a soul, but it was so much fun trying.

The hike to the island.

Many went cliff jumping. I felt skeptical. EDIT: This picture is misleading, and makes everything look smaller than it was. There was probably about a 40 foot drop. I'm saying this only so you all will think we are that much cooler.

I know pictures like these are boring to look at, especially if you weren't there, but cameras really don't do justice to how beautiful this place really is.

The water is so clear and blue, it's unreal.

Walking across this was scary. I don't know if it was Ashley saying "people die on this all the time" while taking the first hop onto the rocks, or the fact that I was convinced I would trip on my shoe laces and fall in, even though I wasn't even wearing shoes, and this wasn't at all possible.

We took a couple un-posed pictures before we left.

Saw the cutest pup in the world. (who was soon to be turned into carpet.) He loved Rob you could say.

and most importantly, caught up with really great people. It's amazing how friendly people are up there. People really go out of their way to talk to you, and are so down to earth. It was the most relaxing time I've had in a long time. It all really puts things into perspective & shows you what really should be important in life.

My Grandma is Da Bomb Diggidy

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:25:54 GMT

My Grandma turned 91. It seems like only yesterday I was making a post about her turning 90, and me being her favorite granddaughter yatayatayata. Which is all still true of course.

My Grandma has so much sass. Sass looks like ass. Yes, my grandma has so much ass...

next subject:

Granny ate fancy food.
Wore red lipstick and hip jewelry, and celebrated being nearly a million years old. Heck, we should have given her a drink. Lord knows she deserves it.

My Grandma bought me a matching orange sweater for her birthday, which only confirms my point that she likes me the most... ..even though it appears as though her face says otherwise.

Sis and I then went to the bar where it was confirmed that yes, I can only take blurry pictures because yes, my camera is that nice. We also confirmed that there is nothing to do in Adrian other than run into people you don't want to see in bars while drankin' a brewsky which only leads to ... awwwwwwkward...ness and run on sentences in livejournal!

P.S. Does anyone want this pooch? The other day, my Dad actually said, "maybe I should just drop him off in a nice neighborhood, and hope that someone takes him in." Because you know, he's smart enough to know that he should sit still and look cute in hopes that some rich folk will pick him up and feed him chocolate.

Thumbnails without words

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 15:57:26 GMT

I made dinner for everyone.

We had:
-Chicken and papaya Quesedillas (as usual)
-Avocado soup with pepper papaya relish
-Shrimp stuffed with feta, cream cheese, peppers and cilantro.
-Angel Food Cake











For the beginning of the night, Rob and I were matching. As much as you won't believe me, this wasn't planned, but we thought over posed portrait pictures were necessary.







I'm too lazy to explain anything and add captions. But... Happy Birthday to all and to all a good night!





















A lovely time.

Cheers to Midnight

Fri, 19 May 2006 23:33:35 GMT

I failed to mention that I turned 21.

.La Dolce.

My first legal beverage was a Thin Mint Martini. It tasted like candy in liquid form, and was followed with the best chocolate melt cake. This is the only time I'll use this term to describe anything, but the cake was very moist and delicious.

.And Then We Carried On Elsewhere.

Rob loves Michael Buble

We ate really great desserts where I once again took pictures of it before eating it, tried new drinks, hogged the jukebox while requesting only Kylie Minogue, Abba, and Michael Buble, telephoned a certain Sailor, thought of a certain Adam, danced in our seats, giggled, relaxed, ate Bombay and Sushi in the same day, and had a grand ol' time.

I'll drink to that. Thanks for coming out and celebrating.

Three little birds pitch by my doorstep

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:14:26 GMT

Last night before we ventured out to various locations, I decided to take a quick nap. When I woke up, I was slightly loopy, as the main thing on my mind was how cozy my bed just was. It was shortly after this when we were locking the door, and I managed to fall down most of our front doorsteps. I even rolled down a few of them. Like, you know, somersaults. It's not that I tripped. I didn't miss a step. I didn't roll my ankle. I didn't step on an untied shoelace. I just fell. I sat there for a few seconds while I thought "wow. hm. That hurt." My glorious friends handed me my shoes, because yes, both of them fell off. They patted my head a couple of times, as I stood up, brushed my pants off, and carried on. My legs felt all nimbly bimbly, and tingly, and cut, yet it didn't occur to me until we got out of the car that perhaps I should check my legs for blood. I carried on most of the night with small amounts of blood on my legs. Some might like to call that disgusting, and childish for not cleaning it up, but I really enjoyed the idea of being able to flash my bloody legs at any time during the night in hopes that some would think I just got in a rumble with someone outside. I mean, tough people usually just have blood on their legs, right? Today my legs feel cut and bruised like a child who fell down during recess. Yet they also feel old and sore like that of an old woman who is slightly crippled. They're totally fine, they just hurt when things like air, or water, or things touch them. Or if I move them a little to the left or right. Or even up and down a little.

The real point behind this story is that I'm finally able to sport these really cool monkey band-aids that I've had sitting around waiting for some skimmed knees. Finally, I'm putting them to good use, and they look really great!

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 01:30:50 GMT

The Lawrence Welk show makes me very happy.
I just woke up to an episode where baking a cake turned into a song followed with a tap dance. Maybe I was born in the wrong decade, but I love this. Mostly because it reminds me of my Grandma. During christmas, we watch the show together, and when we are in different cities, we call each other to make sure we are both watching it.

I've missed my Grandma a lot lately. Somehow phone calls don't seem to be enough sometimes when I hear that she's lonely and can't get around. Don't get me wrong, she's the healthiest 90 year old you'll ever meet, but I can definitely tell a difference within the last year. I hate to think about it. I'm hoping to go see her next weekend.

On another note, after talking to my sister today I got to thinking about the things I want to do when I'm out of school. I had gotten it in my head that I didn't know what I wanted to do again, and a lot of the things that I felt semi passionate about earlier on, didn't sound as appealing anymore. But then I got to thinking about how dumb it is to limit yourself to doing just one thing. There are so many things I want to do, and so many different jobs I want to have, and it's really exciting. I still want to go to culinary school if for no other reason than to do it for myself. It'll be like my thing. Or it can even be a career until I decide I want to move on, and try something else. It can be so many different things. All of it isn't that far away, really. I've really noticed over the last year that I really over analyze every small detail in my life, and it's amazing how much easier things are, and how much easier they fall into place if you just let things be. I'm glad I have my sister because she is the most encouraging person I know, and without her I don't think I'd be very motivated at all.

Things have been really good lately.
+My brother is getting married, and soon will be a drill instructor, both of which are scary thoughts.
+My sissy graduates soon, and will be placed in a job that she's wanted for so long & really deserves.
+My Dad is dating a woman who is really good to him.
+Things have been kind of different lately, and it's really refreshing.
+I found a new love for pancakes.
+Things have seemed to make more sense lately.
+It's a new year.

Evidence that the orange room has been cleaned:

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 01:39:13 GMT

Since we moved in, (back in May) we've had an entire room dedicated to where we throw random shit that we aren't sure what to do with. Until now, we've always kept the door closed, and told people that its a door that leads to nothing.

But now...It's what some like to call rather, to quite clean. Of course it still has random items such as mattresses that are being hidden with shower curtains, but we are hoping it will be mistaken for a large comfy pillow. <

We've decided to use the orange room for new things. Such as:

A place to think

A place to gossip & tell secrets

A place to listen to those who need it

A place to tell scary stories

But most importantly, a place to bond with your closest friends & family with the comforts of shag carpet, and blinding wallpaper.

No really. Come hang out while it lasts.

I broke it, you broke it, everyone has broken it

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 01:18:27 GMT

My sister bought me a peace dove necklace last christmas. It's my favorite gift I've received because it has a lot of meaning behind it.

However, I never get to wear it because it's always broken. The chain has broken three times, to the point where it is now in several different 1 inch pieces.

So I finally decided to just buy a new chain, and start new. I spent a good amount of time trying to find a chain that looked just like the one I had, and when I finally found it, I got it home, and realized the peace dove charm doesn't fit.

I think it's all a sign.
I think it's also a sign that I need to just get it tattooed to my damn arm. It can't break then. Unless I break my arm. Which would most likely happen.

All I want for Christmas is Spring.

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 23:52:04 GMT

I take back everything I said about Winter.
I hate winter.
It's not even really winter right now, but I hate how dark it is! I cannot tell you how lazy this makes me. Take today for example:
Today I got home from work and said to myself:"hey self. Sup. You should really take a nap."
My body said "hey, I'm really not tired though.."
And I said: "Well do it anyway!"

SO I DID. I forced myself to sleep and waste the small amount of time during the day where there is light, and now that it is dark I assume there is nothing to do except go to bed.

I can't do anything without the light of day. It's like vitamins for my body, and without it, my body is a stubborn little bitch that doesn't want to do anything. My room is a disaster, but because it's past 5 pm, there is nothing I can do about it! I say "get up and clean" and when I stand up, my legs are all "no, sit down!" I'm completely serious when I say it's completely out of my control. It wasn't my idea to make the sun go down so damn early.

And yes, I've been in my pajamas since I got home from work. At noon.
I've been listening to the same two Will Smith songs [it keeps the robbers out, and makes the neighbors happy] only because the cd keeps skipping back and forth, but to fix this, I'd have to walk all the way to the bathroom, which is like, 5 steps away, and 5 steps is just too far out of my reach.

Also, there is a ginormous hand print on my wall. Perhaps left by a burglar. Perhaps left by a bear. Not real sure.

So my point is, come over. The door is always open. Actually, it never is, but if I can pain myself to walk all the way to the door to unlock it, you are more than welcome to come in. We'll have wine. And Bread. Only because those are the only two items of food/drink that I currently have.

Ok goodnight. Seriously, goodnight. I'm going to bed. Right now. (I joke, I joke, I keed, I keed!)

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 03:12:37 GMT

This is my favorite picture of my mom before she died. My sister and I took pictures to give to my family for Christmas. After looking through the pictures, we realized one of my pictures looks kind of similar.
Out of all of us, I look the least like her. However, I like to pretend that I do.

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Since I'm a child, and can only half-way keep secrets, I was asking my Aunt & Grandma who I look more like-my mom, or my dad. While it's obvious that I look exactly like my dad due to my coloring, [papa=dark eyes, dark hair, mom=light eyes, lighter hair] and such, I spent a lot of my day trying to convince my Aunt that sometimes when the light hits my eyes just right, they are lighter. I think I failed at proving this point.

On a side note, my Dad seems a lot happier right now. The last few times I've been home have been kind of sad because I wasn't sure if anything was ticking in his head. Today in the car, he was singing and *gasp* smiling.

These are a few of my favooooorite thinnnnnngs

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 21:17:53 GMT

I've been trying to find the good in winter lately. While sometimes hard, other times it's a lot easier than you would think.

+I like the days when I'm able to sleep in past 5:16 a.m. and being able to open my blinds and just lay in my bed a little longer while looking at the snow fall.

+I love the cozy feeling that comes with winter.

+I like being able to drink as much hot coffee as I want, and listening to Christmas music even if it seems as though I'm the only person in the world who likes christmas music anymore.

+I like when the snow falls in the way that makes me feel like I'm in a snow globe.

+I like how winter reminds me of old memories.

+I like stepping outside for the first time in the morning, and taking the first fresh breath, even if the air is absolutely freezing.

+I like winter mornings, and how it feels like I'm the first one in the world awake because sometimes it really is peacful and beautiful, especially on our street.

+I hate that it gets dark so early, but I love burning candles in my room late at night.

+I love watching the Lawrence Welk show when it's a christmas episode. In fact, I've been looking forward for Saturday nights for days now.

+I like when Christmas feels old fashion.

+I like how the weather makes strangers stop and talk to you about how "crazy" it is outside. Especially the ones who don't have teeth.

F stands for "You fail motherfucker!"

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 23:35:23 GMT

Note:
I do not claim to be a good writer by any means. However, I understand that words such as "crap" "piss" and smiley faces do not belong in papers that are being put into a professional portfolio for a grade.

So, I've been grading portfolios for one of my classes. I'd like to share a few of my favorite quotations [that one was for you, Kristi.)

For an advertisement analysis paper, a girl wrote about Neutrogena:

Prom, to a teenager, especially a teenage girl, is a disaster if they wake up with a huge zit on their forehead. Sometimes, the teenager will skip prom altogether. They would rather do this than attend the event and face embarrassment. Young girls will view this ad and think, “Oh my god. What if this happens to me? I have to get this before I'm in that situation...” This kind of thinking also makes teenagers think of other situations where this kind of disaster can ruin, such as a first date or the homecoming football game. Teenagers will think that if they have Rapid Clear in their medicine cabinet at all times, these situations can be avoided. Neutrogena, although somewhat shady, does an excellent job in their Rapid Clear ad with attracting potential customers. I'm sure that this ad has helped their sales tremendously and that the ad creators got a bonus. ☺

SHE ENDED THAT PARAGRAPH WITH A SMILEY FACE. Maybe there is a rule in writing that I don't know about that says "end a paragraph with a smiley face for ... shits and giggles?" gosh I don't know.

Oh, and not to mention... SAY WHAAAT?!

and also:
Also, on Neutrogena’s legal website, it states that “..the owner’s of this site…make(s) no representations, warranties, or assurances as to the accuracy…of the information provided...” WHAT?!?!? All this crap they said may not even be true? If teenagers read this information before purchasing the products, it’s not likely that they would buy Rapid Clear.

Having trouble emphasizing a point? Just use as many question marks and exclamation points as possible.

Stay tuned.

update
Next paper:
Topic: Female Genital Mutilation
Female Genital Mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is believe to have started somewhere in Egypt though no one knows exactly when or where or how in Egypt or even if it really did start in Egypt

Soooo, a shot in the dark then? Yes. A shot in the dark. Maybe it started in London. Maybe the next paragraph will talk about how maybe it started in London, but maybe not..

See how many times I can update in one day

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 16:28:53 GMT

I'll stop updating every 2 seconds as soon as exams are done. Somehow, when I have a lot of things to do, I always wind up here instead.

I found these old pictures of my Dad/family. I can't help but think my Dad was pretty hip looking as a 20 something year old. He looks so happy, and to be quite honest, I've never seen him look as happy as he does in these pictures.

That's my Mom, Dad, sister and brother on the far right. Where was I? Off playing with fire? Not sure.

Speaking of exams, it's all been a funny week to me. I've been literally running from place to place, but not in the sort of way where I feel stressed out, but rather, in the sort of way where at the time, running honestly seemed like it would be more efficient. Yesterday I decided 2 hours before a presentation that I wanted to change absolutely everything. So I did, and somehow got everything done in time. [Thanks to the running I'm sure] When I got to class, I realized I forgot the most important part of my presentation at home. I freaked out, ran a little, and then realized "psh! I can do it without" and carried on. In the end, it all worked out just fine. I have a presentation to prepare, a small project, and two papers to write before 6, and I honesty don't regret leaving everything for the last minute. It makes for a good chuckle along the way.

I hope you all are having the best day of your life today. No really, I do.

So we meet again. and again. and... again.

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 00:24:27 GMT

Pose 1
The "what of it?" pose

Almost frightening!

Because every roll of film should have at least one picture with this expression.

The distracted pose.

The intentional "I don't know what's going on" face

Yes, we took too many pictures.

The pose that pretends everything is normal. Because it is, right?

Why aren't family portraits ever posed like this?

The unruly teenager of the family

My sister's mannequin, Brian, was feeling a little down.

The "Who's this guy?!" pose

Senior picture pose. Notice my toes are indeed pointed.

I'm embarrassed that we actually took that many pictures.
Yet here we are, Livejournal.
Which one screams family christmas card?

I don't have time for homework. Only livejournal apparently.

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 01:52:25 GMT

...........................................................................................................

Marissa and I made mashed potatoes for the first time [a week ago actually.]
This is a pretty big deal based solely on the fact that we've been eating
microwavable mashed potatoes since freshmen year, and always treated
them like they were something to write home about. Everyone would crowd to our
dorm room where we would share mashed potatoes from the only bowl we owned, &
drench them with stolen butter from whichever neighbor we pretended to like
for a second. [Not you George]

The thing about this picture that makes me laugh is that I like to pretend that
it is smoke in the picture, and not steam. In fact, when we first saw this picture,
we assumed it was smoke, and not steam. I like pretending that something went seriously
wrong, yet Marissa keeps on smiling.

...........................................................................................................

But Katie & Dan made sure to lick the bowl like it was frosting.

The point of this post?
Still not really sure.

My Dad, Ladies & Gentlemen.

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:22:38 GMT

And you wonder where I get my napping habits from.."
P.S. All those toys were thrown at him, yet none of them woke him up.

Happy Thanksgiving.

>My sister and I tried a new sushi place last night, only because Marado was closed.
So the new place we tried could easily be compared to a sushi diner. Is there such thing as a sushi diner? Well, there shouldn't be. When we walked in, the place resembled a shitty Bob Evans/sports bar that reeked of dead fish that were most likely just stored in cardboard boxes in the back. They had ESPN on the tv, because that makes sense in a sushi restaurant. Every time someone entered the restaurant, the waiters/chefs would yell "Ruuuusssia!!" I'm assuming this isn't what they were saying. I'm also assuming maybe it means... welcome? Or.. "we are going to kill you!" or.. "eat (our) shit and die!" I don't know!

So we sit down, and our waiter comes and hands us dirty wet towels. I'm assuming this is something that is actually done in Japan, however, I didn't know if we were suppose to clean ourselves, or wipe the table down.

The smell eventually became increasingly stronger, to the point where we didn't trust it. Our options now included:

1. Making a run for it! Get your shit and leave.
-Didn't work. waiters were guarding the door. second door was blocked with a table.

2. Splitting up, and somehow escaping to the car. Sister go to bathroom, I go to car, sister escapes through bathroom window, and we're off.
-Didn't work; no windows in bathroom. Too scared.

3. Emergency phone call! Someone needs help! We must leave at once!
-Didn't work. Laughter made it seem like it was not an emergency.

4. There is no way out of this. Let's just order something from the menu that does not include fish.

What did we order:
-a side salad
-an orange pop (only because it seemed to be the most random item)
-a side order of ice cream
Obvious that we think this place is gross? Very much so!

After 20 minutes of trying to figure out what to do, we ordered. We assumed that the waiter thought we were so uncultured, and somehow a side salad, orange pop, and ice cream seemed to be the only items that we knew what they were. Really, we just didn't know what was going on in the back room!

When we got our food, we decided that even the small side items seemed sketchy.

... So we threw them in my purse!

The waiter came back and asked if we had used the wet dirty towels. We said no, and he took them away as though he was just going to go hand them to the next table. Maybe he was even going to just go put them back in the drawer. Makes sense.

We paid for our food, and pledged to never come back, because it made us feel like this:

On the way out, I noticed that they catered. "oh good," I said, "maybe I could have a sushi party." What did they use to advertise this wonderful catering service with?

Nothing more than two old/dirty polaroid pictures of a huge platter of sushi with the price of $399 below the picture.

Precious.

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:43:44 GMT

This is why I take so many pictures.
You all look beautiful.

I think I'm getting sick.

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 21:10:52 GMT

Sometimes when I'm in the computer lab, I like to update my livejournal and check my email even though there is a long line of students waiting to do things that actually matter. And when I can't think of anything to write about, I sit and wait until I can think of something. And when people peer over my shoulder to see if I'm almost done, I just minimize and wait until they slowly walk away. You're just prolonging my time at the computer, kid! I'm busy.

Moving on.

Snow being the focus of a conversation is so weird sometimes. It seems like everyone hates it, and is bitter about it, yet everyone is constantly talking about it. I can't even count the number of times I've either been asked "so, how 'bout that snow? hohoho" by someone, or even asked it myself. It's like a comfort topic that is so uninteresting to talk about, yet you find yourself doing it all the time!

By the by, I talked about this snow with the one and only Santa Claus today. No really. Shyeah. I met Santa. He's staying at the Residence Inn. He came down wearing a button up christmas shirt, overalls, and Christmas socks. When I saw him I assumed he was just some weirdo who strangely resembled the Claus, and had more christmas spirit than any wacko out there (this includes myself.) When I heard the front desk lady say "HI SANTA! How was your bed last night?" for some reason I assumed it was some kind of sick pet name. (And how was your bed last night? What a weird question.) After asking the infamous "so how 'bout that snow?" to Santy Claus, he said "Well, I'm the one who brought it." in the most serious/awkward tone. Still not knowing if this man is insane, or employed as Santa, I giggle and say "you did... um, are you going to bring more?" Somehow that is the only thing I could think of to say. It's not like I could I go and dis the snow infront of a man who may or may not be Santa. Bad things could happen. Also, why do I keep referring to this man as if he really is Santa?

People were crowding around him. Oddly, children weren't, just middle aged men. Questions like "hohoahahoh, so what do you really do for a living?" were asked followed basically with SC saying "make toys, you dumb ass. Duh."

He looked exactly like this. Imagine that, Santa looking like Santa.

On a more disturbing level, I can't help but post these as well.
Somehow these pictures came before the actual pictures of Santa.

Also, the way the snow is falling right now makes me feel like I'm in a snow globe. That's a good thing. I like to watch it fall.