Lent

Just thought I'd let y'all know:

no internet for me during Lent.

Over the hills and far away...

To quote my sister, "... That's where your brain is, Sam!"

It's where I'd like me brain to be, aye.

Too much stuff going on. Well, actually, it's not going on; it's that stuff that people want me to have going on. Apparently, word's leaked out that I can both sing/cantor and accompany... translation: "SAM YOU'RE SINGING FOR THIS MASS!" or "OOH, SAM, CAN YOU ACCOMPANY US AT THIS MASS?!" or "SAAAAAAAAM YOU SOUND SO LOVELY WILL YOU PLAY A PRELUDE FOR US BEFORE OUR SERVICE?!".

I'm a STUDENT.

I'm STUDYING.

And I'M SICK OF INTERRUPTIONS.

I have schoolwork to do. I have no intention of making any more commitments. People, it just isn't going to happen.

I'm going back to algebra now.

QWERTY

aweprgaihwepofiahpweoufhapiweugoapuhepwiufhapiweuhfapiwueg[apiouehf[awoeufhapwieufgapieuygfaipuwehfpoahogjsfjkbvnklzxjhfsaphui oghacdvbjkbcckj nlhlaeuhycnoifgoiugioUHPIUHGPIUAHGIRUHigai;ruh.

You heard me, folks!

I'm... tired.

Life's insane. Rather than getting used to it, I'm doing the opposite - it feels like if I have one more activity or commitment that I have to think about, then I'm going to lose my mind and jump on the next plane to Alaska and live in an igloo for six months!

I don't mind the schoolwork. Heck, I like the schoolwork. It's everything else; the playing for Mass, applying to colleges, writing emails, practicing driving, babysitting, cleaning, preparing for vacations.... etc.... that are driving me crazy. And it's too icy outside right now to go running, so I can't de-stress that way - nor can I go biking or teach myself rollerblading, obviously. The only times I get outside when it's like this is when I take Kodi out on his walks.

I can't wait until I graduate (again). Just... I'm ready for another break. Ready for all these college applications to be sent in and done with. Ready to know where I'm going to go to school. Ready to have time to write again.

I'm so ready to be DONE.

Writer's woes...

Oooooookaaaaaay. Most writers have their own individual pet peeves, but there are a few certain misspellings and errors that annoy EVERYONE. Here is a sentence that demonstrates a few of those certain errors.

"Their are two girls who enjoy taking they're mothers dog, who's collar is too tight, to the park with its owner whose always more tired than her children."

Rewrite it correctly. If you don't see anything wrong with it... a grammar book is in your near future.

Essays

I'm using my blog to study. Usually, I don't study with a computer at all, but this is an exception: I need to improve my writing, and as quickly as possible.

My writing is too murky. My meanings are ambiguous, my thesis is indistinguishable from the rest of my introduction, and my points are obscured by my language. I need to develop the habit of writing in a direct style, rather than enjoying myself and writing flowery prose. I need my writing to be more coherent and easily understood. The SAT reader who grades my essay will only have about three minutes to read my piece; I can't afford to be vague and have them wondering what on earth I'm talking about! My writing must be direct, lucid, straightforward, and hopefully interesting, and it must also demonstrate a competent understanding of sentence structure, spelling, and vocabulary.

My question to you is thus: how does the above paragraph conform to those qualities I just listed?

Random moment

This morning, Zita came wandering up to Rebecca with a very forlorn expression. Beck, being the nice sister that she is, picked her up and asked, "what's the matter?"

Zita gave Beck a sad puppy-dog look, then told her, "I'm so hungry... I want an appetizer!"

Beck, doing her best to hide a grin, asked, "Do you even know what an appetizer is?"

Zita's response: "Uh-huh. See?!" Zita took off running for the kitchen, opened the refridgerator door, and pointed out what she wanted. "Appetizer!"

Beck: "Zita, that's apple cider."

Splashdown!

Okay, no 'splashing'. BUT--

WE OFFICIALLY HAVE THE LATIN MASS!

We had the first Mass yesterday evening, and the next one is in a week. After that, it'll be once a month, on the first Sunday of the month. Once we have enough people that they think can support a priest, we'll get our own apostolate up here, and our own church. Hoorah!

Quote

One of my many favorite quotes... I'm curious to see if anyone knows it.

"Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the Powers, against the Principalities, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

No googling that quote! - I want to see if you know it offhand.

Sickling

I.

Am..

Sick...

So, I'm camped out on the living room floor, refusing to get up or move any more than I have to - and I'm DEFINITELY not going to eat anything for the next few days. I don't even feel like typing. Talk to y'all later.

Success!

All right, I know this is minor, trivial, and in all other ways ridiculous, but...


I UNDERSTAND SINE, COSINE, AND TANGENT!!!

*dances* Hahahahaha I finally understand it! It's so simple that I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out... I don't know if I was making it too complicated in my head or what, but now that I get it it seems absurdly easy! Tangent is opposite over adjacent.... hehehehe WHOO!

Writing

I just started working on a lipogram for the fun of it (for those who aren't vocabulary nerds, a lipogram is a piece of writing without the use of a certain letter of the alphabet. Most lipograms don't use the letter E). So, I'm working on a whole short story with not one single E in it. Call me crazy, but it's fun. Half of the time, my first draft sentences are kinky and unreadable, but now that I've been working on it for three days I'm starting to get the hang of it.

The difficult thing: Can you imagine a fantasy story without Es?! That nixes at least half of your setting nouns! Forest, tree, palace, house, hovel, cottage, throne, castle, turret, tower, desert, vale, valley, dale, dell, dance, stone, tunnel, cave, hole.....

Not to mention that there's no "the" allowed.

Music love

The soundtrack for Stardust is coming out in TWO DAYS!!! I hope I can get it from the library ASAP... otherwise, I'm sure I'll end up blowing $10 for it on my next B & N trip. And same goes for the soundtrack to Transformers! The movie was all right (nothing to write home about, I'd say, but not too bad, either), but the soundtrack was love at first hearing. Forget all the heavy metal/rock that they put into the movie; I could care less about all of that. But the orchestral score was fantastic! And, to top it all off - I'm next in line to get the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean III from the library. Weeeeee.

Here we go again...

Almost time for another schoolyear to start - or, rather, time to plunge headfirst into the maelstrom of studying. School begins on the 4th. I've got vocabulary, reading, composition, religion, German, biology and chemistry, Algebra II and advanced math (pre-calc), organ, and American literature.

I don't think I'm forgetting anything...

Yiiiiiippee!!!

*raises both eyebrows and gives everyone a crazy grin* Guess what, peoples!

Gggggguueeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss........... guess what just made my day.

hehehehehe.

*dances*

Fascinations

The concept of fascinations is fascinating in itself if you think about it long enough. Every person lives for different reasons; different activities are considered worthwhile or important; even lifestyles are vastly different from person to person. Eventually, looking at these differences leads you to the root: each person's unique fascinations. Fascinations sculpt us into what we are, who we are, and who we will become.

An interesting thought, isn't it?

I'll use myself as an example. My number one fascination is, of course, God. I live my life with the sole intent to know, love, and serve him to the best of my capabilities, which mean that I do my best to hold myself to perfection (no, I don't achieve it. But I do my best). That's going to govern a lot of my actions.

Other fascinations include: music, writing, reading, exercise, and animals.
- Music will always play a huge part in my personality; while I don't listen to music constantly, and would probably be get annoyed if I did, I love to perform, listen to, attempt to compose, and learn music.
- Writing is my outlet; through it I express whatever I'm feeling at the moment, whether it be blinding rage (rare) or a newly-discovered sense of humor.
- Reading is my pasttime; whether it be in immersing myself in the confines of a fantasy world, entering the mindset of the author in an autobiography, or confining myself to a Siberian forced labor camp in a non-fiction story, I adore entering the world of the story.
- Exercise gives me energy, in more ways than one. I feel an insane thrill when racing my bike down a mountain at 35 mph, or running until my legs can hold me up no longer, or slamming down a volleyball over the net as hard as I possibly can.
- Animals are my refuge; my dog Kodi is an ever-present companion, who howls when I leave him and welcomes my return with a deep "aaawww-WROOF!". I would love to surround myself with animals, whether they be dogs, cats, or squirrels - but the fact of the matter is, I'm 17, and I don't have the money to feed a Great Dane just yet.

There's another thing that rules my life, but it's not a fascination: family. Family, though, is not about "me", therefore, I don't classify it as a fascination.

Now, that's me. My life. My loves. My world. The above fascinations are unique to me - take away one, or add one, and I'd be completely different. There are so many different fascinations that it boggles my mind: cars, racing, horses, art, money, working, sewing, watching movies... the list goes on.

And fascinations are why it's so much fun to meet a new person, too. They carry with them their own set of fascinations, some of them alike and some of them not so much like yours. It's always interesting to watch two people meet while thinking about their fascinations - it makes it into a game of predicting how the two will interact.

I won't end this by asking 'what are you fascinations?'. I could, but I see no point. Rather, I'm just going to ask you... Do you think that I believe what I just said in this post?

Random music wonderings...

Anyone have suggestions for music to sing for the first High Mass up here in Ft. Collins? I have plenty to draw from, but I don't really feel like thinking about it at the moment... just curious to hear your thoughts/suggestions.

And hey - anyone familiar with the Latin Mass, feel free to comment on which chant Mass you think I should do (VIII, XI, whatever). However, I can already guarantee I won't have the choir "learn" XVIII. :P

I feel like going to sleep now. And it's only 7:20.

Latin Mass meeting

I just got back from a meeting for the people who want the Latin Mass in Fort Collins. Here's the scoop:

- They don't know where it's going to be yet, but wherever it is at first, it'll be temporary: We're eventually going to be building our own church. And, judging by what Fr. Jackson (the priest who will probably be saying Mass for us) said, it may not be an itty-bitty chapel. We've already got pews, Communion rails, and there's a surplus of high altars that have been offered to us (not just cheesy ones, either. Real white marble, fantastic statuary, the whole she-bang!).

- They don't know what time exactly, but it'll be on Sunday afternoon/evening-ish. It depends on the location.

- The first Mass is going to be Sept. 2nd.

- Said Mass is going to be a High Mass. Heeeeeeeeeerrrrrrreeeee's where it gets interesting.

Getting together the Music for a High Mass is not going to be a walk in the park! Carl Dierschow, the director of a Gregorian chant choir at a very contemporary parish right by my house was at this meeting. The first person that Fr. Jackson looked to when he said "This will be a High Mass," was Carl. The expression on Carl's face was priceless. It was something between "Holy Lord, Mother Mary, HELP!" and "Are you serious?"

And Carl's first reaction: To point to me, the one teenager there, and say, "Hey, she's the one that you should talk to, she knows what she's doing." (Not an entirely true statement, people! I have much to learn)... So, I am now unofficial music person for that Mass. And possibly all the following ones.

Now, regarding this particular Mass: there is no way Carl's chant choir is going to be able to sing the Propers for a High Mass. No way. Not feasible. Me, I can sightread the Propers, but that doesn't do any good. I need to find a choir. Ooooooooohhhhhh boy. I have a month to get together enough people to sing at a High Mass. *promptly gets down on knees and says a Memorare and a prayer to St. Jude*

- Supposedly, we have an organist. He wasn't at the meeting, but someone said he'd be willing to come play. (whew! that's a load off my shoulders.)

- We have land. Donated for $1, provided we build a church on it.

------

A request: Rebecca Willen, if you're reading this, can you beg your sister (and heck, the whole Holy Rosary choir!) to visit me on the 2nd of September? I... need... help... *goes off to find the Propers for that Mass*

Character deaths

For those of you who are familiar with my writing and/or why I started writing, you already know that one of my pet peeves is that my favorite character in a story usually dies a heroic death. The point of this post, however, is not to rant about how the author had the nerve to kill off a character (specifically, a character that I liked); rather, I want to show why character deaths bother me so much from a writer's standpoint.

Realistically, I don't mind the character dying. Hey, I've killed off my fair share of valiant heroes, innocent bystanders, and rabidly cruel villains alike. BUT! I really do mind when my favorite character in a story dies for practically no purpose whatsoever, especially in a story with sorcery. It's not the death itself that bugs me (often, some character death is necessary) - I just want to see it done well!

First Point:

There must be a need for the character to die.

If a characters dies, there MUST be a need. Take, for example, Gandalf from "Lord of the Rings": though he technically didn't die in Moria while fighting the Balrog, to the knowledge of all but he and the Balrog, he was no longer on the radar. This was necessary because, with Gandalf present, the Fellowship probably would not have broken up. Gandalf would have kept Boromir in line, so Frodo wouldn't've run off to Mordor; he would've sensed the Orcs coming sooner, and so would have warned Merry and Pippin to stick with everybody else. His death also heightened the stakes and increased the sense of danger for Frodo. So, Gandalf's temporary death was necessary, story-wise.

What I dislike is when characters die simply because "someone has to die". That is so incredibly pointless. Which leades into my next point:

Second Point:

The death cannot be cheesy.

If I read - or watch on TV, for that matter - another heroic death in which the loyal servant/sidekick/friend character takes the death blow instead of the hero(ine), I'm going to retch. Not because I dislike heroic deaths; rather, because they're usually done so poorly.

My opinion of the typical "friend leaps in front of the hero and is skewered by the spear meant for hero" scenario: it's pretty pathetic and an easy way out for the writer. If someone has reflexes fast enough that they can leap in the way of a moving spear (or arrow in flight, or javelin thrust, whatever), they're going to have insanely fast reflexes. So, if they're fast enough to throw themselves in the path of a moving javelin... wouldn't they be fast enough to be able to shove the weapon away with their hands? Or at least deflect it?

That's one thing that bugs me.

The other thing is mostly applicable in novels with sorcery or magic. The very first thing that a sorcerer (especially one with a lot of enemies) is going to do is protect his life in some way or another. All right, maybe some morons would do this by surrounding themselves with spells of strength, invincibility, etc. - but, if someone's smart enough to use sorcery in the first place, why would they do that? Rather than practically shout out "here I am and I cannot be killed... except by someone who breaks these spells!", why not hide all methods of self-preservation? Why not make a labyrinthine maze of complex spells that are next to impossible to trace and almost completely invisible/unbeknownst to the average enemy? It seems odd that sorcerers would put all their energy into, say, something as obvious as the One Ring.

So, in conclusion: I like deaths that are obviously well thought-out on the writer's part, that work well in context of the story, and that take characters who are likely to die. Apart from that, though, characters deaths annoy me. A lot.

Chinese Zodiac

I find those things absolutely hilarious, for more than one reason. They're interesting ways to pass the time if you're bored while waiting for food at a Chinese place, but apart from that, I can't imagine their usefulness. Take my zodiac sign, for example -

"Horse: You are popular and attractive to the opposite sex. You need people."

... *dies laughing* I think they were describing my opposite, because:

1) I don't particularly need people. As a matter of a fact, I vastly prefer to be alone. My dream home is a 100-square-foot house in the middle of the Sierra Nevadas, with no neighbors except the mountain lions for a few hundred miles. Aaaaaah, bliss.

2) "Popular"? Me? I hope not. While I try to be friendly, true, I want to be there when I'm needed as a friend, not just have people seek me out constantly.

3) "Attractive to the opposite sex"...? Excuse me while I go vomit. *fierce glare* I hate being considered (much less called) attractive, especially by a member of the opposite sex. Let me repeat: I like anonymity and being unnoticed. "Graceful", "attractive", "gorgeous", etc. - you get the idea: I hate those words. If my zodiac sign is right, and I am attractive, then it's time for a serious makeover.


So, yeah... point made: Anything attempting to predict your personality and/or tastes regarding companionship based on your date of birth is absolute malarkey.

-------- that was a really random post.