First, a picture.

Second, I have been instruted to blog- hopefully in great detail- by Third World and Moon Unit. To which I answered, "Hahahahah, as if I have a blog, hahahh- oh wait."

So here I go. Let's have some history! Which is to say, the modern history of ME- clearly the only reasonable history to look at. *preens*

I went to GF-W on Saturday! It was Exciting! I was served a donair in a pizza shop where Frauline and I were truly, deeply, strongly in the minority because we did not have visible tattoos. This experience affirmed my theorty that- no matter what Hollywood tells you- neck ink does not automatically serve to make you look badass/tough/intimidating. Weighing double a person's body weight and having an extra 12 inches on them does that. ^_^

But I am ahead of myself. SHAME on me! You see, we were in GF because Frauline was attending a watercolour workshop. I came along for reasons that will be revealed later, and also because I am a fan of road trips. She was going to be playing with brushes and hair dryers for two and a half hours, and so I thought I'd do some reading, maybe walk about, get some coffee; you know, as one does. The only problem with that is that I am very lazy and out of the walking habit. I consider my commute to work to be a walk, and I can do that in four minutes, in heels. If I was to go get coffee, I would have to cross a HIGHWAY. *stricken with exhaustion at the very idea*

So yeah, I read for two and a half hours. ^_^ It was a hard decision, but some things just have to be done. HAHAAHAHAHAH, yes, I enjoyed the reading and didn't want to stop. But then Frauline finished her art, and we looked at what we were going to do next. Because the OTHER reason we were in GF-W was to go to the theater, and watch Inception. But now it was 4:30, and the show started at 8:30.

I could tell you that I read for four hours, but that would be clearly preposterous, and untrue. I only read for three more hours, tops. But when you walk into the mall and see the blast cages rattling down, and then  go to Wal-mart and peruse it twenty minutes, your options are limited. So we went to the park and read. :D (I also got some earrings with feathers. They cause me delight and a bit of a dragon-ish hoarding instinct.)

But finally, we found the theatre- which must be sketchily accessed through a vacant lot at the back of a building built before my parents were born- and then we watched the movie! *jazz hands*

Several people have asked me what I thought of it. So, I'm gonna try to articulate my thoughts. :P There is no denying that Inception is a very effective story. It sucked me in for the entire two and a half hours, and I cared about how it ended. However, once it ended, I'm not sure that I want to watch it again. It wasn't really visually stunning, the characters didn't make me love them, there was startlingly little snappy dialogue to pour over, and I'm not terribly sure what it was saying.

Plus, that ending makes me angry. :P I WANT CLOSURE. It was good, and if suggested, I think I'd be happy to see it again- I just didn't really go away saying "Man, I Loved that!" I walked out going "I'm not quite sure what just happened, and I'm not sure if I like it."

And then we drove home. ^_^

There you have it. :D The first part of my DRAMATIC WEEKEND.

Epic blog entry of epicness

Here begineth the epic blog entry of last weekend. I'm hoping to get it all into one post without my fingers or language skills giving out- I'll see how that works out.

So, the plan was for Angelica to come out and spend the weekend with us. She was going to drive out from Sin Jawns on Thursday, and return on Sunday. Unfortunately, Thursday rolled in, and so did car troubles. Cue change of plans! (But what is a road trip without transportation issues? Seriously?) Instead, she was going to come in on the bus, on Friday. So Friday rolled in, and so did a blizzard. To make things even better, this was the last day before reading week for MUN students, so the bus stop was full of students anxious to make it home. Angelica didn't make it on the first bus.

In the charming way which DRL has of dealing with overflow passengers, they said they'd wake up the other driver and acquire another bus, come back in an hour. (Btw, the bus was supposed to leave at seven in the morning in the first place. Don't you getting out of bed in time to make it the bus stop at seven am on a saturday, in a snow storm, and being told to come back later? LOVE.) But an hour later, the next bus arrived, and Angelica embarked for the wilds of central newfoundland. It's supposed to be a six hour drive, including an hour meal break for lunch in Gander airport. (An airport so busy that it has two gates. One for departing, one for arrivals. AWESOME, no?) However, due to the snow on the roads, her bus arrived EIGHT HOURS after it left St. John's. Which is nine hours after she was supposed to leave, remember. Which was ten hours after she got up that morning. Given that this was her first bus ride, all I can say is that it gets better! Honestly! :P

But then my lovely family had cupcakes and party games as any excuse for a party to welcome her, and I got home from work in time for rock band tutorials (I really should never play again,) and to watch Up. (I heart that movie.)

Saturday I slept in.. *cough* Not for the whole morning, however! Because we went sledding. It was EPIC.

The picture of grace and dignity, that's me. And Angelica seems to be being attacked by my hair... Poor girl.

There's my mom, isn't she pretty?

After sledding we hung around for a while more, and I read, and then we went bowling! I bowled at 113, I think. Anyways, I broke one hundred, which made me happy. Even if I was the inspiration for the phrase "throwing really enthusiastic gutter balls." Sigh. Oh, and then we went to K and C's house for cake, hot dogs and Charlotte's Web! I queried people about art school and the rise of the civil rights movement. Strangely, people didn't see the connection between those two things when I started asking questions. Their minds must be so boring.. Or organized. That too.

Actually, however, my plot for Karma Police had fallen apart in my hands on Thursday, and I was trying frantically to shoe-horn it back together. Which was the basis for most of my questions, but some people didn't see that immediately. ANYWAYS.

On Sunday we went on an Explorer Girls adventure! Only this time, because we had a destination, and also there were four persons of the male persuasion in attendance, it was more of a, Expedition Persons adventure. We went out to K and C's cabin. The cabin was nice and warm, and contained hot chocolate and cookies. The trek out TO the cabin contained a great deal of slush and ice crystals, and wind off the ocean. I poked some ice pans with my toe, saw them fall gently apart and decided not to try jumping on them while they were in the water, and stomped several loose boards on the wharf back into place with my steel toed boots. Frauline was enraptured with some seaweed frozen into a block of ice that looked like swiss cheese, and the small ones climbed small cliffs. And those formalities over with, then we went inside and had lovely hot chocolate. :D

Oh, and Angelica had brought her camera, and K had brought her alter-ego Iris's wig, so we had a minor photo shoot which was lots of fun. There was only one wig, so the four of us that jumped at the chance to be in the picture had to take turns wearing it, and then Angelica had to stich it together using her arcane photo arts. See the result?

Aren't we fetching?

And then it was sunday afternoon, so Daddy and Angelica and I were going back to Town. Oh, didn't I mention that I was going too? Silly me. Yes, I had my passport, some spare rope and my credit card. So why WOULDN"T I be going? #rhetoricalquestionsftw

We drove in, which was a five hour drive ornamented with many much snow and awesome music, and then we dropped Angelica off at her house, and met up with my brother PT, (You remember PT, don't you? He fixes pianos and has a leopard gecko) at a suitably high-class establishment. So once I'd ordered my bacon cheeseburger and PT had his fries and drink, we sat down to chat. I know, you're amazed at the depth of our pocketbooks and my wild social life.

*cough* At any rate, we got a lovely phone call from our cousin announcing that she was engaged, which surprised no one but pleased us all, and then Daddy had to go calling, and PT and I decided to check out the theatre. Once we got there, there was a slight disagreement between myself and my brother as to which movie we wanted to see. He was strongly on the side of Shutter Island, and myself and my hyper imagination was just as firmly on the side of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. We decided the only way to choose fairly between them was Rock, Paper, Scissors. Yes, in the theatre lobby, in front of all the cool city teenagers who looked aslant at the baymen. Part of the joy of being as weird as I am is having minimal shame. :D

So, we watched Percy Jackson. *Celebratory Rock Paper Scissors dance* And the movie. Hmmm...

I am a hearty fan of the books. I had just read Last Olympian, which is the last volume in a five-book set, and I loved it. I loved all the details and the use of Greek Mythology, and the excellent way it's all crafted. Oh, and the great characters help too! The movie, well. In the words of my friend Rose after seeing it. "It's an amusing fanfic."Unfortunately, I'd spent much of the day working out and fixing plot issues with my story. So when I was trying to fall asleep (and falling off of) a couch later, I ended up spending much of the night working out and fixing plot issues with the movie. I'm pretty sure I fixed it all and it was marvellous! Too bad I can't remember anything now...

Then in the morning, blessed morning, Daddy and I went to Cora's for breakfast. I am still baffled by the purpose of ground cherries. But they put on a good show, and sometimes that's all you need from your food. After food, we went to the Janeway, which was brutal and heartbreaking as always. I want to write a book there, but I'm afraid of getting it wrong, and crying too much. I have nothing more to say on that subject right now.

At this point it was lunch time, or close enough for Government work. I was dropped off at the mall while Daddy went to make Important Business Connections. I was a good girl and bought work shoes first. And then I was magnetically drawn towards the bookstores.

Last time I was in reach of a bookstore I bought fifteen books. This time I bought twenty. However, because this time I was savvy enough to browse the paperback section instead of the hardbacks, it cost me 30% less. See my spoils? *presents them proudly*

I know it doesn't look like it, but this is honestly broadening my reading horizons, and with books that I think I'll actually READ. Unlike when I pick up Brothers K and say "Oh, I'm gonna read this next." Lies, I read the cheesy things I get from the library before I ready heavy russian things. Ahem.

Also I may or may not have climbed over a fence to get to Chapters. Silly unexpected rivers. Silly barbed wire. Sillest of all mud.

And then we drove home, with a brief stop for dance class. Here endeth the epic weekend.

"... and then I saw the highlighters that were also necklaces..."

When I was little I thought that dollar stores were TEH AWESOMEST THING IN TEH WORLD.

Then I became a teenager, and discovered social conscience and snobbery, and decided that nothing in a dollar store was worthy.

Then I got a job, and extended that to Wal-mart, and anything within 200 miles of my house (excluding bookstores.) None of you deserve my my heard-earned money! I must spend it in the CITY!!!

I think I grew out of those particular stages. I went to the dollar store the other day to get tupperware.

An hour later, I spent 57 dollars on purchases including a candle that smelled like coffee, and shiny luggage locks that are just so SHINY. I nearly bought a stuffed fish that was quite possibly the tackiest thing ever made- simply because it was tacky. Thankfully Frauline was there to drag me away from the iridescent leprous fish with floppy lips, stuffed with dust from thailand.

Then we found the wedding section. Have you ever seen the wedding section in a dollar store? Did you know you can buy a veil for five dollars, champagne glasses for four, a "do not disturb we're on our honeymoon" door hanger for two fifty, and a tablecloth and two bundles of lace for fifteen (to make the dress)? THERE IS NOTHING MORE YOU EVEN NEED. One stop shopping, right there. (I also may have had a laughing attack internally over a place holder that was a pair of grisly severed hands. Nothing says romance like a pair of severed hands!)

And I mean, the hilarity continues. Have you ever seen the make-up section? I swear the original nail polish that I was bought for learning to read was on that rack, for a dollar. And the pictures on the eyeshadow seem to indicate you should buy this if you are colour blind or legally blind.

Er, so far I haven't managed to give a good explanation for why I actually spent money on things. But I ask you. Don't you see the appeal of a potato peeler where the handle is actually shaped like a potato? Isn't that magical?

Isn't it?

...

Perhaps I shouldn't be allowed outside with money....

"We're not speaking. We had, an argument."

I am a Mac loyalist, and a little bit of a Mac racist. I mean, I will use Windows if absolutely necessary*, but only if absolutely necessary*. I mean, it's shiny, it always treats me right, and it makes witty jokes ads about other boys computers. *cough* No, I don't suffer from acute anthropomorphism of electronics✢, why do you ask?

I also started a Youtube account. This was prompted by my SHINY new jewelry which I had to show off, and mainly intended for my close freinds. (They seem to think me being incoherent and giddy is amusing/loveable/entertaining. You see why I'm friends with them? I NEED that ego-stroking❧!)

I've been making videos. (All three of them!) Without edits. Or grammar. WHooooooo, I'm grammar-free! And Bahnree, who I dearly love, suggested I use edits, on more videos. I whined and complained and agreed. Because I'm just gracious like that.

Actually I told Fraulein that she had to make a vlog. Because I'm just courteous like that. So we filmed four takes, with the intention of editing them together. And then we opened iMovie. And the abusive behaviour started.

It was a bit confusing at first, but I figured we could get through it. We cut out the bits we didn't want, added an effect or two (crickets sound effects!) and then the audio disappeared. Um, what? So we re-imported the offending clip and tried again. And again. And Again. It kept loosing the clips? Finally we get it to work, and go to export it. (this is an hour and a half later?) The benighted thing FREEZES. Okay, that would be fine, only IT DIDN"T SAVE. *anger*

I don't feel like going over all the pain and repedative steps of pain. Suffice it to say, two hours later, I am not speaking to my OS. It DECIVED me. *sulks* I want to like your iMovie, OSX, really I do, but no. Just no. I can't take that kind of abuse from my computer. I'm a delicate and easily angered person, that's why I came to you in the first place! Just take iMovie aside and give him a talking to, and I"m sure we can get along just fine in the future. Don't bother to talk to me before iMovie has been punished. *lofty*

*turns away*

*Absolutely Necessary. "No, you may not use your personal laptop on the secure network." "No, our budget does not allow for a mac in addition to the other public-use machines." "No, we only have the one computer in the college, why do you ask?" And things of that ilk.

✢Anthropomorphism of Electronics. Don't worry, Yinsen, honey, they didn't mean those mean things. You just stay over here with me, I'll recharge your battery and it'll all be fine.

❧ Ego-Stroking. "You're so pretty... *stares*"

A REAL Post.

Ahem.

As you may have noticed by my previous post, or perhaps by the lack of posting in the past, hmmm, several months, I have not been greatly inspired to blog lately.

What, what's that? You say you didn't notice? Hush, I'm busy deluding myself, which is- after all- the main point of blogging. Ahem.

BUT! *orator hands* I do have an excuse! Yes I do. And I'm going to bring it out now, and WAVE it at you. In your very FACE.

My hands hurt.

There you have it. Wasn't that a wonderful excuse? No, you say? Well, well, um, uh, *trails off uselessly* But the majority of sarcasm aside, (I can't put it all aside, that just is a personal impossibility,) I have indeed had sore hands. Apparently counting money for seven hours a day, five days a week, and then coming home and writing fiction - e.g. internet chatting while ignoring a blank word processor- for several more hours, has an effect! Who knew?

And, um, I'm lame. *cheesy grin* But anyways!

It was my birthday on Sunday! I turned 21! I spent it, in true Snazel-fashion, sleeping, browsing pictures on facebook, and playing Duck Duck Goose. :D Also there was cheesecake. Oh my, there was cheesecake. Mmmmm. I deeply love Cheesecake, and especially this one. Yum. Thank you, Mommy!

Fraulien gave me a lovely shirt that covers my abdomen and my smaller siblings gave me chocolate and itunes, and mommy and daddy gave me BOOKS in the form of a Chapters card, and it was generally very jolly. :D Oh, and because I watch Jeopardy like it's a competition- what do you mean Alex can't hear me? I shouted loud enough!- we played a trivia game. I ran my team into the red immediately and then masterfully kept them there with my fast reaction times and stunning guess skills. :D It was a fun birthday, indeed!

Okay, my brain is now gone. Byes.

"You look like Career Doll Barbie!" "Oh sweet heavens, I do."

Today at breakfast we discussed beta testing, submarines, the mail system and the Musad. And then we ended up with watching a video of a dancing parrot. I love my family. :D

The end-of-year has officially come for (most) of our activities. Brownies and Guides ended with a camp on the weekend, and Dance ended with The Show over the past five days. (If I could make that sparkly, I would. It's Just. That. Big. They sell out the Arts And Culture Centre for three days. Ahem.) Now Cadets, which the Walrus is involved in, ends with a dance on Friday, which the Walrus may or may not attend. The jury is still out.

I was in dance class for four and a half years, and involved in the show for five, but I'd never actually been in the audience on a performance night. This year I was, and I was very proud. *proud smile* Fraulein and Slonner were in a total of six dances, (the best ones.) I've now been inspired to get back into dance, if I can scare up the cash and transportation. The show its self was epic, of course. The theme was Variations: Deja Vu, and they did repeats of the best dances over the last 11 years. That sounds rather feeble, but then you realize these were all excellent dances in the first place, in addition to the fact that much of the audience was looking forward to seeing their old favorite dances again. It was very good. Too bad you missed it. *shakes head*

My sister just walked into my room and shaved green glitter onto my head. This should probably disconcert me more than it does. My response? Let's watch trailers on itunes! Something is wrong with me.

Anyhow! Let's talk about camp! This was the first Camp I've gone to as a leader, and it was slightly different from the other side. For one thing, sleep seemed so much more important? Some how, when you're a camper it seems fun to avoid sleep. When you're a leader you're more trying to avoid falling asleep on the lunch table. Also, limp french fries are less thrilling than actual salad with croutons and everything. This is a mysterious transformation, I wonder what could cause it? :D

At breakfast the first day I was clutching a mug of weak, burnt coffee like the ambrosia it was, and one of the Brownies inquired as to whether she could have some coffee. Given that this eight-year-old girl never seems to suffer from a lack of energy, my answer was decidedly in the negative. "Why?" was the predicable response. "Because I'm an adult," I responded- as predictably. The little Brownie, who by then had acquired a posse of interested followers, proceeded to inform me that I was not an adult. Cue blinking from Snazel. Oh, wait, this happens some times, they think because I am not a teacher or someone's mom, I must still be in high school. "No, I am an adult, I'm 20," I reply and drink more coffee. This isn't good enough, according to the children. I'm not an adult because I don't have a boyfriend. This is- not an objection I've had to deal with before. I throw out something about not having to have a boyfriend to be an adult. Brown Owl doesn't have a boyfriend, and she's an adult! Shaking of heads from the Brownies. Brown Owl is a teacher, therefore my argument is invalid. Ulp. Furthermore! They all have boyfriends, why don't I? Wait, the seven, six and eight year-olds all have boyfriends? Yep, even the kindergartners have boyfriends. Cue disapproving looks from the Brownies. This is clearly an epic fail on my part. But I am not defeated! I go on the attack! My next question; do their boyfriends buy them things? No? Well, they aren't much of boyfriends, are they now? The Brownies giggle madly about this, and I escape to get more coffee. Just another morning conversation with small girls!

The Camp was in a really lovely place, though. I should go back with a camera and less Brownies to control (which is approximately on the same level as herding cats) and take pictures. And I had a good time, though I wasn't sad to go come and collapse into an unconcious heap.

"You call this a favour?" "Yeah, you owe me one."

Fraulein and I made it to St. John's safely. 

We also made it across the city, which was tricky. 

And then we watched Star Trek. *maniac grin* It was very fun. Even Fraulein liked it, and she is not exactly a science-fiction fan. 

{Warning: What follows is just happy ranting. You may want to leave.}

Oh my, SO many lovely quotes. Even the main characters had good lines, which I wasn't expecting. Usually I don't particularly like or care about the main characters, I'm all caught up in the perils of the secondary- and more expendable- people. But this time I cared about everybody! It was particularly strange becuase I knew how things were supposed to be, in the original series, whereas the entire idea of this movie is that it turns the original series on it's ear, gives it a good shake, and puts the broken pieces back together in new and interesting ways. 

Let's see. The opening sequence was shiny. Lots of explosions and drama. I almost cried, though the person behind me did that for everyone in the area. :D

And Captain Pike! I LURVED Captain Pike! I wanted him to be in charge! He's an actual trustworthy chap! *waves hands* Though of course they had to get him out of the way so that the young people could take the leadership roles. That is one of the things that was interesting to me with this film. It had to be the young people that always saved the day, all the old ways lead to death or disfavor. *shrugs* Which I'm not sure if I agree with, in general life. It worked in the context of the movie and what the ship was that supposed to be doing, so I think it shall continue to make sense if and when the franchise continues, but it's not an idea I'd base my life around? Sometimes youth and imagination does not trump experience and actual leadership, that's all. *nods*

ANYHOW! The contrast between Spock's and Kirk's childhoods and how they dealt with early adulthood was lovely. Not only did the worlds look marvelous, (can I take a moment now to fangirl over how the film looked? *squueeeee!!!!* Okay I'm good.) but it set up the issues both main characters were dealing with, and the way they leaned in the face of pressure. And everything looked really pretty. Have I mentioned I love the design of the ship, the worlds, and everything? Yeah. It was Sooooo matchy. All right, we're good. Again. 

Oh, and the trailer made it look like there were all kinds of "hide your eyes, children," scenes, but in the actual film there were surprisingly few. I was happy that Mr. Abrams didn't feel it necessary to update the scandalous content of the story to a modern level. I mean, we all know it's there, this is Kirk after all, a character who lent his name to an entire Genre of character types, we don't need to have it spelled out more than sketchily. Heh, I'm so punny. *cough*

And the plot was, well, meh. It served its purpose, made for some shiny space battles, and set up some really interesting things for the future of the franchise. But I didn't really care about the bad guy, or even find him particularly blood-chilling. *flaps hand at Villain* Go, make your little revenge scheme. See if we care. Maybe it was because he was so pathetically unstable? I like sane bad guys, who have restraint and delicacy and stuff. And that makes a very different kind of sense if you were inside my head, but you're not, so just nod and smile, people. Just nod and smile and back away. 

Character roundup!

• Uhura: Feisty, interesting in a vague way, GJ not going for the blue-eyed-wonderkind! Go stand over there, please. You don't need to write.
  
• McCoy: *chortles* I liked him. Bad tempered, good at his job, has opinions, and you're gonna hear them! Let's see more!
  
• Kirk: Has an awful lot of good lines, and wears scars, blood and bruises surprisingly well. Smart-mouthed kid. *shakes head* I'll watch you from a distance. Long distance. From this universe. *waves* Have fun out there!
  
• Spock: Fascinating. I have no further comment on the matter. 
  
• Scotty: He didn't have hardly any screen time! He should have MORE!!! *waves hands in an excited fashion* And I was heartily annoyed at what Spock did to him. And then he saved the day, of course. :D 
  
• (Related- Walnut Man: Was cute. *grins* )
  
• Old Spock: Go away. Now. I mean it. Oh great, go mess with people's minds and realities, why don'tcha? Arrogant Hobgoblin.
  
• Sulu: Made of Win! Expandable swords are TOTALLY win, and you FLY that ship, man! As long as you take the parking brake off first. Oh, burn. 
  
• Chekov: Also has a lamentably short amount of screen time. What, they thought that the men with accents couldn't by understood other than that they were poked fun at for talking funny? Gosh, dudes. "Oh, I can do that! I can do that!" That made me grin. I don't quite understand his rank/shirt colour, though. Wasn't Chekov supposed to be enlisted? At that age, I'd certainly hope so. I need to find a listing of uniform design. *rummages about the internet* 
  
• Pike: Made. Of. Win. I think I mentioned this. Go the Old Guy! 
  
• Nero: You need a hobby, man.
  

Yep, I liked it. I can haz moer noew plz?

"I just waved at those hitchhikers, didn't I." "Yep, the little flirty wave, too."

Another blog post written on the highway!

• Soundtrack is: Coldplay
  
• Driver is: Fraulein
  
• Drink is: Ice cubes left over from McDonald's Root Beer
  
• Destination is: St. John's and the Home School Conference. 

Okay, now that you have all the vital stats, I suppose I may as well explain in labourious and tedious words.

We're going to the Home School Conference!

*crickets*

Okay, yes, the language portion of my brain is sadly lacking at this date. But despite this tragic handicap, I persevere and blog, for you, my loyal reader. I'm so noble. *sniffs*

Up until yesterday I though that I was going to stay home, live on tea and noodles, and watch television this weekend. My work schedule meant that I would miss the convey out, you see. And then, someone clever, (not me, sad to say), looked at the calander and noticed that I was off in the early afternoon. "So," Clever Person said to his or herself, "Snazel could leave on the latter half of the Convoy, if the latter half of the convoy delayed a couple hours. " And we all saw that this was good, and it was so.

And no we've been on the road for a little over two hours, looking to be on the road for a further three hours. Yay. On the other hand, the road is sparkly, and the clouds are beautiful. And I will probably double the amount of my freckles by the time we get there. *sigh*

We've gone 168 km, go us!

Geo: "Are we there yet?"
Fraulein: "You should do something fun while you you wait!"
Snazel: "You can always take up slapping yourself for personal amusement!"
Fraulein: "Self abuse is not entertainment."
Snazel: "I'm just pinking my cheeks the natural way." *lofty*

Oh, and when we stopped for a bathroom break a lovely old lady asked if four of my younger siblings were my children. This selection of my siblings included Slonner, who is 12 and a half. *headdesk* I guess my work clothes make me look REALLY mature? On the other hand, I just slapped Fraulein while she was driving "to make sure her eyes didn't close," and accused her music of being a travesty. So perhaps Maturity is negotiable? Yep, that's what I think.

In other news, Fraulein and I are meeting up with at least two other friends, perhaps more, and going to a movie tonight! It has been suggested that we watch a chick flick. My response, roughly, was "Yeah, sure! I know a great one called Star Trek! I'm just gonna go watch it, you can join me if you want. Tah!"

At work today my printer wasn't working when I went to balance out, so I had to call tech support. (We restarted the computer. :D) While waiting for the computer to claw its way back into relevance, I long-dated one arm, and date-stamped the other. It seemed like a good idea at the time. That's all I have to say on that subject. Annnddd, the air conditioning doesn't seem to be working. How dreadfully jolly. I think I'm going to buy myself a milkshake at our next stop! Good plan, me!

Geo: "Oh! I see houses!"
Snazel: *monotone* "False hope. False hope."

"Look! We're in Orc Country!"

I am writing this in the front seat of Fraulein's van Carrie, as she drives down the TCH. We are listening to John Mayer on my computer, and just finished milkshakes.

Is this a epic road trip, or is this an epic road trip? You're right, it's an epic road trip! You're so clever.... *pats you on the head*

We left our town yesterday, to travel to the West Coast (of Newfoundland), specifically, to /Location Censored/. Our friend Historian was getting married! Though of course, at this point, the proper tense is "is now married," but I'm hardly a grammar stickler. Only when i want to be. :D (Woah, Police car.)

*cough* Is it legal to be on a laptop in a car? I think it is.... It's not as though I'm the one driving, or anything. (Heheh, we just passed Boot Brook, where someone has nailed rubbers to the highway sign. This amused me.) ANYHOW. Yes, Fraulein is the one driving. It is her car, after all. I am merely a humble passenger.

We made the incredible and amazing five hour journey yesterday, and arrived at the church just as the decorating committee arrived. (That was a tire by the side of the road. Strangeness.) I should probably mention that the journey takes a normal person four hours, and certain members of Historian's family all of three hours. But we're nice law-abiding characters, and also we stopped at Wal-Mart to buy sandals and band-aids. Fraulein got some lovely strappy sandals, and I got a pair of black leather gladiator sandals. (This amuses me too.) (You know who makes good music? Terry Penney. You should go buy some. Especially the album "Time That Town Forgot". Go, look on itunes, gosh. *sings along to Plan B*) However, we did have a little tiny bit of trouble getting into Wal-Mart. We drove into the wrong parking lot, which didn't have an exit in the way we wanted to go. Well, that's no problem. We'll just cut across this flat empty lot and get into the right parking lot that way- It wasn't flat. That "empty" lot contained a marvelous selection of novelty potholes, to the extent that we conducted an impromptu test of the suspension, seat belts, and cup holders. The cup holders failed the test, but everything else passed with flying colours. GJ Carrie! (Which is the name of Fraulien's van, in case you've forgotten.)

When we got to the church, we helped blow up balloons at the church, set out tables, twisted streamers, and generally assisted in making the church basement beautiful. Then we went back to Historian's house, where Fraulein and I hung out played wii fit, tried on dresses, and talked with his sisters.

Oh! There was a previous triumph I should mention, where we dispensed with the mapquest directions and used an actual map to find the church. It was very exciting. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, I have thrown continuity out of the window, there to shatter spectacularly and be run over. If you can't figure out what I'm saying, you don't deserve to know what's going on in my tremendous life! And the girls wanted to straighten my hair, and I said something about it previously having taken three people two hours to do so. They viewed this as a challenge. So my hair is now straight, and I don't recognize myself in the mirror. :D

In the morning we got a crash course in how to use the video cameras, and then we filmed the ceremony in the afternoon! (Someone left a red jacket by the side of the road.) This was the first ceremony that I've been to where I actually knew the people involved, which made it rather different. I was priviledged to be able to be zoomed in, via camera, on the faces of the (deliriously) happy couple, and they were very, very cute. *grins* They spent the time beaming at each other, and then being embarrassed about the people there, and then forgetting to be embarrassed and beaming at each other. Everybody together now, say "awwww!"

Which leads me again to hope our filming job was good... *nervous*

However, both Frauelien and I are working tomorrow, so we had to leave right after the ceremony. And now we're pelting down the highway, heading for home.

I hope we get to a Tims soon, I could really use some coffee.

Fraulein: "Your name is Fred!" *bites gummy snake* *pauses* "Oh, I really shouldn't have named my snake before I ate it."

A Glimpse Into Renovations

Last week was Reno Week, which I was helping with, I think I may have mentioned. Of course, my helping was to run the kitchen, but it still counts, right? Anyhow, at one point I also wandered around with a camera, and this was the result.

Apologies are probably necessary. I'm sorry. *maniac chuckle*

Reno Glimpse from Amber on Vimeo.

"Of course it's gonna get better/ better better better!"

SO! Fraulein and I went into Gander this evening. She went to dance class, and I hung out in the library. Yes, you wish you had our rollicking social lives. Seriously, you do, it was fun. Two hours in the presence of many books, *happy sigh* and two hours of driving and singing along to the music on Fraulein's ipod. 

The singing along was rather too much fun. We could manage the range, just, for most of the pop-y songs- the worship, etc. Then we hit Allison Krauss, and it got hard. And then we chanced upon Celtic Woman, and it got impossible. These people make the songs sound so effortless, until you try to emulate them. Which is about when your voice gives out entirely, and you start to suspect that that is blood, there, trickling down the back of your throat. I may have no voice tomorrow. But it was fun!

Also, I did this meme, (it's a link. Click it) and the result was the below. It was enjoyable, AND creative. You should do it. :D

So. What's been up?

There have indeed been actual occurrences in my life! I just fail at blogging. I am heartily ashamed, and bow and scrape in your general direction, my loyal reader. (Wait, you mean there is more than one reader of this blog? My, I have been remiss.)

Let me cast my mind back into the murky depths of the past. What shall I talk about? Oh, the Brownie sleepover last weekend. Words are inadequate, but I shall try. 

• *deep breath*
  
• Oh Oh Oh Oh setting up beds and can I sleep next to my best friend Melissa teacher she says she's sleeping next to Reagan but I want her to sleep next to me teacherrrrrrrrrr.......
  
• GAMES. SONGS. SINGING. AND DANCING. AND SINGING AND DANCING AND SINGING AND DANCING AT HIGH VOLUME.
  
• Oh look, Pizza! *munches*
  
• LET'S RUN AROUND AND SCREAM FOR FUN!
  
• Oh, never mind, let's melt plastic cups in the oven and decorate them.
  
• LET'S RUN AROUND AND SCREAM- oh, nail polish?
  
• Let's paint the leader's nails, each nail a different colour!
  
• Sleep? Why would we want to do that? Oh look, it's tomorrow...
  
• *leaders pass out sometime about three am*
  
• Oh look, it's morning!
  
• *leaders lurch off in search of coffee*
  
• *children are perky and RUN AND SCREAM AND SHOUT*
  
• *children go home*
  
• *leaders clean*
• *leaders go home*

Yep, that was pretty much the brownie sleepover, in microcosm. Then that evening I went out to Ms. B's house, and we had a write-in! Which is to say, she worked on school work, and I wrote fun things, and we both put our earbuds in and companionably ignored each other for four hours. Brought me back to Augustine times, I tell you. Of course it was still PM, so not totally Augustine times, but still.... *pauses* I jest, you know I jest. I was a wonderful student. Stellar. I made my professors weep. With joy. *awkward silence falls*

Oh, and then Fraulein and I built a wardrobe last night. Its name is War Drobe, after the shining city in the fair land of Spare Oom. Ahem. And yes, we wrestled that thing up three flights of stairs, because we are awesome, and then we hysterically put it together, because we are skilled. It only took us less than three hours, too. And before you laugh, remember that this was a flatpack wardrobe, with two drawers and doors and so on and so forth, and we built it ALL, without help aside from Slonner assisting with the hinges at the end- when we were too weak with laughter to hold the screwdrivers straight. But it was built, and it is a thing of beauty that I should be filling with clothes instead of blogging. 

Oops. 

Maybe I should work on that? Oh, or I could be working on taxes! So many options!

Family Carnival!

I'm overcoming my lack of interest in text-blogging with some photo-blogging! Hurrah for me! Ahem. Anyhow, here are some pictures. Enjoy. (Yes, that is an imperative. *angelic smile* Why do you ask?)

EDIT: Oh, wait, it seems you might need some explanations. We were running a Carnival, with Booths, in the Living Room. (See? You get to see my Living Room!) Proceeds went to the Family beneficent fund, which this year goes towards feeding PT. Just so as you know, last year it went towards getting me home from College. :D

Lizzy ran the Blocks Booth, where for a ticket you could build a tower.

Sammy was the main frequenter of that booth, at least in the beginning.

Notice the purse? Yes, that is Sammy's, and it contains many pennies and tickets. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

Geo ran the hair styling booth. She was very well prepared.

Slonner poses with the make-up...

Geo works her art on Little Sister.

Little Sister has her eyes done!

Slonner supervising, again. :D

Beauty is serious business!

The sign was starting to be tired, but we propped it up none the less.

The Block Table experiences a resurge of popularity.

Sammy finds a hiding space...

... in a box full of bears and Slonner.

Still Life With Apples And Jugs.

Slonner gets done over.

Geo waits her turn.

It's Fraulein! Isn't she pretty?

And there's my MOM, who is just lovely on every level. :D

And... my little brother, who decides to lug around the long-suffering cat.

Fraulein- an action shot.

Lizzy's strike.

"Sign a Visa application or I'll sneeze on you." *hard stare*

I'm sorry. I fail at blogging, of late. Really fail. Mmmm, tea. *cough* Anyhow, things have happened of late! It's true! For one, Fraulein and I had a social weekend. 

*stares*

Stop laughing, you. It's true. We really did. And I participated, and everything. *big eyes.* It was like this. Back in the day, I used to take dance lessons, in the next town over. And last weekend, my old teacher, and Fraulein's current one, invited us out for a sleepover! It was originally intended to be for two nights, but due to work and weather related issues, we were just there for one night. So Miss H came out and picked us up, and took us out for Pizza in the aforementioned next town. So that was delicious, and I ate too much and we talked about many things, and then we rented Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist. Which is an amusing film, not for small children. *cough* Or young teenagers. Nope!

The next morning I woke up early, miraculously enough, and then talked over breakfast with Miss H about many more things, for two hours. :D It was fun. Oh, and then we went snowshoeing! I had never been snowshoeing, that I remembered, so that was new and hard. I, um, am rarely, if ever, the one to suggest and form of physical activity, other than a walk. But I usually end up enjoying myself, and this time was no exception. Of course, I am also ridiculously out of shape. It's sad, how out of shape I am. And also how that does not inspire me to any exercise at all. *is sad* BUT- the snowshoeing was fun. And then we came back to the house, and highly awkwardly, I became ill. This is the first time in NINE YEARS that I've been stomach sick. So that was not good. It's strange how apologetic you feel, getting ill in someone else's house. "Um, I'm sorry, but I just, uh, threw up. I feel fine now though! Really!" *sheepish* So then I dozed off and shook for a little while, and we looked at pictures of Miss H's trip to the UK, and then we went home early and I slept more. 

There you have it, my social adventure! I really am sorry about being ill, though. Kinda breaks the rules of polite behavior. *sigh*

"You tell us if you have any issues, okay?"

I gave blood for the fourth time yesterday. Thankfully, this donation continued the trend of my third donation, and didn't hurt. I mean, if it's at all possible, I'd prefer not to be clenching my jaw and counting heart beats for fifteen minutes. :D Fraulein came as well, but unfortunately since she had a cold they wouldn't let her donate. This continues her string of bad luck, since last time she had a reaction and had to lie down for half an hour. I mention this only because we look alike, as also previously mentioned. 

Moreover, Fraulein has a medium skin tone. Myself; on a good day I'm approximately the colour of a saltine cracker. (Complete with speckles.) This led logically to the nurses and volunteers asking me if I felt all right- every two or five minutes- for an hour. *takes a deep breath* But despite looking like I was going to keel over any second, I felt fine! I even walked home over the back hill. :D

Wow, I also had an epic laughing attack that morning. I say epic, because I really couldn't stop laughing, despite the fact it hurt! I was crying primarily from pain by the end of it, but I still couldn't stop chortling. Twas very strange. 

There you have it, the news of the day.

"Extra-Curricular Girl meets Audio/Visual Man- no, that's really not cliche."

I fell down the stairs today. This has led me to realize I have one of two reactions to falling any distance. I either a.) Laugh, or b.) Get Angry. Today's incident was of type b, for no discernible reason. But there was no lasting damage to either me or the steps, so I think we're good. Oh, I also walked through town and looked for birthday presents for those my friends who have upcoming birthdays, (you know who you are.) However, when I realized I was seriously considering red alligator-clips, I decided it was time to go drink Chai at Tim's and wait for Fraulein and Mommy. They met me ten minutes later, and we had a jolly conversation about many things. Who we would be if we were superheros came up, for instance. Hence the quote which is my title. :D

Life has been ticking along, even without me chronicling it. There just hasn't been a great deal I've felt compelled to talk about. I'm back at work, which has been fun, in a work-ish way. I've been learning about the new Visa chip cards- to replace the old magnetic stripe-signature ones- and about stop payments on money orders and such. I'm continually amazed at how much goes on behind the scenes in banking. Not that I even see most of it, but I'm learning about it! 

Last night we watched First Daughter, which was fun. Fraulein and I watched Chasing Liberty in St. John's, which has basically the same plot, but is much much worse. FD is actually mildly believable, for example, with characters who act like real people might, and recognition of morals. Hmmmm. I was going to talk about the movies, but now my brain has just gone into caffeine low and I am thinking in words of one syllable. So that's not going to work.

But I'm still alive, in case anyone was wondering, and life continues!

"Oh everyone believes/ in how they think it oughta be/ oh everyone believes/ and they're not goin quietly.."

As you may have noticed, last night was New Year's Eve. The night for ROWDY PARTIES. Following in that honourable tradition, my family watched Wall-E. And to top it off, we had popcorn. Living on the wild side, I know. Then Fraulein and I watched Stick It, which was entertaining. In retrospect, if has occurred to me that I've never actually gone to a "New Year's Party." Probably because I've gone to very few parties in general. Ahem. But after the countdown, I happily received a phone call from Em, Moon Unit, and Moon Unit's friend Zaktrik. They're in EST, so they had an hour and a half to spare for chatting, which was very fun. Though I'm afraid, due to the hour, I wasn't very coherent. *offers apologies*

Something that I forgot to mention, is that PT was home for Christmas, and then his GF came to visit for several days afterwards. I chiefly forgot to mention it because it was so natural to have them around. They're both very fun people. And I'm not just saying that becuase PT's my brother. :D

Seeing the date, I suppose this is the time for me to offer up some New Year's Resolutions, eh?

1. I have eight grand left on my debt, and I'd like to have that gone by the time I've been at my new job a year. Yes, that works out to a grand a month, with one month's leeway. 
2. Finish Expendables! I want to get that story out of my head, and one edit done. At least fix the chronological issues, for example.
3. Get into some kind of shape other than couch potato, and stay in that non-potato shape.
4. Oh, and work on being contented where God has placed me. I need to learn to stop fretting to be somewhere else; if God wanted me to be in another place, I'd be there. :D

That's the only things that come to mind, but I think they'll be challenging enough to try and pull off. 

"What are you doing here all by your eyelashes?"

Christmas is over, and I'm STILL tired. That may be attributable to the fact that I didn't have coffee yet today, though. Hmmmmm.... 

Anyhow, Christmas. We had what was quite possible the most lavish and epic Christmas I have ever been witness too. We started at 8:00 am, with the unwrapping. And we went until 11:00 am, then took a half hour break for breakfast. The unwrapping commenced again, and continued till 1:30 pm, when we broke for lunch. After a long lunch, and some staring at the wall, we started again at 3:30 pm. We finished the unwrapping at 5:00 pm. Now, for some families that may be normal, but not this one. It took at LEAST twice as long as normal. People have been so incredibly generous, it just boggles the mind. 

So unwrapping took most of the day. Then PT, the Walrus, Fraulein and I watched Walrus's new movie Transformers in the evening. It was a fun film, so long as I completely suspended all disbelief relating to the Military, and Law Enforcement, and the Intelligence Community, and how Relationships work. Oh, and massive transforming intelligent robots/vehicles. I mean, the SECRETARY OF DEFENSE was running things? And buddy broke an audio signal just by putting a thumb drive containing it in his computer? Blink, heartbeat heartbeat, and we're seeing all these massive secrets-Right, suspension of disbelief. SUSPEND... *big grin* The Walrus really liked it though, and I thought it was fun, so twas all good. Oh and Moonunit called for 20 minutes, which was terribly jolly. It put me in a good mood. :D

And now today I've spent most of the day sleeping, so I should really work on looking alive and going for a walk or something.

"Yes, I am going blog EXTENSIVELY about your vest."

No, that was a lie. I shall just mention that Fraulein has a new vest, a denim vest, from winners, that was on sale, and that looks rather spectacularly stylish. She is wearing it today.

Yesterday, she was wearing jeans that fitted marvelously, a stylish blue t-shirt that I am unable to describe other than it was royal blue and stylish, white rosebud earrings, pretty nike sneaks, and a pearl necklace. I, on the other hand, was wearing; a black "Newfoundland Liberation Army" t-shirt that didn't fit quite as well as Fraulein's, a man's black pinstriped fedora, cargo pants that definitely didn't belong to me to the point that I had to borrow my 13 year old brother's studded leather belt to keep them on, and my brown Helly Hanson runners (which happen to be men's shoes, by the way.) There is a reason we don't borrow clothing from each other's closets, you see. We have rather different tastes. Despite this, people keep mistaking us for each other. I am starting to be tempted to dye my hair red, just to escape the comments.

Anyhow, Fraulein and I were out by the nurses' station waiting to go back to the hotel yesterday, and looked each other up and down.
Fraulein: *hopeful* "Maybe now people won't say we look alike!"
Nurse: *approaching us* "Are you girls twins, or just sisters?"

Then today, I dug deeply into my suitcase that mainly contains books and came up with a denim dress (home schooler uniform!) and cream pashmina. So when a kind elderly man came by to give us some bread and cookies, he assumed that I was my father's wife.

What will people take me for tomorrow? Stay tuned to see.

"Hello Hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo."

The Christmas Season has begun! Actually, now that I think on it, there have been a startling amount of social events I've attended since I last blogged. I should detail them.

Fraulein and I survived the Brownie Party tonight with a minimum of carnage or glue fights, and hopefully not too many embarrassing pictures that will turn up on facebook. *cough* 

Last Tuesday was the Happy Tree opening, which is a classic small town event. The small children singing carols they don't know, the PA system which mysteriously, (no one knows how) goes on the fritz, the Cadet band with instruments done up in tinsel, the program which- despite it being exactly the same as last year- no one knows. For those who aren't in this town, the Happy Tree is a charitable, uh, thing, where people donate gifts all December, and then they are distributed on Christmas eve to "disadvantaged families." (Which one year included us, for some reason. *shakes head in wonderment*)

Then on Thursday was the Christmas Tree lighting, which was basically the same as the Happy Tree, only outside. It was also QUITE cold outside, which makes one look at crowds in a different way. Normally in crowds I'm freakishly aware of everyone within arm's reach of me, and they'd better stay that distance away. This time, the arm's length thing is dispensed with entirely. I realized this after it came to my attention that I was less than an inch away from an unknown teenage boy in a leather jacket and knitted beanie. Never seen him before then, but I could now describe the back of his neck. :P Thankfully right after I noticed this, Sam upset his stroller with himself in it, and I had an excuse to barge out of the crowd and get Sam some hot chocolate. 

Oh, and on Saturday was the Santa Claus Parade! My, this town is a happening place. I am now the proud possessor of a coupon for a small order of free fries, and Gid got to ride in the fire truck. :D

I need to get back in the blogging habit, my brain is refusing to turn over. Ah well, I'll try again tomorrow.