Point A to Point B

Well I haven't updated lately either! Sorry. Not like anyone reads this
anyway. This summer has been going by so fast and surprisingly I haven't
had much time to update either. Well. I need to find something
sensational write about. Hmm. Having fun. That's sensational. And its
amazing how easy it is to have fun. A day that is meant to be spent
swimming, turns into a money hunt in scorching parking lots, watching
talking teeth on youtube, playing limbo with a little cat, or going to
Denny's at 1 AM. Its all rather sensational. Just the abstractness of it
all. You can spend hours and hours of having fun, but when you think of
all you did it wouldn't seem that great to the outsider. Walking miles
in the dark at 11 PM while fireworks are thrown at you. Fun? Yes.
Sensational? Absolutely. Hopefully everyone knows what I'm talking
about. I guess, just those things that happen when you set out to do one
thing, and end up doing another. Or when you are just trying to get from
Activity A to Activity B (physically or with time) and its actually the
time spent in between A and B that are the funniest. Who would've
thought that calling a Romanian in Michigan and going on youtube would
be funner than Denny's. (I know it should be "more fun" but this seems
to fit better. Well. I think of rambled on long enough about this.

This is Nick. Signing off.

Update

It's been such a long time before I posted anything on this blog, i'm sorry!

I'll just share a bit of why i've been so bad at posting.

I am currently not at home. I am at a wonderful place called "Grindstone Lake Bible Camp" where I spend my time being a counselor to girls of all ages.

Last week was my training week and basically I just learned what i'm supposed to do, got some music stuff together and learned some safety training stuff. This week however, is the first week of camp. I have a cabin of six Jr. High girls. And let me tell you, it get's crazy.

So, what's so sensational about that? Mmm. I don't know. Just being at camp I guess. It's beautiful here. The lake is wonderful. Everything is wonderful. I love waking up and walking down paths to places I need to be, and I love spending time outside, which is quite surprising because i'm NOT an outdoors girl.

I just don't really like the heat. :P

So far, in the past few weeks i've been thrown into the lake three times. Note to self, do NOT stand on the dock when other counselors are coming. No one can be trusted. :P

But quite honestly, I want to be thrown in the lake right now. It's so hot outside. Well, I only get two hours of free time to myself a day, so please forgive me if it takes me a while to post!

Meanwhile, here's a beautiful picture of the lake.

WORLD DOMINATION! Mwa ha ha ha.

Yes. World Domination. All of us have dreamed of it. What would it be like if YOU controlled the world? Its amazing how popular of a theme world domination is. The cartoon from the nineties, Pinky and the Brain, featured two mice attempting world domination. The majority of wars have world domination as a theme, whether just for power (Hitler) or because you believe the economy will not work until everyone is a communist. If you think about it, religion is another form of world domination. While it isn't a negative one, "Go therefore and spread the Good News to all nations" does sound like a commandment to conquer. I mean that of course in the highest respect, but its true. Christians, Jehovah Witnesses, and Mormons are all active members of world domination in my community. Why are we so in love with conquering the world?!

Why on earth am I talking about this? Especially on a blog about sensational things. No, I am not conquering the world. Although I know what I would do (in detail) if I did. I am talking about this because the three of us (Mindy, Betsy, and I) played the board game Risk for 4.5 hours tonight. Needless to say I, had Australia the whole time. Why is it that humans are so in love with the concept of world domination though? Admit it. Those of you who have played Risk take joy in conquering other territories. And when one of your territories you really want is taken you are upset. Like Ukraine. It really is an interesting little peek into the human psyche.

Well, to you conquistadors out there, good luck! And to the rest of you, stay safe, for who knows will be the next Conqueror!

Hasta la vista!

Question for the comments, if you dominated the world what is the first thing you would change?

Hanging out

Hanging out- a slang phrase used by people to refer to spending time with friends.

Where did this interesting phrase come from. Perhaps it evolved from our primate ancestors? For when they spent time with each other they literally "hung out". Or perhaps from times when hanging was capital punishment. A group of pirate friends would go "hang out" as they were killed. Well wherever this phrase comes from, hanging out is absolutely sensational.

This past week I was blessed/cursed with a rather empty schedule at the Dairy Queen I work at (same one Mindy recently retired from). So I had plenty of time to hang out with my friends. By the end of tomorrow I will have been to three different bonfires, one campout, two graduation parties, one movie night, one musical (Phantom of the Opera), one concert, and one mini mini road trip. All of these have been exciting. If every week was like this however I would collapse.

As I take stock in this week I have several bruises from the star game, cuts in my feet from playing ghosts in the graveyard barefoot, and a hurt toe from stubbing the corner of the toenail off from running through a dark basement during the potty break of a scary movie (My Bloody Valentine (very good movie)). But the price was worth it. I had an amazing week. Besides being worried about a creepy miner pick-axing me to death it was great.

Without hanging out with friends life would be immensely boring. Every friend contributes also, the sensible one (why are we doing this?), the daring one (lets all 5 of us climb an apple tree in the middle of the night), the rather dumb ones (lets through the mother of all logs in the fire) and all the ones in between. Regardless of injury, fatigue, or being yelled at by grumpy sales people hanging out is absolutely sensational.

Being Outside

Hey! Betsy and Mindy here. We are currently sitting outside. After we got bored with making buttons, we decided it would be fun to have a photo shoot in Betsy's yard. The sun was at such a perfect angle that we felt we should take pictures of our shadows and some other things.

A Proposal


Basking in the Sunshine

We were not very good at posing our shadows, especially when we tried to jump. Next time it is nice in your area, grab a friend and a camera and take some photos!

Weeds in the Sun


A Rocket Ship Crashing to Earth

Freedom!

Today was my last day of working at my job. I tried to find a picture that would capture the emotions and the joys that I felt the moment I left the doors, but I couldn't find any that was just right. The minute I stepped outside of the building and headed to my car, I felt a great big sense of relief and I laughed at myself--all the way to my car, because I can be such a drama queen sometimes. But I do swear, a huge wave of relief rushed over me, because now, I AM DONE.

I planned to be done with my job next week, but my boss had a talk with me today and about half an hour before my shift was scheduled to end I found out today was my last day. I immediately started playing the "last game." "Aww, this is going to be the last blizzard I mix...this will be my last shake....this will be the last tray of buster bars that I make" (In case you were wondering, I worked at a Dairy Queen...it feels SO good to use the word "worked" in past tense!)

It seemed almost fitting that the very last cone I made looked like a piece of crap. Almost like the first cone that I ever made...

Yes, that is me. Wearing onion rings and a hot dog as earrings. Now that is devotion.

Working very hard.

Anyway, despite the silly pictures, I did work at Dairy Queen pretty hard. I spent the last 4.5 years working there and have made lots of memories. :) I will kind of miss it I guess...

But still. I AM FREE. EEE!

Lilacs

The past week I have been doing a lot of running around and helping people get ready for their kids' graduation parties and just doing a lot of running around in general. Amidst all of the running around, I love stepping outside from my house where the fragrant scent of lilacs becomes overwhelming. I have three lilac bushes that came from my great-great grandma's house and they have just recently bloomed. Driving around town and some other parts of the area I see a lot of people have lilac bushes and they are all blooming magnificently.

I absolutely love the look and smell of lilacs. Something so simple as that, looks so beautiful and smells remarkable. It is definitely something that I love about this time of year. It is so nice to just go outside and smell them and it is also pretty relaxing.

A friend of mine on Saturday cut me a bouquet of lilacs for me to bring home, after making several comments on the way to get $1 flip flops at old navy on Saturday morning (Oh yeah, baby! I'm all for dollar flip flops!) and the bouquet still adorns the top of my dresser and makes my bedroom smell amazing. Especially since I have my windows open. :)

Käthe Kollwitz

Self-Portrait, 1924

I took an art history class last semester. Obviously it's really hard to go through the world's history of art in a couple of months, and I honestly found the class fairly (extremely) boring. By the end of the semester, I skipped more than I went. Maybe that's unscholarly of me, but becoming a scholar of art doesn't interest me much anyway. Being an expert takes away a bit of a person's creativity and passion in that area, I think.

But as I was saying!

As a person who has tried her hand at numerous mediums, I think I am safe in saying that I will never become a professional artist. Regardless of how much appeal that title holds to me, the greatest appreciator and historian of my artwork is myself. And that's okay.

Painting and sculpture are not my forte. While I am very impressed by people who are able to paint or sculpt elaborate works of art, I don't really have much desire to pursue that area myself. Maybe it's because I know the results would not be pretty. In any case, I much prefer a simple drawing to marble and fresco and whatever else.

That being said, one person whose work I was intrigued by during the course of my art history class was Käthe Kollwitz, a German artist who worked during the early half of the 20th century.

Death and the Mother

I really like Käthe Kollwitz's drawings; they have an unfinished quality that makes them a little rough around the edges, which I think kind of adds to the feeling one gets from the drawings. Clearly Kollwitz set out to portray an emotion rather to create something particularly beautiful. I am fairly positive she met her goal - her drawings are extremely evocative.

Death and the Mother is probably my favorite. I think it perfectly captures the emotion the woman must be feeling to have death breathing down her neck while she's holding her baby.

Plus, it's damn creepy. I can dig that.

So what about you? Do you have any favorite artists, art movements, works of art, etc.? You got anything to share that creeps you out in a good way? Do post a comment; we'd love to hear from you!

Memorial Day

I felt that memorial day needed a bit more recognition, so here is a bit from "Stars and Stripes Forever."

"Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.

Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever."

-John Philip Sousa

Happy Memorial Day everyone, thank a soldier today.
And also, thank you again to everyone who have served or are currently serving in the Military.

Congratulations and Thank You!

'Tis the season of graduation! So for all of you graduates out there, whether it be high school or college, congratulations!

This is also the season of thanks. Being that it is memorial day weekend, a big "thank you" is in order for all of you who have served or are currently serving in the Military. If you are reading this blog, thank you for serving our country. :)

We must also honor those who have died fighting for our freedom.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posting. I have been feeling less than Sensational the past few days. It's sure to pass though. :)

I just wanted to take this opportunity and let you all know that here at Sensational-Sensational, we're so excited that the followers and subscribers to this blog keep growing!

With that being said, now that we know that some people out there read this blog, it is OKAY for you to make some comments on our posts. In fact, we highly encourage that you do! Some of the postings have some questions that is meant for all of you to answer so please, by all means, answer. :)

Regular posting will continue very soon.

Watermelon

One of my favorite parts about summer is that fresh watermelon is all over the place and readily available at all grocery stores, and not just all chopped up mixed with cantaloupe. Nothing wrong with cantaloupe,but if you mix these two wonderful melons they start to take on a flavor of their own and it's not particularly good. I'd rather just buy a huge watermelon and a cantaloupe and cut them up separately. But that's just me.

I remember when I was little and my family would get watermelon and cut them up into half slices and as a kid I would one of those half slices and go outside to play on my swing set and get all sticky from the watermelon juice and stuff and it was great.

Now a days, I just enjoy eating watermelon...(i'm eating a huge slice right now.) I don't get sticky anymore though. There's a lot one can do with watermelon, and i'm excited to try some things out, like from my very first post on this blog.

Music, with passion!

Music. As you can tell from Mindy's Post, we at Sensational-Sensational enjoy music. However each of us have a different distinct genre that we enjoy. For example, I was talking to Mindy the other day and she assumed when I redferenced "hyper" music that i was talking about pop. But in fact i was talking about my personal favorite genre of music. Music from Musicals. The passion in these songs is completely unrivaled to those of popular music. Let's compare.



If you don't have the time to watch the whole thing pay extra attention to the chorus. Located at 1:00 minute. While Rihanna's lyrics are very passionate, nothing could compare to:



Once again if you dont have the time pay attention to the bridge located at 5:00 minutes. The song from The Last 5 Years, loving known by its fan as L5Y is far more passionate than the previous. It just isnt possible for a song that is randomly just "there" to be more passionate than a song that has a story behind it. That is why I enjoy musicals far more than normal music. I do listen to popular music. Right now my radio is tuned into the Top 40 radio station of our area. However. Almost every song that i buy on iTunes or otherwise is normally from a musical. Passion is so important in music. Thats something that some people dont understand. Who needs passionate music when you can listen to Headbanger/Screamo?! I do. But it's just MY opinion that I think that Musical music is simply sensational.

Gardens

I am not someone who likes being outside. It really has nothing to do with the wind or the bugs or the weather; I'm just an indoors type of person. That said, I still enjoy some aspects of nature. For example, I really like overgrown, abandoned-looking gardens.

(source)

They are just so whimsical and summery looking. But now that I think of it, my indoorsyness probably has a lot to do with my love of big weedy looking gardens. Just let nature take its course, you know? No need to prune the shrubs if I'm not even going to be outside to enjoy (or whatever you do with a shrub) them.

(source)

Sadly, as much as I like the way this looks, I'll probably never have a garden when I get my own house unless I can find some Samwise Gamgee-esque friend who will do it for me.

Maybe this summer I'll make more of an effort to be outside, though.

Ah, Summer.

I woke up this morning (at an actually decent hour) to a bunch of little birds chirping outside my window. There was a light breeze coming into my room because I had left my window open all night and the sun was shining through my curtains. (Betsy would enjoy that-*link*) It was a glorious morning and I laid in bed and stretched and thought, "ah, summer."

Ever had some waking moments like this? What a way to wake up. :)

RLX

It has been so good these last few days to do nothing but relax. There have been little to no worries since school has been done. I've mainly been spending my days doing nothing--which sounds like a waste, and I agree, it kind of is, but it sure does feel good.

The first few days of summer are usually my extremely lazy days, I do nothing but catch up on my sleep, read books, watch movies and be on the internet until the wee hours of morning.

Tomorrow however, I actually have some plans and I'm thinking that it is time to get down to business and start doing stuff. :)

But right now I want to just focus on relaxing.

That picture says it all and has it all. It is like the ultimate relaxation picture. Except, it is missing me and a fruity drink with an umbrella in it...no matter, how lovely it would be to be on that beach, in that hammock on a nice, hot, summer day. *Sigh*

This brings me to another point in this post. Hammocks. I would like to find a nice, cheap one. I remember laying in a hammock at my grandparents house when I was little and staring up at the sky and falling asleep. And it was so nice, and relaxing. I want to do that again.

But anyway, I guess it's time to get back to reality. Sometimes however, it's nice to take a break and relax...if you are still in school, or work has really got you stressed out or you just need to take a break--please, by all means do so and just relax. It feels good and it's good for you and it's free. :)

School's Out for Summer!

Alice Cooper may look a bit scary but he knows how to sing a great song.

Today was my official last day of school. A bit odd to end on a Monday, but I'm digging it!

I just submitted my last final project today and immediately felt the burden that was upon my shoulders vanish and leave me. It is now officially summer! Woo-hoo!

It feels amazing to be done with school. Every year summer time becomes more and more anticipated and this year, it was really bad. I wanted summer back pretty much since the first day of school.

I don't have a whole lot of summer plans, except working at camp. There is also the lovely premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that I must see, but other than that and hanging out with some friends, my summer is left open. Well, weekends anyway. And it feels so nice!

Tomorrow i'm going to sleep in as long as I want to and do absolutely nothing. Until I work. :P

On the Road

(via flickr)

I’m pretty sure I didn’t know about the existence of trains or planes until I was 10. Mine is an automobile-loving family. Of course, the earlier years of my life were spent within 100 square miles of Columbus, Ohio. But with the new millennium came new modes of transportation. The rest of the world was lamenting the non-existence of flying cars that could travel at the speed of light. I was celebrating them.

My family ventured eastward to a small New Jersey town, and in the summer of 2000, I took a train to New York City. The speed of the train amazed me. And when we arrived at our destination, the lights and noise and electricity left me momentarily stunned. The future had arrived. For about an hour.

Fast-forward nine years. My westward migration rivals that of Lewis and Clark, except for the fact that their voyage was a lot longer, and I often find myself returning to the idyllic pavement foothills of my childhood by automobile instead of horseback. From my current location, it’s about 800 miles to my family in Ohio. I have taken that trip at least 20 times in the past nine years.

To this day, I have never flown anywhere. Like I said, my family has a very healthy relationship with the automobile. All those hours in the car have allowed me to cultivate my own love. However, my love is more for the road than the car. I have always liked the idea of going on a road trip with one or two close friends, going where we may and seeing whatever sights we happen upon.

I’m sure this is not an uncommon desire. The United States is the third or fourth largest country in the world, and I’m pretty sure it’s an inborn trait to be fascinated with cars and driving and wide open spaces. It’s part of the American film and fiction canon, I think, so it’s really not surprising.

Anyway, while it did little to squelch my desire for an elaborate cross-country road trip à la Jack Kerouac, Mindy and I recently took a mini-trip halfway across our state. On the way there, nothing notable occurred. Just talk and driving, not that that's a bad thing. On the way back, however, a CD containing music suitable to both parties was proffered and some great sing-alongs occurred…


On an airplane you really can't really get the effect of having the wind blowing in your hair without being sucked out and dying. In a high-speed train, you can't view the passing landscape without feeling like you're in an impressionist painting. Traveling by car lends an atmosphere that simply can not be matched by newer, faster forms of transportation. Sometimes it's worth it to sacrifice time for something more aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?

Moms!

Today is the second sunday in May... which means today is... FISHING OPENER IN MINNESOTA! Oh. And it also means its Mother's Day. Personally I think fishing is boring. I don't have a problem if you want to be a fisherman. But its not for me it just seems like something really boring, sitting in a boat or on shore with a stick. With an invisible string attached. With an odd little thingy at the end, and a very sharp hook only intended to harm other animals. I think its very poopy to have fishing opener the same weekend as Mother's Day. Hopefully no idiot husbands will be out fishing instead of making their wives breakfast in bed (let me clarify that its multiple husbands and their wives - when I proofread this it sounded polygamistic).

Anyway.

I didn't want to rant about how much I don't like fishing. I do want to talk about moms though. What made me start thinking about moms was this email forward:

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY MOTHER!

1. My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside, I just finished cleaning"

2. My mother taught me about religion.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet"

3. My mother taught me about time travel.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week"

4. My mother taught me about logic.
"Because I said so, that's why!"

5. My mother taught me about more logic.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me about foresight.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case your in an accident."

7. My mother taught me about irony.
"Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of osmosis.
"Shut up and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about contortionism.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about stamina.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about the weather.
"Your room looks like a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about hypocrisy.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me about the circle of life.
"I brought you into this world, I can take you out"

14. My mother taught me behavior modification.
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about envy.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do"

16. My mother taught me about anticipation.
"Just wait until we get home"

17. My mother taught me about receiving.
"You are going to get it when we get home.

18. My mother taught me about medical science.
"If you don't stop crossing you're eyes, they're going to freeze that way"

19. My mother taught me about ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me humor.
"When the lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me how to become an adult.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me genetics.
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my roots.
"Shut that door behind you, you weren't born in a barn."

24. My mother taught me wisdom.
"When you get to be my age you'll understand"

And most importantly.
25. My mother taught me justice.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

Mothers are extremely important to us. Whether they work in produce at Wal Mart, are welders, or managers. They help us grow into who we are going to be. They have shaped us into who we are. Regardless of how well we get along with them most of us still love them regardless. So give your mom a big hug today, or call her and let her know how sensational she is!

Bowling

Last night I went bowling for the first time in quite a while. It was a lot of fun! Just a group of ladies from my church and I.

Now, i'm not claiming to be a good bowler, but I won all two games that we played. With a score of 106 and 114. (See, told you i'm not good) I'm usually lucky if I break 100.

Bowling is a sport in which you roll a bowling ball along a slippery and flat surface into pins for points. There are a few forms of bowling and the most recent one is ten-pin bowling. The earliest form of bowling is dated back to ancient Egypt. Other places that bowling was first seen in were ancient Finland and Yemen and Germany in 300 A.D. The first set of standardized rules were established in New York City on September 9th, 1895. Today, over 95 million people in the world enjoy bowling in more than ninety countries world wide!

Bowling is a very fun activity, and after doing some research on bowling, I was quite surprised at how good it is for you.

Bowling is an anaerobic type of exercise. It is similar to walking with free weights. It helps you to burn calories and works muscle groups in your body that are usually not exercised. All of the stretching and flexing in bowling helps to work your tendons, ,joints, ligaments and muscles in the arms and promotes weight loss. Besides the physical benefits it also has psycho-social benefits such as strengthening friendships or creating new ones. :)

See, who wouldn't want to go bowling after reading all of that?
:)

Done Done Done

Today I had my last final exam.

Seriously, I don't know if anything more sensational exists. I haven't really got any specific summertime plans, but that doesn't even matter, man. Just the fact that school is done and I don't have to worry about tests and papers and projects anymore - it makes me a little giddy.

I've got some posts planned for this week, so I should be able to write some lengthier and more substantial posts soon. :)

Fans

Ah, fans! Several times today I have been in need of sitting in front of one of these. In fact, twice today I did.

It's so nice outside, and it is hot. Finally! There was a slight breeze which made things really really nice. However, i've been doing a lot more walking than usual today and was stuffed inside of a room with tons of other people (no air conditioning) so I was hot for a long time and about ready to die.

Today, I had orientation at my college, Betsy brought me with her because well, she goes to the school i'm going to in the fall. So it's been an adventure. I got my student ID today and got to ride on the Metro Bus. :) It was an exciting experience.

But anyway, back to fans. Fans are pretty much amazing and essential. I have a floor fan in my bedroom that is almost always on high speed, a ceiling fan that's on and sometimes I sleep with my window open on top of that. If I didn't have a fan in my room, I think i'd die.

Raisin Bran

What did you have for breakfast today? A nice poptart? Eggs 'n bacon? Count Chocula? If you answered yes to any of those suggestions, you are missing out on the best breakfast (or lunch or dinner) in the world...

Mmm, Raisin Bran. I had some for dinner tonight, actually, and it was tastee. I could go for another bowl right now, actually. For someone who doesn't drink milk extra curricularly, this is saying something. But what is it saying, you ask?

It is saying that Raisin Bran is really good. You should consider it for your next eating endeavor.

Fruit Strips

Only $2.50 at Target! Inside this box is 10 individually wrapped fruit strips, and this is what I've mostly been eating the last few days as I've been in a mad hurry to get all my final homework done.

Fruit strips are soo good, and they are good for you! Only 45 calories, 5 mg of sodium and 9 grams of sugar. Sure, they may look like flattened down poop, but it is very tasty, and they smell good too!

I'm pretty sure raspberry is my favorite. I have tried Apricot, strawberry, pomegranate and wildberry. I highly recommend the raspberry fruit strips! They are sensational!

Rain

I love rain. My favorite, non-vacation, weather moments, all have to do with rain. Some people think rain is depressing, this may be what contributes to the high suicide rates in rainy places. But I like rain. Without rain it would be extremely difficult for life on earth to happen. Below are my favorite "rain" weather events.

Thunderstorms are amazing. They never seem to last long enough. When its the middle of the day, but dark outside; when its the middle of the night, but its momentarily light outside; when booms of biblical proportions roll across the land; that's a sensational time. The power of nature, its just awe-inspiring.

Another rain weather event I like does not have a name that I know of. It's when there's black storm clouds, with obvious rain, and lightning in the distance. But there's sunny sky above. Or the opposite. When its storming, and there's a sunny sky in the distance, this is also amazing.
Especially at sunset.

Ocean rain. Ahhh. Just thinking about it makes me want to go on a vacation. The warm downpour of the ocean. I've experienced these in Hawaii, California, Texas, and Florida. It smells unlike normal rain. Its a peaceful kind of smell. With a dash of salt. And its so warm that it's just like taking a shower. This is a must have on any list of things to do on vacation. Get caught outside during a rainstorm.

One of the many places I want to live later in life is the Olympic Peninsula. The rainiest place in the continental U.S. Also the location of Forks. The town of Twilight fame. While that is a huge added bonus, just the rain is enough. Next time you watch Twilight, see Washington, or are in a rainstorm, pay attention to the weather. That's sensational weather.

Green Grass

It's spring! The grass is green! This is wonderful! It's been so long.

Doctor Who

Last night I decided to reward myself for all the hard work and accomplishments that I did yesterday. Which pretty much just included working on my research paper. (I got 14 pages of it done!) My reward you might ask? Watching a few episodes of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who is really what started this whole putting off the research paper thing in the first place. I became so absorbed watching episodes of this show online that I didn't do my homework. Oops. Procrastination at its finest.

Anyway, I now only have ONE EPISODE OF SEASON 4 LEFT! GAH! I'm saving it for a special occasion but it really bugs me! I won't give anything away in this post about episodes, so I won't spoil it for anyone, but the episodes I watched last night were A-mazing!

My friends are probably going to be like, oh great, a Doctor Who post from Mindy...shoulda known it was coming!

But seriously, this show is really good. I didn't think so at first, I thought it was really creepy and nothing i'd get into. But, nevertheless, I did get into it. And now I can't stop! Oh well!


There's something about David Tennant's smile that seriously makes me want to...well, I won't say, but it makes my heart jump. I'm sure he knows he has that effect on people.

Toys

Today I went to Burger King and got a kid's meal. Except for the fries (BK fries are nasty, okay? And yes, I realize you can get mac & cheese (don't get me started on that) or apple fries, but seriously, who would?), it was tasty.

When I ordered they asked me if I wanted a boy toy or a girl toy. I got the girl toy, which briefly made me wax nostalgic, because I didn't realize they still ask that question. It brought me back to a childhood of getting ice cream cones at McDonald's and then one of us kids innocently asking, "What kind of toys do you have?" They almost always gave us a free one. We were shameless. It was awesome.

Anyway, my "girl toy" was not the SpongeBob SquarePants toy I was expecting. It was a lame leftover Princess Peach. With wheels. Uh, okay? Thanks, Burger King. They even have the new SpongeBob bags, but the toys? I think not.

Not that I wanted a SpongeBob toy. I didn't know people still adored him. They should bring back awesome toys such as these:

I'm pretty sure McDonald's had those actually, but still. These fast food chains need to relearn the benefit of capitalizing on something already wildly popular. Not trying to suck dry already parched things like SpongeBob SquarePants. Please!

Sadly, I don't have any of the above beanie babies in miniature size... But I have two or three of them in full size. Heh heh. I was a beanie baby collector, man. Even named my dog after one.

Anyway, even though the Burger King toys are lame, they know how to make a sweet commercial:



Sharp right angles? Phone book implants? Yes yes yes. That's not obscene at all! ;)

Musica!

Music. It's all around us. It's in the wind blowing the wind chimes, the rain pattering on the roof of your house or splattering against your window. It's in the mornings when you wake up and hear the birds singing (no matter how annoying it may be). It's everywhere.

Can you imagine a world with no music? I sure can't. What a dull place this world would be. I imagine everything and every day to be gray because there wouldn't be any music. Music keeps us going, it's a great motivator, it's a great relaxer, it does so much. Without it, where would we be? *Shudder* I don't really want to know the answer to that question.

Music has always been around. There is no actual date that music just happened. I guess, the first day....EVER, was the first day music came around. I'm sure Adam was in the Garden and I can envision all of creation creating music with their many unique sounds. And it was good. No pun intended.

There are many different styles of music, many different kinds of music. It's a very diverse and unique subject. Everyone likes different styles and kinds of music, it fits ones personality, as i've come to understand from listening to a few of my friends very different music. It may not by my style, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

From classical to hip-hop, there is something out there for everyone. Music is not just out there to listen to, but it's out there to create as well. Many people enjoy playing an instrument or singing. I personally love to sing. I sing in church and at the camp I work at in the summer, it not only calms me, but lights a fire in my soul every time I sing a song that I really like. You can tell which songs I really like by the way I sing them. I get really loud, and almost go all diva-ish.

This brings me to another point. What does music mean to you? Is it a get-away? Something you use to relax with or is it just background noise, because it's too awkward to just sit in silence?

To me, music is many things. I use it to relax and I use it to escape. I use it to get me excited and to jam out to. I use it to prepare me for certain events during the day. Music is also a form of worship to me. I love singing and listening to praise and worship songs, many of which the lyrics tug at my heart and when I sing those kinds of songs, I can't help but raise my hands in the air and turn my face up towards the heavens and think, thank you. Because music is amazing and powerful and awesome and sensational and it always does something to me, something that I cannot explain.

With the invention of the ipod and many other different mp3 players, music has become ultra portable. I mean, we've had walkmans and cassette tape players, and those were pretty portable, but ipods have replaced all of those and saved us lots of space as well as batteries and is more convenient. Not to mention pretty sweet looking. :)

So what kind of music do you like to listen to? Do you play any music, either vocally or instrumentally? What does music mean to you?

FOOD FOOD FOOD

Sorry if this is totally disgusting, but I had a bad experience with bamboo shoots today, and now I covet every greasy, breakfast-looking, bacon-filled food I come across. Witness:

The Thunderdome
Three stacks of bacon, sausage, elk meat, onions and cheese between tortillas all topped with sour cream, two fried eggs and scallions.

Okay, I could do without the elk meat, but the rest sounds like a scrumptious way to consume 100,000 calories. Brings me back to the time when I told Mindy that if I were a whale, I'd eat Arby's every day. I'd also eat the above. Not to mention the below:

Carny Casserole
Ground beef, pierogies, french fries topped with green onions, avocado, bacon and egg, smothered in cheese and topped with gravy.

Nevermind that I have no idea what a pierogie is. That just looks tasty. Mmm, green onions. Mmm, bacon. Both of those images come from This is why you're fat, which features photos and descriptions of super, super unhealthy foods that people either eat or they only created to send to the website.

And I'm not going to lie, a lot of the stuff looks good to me. I could say it's because of my very unsatisfying diet of Cheez-Its and yogurt today, but... It looks good a lot of the time. Not that I'd willingly consume a "Thunderdome" or "Carny Casserole." At least not the whole thing at once. ;D

So! Are there any foods you crave at the moment?

Brighten up your day!

Meeting people you haven't seen in a long time really helps to brighten up your day!

This past weekend I went on a youth retreat with my church's youth group to Districts in Duluth MN. It was wonderful! There was a great speaker, a pretty decent band and some really good seminar's to go to.

While I was there, a few kids that were in my cabin at camp last summer, (I am a camp counselor during the summers) found me and approached me. It was a nice little reunion. :)

On Sunday, I sang for my camps' spring rally at a church in the middle of no where, and was again reunited with a bunch of people that I haven't seen in ages. I would have to say that those mini reunions have been some pretty significant highlights of my weekend.

It's funny how you can go from not really having a good day or just being so exhausted that you are to the point where you can no longer be social, to seeing someone and suddenly get excited.

Anyway, I didn't want this entire post to be about camp reunions, but about things that help brighten up your day.

I know that for myself, things as little as a smile can sometimes brighten my day up. I always get excited when I get ACTUAL e-mails and not just some stupid facebook update or spam e-mail. Finding something that you thought was lost forever is also another good thing to brighten up your day with. Being with friends or just talking to friends helps as well.

More things that always make me happy are shopping, going out, taking naps, laughing, watching a good movie, reading a good book, making something creative and cute, knitting, etc.

I feel like I should sing the song "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music." You know, the whole listing favorite things parts, "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, snowflakes that stay on my nose and my cheeks, these are a few of my favorite things!"

So, what are YOUR favorite things or things that just help to brighten up your day?

My Girl

Guess what I watched today.

My Girl. Oh Vada Sultenfuss, you're remarkable. All the dead bodies would freak me out too. And Thomas J. Poor Thomas J. I love them and this movie.

Oh, and I really like their bikes.

No more elaboration needed.

Cerulean Blue

When I was little, I remember going to cub foods, just before school started and in their entry way there were these GIGANTIC bins full of crayons. (Random right?)

This was probably one of my favorite days ever. When I was little anyway.

You got to get a box that held 12 crayons and go around to all the bins picking out different colors and fill up your box. And then you pay like 50 cents for the box of crayons. But, the important thing was you got to choose your own colors. If, I hadn't had been thinking logically (meaning grabbing all the standard colors that you needed) my box would have looked more like this:

I know that box is bigger than 12, but you get the picture.

Cerulean blue is my favorite color ever. It is superior to all the other colors crayola or rose art has to offer. Yes, it beats mac and cheese. I remember getting SO MAD when my box of 48 crayons or whatever didn't have Cerulean. Out of 48 crayons, c'mon! I refused to draw any water or sky without it! I could seriously sit and look at cerulean blue for hours and be lulled into some sort of a peaceful state of mind. To me, this color is very calming.

I don't color with crayons very much anymore, but I still really appreciate cerulean blue. Every time I see anything in that color, I get very excited. Cerulean blue is spectacular! I should buy a cerulean blue shirt or something. I'd probably wear it all the time. :)

Buy a box and do your share

Do you know what's tastier than tasty? More delish than delicious? More scrumptious than lots of stuff (lima beans, watermelon, potato bread, etc.)?

Girl Scout cookies, of course.

Seriously, they're good. My parents randomly gave me a box of thin mints last weekend. Right after the box is bestowed upon me, my mom commented that "they're not as good as they used to be" which is a claim I don't really understand. But I guess I haven't had as many years to critique them, either. But anyway, thx parents, for your reject cookies. I still like them, at least.

Apparently, there are like a zillion different kinds of Girl Scout cookies. I haven't had all of them, but they all look pretty tasty to me except the shortbread - ew. Obviously, though, thin mints are the fave. And if you don't believe me, look at the official Girl Scout Cookie website. For a second I thought the bit about Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers was some kind of slogan. It isn't. Crying shame.

Anyway, I was never a Girl Scout myself, so I really don't know how it is to stand outside of a Wal-Mart or something trying to sell cookies for a Kiosk Management patch or whatever. But! I do know a tasty way to eat thin mint cookies:

Ew, sorry for the crappy webcam pics/facial expressions.

Yeah, seriously. I have like four sandwiches worth of peanut butter left and one week of needing my own jar of peanut butter. Thus, experimentation. But it was worth it. Om nom nom.

Oh, and here's a relevant video clip from an awesome movie. Troop Beverly Hills. That's right. Here we go:


But seriously, buy some Girl Scout cookies! It's easy! Just go here so you can find out how to contact your local council and enter cookie heaven.

Knee-High Socks

Ahh, the knee-high sock! I have like 6 pairs of these babies in my dresser. I LOVE them. I cannot wait for this summer so I can flaunt them off. I've been having to hide them under my jeans, but not for much longer, it's starting to get warm outside!

It's really fun to wear knee-high socks. They come in all sorts of colors and patterns and such, these socks really just tell people about you. For example, would you choose the socks pictured above over plain white ones? If you choose the ones pictured above, I can see that you like fun, quirky things. And if you choose the white well, then, you don't, plain white is boring, sorry.

According to Wikipedia, (yeah yeah, I use wikipedia, I bet you do too) socks are designed to:

• ease chafing between the foot and footwear
• protect footwear by absorbing perspiration and dead skin lost from the foot
• provide comfort
• be fashionable
• keep the feet warm

I am pretty much quoting wikipedia word for word in this upcoming bit, just so you know.

Socks were originally made from animal skin, wrapped around the foot and tied around the ankles. In the 8th Century B.C, the greeks wore socks from matted animal hair for warmth. The Romans also wrapped their feet with leather or woven fabrics. By the 5th Century AD, socks called ‘puttees’ were worn by the holy people in Europe to symbolize purity. By 1,000 AD, socks became a symbol of wealth among the nobility. From the 16th Century onwards, an ornamental design on the ankle or side of a sock has been called a clock.

The invention of the knitting machine in 1589 meant that socks could be knitted six times faster than by hand. Nonetheless, knitting machines and hand knitters worked side by side until 1800.

The next revolution in sock production was the introduction of nylon in 1939. Until then socks were commonly made from silk, cotton and wool. Nylon was the start of blending two or more yarns in the production of socks, a process that still continues.

It has become a recent trend in pop culture today to attempt to fit a sock over your head. However, medical problems have occurred through such behavior, including shattered nose bones and in some cases suffocation.

Knee-high socks are often associated with dress codes, such as school uniforms and different sports teams. But, they can be worn with anything, at anytime.

That is about all that I have on the knee-high socks. I just think that they are sensational and awesome and I think i'm going to wear a pair today as I go out to do some errands. It's not quite warm enough to wear shorts though, so I guess I will have to hide them under my pants. :(

The Blue Whale

A few posts ago I said that the biggest things are the most important and now feel the need to back up that claim.

No, that's not right. The claim doesn't need to be backed up (it's obvious!), and the above statement was just a way for me to start my post. Yes, that sounds good.

My fascination with things big and awesome began early. As a small child visiting Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, I rode the Beast many times. What is the Beast, you ask? Why, only the longest wooden roller coaster in the world. According to the official Kings Island website, anyway. This may not seem like it would make such an impression, but wait - there's more!

My delirious euphoria at having ridden the Beast again and again likely contributed to my getting lost at the park that day. After walking around aimlessly for some time, I realized I was lost and began to cry. Some kindly strangers took pity on me and I was eventually given a giant lollipop after I was found. The Beast lead to the lollipop, and the lollipop lead to whichever thing next left its big impression on my life. Thus, it can only be concluded that big begets big.

The blue whale is the biggest animal to have ever been begotten. Yeah, even larger than any dinosaur. Much more ferocious, too. Its heart alone weighs over 1,000 pounds. A baby blue whale is more huge than most full grown animals.

The blue whale is also the loudest animal on the planet, and it can grow pretty old too. They've got it all! They are seriously my favorite animal, and I'm not just saying this for the sake of the post. I think they are awesome on every level. Though I do wonder how much water they displace. I mean, if we took 12,000 blue whales weighing 400,000 pounds each from the ocean the sea level would probably drop like 10 feet.

Or maybe not. But they're still dang huge. And cute too:

Aww.

Online Shopping

I have another addiction.

Online shopping! Lately, it's been my procrastination to homework and has inspired many many idea's about things I want to make and stuff. Oh yeah, I make skirts, well..when I say I make skirts, I really mean that i'm in the process of making one. Anyway, there are soooooo many things that I want to buy online! If only I were rich.

From shoes to hair clips to dresses, you should see how many bookmarks I have of things that I want to buy online. They are all nicely arranged (in alphabetical order) in a folder in my bookmarks titled "Stuff I want to buy."

I just counted and I have 73 items in that folder. I would have more had I not have lost all my bookmarks a few weeks ago...

There are so many cute things to buy online. I really hate how I can spend hours upon hours browsing through different sites that have cute summery dresses and shoes, but cannot make it through five minutes of homework. It's really rather pathetic. But that is what online shopping does to me. Last year, I bought a lot of things off the internet. I got a few seasons of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (I LOVE THAT SHOW!) My textbooks, a new coat, a shirt, music...I got a lot of stuff. But yet, it seems to never be enough. There is so much more that I want.

Online shopping first began in 1990, when Jeff Bezos started up a glorious website called Amazon. After that, bookstores opened up on the net, secure payment options became available, online banking became available and Pizza Hut opened up an online service, and then in 1996 Ebay appeared.

Online shopping is a very convenient way to shop. You can shop in the comfort of your own home, without having to drive miles to the nearest mall (at least, that's the case for me) and you won't use up any gas. However, you do not get to try on or try out anything that you buy ahead of time. You just have to hope that it fits/works. But you can always return it. You do have to wait a few days to a week or so before getting what you purchased online though, which kind of sucks.

Siiiigh. This post makes me want to go look through all my bookmarks and order a bunch of stuff off the internet. I really need to practice self control. :)

*Edited to add* I DID go through my bookmarks. Aren't these rainboots cute?

WORD UP.

Atop a coffee table.

Most often, when I think of poetry, the above is the first phrase that comes to mind. I don't know why - I don't recall ever writing it or reading it, so as far as I know it just appeared in my mind one day. Probably in "creative writing" class back in high school... Shudder. I do not wish to think of those redundant classes where personification of animals was the end-all, be-all of good poetry.

Something or other about implosive or explosive consonants (or something) probably brought the phrase about, but I never used it in one of my "poems" - I am not a poet. But really, when I say "atop a coffee table" out loud, it sounds pleasant to me. I like it a lot.

As I peruse Poetry Critical, a site I stumbled upon in my early days on the internets, I am often struck by poems where the author chose some nice, maybe unusual words, and they really flow together. (In case you're interested, my favorite poems on the site are here and here.)

I think the huge variety of words and their origin makes English a really interesting language. I kind of like to read about how words have changed over the years and where they originate. I regularly check various word-of-the-day websites. I just like words, okay? Thus, the real topic (paragraphs later) of this post is not poetry, but words.

But not just any words. Oh no, no no no, not that. Only good words count. Do you think that people who give mere speeches get on in this world? Because they do not, gurlfran. If you want to be well-respected, you've got to give a declamation. Yes, that's a good word.

Just ask Amy March the importance of having a nice vocabillary of words in one's repertoire. She got to go abroad, after all... Which, now that I think of it, seems like a poor example since Jo was the writer (and those obv have superlarge vocabs, am I right?) and she didn't get to go. But you probably didn't need convincing anyway, did you?

As I was saying, a well-chosen word can make or break a sentence. One well-chosen word after another can make you a genius. Just ask Shakespeare.

So, what are your favorite words (or phrases or sentences or paragraphs or pages or poems)? Maybe you write? Show off one of your lilting, lyrical masterpieces in a comment, hm? Does that sound good to you?

Word.

Shoelaces

Clothes are one of our many methods to express ourselves. Our outfit shows our personality and our mood. One aspect of the outfit are shoes. Shoes are sensational. While women's shoes come in many different styles, men's are not quite as varied. The only style changes that are immediately obvious are the different athletic shoes. But there ARE in fact ways to individualize your shoes. Converse, and similar shoes are very good "express yourself" shoes. But what should you do if several of your friends have these shoes. The answer is shoelaces.

Shoelaces weren't widely used until the 20th century. Before that buckles or buttons were used. It is estimated that a shoe with six eyelets has 2 trillion ways it can be tied. Besides the basic
criss-cross method, there is the checkerboard method and the bar method. Today there are many different styles of shoelace. My current shoelaces have kitties, and colorful bubble things. Shoelaces are a very creative way to make unsensational shoes sensational!

Facebook Applications

Is anyone else addicted to some facebook applications or is it just me?

I remember when facebook didn't even HAVE applications.

When facebook got applications, I was so turned off by it. I remember thinking how lame some of these things are. And then i'd get millions of application requests and that would just annoy me.

But there are quite a few good applications out there--like scrabble and my current addiction--sorority life.

Yes...sorority life. I kid you not. It's like playing with paper dolls online. Only...just...different. You'd have to see it and play it to understand. I just want my little character to get rich and have sweet clothes and drive sweet cars.

Well, this post is very short, but seriously though, sorority life, it's addicting!

I know where the summer goes

I love spring.

Actually, I like sunshine more. And I don't mean this post to be opposite-but-really-the-same to my last post, because that's not how I mean it at all. I was actually thinking about this stuff today, and the fact that this relates to my last post is purely coincidental... But anyway!

A few years ago my family lived in a house without air conditioning. I always loved waking up half sweaty with a fan blowing on me, the sheets cool and the sun shining through the window. To me, that feels like summer. I don't like air conditioning. That is why pictures like this really pump me up for the months to come:

Weird maybe, but I like that airy sun-through-the-curtains quality. I have this whole odd idea in my head about what summer should be like: lazy, sweaty, with friend outings here and there, but mostly lonely in a good way. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it does to me.

Really, my idea of the perfect summer is probably largely informed by Belle and Sebastian songs. Not that I'm a person who revels in loneliness, but... I don't really have a "but" statement for that. I suppose I meant it in a find-beauty-in-sadness sort of way, but that's really lame and really cliche, and I refuse to stand by that statement.

Sorry if this post is meandering and over-hyphenated, but I'm distracted by how excellent it is outside! Thank goodness I have some plans for tonight, because I don't feel like finding beauty in loneliness right now. It's too nice for that.

Anyway, I really don't know how to end this post, so I will now sum up what the main idea was meant to be in one sentence: I like it when the sun shines through curtains.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Sleep. Every living thing's chance to "recharge". Sleep is a fantastic thing. Sleep gives you a fresh start, a clean slate. Even after a super stressful day you get to relax and sleep. It is recommended that you should get 7-9 hours of sleep a night.

Sleeping has also become a huge industry. Every one of us can list several mattress brands. The special ones like Sleep Number, and Serta stand out. There are schools, like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. There are sleeping disorders, like sleep apnea, and insomnia.

Whenever you talk about sleeping you have to talk about dreams too. Dreams are often little mini vacations to fantasies or horrible nightmares. While researching this I discovered that I have several lucid dreams a week. When you realize you are dreaming it is called a lucid dream. At that time you can manipulate the dream. Another fascinating thing about dreams is that dreams are said to have hidden meanings, from religious origins, or from you're own sub conscious.

Sleeping is just a wonderful thing. Its free. Its relaxing. You get to do it every night. It is simply sensational!

Pompeii

I seem to like to post about things starting with the letter "p" these days.

I became inspired to post a blog about Pompeii last night while watching the Doctor Who episode "Fires of Pompeii." Yeah, I'm a Doctor Who fan, don't laugh. Anyway, it reminded me of the time long long ago when I was in the third grade and had some sort of weird obsession with Pompeii. Random huh? I also had an obsession with Rocks and the Titanic. It was an interesting year.

More seriously though, I felt really bad for the people of Pompeii. Wouldn't you have noticed something strange happening to that big old "mountain" in your back yard a few days prior to the eruption? If so, wouldn't you want to urm...get away? I sure would. However, they probably thought that one of the gods was angry. At least, that's what happened on Doctor Who anyway. :P

I used to love checking out random Pompeii books from the library and looking at all the lost artifacts that were found in the ruins. Paintings, pottery, bones, you name it, I deemed it interesting.


Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, causing ash and pumice to literally bury the city alive. The eruption lasted for two days. Many people tried to run and hide, and i'm guessing it was mass chaos. People hid in their houses, thinking that the ash would not get to them. While that might have been true, for a while at least, the poisonous gasses got to them, and then the ash itself. The city of Pompeii was lost for nearly 1700 years, and then was accidentally discovered by the Spanish military engineer, Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre in 1748.

Since then, Pompeii has been excavated, and it's findings preserved. What always fascinated me was when you look at the pictures of the people, and they look like REAL people. After all those years, their bodies had been preserved, amazingly.

This photo is called 'The Garden of Fugitives."

We can learn so much from Pompeii. If you want to know what life was like in the first century of Rome, all you need to do is study the ancient artifacts, the art, the pottery, etc. Looking through all these pictures that I found on the internet, it gets to be very interesting. I highly recommend a google image search of Pompeii.

Today, the city of Pompeii is a huge tourist attraction, you can walk the streets and see many of the recovered buildings and artifacts. I hope one day I can travel to Italy and get to see Pompeii for real.