Wow. :]



p.s. I think you should view it full screen ;P

So lately I've been listening to Avishai Cohen's music a lot while studying or reading. I find it quite refreshing and relaxing :)

Just so you know...

...I'm not dead! Woo! Yeah. Not dead. Just lazy. But now I'm back! :O I haven't posted in FOREVERRRR. My life has just been so full of.. school. :/ Learning and homework. And as of this week, finals. Which, so far, have actually gone quite well! I take my last two tomorrow and then I'm FREE! Yay! Sooo I should be studying right now.. so here are some pictures to occupy you.

Some of the items I've made in art class :D

This is what I spent an hour of my evening doing:


And here's Winston!
In case you can't tell, he loves the snow too.

Stay The Same

I really like this :]

endless entertainment

I'm currently finding large amounts of joy in wearing a baggy, over-sized, multicolored sweater around the house along with a pair of black leggings. In the middle of the night.. I just looked at the clock! Goodness I should be sleeping, I think. Anyway, I have this fantastic new sweater all thanks to Goodwill! I went to get a sweatshirt and other items to wear on Monday, which is is themed as 80's workout day, for homecoming week. Originally, we found this sweater with the intent of cutting the sleeves off and making them into leg warmers, but now I'm not sure if I can bear to do it! It's so delightfully big and colorful! (royal blue, purple, a dark lime-ish green, turquoise, and black) I'm debating now whether I should wear this sweater instead of the sweatshirt.. I'm definitely going to be getting some other leggings or sweater to make into leggings, but should I wear the sweater? Or perhaps it isn't very workout-y, since it is a kind of chunky knit sweater... Hm.

perhaps we should have a pumpkin c"rave"

Because that would be SO FUN right? In all honesty, I'm not sure how well pumpkins go with dancing.. But hey, you never know until you try! ;D I'm just posting a post for the sake of posting, I think. I have large quantities of relatively simple homework this weekend! Something I actually kind of like.. wow. Well, I'd much rather have a bunch of worksheets and minor assignments, as opposed to having a couple of big projects or writing assignments! This way, even if it takes the same amount of time to do my homework, I can check off each assignment when it's finished, and by the time I'm done I feel like I've accomplished a lot! Yay for having nerd opinions on homework.
So, I went ice skating yesterday evening! :D It was lots o' fun, even though I fell twice.. Teehee. But I got up again! You're never going to keep me down! Yup. Anyway, now I'm somewhat sore! But not too much that I don't feel like going rollerblading if I can find time to today. And, I definitely would enjoy going ice skating again soon! It had been awhile since I'd last gone, and I really forgot how much I enjoy it, despite my poor skills, and what a good activity it is for spending time with friends. :] Sooo.. if anyone wants to go ice skating next next Friday at 7:30pm, count me in. Because this coming Friday I have my school's homecoming game and (maybe) dance to go to. After experiencing Carmel's, it feels like ours might be total failure in comparison. Except for the grinding... one good aspect, at our homecoming we will definitely have less grinding.

Whpff Shfft

Whenever I'm walking down a hallway at school I feel like I look depressed or something because I usually have a blank, bored look on my face. But if I smiled more often I would probably look like a grinning idiot. Still, I want to look approachable and friendly... Which is better, grinning idiot or expressionless tired person?

Also, I never think about how my knees always brush/knock against eachother while I'm walking until I wear my corduroy pants(which I did today) and it makes an annoying noise.. this bothered me all day today. I really like these pants, they're a maroon/red-violet color and skinny fit, but seriously, all day it was whpff shfft whpff shfft as I went from class to class. >.< ...I'm not sure that onomatopoeia is quite right.. but, in my defense, it's a really hard sound to describe.

Also also, my backpack is magic. It's pretty crazy. I couldn't find my phone for a couple days, and I knew it had to be somewhere at home, so I searched all over the house for it. When I got home from school today I was looking, and happened to check my backpack for it for the billionth time.. and I finally found it! It was in the bottom of the bag.. but really, what is up with that?! I emptied my bag twice when I was looking the other day! Maybe I'm just bad at finding things. Yeah..

Also also also: Happy first day of October and HAPPY WEEKEND :D I have lots of homework to do, but none of it is major, so I'm fairly pleased myself. ^_^

Oh No Oh No Oh No !

So I just tried to go to this site and blogger showed that my blog had been deleted !!! I'm not really sure what happened.. But anyway, the problem has been resolved. Clearly! :P Hm, how is Gemma entering a post in the afternoon on a school day? I'm not at school! D: *depressed frown* I stayed home today because last night before going to bed I had a really long period of intense crazy abdominal pain, which somewhat came back this morning.

My first thoughts after becoming delirious with pain?

1. "I AM NEVER DANCING AROUND THE HOUSE FOR TWENTY MINUTES STRAIGHT AFTER EATING DINNER EVER AGAIN."
2. "Maybe this is because of those cookies I ate?! Darn it! Darn you cookies!"
3. "dfjhaflkfjd aaaeuuuhghghghgh paaaaiiin"
4. "...oh no. Oh No Oh No Oh No ! WHAT IF IT'S MY APPENDIX?!???!?!"
5. "Eungh. Ima die. Ow."

The Ramblings of a Crazy

So today I realized that I really am the creepiest person I know! Really. You cannot try to dispute the fact, because I know it to be true. *hysterical crazy grinning and laughter* Nothing wrong with it, but if you know me... you know I am a crazy stalker freak! (and quite proficient at it! hahaha) Maybe we all are though, what with the convenience of the internet now. Maybe I'm not the only one! Well, no, I know I'm not the only one.. But still, I'm crazy! Seriously people. Hide your kids. Hide your wife. Don't believe me? You have my thanks, I'm flattered. :P

Edit: Okay. It turns out I'm not the creepiest person I know. I stand corrected. xD

real men will let you put sparkles in their hair

School is going fine. I always seem to be working on homework, but I think that might be my workaholic personality more than anything. Because my brother never seems to do homework but is still getting good grades.. So, right now I'm writing a post while I should be studying for a rather big in class essay I have on Monday. The last of my homework... I've been putting it off all weekend. I would say that my procrastination makes me less of a nerd, but I was still doing lots of other work. ...because I procrastinated it on it.. I see now. I'm not a nerd/workaholic, I just procrastinate on things so that I have a ton of homework to do all the time? Yeah. I have no idea.

Either way, this weekend was also CHS homecoming, and even though I don't attend CHS, I got to go! Because I would be going there if I didn't go to Brebeuf and all my bestest friends go there. Why am I even explaining this? You know this! Probably. Anyway, IT WAS SO AWESOME. I went to the homecoming game on Friday evening and it was great! It was really nice to see all my friends and old buddies :D Also, we didn't really watch much of the game.. Some people behind us were being obnoxious and throwing cans into the crowd(how immature) so we sort of ended up hanging around outside the stadium and talking. It was fun. And then Saturday night, THAT WAS AWESOME. :] I love dancing. I did so much dancing on Saturday night, with the music and the people and the jumping and the fist pumping. It was rather intense. I also have the feeling my school's homecoming would be completely different.. different atmosphere, far fewer people, less sweat maybe? I'm not sure if I'll be going to the Brebeuf homecoming(the dance part at least).. but I guess it might be a good idea? For the sake of comparison at least. ;] Alright, now it's time I focused my thoughts on the rise and fall from power of the Hittite rulers, Anittas, Hattusilis I, Mursilis, and Hantili. The Hittites were an Indo-European tribe who, while Hammurabi was taking Mesopotamia and uniting it by force, were joining into small kingdoms. The Egyptians knew them as Ht, a title from the name of their homeland: Hatti, the territory of the Hittites. Though their kingdom was formed in strength and bore many conquests, the story of the Hittite dynasty is a tumultuous one... -_- sigh. (if you managed to read through this post and actually find it even semi-interesting, you have my praise)

If I Was a Boy at Sea

Happy Monday! I like how, after listening to this song, I always end up feeling energetic and peaceful at the same time.. plus, Discovery is the combination of Rostam Batmanglij (from Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (from Ra Ra Riot), which is pretty great.

Welcome To Friday

This week has been INTENSE. I started school on Monday, and it has been very interesting. I was really nervous to be starting, especially since I'm attending an entirely new school where I didn't yet know a ton of people, but I'd say it's gotten better as the days have progressed. Today was a lot of fun, and we had a pep rally at the end of the day where everyone was full of energy. Still, I am sooo happy the weekend is here. I'm probably going to fall into a short term coma tonight and wake up Sunday morning refreshed and ready to do lots of homework. Haha, oh boy. So, one interesting thing I learned today was in art where the teacher got out some clay at the end of the class and was talking about our first project. (we're going to be making tea bowls.. eventually.. so far we've spent class learning about Japanese tea ceremonies and Zen Buddhism) So, he was setting the clay on a wooden board and describing how we would store our creations when he stopped and showed us how he had dried clay on his hands. Apparently, if you clap/rub your hands together to get the clay off it will send out little particles that you'll inhale, but won't be able to exhale. If you work as an art teacher or work with clay very often then these clay particles can build up and eventually trap water in your lungs causing you to essentially drown in your own fluids over time. So, the moral of this story is that you should wet your hands to get rid of excess clay! Intense indeed.

Okay I Lied

I don't feel like posting much else about our vacation in England! And I was going to post some footage taken during the trip, but I can't seem to get the video in a format I can edit.. So that's not happening either! Darn. (I'm sure you don't mind) So instead I'll just show you this picture(that I took on my cellphone! I'm surprised at the quality.. I thought it would be much worse):

...pretzel m&m's! Because my mom and I kept seeing them advertised but couldn't find them in any stores.. until yesterday when we were at kroger! Now that I've tried them I can say that they are good. Not AMAZING or anything, but yummy for sure.

My second point in this post is that if you happen to be a visitor of this FANTASTIC PILLAR OF NONFICTION INTERNET LITERATURE then you should leave a comment on this post! If you want to. Don't have to. I'm just wondering who's around! :]

Guess What?

I AM HOME :D And even though it's only 8:21pm here, I'm too tired to do an actual post. So you just come back later(like tomorrow.. or the next day?) for more information on how my vacation in England went! Because right now in England, because of the 5 hour time difference, it is 1:21am. So I'm really sleepy. Good night.

Because It's Important

I like this sign.

It was outside a park near Highgate Cemetery where we went to visit Karl Marx's grave.

(which was Spencer's idea)

How To Do The Laundry..

1. Open the drum door.
If the door cannot be opened, see "Problem Solving Guide"
Also, make sure there are no cats or small animals inside the appliance before and after using it. That could be bad.

We were trying to figure out how to use the washer/dryer in the apartment where we're staying in Bristol, hence the instruction manual pictured below.

These scenic pictures were taken from the car on our way to visit stonehenge.

And this is stonehenge!

...and this is a swan! This picture was taken when we went punting(a punt is a type of boat) in Oxford.

So... I'd say we've been enjoying England greatly thus far!

We've visited:

• Bristol(which has sort of been the base camp for all of our other trips out)
• Bath with the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey
• Stonehenge(which was actually pretty cool, we were especially lucky to have had great weather on the day we visited)
• Salisbury with Salisbury Cathedral(a really quite impressive place in terms of archictecture and artistry)
• Oxford where we toured around and visited Christ Church and some universities (and went punting)
• Blenheim Palace(another really impressive and beautiful place) My favorite part was the area around the Palace including the gardens and landscaping, all of which was designed by Capability Brown.
• The Cottswolds including the villages of: Bourton-on-the-Water, Slaughter, Snowshill, and Broadway

And now we're back in Bristol getting ready to take the train to London, where we'll stay for 4 days. Then we head off to Loughborough for my mom's cousin's wedding! (which is actually the reason we're in England)

Other interesting pictures:

Chimney pots viewed from the apartment in Bristol

A flower monster! Salisbury is heavily populated with these creatures...

The dam at Blenheim Palace which was constructed in order to form a water feature for the palace grounds.

Quite impressive I think. ^_^ And pretty!

Good Morning

Laura asked in one of her posts whether big urban cities or farmhouse countryside sorts of areas are more preferable. I vote cities, or perhaps the outskirts of a big city. I wouldn't want to be directly in the center of a big urban city, but I'd prefer that to living in a farmhouse? Actually, now I'm wondering about the other options that were left out here. What about villages? Or cities/counties in England like Bristol, the Clifton area to be specific(my current location!), that are so fantastic and pretty. Or Cape Cod, which is neither big city nor village nor countryside exactly. That is the area, or sort of area, I'd want to live in, anywhere around there really.

"So Bristol," you might ask, "how's that going?" Now that we're here, we arrived yesterday at 9am their time(it was 4am Indiana time though...), and now that we've overcome much of our jet lag and exhaustion, I'd say Bristol is going well enough. While we've had a few mishaps, for instance, Spencer broke his glasses when we were in the Indianapolis airport shortly before we had to board our plane, but they've all pretty much worked themselves out. I and my mom both got a little sick yesterday after having some coffee in one of the local coffee shops, we're suspecting it was the caffiene on top of jet lag and lack of sleep(because neither of us got any sleep on the 6ish hour plane ride), but now we've quite fully recovered. We all also went to bed really early yesterday, as we all, not surprisingly, quickly became exhausted nearing the end of the day.

For the problem of Spencer's glasses, after we arrived yesterday we scheduled an appointment at a Vision Express, where they can have your glasses ready in 1 hour, and went to the mall... where they have an Optical Express and a Vision Express. So of course we had to go in the Optical Express(which is the first that we saw), asked them if they were the place we scheduled our appointment, explained our situation, and somehow ended up deciding to cancel our appointment at Vision Express and instead go to this new place because they said they could help us out quicker. After spending about 30 minutes or more in the Optical Express getting Spencer's prescription and trying to pick out frames, we discovered their onsite lab technician guy got off shift at 5:30pm. It was 5:20 when they told us this. So, having already gotten Spencer's prescription(which they kindly gave us for free since we ended up not buying anything, normal charge is £15), we headed off to the Vision Express, because we didn't want to have to come back the next day to pick up the glasses at the Optical Express, where we ended up picking out a pair of frames that had a buy one get one free sort of deal, so we got that pair and then chose to have the second pair as sunglasses, so we picked out a thicker plastic frame and for £10 had the lenses tinted gray. Of course, the tint could take a little more than 2 hours to take, so we would have to come back the next day. Great right? But it's okay, because we decided we might as well just drive back to pick up the glasses since we're getting our rental car today anyway. So, all in all, the mishap sorted itself out, and now Spencer has his glasses, and in about an hour he'll have some prescription sunglasses!

And in about two hours we'll be off to Bath for some sightseeing!
Forgive me for the long post(hahaha).. there may or may not be more to come.
P.S. Why is Gemma up at 5:39am?!?! I'm not, silly, it's actually 10:39am in England. (hopefully you could've deduced that on your own)

The Natural Awakening

Birds. This morning I awoke to birds. Chirping, no, yelling through my open window... and through every other open window in the house, as I realized when the obnoxious noise continued even after I shut mine. 5am is not when I care to awake on a Saturday morning in the middle of summer. And of course, once I rise that early, I just can't get back asleep! ...Not when nature is yakking away full volume outside. So instead of sleeping I went downstairs and read.

Hopefully, I'll get better rest and actually wake up tomorrow at the time I plan, more like 7 or 8, since I need to vacuum the pool and maybe go for a bike ride before we head off to the airport to pick up my grandmother. She's flying in from Florida to then fly with us to England on Wednesday. :D And once she gets here it's off we go to get food and other stuffs because we're having relatives over for the 4th of July! My hopes for a bike ride keep getting pushed around to make room for other plans, which is perfectly fine by me, but that's why I'm considering going in the morning tomorrow. (I think my determination on getting a good bike ride in are simply the longing for a bit of wind in the hair and relaxing exercise, where my rollerblades just aren't cutting it. I love rollerblading, especially in the fall, but in the summer sun I'd rather be on a bicycle.)

Also, has anyone noticed any REALLY big squirrels lately? Because everywhere I look it seems there's some large(and by large I mean fat and adorable) squirrel bounding across the road, or charging up a tree, or taunting my dog. Maybe I just never noticed them before?

The First Taste

We got our English money! Pounds!

Isn't it pretty?? And they're different sizes! I think that makes so much sense! Our money is boring. Did you know in Australia their money is apparently made out of a polymer/plastic?

Anyway here's a video I found when I was browsing and looking up the song Supermassive Black Hole because it is a good song and I realized I somehow don't have it in my massive collection of music when I thought I did.

This is definitely a different style than the original song by Muse, but I like it ^_^

Repeat

Last day of summer school! Finally! I'm free! Now I need to work to get ready for my family's trip to England in two weeks. I also have to try to make up on lost reading and hanging out time. :D