Fear Factor.

My head is buzzing, my hands are shaking,

Do you hear the noise my heart is making?

I bite my nails, I tap my feet,

Should I fight it or just retreat?

My mouth is dry, my legs are jelly,

I have a sick feeling deep in my belly.

Can I do it? I don't know.

I hope my terror doesn't show.

I've gotta keep my cool and try to be brave,

though nervous energy hits me in waves.

At the very least I'll be alert.

Anyway, what does a little fear hurt?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My 3rd poem. Yay, I did it before I had to leave! This is just a little exaggeration of how anxious I am about driving all by myself to somewhere I've never been. It would be so much better if I just had someone with me. Like, to read the directions while I'm driving...

But this is just the adventure that will send my 2009 off with a bang! Happy New Year everybody, and see you next year! In fact, see you in the next decade! Haha. ^_^ I'll think of some resolutions to put up tomorrow while I'm baby-sitting. (Maybe I'll try to make them part of poem #4...)

Goodbye, 2009

Well, it seems as if there's been a slight change of plans. Anyone remember I'm supposed to be baby-sitting with my bro and sis tonight? Well, we're still doing that, only Annette and Adam have joined our dad, Benny, to go to the beach (it's a beautiful last day of the year) and I declined. So I'm going to have to drive up to the kids' house all by myself and make a rendezvous with my partners in crime. Haha. I think that's the first time I've had to do that. ~,~ I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure I won't get myself lost. Like I said, I'm an awesome driver.

So very soon my mom and I are going to get the oil changed, and I think she'll drop me off at Borders. I always love that. ^_^

Perhaps later I'll be able to squeeze in time for my daily poem and writing my resolutions. Don't count on it, though. Just be pleasantly surprised if I do happen to make it.

Less than 12 hours to go! In case I don't say it later, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!!!

My Ode to Oatmeal

Sweet, warm, thick and gooey,

Oh so soft and oh so chewey.

It's yummy when it's hot and pasty,

Throw in raisins, it's even more tasty!

I like warming my hands on the bowl

when the weather's kind of cold.

Of all the breakfast foods there are,

This one beats them out by far,

'Cause nothing compares to how I feel

When I'm eating a bowl of delicious oatmeal!

^_^

That was poem #2. Whaddaya think? I do so love oatmeal! Eating some today made me feel so good and mushy inside that I got inspired to make it the subject of my poetry. ^_^

Old Resolutions

Let's see how I've kept my 2009 goals by jumping back to my last New Years post.

• Well, I'm proud to say that I've kept quite a good book blog this year, but I'm sorry to say that I didn't keep my resolution to break my record. I read 115 books in 2008, and only 104 books this year. Oh well. Pish-posh. Doesn't matter. Same difference, anyway. At least I broke 100! ^_^ I don't think this year I'll put up a reading goal, since I want my focus to be on writing in 2010. But I think my book blog might be run a little differently.
• Hmm. I almost forgot about that language program. Well, I've had a new focus for the past couple months. I've learned a lot of PHP and MySQL, so we can make web applications. It's like a college level course, but we're almost finished with it, so there's not much to say about it.
• Aw, poor Leslie and Kyle. I don't think we've worked on a new puppet show in months! Well, it just so happens that me and my sibs are going to try bringing Leslie and Kyle back from the "dead". We'll try and work with a new episode format. One that actually has a story!
• Ha ha, at least I passed the SATs and got my driver's license! ^_^ I can hardly believe I've only had it for this year. Don't want to toot my own horn, but I'm an awesome driver!
• Well, I tried joining NaNoWriMo this year, but as you might know, that turned out to be a flop. But at least I gave it my best shot. I can't promise any NaNo work for 2010, but I'll see how I feel when November rolls around.
• Okay, I can say that I pretty much accomplished this goal. I've had more contact with famous published authors than I ever could have hoped for! James Dashner, you're the greatest dude ever! ^_^ I've also had contact with Laura Bingham, a tiny bit with Kaza Kingsley and J. Scott Savage, and with Aprilynne Pike's husband. (Hey, one degree of separation, right?) I am also great friends with Graham Bradley, who is not famous and published yet, but I have no doubt that he will be in the near future. ^_~
• I took that Boston trip with my twin (see my Travel Journal), but I wish we could have taken a road trip together instead of flown. I hope I can do a ton more traveling this year. I think that Birthright program to go to Israel may be a more definite possibility this summer. *crosses fingers* Utah?... maybe this year. ^_~
• New things? Well, I started Toastmasters. I can say that's pretty adventurous of me. =P Ooh, I have my Ice-breaker this Tuesday! ~,~

I'll see if I can think up some good resolutions for 2010 later on today.

Busy plans

I've been staring at white space for a few minutes, wondering what my 2nd poem should be about. But then I decided I could do it later. I have all day for it. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something else. I'm not sure whether I'll have the time to otherwise.

My gosh, my New Year's Eve and Day are going to be so busy! On the night of December 31st, my sister, brother and I all have a baby-sitting gig. We have to take care of 4 kids from 7:00 PM to around noon the next day! That's all night and most of the morning! And then straight afterwards, on the first day of the first month of a new year (^__^), my family and I are going to a New Years party that we've gone to every year for a couple years. Lots of food and fun.

(sigh) I half wish my New Years Eve and Day were a little quieter. Maybe more meditative. I'd have liked staying up until midnight, experiencing the change from 2009 to 2010, watching the ball drop in New York, see a few fireworks outside. Well, maybe we'll be able to do that when we're baby-sitting, but probably only if we're able to get the kids asleep. And anyway, it'll be in someone else's house. We'll have to sleep over. Can you imagine starting the New Year by waking up somewhere other than your own bedroom? Weird. Then straight on to the party, where we'll probably hang out all day...

Man, can you believe we have less than 48 hours of 2009 left? Then we'll be starting a new decade! ^_^ I'm going to have a lot of fun this year. I promise that I'm going to be a totally different person! (Well, maybe not totally different, but I hope I'm able to notice some change next New Years Eve.)

How, Now, Time-Line?

In accordance to the 7 poems in 7 days challenge I signed up for, (which doesn't have a lot of rules. If you want to try it out yourself, you're more than free to do so!) I present my first poem!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can someone tell me how,

the distant future turned to now?

"Yesterday, where art thou?"

I ask, as time continues to plow.

There's no way to rewind;

Life seems to go in one straight line.

Might as well put it out of my mind,

and try to have a good time. ^_^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feedback, anyone? I'll write my 2nd poem tomorrow, though maybe I'll write another post later, I think. Keep an eye out.

Happy Holidays!

Well, today's been a pretty happy day. What do you expect? It's Christmas. But it's really been a good day.

For one thing, I've beaten Annette at playing the board game Othello... 3 TIMES! ^_^ I'm such a good player. We made our own home-made version out of cardboard pieces, after we learned how to play the game at Ramona's house about a week ago. Seriously, I kick butt at Othello! You better watch out. Muah ha ha ha. ^_~

For another, I went with my family to feed the homeless. How about that for a memorable Christmas? I'd never done it before either. My mom made her special home-made banana ice-cream, to give out in small mini-cones. No one can say no to her yummy, no sugar, no milk, just bananas as the base and a little bit of peanut butter ice-cream. ^_^ The homeless really appreciated it. And with all the other food available, I doubt those homeless people went hungry tonight, on Christmas of all days. So that's definitely something to be happy for.

I may not be Christian, but I heartily wish everyone a Merry Christmas. And a Happy New Year! (Haha, just a week until 2010! I'm so excited! ^_^)

So random! ^_^

Ha ha ha. I just found this hilarious site that generates the most random cat names! See, my sister drew the most adorable black cat (maybe she'll let me post a picture of it later. No, this isn't it. This kitty's real) and we were trying to come up with a name for him, because he looks so lifelike that a masterpiece like it deserves a name. We couldn't think of one good enough for him, so I looked on Google for help. You have got to check out this link!!!

It's so funny. We could have been there for hours, I bet, just laughing at all the names that came up every 3 seconds. And you're even able to suggest your own kitty name on the left. I suppose that's how there's such a variety. ^_^ *stifles a giggle* In the end, Annette called her black kitten Pitch, which suits him quite well, I guess. But anyway, the cat name generator is just so funny. And it doesn't just have to be cat names. I personally see it as a treasure-trove of fictional character names.

It's a hilarious diversion, in any case. Better than TV, by far.

Cancellation

Okay, I've got some good news and some bad news...

Bad news: The Toastmasters meeting Annette and I were supposed to go to this afternoon was cancelled at the last minute. This person was out of town, that person got a nasty cold, another called and had car trouble, so the woman in charge of organizing meetings, Salena, called us and told us not to bother coming, because you can't run a Toastmasters meeting with just 4 people. Next week's meeting is cancelled as well, because it's so close to Christmas and New Year's Eve, and people will be away with their families and celebrating. Man, what a surprise. And I was all set and geared up to give my Icebreaker Speech, too. ~,~

Good news: I don't have to give my Icebreaker Speech today!!! Whoo-hoo! ^___^ The pressure is off! Ha ha ha! Now I have 2 more whole weeks to practice, and it'll be the year 2010 when I do it, not 2009 anymore! I'm so excited. ^_^ Boy, I almost feel guilty for feeling so happy for this sudden turn of events, because Annette had to endure such panicky butterflies in her stomach before her speech. Why couldn't something like this have happened to her? Oh well, I suppose I'm just lucky! Hee hee. ^_^ More good news, today we'll be making our homemade pizza, and since Annette and I won't be away at Toastmasters now, we can help our dad and brother make it! Yay, pizza!

I also wanted to say that today is a pretty special day, because it marks a full year since I made my first true Blogger friend. He taught me how to make a timer that counted down the days until a special date, and he always comments on my posts and emails me and makes me feel special. Thank you, Jacoby. This shout-out's for you.

WHOOOOOOO!

^_~

Last night of Chanukah

Well, tonight was the 8th night of Chanukah, the last opportunity I had to celebrate one of my favorite Jewish holidays. And I think it was the very best nights of Chanukah I've experienced this year. ^_^ We didn't do a lot of celebrating, other than lighting the candles on the menorah every night, like we're supposed to.

We went to a party at the Town Center a couple nights ago, like we usually do, but I didn't like it all that much. The latkes (potato pancakes traditional on this holiday) weren't too good, the rabbi talked for too long, and they had this rapper who sang Chanukah related songs that I didn't get at all. =P Well, we didn't stay too long.

But anyway, about tonight. It was great! Annette and I decided that this year we would make our homemade latkes. And we did! Well, we got a good amount of help from our mom, Shira. But hey, at least she was helping us instead of us helping her. It took a long time to make all of them. Latkes take a lot of frying, you know! So I was able to sneak a good bit of reading time in. (Catching Fire, if anyone wants to know.)

When we finally got to eat them, ha ha, they were delicious! :-D Best latkes I ever ate, if I do say so myself. Already I can't wait to make them next year. ^_^ We also played a game of dreidel, which if you'll remember is a traditional spinning top game. I lost, unfortunately. Oh well. A Chanukah well spent, anyway.

Just a couple weeks to go until New Years today!!! Hee hee hee! How exciting.

Breaking the Ice

A couple days ago, at our weekly Toastmasters meeting on Tuesday, my sister Annette gave her Icebreaker speech. This was her first ever prepared speech, and the assignment of an Icebreaker is to tell the audience something, anything, about yourself for about 5 minutes straight. We've been going to these Toastmasters meetings for 5 weeks now, and it's a really small club, just about 10 people besides us come regularly. But you would not believe how CRAZY-SCARED Annette was the 2 days prior to her speech!!!

Of course, if I had been in her place, I probably wouldn't have acted any different. I mean, this is public speaking we're talking about here! This is human-kind's number one phobia ever! Standing up in front of a crowd, no matter how small, talking, and praying like heck that you don't mess up your lines, because you think everyone will laugh at you or boo you off the stage. Well, all I can say is that I'm grateful it wasn't me, but at the same time I felt a little guilty, because this was my twin sister who was having panic attacks! Oh, how I wished it were me having to go through this ordeal instead!

Honestly, Annette wasn't all that prepared. She had absolutely no idea what to talk about herself. Think about it. How are you supposed to condense the highlights of your life in between 4-6 minutes? Even if we are the youngest members in our club, therefore with the shortest lives, this doesn't make the task any easier. Far from it. 18 years is very difficult to squeeze into one brief little speech.

But as you can see from this blog post here, my sister survived with little to no trauma. She posted the video we took of her speech with our handy-dandy Flip that we borrowed from our dad. It's not exactly the best speech in the world, but I was proud of her because she was up there! And she never fainted, or broke down crying, or tripped over her words in the slightest. Yeah, she um-ed and uh-ed a lot, but this was her first speech, right? She's supposed to make mistakes, because then she'll be able to improve upon those mistakes. And everyone was smiling at her and they applauded her in the end, so it couldn't have been all that bad. ^_^

Well, now that that's all over, next Tuesday it'll be my turn to take the podium. Uh-oh. (gulp!) *scream* RIIIKKESSS! +,+

Toastmasters Conference

I'd like to tell you a story about what happened a couple weeks ago, on Dec. 5, 'cause it was pretty darn awesome. I suppose now would be a good time to finally mention that I've officially been a member of Toastmasters for just a couple days shy of a month. I've been to about 4 or 5 meetings so far, and it's pretty neat. My sister Annette got us started with it. Hey, who wouldn't want to improve the way they speak in front of crowds and develop communication and leadership skills? Yeesh.

Ever hear that joke about public speaking being people's number 1 phobia, while death is number 2? Which means on average, if someone was at a funeral, they'd much rather be the one in the casket than the one giving the eulogy. Ha ha. I've always wanted to bring up that one. ^_~

Anyway, last week Annette and I went to this Toastmasters event thingy, I think like a training conference or something, I'm not sure. We had to wake up really early, because it was at 8:00. We were so excited. We drove there all by ourselves. Yeah, we weren't having our parents drop us off, this was

me and my twin's adventure all the way.

We thought it was supposed to be at this Bank Atlantic Center near the mall that we've been to several times before (we've seen the High School Musical on ice show and Barack Obama spoke there), but when we got there, the whole area was completely empty. It was like it was abandoned or something. Nobody there. I suppose it didn't open at 8:00. But it was really confusing. We didn't think there were 2 Bank Atlantic centers!

After looking around for a couple minutes in bemusement, we heard a beep from behind us. It was another car, the only car besides ours in the whole darn place! The driver rolled down the window and a woman poked her head out and asked us, "Are you two girls with Toastmasters?" How lucky is that?! It turns out she was just as lost as we were, except she was a grown-up, and she had a cellphone to get directions from someone. Her club president? I don't know. (I don't know if I've mentioned it up until now, but our family doesn't exactly use cellphones. So we were extremely grateful for this woman right here!) After her call, the woman, she introduced herself as Sondra, explained that there was another Bank Atlantic building all the way somewhere else.

Well, Annette and I didn't know where to go. I haven't exactly built up my head to form a mental map that clearly tells me where to go the instant I hear directions. So we had no choice but to follow Sondra and hope that she took us to the right place. I did the driving. ^_^ We never let her car out of our sight. We had to stop a couple places, a gas station and a hotel, so she could ask for more directions from strangers. But at long last, an entire hour late, we all made it to the correct Bank Atlantic Center.

We parked our cars and thanked Sondra for all her timely help. She said it was nothing. Annette and I figured we'd bump into her somewhere in the event, or meet her in the parking lot and thank her again after the event was over, because we were parked so close to each other. But (fast forward to after the meeting for a moment) when we got there, we realized that she had gone already. We were sad, because we'd wanted to let her know that she had been an angel for us at that crucial time.

I don't believe in those pretty winged people who play harps that are called angels, but I do believe in people who appear out of nowhere and lend you a helping hand when you need it the most. It's happened to our family before, but I think this was me and my twin's first encounter all by ourselves. And like angels seem to do, she disappeared without a trace, not even waiting for a thank you, because she'd done her job. It was just so amazing...

The rest of the Toastmasters event was really awesome. Very inspirational speeches, and the snack bar was great! It was also quite an adventure when Annette had to drive us back home, without anyone to guide us. =P We picked up a map from the hotel, and obviously I'm here typing out the story, so everything worked out quite well. It was even quite stormy too. But she did it. And it was another one of those days that I shall never forget.

It's my Blogaversary! Yay!

I can't believe it! Today marks the first whole year that I've spent blogging! ^_^ (Annette claims she made up the word "blogaversary" in her blog, but I'm not so sure about that.) It's just incredible! I feel like I've been doing this blog thing forever! Of course, I haven't exactly been posting a lot this month, which I feel slightly guilty about. In my next Blogger year, I resolve to do a lot less procrastinating and posting whenever I have something particularly special to say.

In honor of this special occasion, this will be my brand new background image. I believe I'll keep this one for a while. ^_^ I think it fits me, doesn't it? A bright, pink-loving individual among the... uh, masses. Never mind. I've added a history of my backgrounds to my sidebar, btw. Just for me, so I can remember all my blog's past looks.

Perhaps I should change some other things about my blog. My profile could use an update. Maybe I'll just use that elf picture I use to depict my character Flora. I love that!

Hey, and do you guys still like the title "My First Blog... Ever!"? I think after a full year, this being my first blog is kind of old news. Hmm... how about "The Majik of Magenta"? Or "The Story of My Life"? I like those two... Any ideas or opinions on this matter?

Wow, 1 whole year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days, that I have actually been blogging. In that amount of time I've learned so much, and have made many friendships that I believe will last a long time. It's so awesome! I remember how I used to think blogs meant online journals, and I thought it was weird that people would actually want to share personal details with the world. Now I'm one of those crazy people! ^_^

Man, you should go back and see my first ever post here. How inexperienced and prolific I was. Ha! (Well, I suppose I'm still quite prolific, but still.) Hey, you know what? Tonight I went to the exact same holiday home-school party at Ramona's house that I went to last year! I can't believe she had it on the same day. Weird, huh? This year the kids saw "Night at the Museum 2" instead of "Wall*E". (ha ha. *blush* Also weird is that I was aware of J. N. Future Author's existence from the very beginning. =P It's almost a year since we've been official friends... yikes.)

Once again, I am eternally grateful to the awesome James Dashner, because he is the guy who is ultimately responsible for my joining the "blogosphere" in the first place. Thanks, Dashner Dude, for authoring a totally rad blog, in addition to all your incredible books. You're the greatest!

It's Adam's Birthday!!!

Morning ~ Yay! He's 12 years old! I'm so happy for him! Now he's officially on the road to being a preteen! Man, I haven't been 12 years old in about 6 years (ha ha ^_~). I wonder how he's handling it now. I'll report back later, when more of his birthday has been celebrated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost my bro's B-day!

Yes, I am very proud and excited that Adam, my hilarious and totally awesome brother, is going to turn 12 in a couple of days. ^_^ In honor of that, tonight, after we went to the theater (we saw The Men who Stare at Goats), we swung over by Walmart and, with the $25 gift card Adam won for his Edward Scissorhands costume back in Halloween, got a 2-disc special edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! Yeah! Doncha know that it came out today?

It's a little late, so we haven't seen the movie just yet. Instead we saw a bunch of the special features. Totally AWESOME! This is the one to get. This DVD edition, right here. You've already seen it in the theater, haven't you? It's the juicy bonus stuff you ought to go for. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. ^_^

I really need to work on my brother's birthday card now! =P

The end of another month...

Well, it is. And it's a little bit sad, I think. Especially because it's the last day of November, so tomorrow will be the first day of December, which is the last month of the whole year! God, I can't believe the year went by so quickly!!! Where the heck did it go?!

I feel like I've accomplished so little... but on the other hand, I know that I've accomplished so much. Better yet, so much that I can be proud of. ^_^ The thing that especially stands out for me this year is the act of blogging. In just a couple weeks, it will officially be my 1 year anniversary of being a blogger! Unbelievable, huh? I have learned so much, and made a bunch of really neat friends. It's just so cool...

It's weird, but I'm feeling slightly trippy around now. It's just... Time. When you think about it too hard, in the end you really don't know what to think, you know?

Here's something to think about: The next year is gonna be 2010! The start of a whole new decade! It just blows my mind... everyone will be thinking about resolutions and promises for a better year. What will I promise myself?

Thoughts anyone?

Thanksgiving (Sorry, I forgot =P)

I hope you guys can forgive me for neglecting to write about how my Thanksgiving went on the day, but if I could give any kind of excuse, I would say that I needed the whole weekend to get over it. Not that I actually did, but it's an excuse, so I'll take it.

My Thanksgiving, or my "Happy Harvest Holiday," as my sister Annette dubbed it (Triple "H") was quite pleasant, I must say. (Hey, it's better than the nickname "Turkey Day" in my opinion. It doesn't have to be all about the turkey!) In the morning I got up early, so I could catch the Macy's day parade. It was the first time I ever saw it. ^_^

Actually, it was pretty funny, because I had no idea which channel it was supposed to be on, so I just flipped through the channels until I landed on something that looked like a parade. I watched it for a while, until my mom said that we weren't watching the Macy's parade. It was this other kind of McDonalds parade in Chicago. The famous Macy's parade is always in New York! (Well hey, I didn't know that. =P) So we missed a lot of the beginning. But it was still fun. Saw a bunch of blown-up and beloved cartoon characters, as well as very neat floats and marches and people singing. But it does go on and on...

To honor the holiday, my family and I went to a special party. It was our 3rd annual attendance of a vegetarian potluck, in which each person or group of guests brings along their own vegetarian/vegan dish or dishes. As long as the food was healthy and there wasn't any meat in it at all, you could bring it. So we didn't eat ANY turkey! ^_^ A lot of huge birds were saved at this party. The closest thing we got to turkey was someone bringing some "To-furkey". Get it? Tofu turkey? Ha ha.

My family and I really love to eat, and we're all very proud vegetarians, so this was a really fun event. ^_^ It was like going to a salad bar, and since everything was "safe" to eat, we could taste a lot of interesting stuff! Such a variety of flavors... I didn't like everything I ate, but I liked a lot more dishes than I didn't like. I got pretty full fast, and the dishes kept on coming as more people showed up for the party!

Despite being incredibly full, I had enough energy to be a bit active. I played a couple rounds of Frisbee with these nice, buff guys, whose names I never got (I'm VERY good at playing Frisbee!) as well as a little paddle ball with my sister. That was pretty fun. And that is the extent of what I remember from my Thanksgiving! How was yours?

I also wanted to link to a couple of hilarious sites. The other day, my grandma sent us this link to a website with 10 super cute and funny animation clips, Pencilmation.com. I saw them all with my bro and sis, and all of us literally LOL-ed! You've got to check them out. ^_^

The other thing I hope you'll see is a YouTube video from the channel ImprovEverywhere, "Where's Rob?" I love ImprovEverywhere's videos, especially the musical videos, but this is just to start you off. If you feel like checking out the other vids, that's entirely up to you.

A Thanksgiving poem I wrote ^_^

Click on the links if you want to see the pictures in their larger original sizes! ^_^

~~~~~

The Things That I'm Thankful For, by Me.

The green of the grass, the blue of the sky,

the colorful flowers that make you sigh.

The peaceful nights, the sunny days,

the beautiful earth upon which we gaze.

The mice that squeak, the lions that roar,

the fishes that swim, the birds that soar.

These are the things I am thankful for. ^_^

The sand that is dry, the sea that is wet,

the sun that rises and also sets.

The ears that listen, the mouth that talks,

the friend that goes with you on walks.

The wonderful world we have to explore,

the mystery that lies behind every door.

These are the things I am thankful for. ^_^

The adventure in a book, the beauty in art,

the song that is written from the heart.

My healthy body, my quick, sharp mind,

the soul I have that is gentle and kind.

The life I've led and the life still in store,

even though no one's keeping score,

these are the things I am thankful for. ^_^

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall,

the season I love best of all.

The warmth of a kitchen, the smell of great food,

your friends and family and all that is good.

I'm thankful for all these things and more,

honestly, truly, to my very core.

Yes, these are the things I am thankful for. ^_^

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I know one thing that I'm very thankful for today. Thank you, Google Images!!!