Leslie and Kyle Update

Today is a proud day for the Leslie and Kyle sock-puppet show: We've now unleashed our 10th full episode on the internet! It's so cool! The sock-puppets make a wonderful music video about friendship. We filmed everything (excluding the intro and conclusion) with our Dad's Flip camera, the one he got for his birthday. It gives it an excellent, hand-held feel to the video. I hope that when you, my readers, watch this show, you will immediately email the link to all your friends and family, in an attempt to make this a viral-video. This is most certainly our best episode ever, so we want to get a lot of viewers.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU0otvVjqiI

Please feel free to comment either here or on YouTube!

Again, don't know the title for this.

There's so much I feel like blogging about, and I had a bunch of ideas for what I should put in the headline.

For example, "Twilight & the Twilight Zone," because last night I went to the library and I was finally able to pick up the movie Twilight, as well as a book I'm reading right now, The Fire Eternal. Twilight was really good the second time around, especially because we watched it with my mom this time. She seems to have enjoyed it, and now she feels like she understands what all the teenage mania is about. ^,~

It's really weird. I'm the only one who has read the entire saga, so I actually know more about the story than Annette and Adam. I don't know why Annette doesn't read the rest of the series, since I love it, but I suspect she doesn't want to get sucked in to the story. She did, after all, witness the spell cast over me for as long as I followed the series.

Also, Adam got a disc from the first season of The Twilight Zone, something we've gotten into recently, and I look forward to seeing those freaky episodes. Has anyone else watched the Zone before?

I also wanted to call this post "Pizza Day," because, despite it still being the month of April and not the first Tuesday of May, we made another couple homemade pizzas. Yeah, we put Prego sauce on it, (which made them extra tasty!) but besides that and the cheese, both pies were completely homemade. Tonight we went to the 99 cent theater and saw an awesome movie, Knowing, with Nicholas Cage. I'd heard of it before, thought it was dumb and violent, but it wasn't. It's this awesome story about Armageddon and big disasters.

I hope someone else I know has seen this, so I can talk about how great it was with someone actually understanding me. There was this intense plane crash that Cage's character witnessed on location (CGI most likely, but still) and the people were burning alive! *shudders* And this subway accident where people are run over and the trains get completely demolished!!! So scary! I mean, I wasn't scared scared, but it's lots of people dying. But the movie is really good. Trust me.

Another thing I wanted to talk about was how my penpal status was doing (though I don't know what I'd call the title if I did). A week or so ago, I sent emails to a couple girls I was interested in being friends with. Luckily, they both shared interest in me and are my pen pals. I hope neither of them mind me talking about them here. One girl is named Elizabeth, though she has allowed me to call her Liz. She lives in North Carolina. The other one is Jennifer (Jen to me) and she lives even farther up, in Michagan.

It's fun emailing them both. Over the weekend I thought Liz had forgotten about me, but it turns out she didn't. She might be reading my blog right now, so I really hope she likes it and comments me some time. For a couple emails, Jen and I traded riddles, but the ones I gave her were too tough, so we stopped. If you want to puzzle over some real head-scratching groaners, here's a really good riddle site I found.

Plus, a couple days ago, this guy from China contacted me. Mikey Xu. He wrote me this long, eloquent email that makes him seem real smart and wise, and I guess he wants to be my penpal. He said his English was self taught, but it was pretty good. I think he's going to move to America soon, so that's cool. I wrote him back, but he has yet to reply.

I think that's plenty for you guys to digest. I'll stop here now.

Uh... just random stuff

Yeah, I didn't know what else to put in the title...

Man, it's been a while since I blogged. I think it's been a while since most people blogged. School's almost over, so I bet classes are more stressful. Something like that, right? Excuse my ignorance. I wouldn't know.

Anyway, here is some recent news:

After 2 weeks, my ripstick injuries might as well have completely healed. They look so much better. Although I believe I'll have the scar on my hand for a long time to come.

On the top of my sidebar, you'll meet a new gadget I acquired. It's a virtual pet hamster, which I named Gadget. He's sooo cute, isn't he?! He follows the mouse, when you click somewhere little food appears, and if you click the yellow center of the wheel he'll run on it for a bit. The best part? No messes! I also decided to get rid of a few useless gadgets that weren't doing anything.

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that Adam had picked up the 13th Reality? Well, already I've read him almost to Part 3. It's really fun reading the book out loud with him. I do a funny Mothball voice. ^,^ I make her sound a little Russian-like. I don't know if you guys picture her like that, but I do.

(I'm a bit embarrassed, but I kept reading ahead of my and Adam's place when we weren't reading together, and now I've already finished it! I think I'll write the review when I'm done reading it to Adam.)

So much more has happened lately, but I don't want to drag on and on. I guess I'm just not in the mood right now. See ya.

Something New

I've wondered a few times on this blog what I was going to do with my future. Well, I think researching this college has certainly been keeping me occupied and daydreaming more than ever.

It's called New College, and it's right here in Florida. Well, it's in Sarasota, a place I've never been that is 3 hours from where I live, but it's right in my home-state, and I never knew it! I only found out about this school yesterday, and I now dream of going there instead of Harvard.

This definitely sounds like my dream school. You should just see this link alone, which lists all the ways you can have fun there, and you'll see how much I'd adore going there. Just look at how many clubs they have listed! This tour is also an amazing resource to get to know this school. My favorite parts are Step 4: Recreation, Stop 10: Student Life, and Stop 11: Dining.

I don't mean to make you jealous, but I feel so thrilled just to have found out about this college. I thought I wouldn't find one that fit me so much. My mom called the school, and I think we'll go up there for a tour or something around the start of May, like the 7th. I am so excited. (^,^) (^,^) (^,^) Really. When I read about the fun you can have at New College, I literally cried. Real tears. Not because I think I'll never get in to this, but because I was kind of saying, "Thank you, God, for showing me this beautiful possibility." I was so, so happy. I cannot describe the moment.

I hope more will come out of this. It may be too late for Annette or I to join Fall, but we have as fair a chance as any to make the 2010 Spring class. May can't come soon enough for me know. This New College, Pendragon #10, the 100 clues...

Oh, and guess what? I'm at the library, and my brother Adam spontaneously decided to check out James Dashner's first 13th Reality book! He must be very curious about why I think Dashner is so great and how it got me to start blogging and all that. I hope he likes it. Maybe I could read it to him myself...

Groundhog Day

Today I watched an old favorite, Groundhog Day. It's a borrowed movie. (It's so funny. I always thought it was Groundhogs Day, with an "s," but it's not.) I remember liking this a lot. We watched it because Adam said he didn't remember it. Plus, who doesn't like Bill Murray?

Anyway, it was just as good as I remembered it. Adam laughed a lot, and I found myself already annoyed when Bill (Phil in the movie) heard "I got you babe" on the clock radio precisely at 6:00 for the first time in many times. He was so funny, and he tried so many things and got to know so many people. I was very happy when he finally got to see February 3rd with his girl.

When the movie was over, I sort of got to thinking. What would happen if, hypothetically, we could all have a "Groundhog Day" of our own? I mulled it over in my mind for a while as I "ripped" to the supermarket (I haven't waveboarded much since my accident, but I feel really great now. I got there in 6 and a half minutes. Regularly it would take me more than twice that long walking).

Then I decided, maybe the next chance I get, I should start my own meme out of it. I thought it would be a fun idea. I wonder how on earth those memes get started. I wonder how far back you'd have to go to see who originally made a meme up. (By the way, I don't really have a clue. How come these things are called memes anyway?)

So here it is: the Groundhog Meme:

This will be a three-part question. You must answer them all to complete the meme.
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1: Which day in your past, recent or no, do you think you'd enjoy reliving over and over again?
2: Which day in your past, recent or no, would you want to fix up if you could live it over again (i. e., when something bad happened or you had a terrible day)?
3: If tomorrow you woke up and found out that it was the exact same thing that happened today and no matter what you did it kept happening for days and days, what would you do?

I, myself, will try my best to keep my answers relatively short. You guys know how I usually get with these.
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Which day in your past, recent or no, do you think you'd enjoy reliving over and over again?
I think the day I turned 10 years old. I was so happy on that day, turning double digits for the first time. My parents had driven us to our grandparents' house, so we woke up that morning in St. Petersburg, Florida. I used to love that house so much. Later my grandparents sold this house to move closer to us, and now they recently moved to Israel. Anyway, we went to Disney World, which made it soooo much fun! I went in the Haunted House (I didn't get scared at all) and Splash Mountain and It's a Small World (I think), we met a lot of "characters," such as the Tweedle twins and Merlin, and a conductor (Adam was four and into Thomas the Tank Engine), and we saw a Mickey Mouse parade down Main Street.

It rained later in the day when we were on a ferry boat. I believe it was the last time I went to a Disney-themed amusement park. I want to say I'll never forget that day, but it was more than 7 years ago, and if it weren't for our home-video of it, I probably wouldn't remember anything. I would simply love going back to the day I'd just turned 10 and keep going back and back to Disney World. Then I could always keep going on new rides all the time and I'd always be a kid, never growing up. Then again, if I remained 10 I would never have gotten into reading Harry Potter. Oh well.

Which day in your past, recent or no, would you want to fix up if you could live it over again (i. e., when something bad happened, or you had a terrible day)?
This would be a lot more recent. I'd like to go back a couple weeks ago, to the end of March, when I went to the skatepark for the first time and fell on my booty. I told you all about it, remember? Now I'm not saying that I would look forward to the pain... I'd probably have to fall a few more times to get it right, though it would be okay (sort of >_<) because when the day starts I won't feel any of it ^,^ ... but then I would get a lot better at wave-boarding. Eventually I'd conquer my fear of the dreaded ramp and I'd do all sorts of tricks and stuff, with lots of practice.

Plus it would be a great day because there were a lot of guys hanging out there. As soon as I got much better at ripping, I'd probably work on working up the courage to talk to these guys, make friends with a good one. Then he could teach me some skateboard tricks and stuff. If I could get this day just right, it would be completely worth all the (nonexistent?) pain. Also, when I'm finally able to shake it off, the next day would be April Fools Day again!

If tomorrow you woke up and found out that it was the exact same thing that happened today and no matter what you did it kept happening for days and days, what would you do?
Man, I can think of so much stuff I could do if I had all the free time in the world. I'd probably spend many days just reading as many books as I can. There'd be no point to writing, since it would all be unwritten the "next" day. I'd go to the supermarket and buy lots of differnt treats to eat, things I don't eat normally and would love having a taste of (though never meat. I'm not curious at all about meat. I'm a very faithful vegetarian).

Today, when I went to the super, the young guy who rung me up had Jacob on his name tag. I wish I could talk to him, or some other teenage Publix worker, if only I could steel myself to do it. I'm so painfully shy around strangers, expecially if they're boys who appear close to my age. Not online, of course, but when I meet them, physically. I'm even a little shy around a couple of my own cousins, Michael (from my mom's side) and Omer (dad's side). In other words, if I had unlimited time on my side, I would basically read a lot, eat a lot, and get to know boys a lot. I could probably do a lot more if I thought about it, but this would be a good time to stop.

Alright, I tag Jacoby, Annette, and Q. When you guys are done, you can tag as many people as you want. So, you up for this?

Questions About my Bookshelf

The other day I was tagged by Q for the first time to do this fascinating meme. (Gotta love her!) I thought I'd post this some other time, but then I decided there wasn't much else to blog about.

I just want to say, before I start, that though I'm crazy about reading, I don't buy or own many books. Like, I don't have my own personal shelf with all my favorite series. We have a shelf with many non-fiction books my parents have acquired over the years, and a shelf mostly full of old favorite childrens picture books in the room I share with my bro and sis. Someday, when I have my own place, I wish to fill my own personal library with only the books I thoroughly enjoyed around this age. This will be pretty easy, because I've kept my reading lists very meticulously the last couple years.
So, here we go...

Tell me about the book that has been on your shelf the longest...
Well, that depends on what you call my shelf. On my family shelf, I believe one of the longest kept books up there is Fit for Life, by Harvey Diamond. It's a book that helps you to eat healthier. (Understatement. But that's basically it in a nutshell.) My mom and dad read it long before Annette and I were born, so when they had us, they taught us everything they learned from this book. As a result, I am very fit and healthy and a proud vegetarian. There is also their collection of Glen Doman books, which are about teaching babies in early development. This is how I learned to read at the age of 3. I could go on and on, but that's all boring stuff.

Now the shelf in our room is another matter. We've got all these useless picture books that we've owned for ages and which I never read anymore, because they're so childish. But the books I'm proud of, that we've had for a while, are our Harry Potter books. We've got the whole series. Some are paperbacks and some are hardcover (1, 2 and 4 are paper, 3, 5, 6 and 7 are hard). I believe I first started reading H.P. in 2001. I remember buying #5 the very day it came out. There was a good magic show in B&N, but we bought the book in Wal*Mart. Same with 6 and 7. 5 seems the most page worn, for some reason. I haven't read Harry Potter since I finished the series, but it's good to know that I... er, we... own them.

Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (i.e. a person, a place, a time, etc.)...
I'm not sure what this means. Does the book itself remind me of something that happened, or is the story shockingly similar to some part of my life? Well, let me try looking at it from both views. I remember a couple years ago my family made friends with these two old British guys, Mel and Frank, and they were very interested in Annette and my reading tastes. They suggested The Lovely Bones and His Dark Materials as books we should look out for. I kept these recommendations in mind and at the start of '07 I read The Lovely Bones. I didn't really like that, so I didn't think I'd enjoy His Dark Materials. But then I heard the Golden Compass was going to be made into a movie, so in January of '08 I picked the book up and loved it. Mel doesn't go to the beach anymore, but I see Frank and his wife Ruth there nearly every weekend. They're both really fun for conversation, especially with their accents. I love funny accents. I wish I could talk to more people like them.

Now the story that reminds me of... well, me... is something I've read and completed very recently. Yep, you guessed it. The Twilight Saga. I adored the whole series. I always found such incredible connections between myself and Bella. I may not lead such a dangerous romantic life as she does, but we're both born in the same month (same astrological sign too!), I picture her to look very much like me, I lived in Arizona once (though only for a year or two when I was quite young) and we both have best friends named Jacob(y ^,~). I am so glad I read this series, but sad that there's no more to the story. I hope Stephenie Meyer turns out something else soon, like The Host.

Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used book store, prize, etc.)...
Okay, this is much easier. So one time I went to some kind of a garage sale, right? I remember my favorite aunt Lisa came to visit then. I don't really like garage sales, and I didn't see anything I wanted to buy. Later, when it was time to go, I found out that my twin sister, Annette, had bought me a writing book she thought might help me. It's called A New Guide to Better Writing, by some guy with a Ph.D. I read it in a matter of days and I forget whether I found the book useful, but I remember being touched that Annette had done that for me. She cares a lot about my big writing dreams. Thanks, Annette. ^,~

Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves...
That would be Tales of Beedle the Bard. Annette and I bought it special for Adam's birthday just last year. Gotta love J.K. ^,^

Tell me about a book that has been with you to the most places...
Hmm. I haven't exactly been many places in my relatively short life. I usually get a book from the library, finish it within a few days, and then return it. I'm not very big on rereading books, even if I really enjoy them. What's the point? I know the story. I'm such a quick reader that I don't really get to take my book a lot of places. Many books have gotten the same treatment from me. Either I read them at home in one or two sittings, or I read them at the beach or in the car to someplace. I don't exactly carry books around with me wherever I go. They're usually waiting for me at home. But there was this interesting non-fiction read that kept me for soooo long, like a large part of my family's 10-week trip to Israel. Creative Transformation. It was good, but it's for serious readers only. I wouldn't suggest it.

Tell me about a bonus book that doesn't fit any of the above questions...
I really, really, REALLY can't wait until the book Pendragon: Sodiers of Halla comes out in bookstores! Even if I don't have the other books, I would so totally buy this book to see what happens in it as soon as possible. I also want very much to read James Dashner's Hunt for Dark Infinity, but my library still doesn't carry it, apparently. Well, guess I'll have to keep waiting.

Tag, you're it!
Jacoby
Annette
Brian

(By the way, sorry for the long answers I gave. You don't have to be quite so specific. It's just me. I'm a very thorough person. ^,^)

My SAT results

h man! Yesterday I totally forgot that I wanted to show you how I scored on my test! Personally, I think I did awesome. Well, in total it was 90 points better than my last SAT.

BTW, my essay score was the same as last time. Each reader gave me 3, for "Developing Mastery." Whatever that means. Well, I suppose I deserved that. Here is the essay subject and what I actually wrote all those weeks ago. Yep. Copied straight from online.

Prompt: Many people believe that being honest and honorable limits their options, their opportunities, their very ability to succeed. Unfortunately, in today's me-first culture, ethics may be the only thing people choose to live without! They believe they have only two choices: (1) to win by doing whatever it takes, even if it is wrong, or (2) to be ethical and therefore lose. Few people set out to be dishonest, but nobody wants to lose. Adapted from John C. Maxwell, There's No Such Thing as "Business" Ethic

Assignment: Does being ethical make it hard to be successful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

If mankind didn't have ethics of any kind, the world would most likely fall into chaos. We must believe that people are basically good and have certain values. Those few individuals who seek to disregard these values should be avoided. Even though they may think winning at all costs, even if they are the wrong ones, is the most important thing in life, these people cuoldn't be farther from the truth.
It musn't be believed that being unethical is the only way to succeed. Every day people see the news on T.V. and think what a terrible time we live in today. Companies going bankrupt, people getting hurt all the time, poloticians telling awful mendacities. But the world is not without it's ethics.
Think about different plots in adventure films, where the antagonist thinks only about world domination and his own benefits. But the villain never prevails, because the heroes havestronger ethics.Sometimes, when the bad guy is in trouble, he might stoop so low as to jettison their own when the going gets tough. The good guys would never think to abandon their friends.
In conclusion, the way of the world is not to be petty, dishonest or selfish. It's to look out for your fellow human being, to do what is right.

Yeah, sorry the conclusion is so short. I didn't have time to write anymore. Well, there you have it! The results of all my hard work on the SATs.

Another couple random notes: Today my family and I are going to the 99 cent theater to see Coraline! I'm pretty excited to see it. Adam thinks they're going to give out 3D glasses, but I doubt it. Not at our theater.

Also, I believe I had a very strange dream last night... I think it involved me going to Brian's house and meeting him and Jacoby together for the first time. But it was weird, because I thought it was Brian and Jacoby, somehow knew it was them, but I don't think they looked like themselves. Like, I know what Brian looks like from his picture, but it wasn't him, plus Brian lives all the way in Washington, so how can he and Jacoby be together? And Jacoby didn't have white hair, like he says he does now... (you should put a picture up soon, J.N. ^,~)

Another strange thing was that, in my dream, Brian had a sweet white dog that reminded me of a dog another friend of mine, Julianna, had. It was so cute, you could see it smile. But I have no idea whether Brian even has a dog! In fact, I'm certain that he doesn't. So, I don't know. It was just a dream. But strange, eh? ^,~

(Sorry I didn't dream about you, Q. I have absolutely no idea what you look like. ^,^)

Anyway, I very much hope that someday I can meet all my blogger friends for real, not just in my dreams.

Lots of stuff

Well, first of all, for those faithful followers, it's my fourth monthiversary! Whoop-de-doo. ^,~ I've been blogging for a third of a year now. Nice cause for celebration.

This doesn't have a lot to do with my monthiversary, but in case you didn't notice, in my ongoing effort to improve the coolness of my blog I have added a couple new gadgets to my sidebar. It's really awesome. Two new countdown clocks (counting down the days remaining until Mother's Day and when Pendragon #10 comes out, respectively) and a very interesting refrigerator magnet gadget! I think you can write out messages on it and save it. These things I got at FreeFlashToys.com. I tell you, the clocks there are much more awesome than those SpringGadget clocks I've been using for a while. I wonder what else I can count down to...

This morning I've been trying to get another gadget from FreeFlashToys... a pet monkey that wanders around my blog, so cute ^,^... but it won't work. I wonder what's wrong with that?

I also played Monopoly with Annette and Adam today. But just like the last time we played, it was not a pretty game for Adam or me. As you can deduce, my twin sister took over the game. It wasn't fair >,<. The trouble started when she bought both Boardwalk and Park Place, and then built on them.

When Adam landed on P.P. with two houses, he had to forfiet. And in the rules it says that if you declare bankruptcy, you have to give everything you own to the person you owe. So Annette had over 2/3 of the board. I choked soon after. Well, our rule is that whoever wins a boardgame has to clean up afterwards, so there! He he. *weak laughter* Hey, so what do you think of this picture over here? Wouldn't it be fun if this game was real?

UGH! I'm so Bored!

Honestly, I am. I'm so bored that I actually considered using that bored pink girl picture again, but I decided against it. I want most of the stuff on my blog to be new and fresh. Anyway, I think this suits me well too. I like using pictures that really fit the situation I'm in.

Anyway... so dang bored! I don't have anything to read anymore, and you guys know that this is usually a big factor in my boredom. This morning I woke up really early, like 7:00-ish, not knowing what to do. I checked my emails a few times, surfed the net for awhile... nothing exciting.

I'm ashamed of myself, because in another world I know that I would not have hesitated to use the quiet time I had to work in my story. But I don't feel properly motivated anymore! I don't know why! I would kind of like to work on it, but I hate thinking of all the thing I know are wrong with it, and I can't seem to get past that.

However, I haven't been doing absolutely nothing. The other day I started making a character profile on one of my favorite characters, Flora the elf. That's pretty fun. I'll probably work on more characters... maybe even show you how Flora is when I'm done... but I can't help thinking that I'm making this a big distraction from what I really (half) want to do.

A couple other things I did online today: Like Q observed, I was quick in my decision to get rid of my WordPress blog. Really, I didn't have any use for it at all. It would've been even more of a distraction. I'm stickin' with Blogger. (Of course, the WordPress themes sure did look awesome...)

Also (and this was completely out of the blue for me) I did a little searching for a penpal website yesterday and found something called Pen Pal Now or something similar. I was looking because I heard it mentioned that Adam might be interested in a PenPal, so I was searching for him at first. This morning I looked into it more and started browsing around myself, just looking around for like-minded people. Then, right on the fly, I put in my own PenPal ad to see if anyone will decide to email me. I don't know... maybe I'm being a bit selfish, but I'd really like to make some more friends. I mentioned that I have two blogs, so maybe someone will come to visit. Most likely not. But one can hope, right?

Just recently, like in the last hour, I decided to speed up the process a little and searched for a couple people that fit me the most, and... I emailed them. I just did it, like that. No turning back. They'll read what I sent them and may or may not reply to me. Complete strangers. I'm a little nervous. Has anyone ever done something like this before? If anything happens, I'll let you know right away.

BTW, my hand and arm are feeling so much better now. What a relief! I can curl my palm a lot easier, without it hurting, and I feel okay when I move my arm. They still do not look pretty underneath the bandages, but at least they're not causing me much pain anymore. I think that's a good sign.^,~

In the News...

For those who are unaware, yesterday I wiped out on my Ripstick... for the second time. Just as before, I am not hurt too badly and am slowly healing. However, this time I'll probably have visible scars for awhile. For the full story, here's the link to Picture Perfect.

Curse my waveboard! No, strike that... curse my careless skills on the waveboard in my incidents. Why must I be the one to bear bruises (or whatever injuries) while my sister remains unharmed? Not that I wish her to get hurt, god forbid... but, you know?... I just feel the injustice of it! So unfair!

Okay, enough of that. On a much lighter note, through my dad's discovery I've recently been researching the website WordPress.com, which I don't think I've really known about until now. It's like this huge, free opensource blogging site, about as big and popular as Blogger. It's supposed to have all these amazing features and many different themes and lots of other stuff.

As an experiment, I've signed to have for my own WordPress blog. My username is florasunnair and my blog is called Majik. (So me, isn't it? ^,^) If you want to see it, here's the link: http://imazia.wordpress.com

Pretty nice for my purposes, I'd imagine.

Let me just give you my short, initial opinion...

I think Blogger is a lot better than WordPress. I know, I might be a little biased, since I've been using it already for a third of a year, almost (in another two days!). But Blogger is very simple and easy to understand, very user-friendly. The author doesn't have to do too much, if he doesn't want to. WordPress, on the other hand, feels a bit complicated, like you have to do a lot of stuff. Maintaining it and such.

My new blog sure appears more sophisticated and cool, but I'm not sure what to put in my first post. It's kind of like that common blank feeling you have when you stare at an empty sheet of paper and you don't know what to put on it. But hey, I guess that happened when I did my first post here! Don't worry, I'll think of something.

Also, this is just an experiment, so don't go thinking I'm going to suddenly stop posting here. Because I won't. I've got too much of a good thing going on here, and I don't abandon my friends.

So I'll see you around, I guess. Even if you're not interested in making another blog, I suggest you look up this WordPress thing anyway. It sure is interesting, if anything can be said about it.

Post-Pesach/ Passover

Well, last night's Passover seder was a success. The whole thing was over pretty quickly, since it was just the five of us (just around 3 hours), the service was fun and relaxed (we had loads of fun taking movies with the Flip! Such an awesome camera. I wonder what kind of movie-mix that'll turn out), and the food was rather good. I don't know though... I kind of wished that we were able to cook some stuff, like maybe mashed potatoes or something. Still, I enjoyed myself.

So right now, I just want to explain some of those Passover mysteries that outsiders to my religion are curious about. ^,~
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WHAT DOES SEDER MEAN ANYWAY?
Seder, in Hebrew, means "order". Nearly everything you do on Passover must have a certain order to it. It has many traditions, rituals and songs you're required to perform. Now, my family isn't super religious, so we may interpret the rules differently from other Jewish families. For example, I'm ashamed to say that we didn't manage to get rid of all the bread in the house, which is something you're supposed to do. We have an entire bag of my dad's homemade bread and 3 more bagels in the freezer. -,- I know, Brian. Not good. But I figure that all we have to do is stay well away from the bread, never think about it, and pretend like it's not there. I'm sure God will forgive us.
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WHAT IS MATZAH?
Matzah is basically a speed-baked bread which doesn't have time to rise. It's commonly square shaped, but there are some who eat round matzah. Matzah is like a large, tasty cracker that you eat instead of regular bread. You can use it to make sandwiches, though it's very crumby and messy, so you should be careful if you hate that sort of thing. Matzah is available all year round, so you can eat it whenever you want. It's just that around Passover, you can't eat any breadstuffs, so Matzah is what you use as substitution. I expect some people get tired of that after a week, so that when they finally are allowed to eat bread again they wish that they never have to eat matzah again until next year, when you have to.
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WHAT IS THIS PLATE THING SUPPOSED TO MEAN?
This all-special Seder plate is one of the things a seder cannot be without. It represents a few special things about Passover, that I'll try to explain. There are 6 symbols on the plate, which don't necessarily have to be formed in this order:

1: The hard-boiled egg, which is supposed to represent Spring or something (kind of like Easter does);

2: The bone, to represent the paschal lamb that was sacrificed, I think (usually you're supposed to use a chicken bone or something, but we just used a bone that I found in the street. I know, yuck, right? I remember I used to collect bones just for that purpose when I was younger...);

3: The bitter herb, or Maror in Hebrew, which is usually some horseradish. It symbolizes the bitterness the slaves felt in Egypt (I hope you know the story from the bible). At one point in the seder, you have to eat some Maror on Matzah, so you can suffer at least a fraction of what the Jews suffered. Trust me. That bitter taste does make you suffer.

4: The Charoset, which is this sweet, tasty mix of blended apples, dates, nuts and wine/ grape juice (everyone has their own recipe) that represents the mortar of the bricks the slaves had to build and lift all the time to build the Egyptian pyramids. This is the tastiest part of Passover. You'd love it on matzah, I can guarantee you that.

5: The Karpas, which means the vegetable you use to dip in salt water somewhere in the Seder, to represent the tears the slaves cried in Egypt. I love dipping small potatoes in salt water, but this time we used celery and baby carrots.

6: I'm not really sure why there's a 6th one, but it's just another bitter herb to go with the Maror. The difference between the 2 is that you eat the Maror, and the other you leave alone on the plate.
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ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
Nope, not really. There's a game in the middle of the Seder, after you have the big feast, where a piece of matzah, called the Afikoman, is hidden somewhere in the room and (depending on your tradition) either the leader of the Seder, usually a Grandpa or something, or the children participating, have to hunt for it. If the kids look for it, the one that finally finds it demands a reward from the leader, because the Seder cannot continue until everyone has eaten the Afikoman. The kid can like, hold the Passover guests hostage until he gets a good reward. My brother, Adam, found the Afikoman quickly, but he was quickly appeased by my dad with $20. My sister and I also recieved $20 each, even though we didn't join the hunt.

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And that's it! That's all I have to offer by way of answers about this holiday. I hope you're all satisfied. ^,~

Pre-Pesach/ Passover

So today is the morning before Passover eve. Passover is one of my favorite jewish holidays, because part of it resembles Thanksgiving. I like to eat, and I hardly ever gain weight. I'm a lucky girl with my fast metabolism. ^,^ Already we've made some preparations for tonight. My mom and I have been preparing some vegetarian dishes that involve lots of soaked nuts. Our seder meal is going to be completely raw. No cooking whatsoever. My mother is having a lot of fun with this, I imagine.

Now on passover, you're not supposed to have any bread or baked goods or anything that has to do with leavening, like pasta and cake and pastries and all sorts of stuff. Instead, you eat this flat, perforated, cracker like food we call matzah. (Of course, it's confusing how the word is actually spelled. Matzo, matzha, whatever. I'm keeping it simple though, with matzah. That's how you pronounce it, anyway.) You can only eat this, because it's part of the whole Passover story. I'll explain that later tonight, maybe, for those friends who are curious about this holiday ^,^.

Yesterday though, it was Pizza day! We've waited a long time to make our delicious home-made pizza pies for a long time, and it's cool that we were still able to make them. It was a lot of fun, because we decided to take a Flip movie of Annette and I stretching the dough and putting on the toppings. It's totally informal, like a home-movie, but it was awesome.

So... there's not much else to tell. Later tonight I should be able to write all about the seder. Unless it goes on late into the night. Then I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Let's hope that it doesn't come to that!

On a happy sidenote: I've got 8 followers now. That's pretty darn cool. Some people are paying attention to me for some reason, I don't know why. I love getting followers... and comments...

Sorry 'bout not keeping up...

Hello. It's me again. Of course, who else would it be? I don't let anyone else write on this blog, so there's only me.

Anyway, it sure has been a long week. There's so much I would like to remember, just for my sake, but how to write it all down without making any of you lot think I'm boring? Hmmmm... Well, for now, let's see what kind of damage I can do.

Besides playing tricks, my April Fool's Day was an enjoyable one. I was sad that not many of my other blogger friends put up posts special for April 1st, though Q did put up a funny joke. Great job. ^,^ I also learned to play the Jo Bros' song "Burnin' Up" on the piano. Now I've got it in my head and I can't forget it.

Throughout the week I've largely focused on devouring the Twilight books Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I finished the latter just today! Go to my book blog and check out what I said about it! (Careful though; there are some spoilers.) Now that I'm done with the Saga, I feel kind of, "Well, now what?" But I think it might be a good idea if I lay off reading for awhile. Get back to writing. Hopefully.

As a note, I'd like to add that I read the 2nd 39 clues book, One False Note, by Gordan Korman. It wasn't that good. I don't see much of a future with this series. It wasn't worth mentioning in my book blog, so I didn't.

My dad had a birthday on April 4th. It was really great. I made him a great card (homemade, never store-bought), all three of us kids got him a special Flip camera, which is an awesome device that records films like a camcorder, has an iPod-ish feel to it, and has a USB thingy that just pops out so you don't need to mess with wires or anything.

It also has the most awesome movie editing software that makes montages, or movie mixes. There's a bunch of settings where each has a certain style and music set to it, and then it mixes up the movies and jumbles it together in a convincing montage fashion, as if you actually took the time to put it together. It does the work for you! Simply amazing. Annette and I were playing with the software today. It's awesome.

Sorry, going to the library. I'll edit later.

*Edit* And I'm back. This computer is really not good. >,< style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 298px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 298px" alt="" src="http://s7v1.scene7.com/is/image/JohnLewis/230553027?$product$" border="0">
Anyway, it's too bad this computer sucks.

Ugh. Sometimes I wish I had a laptop of my very own, one that no one else can touch, one that can be very portable and have a long lasting battery, so I can take it out somewhere I find peaceful and write/ blog /surf the net for however long I want. I remember that in Best Buy, while we were looking for the Flip for my dad, I saw this beautiful little pink Vaio. It looked so sleek, so me... so expensive...

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

I also wish I had my own little camcorder. The Flip is awesome and all that, but I'd love one of those traditional movie cameras that I can slide my hand into the grip and take a long home video with. I could film, like, the story of my life. Well, I guess for now I'll have to be content with blogging about it.

So for those who are not jewish, Pesach, or Passover, is only a couple days away. Pretty exciting. Passover is one of my favorite jewish holidays. I'll leave the Passover lecture for when the day comes, but my mom plans on having a completely raw, vegetarian seder, (dinner, though seder in hebrew means "order") so she doesn't have to cook anything. Sounds like a good idea to me. Though that means no Matzo ball soup. Well, we can have it on one of the other nights.

I'll just say that one of the Passover traditions is that no one can eat bread, pasta or any other leavened food for 8 whole days. Then you'll appreciate that my family can take advantage of this rule by making zucchini pasta. We can't have regular pasta, but I can still have spaghetti in some shape or form. That's cool! So I don't have to be eating just Matzo all the time.

Let's see, what else is new? Ooh, I saw a couple good movies recently. If I could just remember... Oh yeah. W., a movie about our 43rd president (I won't say anything, out of respect for those who hate talking about polotics, except for this: It was quite informative. I don't like him any better, but at least I understood him). And a couple old Leonardo Dicaprio films I've never seen before: The Man in the Iron Mask, where Leo plays twins (double the Leo! Cool, though the story was so-so) and Romeo+Juliet, which was great, though a little weird because though the setting was modern, all the characters spoke Shakesperean. I never really knew the complete Romeo-Juliet story, just the basic idea, so this was an eye-opener. Shakespeare sure wrote a good tragedy, something that I now respect.

And now I've run out of topics. I'll be seeing you soon.

Wait! Back up! What was I thinking? I forgot to mention that my sister, Annette, and I just discovered the Google App Google Sites, so we decided it would be fun to put together an official Leslie and Kyle Website. It'll have easy access to all their videos and lots of other stuff. I'll put up the link when the site is a bit more complete.

¡ɹǝʇndɯoɔ ʎɯ ɥʇıʍ ƃuoɹʍ s,ƃuıɥʇǝɯos 'ou ɥo

¡ɹɐǝʍs ı 'ǝɯ ɟo puǝ ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ¡ǝɯ sı ǝoʍ 'ɥo ˙ɔd ɯǝןqoɹd ɐ s,ʇı ˙oƃ ʇsnɯ ƃuıɥʇ ǝןoɥʍ ǝɥʇ os 'doʇdɐן ɐ uo ƃuıʞɹoʍ ɯ,ı ˙uǝǝɹɔs ǝɹıʇuǝ ǝɥʇ ʇou puɐ pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ǝɥʇ sı ɯǝןqoɹd ǝɥʇ ɥƃnoɥʇ uǝʌǝ ˙sıɥʇ xıɟ oʇ ǝןqɐ ǝq ןןıʍ ǝuoʎuɐ ʇɐɥʇ ʇqnop ı ˙ʎɐʍɐ ɹǝʇndɯoɔ ʎɯ ʍoɹɥʇ oʇ ǝʌɐɥ ʇsnɾ ןן,ı ǝsoddns ı ɹo „˙uʍop ǝpısdn ƃuıpɐǝɹ 'qɯnp sı sıɥʇ uɐɯ„ 'ƃuıʞuıɥʇ ǝq ʇsnɯ noʎ ǝpısuı ɥƃnoɥʇ uǝʌǝ 'ǝɯ ƃuıpɐǝɹ dǝǝʞ oʇ ǝןqɐ ǝq ןן,noʎ puɐ puǝ ǝɥʇ uı sıɥʇ oʇ pǝsn ʇǝƃ ɹǝɥʇıǝ ןן,ı 'ʎןןnɟǝdoɥ ˙uʍop ǝpısdn ǝdʎʇ oʇ sı ʇı pɹɐɥ ʍoɥ ʍouʞ ʇ,uop noʎ ¡ǝɯ oʇ ƃuıuǝddɐɥ ǝq ʇ,uɐɔ sıɥʇ ¡¡¡ou 'ou 'ou ˙sʇoıpı pıdnʇs ǝʞıן ʞooן puɐ 'sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ oʇ ɹǝʌo spɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ƃuıuɹnʇ dǝǝʞ oʇ ǝʌɐɥ ןן,noʎ ¡puǝıɹɟ ʎɯ ƃuıǝq doʇs puɐ ǝןqnoɹʇ qɯnp ǝɥʇ ןןɐ ɥƃnoɹɥʇ noʎ ƃuıʇʇnd ɹoɟ ǝɯ ǝʇɐɥ ןן,noʎ uǝɥʇ ¡¡ǝɹoɯʎuɐ sʇsod ɹǝdoɹd ʎuɐ ʇsod oʇ ǝןqɐ ǝq ʇ,uoʍ ı ʍou ¡pǝɹɐɔs ɯ,ı ¡ןןɐ ʇɐ uosɐǝɹ ou ɹoɟ ˙ʇxǝʇ uʍop-ǝpısdn ƃuıʇuıɹd pǝʇɹɐʇs puɐ ʇɥƃıu ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝןppıɯ ǝɥʇ uı pǝɥsɐɹɔ ɹǝʇndɯoɔ ʎɯ 'uosɐǝɹ ʎןɥʇɹɐǝun ǝɯos ɹoɟ ʇnq 'ǝɹǝɥ pǝuǝddɐɥ ʇɐɥʍ ǝɹns ʎןʇɔɐxǝ ʇou ɯ,ı

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

You are such an April Fool if you actually read all that! Gotcha! Or did you skip all the way down here, because you knew something was up? Well, if you did that, then I guess you were smart not to fall for such a trick, but not smart because that means you're not my friend anymore! Just kidding! ^,^ If you'd like to fool people using upside down text too, here's the link that helps you do it! uʍop-ǝpısdn

Now, if you really want to look at my post without going through all the trouble of turning your head over, I have one suggestion. It might not work, and it may be dangerous for your computer if it's an old model, but if you think your machine has what it takes... Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow. ^,~

˙ǝuop ɯɹɐɥ ou ˙ʎןǝʇɐıpǝɯɯı pǝxıɟ ǝq ןןıʍ uǝǝɹɔs ǝɹ,noʎ ˙ǝsıɯoɹd ı ˙ʍoɹɹɐ dn+ʇןɐ+ןɹʇɔ sı uoıʇnןos ǝɥʇ ˙ʍou ʇɥƃıɹ pıp noʎ ɟı ɔıuɐd oʇ ʇou pɹɐɥ ʎןןɐǝɹ ʎɹʇ ¿ʇı ʎɹʇ noʎ pıp ¿ʇı ʎɹʇ noʎ pıp

Hee hee hee!!! I am so evil, doing computer tricks on you! BTW, the Leslie and Kyle episode is now up and running. Here's the link for that. I tell you, it's hilarious. I think it's our best episode yet. You'll see why. Just watch it.

Good-bye, Q. I'm really going to miss you. ^,~

I hope no one gets mad of me today. I really feel bad if I piss anyone off on this day of all days. But this is not my regular self. This is when I get all sneaky and plotting. I'll wake up tomorrow morning and have no idea what you're talking about when you start sending me harsh, complaining emails that I crashed your computer and it's all completely my fault. Otherwise, hope you have a brilliant day! (April Fool. I hope you have a miserable day where you get tricked all over the place! Then you can tell me all about it!) Happy fooling around today!

*Edit* Check out this hilarious program. The computer asks you what your problem is. ELIZA