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! ^_^

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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!!!

The best day of my life!!! Pt. 2

Alright, the second movie we saw in the theater on Saturday that really knocked our socks off (not literally, but still!) was... Michael Jackson's "This Is It"! Isn't that so amazing?! Straight after seeing "New Moon", we snuck into the next theater and saw "This Is It" 10 minutes later! Best decision we ever made, seeing this film when we did...

The amazing part of it is that a couple days ago I'd been dismayed to realize that "This Is It" only played in theaters for a limited time, just 2 weeks. Oct. 28 to Nov 12. And we were way past that, and I'd soooo wanted to see it, so I was really pissed at myself for forgetting such an important thing! ~,~ Well, it was important to me, since I'm quite obsessed with Michael Jackson. But then how happy I was to discover that I could still see it on the big screen! ^_^

It was hilarious, but for a good long while Annette, Adam and I were the only ones in the room there. We waited and waited for more people to join us, but no one came in. We thought we would be the only ones who wanted to see This Is It! We fantasized being able to sing along with Michael as loud as we wanted if that happened, because no one would care! Hee hee. We could've treated it like our own personal home theater, with a BIG screen TV! We don't have that. But anyway, the fantasy didn't exactly last, because a bunch of people came in after a couple previews. Too bad. Would've made a hilarious story...

Well, all I can say is that it was an interesting thing that we'd seen "New Moon" in preparation for this. The Michael Jackson concert that would've been "This Is It", had M. J. not died (~,~), was the most incredible spectacle I've ever experienced in my life!!! It was a total bombardment of the senses, all of it! All the flashing lights, all the professional back-up dancers and vocalists (these people were like the sexy vampires and werewolves we'd just witnessed not hours ago! What talent, precision and skill! They must have taken TONS of rehearsals to get it right. It was impossible, they were like perfect robots or something...), all my favorite songs that were fascinatingly altered (quite tastefully, in fact), and of course, the person who made watching the movie all worth while, Michael Jackson. ^_^

I'd never been lucky enough to attend a Michael Jackson concert, I'd never expected to do so in my life anyway, and now that he is dead I will never, EVER be able to get that chance. To actually hear him singing, see him dancing, to just be in the same vicinity as M. J., up close and personal. I can't do that. His albums, music videos and other archives are all that I have.

But this movie, this collection of rehearsals for the concert that now will never be, was the next best thing for me. All the footage is from the Spring of '09, just months before he died, and though it was always plain that they were just rehearsing, they could have fooled me that it was the actual thing. That's how professional Michael and everyone else were. I've never seen such a production. M.J.s talent, his vision, was phenomenal! The way he danced and sang, the way he gave directions and laughed at inside jokes... sometimes I couldn't believe that the guy was 50! Michael was truly young at heart... timeless, ageless. I love him so much. And miss him. ~,~

Some songs in particular were just astonishing, better than their original counterparts. My most favorite one was Thriller! My god, it was terrifying!!! The zombies were brilliant (I guess make-up technology had advanced since before) and there was even an added verse to Vincent Price's already creepy monologue (didn't sound like him though. Vincent died long ago).

Totally awesome!

I also really loved the new version of the Earth Song, where a girl is exploring an absolutely beautiful, green forest, dancing with butterflies and then napping in the grass and flowers. So sweet. ^_^ But then later it's sad, because she wakes up and the world is burning and dying around her, so... yeah. ~_~ I remember how passionate Michael was about saving the planet. The songs he wrote powerfully reflected that.

There isn't much else I can say about "This Is It", but I think I've said enough, haven't I? You can tell I loved it, right? Anyway, what an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience, wouldn't you agree? Seeing "New Moon" and "This Is It", one right after the other... it just blows me away. It made me quite tired, actually. We probably spent 4-5 hours in the theater, and it was dark by the time we were out, but it was worth it. I'd have done it again in an instant! I think somehow it was fitting that we saw both those movies in the same day. Remember the MTV awards? Quite a coincidence that they had previews for those movies, huh?

So before we walked out of the theater, I remembered to pick up our pizza from the concession stand. The box was cold after spending such a long time in the fridge! But me and my sibs enjoyed eating a cold slice in the car before setting off for home, where we'd toast the rest. Our parents were already home by the time we got back. Hmm. Even though I enjoyed such a special day with my brother and sister, I kind of wish that my mom and dad could have also seen those movies with us in the theater. I'm sure they would've enjoyed them as much as we did. But too bad. We couldn't even begin to describe how exciting the two films were. Later that night we saw the last couple episodes from our Simpsons Season 3 DVD, and then on TV we saw SNL. Not such a funny episode, but still quite fun.

And that, my friends, was one of the very best days I've ever had in my life!!!

Other funny things that deserve mentioning:

~ I wore the same pink sweater and scallop necklace that I had on when I saw "Twilight" back in January, but I forgot to bring the camera. So I guess you'll just have to take my word for it. =P (Link to that post.)

~ On the way from the library to the theater, I saw an orange truck that looked like Bella's, and the song "This is it" played on the radio! (Annette also said that she saw a sign for Bella Acres, but Adam and I missed it.)

~ The previews we saw before "New Moon" were of "It's Complicated" (Ha ha. Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin!), "Letters to Juliet" (Takes place in Italy, like a part of New Moon, and seems like a fun romance), and "Sherlock Holmes" (Robert Downey Jr. is Holmes? What the? And I'm not sure why Jude Law is Watson. Still, what an action film! Seems like the only type I'd see), all movies that I'm quite curious about seeing.

And then the This Is It previews included "The Princess and the Frog" (I can't wait to see that Disney movie. Looks like an instant classic!), "Avatar" (The blue cat-people are fascinating), and "New Moon"(Hee hee! We'd just seen it, so that was crazy!).

The best day of my life!!! Pt. 1

I am not kidding. In all seriousness, I say that yesterday was one of the single best days I've ever experienced in my short life. I know that I'll treasure it in my memories forever. Want to know why? Because I had fun the entire day long! Not just a part of the day, but ALL day! Alright, let's see if I can remember everything. I will NOT be able to forgive myself if I forget to mention a single event. >,<

The plan was to see 2 movies in the theater in the same day while our parents went off to the beach. To keep it suspenseful, I won't tell you what their names are just yet, but will reveal them later when the time comes. (ha ha, I'm such a tease, aren't I? ^_~) Before the theater, I drove us to the library so we could return some things. It was a different library than we're used to going, but we had a fine time. Hung around, looked for DVDs to take out and stuff.

There was one section where you could actually buy old books and VHS tapes for very cheap, like 25 cents or 75 cents or something. I found the book "Mister Monday" by Garth Nix, which for some reason I remember Jacoby recommending to me... I don't know... as well as this Beatles sing-along video. When I went to pay for them, I only had a $20 bill on me. The guy said, "You don't have smaller change than that?" "No, sorry," I said. I thought that meant I had to put them back on the shelves where I found them. But then he said, "You know what, just take 'em." I couldn't believe that. "Really?" "Yeah, sure. Go ahead." So I got away with a free paperback book and VHS! Yay! That sure doesn't happen to me every day. ^_^

When it was around 1:30 we took off for the theater. Annette drove us this time. The movie was at 2:35, but we wanted to beat the crowd by buying the tickets early. ^_^ Which is what we did. 2:00 and tickets in hand, we were a little hungry after being at the library, so we went next door and ordered a pie from the Pizza Hut next door. (We don't like buying the theater concession stand food.) Unfortunately, the pizza took 15 minutes to be made. After playing arcades in the lobby for awhile (slightly boring) I picked up the pizza while my sibs stood in line to have our tickets checked. (Ha ha. It was interesting, because as soon as I walked back into the Pizza Hut building, the box was waiting for us. ^_^ I call that divine timing.) Another unfortunate thing was that when I went to get my ticket checked, the guy who rips your ticket in half said that I couldn't take the pizza inside the theater. (Stupid food rules! I hate it that they don't allow you to take in food that you bought somewhere else.) When I asked what to do with it, the guy offered to store it in the fridge in back for me so we could collect it later. Heh, that was nice of him. ^_^ All the same, no pizza for us. ~,~ Doh!

Okay, I suppose I've kept you waiting long enough. ^__^ The first movie Annette, Adam and I saw together was *drumroll*... "NEW MOON"! Yes, that's right! I saw installment #2 of the Twilight Saga the day after it debuted. ^_^ OMG, I loved, loved, loved it! Truly unbelievable! I thought it'd be impossible, but it turns out that the sequel was a lot better than the first. Awesome and amazing. The movie was much truer to the book than I dared expect it to be. Sooo good!

Keep in mind that I am the only one out of my family to have read the entire Twilight Saga, so only I was aware of what was about to happen next in the movie. That was a fun advantage to have over my bro and sis, getting to whisper and explain those little story details to them as we watched. But it was still a joy and an amazing experience to see this movie! So suspenseful and action-packed! Annette and Adam seemed to love it just as well as I did, perhaps more so, because they had no idea what would happen next! Parts of the movie were genuinely funny, I'm glad to say. It was also extremely intense, like you could really feel the gravity of each piece of dialogue. The fighting scenes were absolutely my favorite parts in the film, especially any scenes with werewolves in them. Man, those things were crazy scary! Those bear-sized animals actually looked pretty real, though I could tell it was CGI.

I'm not gonna lie to ya... Taylor Lautner is hot! Jacob Black has always been my favorite male Twilight character, but seeing "New Moon" made me crush on him even more!!! He is so CUTE! ^_^ I know I'm not the only one, but I sure was amazed by how buff and muscle-y he got for this role, and how much time he spent with his shirt off. I don't use this word a lot, but Taylor Lautner is sexy, dude. He's really the only guy that I can call that. Other guys have really cute faces and are sweet, but Taylor is sexy! Annette and Adam said after the movie that they were definitely converted to Team Jacob. (Since they never read all the books, they had no reason to believe that werewolves were cooler than vampires. =P)

Alright, you'll like to hear this. Remember I said in the beginning that we saw 2 films in one day? Well, we didn't have to pay for the other movie! Here's what we did: We went to the bathroom (I was the only one who held it in until the very end. Very full bladder, but I didn't miss a part, so I was proud.^_^), and then used the crowd to sneak into the next show we wanted to see! Ha ha! 1 ticket each, 2 movies! Yes, we are all devious criminals, but we saved several dollars in the process, and that's good in anyone's book. I didn't feel one smidgen of guilt, because we weren't hurting anybody. I mean, besides depriving the theater employees of our money, but they got that from our New Moon tickets, didn't they? Our actions were completely harmless, and besides to-tal-ly worth it! You want to know what we saw next? Well, you'll have to read Part 2 of this adventure, because this post is starting to get a little long... (Sorry for being such a tease, guys. ^_~)

More Poems

SECRETS

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The wind.

It rustles outside my window.

It whispers to me.

I wish I knew what it was saying.

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That was sort of a poem I came up with last night. It's turned reeeeeally beautiful and cool and breezy over night! I'm not kidding. And I'm loving it so much! There's just something about a lovely wind, it's smell, the feel of it on my skin, that I can't get enough of.

Also, I wrote a funky poem about Friday the 13th this morning. Here it is:

I don't believe in Friday the 13th,
I am not superstitious.
A black cat crossing my path
won't make me sleep with the fishes.

Friday the 13th is just a myth,
breaking a mirror isn't bad luck.
Except when it comes out of your allowance,
then it certainly sucks. ~,~

Nothing will happen on Friday the 13th

if you open an umbrella indoors.

You'll be fine if you walk under a ladder,

or spill some salt on the floor.

But whatever you do on Friday the 13th,

remember to be alert!

If you trip on a crack and break your back,

well... I don't have to tell you that that'll hurt. 0,o

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Ha ha. I hope you liked that one. ^_^ I thought it was something funny to write. You know, it's my aunt Lisa's birthday today. Needless to say, I sent her the video clip with that Michael Jackson song on the Simpsons, "Lisa, It's Your Birthday."

In other news: Jacoby wrote 4 posts in the same day! And it's not even a Monday! I was totally surprised by this. ^_~ I wonder what this means...

Also, I had a great time at Borders today. And when isn't it a good day in a bookstore? he he.