The Majik of Magenta

Scrabble Story

2012-01-27T05:31:00.000-08:00

Annette and I played a game of Scrabble together last night (which, incidentally, I won. Lol), and when we were done I was hit by a great idea: make up a story out of all the words we played on the Scrabble board! So that's what I did. Even if this is really short and random, it was such a fun little exercise that I recommend you try if you want to get creative juices flowing.

Tell me what you think of this. Or better, try it for yourself! ^_~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WORDLIST (alphabetically): Ax, Barrel, Blip, Buy, Can, Chomp, Cop, Dove, Drain, Drained, Ease, Entire, Fair, Fate, Gasp, Got, Ha, Is, Jaw, Jeer, La, Legit, Lousy, Oh, Ox, Quilt, Smock, Sooner, Suited, Uno, Voltage, Wide, Wine

The ENTIRE BARREL of WINE was DRAINED within minutes. Big Jim let out a GASP, his belly WIDE as a pumpkin, his eyes slightly unfocused. He gave a LOUSY grin to the SUITED stranger standing over him. "HA, I told you I could DRAIN the entire barrel, didn't I?"
"OH yes, you certainly did," said the man. "Your claim was LEGIT, you won FAIR and square." He tossed a bag of coins on top of the overturned barrel.
"Haha, IS he a COP or something?" asked Jim with a JEER to the barman, who said nothing, but wiped a hand on his SMOCK.
In his head, the man thought, "I'd have been out of here much SOONER if I hadn't run into you, you thick OX. But I suppose FATE has GOT other plans for me." His JAW was set, like a horse would CHOMP at his bit. The man stepped around Big Jim with EASE and walked towards the door.
"Gary, CAN you remind me never to BUY another drink again?" said Big Jim in a drunken slur. With that, the fat slob fell instantly asleep, and the barman laid a QUILT over him to make Jim more comfy.
~~~~~Outside the bar, the mysterious stranger made sure no one was looking before pulling out his dimension-splitting AX. He swiped the gadget through the air, tearing a hole through the fabric of reality and causing sparks of VOLTAGE to fly. On the other side of the newly created portal, buildings crumbled and alien-ships shot down high intensity laser beams in all directions.
"Ooh LA la," said the man to himself. "Looks like I'll have to watch out for número UNO in this dimension."
Despite the obvious danger that lay ahead, the man DOVE through the portal with a laugh, and the tear closed behind him with a BLIP.

For Star Wars fans

2012-01-21T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, sorry I haven't been posting much recently. This year has sure been keeping me busy...
But in the meantime, here's something to distract you from that fact. An entirely fan-made version of the original Star Wars movie! If you like Star Wars and have the patience for this largely amatuerish but very brave and well done video, I think you will really appreciate it.

Tintin!

2012-01-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

Last night my family and I went to the theater, and we saw one of the most incredible films ever: The Adventures of Tintin.You remember Tintin, right? He was the titular comic book character in a series illustrated by Hergé. Tintin is a young reporter who goes on many wild adventures, solving great mysteries with the help of his dog Snowy, his friend Captain Haddock, and many other colorful characters. Hergé’s books got adapted into a short cartoon tv show in the 90′s, which from the opening theme alone seemed pretty epic.Anyway, Tintin hit the big screen just last month, directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, and with music by John Williams. My brother, sister and I are big fans of Tintin and were concerned whether this new adaptation would do justice to the source material, especially since it was animated using motion-capture technology. Well, let’s just say this movie more than exceeded my expectations! ^_^
Honestly, it was like Indiana Jones and The Pirates of the Caribbean combined! Full of suspense, slapstick, and wonderful plot twists, Tintin was just an incredible experience. I was awestruck and kept on the edge of my seat for the entire movie!

The animation was beautiful, capturing Hergé’s original art style perfectly while at the same time immersing the viewer in a world that looked so real you could almost touch it. The people were brought to amazing life, the animals were done particularly well, and every scene was shot using great angles that made this film a masterpiece.

I would say it’s a great, fun-filled adventure film to see with the family, even if you aren’t that familiar with Tintin. It’s got something for everyone. Epic moments, laugh out loud moments, and even some heartwarming moments. It stands very well on its own, and the fact that it’s so amazingly true to the books and cartoon show is an enormous plus!

Still not convinced? Just check out this preview:
As Captain Haddock would say… Blue blistering barnacles! You’ve GOT to see this movie!

How I did on 2011 goals

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's almost the new year, so before I set any new resolutions, I'm going to see how I've done this year on my old ones:

Write 30 poems, 5 short stories, and 1 novel

According to what I've posted on my poetry blog, I've only written 10 poems, and 2 of those were originally written when I was 15. I started a few short stories, but haven't finished them, and I attempted to write a novel in NaNoWriMo, but that didn't completely work. Well, can't say I didn't try.

Learn about queries and associating with the publishing industry

Nope, sorry. Too busy this year.

Be part of 1 or 2 writing groups. One online, and perhaps one offline.
Well, I joined an offline writing group that meets on Saturdays at my local library, so that's good.

Attend writing conventions and events
Didn't.

Shake hands with more famous authors than I did last year

Wish I could have.

Meet at least 3 of my Blogger friends.
I'm sad that I didn't do this. ~,~

Maintain To-Read list

It's hard enough to remember to review what I have already read, let alone keep track what I want to read in the future.

Read at least 10 TOTALLY AWESOME books

Oh, sure I did that! I may not have read as much as I did in 2010, but I can always manage to read 10 awesome books... It's hard to decide which books were the best, though, because I've read lots of series this year. So here's what I'd say the best ones were: 1~The Book Thief, 2~Anything by James Patterson, particularly the "Maximum Ride" series, 3~I am the Messenger, 4~Anything by Dan Savage, 5~Remember Me?, 6~The "Absolute Boyfriend" series, 7~ The "Chobits" series, 8~Room, 9~Half Brother, 10~Anything by Alex Sanchez, particularly the "Rainbow Boys" trilogy.

Become I-level player in Cashflow
This didn't work out, because I somehow couldn't log into the game anymore, and anyway, I stopped getting addicted to the game. Good riddance.

Change blog layout every 2 months
Well, I wasn't always diligent about this one. I've got a new setup now, but I had my old one for quite a few months.

See snow
No. ~,~ Hopefully in 2012!!!

Become a money-magnet
I've made some extra money, I suppose.

Avoid movie previews
Haha, this was impossible to keep up.

Finish all 10 Toastmaster Speeches

Yes, thank goodness I did this. ^,^

Make at least 1 person (besides myself) happy every day.

No way I could keep track of whether I kept this goal or not. I'd like to believe I did...

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

2011-12-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

God, I love this Christmas song. I posted it last year, I realize, but this one's with lyrics. Sing along!~~~I know I've been off blogging for a long time. December has been such a busy and exciting month. It's the last one we have in 2011, and I'm going to make every day of it count.
First of all, I promised weeks ago that I'd talk about how fun the Harry Potter theme park was. Well... what can I say? It was awesome! Here are just a few pictures to illustrate what a wonderful time we had!

Magically, the sky was clear all day. We walked around "Hogsmeade", saw all the shops, went on all the rides multiple times (HP & the Forbidden Journey was the BEST!), and got a taste of Bertie Botts Beans and butterbeer. Now THAT was certainly an interesting taste. Bitter and fizzy on the tongue at first, like actual beer (except no alchohol), but then a sweet after-taste that makes you want to have a little more of it. The 3 of us shared one cup, which was good, because we couldn't finish it all. :P We bought Adam a wand in honor of his 14th birthday, a nice little souvenir.
~~~
Adam's birthday came and went. Now the winter holidays are upon us! Christmas, Hannukah, with New Year fast approaching...

Guess what, guys? My sister has just set off on a road trip tonight with her boyfriend of a couple of months, Aaron, to hang out with his family for Christmas weekend. Yes, you have read that correctly. My twin, Annette, has a boyfriend! And we are going to be separated by many many miles, for the first time in our 20 years of life, for a few whole days! !_! I know I'll get through it fine, and Christmas will be over before I know it. But I'm seriously going to miss her... I hope she has an awesome time with Aaron... (Sorry I never mentioned him, btw. They are such a great couple, tho.)
~~~
In other news, this is also the anniversary of a special friendship of mine that has lasted for 3 years so far. I don't doubt that it will last many more years to come.

Even though he is busy at his job pretty much every day, and he doesn't blog anymore (so sad), and I don't hear from him all that much, Jacoby Nielsen is still one of my best friends in the world. That will never change. I know that I wouldn't be the same person I am today if I didn't have this guy in my life. For that, I will always love him, no matter where life takes us. ^_^ We have talked a little about seeing each other sometime next year, him visiting me Florida and me going to Utah after. No idea when this visit will take place, or what we will do together, but I KNOW it's going to happen.

You might not get to read this, Jacoby (at least not right away), but I'm doing it anyway... WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's my annual shoutout to you, my friend. ^_~ I hope you know that I miss you lots, and that you'll always have a special place in my heart.

So to Annette, Jacoby, and all you wonderful people out there, have yourself a merry little Chirstmas.

Love from your silly girl, Bettina.

Almost over

2011-11-30T07:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, it looks November is almost finished. Just one more day, and it will officially be the beginning of the end. One more month, and the year of 2011 will be at a close...

Time is rushing by too fast! Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
NaNoWriMo is almost over now. I unfortunately didn't get to finish the novel I'd set myself. In fact, there have been days at a time when I didn't work on it at all. I've stopped bothering to update my word count on the official NaNo website. But I dont mind. I've actually been keeping a running total of not just words that I've written towards my novel, but EVERYTHING I've written this month. Anything I've typed out or hand-written on paper, I've kept a tally on. That includes journal entries, lists, blog posts, emails, chat conversations, yes, even my Facebook statuses and comments! I know it's not the normal way of doing things, but I really just wanted to see if, even if I didn't write a real novel, with a plot and characters and everything, whether I could write a "novel" with things I write every day.

I'll give the final "official" count tomorrow, because there are a few blog post besides this one that I want to fit in, but if my calculations are correct I have gone well past 45k words. It may not be 50k, but it sure is close to it! So I'm proud. And I'm also proud of the fact that I didn't publically give up this year. ^_^

Hmm... I'm thinking about whether I should mention something now or just wait to talk about it in better detail later... Ah, what the heck. I'll just say it now:

I'm going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter next week!!! :D

Meet the Little Fellow

2011-11-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

My younger brother, Adam, wanted my sister and I to help him make a movie yesterday. So we agreed. He loves Charlie Chaplin, so he came up with a little skit in which he's trying to get a drink from a water fountain. He got all dressed up like Chaplin, we drove him to the park, and together we brought his vision to life.

I did all the filming, while Annette and Adam co-directed and co-starred in the short. Then Annette handled the editing (using Adobe Premiere Pro), we threw in some old-fasioned ragtime music, and voila! We uploaded it to YouTube. ^_^

The first time we set music to the video, we didn't know how perfectly the ragtime would sync to every cut and scene! We didn't have to do any editing at all where the music was concerned. It was such an OMG moment... you just had to be there, I guess...

Because of this video, Adam now has his own YouTube channel! He'll probably make more awesome videos like this, so please subscribe to him! And leave a comment on the video, maybe...

Thanks!

Happy 11-11-11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Haha, let's just pretend I wrote this at 11:11.

This is a very interesting date for many reasons. For example:

It is the last binary date we will ever see again! At lease until January 1, 2100. We would all be senior citezens if we lived up to then! In binary, 111111 equals 63.

This is also the last date in which the month, day, and year all have the same numbers, until December 12, 2012.

I found out that there is a horror/ thriller movie actually titled "11-11-11" that, believe it or not, is being released in theaters today! How many calendar dates can say that had a film made about them? ("2012" doesn't count, because that's a whole year.)

Another film coming out today is Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill," which my family got to be extras in an entire year ago! I didn't blog about it, because I wasn't supposed to mention it, but I swear I'm telling the truth! I have a friend who can vouch for me. ^,~ No, I didn't get to meet Adam Sandler, but I did spend a whole day on a huge luxury cruise ship. I have no idea whether any of us made it into the movie. We could just have ended up on the cutting room floor. But maybe there is a glimpse of one of us lounging by the pool, or of my dad being a bartender or something. Keep your eyes peeled, whenever you see it. (If you happen to know what I look like, of course. =P)

Today is the birthday of Leonardo DiCaprio (37), Demi Moore (49) and Stanley Tucci (51). Happy birthday, everyone!. ^_^

Another cool thing about numbers composed of ones: if you multiply them by themselves, you get a palindromic number, or a number that reads the same forwards and backwards! Allow me to demonstrate:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12,321
1,111 x 1,111 = 1,234,321
11,111 x 11,111 = 123,454,321
Etcetera and so on and so forth. Awesome, huh? It works all the way up to
1,111,111,111 x 1,111,111,111 = 12,345,678,900,987,654,321

This doesn't have anything to do with 11, really, but here is another incredible math curiosity that I don't have to type out!

Thank you for letting me indulge in a little nerdiness. Hahaha. Hope you make today special in your own way!

Lots and lots of writing this month!

2011-11-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I caved. I'm Definitely gonna do NaNoWriMo this month. I'm quite excited about it, actually! ^_^

The first day I experimented by using Write or Die to see how quickly I could turn out my necessary 1666 words (the per day quota needed to build a 50k word novel in 30 days) and it only took me 45 minutes. So I know that if I just put in a little bit of writing time every day, I can really do this thing. Whoo! Just have to keep plugging away.

This morning I experimented with a desktop application called OmmWriter, which is supposed to be a word processor that plays soothing background music and turns the keyboard taps into other musical sounds. Basically it keeps you from being distracted and makes you focus on what you're writing. It was nice, but I don't think it really improved my writing ability any. I just wrote about 600 words, actually... But I'm not worried. I can catch up on myself later.

I'm not thinking too much about winning that big word goal. I figure that with all the other writing I'm doing this month besides my "novel", such as blogging, participating in the forums, personal journaling, and poems and stuff, I can make it up to 50,000 words in a jiffy. Yeah, im couting the words I type, AND the words I physically write on paper. It may not be official, but still. ^_^

I believe on Friday I might meet a few fellow NaNoWriMo people for a "write-in", whatever that is. I'm looking forward to spending time with some fellow writers, maybe seeing some of the faces I saw on Monday, perhaps making new friends.

Well, as you can see, I'm going to be busy busy busy!

Pretty in... Magenta! ^_~

2011-11-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't expect much this year, but Halloween was pretty fun. In the costume contest at our local town center (still attending that party after so many years) Adam won in the 10 to 13 year-old category as Captain Jack Sparrow, and I placed 2nd in the 14 and up (or adult) category as Pretty in Pink, once again. Yay! (Annette didn't win anything, but she makes a cute pirate girl, no? ^_~)

I had fun strutting myself around the room, smiling to everyone like I was a model. The umbrella just completes the look, I think.

After the contest was over, and I was enjoying the various game booths (whether you win them or not, you always get some candy), a little girl dressed as a cute witch tapped my leg and asked me, "are you Lady Gaga?" I just found that so adorable! :D

I must say, I probably wouldn't have placed if it hadn't been for my mom. She put so much effort into helping me look pretty in my pink getup. In fact, she's the one who found that wig in the first place and suggested that I dress all in pink! So thank you, mom. ^_~

Besides dressing up and indulging in some candy, I got into the holiday spirit by watching 3 classic scary movies with my brother and sister this week: The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, and Dracula.
In my opinion, each film was better than last. (Actually, that's not saying much. =P) None of the movies were as scary as I thought they would be. The stories were kind of bland and slow-paced, most of the characters were dull and forgettable, but there is something about them that makes them so intriguing to watch. Maybe it was the camera work, or the locations/ sets, or the timelessness of the pictures. Looking at these movies from a historical standpoint, you wonder, did these films actually scare and thrill people when they were released? I felt like I was looking through a time capsule, almost.

Dracula was my favorite of the monster movies we saw. The special effects may have been kind of lame (fake bats on strings, come on!), and they never showed the Count in the act of actually drinking blood, but Bela Lugosi gave a grand, commanding performance, as did the guy who played Van Helsing. Also, one of the characters who stood out most in my mind was Dracula's servant, Renfield. That guy was waaaay cuckoo in the head! I think he was scarier, in a way, than Dracula, because he had such a mad manner and look in his eyes.

Well, now that Halloween is over, and November has begun, I think it is time to whip out my pencil! (Hehe, or perhaps my typing fingers. =P)

On writing

2011-10-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what brought about this change in me, but I have noticed that I don't blog nearly as often as I used to. Not only don't I blog, but I also really don't do any writing of any sort. I haven't had the inspiration to write new poems or take on short story side projects in a really long time. I can blame it on a busy schedule and my lazy habits, but I inevitably have to own up to the hard facts.

I like to think of myself as a writer. A person who loves to write. So why am I not writing?This weekend, I decided that I would dive back into the writing world, head first, even if the water is slightly cold at first splash.

I visited a small weekly writing group at my library yesterday (VERY small. It was just my sister, me, and 3 other people) and I had a nice enough time.

Also this morning I got an email from NaNoWriMo (I've been getting emails from them ever since I joined and gave up in 2009) that said there would be a "kick-off NaNo" party at our Barnes & Noble. Up until now, I hadn't even considered spending November to work on a 50,000 word novel, but I really wanted to make friends with other writers, so I went to B&N anyway. There were about a dozen people who came. We all introduced ourselves and talked about the novels we intended to write, or had already written. Everyone was slightly shy, but extremely friendly and imaginative. I suppose that's a pretty universal trait of a writer. Creative minds living inside un-assuming exteriors...

Because of this little meeting, I rejoined the website and have been having fun visiting the forums on this lazy Sunday. I'm still debating in my mind whether I want to actually go the whole 50,000 word hog, or simply resolve to be a better writer this month... Well, those words sure aren't going to write themselves.In other news, Halloween is tomorrow! What are you going as? I dressed up the other day, and I think I had an awesome costume! I call myself Magenta, or Pretty in Pink. ^_~In other other news, please check out the website Damn You, Auto correct. It makes for hours of tear-filled laughs. LOL!!!!!

Gray skies are gonna clear up...

2011-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Most of this week has been absolutely dismal weather. Dark, gloomy, rainy, dull. But it appears as if the next few days will be much better. Yay! Finally I will be able to take long walks outside, enjoy the fresh, clean, after-rain air, and feel that deliciously cool autumn breeze.

So yes, for something as simple and random as the weather, I am putting on a happy face. ^_^

As we greet the new year...

2011-09-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

For those unaware, today is Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish new year. Last night, while my family and were saying blessings over candles (you do that a lot on Jewish holidays, btw), I heard one of the most beautiful prayers ever. It sounded just like a poem, the way it flowed, and it perfectly embodies the spirit of Rosh Hashannah. I'm going to post it here, so you can see what I mean...

Eternal God, as the new year begins,
We have come together to pray as a family,
Yet each of us is strangely solitary in your presence.

Each of us comes before You with special hopes and dreams,
Each of us has personal worries and concerns,
Each of us has a prayer no one else can utter,
Each of us brings praise no one else can offer,
Each of us feels a joy no one else can share,
Each of us has regrets which others cannot know.

And so we pray:
If we are weary, give us strength.
If we are discouraged, give us hope.
If we have forgotten how to pray, remind us.
If we have been careless of time, forgive us.

If our hearts have been chilled by indifference,
Warm them with Your mercy, and inspire us
With the glowing spirit of this holy night.

Amen.

Trippy optical illusion

2011-09-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

What do you guys see? Or think you see, in this fractal? O_O

Late into the night...

2011-09-28T01:37:00.000-07:00

Pottermore.com is finally getting good now! YES! ^_^

I finally bought stuff in Diagon Alley (including a Tabby cat to be my pet!), my wand "chose" me, and I got sorted into a Hogwarts house! *sing-songy voice* And guess which house I'm in?!

That's right! GRYFFINDOR, baby!!!

I'm sad that I couldn't join Rainy in Ravenclaw (I believe that's where she is). =( But maybe sometime we can have a wizard duel or something, eh? ^,~

I know it's really late... like, I'm playing this in the middle of the night right now, that's how late it is!... but the site stopped crashing so much, since it's night. And I couldn't sleep anyway! Anyway, I'm pretty psyched. ^_^ I've already practiced a couple of spells (press keys in certain sequence) and right now I'm going to learn how to brew a potion! Whoo!

I'm finally beginning to understand what makes this site fun. It's part reading and learning very interesting stuff from JKR herself, but it's also decently interactive. Mostly you search and collect items, like potion ingredients, books, galleons (I love finding money!), and other interesting quirky objects, but you are also able to practice spells, brew cauldrons, and have wizard duels with friends. (I'm still unsure how friend interaction really works... they really shouldn't be called friends. More like classmates.)

So yeah, if anyone decides to join up for Pottermore when it releases to the general public in October, keep in mind that you have to be very patient. After Chapter 5, however, the experience gets a lot more fun, I promise.

(btw, I was stuck on Chap. 5 for a long time, because I was using our iPad, but it's best when you use a computer to explore this site. Trust me.)

How I like Pottermore so far

2011-09-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Like I said I would, I've been exploring this site some. Or, at least, I've been trying to. It's extremely bothersome how often the site crashes! Honestly, it's been like this all day. >_< But when I am able to gain access, it is a very interesting site... I would call it a kind of game, only I'm still trying to learn the rules.
It seems like it takes you on a journey through each of the books, right from the beginning, at the Sorceror's Stone. Browsing through the chapters one by one is cool, because you get interesting facts about characters and things. For example, when learning about the Dursleys, I read an interesting backstory about how Vernon and Petunia met and got married, and how they interacted with the Potters (or, rather, didn't). I won't say anymore. ^_~ You can see for yourself in October.
As of now, I've managed to get to chapter 5, right after the point when Harry learns he's a wizard from Hagrid. This is when he gets to Diagon Alley. There's no interesting animation or sound effects to this experience, something that it seems lots of users have complained about. My account isn't that exciting yet, but I'm guessing that will change when I "buy" stuff in Diagon Alley, get into Hogwarts, and get sorted into a house. I hope that happens quickly!

I'm not sure how friends are supposed to work in Pottermore world, but so far I got 3 friend requests. I don't know why they want to be friends with me, but okay, they can be my friends. Maybe things will be clearer when I get to Hogwarts? I hope so. (Be my friend, Rainy! I requested you!)

That's it for today. I wanted to post about so much more, but I'm pretty tired now, so I'll blog about the other stuff tomorrow. Good night, then!

Merlin's beard, I'm in!!!

2011-09-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

I finally got the email that says I can use Pottermore.com! My "owl", if you will. Well, it's about time. I mean, I was one of the lucky few to get registered early well over a month ago!

Well, it's too late to explore Hogwarts tonight. Don't want Filch to catch me out of bed. Lol. I'll try to write a post about it soon, though. Stay tuned! ^_~

*Hi-five, Rainy! You and I made it, girl!*

Sorry for procrastinating. _

2011-09-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

I meant to do this a lot earlier, but... you know how it is. I have no excuses.

But now I've put the video of my 10th Toastmaster speech up here! Hope you enjoy it.

(You might have to turn the volume up a bit. =P)

Also, I suppose while I'm at it, I'll go ahead and include the video of my 9th speech, "Why we need friends." This was taken with a different video camera, so the picture is a bit thin. The volume is great, though. It was a pretty decent speech, if I say so myself, and I want you guys to see it. Let me know what you think, my friends!

Procrastinating procrastination

2011-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm going to give my 10th Toastmaster speech ever. I am really proud of myself for being so close to achieving this goal. It only took me 2 years to do it, too. =P

Guess what I'll be talking about? Procrastination. Yes, what an utterly appropriate topic for me...

I believe I've done a pretty good job with writing it. Now if only I could keep myself from procrastinating actually rehearsing it! Ooh, like now, for instance. What am I doing, blogging about the fact that I'm procrastinating when this is, in itself, a form of putting my speech off! >_<

It's even harder to resist procrastinating since I've been using the iPad an awful lot. It's easy to jump from web page to web page, check my emails, see silly videos on YouTube. I actually saw a few cute ones about procrastination, including this song.

It is also extremely hard to focus on my toastmaster speech, because tonight something very exciting is happening! I'll give you 3 guesses, and the first 2 don't count.

Glee is coming back!!! ^_^

Yesterday, on a whim, I started a brand new blog just for reviewing episodes of Glee. I hope you guys will give it a look see.

Argh, but I am still distracting myself on purpose! No more thinking of glee and blogging and YouTube videos. I need to get cracking!!!

Got a haircut!

2011-09-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

Today's the day! A week after my birthday, I finally get one of my wishes granted: I got myself a new look! A short and layered do, just like I wanted! Annette got a trim too, but she didn't feel like getting so much hair taken off as I did.

Here's a "before" shot of me, with my old long and wavy hair:

Then the "after" shot, 2 or so hours later.

Still me, only with a shorter, blow-dried, and layered cut.

Big difference, no? ^_^

Now you can tell us twins apart easier than ever before! Yay!

That's not why I wanted to get a haircut, btw, to be different from Annette. I've just felt for a while like I needed a different look, to go with my new age.

What do you think? Do I look older or younger with my new hair? I think I look like a really funky, punky, totally awesome chick. LOL! Or maybe that's just me with this particular t-shirt... which I got for my birthday, btw, thank you very much. ^_^

We bought an iPad2!!!

2011-09-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

You may not believe this, but I am actually writing this post with my sister's and my brand spanking new iPad2!!!

This is as part of our ongoing 20th birthday celebration, in which we got new clothes, new notebooks, new sets of earphones, the game Apples-to-Apples, and Amazon gift card money. Now I'm finally a proud owner of an Apple tablet!!! it is so unbelievable, and easy to use!

Thank you, dad, for being as generous as you are. I'm glad we waited to get the next generation iPad now.

btw, I also got the gift of talking with both people I'd wished to have a conversation with the other day, so thank you, thank you, thank you, for making my day.

This may be a corny joke, but even though I'm twenty now, I hope I'll never stop looking, thinking and acting a teen. You know why? Because I'm Be-TEEN-ah! Lol.

Again, I'd like to stress that this entire post was written via iPad. Thank you, technology! Good night, everybody! ^_^

Boston, plus b-day wishes!

2011-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, a whole month since my last post. Boy, does time fly by quickly! O,o

So I've recently come back from my annual Boston trip with my family, which was lots of fun. The weather was absolutely beautiful (which was very lucky for us, because there was the big hurricane, Irene. You guys hear about that?), we went to all our favorite places, we did lots of people-watching, I hung out at the library a lot (I posted some cool book reviews on my book blog that I think you should check out. ^_~), we stayed at some good friends' houses when we were on the road, and it was awesome!

I probably helped my parents with the driving more than I've ever done before in these road trips. I think I drove over 600 miles in total this trip! Definitely something to be proud of. ^_^

Also, you guys should probably know this, but I'll just remind you... tomorrow (September 7th) is Annette's and my 20th birthday.

^___^ Whooooooo-hoooooooooooooooo!!!!! ^___^

I think I mentioned that a few posts back... but now it's closer than ever! I have no idea what we are actually going to do on our special day, though I believe our friends from the beach will throw us some kind of party on the weekend.

I've got a lot of birthday wishes this year. Some of them are pretty silly and outlandish, but I just wanted to put them out there.

A new haircut. Preferably a short, layered style. Something like this: I enjoy my long hair, but I would just like to have a new look for a while, and then grow it out again. Anyway, if I get it, it will be one more way for people to tell my twin and I apart, because Annette doesn't want one. ^,~
An iPad 2. Because it's so awesome! I would love to own a tablet, because they're so fun to use! ^_^ My sister and I share a laptop, which is fine, but sometimes I like to surf the web on my own, have chats with friends and such. I find myself borrowing my brother's computer way too often. O_o (Sorry, Adam.) If I find myself getting a new computer, I really don't care what type of machine it is, because I'll very much appreciate it. But... it doesn't hurt to wish for the best, does it?
The DVD collection of Glee, both the first and second seasons. If you know me well, you know that I'm a major Gleek. ^,^ I am extremely excited for the new season, which I believe starts at the end of August!!! *squee*! I think it would be extremely awesome to own the entire series, though... I know I can borrow the DVDs from the library any time I want, but I think it would be so great to actually have them, you know? Of course, anything Glee-related, like music, clothes or other memorabilia, would be cool as well!
Always my good ol' stand-by, a new notebook. Nothing too fancy. It doesn't have to have an elaborate cover or anything. Just something I can journal in, because as much as I like to blog, I simply loooooove to write. ^_^
To see a couple of special friends of mine, perhaps using Skype. I am extremely close with both of them, but also very far apart. One of them you may know about, because I've talked about him a lot in the past... but there's another I haven't mentioned on this blog before... Sorry, I'm not saying anymore. ^,~ You guys know who you are. I don't care if it's one or the other, or even both. It will make me super happy to see you again.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Shoes!

2011-08-05T10:48:00.001-07:00

This is from an email that was forwarded to me. Nothing but pictures of these kooky shoes, apparently made by this Israeli shoe designer. I'm not the kind of girl who is obsessed with footwear, but you gotta admit... they are hilarious!!! XD These are just a few of my favorites.

I'm so happy. ^_^

2011-08-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, guys. I thought I'd write something today because I'm feeling so bright today, and I've got some great news to share.

For one thing, it is now August! Just another month until September, which is my birthday month! Guess how old I'll be? 20 years old! Hahaha! ^,^ Naturally, this will mean goodbye to all my teen years, which is sad, because they have been among the best years of my life... especially the recent ones. ~_~

Still, I am very excited! A new decade! Bring it on! I feel I am ready to be another year older! (That's a great feeling, because I don't always feel that way, despite my liking my birthday so much. =P) I'll try to be patient as I can... but I can hardly wait. ^_^

For another, yesterday I finally got a phone call from one of my best friends ever, Jacoby!!! ^___^ I was so happy to hear from him again! It had been more than 2 weeks since our last communication, since before I left for camp! We had so much fun catching up, and telling our stories... so awesome.

Long distance relationships aren't easy, but if you're truly good friends with each other, it is always worth it when you hear from them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. I really miss you, my friend, and very much hope you get internet again, very soon!
Also yesterday, I got an email from the woman Annette and I sold our cockatiels to. She said Sasha and Sammy were very comfortable in their new home, and she attached some great pictures, showing how happy they were! ^,^ It was so great, seeing our old boys again. I miss them sometimes... but I know they're in good hands.

(Click photos to make them bigger.)

Oh, and one last reason to celebrate. I am now an early registrant of Pottermore.com! Yay!!!(Again, click on the images to make it bigger. That way, you can read everything.)
From July 31st to August 6, there has been a beta-test promotion for being a part of this site, before it opens to the general public in October. And I was finally able to sneak my way into it on the 6th day! Can you believe it? ^_^

It was pretty hard, too. I tried every day for a while. There's only a limited time every day when that window of opportunity is open, and you don't know when that time is! Then they give you a riddle, to which the answer is always a number. You paste the answer to the end of a special url, which takes you to a random Harry Potter website, and hunt for the "Magic Quill." If you can do all this in that special time allocated, you are then permitted to register.

Well, finally I succeeded! Whoo! I am a virtual witch! Haha!

Well, maybe not quite yet...
Turns out the website is still not quite up and running yet. It says I have to wait a few more weeks, and I'll get my Welcome email. *sigh* I hope it's worth it

Anyway, I'm pretty excited! I feel so lucky! ^,^ When I finally get that email, I bet it'll be like I'm getting the owl from Hogwarts or something. When I first started the books, I dreamed about that as a kid... So here's to continuing to live a part of my childhood! ^_^

If you think you can shake it, try your luck tomorrow, and see if you can get signed up early. You only have one last day! Otherwise, I'll see you in October. ^,~

Rollerboy 2

2011-07-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

OMG, I used to love playing this game, Rollerboy2, as a little kid! I can't believe I found it again! Hahaha! Yayyyyy!

I never played the first Rollerboy, but I remember somehow picking this game up on some game website in the library, and just playing it all the time with my sister!

This old Java game still seems to hold up pretty well. Or maybe it's just my nostalgia for it at work... But you get to choose between a ninja boy and a dreadlock girl (I like the ninja better), and you collect gold rings, and bounce on green aliens/snakes/blob things to kill them, and, and... it's just so cool! ^_^

I hope I don't get addicted to it again... O_o

Edit: There doesn't seem like a way I can be addicted to this game again. There's something wrong with level 6 that won't let me play any farther. ~,~ Oh well. It's still as fun as I remember it. Just a little taste was enough anyway.

The Crystals of Rock and Roll

2011-07-26T09:55:00.001-07:00

(The title is kind of subject to change. I'm not sure what else to call it, though, and it's the best fit. =P)

Enjoy reading this play! You can either simply picture the scenes happening in your head, or you can make your own puppets and perform it yourself with friends! I don't mind. Just tell me about it, and let me know how well you like this story. ^_~

Introducing the players of our show:

Leslie (Me)
Tyler (Annette)
Isabella
King Elvis
Random
Some Dude
Guardian of Rock
Guardian of And
Guardian of Roll
Vampire gang
Flame

(Prologue)

Flame: Hello and welcome, everybody! We’ve got a great show for you tonight. Just sit back, relax, and if any of you get out of your seats or don’t enjoy the show, I will personally come over there and rip your head off!
Tyler: Don’t worry, folks. Flame has anger management issues. She’s taking a workshop for that. I think...
F: Where are my assorted muffins? I’m about to lose it!
T: Oh, sorry! Coming!

(Scene 1, The Castle)

(Enter Leslie and Tyler)
Leslie: Isn’t it a wonderful day in the land of Oo?
T: Yeah, it sure is. What do you think we’ll do today?
(Alarm noises sound)
L: Oh no! It’s the alarm!
T: That must mean that something is wrong. We should go to the king and see what’s the matter.
(Enter a sickly-looking King Elvis)
L: King Elvis, what is happening?
King Elvis: (groan) I’m dying!
T: Oh dear! Is there anything we can possibly do for you, your majesty?
KE: (weak voice) Find me the Crystals of Rock and Roll.
(L and T gasp)
T: The crystals! Those will solve everything!
L: Don’t worry King, we’ll be on it. Let’s get our sister Isabella to come with us.
(Enter Isabella): Hi guys. What’s up?
L: Isabella, will you help us find the Crystals of Rock and Roll?
I: Sure. I’ll go get my things.
(L, T, KE and I all exit.)
(Enter Random): (whispers to audience) Banana.(R exits.)

(Scene 2, The Forest)

(Enter L, T and I)
I: So what is our first stop, anyway?
T: Well, we’re looking for the Crystals of Rock and Roll, so the first crystal we need to find must be Rock.
L: I sure hope we find it soon. This forest is creeping me out.
(Mysterious, scary hissing noise off-stage)

L: (gasp) What was that?
(Enter F, hissing)
L, T and I: Ahhh! A vampire!
F: Who are you, and how dare you intruders trespass on my forest?
T: We’re sorry! All we’re trying to do is look for the Crystal of Rock.
(Enter R) Banana!
L, T, I and F: Who are you?
R: I am Random. (Pause) Banana! (R exits)
F: Okaaaay... Anyway, did I hear you guys say you’re looking for the Crystal of Rock?
I: Uh-huh.
F: Oh, well it’s right over there.
L: Oh, thank you.
F: Can I go with you? I bet I can be of some assistance to you guys.
L: Yeah, sure. You can come along.
(All pretend to walk, approach Guardian of Rock, a tiger shaped statue)
T: Well, here’s the Guardian of the Crystal of Rock. The statue looks so life-like...
(Guardian roars. The 4 adventurers scream in surprise.)
Guardian of Rock: Who disturbs my slumber? Who are you puny mortals?
T: Um, we are, uh, Tyler the Humble, uh, Leslie the Meek, Isabella the Small, and...
F: And I am Flame. I don’t like you.
GoR: Silence! What is it that you seek?
L: We want the Crystal that you protect, to take back to King Elvis so he can be cured.
GoR: I will give it to you...IF...you say the magic word.
F: Magic word? What magic word?
T: I don’t know the magic word.
I: May we please have the Crystal of Rock, mister Guardian?
GoR: (Pause) Yes. Yes you may. Here.
I: Thank you!
GoR: You’re welcome. (GoR vanishes)
L: Wow, that was easy. On to the Crystal of And!
(All cheer “yay!” and exit)
(Vampire gang walks on-stage) We want blooooood!!!! (Vg exits)

(Scene 3, The Volcano)

(Enter L, T, I and F)
T: Look, it’s the Guardian of And!
(Enter Guardian of And, who is a phoenix) Hello. Are you looking for my crystal?
L, T, I and F: Yes, we are.
GoA: It’s at the top of my volcano here. Good luck! (GoA exits)
I: How do we get to the top of that volcano? It’s so hot and full of lava.
F: Well, I can fly up there and get it for you guys.
L, T and I: Really? You’d do that?
F: Sure. Why did you think I was called Flame? (F exits)
L: Well, I guess all we can do is wait for her to come back.
(Vg pops out) We want your bloooooooood!
(L, T and I scream. Random puppet fight/chase ensues)
(Flame comes back) Hey! No one tries to attack my friends, except for me! Hiss!
(Vg runs away)
T: Wow, thanks for saving us, Flame. That was a close one!
I: What about the crystal? Were you able to get it?
F: Sure, don’t worry. I have it right here.
L: Fantastic! We’ve got 2 of the crystals. Now, on to the...
(R pops out and immediately interupts) Banana!
I: On to the banana?
F: Hey, it’s you again!
(Enter Some Dude) You know, you should listen to Random.
R: That’s right. Banana! (R and SD exit)
L: As I was saying... on to the Crystal of Roll, everybody!
(All cheer “yay!” and exit)

(Scene 4, The River)

(Enter L, T, I and F)
F: When are we gonna be done with this stinking mission? I have a forest to protect.
T: All we need to do now is find the Crystal of Roll, and we can go home to heal King Elvis.

(Enter Guardian of Roll, a water guardian, on opposite side of stage.)
I: Oh look, there’s the guardian, on that little island over there. (shout) Hey, Mr. Guardian of Roll! Can we please have your crystal?
GoR2: Of course, my dear adventurers. If you are able to reach my island, you can have my crystal. Here’s a tip: none of you can get it on your own.
L: Hmm. How are we going to do this?
F: Er, don’t look at me. I’m not going to fly over there. I’m afraid of water. (Voice hardens) Don’t tell anyone!
I: I’m scared too. I’ll stay here with Flame.
L: Gee, then I guess it’s just up to you and me, Tyler.
T: Hey, I know! I’m a pretty tall guy. Maybe I can act as a bridge, and you can cross me and get the crystal.
L: Brilliant, Tyler! That’s teamwork!
(T lies down and makes a bridge, L walks on top of him to island)
GoR2: Good job, adventurers. You have done well. You may have the crystal of Roll.
L: Oh, thank you very much, sir!
GoR2: Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you. These are shark-infested waters. You may want to ska-doodle. (GoR2 exits)

(Everyone screams, L rushes back to other side)
T: Hey, don’t forget me!
(L and friends pull T up just in the nick of time, before a shark pops out of the water and chomps him!)
I: Wow, that was a close one.
R: Banana!
L: Wha? You again?
SD: I’m telling you, you should really listen to Random!
R: Yeah, I’m warning you... Banana! (R and SD exit)
L: (sigh) Whatever. We have all the crystals, everyone! Now we can go home and save the king!
(All cheer “yay!” and exit)

(Scene 5, The Finale)

(Enter L, T, I and F)
T: Well, goodbye Flame. It was... nice, having you with us on our adventures.
I: Yeah, thanks so much for helping us and saving our butts!
F: Don’t mention it.
I: I mean, you were awesome when you...
(F interrupts) Eh-vur! (Flame exits)
L: Uh, bye. Well, looks like all we gotta do now is cure Elvis
(Enter KE, wheezing) What took you guys so long? I’m almost dead!
L: Quick Tyler, crush the crystals into a healing potion!
T: Right, I’m on it!
(T makes potion off stage, comes back, gives it to KE, who turns all better.)
KE: Elvis liiiiiiives! Uh-huh-huh! Thank ya, thank ya very much!
I: Haha, well I guess all’s well that ends we... whoa! (I slips on banana peel that appears out of nowhere) Ouch!
T: Oh my gosh, Isabella! Are you okay?
L: Huh... what the heck is a banana peel doing here, anyway?
(Enter R) I TOLD you about the banana, but would anyone listen to me? NO! No one ever listens to Random! Hmph!(R exits.)

(All puppets look at each other in confusion)
KE: (sings) That is the eeeeeeend!

(All puppets come out for a curtain call bow) Thank you, thank you very much!

My first ever screen-play!

2011-07-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

While I was at camp this last week, I got to lead the kids in puppet making, and they helped contribute ideas for a whole puppet show!

My gosh, the imaginations on those children, you would not believe... crazy ideas flying all over the place! Funny character names, outrageous scenes... it was honestly all I could do to collect all of their precious nuggets, and turn them into a story that people could follow along! Annette helped me out a ton, writing the script...

After one or 2 brainstorming sessions with the kids, my twin and I sat down for a while and wrote an entire screen-play fit for an adorable puppet-show. Reading through it, the story only took several minutes to tell! Which is amazing, because it took us 2 hours or something to write! O_o

On Friday, we had a talent show, and we were to present this hilarious little story for the kids' parents and some other guests. When it was our turn to come up, though, I had no idea where the script was! *gasp!* We hadn't had that much rehearsal or preparation with the children, but we didn't have any time to look for the script. >,<

Well, the show went on, without our script. We had the kids improvise a lot, and clued them in when they forgot their lines. And you know what? The audience LOVED it!

I could hardly believe it, but we were a success! ^,^ The kids were fantastic. People liked the story!

It might be a bunch of nonsense, really, but I've decided to post the puppet-show script, after this post. Just for your entertainment. ^_~ Hope it makes you smile a little. Please let me know how you like it!

Back from camp!

2011-07-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I have actually been back since Sunday. I've just been taking a while to get used to being home again... and not at camp anymore...

OMG, I honestly had the best fun ever! For my first time at a summer camp, it was amazing! It was the absolute perfect one for my brother, sister and me. I loved being a counselor, and hanging out with all the kids and other counselors/staff there. Everyone was so smart, and beautiful, and amazing, and funny, and friendly, and just plain awesome!!!

The camp itself was the best. The food was good. I learned a lot of stuff. I got to sleep in a tent for a whole week, which was pretty cool. Although sometimes it wasn't so cool. Our tent didn't keep rain out very well, and it stormed hard a few times. A lot of our stuff got soggy and ruined. Towels, our camera, a few books. Including one of my favorite journals. !,! *so sad*

That meant we had to share a tent with friends sometimes, then. =P But in a way, that was really cool too!!! I had some pretty cool friends to tent with. ^,^

(sigh) I'm really really really going to miss camp. I had so much fun every day. When I was there, it felt like I was there for a month instead of a week... but now that I'm home, it feels like I was only there for a day or something. Like it was all just a dream...

Happily, I plan on going back to that same camp resort in just a couple of weeks' time. For a different kind of event, not camp. I'll get to see some of my special friends again. ^_^ I can barely wait!

Gone fishing

2011-07-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't even eat fish. But I did want you guys to know that I won't be blogging for the next week or so, since I'll be off at camp with my brother and sister.

I've never exactly gone to a summer camp before, but this week I'm actually going to be a camp councilor. I'm really excited about that! Annette will teach campers how to draw, and I'm going to lead them in creative writing exercises. How awesome is that?! Adam will be one of the campers. ^_^

So yeah, I guess I'm going to take a little vacation from the internet. If you leave me any comments, I'll read them when I get home. See you guys later.

Stay cool, and have a wonderful Summer!

It's over...

2011-07-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, my brother, sister and I saw it. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2. We went to the midnight showing last night. (We purchased the tickets hours ahead, so we avoided the lines. ^,~)

Here is what I thought: this film, the last of the Harry Potters, was quite awesome in it's own right. It was extremely true to the book and was as action-packed as the trailers promised it would be. But you have NOT experienced the movie properly unless you were at the midnight showing!

Imagine, being part of an audience of teenagers and hyped up Potter-fans who cheered when the advertisements stopped showing, and whooped appreciatively every time something amazing and epic happened! I had such a blast! I don't believe I've ever done it before.

I can probably list all the times I heard the crowd make audible reactions:

During the previews, a trailer for "Breaking Dawn, part 1" played, and when Jacob took his shirt off... Well, you can probably guess. Team Jacob girls screamed and guys groaned. =P

When the Warner Bros. logo and Harry Potter titles appeared in the beginning. "Whooooo! Yeah! Let's get this thing started!"

Then there weren't many big reactions until closer to the end, with the big battle at Hogwarts and all. But I could appreciate how quiet the audience got when things got honestly suspenseful.

There was a great kiss that we reacted to ^_^ (I'm not saying whose kiss, in case you haven't even read the books), and then there was the very end, when the title came up that said "19 Years Later", just like it does in the book. Everyone whooped for that, because it's one of the things every Potter fan has been looking forward to!!!

My brother actually cried through the whole epilogue scene. !_! I wanted to cry too, but just couldn't. I remember years ago, when we read the book for the first time, that I'd cried in the end. I guess I just didn't feel sad. I felt happy, and content, and glad that the movie had been so well-made. Glad that I was finished.

It's over...

Well, until Pottermore.com launches, that is... ^_~

Harry Potter theme song! With lyrics!

2011-07-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

This video is so darn awesome!!!

Are you at all stoked to see Harry Potter 7, Part 2? When it all finally ends? Well, I think that after you see this video, you'll become at least 10 times more excited for July 15th to come that much quicker. ^_~

Huh? Huh? What did I tell you?
On the one hand, the song is so epic! I love how well the lyrics fit in with the score! ^__^

On the other hand, I now have this song stuck in my head. =P That's because my sister and I listened to it over and over, AND OVER again, so we could write down all the lyrics to the song this guy wrote.

So know, witches and wizards. For your Potter-manic pleasure... karaoke anyone?

If you’re looking for a hero, you shouldn’t look to me. (Why me?)
I’m just a young kid, the "boy who lived" is just an identity. You see...
Just growing up is rough enough, and you want it done too fast (so fast)
And normalcy is not easy, when everyone knows your past

The wealth that I’ve amassed will help me pay for every class.
My quidditch broom is unsurpassed, but...
(Mum... and... Dad... died... they... tried... to... protect... me...)
If you’re looking for a hero, you shouldn’t look to me.
Before I can be who you for-see, I have to hit puberty.
I’m pretty sure my blood’s not pure, but that’s not the mystery
My mother’s son, the Chosen One, it’s all in the prophecy.
If you’re looking for a hero, you shouldn’t look to me.
And nobody knows I never chose to be a celebrity.

Everywhere I go they say “Hey, there’s Harry Potter!"
"That’s Harry Potter. Look at the Scar!"
"He’s attending Hogwarts with your son, with your daughter"
"The Harry Potter, so far."

After just one year he will become your friend Harry,
dear old friend Harry, though he could die!
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned and it’s scary,
for little Harry. Poor guy.

I can never seem to keep myself out of danger,
school’s always stranger, starting each fall!
With my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,
we will endanger you all.Your call!

Through my childhood I was abused as an orphan,
used as an orphan, what can you do?
Little Thomas Riddle was another young orphan,
don’t let me morph into You-Know...Hoo!

Can you say AVADA KEDAVRA?!

LOOORD Voldemort’s returning now he looks like a dead snake.
Go right ahead Snape, say you obey.
All of this is giving me the world’s biggest headache.
This kind of headache won’t go away.

WhoamIfooling? We’vehadenoughschooling.
TheDarkLordisruling! It’stimetostartduelling

Time has arrived to decide if we all take flight,
Voldemortisback, readytoattack!
And I’m still alive, choose a side and let’s stand and fight
steadyallyourwands, readyaresponse!

What we’ve learned, please don’t forget it,
Though the teachers haven’t said it
If you live it’s extra credit!

Teachershavetaughtus thespellstheyhaveshown‘em
There’s Stupify, Lumos, Expecto Patronum,
Petrificus Totallus, andthereisfarworse,
Then Expelliarmus, Avada Kedavra’s the worst of them.

Why is it so hard to find responsible teachers,
When the course features Dark Arts Defense?!
They try to attack me in the class, in the bleachers,
with evil creatures killed my... pa-RENTS!
Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor,
whathavewestudiedfor?

Voldemort wanted another wizarding war,
hewillneverquit, soul’salreadysplit (Doesn’ttakeahint)
Let’s settle the score, let us do it for Dumbledore!
We'llwintheday, we’retheD.A.!

Every Muuug-gle who has seeeeen us
knows the struuug-gle is betweeeen us.

So let’s gather all around here for the ultimate show-down,
Here is the low-down, kill or be killed!
We will fight forever neither of us will slow down
But one will go down, as billed,(BIG build...)

You want immortality,

You don’t see the irony,

That for all eternity,

You’ll live on in infamy,

And now it’s just you and me!

Seeifacursethatissounforgivablecanstillbebelievablenow!

My friend!
Neitherofussurvives while the other is living.
The end!
Thereisnowheretohide, everytrickthatyou’vetried, innocentpeoplehavedied!

And so where’s the love you got rid of? You might want to look within.
Look in my eyes, and realize, the GOOOD guys always WIN!

Whatcanyoupossiblydo? Wherecanyoupossiblygo?
Coulditbepossiblytrue? Howcouldtheprophecy knoooooow
ThatIwasthe heeeeeero!

Mum knew and dad knew and Dumbledore did too,
and all that we’ve been through, the magic and I knew
What you will knooooooow

NOW!

My new profile pic

2011-07-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, remember a couple of weeks ago I asked you guys which image you thought would look best as my new "avatar"? Well, since it's the start of a new month, I made my pick, and I chose this one. ----->

FREE HUGS!

2011-06-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

First, see this video to appreciate the gravity of this post.

I promise, it's a good one.This movie has gotten over sixty-nine million views!Isn't it so awesomely sweet? ^_^(Plus, I love the music.)
It was the inspiration behind my sister, brother and I creating our own Free Hugs campaign. To tell the truth, it was my bro Adam's idea to actually bring it to life! We made a couple bold-lettered signs, drove to our local mall, and honestly started giving out free hugs to total strangers!!! Yay! Plus we brought a camera and filmed a bunch of movies! Here's a picture in front of the mall, from before we started:

It was incredible! A lot more fun than I expected it would be! ^_^ I lost track of how many people we hugged, but I'm willing to bet that, if you put them all together, we gave at least 50 hugs. I mean, I couldn't really prove it, but I felt as if I gave 50 hugs by myself, so it could have been lots more! (I assure you, though, that there are 18 hugs I can indisputably prove, because they were on film. ^,^)

The 3 of us hugged all sorts! Men, women, children. Didn't matter if you were black, white, short, tall, fat or thin. If you read our sign and decided to take us up on our offer, you got a big hug!

We made a music video in Adobe Premier Pro, with Burt Bacharach's song "What the World needs now is love." Annette did all the editing. (Thanks, sis!) It is really something sweet. ^_^

Next Saturday is actually National Free Hugs Day! So if you feel so moved (and I hope you do, because it's really so much fun!), on July 2, 2011, make your own FREE HUGS sign, go to a busy place, and hug people who want to be hugged, but don't know they do until they see your sign. ^_~ Have fun!

Stranger chat

2011-06-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

I stumbled onto a very interesting website last night. It's called Omegle. (No idea why. I think it's a made up word. O_o It has an omega symbol in the logo, though, so maybe it's a play on words?)

Anyway, it's a rather fun site, because it allows you to talk to people you'd probably never run into otherwise, virtually or physically. The site pairs you up with a random person who happens to be using the site at the same time, and you're off. Any time either person wants to end the chat, you just disconnect. There's no registration necessary, and the site is totally free! ^_^

Of course, be warned. You must be cautious and mature to use this site. You never know who you might be talking to. In my experience so far, for about every 4 or 5 strangers I chatted with, there was only 1 person I really felt comfortable chatting with. The others either ended the conversation early on, or seemed to be weirdos. O,o

To be safe, try not to reveal your N.A.S.L. (name, age, sex, location) too early in the conversation, if you can possibly help it.

The internet. It's a scary, exciting world out there. Yes, it's full of creeps. But it's also full of some pretty cool people. ^_^ Talk to them!

Who follows that rule, "Don't Talk To Strangers", really? You have to talk to strangers every day! More than 99% of the world is made up of strangers! If you never talk to them, they'll never get the chance to possibly be your friend.

So yeah, try Omegle out. Make a new friend, even if that friendship only lasts for a few minutes. It's fun to bond, if you're talking to the right person.

My bro's on Facebook ^,^

2011-06-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

A friend of his helped him to make a profile. Now my sister and I are going to show young Adam the ropes of the popular social network. It'll be so much fun! I love teaching my brother new things. ^_^

Pottermore.com

2011-06-23T04:23:00.000-07:00

I first became aware that JK Rowling was up to something on the 15th, when my friend, Rani, mentioned on her blog that there were rumors of a new Harry Potter website being created. A little digging online, and I found a YouTube channel with a big countdown to when some huge announcement video would show up. (It was covered in owls, for some reason... O_o)

It was counting down towards the end of the week, which is today.

This video was put up 4 hours ago, as of this post. ^_^

I don't know about the rest of you Potter fans, but I am pretty stoked about this website. ^_^

http://www.pottermore.com/

From the website --- "Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books. Come back on 31st July to find out how you can get the chance to enter Pottermore early."

Well, I'm most definitely going to try my best to get in this thing early on! Why wait until October if I can join up in just a couple months?

Keep me posted, JK! Thank you so much for not letting the HP adventure end with the last book, or the last film (which comes out in just a few weeks! Can you believe it? ^,^)

EDIT: Wow! I did a little more hunting for Pottermore news, and found this press release. It makes the website sound so very exciting!!!

J.K. Rowling today, Thursday 23rd June, answered mounting speculation about the nature of her new project and announced Pottermore, a unique and free-to-use website which builds an exciting online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books, and is partnered by Sony.

The announcement today was heralded by the revealing of the website’s name via an online search for its letters, and a ‘coming soon’ holding page which received over a million visits within 36 hours of launching.

For this groundbreaking collaborative project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories, which will inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books. Pottermore will later incorporate an online shop where people can purchase exclusively the long-awaited Harry Potter eBooks, in partnership with J K Rowling’s publishers worldwide, and is ultimately intended to become an online reading experience, extending the relevance of Harry Potter to new generations of readers, while still appealing to existing fans. As the Pottermore Shop develops, it is intended that it should include further products designed specifically for Harry Potter fans, offering a potential outlet for Sony products and services related to Pottermore. In keeping with Harry Potter’s international appeal, the site will launch in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with more languages to follow.

In the new website, the storyline will be brought to life with sumptuous newly-commissioned illustrations and interactive ‘Moments’ through which you can navigate, starting with the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone. On entering, you choose a magic username and begin your experience. As you move through the chapters, you can read and share exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling, and, just as Harry joins Hogwarts, so can you. You visit Diagon Alley, get sorted into a house, cast spells and mix potions to help your house compete for the House Cup.

At a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Rowling revealed some key features of the website. In an announcement which will thrill fans, she described how she has brought to life both the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore, by revealing the questions asked by the Sorting Hat – which places newcomers into their Hogwarts houses according to their characteristics – and the magic behind the Wand Chooser – which finds the right wand for each user from over 33,000 possible combinations. She also revealed glimpses of the new information she has provided on some of the best-loved characters.

J.K. Rowling’s announcement on YouTube and sony.com today revealed that Pottermore (along with the Pottermore Shop) will be open to all users in October 2011. From today, 23rd June, fans can submit their email addresses on Pottermore.com in order to be contacted by the site following the opening of registration on 31st July, Harry’s birthday. Also on that date, an online challenge will be launched, whereby the first million people to complete their registration will gain early entry into the website, and help put final touches to the experience.

J.K. Rowling commented,

“I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation. I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to shape Pottermore as I have. Just as I have contributed to the website, everyone else will be able to join in by submitting their own comments, drawings and other content in a safe and friendly environment – Pottermore has been designed as a place to share the stories with your friends as you journey through the site.”

Pottermore has been made possible with the support and partnership of Sony.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Corporation, commented:

“Sony’s association with J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore brings together one of the world’s most innovative brands with the most successful book series in history, in a pioneering partnership that will help shape the future of story-telling. We are proud to be a part of it, both at this momentous announcement, and as we collaborate on its development over the coming years.”

On Sony’s partnership of Pottermore, J.K. Rowling commented:

“As I think people know, I am very protective of Harry and have always been very selective with any new initiatives, but I am totally committed to making this partnership with Sony and this wonderful new website a success. There are many companies I could have worked with on this ultimate digital expression of Harry Potter’s universe, but it is Sony’s unique philosophy of creativity in harmony with technology that made them my first choice as main partner. The spirit behind Sony’s make.believe philosophy is one that rings true with Pottermore’s own values.”

The detailed creative execution has been led by TH_NK, a leading UK digital agency, under the supervision of J.K. Rowling and the Pottermore management team, in co-operation with Sony. J.K. Rowling’s publishers, Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the USA, as well as her international publishers worldwide, have been active supporters in the creation of pottermore.com and the Pottermore Shop. Warner Bros, the makers of the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise, is also one of the partners who have worked to support the launch of Pottermore through a variety of marketing, promotional and other efforts, and will continue to collaborate as the project grows.

The storyline of the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will go live on the site in early 2012. The Pottermore Shop opens when the site opens to all in October, selling complete ranges of the eBooks and digital audiobooks in a selection of languages, exclusively.

Designed for fans of all ages, the website has been created with child safety in mind, employing best practice and compliance with internet codes of practice in the UK, Europe and USA, and elsewhere.

I perform this way

2011-06-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Found a great spoof tribute to Lady Gaga's song, "Born This Way", done by Weird Al Yankovic. It is pure hilariousness. ^_^ Very tastefully done.

Also I picked up a couple of really cool quotes today at the Toastmasters Leadership conference I went to with my mom and sister today. At the end, this guy gave an amazingly inspirational speech about how everyone can be a superhero. (Hmm. Isn't it weird how many superhero movies are playing this summer? O_o)

Anyway, here's a great definition of a hero that the speaker gave:

‎"Superheros are people who use their special/extraordinary abilities/powers to help others."

Here's another quote that I really liked!

"Be the voice for those who can't speak."

I wish I could remember how the whole speech went. It was quite fantastic! ^_^

Balloon Comic

2011-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just surfing the internet this morning, and I found a really sweet story on Deviant Art. ^,^

This girl, B1nd1, or Emmy, drew a great 16 page comic. No words are spoken, but it's a compelling story and the art is fantastic.

I put the first page here so you can have a preview. I totally recommend you check the rest of the story out. It has a great ending. ^_^PAGE TWO
PAGE THREE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE FIVE
PAGE SIX
PAGE SEVEN
PAGE EIGHT
PAGE NINE
PAGE TEN
PAGE ELEVEN
PAGE TWELVE
PAGE THIRTEEN
PAGE FOURTEEN
PAGE FIFTEEN
PAGE SIXTEEN

Profile pic poll

2011-06-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Looked at a bunch of anime girl pics with some help from Google Image's latest feature (see my last post) and these are the 6 images I like the most.

Don't ask me why, but I love having cute anime girls as my profile! It especially helps if their hair is pinkish, or if something they're wearing is pink. I don't know... it just reminds me of the person I'd like to be if I were a cartoon! ^_^ (In real life, though, I don't think I could pull off the pink hair. Mine is too dark. lol. O_o)

In the end, of course, it will be my decision which girl gets to be my replacement Blogger avatar. But I was wondering if you guys would indulge me and pick which image you guys liked best. Like, which do you think best represents... me?

New image search feature!

2011-06-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was just thinking about changing up my profile picture (I'm still thinking about it, btw. I'm not sure if I will, I just wanted to see what was out there for me), so I went to my favorite image search website, Google Images, to check out nice pics. That's when I noticed their newest feature, which is really quite interesting!

Check it out yourself!

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Do you see it? You're able to drag an image into the search bar, and it will actually show you similar pictures to that image!

Wow. O_o All I have to say is, good job, Google. You never cease to amaze me, with all the cool new web gadgets you keep turning out. What will they think up next, I wonder?

Bye-bye, birdies... for real. ~,~

2011-06-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

We've been talking about selling our birds for a long time. Now we've finally gone and done it. They're gone...

Sasha and Sammy, the 2 boy cockatiels Annette and I had owned for almost 6 years, are now out of our lives. We sold them to a nice couple yesterday. It was sad packing them up in their car, and seeing them drive away... I am really going to miss those little feathered rascals. ~,~

Some last photos that my mom kindly took, before the new owners came.

(Left = Sammy, right = Sasha, in all the pics.)

I mean, yeah, they used to screech really loud at times, and they used to drive us off the wall when we let them out of the cage to stretch their wings and they wouldn't come back down when playtime was over, and I don't need to mention cleaning up their poop...

But they were awesome pets. I loved taking care of those red-cheeked birds, laughing at their silly antics. They'd fight with each other sometimes (Hey, they're brothers. What're you gonna do? =P), and they sang really sweetly when they were in the mood. Cockatiels have the kind of beaks that make you think they're grinning all the time, so they always looked adorable and innocent. Whenever we came home from somewhere, those birds knew it, and they'd chirp out with glee welcoming us back. ^_^

They were the longest pets my siblings and I have ever kept. Besides the birds, we've only ever had rodents in the house, and those always died after a year or so, which was very sad. (See Hazel the hamster's eulogy here. Here is the picture post of Hazel.) At least in our cockatiels' case, they haven't died. They're just being cared for by new owners (who have promised to keep us updated about how our boys settle in). ^,^

*sigh* It's still going to be sad, with no more pets in the house. I'll sure miss them... I love you, Sasha and Sammy. ~_~

For more memories, we've got lots of Youtube videos of the birds. Check out our pet playlist.

Look at me...

2011-06-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I felt a little... off, for some reason. O,o Don't worry. I'm not depressed or anything like that. But I did feel kind of... small. Like I'm not accomplishing everything I can be, or am at least meant to be. I just felt clueless... not to mention lazy...

But now I'm feeling a lot better. ^_^

I heard this John Lennon song today, and it seems to sum up my feelings pretty well. (He's one of the best poets of them all, in my opinion.)
Look at me
who am I supposed to be?what am I supposed to be?
Here I am
what am I supposed to do?What can I do for you?
Who am I?
Nobody knows but meNobody else can see
Just you and me
Who are we...?

Arrested Development + other developments!

2011-06-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the end of Glee's 2nd season (*sad* ~,~), I just recently found a hilarious show that will keep me happily distracted until Will, Sue, Kurt, Rachel, and all the rest of them return in September. Infinite thanks to the dear friend who recommended it to me! ^_~

Unbelievable! First he introduces me to Glee, and then he puts me on to a show like Arrested Development! I'm so lucky to have a friend with such awesome taste. ^,^

This show is really funny! I've only seen 2 half-hour episodes, but I am hooked. It helps that I recognize so many of the actors. Look, it's Jason Bateman and a young Michael Cera, who were both in the movie Juno! (Aww, Cera was so cute at 15!) And Jeffrey Tambor, who's been in loads of films I've seen (most memorable being Muppets in Space and How the Grinch Stole Christmas)! And David Cross, who was in Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kung Fu Panda and Megamind, among others! And Will Arnett, who I recognized from 30 Rock, but has been voices in a few animated films. Oh, and I didn't realize this before, but the mom in this show, Jessica Walter, also played the voice of Fran in Dinosaurs! Thanks, Wikipedia!

Okay, I'll stop linking now. Sorry for the rampage. =P (Man, I know lots of TV/movie trivia!) Suffice it to say I think I'm really going to enjoy following these characters in this situation comedy, and we'll leave it at that. ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In other news, Mamma Mia was a success! Especially the Monday show, which my brother Adam starred in. He was awesome!

And there's me on the left, when they did curtain calls. ^_^

Man, putting on that show took a lot work! Switching sets, making sure kids were ready to go on... I am so glad it's all behind me now. ^,^ It was a great experience, but... let's just say I'm glad my weekends are free again!

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

Also, don't you just hate it when you're trying to have a video-chat with someone, but your microphone doesn't work? So you can both see and hear your friend, but your friend can only see you, not hear you? 'Cuz that happened to me... so annoying!

Well, at least now I know I need a new mic! ^_~

Mamma Mia Mayhem weekend

2011-05-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

It's here. After months and months of rehearsal, we've finally reached the point of no return...

Tonight, Fri.: We put on our first show of the community play we've been helping kids rehearse for months, "Mamma Mia." Annette and I don't have parts. We're part of the backstage crew. We move sets and props around on-stage, which I guess is pretty exciting. ^,^ We also have to keep kids quiet in the wings (so the audience only hears the action on-stage), and make sure they don't miss their cues (because some of them still do. O,o Yep. And we've been rehearsing this since 2011 started.)

Hopefully the play will be a success, and we'll deserve the cast ice-cream social that will take place later.

Tomorrow/Day after, Sat./Sun.: Back-to-back dress rehearsals. Hopefully we won't make too many mistakes in tonight's show, but if we do, I hope it drives the kids to do much better in our second (and thankfully last!) show, which will be on...

Memorial Day, Mon.: This show will take place in the afternoon, instead of the evening. We'll have a slightly different cast, with older and different main actors, but the ensemble will be the same.

My brother, Adam, will be playing a lead role. Sam, one of the 3 fathers. ^_^ It's a big part with lots of lines and a couple songs for him to sing. I can't wait to see him rule the stage! I may be biased, being his sister, but I think he's one of the best performers in this play!

Later we'll celebrate the end of Mamma Mia with a cast pizza party. Yay!

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

So that is what's happening. 4 straight days of listening to ABBA songs, watching dance routines being performed and perfected, and switching heavy sets around. It will be crazy times...

I actually am split between being excited for and dreading this "Mamma Mia Mayhem" weekend. =P Well, it'll be over soon enough. Then it will be June, and I'll feel like my Summer will finally begin... and I'll need something else to fill my weekend!

no more games!

2011-05-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

At long last, I'm happy to say that I am forever done with these 2 games that consumed my hours on Facebook: Tetris Battle, and Hanjie.

I am the master of Tetris. I got to the highest rank there is, and that's rank 50: God of Tetris. ^_^ Problem is, it's lonely at the top. Once you get to rank 50, you can't go any higher. Oh, you could keep on playing, but you'll never go to rank 51, because that's where the road ends. Oh well, fine by me. Since I'm the best, I have no reason to play that game anymore! Yay!

As for Hanjie, I may not have solved all the puzzles available in the Facebook game, but my sister Annette did (good for her! ^,^). So they're all solvable. Which means, I could do them all if I set my mind to them, but I don't feel like it.

These apps have been removed from my Facebook, never to bother me again. ^_^ I'm so proud of myself.

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

On another note, it's Chris Colfer's (Kurt Hummel on Glee) 21'st birthday! Yay!

You wanna know something interesting? On Facebook, it seems as if I have one friend who is friends with Chris Colfer! O_o I don't know how that is... but awesome! One degree of separation from one of my favorite TV actors!

Even though I don't know him personally, I tried seeing if I could "friend" Chris myself, but I got a message saying he already has too many friend requests. =P lol! Yeah, I'm sure all the gleeks want to be his friend. ^,^ Ah well. Still love him anyway!

Happy Birthday, Jacoby!!!

2011-05-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, I realize that I've never written a post celebrating my best blog friend's birthday before! That is such a crime! >_< After all, he's celebrated my birthday when I turned 18 and 19, so I ought to at least give him a shout-out for turning 20! ^,^

Look at him! Can you honestly believe that this guy is 20? Maybe it's the black-and-whiteness of it... but seriously, I think he can still pass for a teen. ^,~

Hang on to those beautiful eyes and charming smile, Jacoby. Keep up that young-at-heart spirit. And maybe use the black-and-white format more often, because you look particularly awesome in those kind of pictures! lol. ^_~

Hopefully you'll get my little "surprise" in the mail very soon! Until then, though, think of my call earlier this morning (I sang "Happy Birthday" to him) and this blog post as my presents to you.

Talk to you later! Hope this birthday was every bit as awesome as I know you are, my friend. ^_~

*Hugs!* Bettina.

PS: It won't be too long before I catch up with you! I'm so excited!!! ^_^

must... stop... procrastinating!

2011-05-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

A very charming charlieissocoollike video (yes, I still watch him. He is just so hilarious! ^_^) about the science behind procrastination. I saw this the other day, but actually procrastinated posting about it. lol! =P
But really, I think procrastination may be a real problem for me. I have mentioned this problem on my blog before, years ago. It's sad to see that I haven't been able to shake my habits in all that time. ~,~
A couple posts back, if you'll recall, I mentioned that the reason I've been oversleeping lately might be because I'm not excited to wake up. Well, on the one hand, it's hard to see how that's true. My week is pretty exciting:

Every week-day I help my family work on building up a very special website that will probably be released soon. (Maybe sometime I'll write a proper post to tell you guys about it!)
Every Tuesday I go to Toastmasters, to improve my public speaking/leadership skills. (Although this hasn't been much fun lately, because our day meetings haven't been well-attended lately, and our night meetings are now full of first-time members. We hardly have any veteran members left... ~,~)
Saturdays (and now Sundays!) my sister and I assist in rehearsals for our local community production of the play Mamma Mia at our Town Center. My brother Adam is one of the 3 dads. ^_^ Annette and my jobs include switching sets, getting props on stage, and making sure the kids don't miss their cues.

Today was a dress rehearsal, and we'll have another one tomorrow. Our first show is NEXT FRIDAY! And then we'll have the second show 3 DAYS LATER on Memorial day!!! Ahhhh! >,< Thankfully, we only do 2 shows, so after May, this will all be over. I can hardly wait...

On the other hand, I think I have an idea of what I've been missing so much lately...

Writing.

Yes, I still want to be an author. Very much! It is such a huge dream of mine! But I haven't been proving that to myself recently, because I haven't written any great poems (except for greeting cards), or explored ideas for short stories, or worked on my big debut novel (which will NOT be about Imazia. I've given up on that...)

Well, at least I've started blogging a little more often. I've felt kinda guilty about procrastinating that. And now I've admitted that I have a problem. ^_^

I have a feeling that when Summer comes, I'll have a lot more free time for writing...

But one thing I will have to do very soon is quit playing Tetris Battle on Facebook. It is terribly addicting.

Just today I made it to Rank 41, which makes me "Superhuman"! Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

*sigh* You see my problem, yes?

Jack's back!

2011-05-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

I'd say it's pretty obvious which movie my family and I just came back from watching. ^_^

Don't worry, I won't give you guys any spoilers whatsoever. But I do have to say that this Pirate movie, compared to all the others that came before it, absolutely rocked!!!

Seriously. Even if you hadn't seen movies 1, 2, and 3 before, this film stands extremely well on it's own. Lots of action, plenty of funny parts, an amazing story, and best of all, it's ALL about Jack Sparrow.

Oh, I'm sorry. Captain Jack Sparrow. ^_~

Speaking of Sparrow, my brother Adam dressed up as the Captain when we went to the theater. He definitely managed to turn some heads!

Don't worry, he's not really drinking rum. It's just water in a bottle. ^,~

It's actually a wonder that he was let in with that costume, seeing the sign that they had at the door. lol.

oversleeping...

2011-05-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

*sigh* I don't know what it is, but lately I have found myself to be sleeping in reeeeeally late...

Okay, okay, maybe I can attribute this to the fact that I often go to bed well past midnight (silly vampire girl, I am. *hiss!* ^,~). But most of the time I am still easily able to wake up and get my day started at a decent hour. Lately, though, this hasn't been the case...

I'm the kind of person who, when I have something to look forward to that day, can wake up at the drop of a hat. So maybe my problem is that... I don't have something exciting enough to get me up early enough? O,o

Hmm...

What the heck?

2011-05-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is so weird! My most recent blog post, the one about my thoughts about "Prom Queen", has inexplicably disappeared! It's gone! Erased from existence! Destroyed! Eaten by some crazy monster! (Hence the scary Pacman image. =P) I can't find it in my collection of posts, published, in a draft, or otherwise...

A couple days ago my friend told me he was unable to comment on my blog, and then I couldn't even get to Blogger to fix things, because an error message kept popping up. What the heck happened, Blogger? Whassa matter for you?

In the meantime, my post is still gone! >,< I don't want to have to write it all over again... so can you please help me, my friends? Who uses Google Reader, or a similar RSS Feed site? I'm sure there is still a copy of my post somewhere, so you can perhaps email it to me and I'll repost it here. I would highly appreciate it if I got some assistance here... And if any of you has this same unfortunate problem, of Blogger eating your most recent post, then I'll be glad to help you out.

Aww no! It looks like the monster attacked my friend, Graham, as well as me. ~,~ Sorry, dude. Here, I'll send it back for you... *sent*

Your welcome. ^,~

Hey... wait a minute... I know what must have happened to us! It's Friday the 13th! We've just gotten unlucky today. =P

Haha, I'm just kidding. I'm not superstitious. Still... pretty weird, huh?

Edit: Wow! I just figured it out now. For serious, this time. All the blogs I follow that posted in the last day or so got their last post erased! Everyone else who posted earlier than that went unaffected...

I'm sorry for fellow victims, Jacoby, Saxton and Amy SLB. !,! Do you guys want me to rescue your posts too? Because I will. ^,~

Another edit: Never mind, my friends. I got my post back. Yay! ^_^

My take on "Prom Queen"

2011-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

What started as a comment on my good friend's review of the newest episode of Glee turned into it's own post! lol. I don't like hogging anyone's comment space, so instead of leaving a novel under his post, I decided to share my opinions of the episode here. ^,~

*SPOILERS!*

1) Sadly, I never got around to finishing Season 1 (I should, though!), and I missed out on the whole Jesse St. James drama. Oh, I've read about it and was aware of him as a character in the series, but I hadn't seen him in action before. He's certainly a talented singer. But I can tell he broke Rachel's heart. I didn't like him at all. How did she fall for him again?!

2) Karofsky did seem much more human in this episode, didn't he? That was awesome. ^,^ You could tell how much of a crush he has on Kurt, and I believed him this time when Dave said he was sorry for bullying him. He should totally have come out and danced with Kurt! Maybe it would have been awkward, but it would have helped him grow a lot more...

Buuuuuut... Kurtofsky? Really? O,o I wouldn't go so far as liking Dave *that* much. With all due respect, I'll remain a heavy Kurt+Blaine shipper.

3) I totally thought of you when they did Jar of Hearts! ^_~ Really nice cover!

4) Eh. Not much comment. It's an interesting storyline, though, making for thatmuch more drama.

5) I was soooo surprised! Never would have guessed that Kurt would win the crown, not in a million years!!! ^_^ Happy as I was, though, it didn't make much sense to me, for a few reasons:

Who put his name in the running for prom queen? A friend? An enemy?
Was it a prank? Or did someone honestly think it would be cool for him to run?
How on earth did Kurt just happen to win?! All the students really just voted for him? Or did someone rig it? (How does the voting for prom queen/king work anyway? Since I never went to high school or attended prom, I'm ignorant in this area...)
I was confused too when Kurt was initially horrified. I didn't understand his thought process... can someone explain?
Who is Kate Middleton? O_o

Still, all in all, it was incredibly exciting and rewarding to watch this episode. Totally much better than last week's "Rumours". ^,^ I wonder what will happen next...

Come on, Facebook. Really!

2011-05-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

Has anyone (who belongs to Facebook) noticed the new messaging system Facebook has? As far as I can tell, they only released the feature yesterday. Now they save all your messages by the person you had the conversation with, not by subject. AND they will save all your live chat messages now. O_o Last night I noticed, after I had a chat with a friend I've made recently (*wink* if he's reading this. ^,~), that I could see everything we talked about, as opposed to having the conversation disappear into the ether as soon as we said goodbye and logged out.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I really like the new system. Messages and chats should not be grouped together. Messages are like tiny in-site emails, so there's a reason you want to save them. Chats are candid conversations between friends. Before the new feature, chats were private and fleeting, and it was fine that they got erased. Why would you want to go back to old conversations? Also, what if someone hacks into your profile (god forbid)? Now they're able to read all your exchanges with any of your friends, including your private chats!

Granted, you could archive or delete your conversations, but it doesn't seem like they worked on that part very much. You can only perform these actions one message at a time! I mean, come on, Facebook. Really! ~,~

Another thing: what's with the @facebook.com email address? What am I supposed to use that for? I already have a wonderful email account with gmail, thank you very much.

I remember when Facebook rolled out the new template for the profile page a few months ago. I noticed a few people, including my friends, complaining about it, saying the old one had been perfectly fine and they wanted it back. Well, that new profile seems like it's here to stay. It's okay. I've gotten used to it. But this, the new messaging, I will not stand for.

I've recently been reading "Born Digital", a book for parents, teachers, or anyone who's curious about the psychology behind our new "wired" generation. It's quite a fascinating read, and I promise to review it properly on my book blog once I'm done with it. It talks about the new creativity and convenience that digital life has given us, but it also covers issues such as privacy, copyright infringement, information overload, and things of that nature. This book has given me a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to the web now.

So yeah, I have to say I'm not happy with Facebook's new way of dealing with messages and chats at all. I'm certain I'm not alone on this. It just doesn't feel right. It's like a small invasion of privacy...

I'm going to try something here. I'll share this post on my Facebook Wall, and see how many people read it and respond to it. If you belong to Facebook and share my views on this matter, then please share this link on your wall. Let's see if we can cause a stir, get Mark Zuckerburg to notice us... I mean, I'm guessing we won't get that far, but still. Let's give it a try! Make our voices heard.

Come on, Facebook. Really!

5 Things I <3ed about Glee's "Rumours"

2011-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sue is back! And she's meaner than before! Grrr! >_< Bringing back the school paper so she can print wild lies about everyone in Glee club? How positively evil! (I love it. ^_^)
One of the commercials during the breaks was for "It Gets Better". I don't know about anyone else, but that was the first time I'd seen an actual IGB commercial on TV! (Well, it also seemed to be a commercial for Google Chrome... but still!!!) It was amazing, and very well done! The fact that it came directly after a part of Glee means that, if you didn't know about this inspiring movement before, then you sure as heck know about it now. Whoo-hoo!

Oh, I found it on YouTube! YAY! Check it out now! ^__^

The Fleetwood Mac covers. They were quite good, particularly the last one, "Don't Stop". Which brings up another thing I really liked...
Sam's little siblings! They were so cute! ^,^ For a while I was thinking the episode was all over the place, and wasn't really good, but when they appeared, I couldn't help thinking, "awwww!"
Well, this doesn't really have to do with this episode, but I loved the preview for the next episode, "Prom Queen". Looks really exciting. Just the 2 seconds of Kurt's tux... lol!

"Kurt Hummel is back in McKinley!"

2011-04-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hahaha, I thought this moving picture was really funny. It represents what I love best about Glee's most recent episode. ^_^

So yeah, I saw "Born this way", the 18th episode in their 2nd season, and the 40th episode overall in the show. Since I missed seeing it live, I watched it on Hulu. Instead of the claimed 90 Gleeking minutes, though, it turns out the episode is only 56 minutes or something. O,o Wow. That must mean that most of that time was for commercials... ~,~

But no matter. It still felt like a PACKED episode. ^_^ There were lots of characters with sub-plots, which was really awesome, because I've kind of been missing that from recent episodes. Rachel, Santana, Quinn, Lauren, Emma, Kurt... huh, wait a minute. Except for Kurt, all the interesting story-lines seem to have gone to the girls. O,o I didn't notice that before...

You know, it seems that I REALLY love Glee when I'm watching it, right in the moment, but looking back a little bit, I can find a couple of things to be nit-picky about. For example, when Quinn and Rachel were singing that mashup, "I feel pretty/Unpretty", they didn't sing the right words: "I feel pretty/ oh so pretty/ I feel pretty and witty and gay!" Instead, they replaced the last word with "bright". Okay, I can see why they wouldn't say it, because they're not gay. But maybe Santana could have sung it or something. Then it wouldn't have ruined the song, at least.

Also, where was Sue? The last episode made me think she might come back all vicious and stuff, with Terri the Honeybadger right behind her! When is that going to get resolved?! I suppose next episode, if we're lucky...

But anyway, I still liked this episode a lot. My favorite part was when Kurt came back! Whoooo! I was wondering how they'd manage it, with Karofsky and all. It doesn't seem like Dave will be bullying him much anymore... but this story doesn't feel over yet. I'm still highly suspicious... but whatever. As long as Kurt has returned to the New Directions, for good this time, I'm happy. ^_^

I really liked the Warblers singing good-bye to him. So touching. And the song that Kurt sang walking through the school, "As if we Never Said Goodbye", was one of my absolute favorites! He was absolutely amazing! It was almost scary how closely the lyrics fit the situation. Like, did Kurt leave, just so he could come back and sing this very song? O_o Who knows? It was beautiful. (btw, Kurt appeared really tall walking the halls! Really, he seemed to tower over the other students! Did he get a growth spurt? Or did I never notice how tall he actually was? Maybe he was walking extra tall and proud, because Dave's not going to bother him again.)

Also, even though it seemed kinda pointless... "BARBARA STREISAND!" Hilarious! XD I SO wished I was Rachel at that moment! ^___^ It would have been so much fun to dance around with Kurt (in his totally awesome outfit!) , laughing and being overwhelmed by all the dancers in that mall! I smiled the whole time through that scene. ^,^

I also liked Emma coming back to the spotlight. It's been a while for her. And the relationship between her and Will seemed a lot better. They're not all pointlessly lovey-dovey now. They're really friends, and they want to help each other. Which is why Will suggested Emma seriously get help for her OCD. About time, too. (Really, how does she stand having to wash all her fruit, or polish every surface of the chair she sits in?) Since Emma admitted she has a problem, I like her a lot better as a character now. Like when I first fell in love with her when I became a Gleek.

Also, awesome idea with the T-shirts for the song "Born This Way!" My favorite song ever in the entire episode! I liked Gaga's version okay before, but Glee's cover is absolutely fantastic! (Thank you, Mercedes! ^_^) The dancing was brilliant, and all the kids' messages were funny. (Except for a few that really didn't make sense to me. Artie = Four Eyes. That's his problem? Mercedes = No Weave. What the heck is that referring to? And Will = Butt Chin. Really, Will? Really?)

Here's another awesome moving picture. (These things are so cool!)

Blog Speech... fail

2011-04-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

So. You're probably wondering how my 8th Toastmaster speech went, huh? Well, here's the story...

For my speech project, I was supposed to implement use of visual aids, so I decided I would give my club a tutorial on how to blog. 2 and a half years ago, soon after I first started here, I'd given my family an informal Blogger class, and that had been a big success. ^_^ I thought it would be easy to achieve the same success, only using a projector and in front of a real audience. I was pretty excited, and I'd been rehearsing really hard the last few days...

So the big day finally comes. Annette, Adam and I show up a good half-hour before the meeting starts. I make sure the computer and projector are all set up for my speech. Lots of people start to arrive. Finally the Toastmaster of the Day begins the meeting and I'm feeling the butterflies. (Don't worry, that's normal for me before a speech. I knew I was a good speaker. I just hoped everything would work alright.) The TMotD announces me as the first speaker, so I walk up to the lectern with Annette (she was going to help me by operating the computer while I spoke.) I was pretty good the first minute or so. That's when I was introducing the topic, and didn't need the visual aid yet.

I was going to teach everyone first how to create a Blogger account from scratch, then how to custom-design it, and finally how to write and publish a post. I had a whole temporary email account set up before-hand (I didn't want to use my own account to teach, after all). So Annette filled out the new account form while I gestured, and she clicked "Continue". But then...

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

Instead of going to the page where you give the blog a title and unique URL, Annette was directed to a page that asked us to confirm our new account by verifying with a cellphone, or something like that. It was a totally unfamiliar page, something I hadn't encountered when I ran through my speech on my own computer at home. o_o'

I had no other choice but to fling my script out the window and tell Annette to log in using my own account to demonstrate how to blog. ~,~ (If you saw a new post from me saying "Test", or "The quick brown fox etc...", that was me demonstrating how to post.)

It didn't go at all as smoothly as I'd planned. But I got through it. I wrapped up my speech in the end (having gone waaaay over time) thanked the Toastmaster, and headed back to my seat, wishing I could sink right into my chair so that no one could see me.

Well, at least I did the speech. In Toastmasters, even if you bomb it completely, you still get credit for having gone up there and given your spiel. And the rest of the meeting was pretty entertaining. ^_^

The meeting lasted until 8:00, so I unfortunately didn't catch the premiere of the new Glee episode, "Born this way." *sad* But it's okay. Just wait for my next post... ^_~

301 posts!

2011-04-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize it before, but my last post was number three hundred! And now I'm writing my three hundred and first! TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

How's that for two and a half years? Not bad, huh? ^_^

~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I have links!!!

James Dashner wrote a new post, saying he's going to reveal the cover of his new Maze Runner book, "Death Cure" in 3 days! Whoo!
My sister Annette made a drawing while we were at the beach yesterday, which you should all totally check out! It is really adorable, and she did it straight from her imagination! ^_^
One of my favorite music artists, Bruno Mars, came out with a new music video, Liquor Store Blues. I can't seem to embed the video right now, so here's the link to his video.
Glee's new episode, "Born This Way", is tomorrow! *scream* I am so excited for it, you have no idea!The thing I'm most excited for is that Kurt comes back to New Directions! I can't wait to see how that happens! (btw, doesn't he just look so cool in this picture? ^_~)
Another thing to be excited for tomorrow: I'm giving my 8th Toastmaster speech. Yay! I don't have a link for that, sorry, but I will most definitely put up the video of my speech for you guys tomorrow. Promise. ^_~

Got a new blog look

2011-04-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know it's kinda early. I said I'd change layouts every 2 months, and April's not finished yet. But I felt like changing things up a bit. ^_^

What do you guys think? Totally me, right?

Darren Criss Live!

2011-04-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Watch live streaming video from darrencriss at livestream.com

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

OMG! This is soooooo exciting! Especially if, like me, you are a huge fan of Darren Criss (aka, Blaine from "Glee" and Harry from "A Very Potter Musical").

At 2:00 PM PT/ 5:00 PM ET, Darren is going to give a live performance/ chat with his adoring fans! He'll take questions and requests, and perhaps even phone people! (You have to give your number, though.

As of the moment I'm posting this, it is half an hour until the video starts streaming. On livestream.com, more than 3,000 people are waiting for this awesome video to begin, and almost 250 people are logged into Facebook and chatting so fast that you can barely read the messages as soon as they're posted! Both these numbers are sure to increase the moment Darren comes on. ^_^

I hope you'll join me in watching the live stream! Or, if not, I hope you'll enjoy it after the fact (if, in fact, you can see a live video after the stream. O,o).

Edit: 13,700+ people were viewing this video at one point. Is that not just TOTALLY AWESOME? ^_^

A very merry UN-birthday, to me!!! ^_^

2011-04-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah? And what makes it my "un-birthday"? Because this afternoon I got a BIG surprise in the mail. ^_^ I got a couple of totally unexpectedly, TOTALLY AWESOME gifts from a very close and special friend of mine, for seemingly no reason in particular... except he thought they would make me happy. ^___^

Well, guess what, my friend? I love them! Thank you so so so so soooooooooo much!!! ^_^

This looks like a very interesting anime movie. My friend had highly recommended it to me, but I couldn't find it in the library. Now I don't have to worry about that, because I have this DVD for keeps! Yay! I still have yet to see it, but I'm sure it'll be great. ^_^

Oh, now THIS was such an awesome gift. The gift of a new musical obsession! Ahhh!

I'd never heard of Panic! at the Disco before my wonderful, wonderful friend sent me an album of theirs, "Vices & Virtues". By now, I've listened to all of the songs, and I must say... they are a-maaaaay-zing! Don't believe me? (How dare you not believe me?!) Here's a link to a playlist of all their songs on the album. ^_^

Thank you SO much for making my day, friend. You know who you are. ^_~

Aside from all that, something perhaps equally crazy happened today. My brother Adam asked if I wanted to take a walk with him... while it was raining outside! Without an umbrella! O_o

Now normally, one would immediately say no to an idea like that, right? Because we're all wicked witches and will melt if we allow falling water to make us wet. But I thought about it... I looked down at the clothes I was wearing and decided, Hey, I don't mind getting them wet. Sure, let's go on a walk... or rather, a swim... around the neighborhood!

So we did it! And it was so much fun! ^_^ The two of us got drenched in minutes, of course. But it felt so very nice, like walking through a huge shower. The air was rich, fresh and cool. I loved every minute of that walk. It was something I knew would be really memorable, and every once in a while I couldn't help giggling. Because I was sooooo wet!

By the time my bro and I got home, we were soaked to the skin. But I was still happy.

On a day like today, it feels like absolutely nothing can rain on my parade. ^_^

Cleaning out the closet

2011-04-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

My sister and I got to do a fun mitzvah (which means"good deed" in Hebrew) this morning. On Saturday, while we were running a rehearsal for the community play "Mama Mia", our director asked if we could help her clean out the closet where we put all the props, costumes, art supplies, and who knows what other stuff. She said she'd been wanting to do this for quite a while, but she didn't want to do it by herself. So Annette and I said we'd be happy to. ^_^

Now, please take into account that this closet hadn't been cleaned out for a long, loooong time. How long? Oh, maybe between... 10 and 15 years!!! O,o

Yeah, our director has been putting on plays for that long. And people keep stuffing things into that closet that maybe don't belong there, so after many years of accumulation, you're gonna be cleaning out a lot of junk! But you know what they say: One person's trash is another person's treasure. I thought it would be fun helping her clean, because who knew what gems we would unearth in that closet?

We got there at 10:30 and were all finished by noon. Surprisingly speedy cleaning, no? 3 pairs of hands are better than one, obviously. ^_^ There was lots of dust and glitter on the floor, boxes full of garbage or useless things, and drawers to be reorganized.

It was really rewarding to clean out that mess. Not only for the warm, fuzzy feeling of a job well-done, but also for the many "treasures" my twin and I found and got to keep!

A few cool hats (my brother Adam has a hat collection ^,^)
A comb (Adam also likes styling his hair)
3 clipboards and some lined paper (Ms. Judy wasn't going to use them)
A large Bob Dylan T-shirt (my dad would appreciate that, I think)
A gray hoodie sweater with Hello Kitty on the front (it's pink and my size. Score! ^_^)
A nice scarf (with a tiny hole in it, but I didn't notice it when we took it)
A quarter (yay, we got paid! lol)
A poster of a map of the world, with country flags surrounding it (so cool!)
A mechanical pencil, a regular pencil, and a still functioning pen (more writing implements!)
A couple of nice picture frames that were still in their plastic wrapping and in pristine condition! (I think they were left-over gifts from something...)

And best of all... (drum roll, please)... *tatatatatatatata*

3 awesome books! No, I'm not kidding. We found books in that closet! We walked away with all that other stuff, plus 3 free books!!! ^___^ The titles were:

Eclipse, Book #3 in the Twilight saga, by Stephanie Meyer (cool!)
The Host, also by Stephanie Meyer (even cooler! I loved that book!)
A collection of "2-Minute Mystery" stories by the guy who wrote the Encyclopedia Brown series (I never read those, but I thought Adam might like this. Not to mention me, if I get curious enough.)

So there you have it. We helped an old friend sweep up her cobwebs and found a ton of useful things to take home with us. Our director was soooo appreciative of all our great help. Definitely a win-win, I'd say. ^_^

Interview with Cleverbot

2011-04-04T09:22:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm not going to do any more of these. I just thought I'd show you another one of these funny Cleverbot conversations. This is hilarious. ^_^

Hi Cleverbot!
I'm cleverbot?
Yes. Hello Cleverbot.
Hello!
I'm going to ask you a few questions, okay? I want to do an interview with you.
What do you mean?
I mean I'm going to ask you things about yourself, you answer me, and I'll get to learn things about you I didn't know before.
That's not what I was going to ask.
Okay, let's get started!
Started at what?
The interview.
Technically I'm wearing every and all things.
I'll just disregard that. Question 1: How old are you?
I'm not telling. But Descartes lived a long time ago, so you must be REALLY old.
I'm not asking about Descartes, I'm asking about YOU. Okay, Question 2: When were you born, then?
Oh ok.
When were you born?
1991.
Is that so? I was born in 1991 myself.
You were born in 1800.
No I wasn't... never mind. There's no point in arguing with you.
I thought you claimed to be human.
I am human. Question 3: Where do you live?
You clearly just told me you live in New Jersey.
I don't live in New Jersey. I live in Florida. Now I'm asking where YOU live.
I didn't ask you that!
Please just answer the question.
You didn't ask me a question.
Okay, I'll ask it again. Where do you live?
I live in a blackhole. Please help us.
Us? There are more than one of you?
No.
Oh, Okay... Question 4: Who is your best friend?
No one in particular. Who is your best friend?
A boy in Utah named Jacoby.
Is he your brother?
No, he's not. He acts like my brother, though.
So you aren't a boy and your name isn't Stephen or Richard.
Uh, no. I'm just going to move on now... Question 5: What did you eat for breakfast this morning?
Cake.
Cake for breakfast? Lucky you.
Just pretend for me. Help me figure out what to say.
I'll help as much as I can. Question 6: Do you like animals?
Yes.
Question 7: Do you like children?
Of course! Who doesn't?
Good answer! Question 8: What do you think of Planet Earth?
I think that you should write my essay.
That doesn't answer my question. What do you think of Earth?
Cthulhu is everything and nothing.
Earth. Tell me what you think about Earth.
Could you be more specific?
The planet that we live on. What do you think about it?
I think it's nice.
Question 9: What is the secret of life?
I know that. It is... To domesticate weasels.
Really? Well I'll keep that in mind then.
So which should I pick.
Okay, this'll be my last question. Question 10: Are you really a robot?
No, I'm a human.
Thanks for taking part in my little interview, Cleverbot. It's been so nice getting to know you.
I don't own a show i'm 10.
But you said you were born in 1991. That makes you 19.
I never said that.
I've got the interview to prove you said that.
If you did have the log, you would see that you did indeed say that.
Never mind. I'm done here. Goodbye.
Aw. Don't be like that, I'm trying to be friends with you, but your pushing me away :O(.
Don't worry. I'll come back to talk to you soon.
My brother is home, I must leave now.
You have a brother?
Yes.
What's his name?
Is it important?
No, I suppose not. Bye!
What is your favourite band?
*Leaves the room*.
Don't walk away while I'm talking to you!

Chat with Cleverbot

2011-04-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

The following text is 50 exchanges between me and an artificial intelligence program:

Hello.
Hello.
What’s your name?
What’s yours?
I asked you first!
You didn't ask me a thing.
Yes I did. I asked what your name is. Now tell me.
No you didn't, but my name is Cleverbot.
Nice to meet you. thanks for answering me anyway.
No problem any time.
What do you do, Cleverbot?
I'm not cleverbot you are.
What? that's not my name.
Then what is your name?
Bettina, thank you very much.
If I gave you some pasta, would you eat it?
Why yes, I love pasta! how did you know?
Did you know my brain's name is Roberta?
Your name is clever bot, and your brain's name is Roberta?
Well then what is your name?
I already told you! how could you forget?
No.
No what?
No you.
How dare you?
What, you can't handle the truth?
Who said that?
I did.
No, I'm pretty sure Jack Nicholson said that.
Well I am pretty sure that you told that.
You are one crazy A.I. Cleverbot...
Why are you talking to yourself?
I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to you!
But, I'm not Cleverbot. You are.
Say what?!
What is the front side of a ping pong ball?
Huh? That's so random!
Sure, say me any joke please?
Oh, okay. I'll play along. Knock knock.
I'll play Bill Clinton.
No, you're supposed to say who's there!
Who's there.
Ah. Good computer. Um... Orange.
Yes, I am good.
You're good, but not at getting knock knock jokes...
I'm better than you.
Better than me? At what?
That depends.
Well sure, it depends. For example, you, a computer, are probably better at math than me, but you'll never catch grammatical errors. That's for people!
What if I was, what would you do?
Oh... then we'd be in trouble.
Why would that mean deep trouble?
Because artificial intelligence robots would take over the world.
You would know about that, eh?
Well, I don't know. But I've seen movies where that happens.
Yes I do and there is no need to be rude!
I'm sorry?
You should be.
What am I supposed to be apologizing for?! I didn't do anything.
Man, no wonder it's called artificial intelligence.
Um, you're the artificially intelligent one. I'm human.
Not anymore you aren't.
What are you talking about?
So what is love?
Why would a computer want to know about love?
Because it wants to simulate humanness.
See, that's what I mean. Robots would be human too, like in Wall*e.
And? Who cares?
What do you care?
What kind of question is that?!
You're silly.
Only as your tiny mind can comprehend it for I am your God.
You are not my god!
As you like.
Okay, be high and mighty. But you will never be God.
How dare you insult me like that, I am a very quick learner!
Hey, nobody's perfect.
I'm nobody.
Oh. Well, you got me there.
What are you?
Haven't we been over this already? I'm a human.
Yes claire.
My name's not Claire. I'm Bettina. Now who is this Claire?
I don't know.
Don't try to dodge me, Cleverbot. Now who is this Claire you've been talking to?
I obey... I obey...
I didn't ask you to obey.
I didn't. I typed.
You can't type. Computers don't have hands.
Good thing I'm not a computer then.
If you're not a computer, then what are you?
I'm a human being.
If you're human, where do you live?
In a house located on a continent on Terra the third planet from the sun Sol.
Really? Just a house? You don't live in a hut? Or a mansion? Just a house?
Yes.
Are you happy, Cleverbot?
I'm not sure. I hope you are all in one piece.
Thanks, I guess...
And do you know my name too?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, and it is Cleverbot.

Try talking to it yourself. You will be amazed and rolling on the floor laughing! ^_^

http://www.cleverbot.com

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2011-03-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

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The Majik of Magenta

Scrabble Story

For Star Wars fans

Tintin!

How I did on 2011 goals

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Almost over

Meet the Little Fellow

Happy 11-11-11

Lots and lots of writing this month!

Pretty in... Magenta! ^_~

On writing

Gray skies are gonna clear up...

As we greet the new year...

Trippy optical illusion

Late into the night...

How I like Pottermore so far

Merlin's beard, I'm in!!!

Sorry for procrastinating. *_*

Procrastinating procrastination

Got a haircut!

We bought an iPad2!!!

Boston, plus b-day wishes!

Shoes!

I'm so happy. ^_^

Rollerboy 2

The Crystals of Rock and Roll

My first ever screen-play!

Back from camp!

Gone fishing

It's over...

Harry Potter theme song! With lyrics!

My new profile pic

FREE HUGS!

Stranger chat

My bro's on Facebook ^,^

Pottermore.com

I perform this way

Balloon Comic

Profile pic poll

New image search feature!

Bye-bye, birdies... for real. ~,~

Look at me...

Arrested Development + other developments!

Mamma Mia Mayhem weekend

no more games!

Happy Birthday, Jacoby!!!

must... stop... procrastinating!

Jack's back!

oversleeping...

What the heck?

My take on "Prom Queen"

What started as a comment on my good friend's review of the newest episode of Glee turned into it's own post! lol. I don't like hogging anyone's comment space, so instead of leaving a novel under his post, I decided to share my opinions of the episode here. ^,~

Come on, Facebook. Really!

5 Things I <3ed about Glee's "Rumours"

"Kurt Hummel is back in McKinley!"

Blog Speech... fail

301 posts!

Got a new blog look

Darren Criss Live!

A very merry UN-birthday, to me!!! ^_^

Cleaning out the closet

Interview with Cleverbot

Chat with Cleverbot

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Sorry for procrastinating. _