Long-Lost Sanity

Finally!

2010-05-19T12:22:00.002-04:00

There is order in the universe! Because....the website I've made for my ministry is finally jump-starting and I've added a section for a blog. I plan to keep everyone updated there and keep this as a personal blog just in case. But. Here are instructions on how to get to my new one!!! (You'll need instructions since it's originally in Russian):
1. Go to www.lubov316.ru
2. On the main page under the blue heading click on "Click here for the English translation!"
3. When it translates click on "About" on the top left hand navigation bar, a new page with ridiculously large font (a product of the translation) and a picture of Jesus should come up
4. On the bottom of that page there's a link that says "Click here for Elena's Blog"! The blog is written in English so the Google translation isn't necessary there. the main purpose of that was just to let you see what other content is on the website if I'm referring to something (and you can't read it because it's in Russian!)

Enjoy!
Godspeed,
E.A.

Eureka!

2010-01-14T14:44:00.002-05:00

This post is basically for those who actually follow this blog (I assure you that your numbers are very very few).
One of my greatest pet peeves is when someone starts something (ie. a blog) and doesn't finish it. I know of many people who have started blogging and, over time, have stopped. As much as I hate to admit it, I myself am more or less in that category, since I've been gone for a while now.
Here's why:
After many middle and high school years spent working closely with HTML codes of MySpace and, well, here, I've figured out why I've always been so attached to creating places for myself on the web: I've recently started a website as an outreach ministry to people in Russia, combining my web-savvy and translation skills. I hope to get it a full-blown portal by this summer, so I'll give you more on that later (erm...yes).

Also, I've finally, after a really long time, figured out a purpose for my writing. I've been doing a lot of figuring out of what in the world I want to do in life (I think this comes as a standard college thing), and I've turned to various modes of self-figure-outing (including inventing new words). I discovered, through various methods (personality tests and just plain ol’ knowledge of self) that I’m a “teacher”. I mean, just look at what I do for a living: I tutor math and science 5 hours a week, lead a worship band (teaching technicalities of music to jr. high kids), and many other things like that. I’ve been trying to figure out how my teaching relates to my writing, and I think I finally know: remember when, earlier last summer, my hard drive crashed and I thought I was going to lose all my work? I was all upset not because I had lost precious memories but because nobody has gotten to read anything of what I’d written.

Boo, right? I myself sometimes find it a laborious task to go back through my old writings, but there's a lot of stuff there that could be interesting for other people to know (ie. my children, perhaps, and other posterity). Also, while I've been interested in the art of writing itself (I've read many good books on the art of writing and the technicalities of writing elements--character inner journeys, etc.), I've never quite made that into anything substantial. I mean, I do have 2000+ (yes) pages of fascinating ranting (it is fascinating because a large part of it is focused on how an individual develops as a person--I started writing soon after I became a Christian, so my teaching was God's special spiritual gift).

Here's my break: my writing is not of creative or artistic value, it is of informational and educational value. I say things straight. And since I'm also a die-hard Christian, I enjoy reading "self-help"-type books and theological works (by the way, may I recommend "Confession" by Leo Tolstoy? His smallest and least known yet his most powerful work, in my opinion). And, as a Biology major and math/science tutor, I have an interest in science, Creation science, what some might call "Darwinian" medicine, and the like.

And now finally the picture connects: teaching + writing + translation + theological research + knowledge of science + web design = me starting a web ministry for people in Russia where real questions get answered. I know (since I'm Russian) that about 60% of people in Russia claim to be Christians but only roughly 2% even know what "being a Christian" really entails! (And this is "being an Orthodox Christian/attending church/praying/etc. "Being a follower of Christ" would have a percentage of, uh, 0.000...2? You can imagine.) Thus, if people had easy access to information, they would at least KNOW what their options are!

It just so happens that most of the resources the Russians have right now come from (guess where)...big surprise, right? Here from the dear ol' US of A! I've done abundant research on websites of Orthodox churches and ministries, and they all list the same thing: "Click here to read a compilation of articles by John Piper!" or "Billy Graham's teachings translated!" or, even better, "Daily devotionals by Oswald Chambers!" (I love Oswald Chambers.) Bad part: translation. The Russian Bible was originally written in Old Slavonic, which isn't even an actual spoken language (you can say the same for the original Latin bibles). Currently, Russia doesn't have a single most popular NIV-type translation of the Bible, and how many people my age do you know who would willingly read the KJV? (I know there are some who think KJV is better for various reasons, but in the interests of getting the Gospel message across I think it's safe to say that the best way to do that is through a text that people can actually understand).

So what I'm doing is I'm re-writing and translating and coming up with questions and articles that people in Russia might want to read. After all, this summer at CIY I did get that prophetic assignment: "Go to a foreign country for 2 months"...and now I know exactly WHY I have to go there.

I might be only 18, but my picture connects just all too well. If you follow God you know that you have your life straight as well. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it. For sure.

--E.A.

Hello world.

2009-11-12T17:55:00.002-05:00

Finally.
It's been so long.
And after a long and hard-fought battle with settling into my new life, I think I've finally arrived.
College knocked the wind out of me and it took forever to catch my breath. There wasn't time for anything. My life revolved around classes, stressing about classes, possibility of failing classes (ahem Calculus...I hate it), bus schedules, bike racks, and goodness knows what else.
What my life didn't revolve around, I must tell you, is my usual Bible study times. Let me tell you now that if you're too busy for God not only are you TOO BUSY but you're also missing out. You see, if you spend time with God in the morning, God might just add time to your day. You'll feel more accomplished. You'll be more productive. Some learn the hard way.
My writing also took a hiatus, simply because...because it was hard to write and also because the closer I've gotten to Logan the more I told him instead of writing it all down. As long as someone witnessed bits and pieces of my life, be it in writing or in spoken form, I was okay.

But then I saw a movie. I won't mention which one (yet) but it totally opened a floodgate of emotion and of thinking and of just...everything. And through that experience God gave me an idea....

"I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas, I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them... but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it... ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love..."
And so it began. Finally a plot was coming together for a new book that I think God would give me enough will to write. My life is finally settling down. In fact, I'm picking out my spring semester classes tonight. It's late, but there's a reason for my being on that hiatus...I've learned so much about, just, people that I have enough material to write for the rest of my life.

I'll see how it goes.

-E.A.

Bite me, writing, bite me.

2009-09-10T23:25:00.004-04:00

No writing lately because all the writing courses that I took over the summer have completely sucked the love for writing right out of me. I only do it for myself, and the only person who ever gets to read any of my personal journals is Logan (at least for now). He says it's good writing, but...blah. I'm over writing for a while.
Hiatus time.
That's such a great word.
In the meantime let me reach into my bag of awesome pictures and find a random one for you to look at.
Hm...here we go.

Yeah, nevermind. Calculus homework time.
--E.A.

This is how I feel.

2009-09-09T19:41:00.006-04:00

I know I haven't been keeping up with the posts, but that's because college calculus is way more evil than I expected. I can only thank-thank-thank Mr. Raney for providing me with enough high school calculus instruction to survive this. And Mr. Bobay, for the Algebra. Thanks.

In the meantime college is for meeting new people. But when you sit down next to someone the conversation usually goes like this.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"My name is Elena."
"I'm..., nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too."
"Where are you from?"
"Here in Bloomington...Well, originally from Russia, but I went to high school here so this is like my hometown" (Seriously, this is my tagline now.) "You?"
"I'm from...(fill in really lame place here)"
"That's nice."
"So where do you live?"
"Oh, haha, I live off campus" (That always sounds better than "at home") "How about you?"
"I'm in (fill in really lame dorm here)"
"That's nice."
"So what's your major."
"...."

I DON'T HAVE A MAJOR BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE!!!!!!
I usually say something like Chemistry or Biology or "I'm a writer", depending on how I feel that day (sometimes I say something totally out of the blue, like "Underwater basket-weaving").
But this is how I feel:

Check out Garfield Minus Garfield if you want more of the same.

--E.A.

New Favorite Song

2009-08-25T12:39:00.006-04:00

So, recently I went to this outdoor concert in Bryan Park that featured Krista Detor. I've honestly never heard of her before, but this is definitely my most recent favorite song. I've never thought of myself as being into mellower and sunnier music, but her music and words just, speak, like I've never heard before. Absolutely beautiful. I encourage you to check out her website.

"A Red Bowl" by Krista Detor. (I had to type up the lyrics myself because they don't have them online.)
Listen below or open this link in a new window: http://www.freewebs.com/locachicarusa/A%20Red%20Bowl.mp3

Green limes in a red bowl
On a table
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
Green limes in a red bowl
On a table
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
If I had a dime for every drop of rain
If I had a million-dollar name,
Would you like me better?
Would it all be better?
Blue bird on the fence post
By the hostas
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
Blue bird on the fence post
By the hostas
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
If I had a house in the city
And a man who answered my door,
And your pretty picture,
Would it all look better?
Red coat on the white chair
By the front door
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
Red coat on the white chair
By the front door
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.
If I promised I’d love him forever
Could it all be better?
Such a pretty picture.
If I had a dime for every drop of rain,
If I had a million-dollar name,
And fortune and fame,
Could it all be…?
Could he love me…?
Green limes in a red bowl
On a table
And I don’t know what you’re calling for.

--E.A.

I'm so cool...

2009-08-22T04:33:00.003-04:00

So yes, staying up at 5:30 in the morning with a bunch (that's 50 or so) middle-schoolers is officially cool. Another lock-in means another bout with social insomnia for me, plus it's really cold and they're watching, ugh, "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends".

Okay I give up on things to write.

I know I have college stuff soon and I need to prepare for that.

Plus, nobody reads this anyways. Especially at 4:30 in the morning.

-E.A.

Hi!

2009-08-20T00:45:00.003-04:00

K, I know I haven't been on here lately (no kidding) but I promise I'll post something interesting soon. I just had a really busy summer (lots of time away from home), so. Yeah.

For now, enjoy:

--E.A.

Vintage swimsuits for the modesty freak.

2009-07-06T11:13:00.006-04:00

I love vintage swimsuits. Seriously. If everyone had one of these there'd be a lot less troubles in the world. (Okay really I could go into the whole deal about how girls of this time don't know modesty and how we need to cover up for the sake of our guys' innocent minds (right) but that's another discussion).

LOOK. AT. THIS.
The reason I'm posting it here is for personal future reference & because my "Favorites" folder is disabled on this computer.

I found that swimsuit HERE and the price tag is only $130.

And speaking of vintage things, how nice is this:

Definitely goes with the beach theme.
& I had no idea it was called a 'parasol'...I guess that makes sense in Spanish

Okay that's my shopping rant for the day.
--E.A.

Awesomeness.

2009-07-05T14:56:00.007-04:00

Thanks, Norm, for so timely updating the deCycles website. It never ceases to be a source of entertainment for me.
For example:

This makes me think of that scary kids' show where they sing,

"There's a party in my tummy. So yummy! So yummy!"

That reminds me of this:

Not really. Maybe I just miss Michael Jackson. Maybe I'm just weird. I don't know.

"The Yankees are coming!" This is a very inspiring picture.

And this last one where he looks like Eeyore. Off by himself. See, this is when you get out your phone and call me, silly.

There's more where that came from but those are the highlights.

--E.A.

Fun at the mall (a rare treat).

2009-07-04T14:32:00.004-04:00

After 2 hours, I was glad my parents finally came to pick me up: the people were starting to think I was insane.

Seriously. This is the worst way to spend the morning of your 4th-of-July: Stranded at the mall, at Starbucks to be certain, with "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" stuck in your head. Nothing can be worse.
Okay, well, there is one thing that can be worse: in addition to all the above, sitting at the mall for so long that you decide "maybe I shouldn't return to that store and hit that sale again". NO! BAD GIRL. Thinking like that is not allowed in the modern society.

So I gave the people there a reason to think I'm insane by laughing hysterically every time someone went into the "Do Not Enter" doors in Target. Because the thing is, they will open for you even though you're not supposed to go in there. So there'll be a group, 3 or 4 people, and one goes through these wrong doors and there's always that one other smart-alleck who points out the "Do Not Enter" sign. The hilarity then begins when the person who already walked through the doors looks around, lost, backs up (you can almost hear the "beep-beep" like on the dump trucks), and walks out a laughingstock.
Seriously, highlight of my day.

I went in to buy new hair color (I'm going through that season where Mom finally realizes that I'm almost 19 and that I'm going to college). I ended up buying 4 new B&BW mists (sweet pea, vanilla noir, midnight pomegranate, and wild honeysuckle) as well as 2 lotions (sensual amber (my favorite!) and midnight pomegranate) and two mini-lotions (warm vanilla sugar and butterfly flower). Now, trust me, I won't have a reason to go back to that store for about 2 years. Thank goodness.

And then I bought these shoes at Charlotte Russe, although I don't know where in the world I would wear them.
Some days I feel like I should be living in New York, the heart of the publishing industry, bustling with agents and editors and people who will read my books.
Then, on other days, I realize that this is just what happens when Logan & I are apart for two long: I get my head stuck in the clouds and continuously change my personality. When he's here I'm more reluctant to change.

But I feel different still. I feel more like a writer. I'm well on my way to my first manuscript, a writing job, and a college education. Odd how our circumstances can do that.

Stay awesome.
--E.A.

Doing a lot of stuff & getting there.

2009-07-02T23:36:00.006-04:00

I'm getting myself (still & again & yet) into the world of publishing. Here are some general details:

1. I've been reading a lot of PWs in the library. In fact, I schedule a "library hour" early in the morning, combining it with my bike exercise--bike to the library, read, bike around, and bike home. Perfect.

2. Writer's Digest is better than PW, although I do enjoy PW's reviews.

3. Been catching up on a lot of reading--various Christian chick-lit authors, Meg Cabot's journals, serious authors, some Ted Dekker, Ken Follett, Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook is soooo much better in movie form), & many others.

4. I bought an Alphasmart 3000--seriously, best thing ever invented, and it's definitely going to be awesome, because all this time I was thinking "I wish I had something to type on on-the-go," and here it was! And I got a chance to get really in-your-face competitive on eBay.

5. Been honing my writer's craft with some books by Noah Lukeman. Amazing man.

6. Been collecting ideas from any and all sources, as well as possible ideas for my future works. I want to write both serious and humorous, but I don't know how to combine both quite yet. And the Christian chick-lit market is wide open for someone (read: me) to come in and steal the spotlight.

7. Plan on attending the Write-to-Publish conference next summer in Wheaton, IL to meet some agents.

8. Bought a "book" I wrote when I was 15. Finally. "Ships in 10 to 12 business days".

Speaking of which, I'd like to publish the "note from the author" I added to the last page of my "book":

I never thought the day would come when I would be able to look at this script again. You know how it goes: after you’ve done so many drafts of something and you can quote the text so well that it’s practically oozing out of your ears there comes a time when you say “Enough!” and run screaming. That’s how this book finally made its way to print. Someone (read: I) said, “I just want to have this thing on my shelf already so I can hold it in my hands and say, ho-hum, this is my first unpublished novel which I wrote at age 15. now let’s move on to better things.”
So finally printing this book (quite an expensive venture, I must add), is like a comforting gesture to me. Like saying “AH-HA!” (to be said in one of those Mickey Mouse-type voices) “been there, done that!”
And, as the Russians would say, the first pancake is always in a ball. Or ball-shaped. A mess, basically.
So this book is a pancake. Mmm…that sounds good right now.

However, there remains to be one person to be thanked, and he is too blindingly amazing for the acknowledgements section. The mastermind behind all my work, from the beginning on April 2nd, 2004, through this book, and till now. The genius who has the best plot ideas. The comedian responsible for all your rolling-on-the-floors and laughing-out-louds. The wiz of characterization, suspense, and, basically, the one who writes every single scene for me. He is my AwesomeO-4000 life partner, my super-ninja writing buddy, my splendiloquent insider and adviser, and overall my best friend. The name’s Christ. Jesus Christ. I tip my hat to you, Sir.

Indeed.
I get a lot of my inspiration for writing here.

--E.A.

What we are is God's gift to us.

2009-06-29T22:41:00.005-04:00

In the midst of confusion and nearly crying over the frustration of having to decide the rest of my life by choosing my college schedule, and in a sudden flash of perhaps divine inspiration (during a written prayer for showing me what to do) I wrote the following:

To each of us You give our own unknown. You know each of our paths of life the best,Transforming our heart into your ownIn ways you know we will be blessed.I never would have guessedYour throneCould have been reached through ways you’ve shown,But faithful walk of life remains my test.

What we possess is nothing in Your eyes.We live in darkness that we think to be the light.We feel our way, and we like blind men riseTo fall away again; it is our blightTo think our flight a glorious fight.To think we’re wiseBelieving easy lovely liesWhich tell us that our blood-stained clothes are white.

Thus nothing good can be apart from You.And thus we must accept the hand we’re given.And know that we’ll be carried throughAll lies by which we’re driven,And our blood-stained clothes are white because we’re forgiven:Because of You.And not to us the glory’s dueBecause, apart from You, we’re just relivingPast mistakes; Through which we’re shown:To each of us You give his own.

I found this illustration and I think it's really fitting.

--E.A.

1/2 A YEAR.

2009-06-23T18:12:00.004-04:00

I'm somewhat at a loss of words, simply because the best things in life either go unspoken or don't need to be said. Therefore I will not attempt commenting any further on the event itself but will rather report the facts:

a half a year doesn't seem that long but at the same time the time seems to have stood still.

if it is God's will, i hope half a year becomes a year, and then many more.

(travel update: I'm somewhere by British Columbia and I have no idea how I got there...

on a similar note, Glacier National Park seems to have one fatal and critical flaw: no phone service. And no phone service means I was near tears the whole day (despite the breathtaking views) because I couldn't call a certain someone.)

--E.A.

"What did a fish say when it hit the concrete wall?" -- "Dam."

2009-06-20T20:51:00.005-04:00

The day is ending the same way it began: with me sitting with a wad of tissue up my nose wondering why it's bleeding. Maybe it's payback for the two times I successfully elbowed Logan in the nose? Maybe it's the mountains? Maybe it's just my stupid nose.

Our rafting guide from the trip actually said this today as we were merrily floating along:
"So when you all write in your diary today you have to say this:
Dear Diary,

I had a lot of fun on the rafting trip today with our wonderful guides who did a great job even though we were almost smitten by lightning."

Indeed.

All through the day today I kept having all these great things to say pop up in my head but, unfortunatly, I did not have pen and paper nearby and my short-term memory is...oh look, a squirrel. Especially since I have to use another one of the hotel computers in the lobby and the first time I came down they were all taken. So I went up to the front desk and asked, "Are these the only guest computers you have in your establishment."
The guy gave me a we-get-that-question-a-lot look and said, "Yes maam."

"But..." I started in a but-mom! voice, "I have my own business that needs prompt attention!" Yeah. The business of making sure the thoughts in my mind don't clog the blood supply to my brain.

Kidding. I wish I said that, but instead I went up to my room and helped myself to some more broccoli soup, orange chicken, and a reading of "Jackson Daily".

On our rafting trip today we had more fun than we imagined. Our 3-hour raft tour was caught in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. Even though we signed up for a "scenic" trip, we ended up taking a "whitewater" trip on the same route. Lightning was hitting about every 10 second and we had to have an emergency pull-off into some trees on the side of the river. It was actually kind of awesome, even though we were absolutely soaked (despite the raingear) and it was about 52 degrees. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, having to do all the survivor stuff and everything.

Our guide, Maria, was completely awesome. Apparently in the winter she teaches communication classes to "enginerds" at the University of Utah, so she kept us entertained through the whole trip. I listened closely to her manner of speech, and she used so many interesting metaphors and expressions that I wish I had brought along my notepad.

We saw a few pelicans but, sadly, the only moose I saw so far was on the logo of my Abercrombie jacket.

Now I'm just waiting for the deCycles blog to update. I really want to know what they're up to, as today is the first day of their wonderful trip. I got a brief from Logan, who mentioned that he got a wonderful butterfly kiss today.

"From an actual butterfly, I hope," I told him.

He laughed. "Yes, a butterfly hit me in the mouth as I was riding along the highway."
"Well," I said, "It was one of my messengers, to send kisses your way."
"Oh really?" he laughed again. "Then what color was it?"

I thought. "Yellow." My favorite color, of course.

"Wow, so it was from you."

And now I think I'll let someone else use the computer.

--E.A.

Woohoo for Wyoming.

2009-06-18T18:10:00.002-04:00

So I guess we're in Wyoming. I'm writing from a hotel right now and at least I'm glad they have computers.
Plane ride was fun. To an extent. I'm sad I only got 1 bag of peanuts because I like those. :(
Driving was boring, but Ken Follett is a wonderful writer so I read quite a bit.
We'll be driving up to Yellowstone tomorrow. Whoo.
Okay I have nothing more to say so I'll go back up to the room.

Someone I'll miss a lot.

2009-06-16T23:09:00.003-04:00

I won't get to see this face for 26 days.

He's going on his biking trip to the East until July 12th and I'm going to Yellowstone until June 29th. I'll miss you like a fat kid on a diet misses cake! Have a good trip, and please be safe.

& I'm sure you'll miss your boat. :)

1 Thessalonians 5:28: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you."
--E.A.

My personal writing & file save win.

2009-06-16T22:56:00.004-04:00

So, yesterday I wrote about the possibility of all my writing and pictures being lost because, unexpectedly, my computer decided to super-act-up and completely break. I stayed up really late because I had to come to grips with the reality that all my work has been lost forever, and that was very tough. I finally accepted it, and my day went as follows:
Get up, 9am.
Chat with HP customer service until 2pm.
Make a note of lack of professionalism.
Remove and reinstall hard drive/RAM.
2:30pm drive to Best Buy to get the Geek Squad to look at it.
Laugh because the Geek Squad guy reminded me of Micah.
3pm Geek Squad said it was a "motherboard" problem. Send it in.
4pm Get details from lady on sending it in.
Note lack of English-speaking skills of this lady, who took 15 minutes just to spell my last name.
4:30pm Go back to Geek Squad and dish out a beefy sum to get my memory backed up.
5pm Get picked up by Logan for dinner with his family.

This made me think about these things:
1. I payed quite a price to have my files moved to a disk before they get wiped out at HP. Is it worth that much for memories?
Answer: YES
2. What purpose do I write for?
Answer: I realized that my writings aren't personal journals, they're meant to be shared with an audience. Therefore...
3. Does lack of audience devalue my writing?
Answer: YES
4. Was I upset about losing all my writing because nobody got to read it or because it was my personal memories?
Answer: Most of my writing is the story of what God's done in my life. Therefore, not to have shared it takes out its value and purpose of sharing all He's done for me.
5. What upsets me most about the possibility of having lost my writing?
Answer: The fact that people might not get a clear understanding of what was going on behind the scenes or who I am.

Solutions:
1. You have a blog, use it. Publish.
2. Live so people don't have to refer to your writing to find out what you really think.

I think this was God's call to action. I've been on the fence about writing a novel for quite a while, so I think this is a clear pointer to "writing" and what needs to be done with it. So off I go.

--E.A.

Please tell me this is not happening.

2009-06-15T22:56:00.002-04:00

Hey, for all I know my laptop might just be having a bout. Maybe this is God's way of letting me have some time away from it for a while and have some important questions answered. It kind of does come at a very ironic time, but the timing here isn't actually the matter.
I'm absolutely devastated.
I have grounds to believe that my brand-new laptop wiped out 5 years worth of my work.
I was planning on backing it up later that day.

It's not easy to come to terms with stuff like that because:
1. I've been writing since April 2nd, 2004 (and sicne May 12, 2005 on the computer)
2. My life as I know it, all my thoughts, notes, ideas, things I learned from God, stories of His faithfulness--it's all gone.
3. Normally you wouldn't even be writing about something like this on a blog.
4. I suddenly feel like I have no known past. I'm a very introverted person, and everything I am has been contained in a 1000-page volume of my life.
5. I have to figure out reasons why it was so important to me.

Let's think of those right now.
1. My writing recorded events and happenings, as well as thoughts, feelings, and notable moments.
2.It documented 5 years worth of my story. It documented my whole walk from the time I became a Christian. It's a testament.
3. Now that I honestly look back I feel like I've written some entries just so people can read them later and understand me. Or so they can see how I understood them.

This all comes at a very strange time in my life because for the past few weeks I've been working on my writer's craft and self-teaching myself to write.

Now I believe I have all grounds to begin writing. Perhaps this is the beginning of the call. Well, considering that my writing past is wiped out (I can't believe it happened, I was planning to back up my work at night. There was no reason for it to have happened. Brand new computer. No viruses. Perfect software.).

I don't want to think about it anymore. I don't care so much about the fact that my work is lost, but it kind of does bother me that all my pictures are lost, as is all my music.

Maybe God will find a way, and if He doesn't then this must be the way. I'm cool with that. Whatever He's cool with I'm cool with.

--E.A.

Church lock-in!

2009-06-07T23:52:00.002-04:00

So, I'm really excited right now. I mean, aside from the fact that I won't get to sleep until about 7am today and getting to spend time with my church friends just having fun...yeah. I lost my track of thought. It's a really fun night. I'm the only one left in the high school room (everyone else is either eating or playing games at this point) and, what do you know, the writer is writing. How awesome. And I get to blast Skillet as loud as I want.

So we already played some amazing strobe-light dodgeball (which was super!!) and a sweet game of sardines (I think I partially conquered my fear of the dark). I'm really looking forward to crawling under the pews in spotlight tag, because that was definitely the highlight of my 30 Hour Famine experience.

On a different note, I just checked my amazon account and I made $21 from just selling random books I had in my closet. That's really exciting. I know $20 is just pocket change, but it covers my expenses (such as going to the drive-in theater last night. That was so much fun! Can't wait to go again!)

Speaking of which, the movie that we saw was "Up". Um...let me just tell you that anyone who goes to see that movie will be able to testify that it's the darkest, creepiest, weirdest, and most disturbing animated Disney movie you'll ever see. The first five minutes tell the story of how this old guy met his wife, how they couldn't have kids, and how she dies. Later in the movie someone sets his house on fire, chases him around with a gun...and this is all rated G?

In totally unrelated news...

So my car exploded recently (poor radiator) and Logan doesn't yet know that he'll have to drive me around all of Monday because I have to go get some money out of the ATM, then go to the library to print packing slips for the books I sold on Amazon, then go to the post office to mail the books, and then he'll have to drive me to my bank to get my 'application for first-year housing' notarized so I can live with my parents my freshman year of college.

Let me tell you what...never again. Next year, I'm out. No way. Bad idea.

So...Oh wow, it's 12 o'clock! Whoo!

Anyways, bye.

I think things are just funnier late at night.

2009-06-05T23:08:00.001-04:00

Yep.

I had to share this.

--E.A.

Footprints.

2009-06-05T14:25:00.003-04:00

Unless you're in Christian circles, nobody is going to say "Oh, I really like your cross necklace!" because a cross implies 'I am a Christian, so you don't have to ask'. A cross necklace isn't really an instrument for starting discussion, rather, in non-Christian circles, it seems to be a discussion-stopper and discourages some to bring up the subject of religion due to expectations of what might be said by the cross-wearer.

For graduation my dearest got me a round necklace that features a sunset scene and on the back it says "it was then that I carried you". It is referencing a famous poem called "Footprints in the Sand", which you might have read before.

This morning at Borders the checkout lady casually said, "Oh, I really like your necklace."
"Thanks," I said, "it was a graduation present." I waited, but knew I had to explain more. "See, it's from a poem, and God and a man are walking together, and at the end of the walk the man turns around and sees that through the hardest times in life the sand has only one set of footprints. When he asks God why he abandoned him during the worst times God tells him that he didn't abandon him, he carried him. And that's what's written on the back."
"Huh," the girl said.

I wouldn't have gotten the same opportunity had my necklace been a simple cross. Sometimes a little subtelty goes a long way.

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.
One belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
He looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
There was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is
Only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The Lord replied,
"My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you!
During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

--E.A.

Just random weird name stuff.

2009-06-04T09:48:00.002-04:00

So I was doing some research on last names, and some of this stuff I never even knew because I was looking at Russian name meaning sites and the English ones definitely had more information:

"From a personal name, Greek Pantaleon, from pas ‘all’ (genitive pantos) + leon ‘lion’. In the altered form Panteleemon (from pan ‘all’ (genitive pantos) + eleemon ‘merciful’), it was the name borne by a saint said to have been martyred under Diocletian Nicomedia. He is the patron of physicians, having apparently been one himself. He was honored in the Eastern Church as early as the 5th century, but his cult did not reach the Western Church until the 11th century, when he was adopted as the patron saint of Venice. In the 14th century the Italian name Pantaleone came to be used for a character in the Harlequinade, a foolish old Venetian, and in some later cases the surname may have arisen as a nickname for someone who played the part of this character. It was from his prototypical costume that the term pantaloon came to be used to denote a type of loose-fitting breeches, whence the modern English word pants."

Yeah I always figured it had something to do with pants. Here's more.

This website is kind of weird, but you can enter your last name and it'll give you all kinds of odd information about it. Apparently my last name is arithmetically compatible with the word "Christian", as well as the following words: "indifferent, authentic, magnificent, quirky, talkative, ultimate, doubtful".

My first name, apparently, ranks in the census lists just above the name "Greg" and is arithmetically compatible with my favorite girls' name, Rebecca.

Another last-name compatability web-site told me that the perfect car for my last name is a Jeep. Go figure. Another site told me that the best words that describe me are "humble" and "quiet". Maybe the first. Definitely not quiet.

Battle Hymn of the Republic.

2009-06-02T15:14:00.002-04:00

I watched through my graduation videos today. The quality was the usual "mom" quality--when the video is blurry, too zoomed-in, showing random people you don't know, having a 30-second closeup on a random teacher, attempting to focus on the back of your head, etc.
I was too zoned out to remember any of this at the ceremony, but I realized when I watched that the opening song performed by the Choir, Band, and Orchestra was actually the famous "Battle Hymn of the Republic".
I think it is a beautiful way to send off the graduates into a new world. I almost cried when I rewatched it. Here are the words (in italics are the stanzas that were sung).

----------------------------------------------------------
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

It's true. I've added the Battle Hymn to the list of my "life songs", up there along with "Come Thou Fount".

--E.A.

Ze madness of too many choices.

2009-06-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

After reading through 50 newspaper-quality pages of information about available classes at IU I can honestly say:
1. I'm bored
2. I'm confused
3. I have no idea what I'm doing but I guess I'll just pick a bunch of things I'm interested in and give the list to my advisor later on

I'm serious, it feels like the whole college process, beginning last November, has been a big "they-shove-a-bunch-of-papers-in-our-hands-and-expect-us-to-run-with-them" affair. It's been absolutely chaotic. Before choosing my future classes I'm supposed to read through an 80 page instruction manual on how to choose classes and then go through and, keeping in mind all the requirements (for IUSD and CAAS), I'm supposed to pick.
Pick what?
Which classes, ones marked "non-majors" from the things I won't be majoring in, or can I choose others?
D;lkj;lkj salkfjsldjf flksjflsf sdkjhafksdjfh hskh sdhfkdsjh hjdhh wioeirbba wpoe jgg??
It's chaotic.

So I spent the whole morning highlighting the fine print in the big book of life, choosing which things I'd like to see become a part of my future. On one hand it's like choosing your own death sentence because you really don't know just where your path in the future will go and what opportunities you might miss. On the other hand it's like opening a door to certain other opportunities. Really difficult.

Here's a list of what I have highlighted so far (to keep in mind throughout my 4 years in college):

BIOL-L 111 EVOLUTION AND DIVERSITY 3C
BIOL-L 112 BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS 3C
BIOL-L 113 BIOLOGY LABORATORY 3C
CHEM-C 117 PRINCIPLES OF CHEM & BIOCHEM I 5C (or S 117 honors)
CHEM-C 121 ELEMENTARY CHEM LAB I 2C
CHEM-C 341 ORGANIC CHEM I LECTURES 3C
COLL-E 103 CLOAK AND DAGGER 3C (literary genres)
(COLL-E 105 THE BIOLOGY OF FOOD 3C)
CMCL-C 121 PUBLIC SPEAKING 3C
CMCL-C 122 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION 3C
CMCT-C 146 MAJOR CHARACTERS (& THEMES) IN LIT 3C
EDUC-U 495 SEMINAR IN LEADERSHIP TRAINING 2C
ENG-W 202 ENGLISH GRAMMAR REVIEW 1C (ah! Paaaain! Pure masochism!!!)
(maybe ENG-L 141 INTRO TO WRITING AND STUDY OF LIT) 4C
ENG-W 303 INTRO TO CREATIVE WRITING 3C
ENG-L 204 INTRO TO FICTION 3C
FINA-F- 101 FUNDAMENTAL STUDIO 3D 3C
(SPHS-A 100 AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE I 4C) might be fun
(ANTH-L 310-311 ELEMENTARY SIOUX 3-3C) also might be fun
(CLAS-L 100 ELEMENTARY LATIN 4C) might as well, right?
HISP (Spanish, don’t know my placement yet, but definitely WILL master it)
HPER-E 109 BALLROOM AND SOCIAL DANCE 1C
HPER-E 127 FENCING 1C
HIST-D 102 ICON & AXE: RUSSIA TO 1861 3C
HIST-D 103 RUSSIA 1861-PRESENT 3C (will definitely be taking these two)
MATH-M 211 CALCULUS I 4C
MATH-M 212 CALCULUS II 4C (I almost tested out of all of this in high school, but after this there aren’t really any options for math so I’m glad that this is the end of the line for me with math)
ANAT-A 215 BASIC HUMAN ANATOMY 5C
PHSL-P 215 BASIC HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY 5C
PHYS-P 210-202 GENERAL PHYSICS I-II 5-5C
POLS-Y 109 INTRO TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
PSY-P 101 INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY I 3C

That’s all for now, thank goodness. Again, this is a draft, and I'll probably end up doing only half of these, but at least this shows you my areas of interest.

For some reason the “Reading and Writing Short Fiction” class is reserved for people in Hutton Honors College. What, they think I’m not good enough to take it? HA! This is just the more incentive for me to one-up everyone in my writing career.

What really creeped me out is the “Cannibalism and Identity” class offered at the Collins Living-Learning Center (the hippie dorm): “This course will examine the symbolic role of cannibalism…in which the act of eating human becomes a defining and delimiting act in the formation of a cultural and personal identity.” I guess this just shows that there are A LOT of choices.

Eh.
--E.A.

"Nena, your concert was boring."

2009-05-31T16:28:00.002-04:00

They gave us our burial robes, ropes to put around our necks (for honor students only, of course), and sent us off to go shake hands with very old people as a "welcome-to-our-world" gesture.

I think that the reason they held us for so long back in the utility sector of Assembly Hall was to make us really want to get out of there. I mean, seriously: you get the graduates into a hot room and make them stand for 2 hours, oh yes. They'll do anything you want us to do just to make sure the ceremony gets over with.

So gradumacation. Kind of a blur. It's something that you're expected to remember for the rest of your life and you're trying to absorb as many memories as you can and yet it still ends up a blur. For example: during every single honor night you notice how different people get different amounts of applause, and I always wonder what I get. And yet every single time I always forget to listen for applause because I'm walking across the stage thinking, "Who are all these people I'm shaking hands with?" And the way they named the wrong person valedictorian, that was pretty epic as well.

I didn't have a party, but we had a small family gathering and the highlight, of course, was our epic game of charades.

At the end of it all, though, my 5 year old brother comes up to me and says, "Nena, your concert was boring." I guess it was boring. Can boring things be memorable?

--E.A.

My own words are backed up a bit.

2009-05-28T22:27:00.002-04:00

I guess there's a lot to say, with this being the last day of school EVER and all, but I just don't feel like saying anything. I would be recounting my highly fascinating day, but I already told Logan all about it and he's really all the audience I need (to get technical I'd add "other than God as He is my audience of one"...not gonna go there. Please nothing philosophical tonight.)
Since I'm having such a hard time writing, how about a song? This one's been in my head today. The video doesn't exactly make sense. The girl shouldn't've left. But it's still a good song.

My eyes are open wide

And by the way, I made it

Through the day

I watched the world outside

By the way, I'm leaving out today

I just saw Hayley's comet

She waved

Said why you always running in place?

Even the man in the moon disappeared

Somewhere in the stratosphere[

[Chorus]

Tell my mother,

Tell my father

I've done the best I can

To make them realize

This is my life

I hope they understand

I'm not angry, I'm just saying,

Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

(feel free to look up the rest of the lyrics)

--E.A.

5 months spent with you.

2009-05-23T00:03:00.012-04:00

Your Mom told me that when you were little she used to say that you were just an angel floating too close to the ground.

I still think that's true.

You're my angel, my dearest and sweetest person, and I don't know where I'd be right now without you. I'm so blessed that God brought us together at a time like this, and I thank Him every day for the fact that we can be together.

And today is our little 5-month celebration (it might seem insignificant but it's a milestone). I can't wait to see you so we can go through our Bible study notes, and, my dearest angel, I'd like to dedicate this song to you today (it's been stuck in my head all day, too).

Beyonce—Halo

You're an angel because I see Christ's reflection in you.

--E.A.

What's left is no longer what's right.

2009-05-21T09:41:00.005-04:00

This morning I got to school earlier than usual. The sun had already been up for quite a while, and the sky was covered with scattered feather clouds. I sat in my parked car and watched the janitors carry away stacks of folding chairs which were no doubt being transported to Assembly Hall for graduation. "They're already sending us off," I thought, and it was true. The school has been preparing for our graduation since we first walked through its doors; its primary purpose had always been to teach us, let us get grades, put those grades on paper and into someone else's hands, and firmly yet gently push us up on the stage and out the door.

It was an odd morning, which I spent in a partial daze. I only went to school today because I didn't want to miss out on the last few opportunities to experience all there is to high school: 1) doing the morning announcements, 2) spending time with friends before school, and 3) sitting there, tapping my fingers on the desk for an hour while pretending to read and watch Saved By The Bell in study hall.

And that's why I found myself going to the library at 9 o'clock, heading out the door into the warm morning, at 68 degrees, sunny, with 55% humidity, a 51-degree dew point, and 10-mile visibility. It smelled oddly like summer and winter at the same time: the air was still and clear enough, like in winter, to have a detectable hint of small-city smog, yet warm and humid enough to make you imagine the smell of sunscreen.

The town was in vacation mode already: the students checked out last Saturday, the downtown restaurants seemed to be busy with what might have seemed like spring cleaning, and even the local palm-reader had a $10 special because she knew everyone was gone for the summer. I drove very slowly, frustrating the drivers behind me, partially in a daze and partilaly simply observing my surroundings. As a habit I parked far from the library (even though for the past year I normally parked in the "Fine For Parking" area), but I soon realized that the lot was absolutely empty--everyone was gone. It's time for us to go as well.

This must be what it feels like to be of old age. When you know it's time to let someone else take your place. When you want to go just because you're afraid that the things you love will become stale and boring. When you've mastered the art and can only sit back and watch others attempt climbing the same hills. And when the first minute of Metallica's "The Unforgiven III" keeps playing over and over in my head.

Listen to the song and tell me if that doesn't sound exactly like what's going through your head right now.

--E.A.

Have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day!

2009-05-19T08:59:00.003-04:00

Every morning after I do the morning announcements I drop the papers in the tray, pick up my books, and give the people in the office a cheery parting greeting usually along the lines of “everyone have a good day!” or “everybody take care!”. Everyone usually replies with either “you too, honey” or “thank you, have a good day”.

Today, just because it’s a Tuesday and I have been at school since 6:50 in the morning, I decided to switch it up and over-emphasize the wonderful cheerfulness of the day (I do that a lot).

“Everyone have the most amazingly super-awesome day!” I called today.
“You too, honey, have a good day!” everyone called (that, or a variation of that).

And then I had an interesting revelation: I wished everyone a good day once, and everyone wished me a good day right back. We are called to bless others, and when we do our blessings are brought back to us and multiplied. Therefore, whatever we wish to others will be brought back to us. Whatever we give will be multiplied and given back to us.

I don’t know what the exact verse reference is for this one, but it’s somewhere in Matthew I’m sure. Here’s the main point, though (however you apply this metaphorically): if you want to have the most amazingly super-awesome day, let go of it for yourself and wish it to someone else first. Then it’ll come back to you in more ways than you can imagine.

Comic not quite fitting but funny regardless.

--E.A.

To each his own.

2009-05-18T22:17:00.003-04:00

There's nothing like that last high school honor night when all the seniors take turns walking across the stage and hearing their accomplishments read to the audience. The experience is different for all of us I'm sure: some only receive a Physical Fitness Award or a Core 40 diploma while others announce their departure to Harvard or receiving over $100,000 in scholarships. At such honor nights there is always a lot of cheering, bored glancing at the walls, and checking out how others in the class dressed up for the occasion. There are also a lot of green-eyed monsters running around.

I'd like to take this time to remind everyone that the old saying stands true: to each his own. Just like when we pledged our allegiance to Christ and were given spiritual gifts based on how we would best be able to serve others, same way now, upon our exit from high school, we are given various merits which would best help us during college years. If person 1 is given $80,000 in tuition and person 2 only $10,000, person 1 will be going to a private out of state college and person 2 to a local school, the proportion of tuition money is still the same.

So I, with $1000 in my hands and $20,000 on credit, walked across the stage thinking "don't trip don't trip don't trip". That's how we go through life, most of the time. Thinking: 1) don't trip, 2) where do I fit into the bigger picture, and 3) why did someone get this and I only got that?

I'm pretty happy with the turnout of the night. My parents weren't able to attend the program, which is fine because it was super-boring. If they just wanted to see me walk across a stage and have my name read then they'll definitely have more chances for that in the future (ie.potential book promos, etc.) Currently, though, I am hiding the night's program from mom because she has a habit of going on about how someone else got this-and-this and I didn't. I might show it to her some years down the road if she's still interested.

In any case, watch this video below. It'll put things in perspective.

--side hugs, E.A.

PLATYPUS!

2009-05-17T13:42:00.004-04:00

So I took a break from my Bible study today and decided to go read some of my favorite Christian blogs. I read through my usual portion of Stuff Christians Like and Hey look, a chicken!, followed by God's Blog. That last one always makes me laugh the hardest, because sometimes you just have to be reminded that yes, God has a sense of humor. And he cares about every little detail of our lives. He laughs when we laugh over the latest Fail Blog additions, and he wants us to spend time with him, to get to know him.

Well, today I found this on the Crummy Church Signs blog, and I had to repost it:

I just thought this was really funny, not so much the sign itself as the caption under it. Then I walked around asking everyone all kinds of questions about platypuses...or platypi? That is yet another question unanswered.

--E.A.

Beginning my outreach.

2009-05-16T14:40:00.005-04:00

Recently, about a few weeks ago, God has gently nudged me in a new direction: picking up a writing project. I have been asking for one for quite some time but have never had any good ideas.
Then, one day, an idea was given to me in Physics class. No class has given me a clearer picture of the magnificence of our God like Physics has, so it is no wonder that that's exactly where the idea was born.
The thing is--over the years I have accumulated books about effective writing or those by influential authors which I have always wanted to read but haven't had time to. Now, though, God has not only provided the time but also the sudden need to read them, and I take that as a sign of the beginning of a new chapter in my writing career.

I recently realized that even though I sometimes take my writing for granted (and compare it to other people's, such as that of famous authors who are my role models) it is a gift. I saw that when I had to help a friend write a paragraph about herself for a job listing and she just couldn't string her words together.

In 8th grade God urged me to start writing on a regular basis. Over the years he has provided me with valuable role models and promises for my future life as an author. Recently he has urged me to start blogging (I'm still not fully caught on to that idea), but now I see the benefit of that--networking.
And that's where I am right now. I am beginning to do my outreach work, starting to build connections. I am constantly in contact with people on Stuff Christians Like, which directs new people to my cause. I am constantly in contact with people from The Rebelution. I am building a wide base of connections in order to pave a way for my future work and for Christ through my work.

I'm really excited about this new book idea. I know it'll go somewhere because God revealed to me that it'll turn out significant, and he never says anything he doesn't mean. Isn't that just great?

--E.A.

In ze library.

2009-05-15T08:56:00.002-04:00

I usually spend my mornings in the school library doing whatever I didn't get done the day before. Sometimes, though, between planning out senior pranks or writing about nebulas for physics class, I get caught up with thinking up ideas for my new book.

Here are three questions I'd like you to answer:
1. If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt?
2. If you had an hour to live, what would you do?
3. If you could do anything consequence-free (get away with it), what would you do?

I have really great hopes for this book. It'll be a psychological thriller that will certainly make you think. I've thought about this far too many times, and I think these questions interest everyone. I won't give away the overall theme, but it'll be good.

Because really...we already have a magical world with a boy wizard, a girl-next-door princess, a heartthrob vampire, and a few other books which have been written by other people but any and all of which I myself could've written had someone else not gotten to them first. So right now I'm praying for God to give me an idea that will gain common acceptance and popularity so I can jump-start my writing career. I'll come up with a list of my favorite authors and post it sometime soon.

--E.A.

God likes bikes. Yes, yes He does.

2009-05-14T21:56:00.005-04:00

So...just as an update I'd like to say that the Lord blessed me with a selling AND a buying opportunity on the same day.I got an offer for my old bike (the 2003 Trek), and the same day God sent me an answer to my prayers about which bike to buy: someone answered my "wanted" ad from a month ago.

Once I saw the bike they were offering me I knew that it was "the one"--God lovingly provided for me exactly what I needed right when I needed it.The more awesome thing? The bike God provided is a 2006 Trek 1000--a newer (and bigger) version of the bike I was selling, which is exactly what I needed!

Did you ever get the full story? Don't ask how it happened, but I accidentally bought the wrong size bike (craigslist, of course). A 50cm (I'm 5'11...yeah). Right away I began the painstaking search for a new bike, but nothing came along.

At the same time, my chiropractic treatments resumed. I was not supposed to ride until about a month into treatments. Now, as I look back, I realize that I probably would have been riding (and thus messing up my back even more) had I not made the size mistake. So I thank God for this little oops.

Also, God had a way to turn this into a blessing: I was able to sell the "wrong" bike for more than I bought it for. In fact, the amount I got for it ended up being the exact amount the "right" bike cost me! So it's like a swap sandwich with blessings in the middle. All-around good deal that came out of a rather desperate situation. God is great.

Another cool thing? The "wrong" bike sold EXACTLY a month after it was wrongfully bought, and on that same day my new offer arrived. The moment I saw the message in my mailbox I knew it was a sign from God to buy this bike. I didn't hesitate when I saw it, I knew it was the one for me.

THIS BE THE "WRONG" BIKE: 2003 Trek 1000:

HERE BE THE "NEW" BIKE: 2006 Trek 1000: (kindly provided for me by God himself)

I can testify that everything I needed has been caringly provided to me at just the right time. God loves us so much he cares about our bikes. And we all know Jesus'd have been a cyclist if they had bikes back in his day. :)

--E.A.

The extinction of the velociraptor: scheduled within the next 3 weeks.

2009-05-11T11:37:00.002-04:00

Yes, it is so.
I do believe the number one thing we'll all (me and my friends) miss from high school is the spontaneous velociraptor attacks.
Spilled your salad at lunch? Blame the the velociraptor.
Tripped? It's the velociraptor.
Totally lost your train of thought in class? The velociraptor.
I tried compiling a list of other things I'll miss, but I haven't been able to come up with many.
For example, we'll miss:
1- Stupid teacher quotes
2- Beep-beep of bells
3- SRT (playing cards, wasting time, and laughing at the people on the SRT show)
4- Ms. Ryser and her bootlegging incidents.
5- Cool teachers (ie. the Berzins, both of 'em)
6- Lunch buddies (ahoy for lunch at home in college)
7- Senioritis!!! We'll no longer have a legitimate reason to slack off and not care about school!
8- Mixed freshman/senior classes (putting 14-18 year olds in the same classroom = disaster)
9- "Kick-a-freshman" days
10- Cookie wrappers stuffed inside lockers
11- Anything pertaining to the concept of lockers, ie. decorating other people's with embarrassing messages, breaking into them, figuring out who keeps theirs open, decorating your own with spongebob coloring pages, etc.
12- Drunk-driving lectures before prom from overly emotional old ladies who had their moms-dads-brothers-sisters-children-inlaws-soulmates-shipmates-acquaintances-cousins twice removed killed in accidents.
13- Pointless school clubs which proclaim that collecting 20 cans for a food drive counts as "doing good work"
14- Robert!
15- The train game
16- People who claim to be "political environmental activists" and yet can't figure out a solution to the lunch tray problem (I should do a separate post on this because seriously: if I am more concerned about your environment than you are (oh you who tell us to "love your Mother earth") then you know something is wrong)
17- People who don't know how to support their opinions (and are thus really entertaining to have debates with)
18- Seeing the special ed kids in the halls every morning and smiling at them just to see how many smiles I can get back
19- Getting free access to research sites/city newspaper
20- Mr. Pizzo (Mr. P if you're reading this right now just know that I'm in B217 and you're welcome to come in for a visit...I know you're watching!!! By the way, I had no printer privileges for over a year thanks to you! Oh yes, and I saw you run into the library door once because your umbrella got caught on the handle. Just thought I'd let you know.)

That's my humble list for now. I'll add more later if I think of something.
Government class is almost over, I have to pretend like I've been doing something productive. An, that's yet another thing I'll miss, because in college you can be unproductive and nobody really cares.

--E.A.

Riding today.

2009-05-10T17:30:00.002-04:00

I can't remember exactly what I wanted this post to be about because I lost my train (or trek, with no cycling pun intended) of thought when I went on MapQuest to try figuring out my exact trip distance. Since the bike I am riding right now is listed for sale on eBay (check it out http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=170330475635 ) and Craigslist, I decided not to put on the cyclocompurer which would normally calculate my distance for me.

Funny: I was riding on Rhorer today and they have horses. Since I just scaled a huge hill I was getting a drink from my water bottle, but the horses distracted me so right as I reached to put the bottle back in the cage slip-it-goes onto the road and rolls down into the ditch. Of course I get off my bike (and the horses are watching me, I'm sure they'd be laughing if they knew what was happening) and walk to retreive my bottle. Just then an older cyclist rides past me, laughing, and says, "That's what I call groundwater." I just laughed, too. Apparently he was behind me the whole time (he saw me struggle up that hill, ugh, and saw me totally throw my bottle).

Okay this is a picture of my bike from eBay, and I don't know if it'll still be here when the listing goes down. Please pray that the darn thing would sell already so I can buy a bike that fits me. I'm really tired of having a sore neck from the fact that it's too small and the handlebars are too far down.

--E.A.

Graduations & Weddings.

2009-05-09T23:02:00.003-04:00

Out of all the things today which could have made me laugh, IU CREDIT UNION made my day today.
I was having a hard time getting my PayPal accounts to work with my new eBay account (anyone wanna buy a road bike, by the way?) and I was absolutely frustrated and almost ready to cry.
Until I tried setting up security questions for my IUCU account.
Well, apparently on their site they tell you what security questions you have to answer, so my first question was "What year did you graduate from high school?" Even though that's still exactly 3 weeks in my future, I put 2009. It's the correct answer, right? IUCU didn't think so.
I got "Denied!"
So they ask me my next question: "What month is your wedding anniversary? (Enter full name of month)." I honestly didn't know what to say for that one. The answer "Um...what?" only brought me back to the "Please try again" screen and we started all over with the graduation question.

And why is it called a "challenge" question anyways? While you might say that for some it might be challenging to remember their own wedding anniversary, it honestly can't be that hard. After about 10 rounds of battling with the Stupid Question Bot I got a good question I was able to answer: "What city were you born in?" Easy, right?

Well. I entered in my birth city. AND IT GOT DENIED. Seriously!! Does the Stupid Question Bot think it knows where I was born or something? I typed in the right answer about 5 times, after which the automated system logged me out and told me to "contact the administrators". Hm.
I remember answering security questions at the bank, but if they never asked me when my wedding anniversary was, why would they offer that as a security question? That's ridiculous.
Even though I got some laughs I'm still really frustrated.

--E.A.

Your and your smiles are all I live for.

2009-05-08T21:15:00.004-04:00

If Christ is all that's good, then there can be nothing good apart from him.
Therefore, when we are apart from Christ, or are under the illusion that we are withdrawn from the presence of Christ, nothing good can exist.
Therefore, nothing good is in us when we are apart from Christ.
Nothing in us is good when Christ is not with us.

That is why I'm so terrified of stepping out of the lines God's created for me: I'm terrified of myself to the point of nightmares. My own person is nothing apart from God. Nothing I do will be good apart from God. All plans I start apart from God will fail.

When I am in God's light I see Jesus in the mirror, because He gave himself for my life and God sees His reflection in my heart when I honestly seek his ways and accept his grace.
When I am out of God's light I see the girl from The Exorcist. If you want nightmares type that into Google. You'll see what I look like. What you look like.

Every day I choose to die to what I want in order to get what I need, which is always graciously and abundantly (as well as undeservedly) provided to me by Christ. Every moment I have to die in order to let Christ live in me. I have to hold myself by the neck with a deathgrip every single day of my life until my last breath. If I let my real nature take the best of me for even one second, I lose it all. Every moment for me is like a moment spent in a pit with lions. Whom I will gladly allow to rip apart my body, knowing that they cannot take my soul.
...etc.

I just want to apologize to everyone I might have hurt today. May I quote our recent scripture?
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...As it is, it is no longer i myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Please forgive me. I try my best for You (and you, both of yous at the same time for the same purpose). I'm always trying to put You and you above myself, in that order. As much as I say that I would carry Your heaviest cross and take your toughest AP test just so You and you wouldn't have to go through it, that type of self-sacrificial love is only tested by time. Real love, whose path I deviate from oh-so-many times.
On one hand, You know what's in my heart before I think it or write it.
On the other hand, you won't get to read this until much later. Just know that this was here all along.

--E.A.

I am.

2009-05-07T21:44:00.003-04:00

In sociology today we did the only productive and fun activity I feel like we'll do the whole trimester. We had to write down 20 qualities that describe our personality and then the teacher read them to the class and we all tried guessing who was who. Here are some of the ones I put down:
1. Christian
2. Russian
3. Writer
4. Conservative
5. Leader
6. Outspoken
7. Likes heavy metal
8. Piano player
9. IU student
10. Reliable
11. Straight-forward
12. Science tutor
13. Supportive
14. Introspective

etc. It's a really lame list. I acknowledge that.
But I want to switch it up for just now. Why don't I think of some things I'm not?
I'm not:
1. A monkey
2. A real writer (sadly I consider that to be as true as #1)
3. Russian by culture (by birth/heritage only)
4. A worm-can picker
5. An overly social person
6. Perfect

That brings me to another important point, something that would put a more of a realistic spin on this post and make it useful (refer to #2 above). All sins are the same in the sight of God. Murder is more than killing. Lies are more than speaking. Because they are all the same God forgives them with equal fervor. However, the Bible does give us a clear description of what we all are:
1. Idolaters
2. Liars
3. Adulterers
4. Murderers
5. Slanderers
6. Thiefs
7. Coveters

And yet how beautiful it is to know that, while we are all those things, God's grace extends to cover every single one with the image of Jesus' perfection.
It is only through God that I am able to be all the things I listed in the very first list.
It is only through God that I can overcome and become more.
And it is only through God that I can be something greater than the passing moment.
Better than the earth I came from.

Etc.

--E.A.

Recycling my thoughts.

2009-05-05T18:57:00.003-04:00

I had to go to the recycling center today to pick up “containers with lids” for the mural I'll be painting. I had no idea they had so much random junk at the recycling center! They even have a clothes rack. I really didn’t like being at the recycling center because it felt like I was going through trash, which wasn’t pleasant. And I only found two good containers for paint.
I always thought I had a clear grasp on the conditions of less fortunate people, but I think that we are all doing a lot of wishful thinking there. We are not very understanding at all. I felt like, “ew, recycling center, I don’t want to touch stuff,” all the while I watched two older ladies going through the clothes rack. Maybe I need to get out more. Not “out”, but more like out there, doing something productive with myself. I'm not narrow-minded and I do enjoy serving people, but today it was just interesting to note that my thought pattern on location didn't go with my usual thought pattern.

I never really thought about this so much, but I’ve recently realized that the mental list of “things I’d like to one day see happen” is my list of goals. This is kind of fascinating, and these are in no particular order really, but in my lifetime I want to:
1. Donate $1,000,000 (or more! The more God blesses me the more I’ll bless others!)
2. Travel to Africa with missions
3. Travel to India with missions
4. Write a popular novel series
5. Learn to play the Balalaika
6. Adopt a child
7. Skydive
8. Travel Europe and Asia
9. Help revolutionize Christianity in Russia
10. Get a D.D.S. degree
11. Then have lots of pretty babies (emphasis on the “lots” and the “pretty”)
12. Then be a housewife for a while (this is where the “write a popular novel series” will most likely happen)
13. Then open my practice
14. Then open a boutique (I’ll be overworked, I know)
I just want to do AWESOME STUFF FOR GOD. That sums up my life’s goals. Whatever that takes, really.

Okay I have no idea where this thought is going. I kind of lost it after a while. How this all ties into the recycling center I'm not quite sure.

--E.A.

Pictures that make smile like this ---> :D

2009-05-04T19:05:00.002-04:00

--E.A.

CUY?

2009-05-04T09:39:00.004-04:00

GUINEA PIGS! (<----Delicious Pictures!)

Ingredients
2 lrg guinea pigs
2 red onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tbl water
2 tbl cooking oil
annatto (for coloring)
Peanut Dipping Sauce

Directions
Mix ingredients well and spread over the inside and outside of the animal. Allow to marinate for up to one day to allow flavors to meld. Before roasting, remove excess marinade to avoid scalding. Insert a steak into the back part of the animal and allow to exit from the jaw. Once on the stick, tie the front and back feet, stretching out the legs. Put on grill, turning manually. Continue to apply lard to the skin to avoid drying out the meat. The cuy is ready when the skin is close to bursting. Serve with boiled potatoes sprinkled with coriander, chilies, and the Peanut sauce. If your community is especially progressive, rice may be substituted for the potatoes.

Bon Appetit!

--E.A.

Final battle with basement cat.

2009-04-30T00:06:00.004-04:00

We’re very selfish people who receive a gift we can’t handle. We do the most unloving things we could have ever possibly done. We only worry about what we want, what we need, and we don't think. Yes, we know, it could’ve been a lot worse. And we bring it upon ourselves. It’s human nature.
It's our own fault that we're completely addicted to everything we do. I wish we could say the same about our God, say that we want him by our side every waking moment of our lives. I myself must’ve been lying in church when I was the only one defending the position that it is easier to love God than man. I said that God is always with us, and it’s easier to have reminders of his everlasting love through all creation and through the Bible. But now I see otherwise. It is easier to want those things which fulfill our selfish needs. God never grants our selfish requests, and that is why we try finding fulfillment elsewhere. And that is the farthest from what true love is. Shouldn’t I know better than that?
No, I'm sure we all feel like hypocrites some days. As much as we want what we want we have to make a few sacrifices. We get a gift I can’t handle, so we have to be extra careful to keep it on the shelf until the right time. Which most likely isn’t for another 6 years, right? Everyone’s lives will be a lot more fulfilling if we all learn to live by the benefits that come from that sort of sacrifice.
I'll try falling asleep now without feeling horrible for being so stupid. I know better than that! But at the same time not accepting God’s grace is like saying that it’s not perfect enough to cover every little aspect of our lives. I know people have already died without you because of my selfishness. I’ll try harder in the future. After all, I’ve gotten this far with your help, how can I doubt your perfect guidance?

--E.A.

Oh yes, and procrastinating.

2009-04-28T17:20:00.002-04:00

What I'm doing right now:

-Writing a commencement essay (a poem, actually) good enough to make everyone cry. If they don't cry I'll use tear gas in the whole auditorium tomorrow at speaker tryouts.

-Eating dry Ramen because I'm so stressed out that I need something to munch on.

-Not to worry!--with the Ramen I'm drinking cold milk with sugar and vanilla extract.

-Laughing at the fact that there were only 4 seniors in our all-senior Government class yesterday.

-Remembering prom and planning to organize a CF-BOPM-RRWHM-SECRHMF: campaign for the betterment of prom music and replacing rap with heavy metal so everyone can really have more fun. (And we'll have a IYDLIL policy: if you don't like it, leave.)

-Wondering which prom picture to put up (I have a few good ones, but the best pictures I have are, of course, of my insanely handsome date.)

-Losing the game.

-Wondering why it must be that humans are doomed to spend 1/3 of their earthly life sleeping. I don't have enough time for anything these days!

That's all.
--E.A.

Don't forget what tomorrow is!

2009-04-26T14:07:00.002-04:00

Senior skip day tomorrow! (I'm going...wait, or am I? Am I "going" to school or to senior skip day? Hmm...)

I hope I won't see any easter bunnies at prom.

2009-04-24T22:41:00.005-04:00

Prom is tomorrow. Luckily everything is in order. I just hope that by "suit" my boyfriend meant an actual suit, and not a costume. :) Can't wait for tomorrow.

--E.A.

?

2009-04-23T16:12:00.005-04:00

It's odd, I haven't had anything to say about anything since late March. Usually I'm not this untalkative, but I know there's a problem when even my personal blog (not this one) is lacking words. Seriously, normally I average a page or two a day in personal writing, and recently, since late March, it's a paragraph on average. I'm not quite sure what is happening. I have two theories:
1) I don't have time
2) I've lost interest in writing
And the second one is theoretically impossible because writing is a calling of a sort for me. And I do have time, I just choose to not use it for writing for reasons unknown to me.
So then what's the problem? I can't figure it out.
Yes, I know it's Hannah Montana. It's a good song, though.
The struggles in our lives are tests of faithfulness.

--E.A.

Wolf in sheep's clothing. Or pigs in tiger's...

2009-04-22T18:10:00.004-04:00

This cracked me up today:

In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger, after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the sad news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only 'orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin (elena says: HOW.) and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops? Take a look...

I think I'm just fascinated by the pigs in little tiger costumes. Tiger wannabes. HAHA.

My question is: if she only had triplets, why did they give her two extra pigs??

--E.A.

Newfound obsession: VELOCIRAPTORS.

2009-04-17T22:48:00.007-04:00

I mean, it just makes sense, right? That I would suddenly fall head-over-heels in love with a V. mongoliensis. But it's true. I've been looking for something to collect for a while now, and I think I finally found it: I'd like to collect velociraptors.
Before I launch into a complicated discussion of how there seriously are velociraptors at our school, here are some fascinating resources for everyone to check out:

1. VELOCIRAPTOR LOVE TSHIRT
2. XKCD TSHIRT (xkcd actually started the whole velociraptor thing (they're so random, I love it) but I'll mention that a bit later again)
3. VELOCIRAPTOR FINGER PUPPET (now everyone's gotta have this!
4. VELOCIRAPTOR MUSIC <---you guys this is just weird. Apparently this guy named "DJ Purple Rabbit" has a CD out with a song on it called "Velociraptor", and the creepy part is that it was released on my 18th birthday!!! Freaky!!!!!!! That's a sign, it's official.
5. "Dinosaur Face-Off: Velociraptor vs. Ankylosaur" The title of this just absolutely fascinated me. As did the price, ahem ($90! WHA?!!)
6. VELOCIRAPTOR EARRINGS! Somebody should totally get me that for graduation.

So now I'm just really looking forward to ordering some plastic dinosaurs off the internet. Seriously, who does that though? Well...me, apparently.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM A VELOCIRAPTOR ATTACK:
1) Windows are possible entry points. Avoid standing too close to windows.
2) Playhouses are NOT safe from Velociraptors. Do not try to hide from them here!
3) Install round doorknobs. Velociraptors do not have thumbs, therefore making it harder for them to operate said doorknobs.
4) Doors in your house should be either oak or steel.
5) Keep a loaded rifle in your bedroom and have a tire iron handy in every room. You never know when you might need it!

And this is how this all got started (Thanks XKCD): The picture is small, just click on it GOSH.

--E.A.

TOMORROW IS VELOCIRAPTOR AWARENESS DAY! SERIOUSLY! SPREAD THE WORD!

What's in my head right now.

2009-04-15T16:40:00.002-04:00

"If we're going to say glory to God it doesn't mean just glory to God when I'm in front of people or glory to God when people are watching. It means glory to God with every word and every thought and every motive, every meditation. .. It's as if we're saying in every part of my life, in every corner, in every shadow of my life, glory to God, with every relationship, glory to God, with every motive, glory to God, with every word and thought, glory to God."
--Steve Fee

By My Side.

2009-04-12T21:09:00.005-04:00

Ever since I saw "Godspell" (twice, mind you) I have been stuck on this song. It is so powerful. There is nothing more comforting than knowing that Christ has risen and is always by my side.

Above all, HAPPY EASTER! He is risen indeed.

(If you haven't seen Godspell, watch it. Be aware of controversies, but also be open-minded, people, please. God gave you a brain, so please use it to make your own judgements.)

--E.A.

HAD to share this:

2009-04-09T18:33:00.002-04:00

The Old Man.

2009-04-09T18:15:00.004-04:00

I met an interesting old man today. He sat down next to me in the doctor’s office.
“How are you?” I politely volunteered, lifting my eyes off my magazine.
“Hi,” he said. There was a moment of pause, during which I could tell he was just one of those people who really wanted to talk to someone. And I was just one of those people who wanted to hear what he had to say.
“That looks like a doctor’s satchel,” he finally said, pointing at my black purse.
“You’re right,” I said. “It does.” There was another moment of silence, during which I tried figuring out why he noticed to point out that specific detail.
“I lived my whole life here,” he finally said. “This town used to have 24,000 people and 3,000 students. They told us that if they included the outskirts into the city limits we might get another post office.”
I love old folks in general, but I was really fascinated by this man’s willingness to talk to me about this. Clearly it was on his mind and he wanted to share with someone but might not have known with whom.
We talked for a few minutes, during which he explained to me that he was almost 85 years old and that he has lived his whole life here. I wish now that I had gotten his name, because it might have been interesting to look back into history and see where he fit in. That’s what I love about the past—the fact that there are people living among us today who know all about it.
He said that his great-uncle was in the Civil War and that he fought for the North with Kentucky. “My family has lived here for a long time,” he said.
I mentioned that I was from Russia and that I didn’t have any history here, to which he said, “You don’t sound like a Russian!” and his wife put down her newspaper and looked at me over her glasses.
“I suppose I lost my accent,” I explained.
As soon as he found out that I was Russian the old man jumped ardently right into explaining all about Bloomington’s history, starting with the very beginning. He rattled off the famous people who lived here, the populations during the different years, the changes in government, various changes to city layout, courthouse, etc.
Then, as if on cue, the nurse came in and called my name. I waited until the old man finished his thought, and then said, “It was very nice to get to talk to you, I wish I had gotten more time.” With a “Take care!” I left the room.
After I walked out of the office I wondered why this old man would want to tell me all these things. About his great-uncle in the Civil War. Was he trying to make a connection? Why did he mention the fact that he has roots here? What was he trying to establish? Was it political or social commentary? Or did he just simply want to converse with someone?
I wish I had stayed for longer to talk to this old man. All the way to my car I wanted to turn around and go back and sit in that waiting room for just a few more minutes, to find out what more he had to say. For some reason it made a very strong emotional impact on me, and I drove all the way home in silence wondering what it had all meant and why it impacted me the way it did.
Perhaps it was because he looked like my Grandpa. My own words echoed in my head, “I wish I had gotten more time.” Such a burned-out thought for me by now. How many times have I thought that before about anything and everything? Too many.
Anyways. Make of this story whatever you'd like. Always listen, though. And always take the opportunity to start a conversation.

--E.A.

(while you're at it, check this out http://astrology.yahoo.com/channel/none/the-true-meaning-of-this-season-a-gentle-reminder-from-tony-d-337730/ )

Stress...kind of.

2009-04-07T18:20:00.005-04:00

Among all the stress of the day, that picture ^^^ gave me a great laugh.
Thank God for laughter. Amazingly stress-relieving and mind-curing.

As far as stress goes, though, here's what I got:

Here's that bike I'm thinking about getting.
So let's hope I can pull my resources together and get it. Also, let's hope my parents read my earlier post about dangers of cycling and see that really New York, California, Florida, and Texas are just stupid when it comes to road safety. Our town, a college town, is very bike-friendly.

Okay that's all I have to say for the day unless you'd like to hear my rant about Ms. Kvale's wonderful candy selection in Physics class or my chiropractor misadventures.
I'll leave you with a verse:
Psalm 63:3
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

--E.A.

Unmotivated.

2009-04-06T21:52:00.001-04:00

It's not like I don't have anything to do, it's that I have lots to do but I've done so much of it already that I had to go through about four cups of hot chocolate just to keep awake.
Here you go.

Rules:--Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answers to the following questions.--Post one of the first definitions for your answer.

Your name?
Elena: Elena is another word for perfect. The root of the word comes from ancient fairy world, where perfect beings were called ELENA not many of them survived through time but some are still among us.

Your age?
18: Eighteen, as in the number 18. Before 19, after 17.
I turned 18 today! You're 81, moron.

Your favorite food?
Pasta: a codename for various drugs (what isn’t a codename for drugs these days?!)

What should you be doing?
Homework: Homework is a form of suppressing a child's individual interests so that they do not develop any ideas of individual worth and proceed to fill a job that is needed to keep everything functioning properly when he or she is not at school.

Your favorite color?
Yellow: that song by Coldplay
~Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah, they were all yellow.~

Birthplace?
Russia: A really big and very cool country in the east. Managed to crush the Nazi occupation force after a decisive tank battle in the fields of Kursk. Currently fighting the rebels, as of yet they are the only country to do anything effective to fight global terrorism.

Birth month?
February: the month that confuses the heck out of people who don’t know that 28+1=29 and also the month that gives women the best excuse to ask for expensive jewelry.

My car almost caught on fire today.

2009-04-05T21:06:00.003-04:00

(chill, it's just an illustration I found on google, not what it actually looked like)

Okay, so here's what happened to me today:
I was in a store with my cousin and we were getting ready to leave. It was pouring down rain and we were standing by the exit trying to figure out how we were going to make a run to the car without getting absolutely soaked.
Then we saw all the employees gather around us, and some of the customers. They were all looking out into the parking lot, and I wondered if they've never seen the rain before or something.
NO.
There was a car. In the parking lot of this store. And it was ON FIRE. (No, it's not the car in the picture. Are you kidding? I'm not evil enough to run around town taking pictures of burning cars! "Oh look a burning car, *click* hmm so picturesque...")
But the most important part was that it was standing next to my car!
Instinct kicked in.
Defending my property.
I was NOT about to let my car get damaged (the other people probably didn't even have good enough insurance--you should've seen that junker they were driving! No wonder it caught on fire!)
It wasn't a very big fire on the other car--just a little bit under the hood, but I totally wanted to get out of that parking lot, pronto. So I ran to my car, in the pouring rain, to the thunder and lightning (and we had a tornado warning). It seriously felt like World War III.
I could hear the fire engine sirens in the distance and I had to be somewhere in ten minutes, so I really didn't want my way to be blocked by firetrucks (and I didn't want anything to happen to my car). So I got out of there.

Now that I think about it I should've stayed for the whole show. Well, it was either my entertainment or my car. I took my pick. We'll probably read about it in the newspaper tomorrow anyways.

--E.A.

25 Random Things About Me.

2009-04-04T19:56:00.004-04:00

Homework is for freshmen.
Some days I wish I had freckles.
I used to be obsessed with The Sims.
I write every day for publishing/personal reflection.
I wonder what’s wrong with people who say they “don’t read much”.
Every day is a gift. That’s why it’s called ‘the present’.
I love heavy metal (Metallica’s latest CD is amazing, but old school Metallica is alright too).
I like taking pictures but none of my friends like their pictures taken.
God is life.
I almost never watch TV.
I’m kind of obsessed with cycling at this point.
From my perspective, basketball games are only fun if you’re in Pep Band.
And high school sports are overrated.
I grew out of the whole “being a senior” thing about four months ago.
I don’t mind being a farm girl for a few weeks in the summer when we go down to our lakehouse.
I have very special friends. No, really. They’re special.
I already have my dream car.
I like healthy food, although people who don’t do their research (especially on organics) really dumbfound me.
I can’t live without my laptop (for writing purposes).
I play piano. I play piano well. I’ve been playing keyboard in a band for 5 years.
I like psychology. The knowledge I have in that area makes manipulating people very easy.
I am not an American citizen yet. I will be soon.
I’m afraid of balloons and oversleeping.
I have CDO: OCD in alphabetical order.
9 times out of 10 my hands are cold. Cold hands warm heart, they say.
Most of my friends are band geeks.
I don’t like cake. Or cookies.
My grandparents are the best, and I grew up with only one set. R.I.P. Grandpa.
I do silly stuff just to make people laugh. I like making people happy.
I am still achieving self-actualization. Are you?
My favorite color is yellow…and black…and silver.
I was born in Ryazan, Russia.
I’m learning to play bass…it’s not going very well.
I like good food. I might have already mentioned that. In any case, I like tasty food…and lots of it.
I like randomness…oh look, a cow! Penguins! Eek! (yeah inside joke nevermind)
I love America’s Funniest Home Videos.
I have Spina Bifida. Yes. Except it’s the non-malignant kind so I’ll never be paralyzed. Praise God.
I like picking on my cousin since I only have one.
I find people my age annoying but reasonably easy to deal with.
I’ve dressed up and went trick-or-treating as the same thing for the past 4 years yet no one ever figured out it was me.
I’ve only broken one bone my whole life: the little thing on the side of my elbow. I was at Mr. Gatti’s in the jungle gym…
I desperately want to learn to play the Balalaika.

Inspiration.

2009-04-04T15:49:00.002-04:00

I'm working on a commencement speech right now, and this kind of makes me think. Enjoy.

Born to be weird?

2009-04-04T09:58:00.003-04:00

I wanted to give you little excerpt from my very first day of writing (four years ago) when I was in 8th grade. If you would, notice the fingerprints of God all over the most ironic lines I wrote.(I’ll be adding comments in parentheses).

4-2-2005

…While my parents were busy in the back yard i went upstairs to my room to hang my new Spongebob poster on my wall. The poster said, “Born to be Weird”. Do you think i’m born to be weird? No, really? Oh, why was i born? is there a purpose? Maybe it’s to write a book? (OH THE IRONY.) Well, that’s what i’m doing now, isn’t it? Plus i don’t think i’m doing very good, i’m a horrible writer. Why would anyone ever read this stuff, i guess. i mean, what else would you call something so incredibly simple written by a very simple girl. there are millions of writers all around the world who would looove to publish their work. i don’t even know why i even care about this so much. i do want to share with other people, even though i don’t know why. What’s the main purpose of this writing that i do? is it to tell people a little more about Russia? Well, nooo.. if this gets to any government officials they might have a worldwide meeting and ban immigration! (At this point I still wasn’t very happy about moving here so I often went on rants.) No.. that reason is definitely out! then what? Maybe.. just maybe.. maybe there’s another reason that i just don’t know yet. Maybe it’s something that’s going to happen in the future.. (OH THE IRONY…AGAIN!) oh, whatever. this is only my second day of writing and i’m already getting into weird subjects!

(There's always a purpose to everything. Keep thinking.)

--E.A.

WOO! 4 years and counting!

2009-04-02T17:58:00.004-04:00

Happy 4-year-anniversary!

That is, my dear blog(s)/writing. I love you, and I don't know what I would do without you. You bring amazing insight into my life and you let God speak to me through you.

Also thanks for successfully letting me take this relationship to the next level (blogging). Successfully. And while I do have a few mild concerns, they're nothing like those of actual published authors. Although I'm sure I'll be running into that later.

(this is from postsecret)

I'm pretty busy right now. I have to juggle commencement/graduation/scholarships/prom/church/an important birthday coming up/and quite a few things to think about. So no time for deep thought or anything über-creative for here.

Song stuck in my head today all day: Alive--P.O.D. I think it's because it was on the radio this morning.

--E.A.

April Fool's.

2009-04-01T19:27:00.003-04:00

MOST EPIC PRANK EVER:

Leave class early and cover your unsuspecting boyfriend's car in post-it notes. I left him a post-it in his every class and stuck one on his locker between classes. The last one read "Good luck after school today." He was clueless. Then he was in for a surprize. Apparently I'm "really gonna get it now". To that I say HA-HA because this was the best-set-up prank ever. Happy April 1st dear.

Thanks to http://misfit410.blogspot.com/ for the following awesome idea, by the way.:

"I want to take a moment of my time to stop and say thank you to Barack Hussein Obama who has done a fantastic job the last 3 months...The future of our very important auto unions now seems very secure, our banks are in very good hands and I can see no way for us to go except up. I hope you all will join me in putting our partisan politics aside and giving this great man the credit he deserves, I even propose we mark this day from now on as "Barack Obama Day"..Happy April 1st everyone."

Communication Fail = Death.

2009-04-01T18:55:00.004-04:00

It's true! My day has gone through some rough times all because of miscommunications, undercommunications, and complete lack-of-communications.

First of all, I completely forgot that I had signed up to tutor every Wednesday. So I got an email at 11 o'clock last night with a "looking forward to seeing you tomorrow" message inside.
Darn it.
I hunted down this student during school the next day and made other arrangements, which didn't make things easier because I hate to reschedule other people's lives to accomodate my needs.

And then came another horrible miscommunication: I knew I had an eye doctor's appointment today, but people in my family failed to mention
a) it might last, yes, over an hour. Over three hours, in fact.
b) when you are done, you will not be able to see clearly
c) therefore you will be unable to drive
d) or read (therefore tutoring goes out the window)
and finally, I was not informed of the following:
e) the doctor will answer a personal call which will extend our visit by about an hour and
f) actually, yes, you WILL be able to drive and read as COMPLETELY NOTHING will happen to your vision

That was the part I was the most upset about. Nevermind the fact that the doctor walked out of the office at one point for about an hour. Nevermind that he was kind of a jerk with the way he talked about me and my lack of participation in school sports (They need my brain in academics more than they need my height in basketball, you jerk.)
But the fact that my vision was not impaired in any way was the most upsetting. "You wouldn't be able to drive!" dad said. "Even I always have trouble, and I've driven over a million miles in my life." Hey, guess what: you're 50 years old, your eyes don't function the same, and they're a -2.

So I cancelled tutoring because I was told that I "wouldn't be able to see". Nice, right? I felt horrible, because my student has a test tomorrow and I wasn't able to help because I had something else scheduled and was completely misinformed!

Anyways. And then I get home and start getting ready for this "scholarship reception" at my college when I notice the fine print on the scholarship letter.
*lemme get out my magnifying glass* it says "register before March 18th". HOW did I not see that? It's been 10 days since then and I find out 40 minutes before the thing?!

I guess this is another one of God's ways of telling me how important communication is. Listening, paying attention, and making sure the point gets across.

Heh, I'll live.
--E.A.

Enjoy your flushing experience!

2009-03-31T16:30:00.006-04:00

2nd floor bathroom, by the B-wing and the nurse's office. 2nd stall. EPIC SIGN.
Reads: "Attention. This toilet flushes for 30.9 seconds. Trust us. We timed it...yes, with an actual stopwatch. Enjoy your flushing experience."

THAT. IS. FREAKIN. AMAZING.
Wonder who's behind that? I mean, who else would be special enough to think of it, time the toilet flushing, and then write a blog post about it. WHO ELSE.

Whoever it is, she must have a pretty darn awesome sense of humor. And heck yes she is planning some pretty darn awesome pranks for all her friends tomorrow. In fact, she is doing her research right now...*shifty eyes*. I'll post my...um...her results tomorrow. TEEHEE.
April Fool's Day is the best day of the year. :)

Songs stuck in my head today:
1. Unforgiven III--Metallica (I woke up with this stuck in my head. Is it possible that it carried over from yesterday? Hmm.)
2. Whatever Reason--Disciple
3. I'm Henry VIII I Am--Herman's Hermits (really weird song and really annoying when it gets stuck in your head because it's just so darn cheerful!)
4. Revolution--Starfield
5. The Gay Eskimo Song--Corky & The Juice Pigs (AGAIN!!! in the same class, too!)
6. Truth of a Liar--August Burns Red (I love ABR)
7. Hearts Burst Into Fire--Bullet for my Valentine (great song. the guitar in the beginning is phenomenal)
And now it's back to Henry VIII. Darn it.

--E.A.

Dr. Cullen is real!

2009-03-30T23:17:00.004-04:00

Okay, I totally had to post this before I went tonight.
So we were driving through Washington on Saturday.
And I saw THIS.
And I made my dad back up so I could take a picture.
EPIC.
No, like, EPIC EPIC.
What a total win.

The funnier thing, though, is what happened just now. I went on Google to see if I could find any better pictures of the place and I typed in a combination of "Cullen", "Medical" and "Washington" and, of course, a picture of Dr. Carlisle Cullen from Twilight came up. Here's the sad part: I was so focused on finding pictures of this place that I thought it was serious! I thought, ZOMG! He actually works there?!!!! And then I felt really stupid...I still feel really stupid...

--E.A.

Research day: HOPE.

2009-03-30T22:31:00.003-04:00

Great. A whole day to do a bunch of research necessary for 1) the mural we are doing for school and 2) commencement. Well, and 3) just for myself.

I was looking today for inspirational quotes/pictures for concepts such as hope, change, and the future, and here are a few interesting things I found that I will not be using anywhere in my work:

"Don't wonder how valuable you are, wonder how you are valuable."

"Once in a while it hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in a way they have been told to."

By the way, I decided to start a log of what songs get stuck in my head throughout the day, so I recorded a few today. If I suddenly realized I was humming something, I wrote it down and, well, here's my list (most of these I wrote down before 4 o'clock today):

1. I Believe in Love--Barlow Girl

2. True Love--Phil Wickham

3. You Found Me--The Fray (yeah I was having a mellow morning)

4. Holiday--Green Day (not quite sure where this one came from)

5. Dear God--Avenged Sevenfold (the chorus was stuck in my head)

6. ...I'm the Only Gay Eskimo--Corky & The Juice Pigs (oh goodness don't ask! this was seriously stuck in my head after Government class today!!)

7. The Unforgiven III--Metallica

Keep thinking.

--E.A.

Brain space.

2009-03-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

Yes, I was going to write about something else right now, but it's a deep and thoughtful topic and I need some time with it, so while I'm working on that here are a few other things to keep this blog rolling. These are little snapshots I wrote previously. Enjoy.

"I don’t even know where to begin. I’m SO behind on writing and I have so much that I don’t even know what to write about. Oh sure I have all the time in the world now, it’s just that time is just like money: “Oh I need a little for this, and for that, and this will help me in the long run, and this is a good investment…” and in the end you end up with neither time nor money if you reason that way. So I have to prioritize. How am I going to do that with all the stuff I have to write about?! "

"You know what I realized today? I talk to myself out loud. I was getting out of my car today in the Kroger parking lot and I saw how dirty my car was, so I though, I should wash my car. Instantly I replied to myself out loud: “Not today, you idiot. It’s freezing!” When I said that I noticed that there was a woman sitting in the car next to which I parked and her window was rolled down. I awkwardly looked at her for a second and walked briskly towards the store."

"Here’s a little friendly exchange I had with my cousin this morning after having bought some candy at a gas station. She read me a riddle off a Laffy Taffy wrapper and I decided to prank her by pretending there was a riddle on my AirHeads wrapper.
“Hey, listen to this: it says, ‘Did you know the word “gullible” is written on the ceiling of your car’?”
“Huh?” She looked up and I laughed my socks off.
About five minutes later, though, I was in for another roaring moment. After carefully inspecting the wrapper of her AirHeads candy she finally said, “Wait, where are the jokes on these things anyways?” "

"I was looking up Rolex watch prices for a project today, and somehow an “Add to Cart” button next to “Buy for only $79,250” just doesn’t seem appropriate. Like, what kind of a sick joke is this. Who would actually click that!? I did…just to see what would happen. The page took forever to load. I wonder if Bill Gates owns a Rolex watch. Probably didn’t think twice about buying one. What’s $100,000 of…how much is he worth now? According to a website that’s about 15 cents to him. EEK. Bill Gates makes $300 a second. I make $15 an hour of grueling tutoring, and only when it’s in demand."

--E.A.

Academia Saves the Day.

2009-03-27T22:48:00.002-04:00

I feel compelled to discuss this subject yet again:

Epic kudos to Evie and whoever wrote this on the FRONT DOORS of our school:

Evie, of course, being the first to notice this gross flat-out disrespect for the school's academic standards, quickly corrected the uneducated half-wit with a BRIGHT-ORANGE post-it note.

And not only that, but she also submitted this picture to the NEWSPAPER to the "Panther Pride" discussion board with the caption "I call this one "Academia Saved the Athlete" Good Luck to South Science Olympiad at state tomorrow, too!"

So basically an EPIC WIN all around. Yay academia! Yay people who can't spell and make our day! Yay science olympiad! Yay nerds! Yay submitting things online to newspapers! Yay fast communication! Yay Evie!
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/htoxtras/southbb/epride.php?id=116

--E.A.

Cause we all love LolCat.

2009-03-27T17:52:00.009-04:00

I have a bit of an addiction to lolcats. I subscribe to their blog feeds and I've read all their macros (the official name for the captioned pictures), yes, I've read them all (since they updated the first shots onto their http://icanhascheezburger.com/ site in 2007), and I save my favorite ones.

This morning one of my friends was working on an informative speech for her speech class on the topic of lolcats, so I decided to help her out with some research.

Here's what I found.
This is priceless.

--==THE BIBLE in LOLSPEAK.==--

There has been some controversy (of course) about disrespect to ancient scriptures and concepts and all that. Well, I'm Christian, and I think it's clever, witty, and funny! It gives the Bible a certain edge and shows that God does have a sense of humor. Especially if you read the Old Testament in lolspeak--some of those translations really show you how wonderful God really is. (And, of course, this project is only recommended for those Christians who have read through the Bible and know what's going on. Don't just read the lol version. :))

Here are some excerpts that I found funny:

Romans 1:4

NIV: "and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."
LOL: "an we can knows he r teh son uf Ceiling Cat cuz he wuz ded, then zomg, he r alive."

Romans 1:13
NIV: "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)"

LOL: "I tryed to visit u lots of tiems but I never cud. Monorail Cat was deraild an stuffs."

Romans 1:23-24
NIV: "and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires"

LOL: "They dun wurship Ceiling Cat. They wurship teh idols like Booda, but he eets too mani cheezbrgrs. Wy u wanna wurship him? So Ceiling Cat ses FIEN! BE DAT WAY!"

Or here's this:

"I calz her "whoa man", k cuz she in ur chest stealin ur ribs. Srsly ... "

"Nadab an Abihu litted they sensas on fiah, an smellies, an gived it to Ceiling Cat. Ceiling Cat was laik: “DO NOT WANT”."

"Moses was laik: “WTG Ceiling Cat! Ceiling Cat rox!” and Aaron was laik: “…”."

Anyways. Judge for yourselves. Check it out.

http://www.lolcatbible.com/

--E.A.

Donkey-riding.

2009-03-26T15:28:00.009-04:00

Today was the day my Mother and I had the conversation about the dangers of what I do: road cycling, and the fact that sometimes I have to ride on roads where the speed limit exceeds 55mph. You know how these things go, though. Moms seem to have the latest "information" on the ready, complete with a gillion reasons why what you just said is a terrible idea. I think that's even in a Mother's job description (especially when her children grow up)--provide reasons for why certain ideas are "bad".

And, of course, it's just the law of the universe that right before you have an important conversation with your parental units about something (i.e. being on our super-safe campus after dark) something relevantly-horrible happens to a relative/coworker/person on the news (i.e. a coworker's daughter getting robbed after volleyball practice one night). So as I was telling my Mom about riding my bike on "highways" she mentioned my cousin Kelly, whose husband just died in a motorcycle accident. Horrible coincidence.

But I had a crown card ready.

"Mom, you do know that more people get killed by donkeys than airplanes every year?"

That stopped the conversation dead in its tracks, and I left the kitchen area to give Mom some thinking room. When I was upstairs, though, I decided to investigate that particular statistic, and I now report my findings.

- Moose (meese if you prefer) are the biggest man-killers in US and Canada.
- In totally unrelated headlines, a guy got 12 years in jail for killing a donkey.
- 2.3 million people got killed by elephants between 2002 and 2008(worldwide).
- About 700 cyclists die per year in car accidents.
- Realistically, a cyclist is 3x as likely to die on the road than a motorist however 40% of those deaths are with children under 16.
- Cyclists account for only 2% of all road fatalities.
- Most cyclist accidents occur in urban areas between the hours of 5 and 9.
- 4 states out of 50 account for 50% of bicycle accidents.
- 1 in 20 cyclists (worldwide) is injured (not fatally) annually.
- And dig this:

"An analysis based on the life expectancy of each cyclist killed in road accidents using actuarial data, and the increased longevity of those engaging in exercise regimes several times a week compared with those leading relatively sedentary lives, has shown that, even in the current cycle hostile environment, the benefits in terms of life years gained, outweigh life years lost in cycling fatalities by a factor of around 20 to 1."

If you are a cyclist and want more info, go here: http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac-safety.html

My question is:

Can I just ride a donkey on the highway instead of my bike? If donkeys and highways are dangerous separately from each other, does that mean the dangers will cancel out when they are combined?

--E.A.

Basketball & Stuff.

2009-03-26T08:27:00.004-04:00

This morning I got to school at 7am just so I could get me some basketball tickets. It’s insane--like people decided to think of nothing but basketball for three days straight.

All the hallways are super-decorated and everyone is going insane.

I guess "basketball" and "Hoosiers" are two pretty inseparable concepts, but nobody really knew how inseparable they really were until now.

This is the first time that the boys team will be going to the state championship since...1919?

Do you have any idea how many tickets they sold yesterday? Yes, over 3500 In one day! So I was hoping to get in on this ticket-purchasing frenzy.

Yesterday, even though it was raining, the line stretched all the way around the school. People were basically in mortal combat over parking spots in the front lot--which clearly prevented any students from parking there and therefore everyone was late to class in the morning becuase they couldn't park.

So today they decided to not start ticket sales until 8 am. Which means I had an hour. Which doesn’t make sense, but not much else in this life does.
And since I do the morning announcements I couldn’t even get in line until 8:05. By then, though, I was hearing talk around the office along the lines of “if we let everyone who is in line right now get 2 tickets we are going to run out”. Panic mode!

Really, though, how are they going to run out of seats in this place::::

Conseco Fieldhouse is huge! There is no way they’re out of tickets! Yes, they have to sell to the “general public”. But doesn’t it make more sense if you sell all the tickets you can to people from our town instead of from elsewhere?! Doesn’t make any sense.

The sanity of the world is long-lost. As we have established long ago, actually.

--E.A.

Basketball, Edward, and an Episode of Blah.

2009-03-25T23:43:00.007-04:00

I'm pretty hyped up right now (and I can't sleep, as is evident from the time it says up above...or is it down below? Anyways it's 12 o'clock.) And it's not hyped up in a bad or a good way, it' s just kind of in between. I suppose it's just stress and frustration mixed together...with a pixie stick on top.
1. There's a state championship boys basketball game which I wanted to go to and which I AM going to because I always get my way, and when I don't get my way I sit there and pout until I do get my way. That's not a good character trait to have, especially since I was originally upset with the other person for telling me that the game wasn't a priority. It's not one of those "I-think-it's-all-about-me" situations, but for a second there I did catch what seemed like a slight disregard for my interests. At least it seemed like it. Anyways, I'm over it. Petty drama. Over it, over it. So over it.

2. Speaking of appreciation, I wonder how much people really notice what good little things other people do for them every day. Things that often totally slip under the radar. Like the fact that I'm willing to stay up until 12 o'clock just to blow-dry my hair just to look nice the next day. Okay this is again heading in the direction of the whole basketball-game issue, and I decided we were over it so moving on.

3. I appreciate people who have patience. I'll be patient with you if you are patient with me. And please be patient with me.

4. I think this is all partially stress, though, and the fact that my Grandma is flying out tomorrow and will probably not be back until the summer. It's good to spend time away from her for a while because otherwise we just all lose our appreciation for each-other (there's the whole appreciation thing again!) but I don't know how well she'll handle going back to the place where she lived before Grandpa died. She's a tough lady, she can handle it. At least she'll have everyone believe that. Whether she actually wants everyone to believe that is a whole another psychological debate, though.

5. At least I got all my Physics work out of the way. All I have to work on tomorrow, then, is finding something to wear for the dance. And writing thank-you notes for sponsors who donated to our club fund. I don't even know what I'm going to put in those cards.
roses are red
violets are blue
thank you so much
this card is for you
Yes, that's the best I can think of right now. Not too bad, though, is it?

6. Our school basketball team is going to the state competition and I don't even like basketball all that much, but I'm still pretty excited. Maybe it's the fact that it's a huge basketball game. In Indianapolis. My senior year. We get to make history, or we get to learn that a good build-up doesn't guarantee a good outcome. I mean, the other team is preparing just as much, right?

7. Ew my aunt watched Twilight and now she has a crush on Edward. Ew! Edward isn't even all that nice or good-looking. "But he's so romantic!" she said. Seriously, lady, you talk like a 14-year old. Even I know better than that. Come on.

8. Okay I'm done blabbering for the day. See, what happens is that when I tutor right after school I always have to talk really fast because I have to fit a whole chapter's worth of talking into the space of an hour (don't know how teachers do this...). So it sets the pace for the rest of the day and I experience extreme episodes of super-extreme logorrhea for the rest of the day. (There's your daily word, by the way: Logorrhea. Cool, eh?)
Anyways. Done talking.

--E.A.

Didn't know all this editing was so hard!

2009-03-24T18:29:00.003-04:00

Really: I haven't done any online HTML work since the days when all the kids were crazed about oh-what-are-those-things-called. Today I had to add a custom header to my blog. "Custom" is the key word there, because that automatically implies a long time spent resizing, changing fonts, and otherwise messing with Photoshop (which I just got through IU's free software program, so I honestly have no idea how to use it). But here it is. I think this is as complicated as it'll get. I might add music. Yes, music is essential. But overall this "blog" idea is very nice. It suits me well, I think.

I'll let you in on a little secret: five years ago I started private blogging. 1,500 typed pages later I think it's time to share some of that.

I'll let you in on another little secret (that's not so secret): I'm a writer. Maybe I should just go straight to publishing. It's nice to have a private blog, though. Before I get crazy-famous and have to get a website. Wait, I am crazy-famous. Oh well.

So I think I'm in for an adventure.

--E.A.

Unfortunately, Elena is easily amused.

2009-03-24T16:23:00.006-04:00

I didn't know where else to put this, and I thought I needed something new to put on my blog anyways. After all, I'm still not too enthusiastic about the idea, so maybe seeing that posting is fun and easy would encourage me to put up more interesting stuff. As in, stuff that is more interesting than this.

Type into Google "Unfortunately" followed by your name and you get a cornucopia or randomness. I already did one that was "Elena needs" (I'll repost it after this), so now it's time for another one. These things seem to be a fad nowadays, and I think it's because people ARE easily amuzed and like seeing what other people with their name do online.
Yeah I Googled my own name once. There is, apparently, and Elena with my last name who lives in Spain and writes books on Romanesque Philology. I always knew us EPs were strange, and there's just more proof for you.

But anyways. Here's this. A list:
1. Unfortunately Elena's father doesn't approve (I'm sure he doesn't)
2. Unfortunately Elena hasn't dropped yet (I haven't dropped? Good!)
3. Unfortunately Elena's cell phone was stolen (no, but my iPod was stolen once)
4. Unfortunately Elena did not have the relevant document at hand (that's how it always happens, let me tell you)
5. Unfortunately Elena wasn't well enough to attend the after-competition party
6. Unfortunately Elena injured her leg after the free skate (she would...)
7. Unfortunately Elena is the hole in the donut (HAHA! that's amazing)
8. Unfortunately Elena can purchase items only when they are needed
9. Unfortunately Elena had to play one of the hottest players in college tennis in the first round (interesting)
10. Unfortunately Elena is right (yep)

And here's the old "Elena needs" thing:
1. Elena needs blockwalkers & volunteers
2. Elena needs to take care alone for a boy needing special treatment every half or one year in the special children care centre
3. Elena really needs for Alissa to go to sleep (haha what?)
4. Elena needs our help
5. Elena needs a haircut
6. Elena needs to shut up (HAHA!)
7. Elena also needs Albumin and Meronem (what are those?)
8. Elena needs a loan of 1500 soles which she will invest in the purchase of defects
9. Elena needs to have these documents for her trip to Germany
10. Elena needs no make up at all (hahaha)

--E.A.

Random useful links

2009-03-23T20:59:00.004-04:00

See, if I'm going to do this blogging thing right I have to start writing something meaningful for other people to read and scratch their head and say, "Hmm, that is very meaningful." I have nothing today, though, except for some useful links for you to explore:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm A free personality test! The kind they let you take for free on CollegeBoard and the kind you have to pay for elsewhere. It's actually very accurate, so you might want to give it a go.

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/ Who doesn't love these things? We've all seen them in Mr. Rapp's Chemistry classes, and now we're all addicted. At least I'm addicted. I want to have them all. I want them to get dusty on my shelves instead of the store shelves.

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/ One of the strangest and most-updated blogs out there. Really has no purpose except to make its readers go "Uggghhh...." at the sight of the things various celebs choose to wear.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ Speaking of wonderful blogs, here's a one not many people know of but more should read. People anonymously send in their secrets on postcards for the world to see! One of these days I'll muster enough artistic ability to create something to send in.

http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~liujt/page2_5.htm And finally, a page for all the people who are currently taking Microeconomics. If more people started reading this delightful (and utterly useless) little blog of mine, just imagine how many people's lives would be easier. Scroll to the bottom of that page. Worship the bottom of that page. It'll be useful.

--E.A.

It takes too much time.

2009-03-22T17:47:00.009-04:00

Wonder how much time I will be spending with this *BLOG* thing. It was suggested to me by a trusted friend.

"Hey, you have lots of ideas and you write, and you like posting stuff, so why not start a blog?"

Well, I kind of had a private blog here for the past 4 years, but I never considered it to be important enough for other people to read.

Seriously, how conceited do you have to be to think someone deliberately wants to read your daily musings?

Hopefully I won't be spending a lot of time with this since time is money, but I do have a lot of ideas. Who knows, this might turn out to be nothing but another one of those fancy electronic things which I end up never using.

--E.A.