Drama and Debate

Memory Day:

Hmm...Ah, I've got a good one ;D

When I was little, I was very persuasive. I remember multiple times when I tricked the babysitter into letting me do things I wasn’t supposed to, but the funniest instance occurred when my grandparents were babysitting me. I was about two at the time. I told them I was thirsty, and so my grandfather and I went to the fridge to get something for me to drink. I spotted a bottle of something that looked interesting in the fridge.

“That,” I said. “I want some of that, please.” I can remember my grandfather’s confused and hesitant frown.

“Your mother lets you drink lemon juice?” he asked.

I put on my most solemn face and nodded.

“Yes,”I said.

After a moment of convincing, my grandfather poured me a Sippy cup of lemon juice. I’m not sure if he really believed me, or just decided to humor me, but either way, the lemon juice was awful. I remember thinking that next time I should probably be careful what I persuade people of.

XD
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Hey, y'all! Thanks for your encouraging words these last few days!! Your awesome comments have helped me out more than you know :) Feel special XD

Debate went very well today. My partner (Cassie Roads) and I won!! The debate was:

Resolved: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) should be abolished.

We were affirmative, and our points were that the NEA should be abolished because...
1. It's unfair to force the American people to support the NEA through their tax dollars when they might not agree with the art being promoted.
2. The NEA is unnecessary, and it's silly for us to be putting our money toward something unnecessary when we could be paying off America's GIANT debt.
3. The NEA is unconstitutional, because the Constitution clearly states that unless specifically said to be the government's job, the power rests with the people. The Constitution does not say anything about the government supporting art, so the government should stay out of it.

We won our debate :) Yay! It definitely helped that I agreed with our side. I do believe that the NEA should be abolished.

Cross examining my opponent was my favorite part XD I love cross x. I love leading people to agree with harmless little points, and then asking them a question that proves MY point, only I've gotten them to sort of say they agreed with it already.

Example:
Me (who thinks government support should be removed from artists): "Would you say that art is important in American society?"

Opponent (who wants government funding to continue): "Oh, yes!"

Me: "But is it VERY important?"

Opponent: "Yes. It is VERY important in today's society."

Me: "So if art is VERY important for Americans today, don't you think it will flourish without government support?"

XD Not too original, but that's how I roll.

Anyway, today has been pretty good. Other classes were kind of boring, but whatever. Oh, there is a bit of drama going around. *rolls eyes* Involving texting using other peoples' cell phones, and crushes that may or may not be real...

-.- Drama, drama, drama. *sigh* And we're usually so good at staying away from this kind of junk between each other. I don't want to think this, but I do believe it has a lot to do with one our our new classmates. *shrug* I repeat: whatever :P

I have play practice for Mulan tonight! Yay! 7-9:30pm. Long one :-/ Oh well. Still fun.

Uhm...Sorry for rambling about mostly nothing. Stress is slowly leaving, yay. Debate was a lot of pressure.

Thanks again for all your wonderful comments, and welcome back to the blogosphere, Krevan!

CHALLENGE! And Vacation-ness

Hola! This is Kendra Logan live from a motel on vacation!

The drive was like five hours yesterday, so that wasn't too fun, but I've had a pretty good time so far. My grandpa is awesome. We got here at around eight last night and went to eat at Elizabeth's Pizza.

Okay, I have some things to say about THAT :) You know those books that I've been talking about lately ("The Mortal Instruments" trilogy)? Well, the Elizabeth's looked just like this little diner from the books, and the hostess looked EXACTLY!!!! like the main character! We found out her name, but it wasn't Clarissa/Clary, it was Ashley.

Also, when I was craning my neck for a look at the hostess, a busboy saw me and was like, "Oh, are you looking for your server?" It was really sweet. *blink* Nevermind. He was just sweet. And kind of cute :)

After dinner, we came home and watched some TV. The hilarious movie "Get Smart" was on, so we watched that until a little after 11:30pm. Then I turned it off and went to sleep. I woke up and was wide awake at 2:30am, though, so that was annoying. I went back to sleep at 3:03am. (I remember these things, lol.)

I didn't eat breakfast this morning...no, yeah, I did. I ate a piece of my mom's zucchini bread that we brought. It's really good. We hung around the room until 11:30 and then we went out to eat with my grandpa 'cause it's his birthday. We went to the K&W Cafeteria and one of the waitress ladies told him "happy birthday" in Chinese. It was cool.

Then, we went to Great Outdoor Provision because my dad is interesting in buying a kyak that you can paddle with your feet. (They're cool.) Then we bought him a belt at Stein Mart because he forgot his at home.

Then we came back to the motel and did the pool until like 4:30pm. Then I came in and got on the computer and checked email, facebook, and read all the blog posts people have written since Wednesday. Then, we went to eat dinner. It was at a really good seafood place, but I wasn't hungry so I just got a baked potatoe, which was really good! Then, we went to Baskin Robbins and got ice cream. I got lemon sorbet and it was REALLY GOOD.

Then, my pocketbook strap broke on me -_-

We decided to go to the mall. So we poked around for a little while, and got some stuff at Bath & Body Works. Then, my mom went with Lizzy to look in Claire's, while Daddy offered to take me to Belk to see if we could find me a new pocketbook. (He can be so sweet and thoughtful sometimes.) Pawpaw (my grandpa, obviously, lol) opted to go with us.

On the way to Belk, I saw this little store called Ping's Tibet. The clothes in the window were really...weird. One looked like a wedding dress with weird ruffles and a fur cape. A shirt looked like a Japanese kimono. I turned to Daddy and was like, "Can we go in there just really quick? If we don't have time that's okay, I don't really think I'm gonna buy anything." Daddy said it was okay, though, so we went into the store.

It was so cool! All the stuff was handmade and Ping (the owner of the store) goes to Tibet and brings back all the stuff. The Tibetians have this thing with yaks the store guy (Matt; leave it to my dad to befriend the salesguy ;)) said. He showed us pictures of Tibet and Tibetians and a yak that Ping brought back (the pictures, not the yak, lol). I ended up buying this cool silver ring with a little black jewel.

Just in case you didn't know, rings are my thing. Now you know what to get me for my birthday! :D Just kidding.

We DID actually end up going to Belk to look for a pocketbook. I ended up getting one!!! It's awesome, and I'm pretty sure it's, like, a really in-style brand. Can you believe it? I bought something FASHIONABLE! I'm so bad at that. Anyway, I don't remember the brand and I'm too lazy to get up and look (lol), but it's got like a giraffe print and the strap and trim are pink and it's leather. It's big, but it doesn't LOOK big. I can EASILY fit all my junk in it, and I have TONS of room left over!! There's a pocke down the middle that I can perfectly fit, get this, A BOOK! How great is that?

So, this brings us to where I am now, watching Phineas and Ferb and typing this. So far, vacation is pretty good. Thanks for reading this ridiculously long and rambling post.

Oh, wait, a Challenge! AND, I have a proposition:

No one does my challenges, so maybe let's try some incentive. Every time you complete a challenge, you get an award to put on your blog. Get five awards and I'll...advertise your blog on my blog super convincingly for a week.

*sigh* I'm not good at this. Just do the challenge and tell me about it.

CHALLENGE: Memorize the lyrics to a kid's show theme song. Arthur, Phineas and Ferb, Dora Explorer, you get the idea.

So, carpe diem! DO THE CHALLENGE.

~Kendra

P.S. I'm typing on Daddy's laptop and he doesn't have my signature code saved on here, so you have to put up with that boring thing.

"Stargirl" and Vacation Heads Up

Well, the temporary Jace obsession is fading fast, so there's good news for you ;) He's still awesome and everything, and the books are very good, but you don't have to worry about any more Jace pictures or quotes, I don't think.

Although, since this IS Quote Day, I'll probably post one of his quotes anyway, but that will be the end most likely.

I woke up at ten o'clock today. Ah, there's nothing like sleeping late, then looking out the window and seeing it's sunny, warm, and breezy outside. I ate two Pop-Tarts, finished reading a book called "Stargirl", and then got on here to resume my life as a computer nerd. We might be going to the lake later today, though, so I'll get out then :)

I just want to say a little about "Stargirl". It's written by Jerry Spinelli. (He's written other stuff, but the only other thing I've read, I think, is "Loser".) I really like "Stargirl". It's not one of my favorite books necessarily, but it's provocative and well-written, even if the style is a little odd. I'll post what it says on the back of the book:

"She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitter shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew."

Stargirl is a very interesting character, and the whole book is just like one eye-opening experience after another. It makes you think about things in a whole new way. It's a really strange book, but I would recommend it to anyone. It's relatively small, only 186 pages long. I could probably read it in a day, but it's pretty good reading.

I'm going on vacation tomorrow, to the beach! Yay! My grandpa lives really close to the beach and he works at a hotel. We're going to stay at the hotel and be with him some, too, because his brithday is the 10th.

I really like my grandpa. He's fun and always looks for the good things in life. He's funny, but not on purpose. He's terrible with directions, which makes for some hilarious stories. He's always so put-together. He wears nice business suits and seems like the kind of person you can ask things and depend on. Everyone likes him. He's easy to get along with, is considerate and kind, and a good worker. He's an awesome grandpa and I love him a lot.

I'll be gone until Tuesday, but my dad is bringing his laptop along and the hotel has WiFi, so I might be able to post. I don't know for sure. We'll see.

I haven't written "Mirror" in a little while. Hmm. I'm in another block. This time it's because I don't know where I'm going with this. I don't know what I want to happen for sure, or how to end it. I have several possible endings, all of them good, but I don't know which one to chose. Oh well; I guess I'll figure it out eventually, right? Hm.

Thanks for reading this jumble of odd thoughts! I hope your day is going well!

OH! I almost forgot! It's Quote Day! But I don't I'll do a Jace quote after all. I think I'll do a Stargirl quote:

"And...I see. I hear. But not with my eyes and ears. I'm not outside my world anymore, and I'm not really inside it either. The thing is, there's no dfference anymore between me and the universe. The boundary is gone. I am it and it is me. I am a stone, a cactus thorn. I am rain. I like that most of all, being rain."

Idolized Pasts, and TOO MANY BOOKS

“The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idolized past.” –Robertson Davies

Ugh, I am so guilty of this. Honestly, my perfect future is just having things and people around that aren't anymore. I need to live in the present and future, and I don't. I won't say much more about that, though, because I know I go on and on about that sort of thing a lot. As live-in-the-moment as some people think I am, I really need to work on on seizing the day. THIS day.
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My grandpa arrived safely yesterday at around 2:30pm. I love my grandpa. He's so funny and fun. He's directionally challenged, though, so that makes stories of his road trips quite entertaining :) He's always so together, dressed in a nice suit and everything. I don't know. He's just a really cool grandpa.

I've had this headache that won't die since yesterday morning. And I'm so TIIIIIIIRED. I don't know why, I got ten hours of sleep last night and the night before, but my eyes just won't stay open. It's irritating.

I have dance tonight. Last one before my recital on the 16th. I think we're ready. I hope some of my friends will come. Last year I was seriously depressed because no one but my family came, and not even extended family. Just my mom, dad, little sister, and one grandma (who's awesome, don't get me wrong). I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat or anything, but I wish people would make time to come see my recital.

Okay, wow, that really did sound bratty. Sorry.

I don't even want to talk about how "The Mirror" is going.

On a lighter note, I went to the book store again last night and got the third and final book in the Farsala Trilogy!!!!! I don't say this very often, because I have ridiculously high standards, but thos books are absolutely AMAZING. Hilari Bell does an extraordinary job of weaving her three main characters together and fitting all the little plot hitches together. You have to read it to believe it. Of course, I don't think everyone would like the books. You have to like the kind of style and genre (sort of fantasy, very adventure, sort of legend-ish). Ellie didn't really like the first one. Well, okay, she didn't really read it. She started it, but didn't finish, lol! But then again, she didn't finish "Eragon" either, so don't think just because she didn't like it, it's not every bit as amazing as I say it is ;)

I'm also reading "Mortal Instruments Trilogy Book One: The City of Bones". It's good. Seems sort of looooooong, but it's good.

I read "A Great and Terrible Beauty" a few days ago. Okay book. I bought the sequel last night. It's not amazing. Some stuff was irritating and I felt like the conflict got solved really quickly, but it was okay. Pretty well written.

Okay, I'll stop raving. Well, no, I won't. I want to say a couple more things :D

Thing One: I'm stressing myself out over BOOKS! I'm in the middle of... *counts* ... SIX DIFFERENT SERIES right now. How am I supposed to enjoy any of them when I'm in the middle of everything?? *SIGH* So, I'm thinking I need to concentrate on one at a time. (Oh, dang. SEVEN. I forgot one.) Which means I'll be saving the Farsala book for last because it's my FAVORITE and I want to be able to enjoy it to its fullest, which I can only do if I'm unstressed. *moansigh*

Series I'm in the Middle of:
1. Pendragon books (I don't even like them that much, but I feel like I should finish them. *groan* Should I just drop it? Tell me what you think in a comment.)
2. Mortal Instruments Trilogy
3. Great and Terrible Beauty Trilogy
4. Inheritance Cycle (This shouldn't count, should it? I mean, it's not really in my control to read the last book until it comes out...)
5. Farsala Trilogy (AMAZING BOOKS!!)
6. Ranger's Apprentice series (I'm pretty much in the same boat with this one as I am with the Pendragon books.)
7. Hmm...maybe I miscounted. I can't think of a seventh series after all.

*stares sullenly at the screen* So yeah.

I also got left at the book store last night. THANKS A LOT, FAMILY. Haha, just kidding. It was a miscomunication :P

Carpe diem.

Paige

It's Picture Day! I know this isn't very creative, but this is a picture of Paige, the main character in my book "The Mirror". It looks EXACTLY like her. It couldn't have been better if I had drawn it myself. (Not that I can draw, lol!) Anyway, I'm hoping this will spark my creativity and get rid of my writer's block...so far, NOT WORKING. *sigh*

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My grandpa is coming today! He's supposed to be here in like seven minutes. He lives about four hours away, so we don't see him much. He hasn't even seen the house all finished! He's going to be so surprised to see how far it's come since he saw it when it was under construction.

Uh-oh...

I just realized I haven't really cleaned my room up a whole lot...

Gotta go! Ttyl!