Thursday, February 27

Sup

So it has been a while since I got you all up to date on my life.

In summary:
Now for some details. Even though I think details are annoying. This wouldn't be much of a blog post if I didn't include some details, right? 
If you're not interested in hearing all sorts of murmurings and complainings about school and stupid people, you may just want to skip to the end. Otherwise, keep calm and read on.

I've started a new semester of dual enrollment classes, and if you want an indicator of how well I like my classes this year, maybe the fact that college algebra is my favorite will suffice. (Algebra makes me cry) No, I don't like my classes very much. I have a whacko chemistry professor who gives terrible quizzes every week. I have an economics teacher who's just a really bad teacher. I have an English teacher who's a cosmopolitan hippie (if you can imagine that). And I have a crazy, awesome algebra teacher who minimizes the equation-induced tears (but doesn't completely eliminate them, sadly). I never thought I might actually want to take college math...

I've started babysitting regularly again, which is kind of fun and keeps me humble. 
"MISS MERRY your ankle popped!"
"MISS MERRY your hair is all messed up!"
"MISS MERRY you're really bad at playing pretend!"
"MISS MERRY why are you curled up in a ball sucking your thumb and crying for your mommy?"
I think these children are morally opposed to eating meals, taking baths, and going to bed. *sigh*

I got Les Miserables for my birthday. And I watched it several times. Especially this scene.
I literally can't help myself. When else will you find so many cute guys dressed in period clothing singing songs about colors? It's like the Wiggles of the nineteenth century, only not creepy.
Also, I think that scene is a very accurate representation of how dudes interact. (Not that I would actually be a credible source. Dudes, let me know.)
"YEAH WE'RE ANGRY LET'S KILL STUFF AND HAVE A REVOLUTION AND STUFF IT'S GONNA BE GREAT AND OUR LITTLE LIVES DON'T COUNT AT ALL CUZ NOW THERE IS A HIGHER CALL AND STUFF"
"Okay man, but DUDE THERE'S THIS GIRL I'M IN LOVE I'M IN LOVE I'M IN LOVE"
"DUDE MAN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU"
"Oh yeah, sorry... LET'S KILL STUFF LOL"
But yeah. I like that movie. And I'm pretty sure Victor Hugo is one of the few people who could write a story that turns the French Revolution into a subplot.

Also, I read this book. It was. Hmm. Yes. Well. Um. I kind of don't want to admit this.
OK. I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. *waiting for you to finish silently judging me*
It was interesting. I could probably devote a whole post to spouting my opinions about it, but for the sake of my readers' patience (not to mention my dignity) I'll limit myself to a brief blurb here. I know a lot of people are going crazy about this book and the movie to come. Well, I'm not one of them. It was kind of a cute little story, and I think it was trying not to join the ranks of The Notebook and other such literary masterpieces, but it didn't achieve that, in my opinion. There were some clever quips and definitely lots of Pinterest-worthy quotes, but did the book's good qualities redeem it from all the trash? 
In my opinion, no. I can't think of anything I found that I liked that I hadn't already seen on Pinterest. So save yourself some time: go look up "Fault in Our Stars cute quotes" on Pinterest, and don't bother reading the book.

Anyways. That's a small glimpse into what I've been up to lately. Thank you guys in advance for not telling me how boring I am.

Wednesday, February 19

Skepticality

I think I'm a skeptic.

Although, since a skeptic is someone who is "inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions," maybe I'm just going to decide that my opinion about what a skeptic is differs from the generally accepted opinion about what a skeptic is. And how am I to know that my differing opinion matches with any other skeptics' differing opinions? Can we legitimately clump all skeptics/anti-skeptics into one category? What if I think I'm a skeptic, but the generally accepted opinion would say that I'm not? Does it still count? Is there any way to really know who's a skeptic and who isn't?

You could say I'm skeptic about being a skeptic.
Something else I'm skeptic about - why in the world isn't skepticality a word?
It should be. So I'm going to use it.

And I have now officially achieved a level of English lexical proficiency equaled only by Shakespeare.
If you can't find the word you're looking for, make one up.

There's something else you could be skeptical about - can you even do that?

So I definitely do question or doubt several accepted opinions. But certainly not all.
I don't question the opinion that people should work in order to get paid, or that getting a physical at the doctor's kind of sucks.
I'm a selective skeptic.

But there are a few things that I'm just not buying. And since I know you guys think I'm everrrrr so iiiiiinteresting... I decided to talk about me a little bit.

I'm skeptical quite frequently in my English Comp II class. For example, we recently read "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a very bummerific story. Apparently the author is well-known for her character development, which is supposed to be very good. One of the characters was described as having a face "as broad and innocent as a cabbage." So my teacher was telling us about all the possible meanings of that - cabbage is a very common vegetable, cabbage isn't especially pretty, cabbage isn't very well-liked, etc... And I was sitting there being very skeptical. Could it possibly be that maybe the author just happened to be from THE SOUTH where cabbage is LITERALLY EVERYWHERE and MAYBE SHE REALLY JUST MEANT CABBAGE AND NOTHING ELSE?
Of course not. That would be dumb. Of course the author wants you to read into every single thing they say and not just think, "Oh, cabbage, oh, okay, moving on."
Of course. I keep getting in trouble in that class for not taking assignments seriously. But really, there's no way that everything that literary analysts draw from just six or seven words is always perfectly aligned with the original intent of the author.

I am skeptical when it comes to hippie literary analysis.

I'm skeptical when using social media. I've talked about my social media before, so you all know I rather like it. However, a lot of people post things publicly with ulterior motives or just to spite one specific person and the rest of us are just sitting there like
 I guess that's not really something that makes me skeptical so much as something that really annoys me.
If you do this - please stop.
But seriously, consider Facebook poking for a minute. Other than being a fun and noncommittal way to annoy your friends (despite being invented just as a way to get someone's attention and let them know that you exist), why do we have it? I use it only because I like to pick on the people I like the most, and it enables me to do so.
But those of you who know me in real life know that if I want to get your attention, I'll either kick you in the shins, slap you upside the head, sneak up behind you and give you an energetic hug, make a weird animal noise, or - shocker - say your name (preferably in a really weird voice or accompanied by a terrifying face). I really wish that there was some way to mod your Facebook to allow for some of these more realistic actions.

You know, I got really off topic, and now I'm quite skeptical as to whether or not this post is going to make any sense.

But what if I decide my opinion about what makes sense differs from the generally accepted opinion about what makes sense? Would my sense still count as nonsense, or would it be sense, and just a different sort of sense? Or would it be nonsense to someone else whose sense is nonsense to me? Is there any way to truly define what makes sense and what is nonsense? And what if your opinion differs from my differing opinion?

Well, then you just might be a skeptic, too.

Friday, February 14

Valentine's Day Verse

Ah, spring - when ten year old girls' fancy turns to thoughts of love. Today is Valentine's Day, a day to celebrate all the people we love. And I'm happy because I have a wonderful Mr. Darcy quote for this post.

"I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love."

My little sister is an aspiring poet. Or at least, she wrote a few poems yesterday. And since "roses are red" is kind of an iconic cheesy love poem (albeit a super lame one), I thought it was entirely appropriate that it was, evidently, her inspiration.

And since it's Valentine's Day, I figured I would share her beautiful poetry with you. It is truly amazing and achieves a literary depth that is absolutely unprecedented.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Flowers are nice
And so are you.

That one was relatively safe. Although I must say, being told that I'm "nice" wouldn't be quite as heart-fluttering as the next one...

Roses are red,
Violets are red,
Trees are red -
Your garden's on fire.

That would definitely get my heart beating a little faster.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Your boyfriend's red
And you are blue.
He is blushing,
You're holding your breath.
He hands you a ring!
Now you are pink. :)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that one a few times before I understood it. Fortunately, the author was not difficult to contact and was quite helpful. Apparently in line 4, "And you are blue," you are blue because you're holding your breath. 
You must have been holding your breath a very long time waiting for that ring.
Also, I thought the smiley face was an interesting literary device.
And finally, my personal favorite.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I'm holding a stapler,
You're holding your finger.

If you guys are struggling to figure out what to say to your valentine today (although based off of what I've seen on various social media sites so far, pretty much nobody has one), I would recommend one of these beautiful verses. They're sure to win the heart of any dashing gentleman or comely lady. Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday, February 7

A New Chapter (or something like that)

I turned sixteen yesterday.
And I heard the usual birthday questions several times yesterday: "So do you feel any different?"
Well, to be honest, I feel very different... But that's probably just me. I'm very excited to be getting older and being allowed more privileges (and responsibilities), and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me over the next few years of my life. I've been learning a lot and really realizing the beauty of a life lived for Christ. Hopefully year sixteen will be an even better year for me than the last.
Last February 6th I posted sixteen things I was thankful for (one for each year of my life, and one to grow on). This year I think I'll post a few things I learned this past year. I don't think I can manage seventeen, but I'll do my best.

1. When God is your number one priority, everything else just sort of falls into place.
2. You can teach yourself dedication and discipline. As evidenced by my actually effective piano practice the last few weeks.
3. Friends come and go. All we can do is appreciate the time we are given with them.
4. The accelerator and the brake do very different things in a car and they are not to be confused.
5. Encouraging someone can be one of the easiest things you do, but it means so much.
6. What Makes You Beautiful is still an excellent running song. Some of you may judge me for that, but frankly...
Moving right along...
7. People appreciate kindness a lot more than I thought.
8. Snow is overrated. As is ice. As is winter in general. See, I like electricity. And warmth.
9. How to wash your hair like they do at hair salons...
10. As much as I dislike school sometimes, I am literally lost without it. Having gone a week without school unexpectedly (due to "inclement weather") I realized that it's seriously my entire life.
11. Your parents are actually on your side.
12. I am incredibly blessed. My entire life is so abundantly overflowing with God's gifts that it's really pretty unbelievable. My God is truly amazing.

I'm definitely looking forward to learning even more in the coming year. Anything difficult is a tool to make me stronger, and anything easy is a blessing. No matter what, I have amazing family and friends who will be with me through everything. Thanks all for your love and encouragement. <3