Living Every Day: February

1. Play-doh fun times
2. Ladybug, chocolate
3. Calendar crafting
4. Sat in a little sunshine on a ledge thing
5. A mysterious flower, got an umbrella
6. Saw Emma, weather was ridiculous
7. Nice breeze (on a walk!), noodles, strawberry shortcake
8. Yummy noodles, waved at trains
9. Color fight, lasagna!!
10. Morning rain
11. Cool study area
12. Frustrating day, to be honest, ate a good lunch though.
13. Nice Weather
14. Tweeted TGS
15. Wrote a bit
16. Slept at Peggy's house
17. Marathon
18. Big burrito, lunch after hungry
19. Didn't have trouble with Geography, saw characters kinda
20. Emma's house for her birthday, drew a comic!
21. Coordinated dinner very well.
22. Cool and nice temperature
23. Yummy snacks
24. Lots of walking!
25. Walked a lot again, strong wind (yeah!!)
26. noodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenooodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodlenoodle*
27. Job, legos
28. Met with Bethany and Emma, lasagna

*the exact number of noodles I wrote in the calendar box

The consensus for what made this short month good were some of the best things in Life In General TM. Noodle dishes, great weather, friends, and walking. 
I'm sorry posts have been sparse. At least I managed to get half as many posts as days this month! Things are still looking to be busy, but maybe I'll get some SERIOUS BLOGGING TM done during spring break.  

Tomorrow is the last day of february and I have dog hair on my shirt.

I spent the afternoon and evening at my friend Peggy's residence but didn't see her because I was doing a job

A JOB

(angelic chorus)

and then eating dinner with part of her family.

After dinner Greg the Catholic Dog slept on my lap while her little bro and I played with his legos. It was a civil war over a piece of cheese. Everyone died, even the last man standing, because he ate the cheese and it was poisoned.

I just opened some 8 year old sparkling water. Needless to say, it's flat.

Also, it said it had 0 calories so I was thinking "yay, it really is just carbonated (but now flat) water!"

SUCRALOOOOOOOSEE!!!!!!!!!

I took a drink and it was sweet. Ugh. Sucralose. wah


School has been really stressful and busy. Geography is tough and I studied so much for two tests these past couple days that my brain is so tired. My history test (today) went fine. My geography test I don't have such high hopes for.

It's super tough to wrap my mind around (and I thought it would be easy!!) and I don't know how the tests will be written. The textbook's websites' study quizzes that I'm doing now are easy enough, but the homework problems are harder, and CONFUSING sometimes. I'm not sure if the teacher directly writes the homework or not.

If the tests are like the homework, I'll probably get a B or something. D':

Oh well, I'm feeling ok about it right now because the practice quizzes are pretty easy. So I'll just not stress about it and see how test 1 goes. At least I don't need a great score in geography to go into any other class I'll ever want to take.

Stress and Sucralose are today's zombies. Kill the zombies! They will not infect my braiiiin!!!

Quality

I just read a blog post that I really like, so I'm going to link to it here:

5 Reasons to Kill Christian Music

Now maybe you mild mannered citizens are frowning and leaning away from your computers thinking, "Whoa, isn't that a bit harsh?"

I'm not saying you have to agree with him 100%. This guy speaks his thoughts very strongly, unlike a lot of people these days. He speaks with conviction. Anyway, I just wanted to link to his post because I tend to agree with the concept he's pushing when it comes to art and music and all that.

This is one of the things I want to work to change (maybe not so much in music, but in other artsy areas). The truth is, a lot of "clean" media is just

LAME.

Yeah, I said it. Your average "christian" media tends to be the same old same old. And that's not generally going to reach someone who's already outside of the church circle. They'll take one look at it and decide it's not worth it.

I want to be a part of making movies and books and art that are real and engaging, things that anyone could look at and say "Wow, that was really well done." And then maybe they'll think about it for a while. And then maybe they'll realize that you don't need movies to be full of curses and bloody violence and sex to be really entertaining movies. 

Making Christian Media is not my goal. My goal is wholesome media. As in, whole.

I'd like to suggest that a lot of "christian alternatives" are not wholesome in the sense that they are lacking something.

Just chew on that for a while.
People watch movies to be entertained, to bond with people, maybe to learn something.
I'd like to give them what they're looking for--and I mean not only what they think they're looking for, but what they're really looking for, deep down, on a spiritual level, even if they don't know they need it.

Metaphor time: that one restaurant's potato soup is the best potato soup because it's just different. Someone mentioned a secret ingredient, and it's gotta be something good, so you keep coming back for it. You'd take it over other potato soup anyday, even though the restaurant's not advertising what that secret ingredient is.
But if you really really gotta know, you'd work to find it. If you just can't identify it by taste, maybe you'd apply for a job there, investigate a little. And maybe it turns out to be a spice you knew existed all along but always figured wasn't worth much. Before, if someone told you "man, you need to get some of this spice, it will change your life," you wouldn't have believed them.

But when you tasted it, it made you want it. And that's what made the chase worth it.

If I'm making media I know will honor God whether it directly mentions Him or not, if it's coming from the creative spirit He gave me, I think that should be naturally present. That difference.

I went on for longer than I meant to. But yeah.

This is way overdue... Playdoh funs.

Emma made animals. This one appears to be a toxic beaver.

bird/platypus

Chicken

Felicia made a lovely self-portrait, complete with a hamburger made by me and a guitar made by... David Stephen I think.

John's creation: A Red Rider! (duuuuhhh) He leads a mighty army of slugs.

They fight, for your convenience. Also, they have solid blood.

Destruction lies in their wake.

Speak With Conviction

Speak With Conviction by Taylor Mali

This relates to my goal of discontinuing weak speaking cliches, like, y'know, because they're pointless?

The Poetry of Google Translate

Someday when you're bored, go write a poem into Google Translate. Translate it from English to another language (preferably one with a radically different structure--Chinese or Japanese would work best).

Copy your result and switch the languages so that you are now translating from the other language to English. Paste your earlier result and observe the new version of your poem on the right.

The poems don't always turn out very good or funny (the one I used for the how-to example was a failure--I had to dig it out of the virtual trash bin), but it can be an amusing, even slightly educational, way to waste your time.

The Appearance of Characters in Real Life

I SAW THEM I SAW THEM

Okay I didn’t exactly see them, but it was pretty neat. I was sitting in a small library in a small extension of the community college while my brother was in his class. (I’m still there, actually, but by time of publication that will no longer be accurate.) And who should walk in but two girls with matching backpacks and black hair? Probably sisters! (even twins?? That might be pushing it.) Okay but get this. To top it off, one of them was wearing a lacey flowy sleeved top and had her hair all wavy and the other one was wearing a sweatshirt and had her hair casually pulled back.

I was internally excited. GAIL AND ERICA ARE REAL (well not really but kind of). It was just a nice coincidence. As it turned out the sweatshirted one was too outgoing and friendly (I caught her eye and she immediately smiled, plus she talked to a couple people at the drop of a hat) to be Gail. Also, they were Hispanic at least partly, whereas Gail and Erica are… well I’m not sure. They have pale skin (no freckles) and black hair and green eyes. The skin is negotiable, but still. Green eyes aren’t Hispanic. I think they’re at least partly irish. Maybe half Hispanic, half irish??

Well, in any case Rae is the Hispanic one. Which reminds me that a girl who could POSSIBLY be Rae if you squinted really hard and looked out of the corner of your eye also came in and communed with them for a bit which tickled me. (but now I think she’s with her boyfriend ? ? wow couples are weird)

ANYWAY CHARACTERS YEAH

Random updateydo

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting... Gone are the days (last year before college) where I blogged every day. I've been piling on the schoolwork... and not making much progress with work.

I really should be working on Geography, but it's going rather well for once and I was trying to make a point of blogging today.

I have a sunburn. Yesterday, I stood outside all morning and handed water to marathon runners! It was a lot of fun, I guess. c: My fingers stung before the sun came up, and I couldn't feel my toes for a while even after it came up. My shoulder also ached from extending my arm so far. All in all, a good experience!

Before that, I stayed over with Peggy for the night and came to a conclusion.
My friends are all cool with my family and each others' families, and can be all casual, but I tend to not be assuming very much and I don't react very casually to my friends' families WHICH IS RIDICULOUS because I've known them all  at least since middle school.
So I've decided it's time for me to start treating my best friends' families like a sort of extended family.  Hopefully minus the quibbling. There's no reason for me to be stiff or formal around them... haha. Silly me. I should be able to joke around with my friends' bros and have conversations with their parents... without feeling like I'm in the way at their homes!

After all, my best friends are practically going to be my sisters in a couple months. Which means I will end up with tons of extra bros and two baby sisters?! (in a theoretical sense obviously.)

Now I feel sorta like doing an evil villain chuckle 'cause I just realized that my siblings get to add to the menagerie surrounding the four of us.

It's nice to have so many people around to support us. We all have pretty big families (well, except you, Emma, but there is enough siblings to go around.)
It's so nice to have big families close by. ;u;

I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS.

Optimally I am going back to geography. The atmosphere has four distinct temperature zones--the thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere.*

You know, I was going to be doing this at Starbucks while Justin was taking his COLLEGE CLASS but his teacher was sick so we effectively drove for 40 + minutes round trip to turn in one paper. wheeeeeee

A note: I don't usually do school in coffee shops with unhealthy beverages. But I thought I could concentrate better not-at-home, and the library closed at six (the time his class starts usually). Boo. Well, instead, we went home and ate pasta. It was GOOD pasta.

Which reminds me, I had Chipotle for lunch! It was just the ticket, because my class runs through lunchtime and mom was picking me up so I didn't bring a lot of stuff, including food.

I don't mind the feeling of hunger, actually. And maybe my stomach has shrunk a bit, because I was really full after that burrito for several hours. There was some marker on the burrito because it was set on top of a marked container in the bag and the foil didn't cover the whole burrito. I ate it anyway. It's just a little marker..
-jump cut to emergency room scene. I am being wheeled down a white hall on a stretcher- SHE HAS INGESTED A TOXIC RESIDUE GET THE DOCTOR

Also, I got another backpack today. This time, it's lifetime guaranteed, so IT SHOULD BE THE LAST ONE.
(my plaid one is falling apart so I use it for childcare, my rolling one didn't work out like I imagined, my "cielo" one is way too big for school use, and my airport friendly one is very business oriented, with only room for a few flat things)
I wanted to just use Mom's old one that lasted her for eons, but it's apparently lost. Oh well. It's just as well that I get my own eons-worthy backpack. It is big enough for school stuff and is in fact student-oriented. It is in a neutral grey (so as to accompany my treks through life and changing interests without clashing).

OKAY OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH BLOGGING. The thermosphere roughly corresponds to the heterosphere.*

*any quotes/paraphrases of geography material come from Geosystems, 8e, by the son of Christopher. (christopherson)

Short update

For Creative Writing, I just had to write a really bad story. I made it pretty terrible but I also have a habit of writing badly on purpose for comedic effect, so I think that is what ended up happening.

In any case, it was really fun and nearly twice as long as it needed to be.

It was nice and rainy today so I explored this artsy building across the street that belongs to the campus. It's really cool! Even on a day when no one was outside there were still places to sit, so when it gets too hot later in the year or on rainy days like this one, that's where I'll go.

Thoughts on Fasting

So Lent is coming and everyone's probably at least thinking about fasting, even if they aren't planning on doing it. There are the food fasters who usually just restrict their diets in some way--the Daniel fast, or going off of sugar or going off of meat... and then there are those who simply give up something they like, such as coffee or facebook. 

So we tend to think of fasting as giving something up, going without something for a while, and using that as a reminder to give our attention to God instead.

My Bible has been open to Isaiah 58 for the past couple of weeks because much of it is about fasting--but not exactly the kind we usually think of.

So the Israelites were getting all proud about their fasting:

²     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
³ ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

They wondered what the deal was. They were being SO SACRIFICIAL. 

As it turns out, the problem was they weren't doing it for God at all:

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
⁴ What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
⁵ You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

 This problem was addressed by Jesus, too.

¹⁶ “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

-Matthew 6:16-18

If this was a problem both in the Old and New Testaments, it's probably still hiding around persistently in our attitudes today. Do we make too big of a deal out of our lenten fasting, talking about what we're giving up?

On the one hand, it seems like a casual conversation topic, not bragging, but maybe even getting our brothers and sisters in Christ to support us?

On the other hand, are we doing the fasting because it's the thing to do and not for God?

I'm not saying that's what's going on. But it's something to watch out for, and check ourselves and our motives.

So what kind of fasting DOES God want, going back to the Isaiah passage? Obviously not something showy. 

 

⁶ “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

 BAM!!

"but I thought fasting was about giving something up," you say, pouting, while wondering if maybe this means you CAN be on Facebook during lent after all but actually those things are pretty hard so maybe you'll stick with giving up facebook anway--

Yes, yes, these are hard. Because you're GIVING UP things that might profit you at the expense of others. You're GIVING UP your time and GIVING UP your effort for something that doesn't directly improve your life. GIVING UP your sanity to help out the Sackville-Bagginses when they come calling instead of pretending you're not home. 

Do I HAVE to?

You actually ARE giving something up, so it's still fasting in a sense. And it means a whole lot more to God, I think, than giving up some unnecessary part of your day because it's the time of year to do that. No, fasting from facebook or tetris or TV or whatever isn't bad. At the very least it's helping you cut down on something you might have too much of in your life. But unless you're spending that facebook time strengthening your relationship with God (chances are you're just checking your email more times), it's not really doing anyone much good. 

(This logic mostly applies to fasting other than food fasting, though meat or sugar are negligible in their necessity. Still, food in general is pretty necessary which makes it seem sort of like a stronger fast than a Netflix fast.)

Not only do acts of service benefit others, there's the whole sheep and goats thing too where when you feed the hungry, it's like you're feeding Jesus when He is in need, etc. So it has double benefits--people are blessed by God through you, and your faith is also strengthened/affirmed and all that. 

So these are just some thoughts. They aren't perfectly thought through or scholarly sounding, but perhaps you can chew on them for a bit.

Imagine that I made you a lasagna and the noodles are a bit undercooked but the nutrients are all there probably if you gnaw at it long enough though you might want to add some more seasoning and you'll eat it because I made it just for you. :)

All that said, I'm probably still going to give up tumblr for lent, not because I think it will make me dramatically more holy or that I think I'll spend more time praying (though that would be the ideal) but because I just spend too much time on there and this is a good excuse to curb the habit.

Color Fight

So, at youth group we did Capture the Flag with colors like that Indian festival. Justin, Kelsey and I stopped by goodwill beforehand to get white shirts. Mine had a moustache and a gopher on it and said "Gopher Illustrated" and so I liked it.

Also, getting this cornstarch in my hair made it feel really good after I washed it. Not kidding.

So yeah, that' that.

The picture is of someone slapping dust off of my back. The bokeh effect of floating particles is really neat. Photo was stolen from Stephen.

Accomplishment:

If you google image search "math in real life" my comic is the third result.

OH YEAH.

As everything does on the internet, it actually caused a debate---here's the link to it on the site where it was put into the limelight. :D
(a note of caution--there is some swearing in the comments.)
Now this all happened quite some time ago, but I remembered it today and I'm kinda impressed with myself for

a) getting WHO KNOWS HOW MANY people to see my comic (thanks to iwastesomuchtime.com--warning, it is called "I waste so much time" for a reason)
b) starting a debate with lengthy, thought through replies
c) having haters (it's just kinda funny. Several people theorized that I was just bad at math... tell that to my college algebra teacher who was disappointed that I wasn't pursuing a math career. ;D )
d) Having LIKERS. 2804 people said it was "awesome" just on that site, and I found a couple tumblr re-posts, a pintrest pin, and a weheartit page. I mean, even just one person liking something you do is a great accomplishment. I have literally made 2804+ people's lives just a tiiiiiiny bit better.

Most people who have seen the comic probably never thought to look me up, of course, but I occasionally get traffic on my blog from people looking up "manga pasta" and I'm pretty sure that's the reason. x3

OKAY BRAGGING TIME IS OVER

Feel free to tell me about any significant accomplishments you may have had in your life.

If my life was a movie, it'd get poor reviews.

Today something sweet and heartwarming happened to me, and instead of being your typical movie heroine and gushing about it etc, I just analyzed it and left.

The scene: somewhere between 10:30 and 11:30 AM. Outside. The sun is shining warm enough that the need for a jacket is negligible, but not warm enough to force its removal. I am sitting at a table near a sidewalk that many people pass by, reading a book about LSD (for a book report). Interested in the book and tuning out the sounds of people passing, I turn periodically to let the sun invade new parts of my hair. My back has been to the table for most of this time. When I rotate to face the table again--check the time, let the sun get the back of my head--I see a reddish pink flower a foot and a half away from my pile of stuff.

I do not react, I don't even stare at it or look around to see who could have put it there. I pretty much ignore it outwardly, take a drink of water. Then I screw around with my water bottle for a bit, trying to see if I can open it silently. After all, if someone left something on my table and I didn't notice, someone (someone else or the same person) could have POISONED MY WATER. (this is one of my most ridiculous concerns at school--I hate leaving my drink unattended.)
I take a picture of the flower to text to my friends, but very slyly in case the perpetrator is watching, lest he think I cared (aren't I an awful person?!) But it had been a while so I doubt they were still around. Still, it doesn't hurt to be too careful! (or maybe it does hurt... someone else's feelings... oh man I am a jerk)
In any case, I do not give the flower much attention, but I think about it as I text Bethany to see if we can meet up. It doesn't make sense as a very serious sort of thing--nobody knew I was coming today except Bethany, Emma, and my Mom.
That leaves it to be either a spur-of-the-moment thing (I forget to check if flowers like that grew anywhere nearby) or a pre-determined "random act of kindness" of which I happened to be the recipient.

After failing to contact Bethany, I decide to get up and walk around to see if I can spy her. (I can't.)
I leave the flower behind. After all, what am I supposed to do with a flower?


And that, my friends, is another story of my failures at social interaction. I'm not particularly inclined to care, but it was interesting, at least.

When strangers speak

It warms my heart to see strangers being friendly to each other. I guess it ticks me off the most when people are too busy with technology to interact with people. I can understand if you're buried in a book! I despair at the fact that nobody really talks to people, that people avoid eye contact, and pretend not to notice other people.

Of course, then I turn around and say that's the extrovert's job and go sit by myself and silently send "don't invade my bubble" thoughts at everyone who looks like they want to sit somewhere. It's kind of pathetic, actually.

I'm sure this is an area in which I need to improve. If I don't want to talk to someone who is making conversation (most of the time), I give short, cold answers and sometimes just leave if they don't seem to get the idea. I don't make excuses; it feels like lying. I know it's rude. I need to shape up. I'm really bad at this.

So yeah, I avoid conversation. But some days... it's just unavoidable. And I don't usually deal with it very well.

Just today I passed some older hispanic man on the way to the bus stop. I didn't like the looks of him, but I probably tend to be overly suspicious, due to potentials, prejudices, etc... In any case, he asked how I was (as I feared he would) and of course it only kind of reinforced my negative view of him which may or may not have been unfounded but in any case I gave a cold (maybe bitter?!) "fine" and kept walking, maybe a little faster, not listening to anything else he said.

So, that's an example of how rude and judgemental I am. And yeah, it's good to be careful, especially being a young girl, but I probably judged him way too soon, and my rudeness was unasked for. He may have just been being friendly.

At the bus stop, there were a couple other people who I wasn't worried about or anything. Some people got on other buses and when I got up to catch mine, THEN this dude who has been there the whole time decides to try to make conversation. ??? Why not in the half hour I was there before? I mean, I was a little far away, but that is confusing. In any case, his question caught me off guard, too.
"What do you do?" he asked.
"What?" I replied. He said nothing, so I repeated it.
"Interesting thing to do" he said, and I got on the bus.
My 'what' was partially because of the fact that I usually have people repeat what they said to me so I can get it right. The fact that he didn't repeat it threw me a little.
Also, the question. "What do you do?" sounds like it presumes that one has a job--not one flipping burgers--a profession.
And why would he want to know such a random thing?
And how could he expect to get a good answer as I got on the bus?

The world is confusing. In any case, I appreciate that it wasn't something lame and pointless like "how are you." XD But I don't get what he was trying to accomplish.

One more instance (three stranger run-ins in a day??). This one is a little more vague than the others. Also, it happened earlier, chronologically.
I am sitting and studying and then I hear someone yell, "Claire, do you have bus fare?"
o__o
 I think I must have misheard. Nobody here knows me as Claire and I don't know why anyone I do know would stop by and ask such a silly question. So I look in the direction it came from and there's someone in a car, but I can't tell if they're looking at me, but nobody else seems to be looking at them, and they just drive away.
Maybe I misheard. It was just odd. In any case, some good did come of it. I made sure I remembered putting my bus pass in my wallet (I had) and that made me remember my school ID was still in my jacket pocket so I put it away and that way it wouldn't get lost.
I mean, maybe that's the reason I heard that, to prevent me losing something pretty important.
Now, I'm not saying that was the case here, but I wonder about things like if God would have someone yell something random to no one in particular just to remind some kid about their school ID. That takes a lot of faith, not to mention guts. I mean, especially if you never know if anything comes of it, it seems really ridiculous. I would probably wonder if I heard wrong.

Anyway, that's my strange, thought provoking, and imperfect stranger-interaction for the day.