Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My Commenting Thingy is Working!

I just managed to comment on a blog.
It was amazing.
:)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Once Upon a Time...

There was a teenager named Angela.

Angela was a pretty regular teenager, with all the good and bad things that went along with it. She could laugh at the High Schoolers, but her speech habits sometimes lacked a good vocabulary. She got to enter all the teen homeschool activities, but she had to have braces.

In fact, when Angela was younger, she had horrible teeth. Something had gone wrong and half the time her adult teeth would grow up behind her baby teeth, or sideways in between two, or they'd jut out at the wrong angle.
Angela spent a lot of time at the dentist's office having teeth pulled.

By the time that Angela was 12, she had truly atrocious teeth, so her mother took her to the orthodontist.
At the time, Angela didn't know what the deal was, so she went along reluctantly, trying not to think about orthodontists. (See, Angela's grandmother wanted Angela to be an orthodontist, so whenever Angela thought about them, she shuddered at the thought of those discussions she had had with her grandma.)

But although Angela couldn't tell it at the time, she really did have horrible teeth.
It was no surprise when the orthodontist said she needed braces. Angela sort of shrugged and walked away, though, because her mom said that braces hurt far less than they did when she had been a teen.

So, that fall, the orthodontist put the braces on Angela's teeth.

Her mother lied. The braces hurt.

The next two years went along pretty fast, what with school and camp, and everything.
Half the time, Angela forgot she even had braces.

But then came the fateful orthodontist appointment.

Angela walked into the office, and sat down, until someone called her back. She sat down and opened her mouth. Smiled about five times, open her closed her mouth several times more, brushed her teeth, and sat back down on that weird chair that dentists and orthodontists have.

And then the orthodontist came in.
Taking a look at her mouth, her proclaimed the news she had been longing to hear for two years.

"You get your braces off next time. Come back in four weeks."

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wish Me Luck!

So, tonight is the first night of my training!
Training?
Training for what?

Training to become an atrium teacher! I have one class a month (I think), always on a Saturday night, for about two years.
Then I will be a certified religious ed teacher.
Scary, huh?

Because we had to look at the rules to see if it was even possible for a 14 year old to take the training, I expect I'll be the youngest by at least 2 years, if not more. In fact, I'm fully expecting to be in a class with many adults.
This is not exciting.

But either way, once it's done, that's all I have to do. I'm certified for the rest of my life, and I can take that anywhere in the world.
Anywhere.


Either way, I'm kind of nervous about this whole thing, mainly because I don't know what it's like, who will be there, what is going to happen, if I'm going to be considered one of "those teenagers", or what.

...Okay. So I guess you could say I'm scared.
Very much.

On the bright side, at least I know my Gramma J will be there. So I'm not just going to be wandering around trying to find the place I'm supposed to be, or what I'm supposed to do, or anything.
Thank heavens.

To close off, let me clear up something in my last post:

When I was writing what my "thoughts" were, that did not mean that I'm mad at my friends for texting me. I enjoy getting texts. It makes me feel important. Mainly, I have really sarcastic thoughts, loads of of the time.
Sorry for that confusion.

And here is a homeschool video from YouTube.
It's pretty hysterical.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Introverted

It's not really a surprise to anyone I know that I'm much more introverted than extroverted.
I hate to go to parties.
I don't like being around medium sized groups of people.
I'm much happier being by myself in a crowd, because it still means I'm by myself.
(To clear this up, though... I don't like to be lonely. I like to be alone. There is a difference.)
I like to sit in my room.
By myself.
I talk much better over written word, partly because I don't have awkward gaps in my speech.
(For example, that previous sentence would sound, in real life, "I talk much better over written word... Partly because... I don't have... awkward gaps in my... my speech.")
I often blurt out what I'm thinking in my head, but only if it's a random fact (fact: they've created a way to identify zebras by their stripes, using the technology of barcode scanners), not if it's what I'm thinking (thinking: This shirt is uncomfortable. And.. wait. What the [beep] is on that woman's shirt?! ...Okay. That was the most awkward thing I've seen all day... Hmmmm... Gah! I'm being attacked by a rabid child! AAAAAHHHH!!! Save me! ...holy [beep]! Can't you [beep]ing people stop texting me for one [beep]ing second?! Gaaaaack! ...Wait. What the... Huh... PANTS!)
Oh. And I detest small talk. Hate it.
That's why I rarely start conversations (unless I've just arrived) by saying "Hello!". No. More like, "I'm trying to write a wanted poster for a future world where 'normal' people aren't allowed, and the 'regular' people are, and they're genetically engineered. So, artificial life. How would you recommend I word this?"

Anyway, enough discussing what I am like... Or more like, proving why I'm not an extrovert.
I'm not, by the way. (An extrovert? Valerie. An introvert? Me.)

One of the things about being an introvert, is that because being an extrovert is apparently the desirable personality type, is that it's very difficult to be introverted around people.

For example, let's throw two people at you.
Both of these people are 15 year old girls, look average, and everything. Okay?
We'll call the extroverted girl "Michelle" and the introverted girl "Alexandra".
Let's start our experiment.

Michelle is the sort of person who is going to bounce up to you and say "Hello!" and then proceed to bother you until you finally acknowlege her existence. She enjoys going to parties. She's good at talking to people. She can banter until forever, but doesn't burden you with any of her problems.

Alexandra is the type who will nod at you, maybe say hi, introduce herself, and then not say much else. I mean, she might sit next to you, she might make some sort of comments on whatever is going on, she might be EXCELLENT at making speeches...
But she's definitely not the type who is going to go out to parties every night. She doesn't say much. She might not smile much. She might ignore you. She might just nod. She's definitely going to try to get away from you as much as possible.

Which of these sound like a nicer sort of person? Who would you rather meet?

Michelle is most likely going to have a huge acceptance everywhere. People are probably going to like her. She's going to have friends. She's going to have fun. She's the type who is going to show up at camp and have at least three friends by the end of day one. (Trust me. I live with an extrovert. I've seen their methods at work.)

Alexandra is much more likely going to be considered "depressed" "antisocial" "emo" "too good" and so on. In fact, every single one of those adjectives have been used on me at least once or twice... Normally when I'm around a group of people, such as at camp, or at a party.
At camp, in fact, one girl seemed to be obsessed with me, and would walk around calling me "seriously depressed". She even wrote the words on her palm, and would flash them at me whenever I ignored her.
Which was quite often.

So, it's harder to be an introvert than an extrovert. We aren't often understood, except by other introverts. It's not always a good place to be, although it does have it's benefits.
For example... We're better people watchers. Why? Because we're perfectly content with sitting, and not having to talk, we can just sit silently and watch people walk by.
Secondly. If we were sims, our "social" need would go down very slowly. I mean, I have to text someone, or email them, or talk to my sister face to face, at least once or twice a day... But often it's just enough for me to be around someone. I don't necessarily need to have a so called 'conversation'... Especially when it's a conversation about me.

Anyway, I could go on and on about this subject... But I'm not going to. I have a feeling that this is quite long enough.
So I'm going to leave you with two links..
Here is one, about Caring For Your Introvert,
and here is the second one, 10 Myths About Introverts.
And in case you're curious, I completely agree with what he says, against the myths, in that second link. Yeah. That's us to a T.

Konnichiha!



Hello, everyone!

In case anyone's curious why that video is up there... No reason really... It's just really catchy. And I like it. :)

Moving on.

School! Considering the fact that most of my friends have been posting about how much homework they have, I think I'll jump on the opposite bandwagon and say..

I have just the right amount of work!
In fact, I finished almost all my work by noon today... All I still have to do is do two easy Western Civ tests, read some more of Paradise Lost (not as hard as some make it out to be, although I know I'm not 'getting' everything), read a sheet on Socrates, and 'answer' some philos-off-ic-al-ish-y questions.
Which I can all do before dinner, if I can motivate myself to do more than repeatedly listen to feel-good Superchick songs. ;)

Mainly, it helps that I have sort of a schedule. Sort of. Several of the days I have "extra homework", which basically means whatever I feel like doing... Any homework I really ought to have done, but haven't, or... nothing!
I hope this little program has been a nice change from "toooooo muuuccchhhhhhhh homework..."

Besides.

Optimists live longer. ;)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

My Deepest Apologies to Matt, KT, Cat, and Anyone Else Whose Blog I Have Viewed Recently.

I love getting comments.
In fact, I thrive on comments. I get a comment in my spam (yeah, blogger crap goes to spam), and I light up.
Why?
I don't know.
(Voice In My Head: I do! I like it because it means people are reading what I like. And that they obviously don't think I'm too snarky/sarcastic/annoying/idiotic/pathetic to ignore my blog! I like it because it boosts my ego! Because it means I'm special! Because-  Me: shut up.)
[cough]

But anyway, I love comments.
So, usually, I try to repay the people who comment on my blog, by reading and commenting on their blogs.
(I apologize. The only blogs I reguarly check are Wak3 and g0, The Lonesome Crayon, Insanely. -Cat, My Place My Space, Through Thorns, (sometimes) Epic Bob, Nairam of Sherwood, and sometimes, I'll Make My Own Path, Thanks.)

So, yesterday, I was trying to comment on a post that one of you had written. In fact, I tried about three times.
Repeatedly.
In fact, the scenario went as such:

Me: [tries to post comment]
Blogger: Please choose Profile.
Me: um... [clicks 'Google']
Blogger: You are not authorized to view this page. Please sign out and try again.
Me: [signs out and tries again]
Blogger: You are not authorized to view this page. Please sign out and try again.
Me: ... [signs out and tries again]
[repeat]
Me: Stupid... Freaking... [gives up]

One would think I would have learned my lesson.
But no.

See, I simply decided that my friend had comment posting turned off... Or only so that he could post.
Okay, I thought, I'll just tell him it was a good post some other way.

Fast forward a day.

Checking the blogs I follow, I noticed that there was a new post on The Lonesome Crayon. Since this is one of those blogs I actually do read, I decided to [gasp] look at the post.
So I did.
Reading through, I wanted to comment on the Western Civ chapter, and say that, "Well... The only real comment I have on the Western Civ chapter is that it's very... Bloodthirsty."
But.

Yet again, Blogger defied my every try to post a comment.
In fact, it wouldn't even show me a preview showing my name as "Angela". Only "Anonymous."
I don't actually think that both of these bloggers have comment posting turned off.

So, here are my deepest apologies.
[hands reader a box]

The End.

The Moral of This Story is...
You probably won't be getting any comments on your posts from me until I can figure out what the [beep] is wrong with my blogger/google account. If you really, truly, and severely need my opinion on your posts...
I will be very honored.
And, you will be better off just pestering me in whatever way works for you... Email, text, in person, over forum, whatever... Until I finally give you my comment.
That's all. :)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Procrastinator

One of the best things about being a homeschooler is that I get to be my own teacher, most of the time.
So, while other people get to wake up and go to school and do whatever their teachers tell them to?
I get to wake up, take a 3 mile walk at 6:00, come back by 7:20, do whatever I want until 8, eat breakfast, clean my room (always. My room has this... attraction to dirt. And grime. And stuff. My room can be perfectly clean, and in 12 hours it's covered with D&D books, regular books, school books, notebooks, clothes, fabric scraps, tape, pins, notebooks, scissors, paper snips, notebooks, dog hair, random-textbooks-from-classes-I-took-several-years-ago, notebooks, dictionaries, letters, shoes, notebooks, my camera, my phone, my ipod, notebooks, speakers, and all in all, other junk.)...
and then?
Decide what school I'm going to do each day!

True, I have sort of a schedule. I do math on Tuesdays, but not on Friday, I do geology on Wednesday, but not on Saturday, I do piano every day, I write on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays, but not on Mondays, I do literature on every day except Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday... And so on.

But I usually get to decide what I'm going to do. :)

For example, today this is what I wrote down on the second white board in our school room:

   Angela:
   Math - exercise 5.6
   World History
   OYAN Other Worlds
   Piano: Teach Ken
   Western Civ

See? That's what school I'm doing today. I've already practiced piano, which is why it isn't on there.

On to do exercise 5.6

Monday, August 22, 2011

Earring Tutorial/The Farm/Stealing Cat's Post

Hello!
As you can see from the title of this post, this is going to be a really, really lengthy one today. Sorry about that, but I haven't blogged in two weeks... Although I did read about five books, write a blog post, write the first chapter of Alyssa's book, and basically be a slug.
But I really need to blog. So this is going to be long.
Just so you know.

First of all..
A tutorial!

So, when we went up to the farm, we were going to play Dungeons and Dragons. As the people who know me, and my gaming style know, my family and I play with tiles and figurines, most of the time.
My sister, Veela, had been using a cat figurine instead of a mini, so she asked my mom and me to get her a mini while we were out. (We were going shopping.)
We stopped in one of my favorite hobby shops (it's not creepy!), but, alas! Wizards of the Coast is no longer making the minis!
This is tragic.
But, we had told Veela that we would get her a mini, so that she didn't have to play a cat, in place of her human rogue.
Debating what to do, we went to Target, and looked around. We found these tiny rubber toys (they have a name, I don't remember it), that look like they're on their way to becoming popular.
But.
They were the right size.
Not only that, they were cute!
So, my mom got two packets... One with Cinderella figures, and one with characters from Marvel comics. When we got back, we gave Veela the Cinderella figure to play with, and then opened the rest.

The thing about my brain is that I get the weirdest, most random ideas out of nowhere. I had already claimed the Spiderman figure as mine, and I also took Captain America (which I later traded for Wolverine. He's cooler.)
But, back to this paragraph's point...
The first thing I thought when I saw the figures? "I could totally make those into earrings!"

So, as soon as I got home (no, literally, it was about an hour after we arrived), I gathered my supplies, and ended up with an epic new pair of earrings. :)

Here's the tutorial.

Step One:
Gather Materials
Materials Needed:
2 Small rubber figurines (I'll put up the name when I remember it)
A hammer
A nail.
Two of those pins/wire things (I do know the name of them. But again. My brain seems to MIA today.)
Two earring hooks
A jewelry tool/pliers (that would be those red handled things.)

Step Two:
Punch a hole through the figurines using the hammer and the nail.


Step Three:
Remove nail.

Step Four:
Insert wires into figurine, with the circular end on the bottom.



Step Five:

Push wire all the way up, so that the circular bit disappears into the divot on the bottom of the figure. (In other words, you're shoving it up where the sun don't shine. If you pardon the image.)

Step Six:
Add the earring wires. (I don't have a tutorial for this yet, but it's fairly easy.)

Step Seven:
Repeat with other figurine.

Step Eight:
Wear!




*end of tute*

Next subject.
The Farm.
The farm is amazing. It's this old farm house in Wisconsin, about four hours away from my house here. It's quite hideous on the outside (well, some of the inside too) but all in all, I love it.
I'll have pictures soon, of my room up there.

*Next subject*
Stealing Cat's post.
So! My friend Cat/Linda has a post up... About 50 random facts about her. Only she only has 25. So I'm going to try to beat that. (Maybe I'll even get 26! Woot! haha). Here goes. (Feel free to skip this. If you want. And you don't mind my minions hunting you down. And all that jazz.)

  1. I have Lyme's disease.
  2. I have been playing piano since I was 6.
  3. For some inexplicable reason, I'm considered to be funny, and have actually managed to summon up some weak laughter from some. And of course, some people just start crying. I guess it's my lame attempt at humor...
  4. I am, in fact, made of ice cream, and will melt if left out in the sun too much. (Alas! I am not ice cream invented by Mr Willy Wonka.)
  5. I am not above making fun of myself, and will in fact, do just that as frequently as I possibly can.
  6. I am not above making fun of High Schoolers, and will make as many jabs in their direction as is humanly possible. (Though, they probably think I'm joking... They're too stupid to realize that not all of us teenagers think we're the greatest things since QWERTY phone keyboards.)
  7. I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was around 8 years old.
  8. I text way too much than I should.
  9. My favorite words are "Autodidact" "Decrepit" "Victimize" "Homicidal" "Pizazz" "Fabulous" "Onomatopoeia" "Java" and "Spectacular".
  10. I want to be a professional blogger.
  11. I will develop superpowers by the time I'm 18.
  12. My favorite superhero is Spiderman, and my favorite hero is Batman. (He isn't a superhero... he has no powers besides being fabulously rich.)
  13. I have the Animanics "Presidents" song memorized up to Woodrow Wilson.
  14. the Animaniacs are my heroes.
  15. I still have not finished reading the Lord of the Rings.
  16. The Hobit, however, is a good favorite.
  17. I believe that most YA books are idiotic, stupid, fluffy, and altogether a complete waste of time.
  18. However, I do not read Adult books, because I find some of the content to be similar to that of the YA.
  19. My favorite Mystery books are Nancy Drews.
  20. I read Murderous Maths for fun.
  21. Veela or my mom and I can recite the Horrible Histories "Alexander the Great" from heart.
  22. I am transformed into a triumphant knight every time I go up the stairs with a broom.
  23. I wave at everyone on roller coasters.
  24. I am, in fact, a trendsetter.
  25. I am totally the meanest.
  26. My secret ambition is to become Legolas and kick butt.
  27. I am a Whovian in training.
  28. Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mythbusters, Merlin, and River Monsters are the only TV shows I will watch.
  29. My favorite number is 2,763.
  30. I think I come off as being cooler than I actually am.
  31. I have had exactly two people cite me as being the smartest person they've ever met.
  32. I don't believe in being smart.
  33. I can literally spend hours playing piano.
  34. My best friends in the world are Hydrocortisone Cream, Fashy (my hot waterbottle), Mr Heater, my Dictionary, and SCOTT.
  35. I'm not really a dog person.
  36. I used to own over 10 fish, and they were the best thing to happen to me since I discovered notebooks.
  37. I am obsessed with office supplies and Alaska.
  38. I have set up a psychic connection between me and my friend's dog, who is secretly an alien.
  39. Up until three or four days ago, I had exactly 149 books on my bookshelf.
  40. I love ancient books.
  41. My favorite vampire book is Carmilla, which is about a lesbian vampire.
  42. The most likely conversation I am to have with anyone is what their plans are for the ZA.
  43. I very recently started considering a career as a mathematician.
  44. For some reason, mathematician makes me think of top hats.
  45. One of the nicknames my family has for me is "Angela I-Need-Another-Bandaid J---------"
  46. If I were to change my name, I'd change it to Cassandra.
  47. I do not have a regular sense of humor... "Funny" books rarely come of as being funny, but things that happen in real life that no one finds funny, crack me up.
  48. Beans are the best thing since beans.
  49. I often use the words "queer" and "gay" in their original meanings... Queer meaning "strange" and gay meaning "joyful" and "happy".
Yeah. I could have thunken up one more. But I didn't feel like it.
Anyway, it's bed time.
Ta ta!
(Heigh ho... do you know... the names of the US residents... who then bcame the presidents...)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

I Had Planned to Have an Awesome Post, But Instead You Have to Deal With This...

My apologies. I had about three different post ideas (weird things people ask me about being a homeschooler, some random quotage from my sister, the "oh well I'll use something else oh look here is that thing I was looking for" syndrome... which one sounds best? Just for future reference)... But do you get to read any of them?
No!
Of course not. Why would I give you guys, my amazing readers, anything that was actually interesting?!
Psh.
That would be crazy.
No, I'm going to fill up my blog with more useless ramblings and apologies.

Apologies?
What?
What has Angela possibly done that requires her to apologize?
That never happens.
Duh.

But, actually, I know it's shocking, but I do have to apologize.
Because I won't be posting for the next 2 / 2 1/2 weeks.
Becuase I'm going to be in Wisconsin, without internet*... And yeah. I won't be posting.
*sobs*
I'm so sorry.
You're going to have to live without my useless talks about pretty much everything and anything and nothing that happens to be going on in my life, mind, imagination, any of the beforementioned in someone else's mind, random quotage from books, and videos from youtube, and the random crap that just jumps out of my mind and onto the computer in form of a blog post and did that make any sense at all?
See?
Yet more Angela-isms.

Anyway, I'm going to be gone, so expect no posts from me, and that's about all. :P

Oh, and a last bit of random quotage...
"Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there" ~ The Real World by Owl City
I was going to have a random YouTube video, but I feel too lazy to go find one.

*Heck, I won't even have a computer.  Having internet but no computer would be like having an icecream scooper without the icecream. A pizza pan without the pizza. A bookshelf without books. The cover of a book without the actual book. A digital camera without batteries. The TARDIS without The Doctor. A t-shirt without scissors. A potato chip bag without chips. Anything without a notebook. A blog without a blogger. A...
Do you get the point?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Random Quotage

    But his doom
Reserv'd him more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and steadfast hate:
At once as far as Angels' ken he views
The dismal Situation waste and wild,
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace falm'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd only to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a firey Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulpher unconsum'd:
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordained
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from teh Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the plae from whence they fell!

~From "Paradise Lost" by John Milton