"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." -Pablo Picasso

I'm already beat, I have homework, and I just finished writing to my family.  I have zero energy to post on this blog.  I like this quote by Mr. Picasso.  And I don't know how frequently I'll write on this blog from now on.  At least weekly, I swear.  :)  So here's a song for you.  It helped me move in and be happy. :)  It's called "Just Say Yes" by Snow Patrol...and I love it!  So here it is:

So enjoy!  Later. :)

"I know every book of mine by its smell, and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things." -George Robert Gissing

I love this quote.  It's so true, every book has a special smell, and just opening it up and taking a whiff can bring back the memories of the last time you read it.  I love smelling books. :)

So last night was my first night in this apartment.  It's always different to live somewhere unfamiliar at first.  But I know that eventually, I'll be able to sleep right through the machine noise right outside my window and the fear of rolling off the top bunk.

So yesterday, I tried to watch Gilmore Girls, but it made me so homesick I had to stop.  So I went to a bunch of time-wasting websites that always cheer me up somehow.  I'll put the links:  http://dearblankpleaseblank.com/ and http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ are my favorite.  They are great, but terrible at the same time.  If you are a college student, they can be harmful to homework productivity.  But with Pandora playing, these websites can also be the perfect way to distract yourself from everything.  So enjoy!  Later. :)

"People . . . people who need people . . . ." -Barbara Streisand

I moved into my apartment today.  My room roommate isn't coming until tomorrow, and I knew that.  But my old room roommate who's now just a roommate decided to come tomorrow too.  So here I am, sitting in my six-girl apartment, all alone.  I briefly met one roommate, but I already forgot her name.  And the other two have yet to show up.  I'm sorry, but is it considered early to move in on the Friday before classes start?  Just wondering.

So with this empty apartment, and all of my stuff organized and put away, I have finally found out I'm a people person.  I need people around me.  All I've been craving all afternoon has been to go out to the kitchen and talk to my mom as she makes dinner, or go to my friends room and help unpack.  I want someone here to talk to, and I don't know anyone yet.

In times like this, I turn to a beloved show like Gilmore Girls to have a familiar friend around, like Paris or Lorelai or Emily that I know and love.  I can't talk to them, but I can forget for a little while how much I miss home, and instead get wrapped up in their story.  So with that I'll post the song I quoted...it was the only thing I could think of today.  It's "People" by Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl:

So enjoy!  Later. :)

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." -Mitch Albom,

So today is my last day home.  Tomorrow I move back to college.  I'm so excited but there is still sooo much I have to do.  There are, like, 50 lists I still have to write!!  But I'll get it done.

Today I'm spending the day packing and watching Gilmore Girls with my mom.  So it'll just be a kind of family day minus my two siblings.  This summer I have really felt the reality of being an only child, or as I like to call them, a lonely child.  I pity them, because they don't even know what they're missing out on.  I mean, they get plenty of attention....PLENTY....but they don't have anyone close to their age that they can fight with, and rely on in social situations, and talk to about the things you don't want to talk to your parents about.  I can't imagine life without siblings.

So something funny happened last night.  Yesterday, I quoted Lily Tomlin, someone that I had to look up before I posted her quote because I didn't know who she was.  I had never seen or heard about her before.  But then, last night, before my mom and I started watching Gilmore Girls, the Cooking Channel was playing.  It was this show called Extra Virgin or something, and I'd never seen it before.  But who showed up at the dinner as the lady's best friend?  Lily Tomlin.  I mean, is that coincidence?  Because that's just weird! :)

So I've got some playlists ready for moving into my apartment, so I'll just share a song I like called "Hey Mama" by Mat Kearney:

So enjoy!  I'm off to pack. :)

"Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?" -Lily Tomlin

Wow.  This is a deep question.  I mean, think about it.  There's the sole, the heel, the ball, the toes, but no name for the top of your foot.  You can't say, "Oh, I think I got a mosquito bite on my top."  The top of what?  Your head?  Your shirt?  I mean, the last place you'd guess is your foot, because it's at the bottom of the pyramid.  Or body, I guess you'd say.  But whatever.  Irrelevant.

So today was a great day so far.  I went to Target with my mom and grandma as a final shopping trip to get the things I forgot in the last four trips.  It bothers me to be disorganized.  But I finally have everything I need from socks to toilet cleaner.  It's a great feeling. :)  Plus my mom had a coupon for a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  So I got to choose a flavor.  A word to the wise:  stay away from Late Night Snack.  It's gross.  And it really is potato crisps rolled into a ball and covered with chocolate.  In ice cream.  I thought it'd be kind of like a pretzel covered in chocolate, but no.  So. Very. Different.  I can still taste it in my mouth.  So much for trying new things.  :)  So here's a song I like called "Gone in the Morning" by Newton Faulker.  It's got a nice sound to it, in my opinion, so watch it:

So enjoy!  Later. :)

"One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds." -Mahatma Gandhi

I love this quote.  It is the second Ghandi quote that I've posted, which I think is fitting.  I've done thirty-one posts, so this is pretty much like the second month.  So maybe each month will start with a quote by Ghandi. :)

I agree with this quote a lot.  Sometimes I think I make quick convictions about people or situations, and they turn out to be proven completely wrong.  I've realized that the more you study something out, or the more time I take to form a conviction, the stronger it is naturally.  If that makes sense.  There's a reason that the quotes aren't my own. :)

So this morning I packed up most of my stuff.  I'm excited to go back, but I hate the inbetween stages.  I either want to live here with all my stuff here or live there.  I like traveling out of a suitcase, but living out of one at home just feels weird.  I have enjoyed watching Gilmore Girls constantly, though.  It's just one of those things that brings complete relaxation to me.  And I definitely need relaxation right now.  I'm stressing about money stuff and textbooks and future roommates and everything there is to stress about.  But I've decided to not worry, just be happy. :)  Later.

"If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door." -Paul Beatty

So this post is going to be a little random and disjointed, but here it goes anyway!  So I liked the quote, it just doesn't fit into anything I did today.  It started out as a very productive day!  But it turned into a movie day. My mom and I, as I have mentioned before, have been frantically trying to finish our list of movies before I go back to college on Friday.  It's come to watching all afternoon and into the night.  Right now is one of our breaks!  :)  So today we watched Something Borrowed and even though everyone I've watched it with (except my mom) says it has messed up morals and say it's hard to root for the main characters, I just like the movie.  I love the characters.  I think as we watch movies, we want the characters to be perfect, like the perfect guy, the perfect friend, the perfect hair, but in all reality, these people don't exist.  I still liked this movie, even though the characters are flawed.  Here's the trailer:

And then, we watched Sixteen Candles, which felt like a right of passage.  I've never seen a John Hughes film before, so it was an experience.  I mean, that guy (his name is Jake, I think) is so attractive.  He's timelessly attractive.  Even though it was made in the '80s, he looks like he could be Superman in the modern movies.  Sometimes the characters are good-looking for their time, but he is just as attractive then as he is for today!  Here's a picture:

I mean, seriously.  He looks like Superman.  :)  Anyway, I've got to go!  So enjoy . . . . I know I did. Later. :)

"To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains." -Mary Pettibone Poole

I'd like to challenge this quote . . . . No, just kidding. :)  Just remember, I put the quotes that I agree with and like on here.  Maybe one day I'll put one I disagree with just to see if I have brains.  Then again, maybe I don't want to know the true answer . . . .  :)

So today my dad and I went to visit my grandparents and my sister.  We also stopped at Ikea.  I've never been there before, but it was really fun to see all the set up rooms.  It was a great day, and it even looks like we could be in for a thunderstorm!  That would just make it the perfect day.  So with the mental image of lightning in the sky, I have a song!  It's called "Light Up the Sky" by The Afters (and it's not really about lightning, by the way):

So enjoy!  Later. :)

"Breathe this beautiful world, together moving in the same direction . . . every one connecting." -Joy Williams

So in the past two days, I have gone to two movies in the theaters.  Last night, my two friends and I went to see The Help as a last hangout before we all go our separate ways back to college.  It was a great movie, with lots of heart and a meaningful message.  Each character is relatable to in some way, even the "bad guy" Hilly Holbrook.  There is just something in each of the characters that is completely human and personable.  I loved everything about it.  Here's the trailer:

And then today, my mom and I went to One Day to use the rain check tickets we got for our Harry Potter experience.  It was such a different experience.  I hated the movie.  I don't know why, but the whole movie felt slimy and cheap.  It seemed like there was no happiness in the world.  I was disappointed by it, because it looked so promising with the attractive Jim Sturgess and all.  But it was one of the only movies I've gone to the theaters to and actually wanted to walk out.  And I should've.

But there was one bright spot in the dark gloom of the movie:  the previews.  The Vow preview didn't look like a movie I want to see that bad, but I heard a new song in it that I really liked!  So my day was not in vain. :)  So here is "We Are" by Joy Williams:

I thought it was a great song, and it just makes me happy.  So enjoy!  And if you're going to a movie anytime soon, I'd recommend The Help for sure.  Well, I'm off to go watch Gilmore Girls with my mom!  Later. :)

"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes. That's a sentence I read once and I say it over to comfort myself in these times that try the soul." -Anne of Green Gables

Okay, so this quote doesn't exactly fit my day.  I don't feel like my life is a "perfect graveyard of buried hopes," but I just love this quote in the movie Anne of Green Gables.  My mom and I just finished watching the two movies and I love Anne's dramatic lines and Marilla's sensible wit.  So I was looking for the trailer to post on here, but then I saw this video that pays tribute to heroines in some of my favorite films ever:

I mean, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Gone With the Wind, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Little Women are all movies and books that I love and watch repeatedly!  All of these stories have dramatic leading ladies that have such spunk and gumption!  Which reminds me of another movie with Kate Winslet, The Holiday.  Great movies. :)  Plus the song in the background fits (not with the video, in my opinion), but with this summer.  The dog days do really seem to be over!  Bring on the fall.  But I'll also post the trailer that I found for Anne of Green Gables:

And yes, Diana.  I do think Gilbert is quite handsome.  :)  So enjoy!  Later. :)

"Well I ask, does anything ever stay the same? No . . . just same changes." -The Weepies

So I go back to college in a week.  Next Friday.  It's scary to go back, but completely necessary.  I can't stay here at home forever.  I've found that things never do stay the same, and the harder you hold on to something, the faster it will slip away.  As much as I have loved this summer at home, I am ready for a new school year and new roommates.  I'm ready for change.  Here's the song "Same Changes" by The Weepies that I heard in the movie Morning Glory and really liked:

And I need to remember that as hard as it is to change, I need to to move on and accept the changes that are heading full speed my way.  So enjoy!  Later. :)

"This could be the start of a new day / We could be the change." -Abandon

Today turned out to be an average day . . . . I went shopping with my mom and grandma at this cute little gift store boutique place that we go to every year.  It was weird to go without my sister, though, because it was a tradition that we all went together.  I did get a bracelet that is super cute!  It's made of jade and it has this hand-carved elephant on it (and the elephant's trunk is up, which I think means good luck!) and it came with this card that explained what each component means.  Call me cheesy, but I love stuff like that!  Firstly, I'm sold on anything with elephants or handcrafted details from India or somewhere cool like that.  And secondly, I love when things have meaning behind them.  To me, it's more special to wear a bracelet that signifies long life and strength than to just wear a pretty bracelet made in China . . . but that just might be my spoiled and snobbish ways . . . . :)

So I haven't really been spending time on YouTube lately.  My mom and I are having a crazy movie marathon before I go back to college next week.  We're watching Anne of Green Gables tonight, and Gilmore Girls the rest of the time!  We still have list of movies we want to watch, though, like My Big Fat Greek Wedding,  Parent Trap, and Gone With the Wind.  Who knows how far we'll get, but we're trying our best!  :)

So here's a song that I heard on a Food Network commercial a month or two ago and I really liked.  It's called "Live it Out" by Abandon:

So enjoy!  Later. :)

"It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation." -Roberto Benigni

Lately, it seems like gratitude has been a constant theme in my life.  Every lesson in church, every person I talk to, every movie or clip that I watch has somehow been about gratitude and saying thank you.  I've realized that I don't say thank you as much as I should . . . and as the quote suggests, that would mean that I'm mediocre . . . which is not something I want to be.  :)

See, I'm grateful that my sister came home this past weekend and hung out with me for the last time until Thanksgiving (most likely).  It was a fun weekend, and today I've found myself missing her.  Last year at this time, we were both about to be freshman in college and we were both excited to go our different ways.  We missed each other a little bit, but we were so caught up in the newness of everything and the fun of school that we didn't have time to start missing each other.  But somehow, I've finally started to miss her.  I am glad, though, that she came home and hung out for a while.

Another thing that happened that I'm grateful for is the big storm last night.  I love rain and lightning, and last night it lit up the sky.  It was really a great show!  Speaking of showing, I don't have any YouTube clips, but tomorrow maybe I'll find a really good one!  Later. :)

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." -Plato

Today was a good day.  My sister is visiting from college, so we rode a tram up to a ski lodge and hiked.  It was more of a nature walk though, because we didn't do a big hike.  It was lots of fun though!  And I don't have a video today, but I have a link to a picture of my favorite tennis player (who's now #1 in the world's eyes instead of just mine . . . .) right here:  Novak Djokovic is #1 :).  So enjoy that beautiful picture right there.  It's late, so I'll post more later!  :)

"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go." -Taylor Swift

So last night, my sister brought her college friends home to camp out in the backyard.  The camping part failed since it got pretty cold and there were a ton of mosquitoes, but we all sat in our backyard and talked around a campfire.  Campfires are magical.  Everyone looks great around fire, because it's flattering lighting.  Somehow everyone relaxes even if you are strangers.  There are things to keep you occupied, like staring at the fire or staring at the crazy people playing with the fire.  And there's always great conversation that shifts from philosophical questions to random rants in a second.  It really was a sparkling night around the campfire.  Here's the song I quoted, called "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift:

Enjoy!  :)

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." -Robert Orben

I've decided that now that I only have a few free weeks left before I go to school, I really want a vacation.  I want to go somewhere cool and see things.  But I guess I'll have to settle with seeing my sister's friends from college that are coming to camp out in our backyard today.  I've just decided that since I have to seriously scrimp in college, I'll save up some money for after college to go somewhere truly spectacular.  But until then, here's a perfect summer vacation song.  Plus there are cute animals:

Enjoy! :)

"Heels are a male invention designed to make women's butts look smaller . . . and to make it harder for them to run away." -Viola, She's the Man

First, I'd just like to say that She's the Man is a great movie.  No matter how many times I watch it, it can still make me laugh.  Secondly, I chose this quote because today is a monumental day.  Today I bought my first pair of high heels!  Okay, I know that this is just reinforcing my granny-like ways, but I have always stuck to the ground.  Gravity has never been on my side.  Flip-flops, ballet flats, and tennis shoes all have a spot in my closet, but never before have I owned (or even worn) a pair of high heels.  So today's purchase was monumental.  I should get my own statue. :)

Upon arriving home, I slipped my poor unsuspecting feet into the high heels and practiced walking around the house in them.  I must admit, it was much easier to walk in them imitating Elle Woods (hands up by the shoulders with a bag dangling from one elbow and a chihuahua in the other) than to try to walk normally, so the practice was fairly ineffective.  I guess the only way to find out if I can truly walk in the is to wear them in public and pray that I don't break my ankle . . . or worse:  fall. :)

"Here's a riddle for you...find the answer." -Five For Fighting

Today I got quite a bit done.  I made brownies, sewed really cute pillowcases, and finished a drawing of my grandma's brother.  Not to brag or anything. :)  But I also started to put together a few playlists for college.  It's kind of a hard thing to do, because when I like songs, I listen to them repeatedly until I can't stand them anymore.  So these playlists get old fast and I'll have to make new ones before college anyways.  I really want these songs to last though, because I like them a lot!  Here's one that I especially like called "The Riddle":

So enjoy!  And I'll keep searching for the perfect playlist that combines great melodies with thoughtful lyrics to make a song that makes me happy!  Later. :)

"Olympism is the marriage of sport and culture." -Juan Antonio Samaranch

Just to start off, I had no idea that "olympism" was a word, but I'll just go with this one.  I don't really know any good sports quotes, because I am definitely not an athletic person, but there are a select few sporting events I love to watch:

1.  Tennis:  Wimbledon and the U.S. Open are my special favorites.  Go Djokovic! :)
2.  Men's Soccer:  It's the universal sport!  The World Cup is just so much fun to watch and so are the players.... :)  Here's the official song from last year's, because I think it's fun:

And the book Outcasts United by Warren St. John is a great book about a refugee soccer team that I read last year.  It really captured something about the spirit of soccer and how it can unify people and cultures.  Here's the link:  Outcasts United Site.  So check it out. :)
3.  The Olympics:  Of course.  I mean, who doesn't love the world coming together for a competitive yet unifying sporting event that has everything you'd ever want to watch plus more!  (I mean, no offense to ribbon twirling, but really?  There's a reason they show you in the wee hours of the morning!)  I can't wait until next year's London's summer Olympics.  I'm looking forward to see if they can do something crazy awesome like Beijing's drummers:

I mean, that was just awesome!  How on earth did they coordinate that all?  I remember watching that live and I was covered in goosebumps.  It was truly epic.  And I'm going to be completely honest, I don't think London will even come close to beating this.  In all of the Olympics I've lived to see, this one is far above the rest.  There was just something different, and I don't think they'll be beaten for a while.  But it just feels like it's about time for a big event like the World Cup or the Olympics soon.  And I am looking forward to the U.S. Open that's coming up soon.  Djokovic's going to win the whole thing! :)  So that's my sporting rave.  Enjoy the videos! :)

"And it'll take a flight to figure out where I'm going to finally land." -Greg Laswell

Hey, so it probably shows that I've posted twice for Friday, but really I'm not that interesting!  I just wait too late in the day to finally sit down and blog.  So I have another Greg Laswell song for this blog called "The One I Love."  I think I've mentioned it before, but I'll post it because I really like it.  His style of singing is just great, and everything I've heard from him I've really liked.  So here's the song:

So today I had to mow the lawn....which I would say is pointless to mention, except I have a story that goes along with it.  I was just minding my own business, going back and forth across the lawn when my dad pointed out something or other.  So I stopped the lawn mower and looked (I think it was a plane.  In the sky.  But in our defense, it was flying really low and therefore cool.) only to realize that I was standing right by an ant hill.  I don't think I've ever actually been bitten by an ant before, but it actually hurts.  It's kind of embarrassing that something that small can make me run around the back yard like a lunatic, swatting at my legs....almost as embarrassing as mowing the lawn on a Friday night! :)

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." -Cyril Connolly

I know this quote might seem like a contradiction, because this blog is on the internet, where anyone can find it.  I started this blog, not to be read, but to write for the joy of writing.  I also want it to be a place where I can go back and see what I was thinking or what music I was listening to on a certain day.  So I liked this quote for today.  Well, yesterday I guess.  It's past midnight so this will be seen as Friday's post.  Oh well!

Today was a normal Thursday.  I didn't do anything great, grand, or wonderful, but I did start the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  It's one of those books that keeps you thinking.  As I read it, I wonder to myself what in our society today will be seen as intolerant and backwards?  When Skeeter writes to Harper & Row Publishers, she gets a reply that asks, "Don't waste your time on the obvious things.  Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else" (Pg. 83).  That's a great point for every writer to think about, in my opinion. :)

"Sense will always have attractions for me." -Jane Austen

Okay, I know I said that I watched Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility yesterday, but I finished watching it today.  I love that movie.  I had never given it much of a chance before.  I was younger, and it was a bit more boring to me than Mr. Darcy's very unsubtle prejudices and Lizzy's obvious pride.  But now that I've gotten older, I watched it with new eyes.  I loved every moment of it, from Colonel Brandon's every glance (played by the same actor that plays Snape in Harry Potter) and the oh-so-subtle romantic gestures of Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars.  I realized how romantic the little things can be, like a glance across a room or a brush of a hand.  In modern movies, I think that's lost when the directors decide to go big to get the point across.  Here's the trailer for the movie:

I mean, it's hard not to fall in love with this movie and its all-star cast (even Hugh Laurie is in it!), and it's the perfect movie for a day at home.  I definitely think this ranks up with Pride and Prejudice!  So enjoy! :)

"Oh this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart." -Colbie Caillat

I've never really been a huge fan of Colbie Caillat, but when I heard this song on the trailer for the new movie The Help, I had to look it up.  Internet's amazing that way....just type in a commercial and ask what song's in it and you can find it out just like that.  My friends tell me I sound like a grandma when I say stuff like that, but hey.  It's true. :)  So here's the song:

I just thought this song was a perfect summertime song.  And the evening thunder/rainstorm was just a cherry on the top of this ice cream sundae day!  I got stuff for my college room, watched some Food Network, and watched Sense and Sensibility with my mom.  Great day overall!  :)

"Short is the joy that guilty pleasure brings." -Euripides

Today is Monday.  Monday, for the past couple months, has meant one thing for me:  The Bachelorette.  I am ashamed to even admit it, because I'd rather keep myself in denial and say that I only tuned in each week to make fun of it.  But somewhere in the middle of Ashley getting dumped by Bentley (I mean, how awful was he?!) and finding her prince charming(s), I started to look forward to Monday nights.  Not just because it was a perfect time to criticize all of the shallow people that were on the show and all of those dumb enough to watch it seriously (which, of course, I was definitely NOT....), I got swept up into the plotted drama and actually started to care.  I started to root for Ashley instead of making fun of her annoying habit of constantly fixing her hair during the most tense moments.  It became the guiltiest of guilty pleasures.  I am definitely not going to watch another season, but every time I see a headline about Ashley and J.P., I'm sure I'll be drawn into it and just have to read it.  And I've learned to never say to myself, "Oh, I'll just watch the premiere episode, just to see if there are any cute guys."  :)

Another guilty pleasure is a music video I found.  I couldn't put the lyrics in the title of my post, because this song is made up of basically four lines that are repeated over and over.  And over.  And they aren't exactly quotable.  It's one of the most annoying songs, and I've found that randomly quoting even one line from it will create a chain of groans around a room.  So with that lovely introduction, I give you a famous song that everyone has heard, but no one has liked (except me, somehow):

I guess I shouldn't post a video that I have no idea what's in it past the first couple of minutes (I think you get the picture from the first round of the chorus), but I just had to post it since it's turned out to be guilty pleasure night anyway!  This song was in a random commercial that I only half listened to, and yet it got stuck in my head for a full three days.  I've already annoyed my mom and the cat with it, so I've made myself proud. :)  So enjoy!