Ho-ho-homoousias

I saw a link to this on one of my favorite blogs. I thought I would share. I hope you find it as profound and meaningful as I have. Enjoy and Merry Christmas. May the season bring you all possible joys.

"Words, words, words"

Every time I come to write something for my blog, I seem to get a severe case of writer's block. I have so many ideas and thoughts that float through my conscious mind but whenever I sit down and actually try to write them out, the words always appear to die before they reach through my fingers to the computer keys. I'm not sure if this is a very good habit to form, and so I am endeavoring to break it by simply writing and attempting to express my reflections in intelligent conversations with others. Often times I struggle to compose my thoughts without first expressing them through spoken language. By talking out loud, I am forced to understand the concepts first, form a viewpoint and flush out any fallacious ideas before I begin the actual writing process. And although I am not always afforded this luxury, I am extremely grateful for any opportunity when I can employ this method. I began to think about all of this during the course of yesterday evening. How amazing is our Creator, that He has endowed in us an ability to not only reason and emote, but to then be able to communicate those thoughts and feelings to other immortal souls through language? I just finished reading Frankenstein , and I was struck by one curious topic that arose. In all of the campy, melodramatic, and often faulty renditions of Frankenstein produced throughout the years, the monster always seems to communicate through a series of groans or moans before he rushes fulfill his "animal" desires by murdering another innocent human being. However, in the novel, through months and even years of painstaking effort, the monster learns the language of men and becomes so eloquent that he is able to persuade Victor Frankenstein that a female companion must be made to afford him any happiness in a world that otherwise abhors his presence. Why did so many adaptations neglect to give him the power of speech? I mean, isn't that exactly what it is? Power? The monsters in all of the bad Saturday matinee movies are rarely given this faculty, alienating them from anything that even appears remotely human in an attempt to make them more frightening and remove us from sentiments of pity or compassion. However, when Frankenstein's monster speaks in a tongue recognizable to human ears, doesn't that make the situation somewhat more frightening? But then why is this more frightening? Perhaps it's because we recognize that a man has unlocked the key to existence and given life to a being, defying all of the natural and moral laws, and yet that being is able to experience and communicate feelings and ideas that are characteristic of mankind and even appears to possess a soul. As I read Frankenstein, I felt compelled to pity the monster as he related his tragic tale and his simple desire for companionship and love. But each time Frankenstein himself would provide prospective by relating the horrifying details of another of the monster's blood-thirsty and vengeful crimes. Isn't it simply amazing how our attitudes can shift with such celerity? One minute we watch Boris Karloff moan as he tosses a young girl into a lake, and we simply shutter at the grotesque spectacle, but the next, with the simple addition of spoken language, we pity and are almost inveigled by the monster's eloquent speeches. Should we feel pity for Frankenstein's monster? a living being created through man's skill yet in possession of what appears to be a soul? In the end, the monster doesn't seem to think so. But I'm still not sure. Perhaps I still need to think about it and discuss it some more....

O Blogge, Where Hast Thou Gone?

I haven't posted in a while. What to say? Well...

I auditioned for the "Spotlight Awards" at the Dorthy Chandler in LA.

I went and saw a production of Fools. Makes me laugh.

I think Candide is a rather naïve and shallow character.

"We're so alike. Only your hair is so much shorter than mine."

I started college applications.

I'm drowning in sea of essays and forms.

*gurgle.... gurgle*

I watched The Terminal last night. I remembered how cool Kaminski is.

I started Henry V. I LOVE SHAKESPEARE!!!!!

I love my dog. She is fuzzy.

That is all for now. Must be more creative.... cogite...cogite....

It is well

I think it was on Saturday when the director at my theatre company delivered the devotion to the cast. Although I had already heard this hymn before (and knew the background information concerning its conception), I was reminded once again of the powerful love of God to bring peace, even in times of trouble. I can't even fathom having lost five of my children under such tragic circumstances and then writing something so profoundly moving and amazingly powerful. Thank you Lord that you do indeed bring such indescribable peace to our souls!

It Is Well With My Soul
Text: Horatio G. Spafford
Music: Philip P. Bliss

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

(Refrain)

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

(Refrain)

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

(Refrain)

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

(Refrain)

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

(Refrain)

Homer Buddies

Yesterday I spent all morning reading the "Odyssey" until I went to a voice lesson in the afternoon and then a play rehearsal in the evening. I must say that I am really enjoying the the "Odyssey," and am ashamed to admit that I am enjoying it more than the "Iliad" (they are both works that are necessary reading for the well educated individual). However, when you have been trying to read parts of the "Iliad" out loud to yourself and it takes you a half an hour to get through two pages while you struggle with the slew of barely pronounceable Greek names, you might become slightly tired of reading it too. I kid. The "Iliad" is truly a masterpiece of Greek literature and certainly poses many interesting questions concerning the nature of heroism, honor for the dead, the roles of women within the ancient society and so much more. Awesome food for thought. Go gorge yourself.

Anyways, I got up yesterday morning and went to the red chair that sits my window and I opened the blinds to let the glorious sunshine in. I sat down and began reading where I had left off the day before. Maybe about five pages into reading, the dog happily trots in and contentedly lays by my feet. I pat her for a while, all the while continuing to read. Suddenly the dog gets up and trots out of the room, shortly returns only to paw at my chair as if to say "Silly human. This is my chair. GET OUT!" I firmly answered with a "No Emma" determining not to pay her any more mind. Suddenly the dog jumps up onto the chair and makes herself comfortable on my lap. Luckily she is a rather small dog, otherwise this could have been a potentially painful experience. She settles down and promptly falls fast asleep suspended on my lap. I place my book precariously upon her stomach and continue. She lay there for about 45 minutes, occasionally looking out of the window, which would then cause my book to go cascading down the slope of her stomach causing me to loose my place. My dad walked in to say good morning and found this rather strange yet humorous sight. He looked apprehensively at the dog. I declared emphatically, "She is my Homer buddy today."

Me....

hard at work at one of my dad's video shoots. Can you guess what I was doing?

Oh, I'm sorry, you didn't answer in the form of a question. The answer was "What is keeping time code?" :)

The Deeds of Mercy

Well, last night I went and saw an excellent production of The Merchant of Venice performed by the "Shakespeare by the Sea" company. Every summer "Shakespeare by the Sea" chooses two Shakespeare plays (usually a comedy and a tragedy) and travels to different oceanic cities around Southern California for six weeks giving quality performances absolutely free. I must admit I was somewhat apprehensive about going this year after being quite disappointed by their performance of Hamlet last summer. However The Merchant of Venice turned out to be quite enjoyable. Despite never having seen the play in its entirety before, and only having read portions of the text itself, I already had an appreciation for its characters and plot. Before I continue I must commend the actors who played Shylock and Antonio, who were both excellently cast and convincing in their roles as the bitter Jew and the unfortunate merchant.

Here is Antonio and Bassanio making the agreement with Shylock

Here is Bassanio winning the hand of the fair Portia.

In addition to enjoying the play for its quick wit and gripping plot, Shakespeare presents a rather interesting and important theme of mercy. Early in the play, the merchant Antonio agrees to a bond with Shylock wherein, if he cannot repay his debt, he will be forced to surrender a pound of flesh from any portion of the body Shylock so desires. When Antonio's shipments are lost, he is unable to repay the bond and must submit to its gruesome requirements. During the climax of the play (Act IV Scene I) Bassanio's wife Portia (unbeknownst to him) arrives at the court disguised as a man to act as Antonio's lawyer. She tries to convince Shylock that he should show mercy:

PORTIA
Then must the Jew be merciful.

SHYLOCK
On what compulsion must I? tell me that.

PORTIA
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

Yet, despite this eloquent speech, Shylock stubbornly demands the letter of the law to be carried out. Portia then plays to Shylock's thirst for justice by pretending to wish an ill fate upon Antonio. However, she warns Shylock that the agreement says nothing of Antonio's blood and that if a drop is extracted, Shylock may be condemned to death. In despair, Shylock must beg for mercy and is forced by the court to forfeit half his lands and to become a Christian. In this scene it is interesting to notice Shylock's demand for the exact letter of the Law and his wish only for justice instead of mercy. One may wonder though: did the court really show Shylock true mercy? and can you really force another person to change their beliefs by simply demanding that they do so? When an individual becomes a Christian, a change of heart is necessary for true conversion. One may claim to be a Christian and maintain the outward pious appearance, but without repentance, they remain unchanged by the grace of God. In Romans, Paul asserts this when he proclaims, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outwardly in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (2:28-29). Just as one cannot be a Jew by claiming to be so without any belief, one cannot be a Christian by solely proclaiming to be one out of fear, but must also have a profound sincerity of heart coupled with a proclamation of faith. Just some stuff to think about.

The speech Portia gives is exquisitly beautiful. The Bard was indeed a very brilliant and wise man. Man's mercy is indeed a slight fraction of the true power of the mercy of God. Humankind is enslaved in a bond much like Antonio, but with much graver consequences. In the end, we do not shed our own blood, similar once again to Antonio, because Christ has already paid for the bond through His mercy, His own blood. Though God is just, He is also merciful, for He offers us the opportunity of eternal life.

Thank you William Shakespeare for giving me so much food for thought.

Thomas Aquinas Prayer

A Prayer for the Virtues

O Almighty and all-knowing God, without beginning or end, who art the
giver, preserver, and rewarder of all virtue:

Grant me to stand firm on the solid foundation of faith, be protected by
the invincible shield of hope, and be adorned by the nuptial garment of
charity;

Grant me by justice to obey thee, by prudence to resist the crafts of the
Devil, by temperance to hold to moderation, by fortitude to bear adversity
with patience;

Grant that the goods that I have I may share liberally with those who
have
not, and the good that I do not have I may seek with humility from those
who have;

Grant that I may truly recognize the guilt of the evil I have done, and
bear with equanimity the punishments I have deserved; that I may never
lust after the goods of my neighbor, but always give thanks to thee for
all thy good gifts.

Plant in me, O Lord, all thy virtues, that in divine matters I might be
devout, in human affairs wise, and in the proper needs of the flesh
onerous to no one.

And grant that I may never rush to do things hastily, nor balk to do
things demanding, so that I neither yearn for things too soon, nor desert
things before they are
finished.

Amen.

(sorry for not posting a lot recently, but I'll be back to posting more regularly soon)

Happy Fourth Everyone!

In spite of my wish to be more profound about the Fourth of July, I thought I'd let Fred do the talking with his feet. Enjoy!!!

And Flopsy's Glad Too....

Aren't you Flopsy?



I definitely love these Monty Python sketches....

End of the Year Reflections

Wow. On Friday I finished my third year of high school. I still can't believe that I am done..... YAY!!! It has definitely been a memorable year. My third year in Latin, my first year of the Ryman program, "Dracula vs. the Lochness Monster with Ninjas," my first lead role at BYT as Mrs. Higgins, and last but not least, I finished my third and last year of Torrey Academy. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this program. It has changed me in so many ways. I have grown as a student (reading some of the greatest literature), as a person (learning to think and discuss articulately with my peers), and as a Christian (through contemplation of many of the texts and devotions). All three years have taught me so much in their own ways. For the last two years I have been privileged to have the same Torrey tutor, Mrs. Anderson. To you Mrs. Anderson, I just want to say thank you so much for all the knowledge and guidance you have given to all of your students. We will all dearly miss you. And to my class, Gabrielle, James, Christina, Kyle and Julia:

you guys have been so awesome and I am so grateful to have know you these last three years and I pray that as you go off to college that you continue to seek the Lord and His will for your lives. Thank you for all of the laughter and even the moments of heated disagreement :)
On Friday night our entire class attended the Torrey Banquet to celebrate our successful completion of the year. The student musicians were very good, MK and Kyle, you guys rock! and the food was actually pretty good (for banquet food). It was also a very exciting night. Both Julia and I won term paper awards! She won second place for the Faith of Our Fathers papers and then I won the "Aston Moffat Excellence in Scholarship" Award for my last term paper about the poet Petrarch. (in case you are wondering, Aston Moffat is a character from Charles Williams great work "Descent into Hell" who is a true scholar, compared with Wentworth, who could honestly care less about any sort of scholarship). It was so exciting and such an honor! I thought I was going to pass out I was so surprised. When they called my name I could barely believe it and I only moved from my seat once my fellow classmates began prodding me. :)
Anyways...
Thank you guys so much for everything. I will miss you.

W. Rabbit's House

For one of my final projects of the year was to build a themed miniature garden, so I chose Alice and Wonderland. At first I had planned to do an all-encompassing sort of Wonderland theme, but then I decided to narrow in my focus a little. I must say that the results were pretty awesome. I built both the box and the house (with some assistance) and then I painted the house and painstakingly thatched the roof with pine needles that my mother and I gathered from planters in front of our neighborhood Vons.


I also made the rabbit on the front porch. And I'm not sure if you can see it clearly in any of these photographs, but I added an arm in the window (Alice's). :) I'm really happy with how it turned out.

'Sup

My dad an I were driving home from USC yesterday when we drove to Del Taco to pick up something to eat. I ordered my usual meal of two burritos and a quesadilla, but my dad decided to order a meal (which consequently comes with french fries). When I was unwrapping the food in order to find the items I so anxiously longed to devour, an avalanche of small packets of ketchup came spilling into my lap. I paid no heed and began shoveling them back into the bag when I flipped on of them over and read: "Del Taco's Fancy Ketchup". May I venture to ask what qualifies ketchup as fancy? This may seem like a really stupid question... but I would like to know if anyone knows or has a guess. No reason. Just curious. :)

A Sonet for a Sunday Afternoon

A Sonnet: Burning (by Me)

Such loving hands define thy gentle form,
Each mark inspired by gentle God above,
How many lives each thought then did transform,
Full tales of noble chivalry and love.

How long they sleep in darkest corner hid,
Forgotten, through once loved by each man,
Restored to former glory like “El Cid,”
Though Time’s tiered mind has come and ran.

New shadows creep across the darkened sky,
Good friends laid waste and naked on the pyre,
Remorseless hands strike out, as they all cry,
E’er lost within the all consuming fire.

Bright tongues lift high and angry crimson glows,
The blood-like ink from which a river flows.

hehe

I laughed so hard when I found this that I nearly passed water through my nose!!

Yeah......

Blessed Easter!

Hallelujah the Lord has risen,
Jesus, You have conquered the grave,
Lift your voices, shout the good news,
Great is our God and mighty to save!!!

Amazing!!

I was listening to this song on my computer and I was suddenly remined of a video my dad showed me a while back. This man is pretty awesome!

Ponderings and Large Mammals

Huzzah! I finally finished the great presentation of doom on Wednesday! (quiet cheers as Armand lifts her hands in victory as the "Rocky" theme plays in the background) It is done! YAY!!!!! Anyway, the other night I was reading a section of C.S. Lewis' "The Silver Chair" (procrastination! shocking! gasp! falls over into a heap!) and I was interested by something that Puddleglum the Marshwiggle says. When the evil Witch has captured the four main heroes under her enchantment, and subsequently questioning their knowledge of reality (by asking them to define the sun or a lion [which they are unable to do to the Witch's satisfaction]), Puddleglum's will remains so deeply rooted in the reality he knows and recognizes as truth, that he is able to withstand the stupor that seizes the other characters. Upon breaking the Witch's enchantment Puddleglum says: "Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." What an awesome testament for the existence of a God who is so much greater and more wonderful than we could possibly imagine He could be. If we imagine Him as anything less, we are just deluding ourselves in a false reality such as the Witch's. We can believe in something and Someone so much more powerful. Just some cool stuff to think about.

And then today I went to Ryman art classes and, for the second week in a row, we walked over to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (not that far away considering that we were only at USC) to do drawings of animals. So lately I've been making the acquaintance of a rather angry looking stuffed grizzly bear. He has been a joy to draw, other than my leg falling asleep :) But it is always interesting to see the groups and families that come to the museum to see all of the exhibits. You also get lots of people either watching over your shoulder or as one group of little girls did, sit down next to you and point out that your drawing looks like the bear. :) it was pretty cute. Some children simply need to be rangled by their parents (at one point I stepped back across the room with my teacher and some children stood uncomfortably close to my drawing and the parents did nothing about it!*sigh* anyway, at another point I stepped away from my drawing to view it again and (I didn't even notice until I was walking back towards it) but a bunch of guys were standing a few feet away from it and taking pictures of my drawing with their cell phones...grrrrr......Well, I have done my venting for the day... :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I rise today:
in power's strength, invoking the Trinity,
believing in threeness,
confessing the oneness,
of Creation's Creator.
I rise today:
in the power of Christ's birth and baptism,
in the power of his crucifixion and burial,
in the power of his rising and ascending,
in the power of his descending and judging.
I rise today:
in the power of the love of Cherubim,
in the obedience of angels,
and service of the archangels,
in hope of rising to receive the award,
in the prayers of Patriarchs,
in the predictions of prophets,
in the preachings of Apostles,
in the faith of confessors,
in the innocence of holy virgins,
in the deeds of the righteous.
I rise today:
in Heavens might,
in Sun's brightness,
in Moon's radiance,
in Fire's glory,
in Lightning's quickness,
in Wind's swiftness,
in Sea's depth,
in Earth's stability,
in Rock's fixity.
I rise today:
with the power of God to pilot me,
God's strength to sustain me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look ahead for me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to protect me,
God's way before me,
God's shield to defend me,
God's host to deliver me:
from snares of devils
from evil temptations,
from nature's failings,
from all who wish to harm me,
far or near,
alone and in a crowd.
Around me I gather today all these powers:
against every cruel and merciless force,
to attack my body and soul,
against the charms of false prophets,
the black laws of paganism,
the false laws of heretics,
the deceptions of idolatry,
against spells cast by women, smiths, and druids,
and all unlawful knowledge
that harms the body and soul.
May Christ protect my today:
against poison and burning,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may have abundant reward;
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me;
Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising;
Christ in the heart of all who think of me,
Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me,
Christ in the eye of all who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
I rise today:
in the power's strength, invoking the Trinity,
believing the threeness,
confessing the oneness,
of Creation's Creator.
For to the Lord belongs salvation,
and to the Lord belongs salvation,
and to Christ belongs salvations.
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.

Dracula

You all need to come and see this next weekend! MUST!!!! :)

The Misses Vickers

Super Happy Fun Time!

I'd forgotten how much I love the Getty! While we were at the Getty we visited an exhibit on French Illuminations. Now, you have to understand that for Torrey I did my presentation on The Consolation of Philosophy and thus I have this sort of strange love for all things related to it. So when I saw these, I nearly jumped out of my skin!



Illustrations from a manuscript from "The Consolation of Philosophy." They are just so beautiful, and to actually see them was neat.

Muffins!!

ALGERNON
If it was my business, I wouldn't talk about it. [Begins to eat muffins.] It is very vulgar to talk about one's business. Only people like stock-brokers do that, and then merely at dinner parties.
JACK
How can you sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can't make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.
ALGERNON
Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.
JACK
I say it's perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances.
ALGERNON
When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me. Indeed, when I am in really great trouble, as any one who knows me intimately will tell you, I refuse everything except food and drink. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins. [Rising.]
JACK
[Rising.] Well, that is no reason why you should eat them all in that greedy way. [Takes muffins from ALGERNON.]
ALGERNON
[Offering tea-cake.] I wish you would have tea-cake instead. I don't like tea-cake.
JACK
Good heavens! I suppose a man may eat his own muffins in his own garden.
ALGERNON
But you have just said it was perfectly heartless to eat muffins.
JACK
I said it was perfectly heartless of you, under the circumstances. That is a very different thing.
ALGERNON
That may be. But the muffins are the same. [He seizes the muffin-dish from JACK.]
JACK
Algy, I wish to goodness you would go.

A Poem (by me)

The call strikes and the shadows descend,
Morose, like statues they stand,
Through their faint whispers no message they send
A sea of grey tombstones upon the dead land.
The call strikes again yet no one pays heed,
No ringer required for this bell,
All come to witness the hideous deed
And see one more friend sent to hell.
One step on the grass and the earth beneath shakes
A glint from the hand blinds the eyes
Yet not from the shadows a quiver or quake
The moment before someone dies.
A footstep replies from across the straight way,
The ominous call repeats once again,
Time has come finally for one man to pay,
Two shadows face off on the plain.
How long is the wait before it begins?
The terror is strung on the air,
The final result of man's mortal sins,
All passions and hatred laid bare
Four shoulders heave as they're turned back to back
The shimmer of sweat on the brow,
Eyes bright and fierce but compassion they lack,
Sworn to murder with one solemn vow.
Each step that they take seems as long as a year
Time herself has stopped dead in her tracks,
But from the shadows no sorrow nor tear
Swiftly two shadows turn to attack.
A clear shot rings out upon the thin air
Each shadow piously lowers his head
An offers to God one silent prayer,
For the soul of the one who lays dead.
The shadows move not, but fixed in one place,
This ghastly performance now done
No grief do they feel, nor joy at the face
Of death who feels pity for none.
Feelings devoid, the shadows depart,
Leaving one victor to stand,
Nevermore beating one cold senseless heart,
The final curtain, the duel to demand.

Nerves

Oh man, yesterday I had a voice recital and I cannot tell you how nervous I was! I usually do not get nervous about performing in front of others, including when I'm performing in plays (although for Torrey I was nervous about my presentation, but perhaps that was because I was presenting an argument that I created and that my teacher and/or peers could rip apart at any moment) but for some reason I was so freaked out. However once I actually go up to the microphone to sing, all of the butterflies in my stomach suddenly disappeared and I actually had fun! *sigh* I was so happy though once I was done. I felt like I did very well and my voice teacher, my parents, and many other people in attendance said I did a good job, so I'm happy. It was also a pleasure to hear all of the other singers who did phenomenal jobs. Huzzah! Anywhoo, I went to Mater Dei on Saturday to take the SAT tests. Again, I was rather nervous, but this was partially due to the fact that 1) I was taking the SATs, 2) that it was an entirely new campus to me and I had no idea where I was supposed to be (especially since they were having another gathering on the campus, so I followed a large crowd hoping that they were taking the SATs, only to find out a little later that I was in the wrong place *sigh*). At least the atmosphere at Mater Dei was nicer than when I took the SATs at a nearby public high school where every other word was a curse or where there were obscene things written on the desk I was sitting at...yeah....well, I am in the midst of writing a poem so hopefully I will have that to post sometime soon! :)

Which Jane Austen Character Are You?

Apparently, according to a quiz that my friend Jane sent me a while ago, I am Elizabeth Bennet from "Pride & Prejudice"

The first time I took this quiz I was Marianne from "Sense and Sensibility" but after i thought about it, this did not seem to really fit my personality. So I retook the quiz (this time carefully considering each question) and I was Lizzy (which is so cool, because I really love that character). So at the request of some of my friends I am posting a link to the quiz. Which Jane Austen character are you? Find out

Like a Painful Brainfreeze

My sister and I were flipping through the channels on the television the other night while we were waiting for another show to come on and we landed on the CBS show "CSI: Miami." I apologize in advance to anyone who reads this and loves to watch that show, because...well.....
First off, the colors of the show are so overpowering. Everything has a bright orange or yellow tint, but I assume that this is to give the impression that it is hot outside. Still, it almost gives you a headache to watch. We came in about five minutes late, just as the main detective "Horatio Caine" arrived at the scene of the murder. And, I must say I could not help but laugh! A the beginning of EVERY episode, he comes in, asks the coroner some questions, takes his hip sunglasses off, says something dramatic and "profound", puts the sunglasses back on, says something else dramatic and then swoops out of the shot. I cannot comment too much about the other actors on the show (we kept changing channels), but it gave me great pleasure when the entire cast met at the end of the episode and sauntered off into the sunset. I place this in comparison to my current favorite television show (that is still on the air) Numb3rs (CBS, Fridays at 10:00pm).
This show, also a crime-solving show, has good character development; you discover that you can relate to the faults and strengths of each of them. The acting on this show (including even the more minor characters) is great, and the best thing, it actually makes math INTERESTING!!! I know, weird huh...Anywhooo... I just thought I would share my dislike for CSI: Miami and my love for Numb3rs. :)