Rain, Little Women, and the bones of the wrist and hand

Yesterday morning, I was watching Little Women and working in my anatomy colouring book (hence 'the bones of the wrist and hand'), and the satellite signal cut out because of the driving rain. I was slightly annoyed - I missed one of my favourite parts of the movie, where Jo and Friedrich go to the opera and kiss for the first time. But the rain was oddly calming. When it started thundering, Mouse ran downstairs - she doesn't like thunder much. I had to wipe one of the windowsills upstairs, because Mom had opened a window.

I got to watch most of Little Women, though. I love that movie. I tried reading the book, but I couldn't focus on it at the time.

I also wrote in my journal yesterday. I've been trying to write in it more often, but I forget because I have a blog.

I got some GED work done yesterday, but for the most part it was an epic fail. I hate nominative, objective and possessive cases...

Vampire Diaries is on tonight. Yay! :)

Wicked weather

So the weather today is pretty wicked. Rainy and windy. I would walk down to the library, but it's too windy. I love this wind - as long as trees or power lines don't come down, I'm content.

Youth group last night was a mix of good and bad. I was the first to arrive, and the back door was locked, so I sat in the car until Stephen came to unlock it. Around the same time that Stephen arrived, Micaela came. Micaela and Stephen made some Five Alive and, because Stephen brought tortilla chips and salsa, put some salsa in a bowl. Stephen heated up a personal pizza for himself - I guess he skipped dinner. Elyssa came next, then Vicky, Stone, Emma and Laura. We had a super-quick record-breaking check-in (Micaela's idea - and a good idea, too), then we went down to the big tables to make a banner for Elyssa to carry at the big UU Youth conference in Thunder Bay.

This is where things got bad.

We were trying to come up with some ideas for the banner, and at one point I said to Elyssa, "It's all what you want to put on the banner, because you're going to be the one carrying it. I'm neutral, I'm Switzerland." She said, "You're useless. Okay...", ever-so-casually. I was so pissed off I almost called Dad to ask him to pick me up. She said later that she was being sarcastic, but it didn't sound like she was. She didn't even apologize, the bitch...

I had fun, though. Emma did a great job drawing on the banner - I'm not sure if she takes art in high school, but she really has a knack for drawing. She did a couple of chalices (the symbol for Unitarianism), and some text. It was pretty neat. I coloured in one of the big 'U's using markers and a mini stamper. Gosh, I love mini stampers...

And then, as I was leaving, Elyssa asked me, "What are you doing next year? 'Cause, you're grade 12 age, aren't you?" I asked her why, and she asked me if I was going to univeersity. I was so pissed off with her that I said something like, "Well, first I have to prove to the government that I'm smart." She said, "I just asked," and I said, "Well, I wish people would stop asking." She knows full well that I have to take either the GED or the CAAT to get into university. I've talked about it before.

So yeah. Elyssa's a bitch.

I had talked to Micaela on Facebook Chat the previous night. At first I was annoyed, because I was playing either Word Twist or Scramble, but my annoyance didn't last very long. I'm glad that I have a friend in Micaela.

edited for clarity

I should be doing math

...but I feel like writing.

Today's been a good day. Not much schoolwork got done, but I did a bit of writing. I wrote a lot last night, it was brilliant. I might start some memoir writing - that, and I have to work on essay writing. I want to read more books on other cultures and religions, too. In fact, I reserved a book on paganism, but it's on order so I may not get it for a few months.

I might walk to the library tomorrow, because the two DVDs I'm borrowing from the library are due on.... the 8th, I think. And I've never walked anywhere on my own, really. I know that sounds pathetic and childish, but it's true. And I need some time alone.

The weather is damp, rainy and pretty awesome. I like damp weather - I think I'm most creative when it's damp, or windy, because when the weather's warm and sunny I get lazy, and when it's freezing cold I just want to curl up with a book and a cup of hot chocolate.

I think I'll do some math later, though - try and get that big page of polynomials done. Or maybe I'll put in my CD-ROM and read up on geometry.

I feel better

My cold seems to have gone for the most part, which is great. So thank you, Sarah, for wishing me well :)

I'm feeling so relaxed right now, because it's raining. Rain has such a calming effect on me.

So, my day has gone pretty well. I watched the rest of Gilmore Girls, I read quite a bit of the second Artemis Fowl book, and I listened to The Jeff Healey Band's See The Light, which is a pretty awesome album. Only one track skipped! I also watched Coronation Street earlier, and I read The Arctic Incident (the second Artemis Fowl book) during commercials, and sometimes during scenes that didn't require my undivided attention.

Back to the rain... I walked upstairs a little while ago, and I felt a lovely breeze, and I could smell that familiar rainy smell. You know, the smell of damp earth. Man, I love that smell! I can't really smell it as much in here, probably because the ceiling fan is running. But just the sound of the rain is fantastic.

Baby cardigans and Bryan Adams (dogs, too!)

Let's start with baby cardigans.

I cast on for Lion Brand's One-Stitch Baby Cardigan, because I need to use up my two skeins of Cotton-Ease. It's the first time I've knit with cotton, and so far it's going good. The yarn split a few times, but it didn't catch on the needles like acrylic does. Okay, so Cotton-Ease is actually 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, but hey, it still counts as knitting with cotton....right?

Next, my silly dogs. Smiles, Teddy and Lulu were outside in the pouring rain. This is unusual for Lulu because she doesn't like getting wet, but the reason she was out there was because there was a squirrel on our neighbor's roof. Thus, three soaking wet dogs needed to be dried off. Drying them off is actually fun, because they don't mind being dried off. Smiles loves it - if you throw a towel over her head, she has a blast. Teddy tends to go over to the big dog bed and roll around like a kitten, so now there's a huge wet spot on the dog bed.

And now, about Bryan Adams. I went to the library the other day (yesterday, I think) to pick up Monster Ballads Xmas, and while I was there I thought I'd look through their CDs. I found Ray Davies's newest, which is called Working Man's Cafe, and Bryan Adams Unplugged. I was going to check out Bruce Springsteen's Devils & Dust, but I figured I shoudl listen to the Springsteen album I'm already borrowing first. I listened to Bryan Adams Unplugged last night, and wow. That album is going on my Christmas list. I love it. The unplugged versions of Summer of '69 and Cuts Like a Knife are works of art. I also found out that Heaven is one of his songs.

Here's the original video for Summer of '69...