Peace.

You cannot find peace by avoiding life. -Virginia Woolf

Dang it.

I'm kind of a nerd

The last month of my life was dedicated to rereading all the Harry Potter books, watching all the movies multiple times and making ...wait for it...my very own wand.

(Now start reading in  your very favorite Billy May voice.)

Buy now and get a special offer. Usually these very special, one-of-a-kind wands cost 7 galleons but today, and probably for the rest of eternity, you can place your order and pay only thirty dollars (plus shipping and handling, very careful handling). But wait, there's more! If you order two custom-made wands, you can get the special price of thirty dollars each! Yes, that's two wands for sixty dollars.

(Your regular in-the-head voice now.)

Really, that's a steal. But I'm not actually selling them. Maybe I'd consider it... if someone wanted to buy one. I'd make it look cooler. This was my first time with a lathe...

In case you're wondering...

This new diet is going just swimmingly. I can't eat anything. Those poor people who are allergic to dairy products and gluten have my deepest sympathy. Truly. I couldn't even imagine it. My mama makes special dinners with things I can eat but then halfway through eating it, I realize something on The List is in the casserole. Ice cream cones are my new snack.

I have a new ambition to become a cook. Goals for this year and next: Graduate college. Go to another school to learn how to cook. Maybe even start a TV show.

Goal for today and tomorrow: Finish reading Harry Potter series.

That throbbing ache in your head

Apparently the gum that I’ve been chewing since freshman year of high school- Orbit, sweet mint- could be a contributing factor of my almost daily headaches. It uses this sweetener called aspartame that isn’t very good for you. Ridiculous? Yes. This is an outrage.

Other foods that can cause migraines- nuts, chocolate, onions, fresh baked bread, bananas, raisins, chicken livers (bummer, those are my favorite) , yogurt, milk, pepperoni, basically all meat, citrus fruit, MSG, garlic, canned soup, meat tenderizer, fava, lima and navy beans, pea pods, sourdough, seasoning salt, red plums, papaya, passion fruit, canned figs (who eats those?), sour cream, cheese, caffeine, alcohol, buttermilk. My mama also told me to stay away from sugar. What am I supposed to eat now?

For the record, if you have had headaches almost every day for two years and three month, like I have, save yourself and listen to my advice. Eat clean, stay away from processed junk and those foods I listed above. Exercise everyday, even if it's just a walk to the library, just be active. Go to bed early, 10:30 is a marvelous time for me, and wake up early. Do yoga and neck stretches. Get acupuncture and regular deep tissue massages. And most importantly, don't kill yourself.

Good luck.

Book monster.

Love truth, but pardon error.
-Voltaire

Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.
-Voltaire

Girls and analyzing.

"Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."

"One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode."

"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have."

Impulsive haircuts.

Various things I hate and love.

The two worst sounds in the world are people scratching and people blowing their nose. Disgusting. And old sponges have the worst smell.

Here are some things I love.

Lights that look edible.

Mario.

Funnel cakes. Homemade.

Watermelon sculptures. And watermelon.

Sunshine. Water. The beach.

My personalized TOMS that now have a hole in the toe.

Ice cream.

My sister. Water. My dad. Jet skis.

The pretty temple.

Bunnies in the headlights.

Two for you

Stress free.

"A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, Raised a glass of water and asked; 'How heavy is this glass of water?'

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management.. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, As the burden becomes increasingly heavy, We won't be able to carry on. ' 'As with the glass of water, You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.' 'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, Let them down for a moment if you can.'

So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

'Relax; pick them up later after you’ve rested. Life is short Enjoy it!'"


I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. -Joan Didion

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish. -John Jakes

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. -E. L. Doctorow

Time for the hot tub.

Writing is thinking on paper. -William Zinsser

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. -Jamie Paolinetti

Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose. -Tom Krause

Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone. -Charles Bukowski

Isn't this new background so cute? I love watercoloring. It's one of those things that I'm awful at but I still love doing it.

Didn't even bother getting out of jammies.

It was one of those dreams that seemed so blasted real. Except I was incompetent and I couldn't manage to tape paper hearts onto the correct flowers. But hey, LA Fitness hired me because they liked how I handled catering Kim Kardashian's wedding. So naturally, when I woke up all that managed to come into my head was If I just wake up and go, they'll hire me. They have to now. 

This whole job search thing is kind of annoying. But here I go.

If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad. -Lord Byron

So many books, so little time. -Frank Zappa

Got dressed for a workout.

Then I got on the computer. This is why I never make New Year's resolutions.

Still getting used to typing 2012. I’m said 2011 like sixteen thousand times already. Not actually that many.

Don’t get it right, just get it written. -James Thurber

Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money. –Moliere

Writing only leads to more writing. -Sidonie Gabrielle

If you know what you are going to write when you’re writing a poem, it’s going to be average. -Derek Walcott

So I’m a morning person. I wake up without an alarm clock by 8:30 every day. On Sunday mornings I have a good three hours in the apartment to do as I please before anyone else pokes their heads out of their rooms. I lovelovelove it. But lately, as in since I came home, I’ve been sleeping till soso late. It’s awful. I just want to wake up early and go on a lovely walk/jog and then read to my heart’s content. But nope. I’m stuck in bed.

Okay. Done complaining about the stupidest thing ever. It’s actually really great that I don’t have to wake up at eight, hop in the shower, bike to class in the -14 degree blizzard and trudge around all day and ruin my shoes in the snow.

I’m glad to be home. Things I’m going to do: make a bookshelf, read all the books on my to-read list, take a couple classes online, figure out my life, get rid of these dreadful headaches, run, bike, take some art classes at Joann’s or MSJC.