Mega Girl

She's Gone, Gone, Gone

2007-09-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

See ya later, gators. I’m outta here.

Good news, Bad news

2007-09-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Good = Lucie found a job.

Bad = We have to move.

Good = We’re moving to Hollywood.

Bad = We’re moving in 2 weeks.

Good = I’m getting my own room.

Bad = The room is in an apartment very far away from Reggie and T and everyone else I’ve gotten to know.

Good = My best bud JA lives there.

Bad = I haven’t heard from my best bud in a long time.

Bad = I won’t know anyone. Again.

Bad = I’ll be the new kid. Again.

Bad = Lucie will be there and there’s every reason to believe she’ll screw this up too.

Bad = We’re moving. Again.

Time Out

2007-09-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have to take a brief break from being totally frustrated with my sister for losing her job and potentially making us move, to say how much fun she’s being this weekend.

First of all, it’s like five hundred million degrees in RC right now.

And our AC is broken.

(No AC in RC…isn’t that hilarious?)

So Lucie made iced coffee this morning - must have brewed it while I was sleeping because it was perfectly chilled when I got up. Then we had ice cream for breakfast with Cheerios on top. Then we put ice crowns on our head which, if you’ve never had one, is amazing.

Ice Crown Recipe:
1 bandanna
1 freezer

Soak the bandanna in water. Roll it up and form a crown. Lay it on the freezer shelf until it’s frozen. Remove from freezer and place on head. Say “ahhh.”

Repeat until cooled off.

At first the ice crown is so cold you can’t have it directly on your skin which is fine because it sort of sits on your head. Then as it melts, you can press it against your skin and keep yourself cooler. Some people take these and wrap them around their necks which I guess is okay but then it’s not a crown, is it?

After the ice crowns, we went to Best Buy and we hung out and played videogames and then we went to Blockbuster and watched the movie they were showing on the store monitors (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” which totally made me want to go to San Dimas to a water park). This afternoon, we’re going to the movies to see whatever is playing and we’ll probably sneak into a second and possibly a third one. By that time, it will have cooled down a tiny tiny bit and then we can go home and have more iced coffee and gazpacho (chilled tomato soup) for dinner.

And then tomorrow, we’ll probably do the exact same thing.

Lucie can be kind of awesome sometimes when she isn’t screwing things up.

Yes, I know I have 2 Books Left To Read

2007-08-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

But is there a point to it? Will I go to class for like, a day or a week and then turn around and go somewhere else?

As far as I can tell, Lucie has not even applied for a job around here, despite her insistence that we’ll be able to stay in this apartment - in RC - so I can finish high school. A long, long time ago, when she was young and nicer to me, she told me that was her goal: to stay in one place long enough for me to get my high school degree. Well, hate to tell ya, Luce, but I still have 3 more years to go.

I want to be supportive. I really do. But I have friends here! And we just painted the place! And I know where all the cool places to hang out are and what the classes and teachers are like and I’ve already spent two years here, finally getting to know people.

And they got to know me. And I think they like me. Liked me. I mean, there was that one girl in algebra who would point at me and whisper to her friends when she saw me, as if I couldn’t tell she was doing that, and then she would call me Mary or Muffy or Mitzy and laugh and laugh like she was making some great joke, but eventually she got tired of it all and gave up and now she sits right next to me in class and sometimes even asks me questions using my real name. I don’t remember who she is but anyway.

It’s just completely unfair that we have to do this again.

Moving...

2007-08-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

…again.

I should have known - no, I did know. I knew something was up back when we were painting the apartment and Lucie didn’t seem bothered about taking time off to do it. I knew before I went to Santa Barbara with Reggie but I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to have some fun this summer and thinking about Lucie and her problems, which I knew would become our problems, was not any fun at all.

Lucie lost her job.

Again.

She never was any good at computers and I guess her boss wanted her to do Excel and she told him she knew it but all this time she’s been faking it and getting her friend to help her. And then her friend went on vacation and Lucie had to do it by herself and she screwed it up.

So here we are.

Again.

She says we won’t have to move, that she will find a job in RC so we can stay in this apartment (which we just painted, remember?) and I can still go to school with Reg and T and everything but I’m not counting on it. I count on nothing anymore. You just can’t, you know?

You can hope for things but don’t hope too hard.

2 More Read!

2007-08-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Whew…these 2 books were tough going. Why is the summer reading list so much harder than the regular school year reading list? Just because I have more free time doesn’t mean I’ll understand it any better. This past week my speed-reading demon left me and I was only able to finish 2 non-fiction books, “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt and “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser.

Could these books be any more different? I don’t think so.

Frank McCourt’s book is a memoir about his life growing up in Ireland. It defines the word “bleak.” It’s filled with death and poverty and starvation and sickness. It’s really sad but ends on a positive note when he comes to the United States to start a new life.

I thought “Fast Food Nation” would be funnier than it was because it has a funny title and cover but it was really pretty bleak too and it will make you never want to eat a hamburger again. (Remember that awesome episode of The Simpsons when Lisa becomes a vegetarian after they show a filmstrip in class about how they kill cows? It was kind of like that in book form but there was no Paul McCartney singing at the end.)

So I only have2 more books to read in the next week. I was doing so well with the first batch. I don’t know what happened. Maybe I got distracted by…stuff. And…people.

We’ll know soon enough, won’t we? Well, I will. And then I will tell you.

Random List #1

2007-08-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

3.5 Things I Really Want To Do But Probably Won’t Get To

1. See Strawberry Fields
2. Pet a Penguin
3. Eat Escargot
3.5. Watch “Wizard of Oz” (Japanese anime version)

Living where I am, the way I do, I probably won’t ever get to do these things during my life. But I sure would like to.

What's Up With Guys?

2007-08-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

I never wanted to be one of those girls you read about, the ones who obsess about their boyfriends and wonder all the time if they still like them, if they did something wrong to make them not want to talk to them or whatever. I mean, guys are guys and my friend once told me guys are not like the rest of us. Especially high school guys. She said they have all sorts of stuff going on about looking cool in front of their friends and it has nothing to do with us. She told me the best thing to do is to ignore them and then they come running to your door.

Well, maybe to my friend’s door because she’s amazingly beautiful and talented but not to mine. I have basically ignored T since I got back from Santa Barbara and I haven’t heard a peep from him. I sent him a couple of postcards but I didn’t call him or text him or email him or IM him or anything. Just a couple of lame cards with the SB beach on it and some lifeguards doing funny things. (They were these joke cards, making fun of Baywatch, should have kept them for myself.) That wasn’t too “girlfriendy” and we’re not gf/bf anyway so what does it matter?

I put it to you, JA, if you’re out there and if you read my blog (and I’m pretty sure you do), what do I do about T? School starts soon and I don’t know what classes I’ll have with him and I don’t want things to be weird. Do I ignore him? Call him? Drop by his house and say hey? Or just wait until classes begin and see what he does then?

Boys are such boys.

3 Books Down…

2007-08-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

4 more to go.

Somehow I managed to read 3 books in three days. I think a speed-reading demon mind-melded with my brain while I was sleeping one night. I probably won’t remember what I read for very long which is why I need to quickly write down whatever I have to say about these books before I get to the next batch.

I read:

“A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway

“Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert Heinlein

“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving

Of those 3, I LOVED the John Irving book. Loved it. I felt so sad for Owen, who thinks he’s a martyr because he accidentally killed his friend’s mom with a baseball and is cursed with talking in capital letters. It was hard for me to read that, because I kept trying to hear his voice in my head. What do capital letters sound like? It’s not shouting because that’s not what he does. It was really, really long but time flew by when I was reading it (helped by the speed-reading demon, no doubt).

The Robert Heinlein book was pretty good too but I didn’t know it was science fiction when I picked it for my list. I am not a fan of fantasy kinds of things. But this one was good. It was more like true-life science fiction, rather than outer space stuff. In it, this guy comes to earth from Mars and he doesn’t know anything about life here. He eventually starts his own church and learns about love.

I hated the Hemingway book. It had the saddest ending. The best part about it was that it was short.

End of Summer!

2007-08-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things I Have to Finish in Less Than Two Weeks

1. Summer reading list
2. My tan
3. See “Hairspray” for the fourth time
3.5 Empty my closet of gross clothes

OMG! Classes start in less than 2 weeks! I know I said I was going to not think about that for a while and here it is only 2 days later but --

OMG! Classes start in less than 2 weeks!

So that means I have to START my reading. There are five books on it that I have never even seen before. I thought I would get a lot more reading done in Santa Barbara but duh, there were wayyyy better things to do instead.

Then there’s my tan…I have to say, I was never one who was big into tanning (when you’re a blonde, it’s hard to tan anyway, I usually get burned without even trying) but it’s totally different when you’re at the beach. You can’t help but get tan and then once you start, well, you just want to keep going. I got past the red skin in a couple of days and now it looks pretty damn good with a pair of white shorts, okay?

Have you seen the movie “Hairspray” yet? It’s amazing and I LOVE the soundtrack! Reg burned it onto her iPod and that’s all I have been listening to. I have to get her to dump it onto a cassette so I can listen on Lucie’s Walkman. I have to somehow convince Lucie to see the movie with me. She said she saw the original movie and hated it but this one is totally different.

As for clothes…I am desperate for new outfits but Lucie has already hinted that I have to make do with what I have. I might try to go through my closet when she’s around so she can see that I need at least two new pairs of jeans and some tops. We don’t wear the same size pants but we can share tops so I might be able to start there. (Boy, I sound really manipulative, don’t I? Seriously, it’s not like that. Lucie just takes a lot of convincing, ya know?)

I’d like to put T on this list for #4 but I haven’t heard from him since I got back. I sent him a couple of postcards (nothing sweet, they were total jokes) and I thought I’d see him or get a call this week but nothing so far. I know it’s only been a couple of days. I know that. I just thought, well…you know.

Did I mention school starts in less than 2 weeks? Okay, leave me alone. I have work to do.

She's Baaaaack!

2007-08-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

And tan and blond(er) and exhausted and wishing she was still in Santa Barbara, especially now that it's sooooooo hot! My god, did global warming suddenly hit RC? I don't know how Lucie was able to stand it while I was gone. We have two puny air conditioners - one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen - but it's nothing like central A/C.

Anyway - ANYWAY - who CARES about RC and central A/C and Washington, DC and any other C stuff?? I'm back from vacation and ready for anything! Reggie and I had a blast. We were at the beach everyday and she taught me to play volleyball which is way harder on sand than it looks. I soooo wish we had beach volleyball in gym class. I would be a total pro instead of the major klutz that I am now.

The best part was that we kinda met some guys when we were hanging out at this one place where everyone went. It wasn't like a bar, really, but you could get beer if you wanted it. It was like a smoothie place with karaoke at night only that makes it sound totally lame which it wasn't at all. It was like a health food sort of thing (Aaron totally would have loved it) and people sat on the patio and watched other people but it wasn't skeevy or anything. We all just...hung out, ya know?

Hard to explain.

Reg's two older brothers go there every summer so they introduced us to all their summer buddies and we met these guys who are going to UCSB this fall. One tried to tell me he was studying anatomy and would I like to help him and I'm sorry, but do I look like I'm THAT naive? I mean, okay, I'm not exactly experienced but come on...I'm sure I heard that line in some "American Pie" movie when I was like ten or something.

Still it was way more fun than just hanging around in an un-air-conditioned apartment with my sister or trying to escape the heat in a Wal-Mart, pretending to buy a 99 cent t-shirt.

I am NOT gonna think about school starting. Not yet. Right now, I'm just gonna enjoy my tan and shake out my blond(er) hair...

...and call up T. :)

MegaGirl's Beach Guide

2007-07-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things to Take to the Beach

1. Water-repellent book
2. Flip-flops with a thick sole
3. 2 bottles of sunscreen
3.5 A decent bathing suit

These are just my hints…other people may say other things.

For the book, you can bring whatever you want but it’s probably best to take a paperback, one with a thicker cover. A hardcover is fine if it’s yours (you definitely don’t want a library book!) and you don’t mind getting sand deep in the pages - because you will, for sure. But it’s heavy and if you have to lug it across sand, you won’t be happy. I’m bringing the paperbacks of the last 2 Potters.

As for the flip-flops, the reason you want a thick sole is that a) you don’t know what you’ll be stepping on and b) that sand is hot! Thin soles that might look cute and curve around your feet won’t hold up against the hot sun and dirty cigarette butts.

You need 2 types of sunscreen: one for face and one for body. This should be a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know this. The face one is thinner so it doesn’t clog your pores and give you zits. And the body one is waterproof so you can sweat or go in the water and not worry.

Let’s define “decent” bathing suit. It can be a bikini or a tankini or a one piece or whatever so long as it doesn’t creep up in places it shouldn’t. Know what I mean? You want it to cover the parts that should be covered - I mean, really should be covered. And if you don’t know whether you’re covered enough, try pretending to lay on your blanket and then turn over. If the bottom part of your suit sticks and gets caught up and you have to dig it out (know what I mean?), you’re not covered enough.

So…guess where I’m going? :)

See you in a couple weeks...

The Summer of Meg

2007-07-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Totally torn.

A. Reggie’s family invited me to go to Santa Barbara with them for two weeks at the end of July/beginning of August, which means fun and sun and beach.

B. T’s family is letting him and his brother stay home while they take the little ones to camp at Mammoth which means he’s around to hang out whenever we want.

C. Lucie said I can do whatever I want.

What to do, what to do…

A sister responds...

2007-07-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Lucie told me she read the blog on Sunday. She promised to be better, promised she would keep her promises (that’s a new one) but said nothing about the lying. It went something like this…

Luce: Read your thing.

Me: Yeah…and?

Luce (shrugs): You know.

Me: I’m right, Luce. You know I’m right.

Luce: Maybe.

Me (waiting patiently): And…?

Luce (drinks her coffee and eats her toast): I’ll do things I promised.

Me: Okay.

Luce: I promise.

Me: Okay.

Looooooong pause. Crickets chirp.

Luce: You need a ride somewhere?

Don't Dis the Sis

2007-07-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Rules For Being a Good Sister to Mega Girl

1. DO pick me up when you say you will
2. DON’T act like you don’t know me when you run into me at Starbucks
3. DO laugh at my jokes even if no one else does
3.5 DON’T lie

Lucie, do I really need to tell you all of this? Aren’t you old enough that you can figure it out for yourself? I mean, come on…you said you would give me a lift home from the Quakes game on Friday night and then, after I tracked you down at Aaron’s, you didn’t show UNTIL TWO HOURS LATER. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? Before the game, T’s brother said he would pick us up and I was like, oh no, my sister will be here. She promised.

And what about Saturday morning at Starbucks? Reggie and I were sitting out front with lattes and you just walked right by. What the…Luce, geez. You couldn’t say hey? We already had our coffees. We weren’t going to ask you for money. Reg was like, dude, your sister just dissed us and I was like, oh no, she needs new glasses. She probably didn’t even see us. More excuses…

And when your friend Shawna was over last night and I was joking around about how we were goofing on those stupid singing shows this week, you sat there like a lump, not laughing or smiling or anything. I looked like a moron. Shawna probably thought I was like the deranged sister you never talk about.

And finally…you’re lying about something, Luce. I don’t know what it is but I can tell you’re hiding something from me and I want to know.

Fly away home…

2007-07-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Lady Bird Johnson died yesterday and it made me wonder about her name. How does a grown woman get to be called Lady Bird? And was she Lady first or Bird? Or did they come together? She was the wife of a president a really long time ago. (Frankly, I thought she had already died.)

Or was she “ladybird,” like the little insect that flies and is red with black spots? Did she look like a ladybird when she was a baby? Or did she wear red and black clothes when she was a kid?

I wonder about these things.

That Hit the Spot

2007-07-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

I caught Lucie yesterday.

She told me she was going to work at 9 like she always does. This was supposed to be her first day back after the vacation she took when we were painting. She was at the Target on Foothill in the baby section.

Now why was I in the baby section, you ask? Well, I had run into the store to pick up some shampoo and conditioner that was on sale (Thermasilk Revitalizing Shampoo and Detangler Conditioner which are normally like 8 bucks each but yesterday they were 2 for 9 which is a major savings) and I was cutting through the baby department. I never look there since there is absolutely no need but then I saw her red hair which she’s been wearing in a braid lately with little clips over the ears.

I stopped.

I knew it was her.

I watched her for about five minutes. She was standing in front of the cribs and just staring at them. She didn’t touch them or move to another area. It was only the cribs and she was only looking. I left without saying anything to her, like “Why aren’t you at work?” And, “What are you doing in the baby aisle?” Which I totally would have been justified in saying. But I didn’t. I went to the beauty section and got my shampoo (only the shampoo because they were out of the detangling stuff).

I am hoping to god she has to go to a baby shower or something.

The Best Phraseology

2007-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Favorite Words I Want to Hear This Summer

1. Air-conditioned
2. Jazz Festival
3. Half-Price Matinee
3.5. Free Frozen Yogurt

First of all, the apartment looks AMAZING! Lucie and I did a great job. It’s a good thing we don’t have any posters or pictures to put on the walls because it looks so good, I don’t want to ruin it. It was totally worth the sweat we put into it and the (minor) fights we had.

Anyway, I just want to say a couple of things about this list. The Jazz Festival is not my favorite festival around here. That would be the RC Grape Harvest in September. They actually stomp grapes to make them into wine! It’s a pretty big deal, which I found out last year. Everyone at school volunteers to do something - bake pies for the pie-eating contest, sell tickets, help with the kiddie stuff - and it’s way fun. I can’t wait for that! In the meantime, in August, there’s the jazz festival. There’s art to look and an old car show and lots of music. Not that I am into jazz but it’s kind of cool to be walking around at night, listening to jazzy music as the sun goes down and the air starts to cool off. So that’s next month.

And the second thing: free frozen yogurt! If you haven’t noticed, SoCal is way into fro-yo these days. It started with Pinkberry in Hollywood and spread all over LA and it’s finally reaching us (we’ve got Pinkberry and Golden Spoon already). This one place on Foothill Boulevard, I forget the name…Orange Mango? Yogotogo? Something like that. Anyway, they are giving away free yogurt this weekend to celebrate their grand opening. We have had like, the hottest weather ever and it’s only the beginning of July! There will be people lined up down the street for free samples and Reg and I are gonna be there!

Funny how the smallest things can be so exciting…

Transformers, Robots in Disguise!

2007-07-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

Transformers, more than meets the eye!

This movie was kick-ass. I mean, it was a story based on toys so that part was kind of lame but the action was awesome! We’re talking giant transforming robots, what’s not to love? And I think - I think - I’m getting the tiniest little crush on Shia LeBoeuf. I know, crazy, right? This was the kid in “Holes” which was like, a kid movie, but he’s growing up, let me tell you. And he’s going to be Indiana Jones’ son in the next movie with Harrison Ford which is pretty cool for him and this whole movie was just him running around being all action-y in a black t-shirt and jeans which is a very cool look on him.

And okay, he looks kind of like T. Sue me. There’s a look I like and that’s it. T’s hair is long and shaggier and he’s a little thinner than Shia but yeah, he sort of resembles him. That little smirk Shia’s got going on is just like T and so are his cheeks, which is a weird thing to resemble but it’s true. Shia’s got cheekbones just like T.

So if you know what Shia looks like, well, now you know what T looks like. I almost wrote “bf” but he’s not. I mean, we hang (a decent amount) and we kiss (not nearly enough) but it’s not official. And I don’t really know what does make it official. A formal “Will you be my girlfriend” kind of thing? Or is that something that other people make official? Like, is it not real until everyone else starts calling you bf-gf?

If there are rules for this, I’d really like to get a copy.

Oh and note to Aaron? You rocked on Fourth of July, dude! In a totally folkie hippie way, but yeah, you hit it. Congrats.

Happy Fourth of July, America!

2007-07-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

JMO but holidays in the middle of summer are a waste. What's it a holiday from - vacation?

The Fourth of July has never been a big deal for me and Lucie. I like fireworks but honestly, I think my sister is a little bit afraid of them. Like a dog she usually runs for cover when she hears loud noises. lol! Thank god we don't have thunderstorms or anything like that around here!

So far we have only lived in one place where we had a barbecue. That was in the trailer park out near Joshua Tree, which was the name of a really great U2 album but is also smack dab between a giant national park and the country's largest Marine corps base. Our place was actually pretty nice and the people were really cool too. I mean, there's this reputation people who live in trailer parks have, like they're hicks or inbred or something stupid like that but really they're just normal people. They have hobbies and go to school and host parties. It's not like they sit around at night drinking grain alcohol and shooting at rats at the dump. Ya know?

We had a lot of friends when we lived there. And I remember on the Fourth, we all got together for a big barbecue potluck. We brought appetizers - which were crackers with Cheez Whiz. We thought it would be cheap, like hot dogs and burgers, but other people had chicken filets and salmon steaks and someone cut up veggies for kebabs. And after the sun went down and it cooled off (cuz the desert heat is miserable in the day), we toasted marshmallows and I had a s'more for the very first time. I liked it.

Things are hazy after that. We probably moved not long after the barbecue cuz I don't remember celebrating my birthday there.

Today will be different. We've been invited to Reggie's for a big party and then at night, there's Aaron's show in Hollywood. He's opening for a folk band that's known for their patriotic songs so I guess this is their big day. That could be good for Aaron, although I don't ever remember hearing him sing anything pro-American. Maybe he can sing the Star Spangled Banner. That'll give him fans.

Congratulations to me - this is my 100th post! Whoo-hoo!

Big Pix Lure Hix From Stix

2007-07-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Movies I Want to See This Summer

1. The Simpsons Movie
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3. The Simpsons Movie
3.5 Transformers

Reggie and T finally have something in common: they both want me to see Transformers with them. They better come see Homer and Marge on the big screen with me - twice!

Can you tell what movie I’m most looking forward to? I really don’t care much about those other blockbuster movies, like all the stupid sequels to the movies I didn’t like in the first and second places, and summer isn’t exactly for small, quiet artistic films where people sit around talking or die of sad diseases or sit around talking about people dying of sad diseases.

Now, don’t think I’m shallow. I do like those movies but not in a giant air-conditioned theater that I’ve just shelled out $12.50 for plus seven bucks for a soda and a box of Junior Mints. For that kind of money, I want serious entertainment. I want to see things fly or blow up or…

…hear Homer say “D’oh!” in THX surround sound. Yes! I mean, D’oh!

As for Harry Potter, I’ve already seen all the others and even though I stopped reading the books at Azkaban, I feel like I’ve invested a lot of time and energy getting to know and care about these characters so I really should see it all the way through. I have to know what happens to Harry. Don’t you? I should probably read the last book which comes out in a few weeks, huh? Do you think I need to go back and read the others first? I guess that could be a fun summer project. Maybe I can convince Lucie to let me go with Reggie’s family when they take their vacation in Santa Barbara and I can read them there. It’s not the books that are the problem, it’s the going away part.

D’oh!

Meg Becomes Michelangelo

2007-06-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

I take it as a good sign that we are painting the apartment. No, really, I do. We have never painted before because we always move. Just as we think, gee, it would be nice to have a salmon bathroom and a green and cream living room, it’s time to get going. So I think it’s actually a good thing that we have the fans on and the windows open and the radio turned up on extra loud. I made a pitcher of awesome iced tea which hits the spot right about mid-afternoon when the desert sun heats the place up like an oven. It’s been kind of fun.

Although I do wonder why we’re not doing it on the weekend when Lucie would be off work. She says she’s taking some vacation days but she didn’t look me in the eye when she said it and it’s not like Lucie to spend vacation time on chores.

Btw, the salmon walls in the bathroom look amazing.

I continue to wonder.

2007-06-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Special Edition Top 3.5 List: Things to do This Summer:

1. Make out with T again
2. See The Simpsons movie
3. Finish reading list
3.5 Paint apartment with Lucie

Although I list it as #3.5, painting is really #1.

What's wrong with this picture?

[Sigh.]

The End is Totally Near

2007-06-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Signs of the Apocalypse

1. A SoCal hockey team wins the Stanley Cup
2. Paris Hilton actually went to jail
3. Hostel II
3.5 Lucie is already talking about my birthday

Can you believe it? My birthday isn’t until next month and Lucie has started making plans for it! She’s talking about a party or maybe a dinner out where I could invite my friends (yes, plural) or even like, an activity of some kind, something where we have to make reservations.

I don’t think I have ever been to a restaurant or anything where you make reservations! I know that sounds crazy but where would I go? Denny’s doesn’t take them for parties less than fifty and they don’t even answer the phone at the iHop. I’m sure Luce has, when she’s been out with Aaron or her other boyfriends but not me.

Gosh that’s a weird thing to say.

Anyway, I have to give props to the sis for thinking ahead. I don’t even want a present from her. I just want to do something fun and if she plans, that’s gift enough.

And...?

2007-06-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Uh-oh. I have run out of things to do.

I have been to paintball with T and his family.
I have been to the water park in San Dimas with Reggie and Dina and Kathryn.
I have been to Costco with Lucie for the freebies twice.
I have made out with T exactly once.

What else am I going to do this summer?

Act Your Age

2007-06-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Lucie was reading my blog this weekend and she saw my list on Sunday and she got all pissy. Now get this, NOT because I told people she dances around in her underwear singing into a spoon but because I said she listens to 80s pop music!

I’m not sorry. That’s the truth and it’s kind of cute. And Luce, you look totally like a kid doing that, not some grownup who shouldn’t be trying to be cute.

[And I have to say, man do I hate that. Have you ever seen old people trying to do young things, like they wear low riders when they have NO business doing that? Or they put little kid clips in their hair, as if that would distract people from their wrinkles. And hello, could you please put on a top that fits? No one wants to see old people tummies. It’s just gross. You can only get away with this if you still look awesome. My sister may be getting close to the big 3-0 but at least she still looks good so she can pull off the cute look. Well, sometimes. Let’s be real about this.]

Cheer Up, Walkman-Style

2007-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Songs to Listen to When You Can’t Get Rid of Your Bad Mood, Courtesy of Lucie’s Old Cassettes

1. White Wedding by Billy Idol
2. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham
3. Straight Up by Paula Abdul
3.5 I Want a New Drug by Huey Lewis & the News

I could go on and on with the 80s music but these are some of the most-listened to tapes in my sister’s collection. She CLAIMS to be a big U2/REM/Nirvana fan but really, she loves pop music - old pop music. I don’t blame her. Seriously, I make no judgments when it comes to music but I just don’t want her passing herself off (like to Aaron, her crunchy hippie folk music boyfriend) as an FOK (Friend of Kurt) when in reality, she likes to dance around in her underwear, singing George Michael songs into a wooden spoon.

You know, I don’t even have to listen to these songs to feel better. I just have to imagine Lucie listening to these songs…

The Beat Goes On

2007-06-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

That’s a Sonny and Cher song and if you don’t know who Sonny and Cher are, then you have to get yourself to iTunes and download some of their craziness.

Lucie has this really old tape which she plays on a really really old Walkman (which you’d think we could get rid of but it’s the only thing we have that plays cassettes and since we can’t afford to replace all of our music on cassettes with CD’s AND buy a CD player, we pretty much have to hang onto it plus Aaron records his shows on CD for me to transcribe so we have to keep it but man, is it a klunker).

Every once in a while she’ll get in a Sonny and Cher mood and she’ll put on the tape and bounce around the house and I can always tell which tape it is because she’ll sing Half-Breed at the top of her lungs which I find hilarious. I never can tell if she thinks she sings well (she does) because she’s always goofing around. One of these days maybe I’ll catch her when she’s not looking and see if she only goofs around when I’m there.

Look, I’m in a bad mood again. I don’t know why, I just am. I’m gonna grab Lucie’s Walkman and throw on Sonny and Cher and hope that puts me in a better mood.

And the grades are in...

2007-06-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

And I didn’t do as badly as I thought:

Earth Science: B (thanks T!)
Geometry: B- (thanks R!)
French: C+ (G screwed me on this one)
English: B (I’ll take it)
Media Studies: B- (should be an A)
Phys Ed: C (whatever)

The C’s are in classes I could give a crap about. Gym? Does anyone even take gym seriously? Except for the ath-a-letes? Please. I can’t remember the last time I sweat in a gym class or had any fun at all. Most of the time we get changed into these stupid little outfits: a t-shirt and shorts that say RCHS on them (go team!) and we have to wear sneakers (which I always forget and end up wearing regular shoes or borrowing a pair from the gym’s lost and found when I wear flip-flops to school because we aren’t allowed to wear flip-flops in gym and that is seriously gross). The games are completely lame and our teacher just yells at us when we don’t listen and makes us jog around the track which we don’t really do anyway. We just sort of slump around the track and maybe walk a little faster when she yells at us again. It’s such a waste of time. The fact that I actually got a C and not an F is so shocking to me. I would have failed me.

And French? When am I ever going to France? Or Montreal? Or anywhere else they speak the language? Not anytime soon, unless Lucie loses this job and we have to move again. Oops, don’t want to jinx us. Well, since Luce skipped work this morning to have her hair cut for cheap at the barber school, I guess she’s doing the jinxing for me.

I’m sort of in a bad mood today, if you couldn’t tell. I should be happier that school is ending and I have the whole summer ahead of me but honestly, I just don’t know what I will do with myself.

No more pencils, No more books

2007-06-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Great Things About Freshman Year Ending

1. In 3 months, there will be a new crop of kids to harass
2. All our classes will have II at the end instead of I
3. The good half of the cafeteria will be open to us
3.5 People will finally forget I’m the new girl

Very soon, freshman year will be over. Can I get a whoo-hoo? I will no longer be a frosh, a newbie, a noob, a plebe, or whatever you want to call us first-years. A new group of freshmen will arrive in a few months and they will be the target of the new seniors’ harassment. They will be picked on in the hallways, shoved against lockers, taunted in gym class…actually, none of that ever happened to me for which I am eternally grateful. I saw it a few times and managed to slip away quietly before anyone realized I was also a freshman.

Beginning next September we will be expected to know more, having gone through the first two semesters of classes. I will be in French II and English II and Geometry II (yuck!). I will also get to pick two electives instead of just one. I haven’t decided yet what I want to take and no, I am not going to see what T is taking. Unless it happens to be something I really, really want to take. And that could happen. I’m not saying it won’t.

The caf is currently divided into the freshman section, which is next to the kitchen and is really loud and smelly and gets steamy and hot, and the rest of the caf, which has windows and the good tables that don’t wobble and air-conditioning. Next year, I can sit with Reg on her side and she doesn’t have to come slumming over to me.

And yes, in 3 months, I will no longer be the new girl. THAT is the best thing of all.

To paraphrase one of my favorite bands, wake me up when September comes…

So graduate already...

2007-06-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Everything around here is about Senior Week. They already went to Magic Mountain and now after finals, they have a picnic and graduation at the Epicenter and then they all go to Disneyland! It’s like this cool overnight trip! They leave late at night and then party and play at Disney all night long and come back early the next morning! They have the park practically to themselves although Reggie told me there will be other schools doing the same thing but still…who cares? There can’t possibly be as many people as there usually are. No screaming kids and no hot sun beating down on you while you wait forty-five minutes to get on the Snow White ride which is lame anyway.

Man, I can’t wait to be a senior. I really hope I’m here for that. I hope Lucie can stick to a job long enough for me to graduate and do all those fun things. Just imagine how many friends I’d have by then.

Gimme Money

2007-06-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

How do you ask for money? Especially when it’s for something relatively frivolous? Like a non-school related activity?

Reg just tells her mom that she needs money for something. Sylvie rarely asks what it’s for, unless it’s an obscene amount, like over a hundred bucks. But if she needs fifty bucks to go shopping or to the movies (when she treats me sometimes, thanks, Reg), she gets it. She has a credit card she’s allowed to use for gas and emergencies. Sylvie would probably rather see her use it to buy nice clothes like skirts and dresses and high heels but Reggie doesn’t care about any of that. She’ll go to Rag Top in Upland and buy used Levi’s and overalls and irregular t-shirts with the names of local sports teams and hardware stores. It’s almost like she does it just to piss Sylvie off. It’s a total waste, if you ask me. I mean, what I could do with a credit card at Abercrombie or Gap or Anthropologie. I would finally look awesome.

Anyway, I never ask Lucie for money because, well, she never has any. Every once in a while she’ll have some extra cash and we spend it on Starbucks or a month of movie rentals but it’s so unusual that I can’t ever count on it. Aaron hasn’t asked me to transcribe any of his shows lately either so it’s not like I have any money.

And what do I need it for? What non school related activity do I have to spend my money on?

T and his friends have invited me to go to Laser Quest in Chino. It’s laser tag, which normally would be completely lame and I would probably make fun of the people who play because it’s so…nerdy. But T is going and his family and his buddies and their girlfriends too. But it’s expensive. T said his parents would pay for food and get us there but I have to pay the admission.

And then in July they’re going on their annual trip to Raging Waters in San Dimas, which is a humongous water park made famous by Bill and Ted (a very old movie starring a very young Keanu Reeves, way before he was Neo). While I think that trip would be way more fun, I would have to wear a bathing suit which I am so not into so I’m debating whether to go or not. I can really only ask Lucie for money for one of them, not both and I have to decide which one.

There’s no guarantee she would say yes to either of them anyway.

Ch-Ch-Changes

2007-06-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things I Wish I Could Change

1. Our apartment
2. My clothes
3. My lack of cell phone and computer
3.5 Lucie

It’s not that I don’t like our apartment but it’s only one bedroom. Technically we share the bedroom but Lucie falls asleep on the couch most of the time so I get the bedroom to myself which is fine for me but I feel bad for Luce. We have two small dressers, one for each of us, and two closets, only one of which is in the bedroom. The other is in the living room. We mostly shove our shoes under the bed, which means we pretty much wear the same pairs over and over again because it’s a pain in the butt to get under there and find them, especially at 8 in the morning when you have to run out the door.

And it’s not that I don’t have clothes to actually cover my body but they’re pretty old and not the most stylish. No one ever makes fun of me or anything - I’m not Ugly Betty or whatever - but it’s pretty evident that I don’t have disposable cash to spend on clothes. I try to stick to classics: plain skirts and jeans and t-shirts which go with everything so they last but when everyone gets dressed up on special days, like Valentine’s Day or the last day of school, I look like I found my clothes on the street. So I’d like new clothes.

As for the cell and computer, forget about it. It ain’t never gonna happen, not with Lucie’s current income. I would love to have a cell, even one of those pay as you go things but…do I have to say it again? No money. None. Zero.

Lucie gets honorable mention here just because sometimes I wish she was just my sister and we could just do sister stuff together. I wish she didn’t have to worry about providing for me and making sure I have a roof over my head and I wish I didn’t have to nag her about paying the bills and getting to work on time and filing taxes. Sometimes I wish our parents were still around and we could just goof off and be the Shanley girls.

That’s a lot to wish for. Maybe I’ll just get a new pair of jeans.

Friends 'n' Stuff

2007-05-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

The friend thing is important to me. Of course, writing “the friend thing” makes me sound like I DON’T care about friends. Let me start again…

I care about having friends. I really want to have friends. And I want to be good to my friends. It’s just that I have a hard time keeping them. We’ve been here in RC for 2 years which is so weird to me. Usually by now, I would be two towns past this and Reggie would have long forgotten about me and I would have moved on to other kids in other schools. So trying to be a good friend to her wouldn’t even be an issue.

I’m not trying to make excuses for myself! If I’m a bad friend, that’s my fault, not anyone else’s. I should make more of an effort to stay in touch, to write or call. But Lucie and I never have extra money for things like cell phones or internet access so…

No, I’m not blaming Lucie either. Well, maybe a little. I think she could be working harder to stay in the same job, to get promoted and earn more money so we can afford things other people have - just regular things too, not plasma screen televisions or Blackberrys. Or hell, just do a decent enough job so we can stay IN ONE PLACE and not move all over. She could try harder to show up at work on time on a regular basis and to not call in sick just because she has her period. She could stop talking on the phone when she’s on the job and surfing the web when she should be working.

But ultimately this has nothing to do with me and my friends. That’s my own deal.

So Reg, I apologize if I haven’t been a great friend lately. I promise to be better.

I promise to TRY to be better.

I’m Not That Kind of Girl

2007-05-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Have I been neglecting my friends? Have I? You can tell me. Reggie thinks I’ve been avoiding her, that I’ve been hanging around T too much - in the halls and at lunch and after school - and that he’s all I talk about and really, that’s not true at all. I would never ditch my friends for a guy. I’m not that kind of girl.

I can’t help it if I want to talk about him, though, can I? He’s my first real guy friend…not boyfriend, not really. We haven’t ever had a full-on makeout session and I would hardly call it dating since our dates are more like him saying, hey, want to get together Saturday and me saying, yeah, okay.

Maybe I haven’t been the best friend. I should probably hang out with Reg more. And I should probably ask her more about what she’s doing, about her classes. She told me her parents were going to buy her a brand new car this summer if she got good grades. I think that’s what happens when you’re the only girl in the family and all your brothers are kind of lame in the grades department. It doesn’t take much to look better than them. But good for her, getting a new car. Maybe she and I can go car shopping one of these days.

You want to do that, Reg? Just the two of us?

T, POTC3 and Me

2007-05-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things I Love About Long Weekends

1. An extra day to sleep late
2. An extra night to stay up late
3. An extra morning for a special breakfast
3.5 An extra afternoon to meet someone for a movie

If you think I’m going to talk about 1, 2 or 3, you don’t know me very well.

Actually, number 3 on the list is a lot of fun. On holiday mornings, I usually get up earlier than Lucie (even if I do number 1, which is sleep in a little more) and start fixing a special breakfast for both of us. I have a special dish I make that most people call French Toast. You know, you dip bread in egg and milk and fry it up and then pour syrup all over it with lots of butter? Yummy, yummy! I can’t wait! We love it so much that we sometimes have it for dinner. Okay, so I make a whole bunch of that and brew up some coffee and if we have fruit around, I might slice some berries or bananas and put them on the side. Never on the top - Lucie hates when her fruit is touched by the syrup. She likes to dip the fruit into the syrup herself. Whatever. It’s an awesome meal and we never have time for it during regular weekdays and most of the weekends either. I don’t know why we don’t do it more on the weekends. We could cook up bacon or sausage or pancakes or waffles. We should do that more.

Luce, let’s do that more.

Anyway, on to number 3.5. Matinee with T! He had some sort of family thing last night - not that we would have gotten together because it’s not dating. We’re just friends who have kissed a few times. That’s all. You kiss your friends, don’t you? On the lips?

So T said, hey, are you doing anything on Monday afternoon and I said no, why, and he said, let’s go to a matinee of POTC3 since it’s impossible to get into on an opening weekend night anyway and I was like, yeah, sure, that’s fine and he gave me this huge grin like he was really glad I said yes so that’s what I’m doing tomorrow.

I love long weekends.

Idol/Idle Talk

2007-05-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

And the winner is…I don’t care actually. It’s Jordin, which was, you know, predictable and you know, whatever. I'm psyched for her and she's awesome and beautiful and very very talented and yes, I did watch on Tuesday night even though I said I wouldn't. So Jordin is the idol but Blake and everyone else with any bit of talent will get recording contracts. Of course they will! They’ll do the Idol tour with the top ten and then they will each go off and have careers of their own. Blake, if he doesn’t have a deal, now, will get one in seconds!

Part of me wants to see the tour…don’t you?

Lucie said it reminds her of Up With People. I never heard of that so I had to look it up. For you… Up With People.

And how stupid was I yesterday? No sunscreen? What an idiot! I kept my hair up in a ponytail since it was so stinkin’ hot but I didn’t put anything on - and no hat either - so the back of my neck and my ears are bright red! Ouch! What was I thinking?

We had way too much fun for it to be called class. Everyone split up and we took a section to study. Whatever was in your little 4 x 4 area was what you researched. T had his brother’s digital camera - totally nice of him to loan it to us - and I kept notes. But the best part was when we broke for lunch. We didn’t have to sit in a group, we could stay with our partners so me and T found a little shaded patch not far from our study area and we had a little picnic. It was kind of romantic. We had cold Cokes and I made peanut butter sandwiches and T brought Doritos and cookies. And we just talked about you know, everything. Movies and TV and some stuff he saw on YouTube that he wants to show me. He told me about his brother and how he ran away when he was T’s age because he wanted to join the army but thank god he was too young so they sent him back home. T said this was right at the beginning of the war in Iraq and his brother was all fired up to fight but now that he’s old enough to join, he’s changed his mind, also thank god because T would worry about him constantly if he was over there.

Stuff like that.

And then we finished up the lab and the teacher herded us onto the bus and gave us ice cold popsicles for the ride home. I put mine right on my neck.

The Neverending Class

2007-05-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

I never thought I’d say this but…I don’t want school to end! I mean, yeah, of course I don’t want to go to English and Math and French anymore but I do want to go to Earth Science. We start the last lab this week and T and I are partners (little thrill!). We have a half-day field trip tomorrow where we go out to the foot of the mountains and catalog all the flowers and insects and animals - flora and fauna as they say in the biz. We take pictures and notes and then back home, we upload everything and create a notebook.

We don’t HAVE to take pictures if we don’t have a digital camera although we’re pretty much expected to and hello? I don’t. Once again, the haves rule the have-nots. Actually the haves pretty much forget the have-nots haven’t anything. I guess they just assume that in a partnership, at least one person will have access to a camera. The option is using a regular camera or cutting and pasting pictures from on-line. Which assumes AGAIN that you have access to the internet and boy am I tired of that. We don’t have it at my house which means we have to go to the library, the computer lab or in my case, T’s house.

Hmmm…maybe it’s not so bad that I don’t have internet access at home.

What America Really Watches

2007-05-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 YouTube Clips Right This Second

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULlsVcW5bRI Husky & Kitten
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJVoslo_xdM - Water - Blue King Brown
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNr4dJgbmK0 - Amores Payosas
3.5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5XVeENmLMk - Fujiya & Miyagi Ankle Injuries

The first one is a cute little kitten playing with a big Husky. The second is a video for a blues guitarist. The third is a short film in Spanish that takes place in NYC. And the fourth is a music video for a techno band.

This is what we entertain ourselves with. This is America.

This is why Melinda Doolittle did not win Idol.

Okay, I’m a little bitter. I still think she was robbed of her crown. I’d like to believe American voters were being altruistic and that they knew she would be fine but that Blake needed a boost. I told Aaron that when he called yesterday and he laughed and said, “Yeah, that’s what happened in the 2000 election.”

I didn’t get the joke.

What's Wrong With America?

2007-05-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

First of all: today is like, five people’s birthdays that I know. So Happy Happy to all of you and you know who you are! I’m not getting you any presents so enjoy the virtual congrats.

But more important: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH AMERICA?

How could you send Melinda home? You’re keeping beatbox boy? Just because he’s cute? Who’s voting for this guy? It’s like Sanjaya all over again. I mean, seriously. The guy is NOT a singer. He has sort of a thin voice and sings every song the same way.

Melinda was THE best singer in the competition. Arguably the best Idol singer ever. And she’s number 3?? I can’t believe she didn’t even make it to the final two. And did you hear the crowd reaction? Some boos but a lot of very slow applause like people were thinking, “This can’t be happening. This must be another of the producer’s lame jokes and soon Ryan will call her back and say it was a mistake and everything can go on as it should have.”

But he didn’t. And Simon just covered his head with his hands.

The only good thing is you know she has a record deal waiting for her. She will be inundated with phone calls this morning and last night and she’ll be bigger than anyone coming out of this contest.

So now it has to be Jordin. She’s beautiful and talented and sweet and has SO much potential, much more potential than any of the previous idols, except maybe Kelly Clarkson.

Aside: I gotta give props to Kelly Clarkson. I never thought she was anything special but she’s come a long way from the corn-fed ingénue of season 1. I wish she wouldn’t distance herself so much from the show that gave her her start but oh well, I guess that’s what people do and I’m guessing it’s probably her agents and managers telling her that. She is probably surrounded by people who tell her what to do and if any of them thought she was ruining her career by dissing Idol, they would tell her that too.

I’m not watching next week. I refuse. “Lost” is on for 2 hours so I will watch that instead, even though I’m a little confused by what’s going on on that island.

Okay, one more time…did you people NOT see Melinda kick ass Tina-style? You must not have because otherwise you would not have made the crappy decision you did.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

2007-05-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Next week will be my and Lucie’s two year anniversary in RC, although not in this apartment. When we first moved here, it was the end of seventh grade (can you believe she made us move like, a month before the year was over?). She had gotten a job answering phones for an insurance company in an industrial park not far from the freeway. It was the exact definition of “desolate.” The office building looked like a giant metal shed, with a gravel parking lot that Lucie used to break her heels on until she got smart and wore sneakers in the car and changed in the ladies room.

Our first place was one room, a studio apartment in this dingy complex that had a metal railing that chipped black paint onto your hands whenever you touched it. Everyone had a dog, except us, and they would all start barking at the same time if you walked by. It was like a domino effect: one would start and then the next and the next and the next and soon, all you could hear was a hundred dogs woofing it up for the next twenty minutes. Then they would calm down for a while until the next person walked by.

And the whole complex smelled like chlorine. This was probably because there was a crappy pool in the middle of the place that no one ever used because it was cracked all over and because there was a rumor that some kid drowned in it one night. Still, they treated it with chlorine anyway, every single day.

We left after five months, one month after I started eighth grade (can’t we ever get it straight?), and moved into this place, where it’s way cleaner and where only five people have dogs and there’s no pool.

You might not think our place is so great but compared to where we were, it’s a frickin’ mansion. I sometimes think you have to live pretty crappily to appreciate when you have it good.

Happy Anniversary, Luce!

Alfred Hitchcock Presents...

2007-05-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Interesting Facts About Alfred Hitchcock

1. Someone drinks brandy in every one of his films
2. He appeared in a scene in every one of his films
3. Staircases figured prominently in most of his films
3.5 He loved the number 7 and would include it (or numbers that added up to it) in his films

One of the funnest things to do with a Hitchcock movie is to watch for his cameo appearance. He usually walks through a crowd or is sitting on a train. He was a big fat bald guy and he always wore a suit.

Want to know another fun thing? NOT watching a Hitchcock movie when it’s on. And don’t be crude, T and I didn’t make out or anything like. This was at my house, after all, which is a teeny tiny apartment and Lucie did NOT go out. She hung out in the kitchen all night while T was here. Which was fine. I mean, it wasn’t like she was in the living room with us or anything and she did give us some space. And as long as I’m being completely honest, I felt safer having her there. Not that T would have done anything wrong but I mean, geez, I certainly don’t know what I’m doing!

What I discovered about T is that, away from school, he loves to talk. He talked constantly through the movies, telling me all about the actors and the camera work and the editing and how Hitchcock drew out every little thing before he started shooting. It was pretty amazing how much stuff he knows. T said he wants to go to film school in LA which I think is a great idea. He can meet all sorts of famous people there and he can learn all about movies and stuff. I was even thinking I might go to LA. Not for college or anything since we can’t afford it but maybe I could go there after graduation and get a job. I have no idea what I would do but there have to be loads of jobs in a city like that.

Anyway, that’s years away so I don’t really need to be worried yet.

And I did get a good night kiss when T’s brother came to pick him up. I won’t be gross and tell you all the gory details. It was sweet and gentle and not all grope-y. I mean, T kept his hands to himself (they were holding his movies) and sort of leaned in and our lips just…touched. It was very natural, I must say, like it was destined to happen. It wasn’t awkward at all.

That’s how you know a thing is right, right? When you’re not nervous. That’s what my friend Jen told me a long time ago. If you’re anxious and worried, then it’s not right and you shouldn’t do it. She is so awesome and smart so I would totally believe her on this.

The Final Three Does NOT Include LaKisha?

2007-05-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, first of all, what is up with America? LaKisha is gone but Blake stays? No effin’ way, as T likes to say. I thought she was awesome singing Stayin’ Alive and who cares what it USED to sound like? That was 30 years ago! It’s what she can make it sound like NOW.

And don’t tell me that’s what Blake is doing - Blake is just not singing. It’s a singing competition, not a performing one and I’m sorry but Blake cannot dance at all. He was just waving his arms around like he was at a Dodgers game.

And how about that that dress she wore, the green one? It totally thinned her out. She has come a very long way from what she started out as. Remember her from the auditions with her little girl crying for her? She was so quiet and shy and now look at her. She commands the stage. She stares straight into the camera. She kisses Simon!

I know Simon was being hard on her because she is so good - just like he was doing with Melinda - but really, she was so far and away better than Blake on Tuesday.

Blake will be gone next week, that’s for sure. And then it will be just Jordin and Melinda duking it out and making stupid Ford commercials. I’m sorry but those things are lame. And did you hear Jordin say she has to do 3 hours of schoolwork a day? She should just be singing. Oh well, I think my heart is still set on Melinda. I love her story as a former backup singer finally making it to the big time.

[Sigh…]

I hate the end of Idol season…it’s such a letdown.

Earth Science and Babies on My Mind

2007-05-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

This is our last week of geology lab. :(

But I think T and I will be partners for the last project of the year, the desert floor lab. :)

This is, from what Reggie has told me, the easiest project ever at the high school. It’s sort of the equivalent of a field trip. We partner up (calling T!) and then we are bused out of town to the desert near the mountains. Each team gets a list of flora and fauna we have to find and photograph. Then we come back to school and put them together on the computer in a booklet kind of thing, with captions and descriptions and so on. Everyone has always gotten an A, according to Reg.

Sweeeeet.

I can’t help it, though, I have Lucie on my mind. I keep wondering if she told Aaron she might be pregnant and if Aaron was staying away because he didn’t want to be a father or whatever. Or maybe he does and she doesn’t? He is pretty old, way older than Lucie. I don’t think he’s ever been married. Maybe he wants a kid now before it’s too late. I mean, it’s not too late for Luce…she has years of babies if she wants one. Or she could be like Madonna or Angelina and adopt them from an orphanage in another country if she doesn’t want to get fat.

I wonder if I should ask Lucie.

JA, what should I do? Think I need to write another letter to you - and soon…

Two Conversations About One Thing

2007-05-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

Two very important conversations happened this weekend. One went like this:

“Hey Meg, it’s T.”

“Hey T.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing much.”

(We can skip the boring stuff which went on for like, five minutes.)

“So you want me to bring my movies over tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Okay, what time?”

“Like, 7?”

“You want to eat first?”

“Uh, okay.”

“How about we meet at Jackie’s at 6?”

Jackie’s is this diner kind of place about ½ a mile from my house. I can walk there from here which means T’s brother doesn’t have to give us a lift. Sweet.

“Perf. See you then.”

“See ya.”

Not too shabby, eh?

Important Conversation #2:

“Uh, Luce. Can we talk?”

“I was just about to take a shower.” Heavy sigh.

“You can shower later.”

More sighs. “What is it?”

“I, uh, found something in the trash last week.”

“A mouse? I told you we just have to put traps out but you don’t want to kill them.”

“That’s not it, Luce. I found a, uh, box for a, uh, pregnancy test.”

“Okay.”

“Is it…was it yours?” I can’t look at her at this point so I have no idea what she’s doing.

“Yes.”

Oh god! My breath catches in my throat. “And?”

“And nothing. It was negative.”

Thank freaking god! I smile and finally look at her and she looks almost sad. “Isn’t that good, Luce? You don’t want a baby, do you?”

“Of course not,” she scowls. Then she goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. While I’m standing there wondering, wtf, I hear the shower turn on.

Could she have been disappointed? I don’t get it. We have no money, no permanent place to live. She has a crappy job and no husband and even if she did marry Aaron, he’s a musician! It’s one thing for them to get married and live the artist’s life (with me) but quite another to have a child too. Kids need so much crap. They need a backyard for their toys and they grow fast and eat a lot and have to go to the doctor all the time. A kid is just not the right thing for my sister. I can’t believe she’d think otherwise.

Am I wrong about this?

Hey, What About That Date?

2007-05-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

God, all this baby talk and I forgot to mention my awesome date with T. It was definitely a date. He asked me out. I said yes. We picked a time and place to go see the movie and then we went. I highly recommend “Disturbia.” Although I could be completely biased because I was sitting in the dark next to T for 2 hours. (heehee! I can’t believe it!)

Afterwards, we went to Jamba for smoothies (T doesn’t drink coffee! Blasphemy!). And we just sort of talked about stuff for almost two hours until the manager of Jamba came out and said they were closing and we had to leave. It was only 10:30! But T said he had to get home anyway so he called his brother to come pick us up (his older brother J drove us and then went off to Circuit City with his girlfriend). J’s girlfriend is really nice and sweet and she treated me like I was, you know, T’s girlfriend. That was cool.

And then, while we were driving home, T sort of shifted next to me, so he was sitting closer, and then he put his arm around my shoulder. He just kept it there and I wasn’t about to say anything! It was the first time a guy has ever put his arm around me!

He walked me to my apartment complex gate and I would have let him walk me up the stairs to my actual door but J was waiting and I didn’t want to get on his bad side, since he was the one who could make or break us having more dates. So I just said thanks for everything and good night and that was that.

And this weekend, I’m going to his house to watch that Hitchcock movie. And hopefully by then I will have learned the mystery of the pregnancy test.

The Pitter Patter of Little Thoughts

2007-05-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

I’ve got babies on my mind. Or the possibility of babies, at least. I have been watching Lucie carefully for signs she might be pregnant.

Early morning bathroom run: nausea?

No breakfast: skipping caffeine?

Mood swings: hormone shifts?

I really have no idea what the signs are that someone is pregnant, other than the obvious ones and of course, when the person actually says, hey, I’m pregnant. But another week has gone by and I don’t have any information at all. And as far as I know, Lucie hasn’t gone to the doctor or anything.

Should I ask her?

I can’t imagine what she must be going through if she is pregnant. Is she thinking about not having it, about giving it away, about getting married? And what would that do to us? I guess it could be cool to have a baby around but I think I would get stuck babysitting all the time so she could go out with Aaron. Or would Aaron move in? Or would we move in with Aaron? Sorry to say, Aaron, I’m only 14 so I kind of have to go where my sister goes, you know? Poor guy would get the sis and the baby.

I have to find out. I don’t think I can just wait.

I've Been Thinking All Day...

2007-04-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Reasons Lucie is in a bad mood (Redux)

1. She’s worried she’s pregnant
2. She’s worried she has to tell Aaron she’s worried she’s pregnant
3. She’s worried she has to go to the doctor because she’s worried she’s pregnant
3.5 She’s pregnant

Let’s re-group here. I found the test box. Is there another reason for the box to be in the trash?

Remember that episode of “Friends” where Phoebe finds the pregnancy test in the trash right before Monica’s wedding and she tells Rachel and they think it’s Monica and they’re happy and all and we find out later Rachel is lying and she’s the one who’s pregnant? Love that episode, although Rachel pregnant with Ross’ baby was kind of jumping the shark at that point. Not that I cared. I loved it!

Anyway, I’m Phoebe and I have found the test. Only instead of there being a Rachel and Monica, there’s only Rachel OR Monica. A pregnant one or a non-pregnant one. Which is it?

And when exactly was Lucie going to tell me? I am her sister, after all, her own flesh and blood. Her only flesh and blood. Wouldn’t she want to confide in me?

Bonus Blog

2007-04-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, here’s something weird. I found a home pregnancy test box when I was throwing out the trash this morning. Not the test itself, just an empty box.

We know I didn’t buy it. And we know I don’t have any friends who would have sneaked in and put it there (April Fool’s Day was weeks ago).

Which leaves just one person who has access to our trash. My sister.

Could Lucie be pregnant?

Hitchcock? Who's Hitchcock?

2007-04-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Week Two of Lab…

“Hey,” T says when I sit down.

“Hey.”

“I brought the pins this time.”

(Last class, he forgot the push pins to mark the seismic activity.)

“Cool.”

Silence as we measure the latitude and longitude of various earthquakes from a list we printed out from the internet.

“You want to go out this Saturday?”

“Me?” I think I pointed to myself. “Uh, what’d you want to do?” D’oh! Who cares???

“Maybe a movie at the mall. Have you seen ‘Disturbia’?”

“Nope.”

“It’s sort of a remake of ‘Rear Window.’”

“What’s that?”

T rolls his eyes. “Classic Hitchcock. You never saw ‘Rear Window’?”

“Nope.”

T smiles, really big. “Okay, you’re coming to my house and I’m gonna introduce you to the classics. It’ll be my gift to you.”

“Your gift to me?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna school you on the best movies.”

I smile. I know I smiled. “Okay.”

This Post has No Message

2007-04-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking about what Evelyn wrote and I don’t know what to say. I mean, I kind of like being able to express my thoughts on what I’m going through, even if no one out there is listening. Maybe especially because no one is listening. I can say what I want and what I think and isn’t that what cyberspace is all about?

I admit, at first I thought I wanted to say something important but I had a hard time figuring that out. Not everything can be an important message and frankly, I hate those kinds of things. I hate reading a book or seeing a movie that has a “message.” I don’t want people telling me what to think or feel. Just give it to me and if I think or feel what you want me to, okay, but when you put in messages and themes, you’re just manipulating people. And I don’t want to be manipulated. I want to figure it out myself.

So I write what I want and I say what I want. I’m not going to put out themes or messages. If I want to write about Rwanda or the war, okay, I will, but I’m not going to do it just to make a statement. Let other people do that, people who want to send messages to the world (like I don’t know people are starving in Rwanda or that the war was a bad idea - of course I do and so do you).

And maybe I do talk about T and Lucie and my personal life but maybe there’s something in there that someone else could relate to and so the message isn’t global but local. Hey, there’s a theme for you…

Is it something in the air?

2007-04-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Reasons Lucie is in a bad mood

1. She lost her boyfriend
2. She lost her job
3. She lost her purse
3.5 She got a bad haircut

I have seen all of the above happen (sometimes on the same day) and yet, I can’t figure out what the reason is right now. She’s got Aaron and she likes her job and she just bought a new purse and her hair looks awesome. Yet, she’s in a lousy mood. She wouldn’t order a pizza with me Friday night which is really weird and she told Aaron she didn’t want to go to dinner last night which is unheard of. The Shanley girls are all about the free meal (not that you’re a free meal, Aaron, no offense).

Up and down and up and down go Lucie’s moods these days. I know it’s not our period (ours are synchronized, we’ve talked about this before) so I don’t know what’s up. And she’s being very secretive about things. She runs into the bathroom first thing in the morning and she stays in there until she has to leave for work. Doesn’t even come out for cereal and coffee.

No coffee?? That’s the weirdest part of all.

C is for...

2007-04-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

...don't answer that!

Evelyn issued us “grades” on our blogs yesterday. Since she can’t officially make us keep them anymore, she can’t officially give us grades on them but she is offering “suggested grades” and has told us we can submit ours for extra credit if we want to. I submitted mine since I could use all the credit I can get.

I got a C.

With the comment, “Meg, I’m disappointed your blog has degenerated into a diary of sorts. You had the talent to stand out from the crowd of journals and on-line gossip fests and do something more original and you neglected that talent in favor of boy chat. I’d like to see you use your electronic voice to rise above the average blog and say something unique.”

Does this mean I don’t get the extra credit?

Sanjaya's Gone? Sniff Sniff...

2007-04-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

I had not been planning to post about Idol because, well, honestly? I never thought this day would come. Sanjaya was voted off! I still can't believe I'm writing that. I mean, logically, he couldn't win it all - he shouldn't win it all - but yet...week after week, there he was.

First of all, the bottom three last night were completely wrong: LaKisha? Come on! And Blake? No chance! Chris R totally should have been there with Sanjaya. His argument with Simon that his nasally singing was deliberate was lame and annoying and simply to provoke an argument. No one was on his side after that and I don't think it was right for him to mention the Virginia Tech thing then either. That was inappropriate. That was a horrible horrible tragedy and he made it get lumped in with a discussion about bad singing.

Second of all, making Melinda choose which group she thought was the bottom three was tacky. Seriously, Idol producers, that was a stupid thing to do and of course, she wasn't gonna choose. We pretty much knew the group with Jordin wasn't going anywhere. She was amazing so anyone standing in her immediate vicinity was safe.

Third of all, I think Melinda should just be kicked off the show now and given a massive recording contract. She needs a makeover, yes, but she should stop with this Idol crap and go make records. And that would leave...

Fourth of all, Jordin should win. She's 17 which is a perfect age for a pop star. She's so pretty and cute and sweet and that voice! Wow! Plus I like that she isn't skinny like a Britney or a Lindsay or a Jessica. She's got curves and she looks like a real girl.

I think the contestants will be eliminated in the following order: Blake, Phil, LaKisha, Chris and then Melinda and Jordin.

Can there be a tie?

Sigh...I miss Sanjaya already.

Long-lost R

2007-04-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering whatever happened to R, my geometry tutor and admirer?

Me too.

Our second session got canceled because he had a family thing and we never rescheduled. We still talk sometimes but it wasn’t like before when we were flirting at lunch and stuff. I wonder, and you can correct me if I’m wrong because I have no experience with this at all, if he knows or thinks T is interested and has backed off. Or would T have said something to him, like, I like Meg and I don’t want you asking her out? Or tutoring her or whatever? And not for nothing but R liked me first. I think. Well, he acted first. T took his sweet time getting around to me. So technically, I should be dating R.

Except I’m not dating anyone!

I don’t understand this. At what point does the actual dating begin?

Mmm...chocolate

2007-04-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Chocolate Desserts

1. Entenmann’s Chocolate Fudge Cake
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Fudge Nut Brownies
3.5 Chocolate Covered Strawberries

The strawberries, as delicious as they are, get honorable mention because they are a fruit and fruit is good for you. When you’re eating chocolate, you really don’t want to think about healthy things. And don’t tell me dark chocolate is healthy because that’s when you get old. I don’t need to eat healthy chocolate now.

And why is this list here? Because T’s favorite desserts are chocolate ones and I am trying to figure out what to make him for his birthday.

Still no date! Not a formal asking-out anyway. We started our lab on Friday which just means we got the maps and markers and learned about fault lines, which most of us already knew since we live in SoCal. But we did move our seats around so we could be next to our lab partners and um, that was cool. I know I’m blushing but you can’t see it.

So T’s birthday is May 17th (Taurus, the bull) and I want to make him a special dessert. Not from a girlfriend to a boyfriend, although if we are by then, that would be cool, but just you know, one lab partner to another. Okay? Nothing more than that.

Yet.

Earthquake....Lab

2007-04-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well, was I right or was I right?

About Idol, I mean…Haley's gone and she was (not that I notice these things much) pretty hot. Phil is way more normal looking than her and notice that HE made it through another round. Mark my words: normal is the new hot.

It’s getting closer to another weekend and T hasn’t said anything about the movie. But - and this is a big but, kind of like my own (lol! Yes, I’m in a happy mood!) - he has been hanging around me a lot lately. We’re not talking about anything major, like, I don’t know, deep thoughts about life or whatever, but…okay, let me give you an example.

I got to school late Wednesday morning because Lucie was a total mess about her hair so I had to help her flat-iron it which takes FOREVER! She said she would give me a ride to school afterward if I helped but she completely lied, of course. Well, not completely. She said she would after she finished her makeup but I didn’t want to wait that long so I left.

Oh, did I mention she got a new job? A receptionist in some dental office. At least it’s in RC and we don’t have to move again. Whew.

Anyway, Reggie was already gone since I told her she didn’t have to pick me up because Luce was driving me so I hopped on a bus (ugh) and got to school about 45 minutes late. I ran to my locker and just as I am closing it, who comes waltzing up to me but T? I guess he was using the boys’ room or whatever, I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I was just so surprised to see him there. He smiles, like he’s happy to see me and says,

“Hey, you’re late.”

And I’m like, “Long story” and I sort of stop. Like do I run off to class or stay and talk to him?

“You gonna be in Science today?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Cool. We have that lab.”

We’re doing an earthquake plotting exercise today. We got to vote on which lab project we wanted to do as a class (meteorology, geology, or astronomy) and nearly everyone picked the earthquake one.

“Yeah. That’s cool,” I say. Um, duh.

“You pick a partner yet?” he aks.

I shake my head.

“You want to be my partner?”

Um, duh. I think I smiled. I know I said yes. I’m sure I looked moronic.

“Cool,” he says. “See ya.”

This is definitely going somewhere, don’t you think?

Idol countdown!

2007-04-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

It’s getting closer! Chris Sligh got kicked off a couple of weeks ago and Gina Glocksen last week. I was really surprised. I figured America would at least keep Chris in the top 5 with Melinda, Lakisha, Chris R., and Jordin because he was sort of normal-looking and America likes to promote normal-looking people. You ever notice that? Look at the winners versus the runners-up.

From the very first season: Kelly vs. Justin. Sorry, Kel, Justin was wayyy better looking.

Ruben vs. Clay? Hello, Clay, easily.

Fantasia or Diana? No question: Diana.

Carrie vs. Bo? Carrie was very cute but come on…Bo was hot.

And the number one example that supports my thesis: Taylor Hicks vs. Katherine McPhee? I don’t have to actually answer that, do I? I mean, you can figure that one out yourself.

So when you look at the contestants tonight, don’t just listen to their voices, because they all are really good singers. Instead, look at their relative normalness. The most normal of the bunch, I’ll bet you, will be the Season 6 winner.

The Results of Playing Hooky

2007-04-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things I Learned From Tyra Banks

1. Wait until your mascara is dry before you wipe off the smudges with a Q-Tip
2. Lean forward when your picture is being taken so you will look thinner
3. 160 pounds on a former supermodel who’s 5’ 10” is normal
3.5 Guest stars should always look fatter and uglier than the show’s host

We’re feeling a little better today but I gotta say, we were totally wiped out on Friday. We barely made the cinnamon toast and coffee and basically just sat around all day, watching television and taking naps. I think I’d rather play hooky when I’m feeling well. A day off is wasted when you’re sick.

Aaron was going to come make us dinner but he got stuck in traffic and called us at 7:30 to say he had to go back so he could make his rehearsal. For once, Lucie didn’t get upset. I think she was just feeling really bad so it didn’t matter if he came or not. And why would he want to get sick too? But it was a nice offer. I think he was going to cook macaroni and cheese which sounds okay but we can make that from a box ourselves. Maybe I will do that tonight if I am feeling ambitious.

I really really had hoped I would have been watching “Saw” with T last night (or doing anything with T!) but I didn’t think it was fair to cough all over him. I talked to him on Wednesday about getting together this weekend and he was totally up for it and I was so psyched! It was a totally casual thing, too, the way it all came about. We were in science and talking about our final projects and I just sort of blurted out, “hey, I still haven’t seen that movie yet,” and he was like, “Saw? Well, come on over this weekend.”

Just like that.

And if you’re wondering why I don’t write more about T, it’s because he reads the blog sometimes and I don’t want him to think all I do is talk about him. But occasionally is okay. R doesn’t read it (too busy planning the rest of his life, I guess) so I can say here that he and I have another “tutoring” session after school on Monday. (Sweet!)

It probably won’t turn into a date thing but still, it’s at the Bucks on Foothill which is where everyone goes to hang out so people will totally see us together.

But I’m having a bit of a moral crisis…not the two boys, are you crazy? That’s awesome! No, I am actually doing much better in geometry these days. I got a B- on last week’s surprise quiz but I told R I got a D. So should I tell R that I don’t really need his help anymore? Or do I pretend I still suck so I can be alone with him? Such a dilemma.

A Cure For The Common Cold

2007-04-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

It’s definitely a cold and Lucie has it too. We’re both gonna play hooky tomorrow and watch soaps (cuz Luce has some work thing she has to do today) and make cinnamon toast. I love cinnamon toast! Everyone says you should eat chicken soup and drink tea when you're sick but I say, cinnamon toast and coffee!

Here's how I make it:

4 slices of white bread
cinnamon
sugar
butter
lots of coffee

While the bread is toasting, mix the cinnamon into the sugar well. Soften the butter in the micro. Spread the butter on the toast and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over it. Slice diagonally for best results. Serves 2 with a pot of coffee. Yummy!

Note: Some people mix the cinnamon sugar into the butter and spread that on the toast but I think the butter gets too crunchy and doesn’t melt into the toast properly. So follow my directions instead.

Ooh, can’t wait! I hope there’s good stuff to watch on TV tomorrow!

Achoo!

2007-04-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

I think I’m getting a cold. My nose was all stuffy and my throat was really sore last night. The last time I had a cold we were living in Tujunga (Did you know they shot some of “ET” there? Yeah, whatever, I didn’t think that movie was so great either but Lucie said it made her cry. Maybe when you see it in a theater or something but on a crappy TV screen, what’s the big deal?

And Drew Barrymore as a kid? How weird is that? The first movie I saw her in was “Charlie’s Angels.” I didn’t really believe they did their own stunts but that’s what they say. Lucy Liu looks pretty kick-ass but Cam Diaz and Drew? Come on…they’re totally girly-girls. I didn’t buy it for a second.)

A Message To Lucie

2007-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Things That Cheer Up My Sister

1. Going on a date with “the guy”
2. Getting a call from “the guy”
3. Getting a text from “the guy”
3.5 Going on a date with me

This is a message to Lucie, so sorry if none of you can relate.

Luce, he’s just a guy and he’s also only human. He probably really is busy and he probably really was sick a few days ago. It has nothing to do with you. You can’t assume he’s dumping you! Why would he do that? Because you like him? That makes no sense at all. He likes you too. I don’t think it’s a smart thing to go find him - that’s like being a stalker. If he’s with another girl - and I doubt it - what would you do? Yell at him? Throw something at him? Just chill and do your own thing.

Didn’t we have fun last night? I told you it would be cool walking around the mall and picking out clothes. I can’t ever get Reg to do it but I love window-shopping. I pretend I have a lot of money and then I imagine what I would look like in really cool outfits. Sometimes I try it all on but only if the salespeople are cool. Sometimes they follow me around and keep bugging me but if the store is really busy, like it usually is at Forever 21, they ignore me.

And then going for coffee at the Bean? Wasn’t that fun? After all that shopping, we spent maybe 10 bucks, including the 2 coffees and the pair of hoop earrings we got on sale. Not bad for a Saturday night in RC, huh?

So just, I don’t know, enjoy hanging out with me sometimes and forget about Aaron. He’ll either call or he won’t but you won’t be sitting around waiting for him.

And that’s all I have to say. Except…

…someone better give me that advice soon because I have no idea what to do about R or T. Should I ask R out on a real date? Should I call T to see the movie at his house? Do I want to see the movie? Do I want to see T? Do I want to see R? Well, the answer to all those questions is obvious: yes!

And that’s no April Fool’s joke!

Okay, I'm a Little Obsessive

2007-03-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

I’m starting to think maybe the date wasn’t a date at all. It really was a geometry lesson that turned into a meal and a movie.

Which makes me wonder if I was supposed to pay for all of that??? Maybe that’s why he isn’t hanging around me. Maybe I was supposed to offer to pay, since he was tutoring me.

Except he pulled out his wallet for everything. He even has two credit cards!

Doesn’t using a credit card kind of signal a date is going on?

Lucie has been no help on this. She and Aaron haven’t seen each other since the night he canceled coming out here and she has been getting steadily more depressed. She hasn’t gotten a new job either, although she’s been on several interviews.

Man, how did things get so crappy for the Shanley sisters again?

What's the definition of boyfriend?

2007-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

It’s not that I assumed R was my boyfriend just after that one date but I did kind of think that he would want to hang around me more. We still talk and joke in class but he doesn’t sit with me at lunch or walk with me to classes.

Was I supposed to do something on the date? Were we supposed to kiss or hold hands? It’s not that I wouldn’t have done either of those things but the opportunity didn’t, well, arise. Plus he could have initiated something.

Am I wrong on this?

Why is this entry late today?

2007-03-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Reasons to Stay Up Late on Saturday Night

1. You’re at an amazing party
2. Someone good is hosting SNL
3. You rented a bunch of movies that have to be returned on Sunday
3.5 You’re on a date with a very cool guy named R

Let’s see…I’ll give you a hint. I was not invited to a party. I didn’t watch television. And I didn’t rent any movies.

Yes, that’s right, I was on a date with R. And I won’t gloat here about how awesome he is because that would be hugely tacky. However, I will say that I am not nearly as stupid in math as I think I am. In fact, that’s exactly what R said:

“You’re not nearly as stupid in Geometry as you think you are.”

Words to swoon by…

Whatever.

The lesson took two hours because we kept laughing and talking about other stuff like which shows he likes (Lost and Heroes) and which teachers we mutually dislike (SP and DM) and why his parents want him to be an engineer and why he hates that idea because he’d be a total cliché. It was…amazing.

Then we did get hungry but instead of a suggestion from either of us, it was just sort of mutually decided, like, hey, let’s go eat now, so there was no nervousness or anything. And then at dinner (steak fajitas for me, cheese burrito platter for him), we talked about movies we liked and actors we thought were pretty cool and he said he hadn’t seen “300” yet and maybe we could go and the next thing I knew, we were in line for the movies.

He was so cool and fun and there was so little anxiety that I can’t believe it was a real date.

But I think it was.

1+ 1 = 2 Dates!

2007-03-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Do I actually have 2 guys who like me? This is seriously not possible. I have never had ANY guys like me and now I have 2???

R is giving me a tutoring session in Geometry on Saturday afternoon. I know that doesn’t sound like a date but listen: he wants to do it at 5:00. An hour long lesson means we won’t finish until after 6, which is really pretty close to dinner. Plus we’re meeting at the Starbucks near the Applebee’s which, while not exactly top cuisine, is a pretty decent place for dinner. So don’t you think it’s possible we’ll finish with the lesson and then he might casually say, hey, are you hungry? And then, let’s go over to Applebee’s, which is right here. Which leaves me a way out, if things aren’t going very well and it leaves him a way out, like if I am a total moron in math and he doesn’t want to share a meal with me. Right?

I mean, it’s possible it could happen that way.

We’ll find out on Saturday!

Sunday Surprise

2007-03-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was all about work…homework and housework. Lucie never, and I mean never, cleans. It’s not that she’s dirty - she doesn’t leave her dishes laying around and she wipes out the tub after she showers and she occasionally washes the laundry - but she is very messy. Her bedroom is just a pile of clothes and jewelry and shoes and magazines all over the floor and on her bed. But she keeps the door closed so I don’t have to see it.

I am usually the one to clean. Does that surprise anyone at all? I use that Easy-Off stuff in the oven so that cleans itself and I pour bleach in the sinks and on the floor. I do whatever I have to but as simply as I can. No wasted energy.

But not this weekend. This weekend Aaron was coming for a visit with his friend, Derek. So Lucie wanted the place spotless. We vacuumed the rugs and dusted the knickknacks (not that we have many - you tend to lose a lot of that stuff when you move around so we just don’t even bother with it) and Lucie actually scrubbed the toilet! Inside and out! Yuck! I told her I would do the entire kitchen if she would do that and she did. Shockingly.

By Sunday afternoon, the whole apartment looked and smelled great. The weather was really warm so we had all the windows open and since the days are longer, it was light out until past 7. At around 4:30, we kicked back and had iced coffees and toasted our hard work. Lucie was probably in the best mood I have seen her in a long time. We put on some tunes and she was dancing and singing with the broom. And then I would change the music really fast, like from rock to opera, and she would change along with it. It was hilarious!

But then, the phone rang. Aaron couldn’t come because his car broke down and Derek’s car was also in the shop but when Lucie offered to come get them, he said no, because it would be a lot of time on the road and he and Derek needed to be up early for a rehearsal or something. Lucie got off the phone and she looked really sad and I thought for sure she would cry or yell or something but you know what she did? She smiled and she said the place looked awesome and then she thanked me for helping her. That’s it. No tears, no anger. And then we walked to the video store and rented “Stranger Than Fiction,” which was pretty good and pretty funny and we bought a pizza and ate the whole thing.

It was a good night.

Spring Fling

2007-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Great Things About Spring

1. Only 3 Months ‘Til School’s Out
2. Days are Getting Longer
3. Teachers Forget Homework
3.5 Spring Break

Lucie likes the flowers blooming in spring but I think that’s crap. We’re in SoCal, the flowers bloom all year round. She says the flowers are different, they smell different. Whatever. So long as she doesn’t bring them inside where they make me sneeze. Frankly, I think she’s just feeling lovey-dovey these days with Aaron. She’s been gone a lot, hanging out at his place or doing things in Hollywood. Thank god he doesn’t come here, that’s all I have to say. That would be just too weird to have him, you know, sleep over. So far, Lucie has been good about coming home every night - or morning. But at least she’s coming home.

Sets a good example for me, the younger, impressionable sister, you know?

So number 1 is obvious…just 12 more weeks until school is over for the year and I am no longer a freshman! Whoo-hoo! I am so tired of being the newbie in school. I can’t wait for the next class to walk around like deer caught in the headlights, wondering how they get their lockers open and if it’s cool to carry a messenger bag (it’s not…).

The days are definitely longer, now that we’re into DST (see previous post). I love that in the summer, the days are even longer. Lucie and I like to sit outside, sometimes she’ll drive the car to the park where the space is really wide open and you can see the mountains and we’ll have iced teas and just look up at the sky and the warm winds rush over us. That’s a pretty cool time of day.

So far only one teacher has forgotten homework but one is enough (and EB, you know who you are, and we love you for it!).

I am not going anywhere for Spring Break but my own backyard. Actually, we don’t have a backyard but we do have a courtyard where everyone keeps their barbecues. Lucie promised me we would go somewhere for spring break in my senior year, like Cancun or something, but I don’t know. I’d kind of like to go with my friends, you know? No offense to Lucie but I see her all the time and she’s almost twice my age. I mean, if it’s the choice of no trip or a trip with my sister, I’ll take my sister but…we’ll see. That’s three years away and we’ve already seen what can happen in 3 years. Maybe Lucie will be married to Aaron by then! How awesome would that be??

Why Isn't It Friday Yet?

2007-03-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

It’s now been one month since the Red Rose Debacle and I am no nearer to an answer.

As for T, well, he wasn’t in class on Monday and Tuesday. He did come back yesterday but he obviously is way behind. He didn’t talk to anyone, just came in, sat down, and paid attention. I heard from Dena that he got really sick on Sunday night (right after he saw me???). They think it was food poisoning because he and D were both out and they went to some chicken place, El Pollo Loco maybe? And ate some bad meat. It was probably D’s idea. In any case, they’re back in school now but looking pretty sickly.

I kind of smiled at him when he came in yesterday and he sort of smiled back. I have to be positive about it and believe he was just not feeling very well and that whatever date he proposed is still valid. Lucie says to wait a week and ask him.

A week! Why do people throw words around like that and act like they’re nothing at all?

“Just wait a week.”

“Check back next month.”

“By next year, you’ll have forgotten all about it.”

Who thinks like that except someone whose life is passing by in a flash? That’s what Lucie says: as you get older, life goes faster. Geez, that sucks!

Okay, on to the story…

2007-03-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Reggie and I were at the Best Buy checking out plasmas (actually, she was checking out plasmas, I was looking at the 2.99 DVDs) when who should come up to me but T?

“Hey, Meg.”

“Hey, uh.” I’m so brilliant.

“Whatcha lookin’ for?”

I shrug. “Anything cheap.”

“You like horror?” He holds up “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning.” It’s a whopping buck ninety-nine.

I frown. “Not really.” But I sort of say it like I could like it, if he were to say he really likes it.

“Some horror is pretty good.” He says it like sort of an apology. I can tell he really likes horror movies but is playing it down for my benefit.

“Yeah, sure,” I say, enthusiastically. “I liked, uh…” I try to think of some recent movies I liked. “The Ring was cool.”

“Oh yeah, The Ring. Very cool.”

“And, uh, The Descent?” That one made me way claustrophobic but it was pretty awesome.

“Definitely, definitely.” He looks like he’s trying to find something to say. “Did you see Saw?”

“See saw…” I laugh. “That’s funny. See-saw. See-saw.”

T laughs too. Whew! Then he says, “Did you like it?”

“Oh god, no, I didn’t see it. It’s kind of, um, revolting, you know? People being tortured?”

T nods. “Oh yeah, you said you didn’t like that sort of stuff.”

“I…when did I say that?”

“On your blog.” Then he stops, like he’s been caught.

“You read my blog?”

T shrugs. “Uh, yeah, sometimes.”

I can feel my face get hot and I know it’s totally red. All that stuff I wrote! About him! Does he know he’s T? Does he know about my rose? Does he know I wish he was my ARRG? Oh god, take me now…

And just when I’m looking for a hole to swallow me in the bargain DVD section of Best Buy, T’s friend D comes over and slaps him on the back. “Dude, let’s go.” D doesn’t even look at me. Whatever.

T pushes him off. “I’m coming. Go away.” Then he turns back to me and says, “It’s not really as bad as you think.” I must have a total blank look on my face because he says, “Saw? The movie?”

“Oh yeah, okay.”

“I have it on DVD if you want to see it sometime. Just let me know.”

“Oh, sure, maybe you can lend it to me.”

T smiles. “I can do that or you could come over and watch it. You know, if you want.”

“Uh, yeah. Okay.” And then so I don’t sound too anxious, I add, “Whatever.”

T leaves. And I have no idea what just happened. I think I got asked out. I think.

An Hour Changes Everything

2007-03-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Top 3.5 Cool Facts About Daylight Saving Time

1. Hawaii and Arizona do not observe DST
2. Benjamin Franklin was the first to think of DST
3. During WWII, DST was optional, which confused the heck out of everyone
3.5 It’s Daylight Saving Time, not Savings Time

You all should have gotten up an hour later this morning because DST started at 2AM. Normally we do this in April but a couple of years ago, the President officially changed it starting this year so DST begins in March and ends in November, which is a week later than usual. I really have no idea why. The whole concept of DST really messes with my head. Just like time-travel: I think I understand it and then it whooshes right out of my head. But this website has some awesome info on it. I could do a whole research paper based on this one website.

But on to more pressing concerns: T asked me out!

Well, not formally, as in, “Meg Shanley, will you go out on a date with me?” But it happened like this…

And you’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow because I have a TON of work to do!

Pie R Squared

2007-03-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

I ran into R from Geometry when we were standing in line at the caf. I usually bring my lunch because it’s wicked expensive to buy food at school but I forgot it.

Okay, who am I kidding? Honestly? Lucie didn’t go to the grocery store.

Okay, who am I kidding, again? If I’m really honest…Lucie lost her job again. We still have our apartment and our car and I guess we have a little money because Lucie wasn’t panicked like she usually is when she loses her job but she got sort of distracted by it and didn’t go to the store. So that’s why I didn’t have any food for lunch.

So, I’m standing in line, trying to figure out what the cheapest meal is - the salad bar where you pay by the pound or the a la carte stuff like meatloaf or pizza buns - when I hear R come up behind me and say,

“How do you find the area of a circle?”

Me: “Uh…with a ruler?”

R laughs. “I’ll give you a hint. Pi.”

Me: “Apple or cherry?”

R laughs again, like he’s never heard that joke before. “What looks good today?”

Me: “You.”

LOL! No chance…that’s what I was thinking, though.

Me: “Uh…salad bar?”

Because what am I gonna say? I have no money and am trying to buy the most food for the least cash? That makes me sound like a loser plus I’m pretty sure his family is kind of well-off and I don’t want him to offer me a loan. And three, I’m a girl and girls are supposed to eat crap like salads, even if they want a big slab of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

R nods. “Anything but the meatloaf.” Then he shrugs and says, “I’m a vegetarian.”

Me, with a smile: “Me too.”

R nods again. “Cool.”

And just when I think I’m gonna mention tutoring and see if he’s still interested and maybe glean some sort of tell from his answer, like if it would be more than tutoring, the line moves and the cafeteria lady asks me what I want and out of sheer instinct, I say, “Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.”

R looks at me funny but doesn’t say anything.

Me: “I mean, just a salad, please. No meat at all. At all.”

But I think it’s too late. R takes a salad from the salad bar and walks over to the drinks.

I don’t know how to salvage this one. Should I?

JA, where are you when I need you????

Another One Bites the Dust

2007-03-06T07:04:00.000-08:00

G from French is also a no-go. Mister WiFi did google me and he did look at my blog and he pronounced it LAME! Lame? Okay, his website? A collection of blond jokes (I’m blond and I think I have a good sense of humor but I don’t think those are funny at all) and photos of a model starship he’s building in his bedroom. It’s about as big as he is which tells you a) how puny he is and b) how lame he is! Who cares about models? He’s not even guy enough to have photos of real models and by models I mean real human girls.

Hello, G, are you listening?

I walked into class yesterday morning and said, “Bonjour G,” because he was my conversation partner and he said, “Bonjour, Mademoiselle Mega Girl.”

And I started blushing insanely because of course that meant he found my blog so I said, really cool, “Comment ca va?”

“Ca va bien, Mega Girl.” And he smiled like he thought it was good or something.

So I said, “Vous l’aimez vous?”

And he said, “Non. Je ne l’aime pas de tout.” But he said it with a big smile so I was still thinking, maybe he just doesn’t understand French.

“Pourquoi pas?” I asked, smiling back.

And he said, “Parce que, c’est trop lame.”

What’s lame about me, I want to know? What’s lame about what I have to say? But I couldn’t say any of that en francais because I’m only in second semester of my first year of French! Plus the teacher came by and told us we could only have conversations about tous les choses que tout le monde parle.

You know what? G’s not cute at all. And no one even talks to him, in French or not. I’m glad he’s not my ARRG.

They're Grrrrreat!

2007-03-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Breakfast Cereals For When You’re Watching Early Morning TV

1. Rice Krispies
2. Honey Chex
3. Cinnamon Eggos
3.5 Cheerios

Normally I’ll just have a bowl of corn flakes, nothing fancy, maybe a little sugar on top or a handful of raisins to make it sweet but on the weekend when I get up early because I'm so used to it, I like to veg in front of the TV and watch cartoons with more fun cereal. Or like this morning, I'm watching thousands of people run through the streets of LA, a/k/a the LA Marathon.

Rice Krispies are the number one choice because they remind me of being a little kid. The snap, crackle, pop and the little characters on the box instantly make me feel like I’m five and Lucie and I are watching television together, sitting on the floor, banging out the theme song to “Animaniacs” on the coffee table. “We’re Animaniacs…we’re zany to the max…”

Honey Chex are a relatively new flavor of cereal, way better than plain old wheat or corn or rice. The honey eliminates the need to add extra sugar plus they stay crunchy in milk. I know the crunch has something to do with the preservatives but I really don’t want to know any more than that or I will never eat it again.

Cinnamon Eggos are also new but awesome! I don’t even use milk. I just eat them straight out of the box. With a cup of coffee, yummy! It’s a grown up cereal for grown ups who are really kids. You know? They’re like Frosted Flakes only for adults, with lots of sugar and fun shapes.

Cheerios have neither fun shapes nor sugar nor any prizes inside. They are plain old o’s but they have a very high nostalgia quotient. Who has never tried Cheerios? They give them to babies and they recommend them for adults who have cholesterol problems. They’re a miracle food! Seriously, they are the best. I have been known to pour myself a bowl, eat the whole bowl, add more cereal, then add more milk, then more cereal and more milk until I am stuffed with o’s. But happy.

I found this link on breakfast cereal...hilarious and very informative!

Mr. Breakfast

Enjoy!

A Respite From ARRG

2007-03-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

A quick non-ARRG entry…
American Idol? The girls kick ass! The boys are just not as good and I really wonder why. I think this is pretty consistent for all the seasons. The girls are way better, overall, than the boys. Could it be that women are just more talented than men?

I think it’s more likely that men have more self-confidence so if they are really good singers, they go pursue it while women question themselves more and end up having babies or going to school or just getting jobs when really, they should be out there getting record contracts.

I don’t really know. That just seems to make sense to me.

I love LaKisha and Melinda! They are miles beyond everyone else, just total professionals. But I still don’t have a favorite yet. Maybe next week.

The Square Root of R

2007-02-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

R hasn’t asked me about tutoring for Geometry in over a week. Does that mean he’s avoiding me (good) or ignoring me (bad)? And let me tell you, the distinction between those two is so subtle I’m not sure I have it at all.

I’m pretty sure my friend has gotten my letter by now so maybe she’ll write me back soon. I’d love it if she read my blog but I doubt she has time for that. When I say she’s a busy woman, I mean she’s really busy, way busier than you or I could ever be. She’s so busy she has people read blogs for her, you know?

So if you’re reading for my friend, and you know who you are, do you think R is still a possibility? Do you think I should remind him about the tutoring? Like, maybe ask him if he’s still interested?

But what if he says yes and only wants to tutor?

Okay, okay, then I will know. And bonus! I’ll get some free help and maybe get a better grade on the next exam. So, win-win.

Okay, it’s decided. I’ll ask R about tutoring.

Okay, so when do I ask him? And how? Do I call him on the phone? Email him? Text his cell? Or just come right out and say something in class?

Yes, in class. That’s the safest.

Okay, that’s decided too.

But if anyone reading for JA has a better idea, please please please let me know soon.

And the Oscar Goes To...

2007-02-25T07:47:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Oscar Nominated Movies

1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. Pursuit of Happyness
3. The Prestige
3.5 United 93

I’m taking some time out from my near-obsession with ARRG (Anonymous Red Rose Guy) because I want to comment on tonight’s Oscars. Now, I haven’t seen many of the Best Picture movies, so I can’t comment on those but of all the movies nominated for something - like Cinematography or Sound or Music or whatever - these are my 3.5 faves.

Little Miss Sunshine - SO funny and SO cute and SO sweet and I loved the little girl who played Olive. I know she won’t win for Best Supporting Actress but she was so great! I loved her passion. Lucie thinks it was the best movie of last year. We saw it in the theater AND we rented it. I think I’m gonna buy it for her for her birthday.

Pursuit of Happyness - I am a total sucker for Will Smith. Total! I usually hate the movies he’s in but I love him. (Hated “I Robot,” loved Will…hated “Miami Vice,” loved Will…hated “Men in Black 2,” loved Will…you get the idea.) He’s handsome and charming and I love that he and Jada are like the best Hollywood couple and that they give each other permission to have set crushes when they’re working on movies. Go Will!

The Prestige - I love magic tricks, which goes back when I was about six and Lucie was dating an amateur magician who did sleight-of-hand: card tricks, coin stuff, disappearing scarves - I was really young so I thought my sister’s boyfriend was awesome. I also have to confess to watching those “Magician Reveals” specials on Fox. What can I say? I believe in magic and I want to think those tricks are real. But I also want to know how they’re done. (I am a very complex girl…) Plus Christian Bale AND Hugh Jackman in the same movie? Sweet! Now, if they had just added Will Smith, it would have been perfect.

United 93 - This only gets honorable mention because it was SO sad plus you know how it ends but it was SO GOOD. Lucie cried and cried and couldn’t watch the very end but I thought it was great because it showed how heroic those people were. And it made me wonder what I would have done if I had been there.

Okay, have fun watching the Oscars. I’ll be at Reggie’s for the red carpet stuff and the specials but then I’m hanging with Lucie for the show. We usually make a whole dinner of appetizers and big fat sundaes for dessert. It’s a pretty fun time. But I won’t be betting or anything because I’m sure I’d lose.

I’ll be back to wonder about ARRG next week.

Eliminating the Options #1

2007-02-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

B from French class is off the list. He seemed to be avoiding me since V-Day which, according to Lucie, is a positive sign but then I found out the reason: he already has a girlfriend! She’s not in our grade. She’s a sophomore and her name is S and she’s okay looking, I guess. Sort of nerdy. She has little rectangular glasses from DKNY and she wears lots of skirts and UGG boots but she hangs around with freshmen a lot. Isn’t that kind of weird? I mean, girls usually date older guys, not younger ones.

A Thorny Issue

2007-02-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

I wrote a letter to one of my really good friends about this whole anonymous red rose stuff. She’s older than me and knows a ton about guys. She has had some amazing boyfriends in her life plus she just knows so much. She also recently went through a divorce that was pretty public because her ex was cheating on her with someone else. And even though he claims the divorce didn’t have anything to do with this other woman, I think that’s crap. You don’t leave someone as amazing as my friend - and she’s gorgeous too - unless you’ve found someone else. Seriously, if you met her, which you most likely won’t because she doesn’t live around here plus she’s a really private person, you’d think she was amazing too.

She’s also wicked busy these days so I might not hear from her in a really long time. I wrote her a letter last month and she still hasn’t written back. But I know for sure she’s reading mine. I know it and when she does write back, I’m sure it will have some awesome advice in it and I’ll share whatever I can.

In the meantime, I will have to make do with Lucie. Possibly the only good thing about having an older sister who is, shall we say, popular with guys, is that she has had a lot of experience trying to figure them out. She’s already done the high school thing and she has a pretty good idea of what boys mean when they say and do things that might not make sense to us girls.

I asked her to weigh in on my dilemma but she’s also kind of busy (although not the kind of busy my friend is). Ironically, I think she’s busy trying to figure out Aaron, her boyfriend. He gave her flowers for Valentine’s but they weren’t all roses. They were lots of wildflowers and daisies and I think there was one pink rose in there. I thought they were beautiful but Lucie was depressed because they weren’t roses.

Aaron took her out to dinner to this French restaurant in LA which is supposed to be pretty famous, which to me shows how he really feels. Anyone can buy flowers that are gonna die in a few days but a good meal at a fancy restaurant that you have to make a reservation for weeks in advance? That takes planning. That’s love.

So she said she’d have to think about it and get back to me but in the meantime, she told me to keep my eye out for someone who deliberately avoids me. That was the clue, she said, that would give my anonymous sweetheart away.

Geez, don’t most guys do that?

Who Could It Be Now?

2007-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Anonymous Rose Possibilities

1. B from French
2. R from Geometry
3. G from French
3.5 T from Earth Science

B is the top choice because he’s always picking me as his conversation partner in French. Although he isn’t very good and we rarely get past the “Vous avez une chemise blanche” stage, B seems most promising. He’s cute (I like the brown hair/brown eyes combo), not too tall (about three inches taller than me), and shaves every day. Thankfully he doesn’t douse himself in Polo cologne like some of our nasal-impaired classmates do. Plus he’s originally from Canada, which - while not exactly exotic - gives him an interesting accent.

R is second choice, although a close second. He’s very very smart and has plans to go to Cal Poly and be a mechanical engineer. I suppose it’s giving a lot away to say this sort of career path is culturally popular. He also has the brown/brown combo (another hint). And like me, people often call him by the wrong name. Okay, now you’ve got to know who it is. He has offered to tutor me at least three times this semester but I haven’t yet taken him up on it. I mean, I would definitely do it because I think he’s totally hot and I love smart guys but what if the offer is just to raise my GPA, not to raise my dating IQ?

It could be G, another Frenchie, because he has a habit of using the “tu” form with me when we practice together. Also, he’s always playing with his Blackberry and searching for wi-fi with his laptop. He would definitely be a blogger kind of guy and has no doubt Googled me - and every other girl in class.

I still hold out hope for T. In Science class on Thursday, I really thought he was going to ask me about the rose. He said, “Hey, Meg” (a good sign) and then “Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?” And I was like, “Um, my sister and I watched Idol.” And he said, “Yeah, that was a good one.” And I was like, “Didn’t you go out with Donna?” And he blushed and looked down at the ground and said, “Oh no, no. I don’t…I mean, I think I…” And then the bell rang and he went to his seat and I went to mine. But I swear the next words out of mouth were gonna be, “I really like you instead.”

I swear. I swear.

Red and White and Blue All Over

2007-02-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

I know you’ve been holding your breath, wondering what happened on V-Day D-Day.

Well, things didn’t exactly go as I planned. First of all, T got more than one red rose. Yes, it turns out that Donna, the one with the braces and the cast on her arm from when she fell playing volleyball, also had a crush on T. And she sent him a red rose with a note - that she signed! I gotta hand it to her, that takes some huevos. As much as I agonized over this for a week, I wasn’t even sending a note with my name on it. I can’t begin to imagine what it was like for Donna. Did she think about it minute by minute like me?

So anyway, it seems that T liked Donna too. Yes, he had a crush on her so it didn’t bother him that she sent him a red rose with a stupid note on it. It said something like, “Admiring you from afar,” or something lame like that. I didn’t see the note but I heard some people talking about it.

And I also heard some people talking about my note to T. They all wanted to know who the “Earthy” admirer was and what that meant. Okay, it meant Earth Science. T and I are in Earth Science together and now I guess you can figure out who T is. It doesn’t matter much anyway because he and Donna are tight now and all it took for true love to blossom was one little rose.

How it happened was this: there was major tension in homeroom before the roses came out. I had never seen so many kids in my homeroom before. I mean, where did they all come from? So we’re all waiting and then the student council members came in with buckets of roses, just tons and tons and tons of them! They distributed them alphabetically and most of the girls in my homeroom sort of squealed when they got theirs. This one girl, Kathy, got at least a dozen. No joke. But they all came from her boyfriend who’s this rich kid from Texas. I don’t know how he found out about this thing and why he could arrange to send her the flowers through homeroom instead of just ordering them through 1800 Flowers or something. I guess to show off.

So everyone got their flowers and most of the guys were really embarrassed and I imagined at that moment that T, in his homeroom, was getting embarrassed by my rose. And then we all went off to class. Out in the halls, no one was actually going to class. They were all congregating outside their lockers and showing off their notes, especially if they were anonymous. Some girls were pissed and some were crying. I saw one girl who had three white roses throw them in some guy’s face. Duh, dude! Red! The color of love is red, unless you are trying to tell her something.

By the time I got to Earth Science, which was in the afternoon, most of the hoopla had died down. And I had already heard about Donna and T. She’s in T’s homeroom and got to see his reaction firsthand. So it was kind of a letdown to go to Science and see him with a big smile on his face, holding his roses. I don’t think he even noticed there was a note on the one I gave him. Maybe he assumed they were both from his new girlfriend.

Obviously I didn’t say anything to T about his second rose, although I was really tempted.

And now, you’re probably wondering why I seem to have such a positive attitude about this. Why am I not upset about Donna getting there before me or even that T never considered his second rose could be from someone like me?

Because in addition to the white roses I got from Reggie and Dena and Renea, I got my own red rose.

Anonymously.

“For my Mega Girl…loving you across the Internet.”

I have no idea what that means. But I love a good mystery.

One More Day...

2007-02-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow the roses will be delivered to everyone’s homeroom and I have no idea what will happen!

Reggie told me that the flowers come to the student council president’s house tonight and all the student council members sit there and drink beer and put together the flowers and the messages. It’s a tradition, she said. And I started to freak out, imagining someone writing my name on the note instead of leaving it anonymous or putting someone else’s name on my note.

But then she laughed and said, Except for the beer drinking part. Ha ha.

So funny, Reggie, like a frickin heart attack. Here I am thinking these guys are getting drunk and who knows what kind of mistakes they’ll make with the notes.

I just have to hold it together for one more day and then we’ll find out if T is as smart as I think he is or if he even is thinking about me as a possible admirer.

Maybe I will watch Idol to get my mind off things.

The Week's Strange News

2007-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Weirdest, Saddest News Stories This Week

1. Astronaut Stalker Arrested
2. Anna Nicole Smith Dies
3. 100 Inches of Snow in Upstate New York
3.5 NYC Bans IPods While Crossing the Street

Astronauts in Love - With Valentine’s Day fast-approaching, I have to ask…is this what people do when they are in love? Seriously, do they drive 900 miles wearing diapers to shoot pepper spray at their boyfriend’s girlfriend and try to kidnap her? If this is what love makes people do, I don’t think I want to be in love.

I read a really cool article about how astronauts return from outer space with a renewed perspective on life, the universe and everything. Their real-life problems seem petty in comparison to the vastness of the Galaxy. But maybe it made this woman crazy instead. Maybe Lisa Nowak went into space and decided she couldn’t hack infinity.

Either way, I think it just goes to show you that insanity cuts across all levels of people: rich, poor, men, women, regular schmoes, and astronauts.

Anna Nicole Smith is Dead - So many people made comparisons to Marilyn Monroe, which I guess she sort of looked like. They both certainly led tragic lives and had a hard time finding true love and possibly they both died of drug overdoses. Possibly. I’m not a coroner so I can’t judge.

But ANS had an element of pathos in her life that MM didn’t. She did that stupid reality show and she married a guy so old he had one foot in the grave and then there was the Trimspa gig she had. If MM had been alive, I doubt she would have endorsed diet pills.

It’s not that I don’t feel bad for ANS - she lost her son a few days after her baby girl was born, how horrible is that? I just can’t say that I’m terribly surprised by this. Nor was I particularly shocked that she died in a hotel room. Know what I mean?

100 Inches of Snow in New York - A hundred inches is over eight feet of snow! (The calculator on this computer comes in very handy sometimes…) Eight feet! That’s three feet more than me - all snow.

NYC Wants to Ban iPods While People Walk - and cell phones and Blackberrys and anything else that’s distracting. I don’t live in NYC and I don’t have a cell phone or a Blackberry although Lucie and I do share an iPod. She got one as some giveaway at one of her jobs a couple years ago. It doesn’t have video or anything and frankly, I don’t know how cool it is to watch TV on a tiny screen. I mean, it’s cool to carry it in your pocket and all but it’s like, an inch and a half square!

So this ban in NYC hasn’t been passed yet, which is why it’s 3.5 on my list and not a 3, but there are people all fired up about it because two people died while they were listening to their iPods and they walked into buses or something. Now, not for nothing but headphones have been around for a long, long time. No one wanted to ban Walkmen did they? Or boomboxes or transistor radios? And I’m sorry, but people get hit by buses all the time. They get distracted by someone talking to them. They stop in the middle of the street for no reason. They run into traffic without looking. You can’t blame everything bad that happens on technology.

I think that’s it. My roundup of the world’s weirdest, saddest news stories. So many odd things happened that I couldn’t not comment.

Next week is Valentine’s Day. You know what I have on my mind.

Now We Wait

2007-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

I did it! I sent T a red rose for Valentine’s Day!

WITH a note! Okay, it’s unsigned but still…I wrote “To T, Happy Valentine’s Day, Love, Your Earthiest Admirer.”

Now, I just gave you (and him) a BIG clue. See if you get it…

Okay you got it but do you think he will? He’s smart, of course, and cute and funny and everything, but I’m not sure he thinks like that. Girls think like that. You know, they’re always looking for signs that someone likes them or doesn’t like them. Well, I can’t speak for all girls but I certainly do. You watch the way guys talk to you or don’t talk to you, the way they try to get close to you when you walk down the hall at the same time, how they try to time their entrance to the classroom the same as yours.

Of course you do that too! You have to or else you’d never know if a guy liked you or not. I mean what are they gonna do - ask you out? Not freshmen in my high school.

One whole week I have to wait. I can’t believe they make us order these things so far in advance. I’m just gonna debate my decision every single day until then. Ergh…

V-Day D-Day

2007-02-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

I think, in my heart, I should do it. I should just send one to T - a red one - with a simple note: “Your Secret Admirer.” But no name. And let him see if he can figure it out. If he likes me back, maybe he will hope it’s me. Maybe he will try to go through the student council to see if they will tell him who sent it. Maybe he will beg and plead with them because he just has to know who his secret admirer is. And they won’t tell, of course, because of the confidentiality rule.

And then T will look at every girl in every one of his classes and wonder, who is it? Is it Shelly with the big boobs? Is it Nancy with the red hair? Is it Donna with the braces and the cast on her arm from when she fell playing volleyball?

But it won’t be any of them. Finally he will get to me in our --- class.

“Could it be you, Meg?” He will ask because he will remember my real name and I will blush and say, “Yes, it is.”

And he will throw his arms around me and hug me and say, “I’m so glad. I’ve been in love with you since I met you.”

And we will become boyfriend and girlfriend just like that. So then the anonymous thing would totally work out.

But what if he gets a girlfriend in the week between the order being placed and Valentine’s Day? I would be mortified!! Oh man, this decision really sucks.

A Rose By Any Other Name

2007-02-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Thoughts About Sending Anonymous V-Day Roses

1. No Name = No Shame
2. No Declaration = No Misinterpretation
3. No Order Email = No Paper Trail
3.5 No Rose = No One Knows

Okay, I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Obviously. I am really debating whether to send an anonymous rose to…let’s call him T. Now, that could be T for a first name or for a last name so don’t read into anything. And I’m not going to mention what class he’s in but he is in one of my classes, which only tells you he’s in my grade.

As far as I know, T doesn’t have a girlfriend. I think he was dating someone last summer but they broke up or it wasn’t a serious thing because he only hangs out with his friends these days. He does play a sport and I have seen him with the guys he plays this sport with - but I’m not saying if the sport is a current one or one he played in the fall - or one he will play in the spring. Whew…this anonymous stuff is not easy. One false move and you can figure everything out.

I said before, I think T thinks I am someone else. He called me Melanie once when we were about to take an exam. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Pay attention, Melanie.” Because I was staring out the window or something like that. And yes, now you know he sits near me in one of my classes. Big deal.

Anyway, he thinks my name is Melanie! So do I send him a rose and sign it “Melanie”? Or “Meg”? Or do I not sign it at all? Do I just send a rose with no note? Do I send one with a message like, “Love from your secret admirer”? Do I say, “Love”? So many questions! Which is why I made my list above.

No Name = No Shame. This is an obvious one. If I don’t sign my name, he won’t know who sent it and he and his friends can’t make fun of me. I don’t think he would, because he doesn’t seem like that kind of guy but he might be embarrassed and feel weird around me and since we still have many months of classes together (not to mention years of high school!), that would kind of suck.

So it’s decided: no name.

No Declaration = No Misinterpretation. If I don’t include a note at all, there can’t be any way to misinterpret a message. If I don’t write, “love,” he won’t think love. If I don’t write, “Will you be my valentine,” he won’t think I want that either.

So it’s decided: no note.

No Order Email = No Paper Trail. If I don’t place an order at all, there won’t be any way to trace it to me. Because if I do order a rose, even if it’s anonymous and I pay in cash, there will be some way to figure out who sent it! Anonymous doesn’t really mean anonymous then, does it?

So…no rose at all.

But then…

No Rose = No One Knows. Including T. And I kind of want him to know. I mean, don’t I? Isn’t it a waste to pine for someone in secret? You can’t ever get what you want if you don’t go for it.

Geez, I don’t know. There are so many pros and cons to this. Just two days left until we have to place our orders.

Mega Girl Effects Change!

2007-02-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

Good news: someone has taken notice of my opinion! I can hardly believe it! Our principal, Mrs. Lopez, read or heard or someone told her about how I think it’s discriminating against less fortunate students to require them to keep a blog because that assumes they have computers and not everyone can afford one.

Now, it’s not like I’m Rosa Parks refusing to sit at the back of the bus. This is a minor thing in the big picture of Life but it means something to me, if nobody else. I just think it’s really important for people and teachers to realize that there are all sorts of, well, I hate to use the word “classes” because that makes it sound like we’re, you know, British or something. But America definitely has its own class system, even if you don’t want to admit it, which is totally based on income.

First, there are the Bill Gateses of the world and they have access to pretty much everything they want. People like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and all the stars who make a ton of money. They’re all over the web and in magazines and you’d think they represent the majority of the country but they don’t. Hardly!

Then there's the group of people who want access to all those same things but they can’t afford them but they buy them anyway. And they take on huge debt in order to do it. Their kids get what they need but they probably don’t know what their families have to give up for them.

Then there’s my group, the ones who don’t have anything and can’t take out loans or otherwise borrow money to get things. We don’t have any delusions. These are the people I feel the need to stand up for, at least when it comes to computer stuff.

So I’m sorry if Evelyn has to modify her class syllabus and can’t require students to keep blogs or communicate only by email, but unless the school can provide equal access to computers for all of them, her students have to have alternatives.

Whew…so I guess I’m getting extra credit for this, right, Evelyn?

May I Have Your Attention Please?

2007-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Did you get the email about the Valentine’s Day roses?

No?

Did you see the flyers in the locker rooms and above every water fountain in the school about the Valentine’s Day roses?

No?

Did you hear the announcement in homeroom about the Valentine’s Day roses?

No?

Are you living in a cave?

Every year on Valentine’s Day, students in RC get a chance to send red or white roses (red for love, white for friendship) to their buds, their boyfriends, their girlfriends, with little love notes like, “Be mine,” or “True love always,” or “You’re my best friend in the world.” Just two bucks a rose. Delivered directly to your special someone on Valentine’s Day - that’s February 14th, if you’re still in a cave - to their homeroom.

Or…you can send one anonymously to your secret crush. (Same price.)

I wonder why Reggie never told me about this momentous event.

Holy crap, I don’t know how I feel about this. I mean, I can think of a handful of friends I’d send white roses to: Reggie, for sure, and my friends Dena from French and Renea from English lit.

As for red…

There might be a person (or two, depending on the day) I could think of to send a red rose to. It could be fun, you know, if I sent one anonymously. And it would HAVE to be anonymously. I don’t even want to list initials here or mention the class he’s in (yes, it’s a he, no surprise there).

But, here’s the thing…I don’t think he even knows my name. I think he thinks it’s Melanie. Don’t ask me why. So even if I sent a note with my name on it, I might as well be anonymous.

I have to think about this. We have until February 6th to decide.

But I Don't Wanna Be a Stereotype

2007-01-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Classes I Do NOT Want to Take in High School

1. Biology
2. Calculus
3. Chemistry
3.5 Speech

I think I’m a pretty creative person. I mean, if you compare my grades in English and French to my grades in Math and Earth Science, it’s obvious where my abilities lay (lie?). So the classes that I am certainly not looking forward to for sophomore, junior and senior years are the non-creative ones, the non-language based ones.

And this sort of bothers me because it sounds like I’m a stereotypical girl. (It doesn't help my case that I'm blonde too). You know, girls aren’t supposed to like math and science because they don’t do well in them. On the contrary, I don’t do well because I don’t like them.

I kind of liked algebra, which I took in junior high, because it made sense to me and I could see how it could be used in real life. Like when you want to figure out percentages and averages and stuff. But Calculus? What practical use does Calculus have?

Same with Chemistry. Does anyone really need to memorize that periodic table? Do you have to? Can’t you just look it up if you’re a chemist? I guess if you want to be a pharmacist, you should probably know that stuff.

Now, Biology, that’s a whole other story. The reason I don’t want to take it is because it’s gross! Reggie’s taking it right now and all I hear is how rats have such small intestines and how the muscles in frogs are so skinny and I’m sorry but she just smells sometimes after that class! It’s the formaldehyde, I know, and it reeks. And that’s not being too girly because Reggie doesn’t have a problem with it and she’s a girl. That’s just being a normal person.

And Speech? Well, that’s on the list because I’m shy. No, really, I am. Standing in front of people is the last thing I would ever want to do. I’ve heard that people are more afraid of public speaking than death. Thank god it’s an elective.

Mega Girl Makes Millions

2007-01-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

Phase 1: Collect underpants.
Phase 2: {shrug}
Phase 3: Profits!

A hundred points if you get the reference.

Okay, I don’t want to collect anybody’s underpants and I’m not really sure how underpants will make anyone any money (“underpants” is a funny word, isn’t it?) but I think I am in phase 1.

Aaron has just hired me as his transcriber! For twenty bucks, I type up whatever happens at his shows, including all the things that the people in the audience say. For some reason, Aaron doesn’t really pay attention to what’s going on at his shows. I guess he just shows up and starts singing. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know but it sounds like maybe he tells a few jokes or stories in between the songs (“patter” it’s called) and he wants to know if the audience likes them. So I have to listen to the tape and type up all the reactions.

I’m not really sure why but as the saying goes, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. And does that mean the horse is the gift or that the horse has a gift? And it would seem like you shouldn’t look him in the butt, since you don’t know if he’s gonna step on you or kick you but if you were looking at him in the mouth, what’s the worst that could happen? He bites you? Maybe. Aren't horses vegetarian? Maybe he just snorts all over you. That’s not that bad.

So this is my gift from Aaron. Thanks, dude! I can totally use the cash. I gotta make a list of all the things I’m gonna buy!

And I guess I should thank Lucie, too, since Aaron wouldn’t have known me without her and he might have given this easy cool job to someone else. So thanks, Luce. I owe ya.

Still don't get the joke? Hint: "Screw you guys. I'm goin' home."

If I Could Have A Superpower…

2007-01-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

…it would be Teleportation. (I already have the power of Invisibility, apparently.)

I would love to have the ability to blink my eyes and find myself in a completely different location. I wouldn’t have to drive there or fly there or walk or bike or ride a skateboard. I would just imagine where I want to be and then, zap! I’d be there. I could watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, have breakfast on a Miami Beach veranda, and ride the London underground before lunch at a café on the Left Bank. Then I’d see a matinee in Manhattan, stroll a Brazilian beach with a coconutty drink as the sun sets, and dine on awesome pizza in Naples.

And if I could bring someone with me, how cool would that be? I wonder if I would have to hold that person’s hand or what.

Anyway, what made me think of this are all the books and TV shows and movies around that have people with special powers. Heroes, X-Men Un, Deux et Trois, the Spidermans, the Fantastic Fours, Sky High, Zoom and on and on. But what’s weird is that, whether they’re born with the talents or they develop them all of a sudden, no one is very happy when they get them. It seems to take them a while to accept them. Like they end up using the powers they didn’t think they wanted to save someone else or the planet.

If it were me, I would totally be psyched to have a power! Why would being able to fly or grow steel claws or move things with your mind suck in any way?

Reading people’s minds? Cool.

Super strength? Very cool.

Healing all parts of your body? Frickin’ amazing!

If anyone reads this (Reggie, this includes you, although I think I know what power you’d pick), I’d like to know what superpower you’d want to have and what you’d do with it.

And Now, the Starting Lineup...

2007-01-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Sports I Watch on TV

1. WWE Smackdown
2. NASCAR
3. Curling
3.5 Baseball

Smackdown is the awesome wrestling show on Friday nights. Two hours of adrenaline-pumping, chair-throwing, hair-pulling fun. Women fight too so there’s loads of feminine equality. And a guy wears a dress and a thong which doesn’t mean he’s gay or a transvestite but does mean he knows a thing or two about commercialization.

NASCAR is everywhere. There were 2 movies this past year, I mean, big blockbuster movies, that were about car racing so what does that tell you? This is adrenaline-pumping, fender-smashing, explosive sports at its best.

Curling is a unique sport, involving brushes and a big heavy stone, kind of like shuffleboard on ice. Good, clean, adrenaline-pumping fun.

And then there’s baseball…

And HA! HA! I don’t watch any of these! Okay, I sort of watch baseball when we go to the Epicenter Stadium here in town and watch the Quakes play and that’s kind of fun but only because they have mascots in funny suits and dancers dancing on the dugouts and they give away prizes every inning. Otherwise, it’s adrenaline-pumping…no, it’s actually like watching grass grow, only far less amusing.

I can’t think of a less interesting thing to do than watch sports, except maybe play them. I have not one sporty gene in my body. Lucie doesn’t either. She’s never told me if our parents were sporty people but I doubt it. I never knew them so I don’t know but I would imagine not, if we two daughters are any indication. We can barely throw a Frisbee. Seriously. We had a Frisbee when I was a kid and Lucie and I would try to toss it around the park or in the yard or whatever and it would always land in the street and get run over by a car or else it would fly onto a roof or in someone else’s pool. It was always a disaster.

So why do I even mention sports? Because everywhere I turn there's a countdown to the Superbowl. On television, in stores, at the market...everything is geared toward that magical Sunday when two teams of overpumped, steroided men in shiny Spandex tights run at each other and try to pummel each other into the cold hard ground. I just can't wrap my mind around the game. There's offense and defense and a guy hikes the ball to another guy who throws it to a third guy and he tries to run down the field past the goal line but there's tons of flab and muscle in his way trying to stop him from getting very far. If he gets ten yards, then his team gets a another chance to run for the goal. His team has three attempts at getting ten yards down the field. If they don't do it, then they give the ball to the other team.

That's the basic idea of the game. I don't get why it's so great. And I don't get why everyone watches it. Some people watch for the commercials and some watch for the halftime show and nearly everyone has a party for it although Lucie and I have never been to one. Maybe if Reggie's brothers have one (hint hint, Reg), I'll finally learn why the Superbowl is such adrenaline-pumping fun.

So You Want To Be a Star

2007-01-19T07:45:00.000-08:00

American Idol is a cultural phenomenon (news flash from Professor Obvious). I defy anyone on this planet to tell me they don’t know what Idol is and haven’t secretly wanted to audition. Even I, who have the musical talent of a tree sloth, have had the tiniest thought that, if I was a couple of years older, I might try out.

But then I think, I’m gonna totally suck and Simon will tear me apart and Randy will cringe and talk about how much better Mariah would have sung that and maybe, just maybe if I'm lucky, Paula will tell me I have nice hair. But in the end, I’ll walk away feeling really bad about myself and thinking how stupid I am for even stepping foot in the same room as those people…so why do it?

Evelyn - and lots of critics - think people just want their fifteen minutes of fame. And for those of you who don’t know what that means, it comes from Andy Warhol, the artist who has been famous for like a hundred years, who said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” I don’t think people really understand it the way he meant it. I think he actually meant that our society is becoming so splintered, so schizophrenic that nothing will last beyond a figurative fifteen minutes. He had a commercial art background, after all, where “art” lasts a very short time in people’s memories. It’s disposable art, designed to elicit a particular reaction from the audience: buy this now. Once it’s completed its task, it can be thrown away and forgotten and that’s what he was saying about people and fame.

That’s my interpretation, I guess.

Back to Idol…is the theory that everyone just wants to be famous accurate?

No, I don’t think so. I think Andy Warhol was partially right: our society is so splintered but not in a schizophrenic way. We are so separate from each other, we all live in our own little worlds, that we are desperate for a connection - any connection. If that means we will debase ourselves to make contact, then we will do that. We jump on the bandwagon - we get in line with thousands of others across the country - we become part of the cultural phenomenon and thus help create the phenomenon.

I see this a lot where I live. Everyone in RC drives their own cars. No one carpools or uses public transportation. We are in our little bubbles of security. We don’t talk to people at the grocery store or in lines at Starbucks. We isolate ourselves with cell phones and iPods and the internet. We have NO contact with anyone else. But we humans are really social creatures and we long for the personal connection, the casual conversation about the weather and “that’s a nice purse where did you get it” sort of remarks.

So I think that auditioning for Idol, or those dance shows or any of the reality shows, even when we know we have no earthly chance of making it or doing well in front of millions of others, is simply a reflection of our inner drive to be with other humans, to share in their lives and to have them share in ours.

Why else would MySpace be so popular?

It Never Rains in Southern California...

2007-01-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

...it snows!

There was snow in Malibu last night! And in the Santa Monica mountains and in Santa Clarita and even in Westwood, which is where UCLA is. Alas, none in the deserts, although it does get really frickin’ cold out here in the winter. We just don’t have any moisture in the air so we don’t get any white stuff falling from the sky.

The citrus industry is really taking it hard, though, and that means no famous California fruit, like oranges and avocadoes and strawberries and lemons. The ones that are left are gonna cost a lot of money.

“I just bought some oranges yesterday,” Lucie says to me after I tell her this. “Do you think I should buy some more?”

“Sure,” I say. “Just don’t eat them. They’ll probably be collectors’ items soon.”

“Really?” She sort of looks at me funny, like she’s possibly taking me serious so I continue.

“Maybe you should buy a whole bunch and hoard them. So when people start getting scurvy from not having enough vitamin C, you can sell your oranges to them for fifty bucks apiece and make a boatload of cash.”

Lucie grabs the oranges from the counter and holds them tightly to her chest. “Fifty each?” I can see the little pinwheels of her brain trying to spin as she attempts to calculate this vast sum.

I shrug. “Easily. I’ll bet it won’t take longer than, oh, I don’t know, four months before people get desperate.”

“Four months…sure.” My sister cradles the fruit, admiring their orange-y goodness. Suddenly, she scowls. “Hey, wait a minute,” she says. “In four months, they’ll be all rotted.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Duh, Lucie.”

For a second I think she’s going to get really mad at me for making fun of her but she smiles and laughs at herself.

“Maybe I’ll just make juice out of them,” she says.

It’s different when you have fun with people all alone. They don’t get nearly as mad as when you do it in front of others.

Meg Actually Watches the News

2007-01-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

Why would a guy take two kids home with him? And why would they stay?

I saw this on TV this weekend. Some kid was missing for a few days and they found him at this guy’s house, along with another kid who had been kidnapped four years earlier. The older kid, for some reason, never escaped. Apparently he had plenty of opportunities to run away or call for help but he never did.

I don’t want to speculate on the motives of the guy who took the boys because that would keep me up all night with horrible images in my head but I really do wonder about the kid who stayed. He got his lip pierced. He rode his bike around the streets. He had friends visit him. He even had a girlfriend. He didn’t go to school which might have raised some eyebrows but no one ever questioned it at all. Most people just assumed he was the guy’s son so they didn’t bother them.

I’m trying to put myself in that position. What would I have done if someone had kidnapped me? Would I try to escape every chance I got? Would I try to be friends with the person so they would let me go? I guess it would depend on if I was being hurt, if I feared for my life if I tried to do anything.

Maybe this kid never wanted to go to school and the guy who kidnapped him promised him he could stay home all day and play Xbox and eat pizza.

Maybe his parents at home weren’t very nice to him. Maybe they ignored him or treated him badly.

There are all sorts of psychological reasons why victims don’t try to escape their captors. Sometimes they end up feeling sorry for them and don’t want them to get in trouble. That happens in hostage situations, they say. Last semester, Evelyn told us about this Al Pacino movie, “Dog Day Afternoon,” that she wanted to show us in class but the principal wouldn’t let her. He said it was too violent for us and they used the F word too many times. Oh please. Anyway, the story is about these two bank robbers who are trying to steal money so one of their boyfriends can have a sex change operation. The hostages in the bank took a liking to the guys and one of them didn’t want to leave even when he had the chance. This was based on a true story.

I’d like to believe the guy took the boys because he was lonely and maybe he was ugly and not very funny or smart and he figured, hey, I’d like to have children someday but I’m never going to get a girl and have some of my own so I’ll just take two boys and make them my kids. I know this sounds totally messed up and the guy would have to be utterly insane to do something like that but it’s much less disgusting than some other reasons.

Jake Gyllenhaal is My Favorite Actor in the WWW

2007-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Top 3.5 Jake Gyllenhaal movies

1. Donnie Darko
2. The Good Girl
3. Jarhead
3.5 Brokeback Mountain

Jake Gyllenhaal is my new favorite actor of all time. And this is how it happened:

On Friday night, Blockbuster night, Lucie stayed home with me and rented “Donnie Darko,” thinking it was “Donnie Brasco,” a movie with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. Apparently Aaron thinks that was a great movie so Lucie had to see it, forgetting 1), that she saw it years ago when it came out and she hated it and 2), the correct title. So she ended up with this JG masterpiece instead of a sad gangster film.

Oh my god, he is awesome. I have to admit, I didn’t get the whole movie. There was something about time-travel in it which I didn’t quite understand. I think the idea was that he was supposed to die when that plane engine fell out of the sky and because he didn’t, the universe changed. So he had to die in order to restore the universe to its original path. But it was very strange and I don’t think I got all the nuances in it, like the old lady and the time-travel book she wrote. Like, she was all messed up. Was she messed up because she studied time-travel too much? And why didn’t she ever answer his letter? That was sort of left unraveled.

Regardless, this was sooo interesting. Lucie hated this one, too, just like she would have hated “Donnie Brasco” if she had rented it so I guess that worked out either way.

But then I had to go back to Blockbuster and get some more of JG’s movies and it turns out he did another of my favorite movies, “The Good Girl,” with Jennifer Aniston who is my all time favorite actress. He was the guy she had an affair with - I totally didn’t even recognize him. I think I was concentrating so hard on how awesome Jen Aniston was in that movie that I didn’t really pay attention to anyone else.

So on Saturday (the exact same night he hosted SNL, btw, what are the odds of that - and he was so funny and so amazing), I rented “Jarhead” which was pretty good for a war movie. Normally, I don’t like those kinds of movies. But here’s an interesting tidbit: in that movie, JG acted with a guy named Peter Sarsgaard who’s engaged to and ended up having a baby with JG’s sister, Maggie, who’s also an actor. (She played his sister in “Donnie Darko.”) Which came first, I wonder? And wow, those are two very complicated names to spell.

“Brokeback Mountain” gets an honorable mention because I didn’t see it. It was out when I went back to the video store. I heard it was an amazing movie and JG got an Oscar nomination for it (but lost to George Clooney who is pretty amazing himself so that's not so bad!), which is a good sign. But I don’t know if I can go for a two-guys-in-love movie. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any prejudices that way for real life. I totally believe you should be with whoever you love, no matter what sex they are. But in a movie? I don’t know. I’ll try it.

So there you have it, my review of the Jake Gyllenhaal oeuvre, as they call it in the business. I don’t know why he’s not a big-time superstar. He’s handsome and sexy and sweet and intelligent. What does Leonard DiCaprio have that he doesn’t? I know he’s not popular at my school because I never heard Katie Gunther in gym class talk about him and she is totally into movies and movie stars. She has Netflix and Tivo and she sees about a million movies a year, she says. She knows everything about movies.

Or so she thinks. She obviously doesn’t know about Jake Gyllenhaal. So she certainly doesn’t know everything.

And omg, I am so exhausted this morning…thank god we have the day off. I didn’t do any homework at all this weekend and I have two tests to study for!

In Which Meg Has a Change of Heart

2007-01-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

So it turns out I may have been wrong about a certain member of the opposite sex.

I can change my mind, can’t I? I am Mega Girl, after all.

It seems that Aaron read my blog entry about how I blamed him for Lucie being forgetful. And he was hurt by it.

“You really shouldn’t be mean to Aaron in your blog,” Lucie tells me. “The whole world will read that and think he’s a jerk.”

“No,” I say. “The whole world will read it and think you’re a jerk.”

Okay, first of all, I doubt the whole world is reading any one thing and certainly not my one thing. Second of all, sorry about that, Aaron, I didn’t think you’d read it. And third of all, what are you doing reading my blog? You don’t even own a computer! Heck, I don’t even own a computer.

Lucie told me Aaron wanted to get to know me better and since he never comes to RC and I never go to Hollyweird, he figured he would just read my blog.

See, Evelyn? This is why you don’t put personal info on your blog. You get stalkers. (Kidding, Aaron!)

Aaron wanted me to know that it wasn’t his fault Lucie didn’t buy my items of personal hygiene, that he doesn’t even care if she wears new makeup or any makeup at all (I think Lucie added that in herself, I doubt a man would say that). And if it meant that I was being neglected at home, he wouldn’t even ask to see Lucie during the week, only on the weekends.

Nice guy. You’re a nice guy, Aaron, even if you are stalking me through my blog. (Again, kidding!)

So Mega Girl has changed her mind. Just about this one boy, though. The rest of them are probably no good but Aaron is all right.

Addendum: Monday is MLK Day, a day off from school! Whoohoo! I love having Mondays off. Cuz they're, well, Mondays. I'd much rather have a Monday off than a Friday because a Friday is the last day of the week and you can enjoy it being the last day of the week. When you have Monday off, you start your week on a Tuesday and then the next thing you know, it's Thursday and almost the end of the week again. I love it!

(sigh.)

I wish every Monday could be a holiday.

If I Knew Aunt Flo Was Coming, I'd a Baked a Cake

2007-01-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

I am going to kill my sister.

We both get our periods at the same time, right? And for those of you without sisters, that’s what happens when women live together: their cycles get synchronized.

I’m not being gross, am I? I’ll try to be more genteel.

Okay, well, sometime in December I used my last…item of personal hygiene and since Lucie’s…items are a different brand, I knew I would need more this month. Well, it’s the sort of thing you don’t think about all the time. I mean, that would be kind of gross. So anyway, we both forgot, I guess, and here it comes and who is missing her items? Not Lucie. I kept thinking I would get to the drug store but I never did and then I had a meeting with Mrs. Kalandyk after school yesterday and I asked Lucie if she would please get a box of my items for me.

“Of course,” she says. “I have to go anyway.”

“Thanks, Luce,” I say. “You’re awesome.”

A nice sisterly exchange, huh? Um, sure, and who had her items last night? Not me. Lucie must have spent two hours at that drug store - she got home way later than I did - and came in with nothing except new makeup. New makeup! Like she doesn’t have enough makeup as it is! And hello? What about my items of personal hygiene??

“L’Oreal was having a huge sale!” she whines.

“But I have my period!”

“Look at everything I got,” she says. She pours out a plastic bag full of makeup onto the kitchen table: mascara, eye liner, lipstick, lip liner, concealer, base, powder, blush, and nail polish. “Half price!”

I admire the makeup. She notices me admiring the makeup.

"You can borrow the lipstick if you want. It would look good on you."

It is a pretty sweet color, I must admit. Still…

“I can’t use any of this for my period, Luce.”

She tells me I can use her items. I grumble. Hers have some sort of deodorant on them and they’re cardboard and they hurt.

This is Aaron’s fault. That’s Lucie’s boyfriend. She's been visiting him in Hollywood a lot lately (so far, no spending the night, thank god) and I noticed her wardrobe has been improving - slightly. New makeup, new underwear, new perfume, and instead of ripped jeans, she now wears stained ones.

Kidding. She still wears ripped jeans.

Boys are just no good, kiddies. That’s the conclusion I have come to. If my sister is any indication, that is.

Puppies in a Basket!

2007-01-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Each year around this time, Lucie and I have a ritual of buying our new calendars. All we have to do is wait a week into the new year and they are all on sale for half price! Sure, the selection isn’t as great as if we had bought them before Christmas but that’s not really the point. We can buy two calendars for the price of one and then with the money we save, we can get a copy of People and coffees at the Buck.

This year we went to the Barnes & Noble near the Circuit City on Foothill Boulevard. There’s a Starbucks there with tables you can sit at. Plus it’s huge! And it’s got free wi-fi, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Last year, Lucie fell in love with this calendar about Coney Island. You know the amusement park? I didn’t even think it was still around. It seems like it shouldn’t be real, you know? Like it should only be in movies. Anyway the calendar was pretty nice, I guess. The people in the pictures were all really old - I mean, the pictures were really old. Women and girls in those long wool skirts they used to wear to swim in (how useless was that? It was probably cooler to just wear regular clothes) and all the men wearing hats (again, useless: beach…wind…think about it). Still, Lucie loved this calendar so she slipped a copy of it into the world atlas reference section, figuring no one’s going to find it there. Well, they must have sold a lot of maps that Christmas, because the Coney Island calendar was gone when we came back in January.

Lucie was pretty bummed. She ended up with The OC which had like a million pictures of Mischa Barton which is kind of ironic because that was the season Marissa died. I don’t think Lucie even knew who she was.

Ooh my favorite song is on the radio right now. “The love is gone away…”

Okay, so this year we didn’t even try to hide anything. We just got what we got. Lucie picked a calendar of lighthouses (let’s not be crude about anything symbolic there, please, it’s too early in the morning for that). Some environmental organization put it together and will donate profits toward its programs in the US which is pretty cool, but then I wonder if they get less money because we waited until the calendar was half price. I guess in that sort of a case, you should pay full price.

My calendar? Dachsund puppies. Every month a new puppy in a new basket. It’s pretty cute. My choices were all animal related: puppies of all makes and models, kittens in baskets (what’s with the baskets? Is that how they transport small animals these days?), paintings of cows and/or sheep, and weird frogs. Now, I think you can figure out why these are the only calendars left.

Maybe next year we will splurge and buy what we actually like before the new year begins.

I (heart) Kafka

2007-01-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Kalandyk just emailed us our reading list for this semester’s English lit class. I wish she wouldn’t do that - assume that we all have email - but whatever. I’m kind of scared but excited. It’s a really challenging list. Mrs. Kalandyk is my favorite teacher at RCHS (no offense, Evelyn) because she doesn’t treat us like kids. Freshmen in high school are not kids but some of our teachers act like we’re still in middle school. In a few short years, I’m going to be out in the general adult population and I need to know how to do things. I don’t think sitting in the same seat for an entire year and raising your name and saying, “Here!” is such a great skill to have. When in my life will I ever have a job that requires me to do that? I can’t remember Lucie ever telling me that she has to raise her hand when her name is called at work. So what does it matter if I miss homeroom once in a while? I go to classes, I do the work. Geez. Some teachers act like it’s the end of the world.

“Margaret Anne Shanley!”

No answer.

“Margaret Shanley!”

Nothing.

“Last call. Shanley, Margaret!”

A hand goes up at the back of the room. “Present.”

Ah yes, all the difference in the world.

Mrs. Kalandyk gave us Kafka to read last semester. Kafka! In freshman English! How awesome is that? I loved it. We read “Metamorphosis” about a guy who woke up and he was a giant cockroach and no one could understand him and they were all afraid of him because he was a giant cockroach.

This semester, I see “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole on the list. Yes! I have heard a lot of cool things about this book so I am totally psyched to read it. I just hope we don’t have to write some major essay about it. I love the reading part. It’s the writing part I’m not crazy about.