Middle of the Week.

I'm re-writing my English paper.  I realized I did the assignment totally wrong.  I thought it would be painful to re-write it, but it's actually not.  I'm a lot happier with what's coming out now than with what I initally wrote.  And it looks like I'm actually going to make the page requirement.

Spring break is around the corner.  It's exciting.  The weather is warm, my attention span is shot, and I'm ready to do nothing for a whole week.

Although, I'll probably get caught up on homework over break.  Maybe try to get ahead.  That would be nice, lol.

I'm re-writing part of my cricket story, too.  Still not loving it, but I like it better than I did.  At least I'll have something to turn in tomorrow.  That's always the goal: even if it's bad, it's better to turn it in and at least try rather than give up altogether.

I feel like I want to do something today, but I'm not sure what.  Maybe I'll go for a bike ride or a walk.  It's really nice outside so I feel like I should take advantage of it.

I woke up feeling really hopeful today.  I don't have a clue as to what is going to happen, but I really do feel like I'm finally on the path God wants me to be on.  It's encouraging.  I feel like good things are going to befall me the rest of the semester.  It makes me feel optimistic.

Tonight, my guilty pleasure show is on: America's Next Top Model.  Normally I'm really into shows like CSI and Bones.  But I love Tyra Banks and America's Next Top Model.  Sometimes when I'm in an aisle at the grocery store by myself, I practice my model walk.  It's silly, but the show makes me realize how beautiful we all are, inside and out.

Maybe that's why I have such a preoccupation with Beauty and the Beast.  She, Beauty (or Belle, etc.), is this really strong heroine who sees things and people for what and who they are.  She doesn't take crap from anyone, doesn't wait around for a prince to come save her from her life, and won't change who she is for anyone.  She's smart, funny, and well read.

The Beast (I don't know if he has a name in any of the versions) is this horribly selfish person who learns from Beauty and begins to grow as a character.  She can see beyond his awful shell; likewise, he respects her for who she is and doesn't ask her to give up who she is.

It is both empowering and beautiful.

(I think I know what I'm watching over break...)

Ahh.  I need to go finish my papers.  Yay for the middle of the week, right?

Enjoy your day, dear readers.

~Meaghan

Things on the Walls.

My half of the bedroom is covered in an assortment of things.  Let us embark upon a journey to see what they all are, shall we?

Ahem.

~ A Jars of Clay poster

~ Four mini Mystery Science Theater 3000 posters ("The Girl in Lover's Lane", "The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy", "Zombie Nightmare", and "Racket Girls".)

~ A Watchmen poster (Rorschach)

~ A Star Trek poster from the new movie that came out back in 2009, complete with Spock, Uhura, and Kirk

~ The piece of paper from inside my RENT CD case that reads "No Day but Today"

~ A picture of a barn owl sitting in the woods that came from a calendar that I had a few years ago

~ A framed plaque thing from my parents that I got when I graduated high school in 2008 that has a violin on it with a poem called "The Touch of the Master's Hand"

~ A picture of a night heron that I cut out of a book

~ Another picture of a barn owl (sleeping) that I also cut out of a book

~ A picture of a short eared owl that I got from the same calendar as the first barn owl

~ A picture of a great horned owl, same place as above

~ The front and back covers of the Spring 2006 WBS Mews News that is signed by several of the people I used to volunteer with, telling me that I am missed

~ A crucifix that my mom gave me to put above my sleeping place when I was going through a rough time

~ A yellowed piece of newspaper with a poem printed on it about how being single is not the end of the world (my mom cut it out years ago and gave it to me a while back)

~ The lyrics to the song "Winter" by Joshua Radin that I wrote out by hand and decorated with pencils (one of these days, I'll get it framed...)

And finally...

~ The inside covers of my favorite Bravery album, "The Sun and the Moon"

Katie and I also have Christmas lights adorning the walls for ambience, and several posters in the hall, like the one we got when the Deathly Hallows was released.

And that is the tour of the walls of my half of the bedroom. (Because the wording here isn't awkward at all.)

~Meaghan

Bleh.

Turns out, my paper does not have a happy window of "three to five" pages.  It's just five straight pages.  Plus my source page.  Not huge on the scale of things - my History paper last semester was ten to twelve pages plus sources, end notes, and a cover page - but I don't like having a window.

Mainly because I'm not entirely convinced I'm going to have five full pages by tomorrow.  The nice thing is that tomorrow is the rough draft, so my instructor won't dock my points as long as I bring something in.  But I need to have the full five pages together by Thursday.

So that means I'm either going to have to analyze one of my sources more, or see if I can use a third source. 

Fun stuff.

My creative writing paper is due Thursday as well.  It's the one about the crickets.  I need to revise it massively, especially towards the end.  I feel like I rushed it.  I want it to have a polished feel instead of a rushed one.

I have a mid term on Thursday, too.  That's exciting.  It's in my Public Speaking class - mulitple choice and true false.  I think I can handle this.  We've been studying for it in class the past two class periods.  I think I'll do fine.

Break is going to be nice.  I don't know what I'm going to do over it, but I'm looking forward to it.

My sister is still sick.  It's kind of a bummer.  She's low on energy and out of the loop.  I've gone around and wiped down the door knobs with Clorox wipes in order to not spread it again.  My computer got a sanitizer run-down as well.

I think that really is about all that is going on right now.  It's sunny and warm outside, and it's going to be nice tomorrow, too.  I like the warmer weather.  It's beautiful.

Until we meet again, readers, enjoy your day.

~Meaghan

The Sunday Edition.

I've always been confused about Sunday.  Technically, it is the start of a new week.  But so many people consider Monday the start of the week (because of work, school, etc.) that as a kid I was always left wondering. 

So is Sunday the start of the week or the end of the week?  Technically it's the start of the week and the end of the weekend.  But I still loathe Monday - the day when I realize that my homework is due in less than a twenty-four hour period, so I better get cracking - so I'm going to consider Monday the start of the week.

What are you going to do about that, calendar people?

My sister has caught another virus.  We're thinking it's a cold, but you can't be sure.  She felt like she was running a fever earlier.  I'm being a bit paranoid: extra hand sanitizer, keeping a safe distance, etc.  A lot of people have laughed at me for that, but I really don't want to repeat last semester.

Last semester, I was sick all but about two weeks around Halloween.  (I was well when I went to see Rocky Horror; I got sick half a week later.)  Being sick is not fun.  I've already had a cold this semester.  I have no intentions of staying in bed again.

So I hope she gets better soon, both for her sake and for my own.

Still have that English paper to get done.  At this point, I'm drawing it out for all it's worth.  I know it will only take me about an hour to finish.  I know that I know what I'm arguing about and how to prove my points.  I know that even though I hate citing my sources, I can do the citions without trouble.

I just do not feel like doing it.

I think it's because spring break is around the corner.  I mean, I have one more week of classes and then I get a week off.  It is going to be really nice.  I'm going to color my hair again, sleep until nine every morning (that's about as late as I get, lol), and homework is going to be done in advance so I can skate through the semester.

I am hoping that this week is good where school is concerned.  I'm going to keep my head up, hope for the best, and expect the unexpected.  Prayer and hope and breathing.

Now, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my weekend.  I suggest you guys do the same.

Until we meet again,

~Meaghan

I Almost Forgot to Blog.

But I remembered, so here I am. 

I have to say, this self imposed challenge of blogging every day for a whole year is harder than it seems.  I feel like some days I have waay too much to talk about, but it's stuff I can't share with random internet people.  Other days, I feel like I have nothing important to contribute.

I like it, though. 

I like being determined.  And it's been helping my writer's block.  The more I blog, the looser the juices seem to flow. 

It was a beautiful day today.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it feels like spring is around the corner.  Of course, it appears that it's going to snow tomorrow.  Not unsurprising, but disappointing to a degree as well.  I'm ready for flip-flop weather.

Things were lazy today.  I read, I wrote, I hung out with my family.  I've started watching a new movie.  It's "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", which peaked my interest when I read about the list of fictional characters in it: Dorian Gray, Captain Nemo, etc.  So far, it's pretty good.

I still need to finish my English paper.  I didn't get it done yesterday.  But I figure I have until Tuesday to finish it, so there's not a huge rush or anything.

And on that note, I'm getting off. 

Until we meet again, dear readers.

~Meaghan

Friday Post.

Everytime I think about Friday, I think about that song from the Cure.  You know, the one that goes "It's Friday, I'm in love!"  Now, I'm pretty sure I'm not in love or anything, but it is most assuredly (spelling???) Friday.

Ah, the weekend.  I have mixed feelings about the weekend.  I like having time to myself, but also, it means I don't have school again until Tuesday.  Being the dork that I am, I miss not being at school.  School brings interesting things with it, both socially and academically.

But this weekend is going to be good.  I have one paper done - for Psychology 101 discussing my purpose in life - and one paper to go, which is my arumentative paper for English Composition 122.  I have to say, it's not that bad of a homework weekend.  Granted I'm not thrilled about then English paper, but I'm a Creative Writing major - I don't like "traditional" English.  It's not going to be that hard, though.

The plan? you ask.  Well, here it is.

I'm going to write that English paper rough draft (due Tuesday) at some point today.  Then I'm going to work on free-writing the rest of the weekend as well as catching up on my free reading.  I'm really excited about the chapter I'm working on in my young adult novel.  It's going to be the piece that I'm going to have workshopped after break in my writing class.  I love my characters so much.

(If you read it, though, you would wonder what kind of crazy life I'm living.  I actually have a really normal family life going on here with a very stable environment.  The characters just came out messed up.  And that's what I love about them.  They are flawed. )

I'm going to be signing up for roller skating lessons pretty soon, too.  My mom finally caved and said she would pay for my lessons.  I didn't expect that at all; I would be happy just to have her drive me over.  And then she went a step further and said that if I truly love roller skating, then she won't say another word about me doing derby.

That's right, guys and gals.  Another year and I'll be on my way to being a Roller Derby Queen.  It is going to be epic on so many levels.  Of course, I need to finish school first and get a job so that I can pay for it, but think about how fun it is going to be.

And even if I don't do derby, skating is such good exercise.  I have this pair of derby skates I bought from Target forever ago.  I would love to get some good use out of them.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

Now I have to go write that paper so my weekend will be cleared. 

Until the next time,

~Meaghan

Let the Weekend Roll.

My week is over.  Thank goodness.

Today was such a long day, I don't even feel like I can get into it properly.  It wasn't bad, it wasn't fantastic; it was just long.

I have just submitted a poem to the school publication.  They have a few extra spots and I've been told that they need fiction and non-fiction more than they need poems, but I'm really happy and proud with how this particular poem turned out, so I sent it anyway.  We shall see what happens.

Currently I have a headache bordering a migraine.  I know, I know.  Get off the computer and do something about it.  Well, the Alieve doesn't want to go down and I'm afraid to sleep because I want to sleep tonight.  I blame this headache on weather change.  We're supposed to be getting snow this weekend.  It's not supposed to last long, though, so I'm ok with it.

There are so many good movies coming out in the next few weeks!  I keep seeing movie trailers that really appeal to me.  Now, I know that you have to be careful with movie trailers - they can be deceiving.  But these look genuinely good.  You know how the movies seem to alternate every year, with one year being really good (2009) and the next being kind of a crap shoot (2010)? 

I think this is going to be a good year for movies.  The top of my list, thus far?

~ Beastly

 Beauty and the Beast is by far one of my favorite movies (Disney may have some crappy stuff out there now, but I will always love them for Beauty and the Beast) as well as fairy tales.  The heroine kicks ass, the issue of true beauty is tackled, and in the end, it all works out.  This movie, based on the trailers, looks like it's going to be a great rendition of it.  It is very high on my list.

~ Sucker Punch

 Because, really, who doesn't love a good action movie with cool effects?  I love the principle behind it: a girl gets sent to an asylum and must fight her way out with a band of other locked - up girls while creating their own fantasy land that makes Dungeons and Dragons look like child's play.  (It's not, btw.  I wanted to play a few years ago and got blown away by the number of books and rules involved...)  Plus, it's directed by Zac Snyder (I hope I spelled that right), the guy who did all sorts of awesome movies.  I love what he did with Watchmen and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole.  I have high hopes for this one.

~ Red Riding Hood

 This one I don't really want to see, but my sister is very into.  She loves the story of Little Red Riding Hood.  To be fair, this one does look like it's going to have an interesting take on the traditional story.  I will probably end up waiting until it comes to DVD or the dollar theater.

On top of those, which all come out this week and next week, we have the final Harry Potter movie coming out in July.  The first part (it came out in November) was actually really well done.  I was afraid it was going to be like movie four through six - complete and total crap that went against the books so much that my senses could not handle it.  I was pleasantly wrong.  I can not wait for it to come out. 

I think that about sums stuff up for today.  Phew.

Until we meet again, dear readers.

~Meaghan