Creative Juices

I made a fudge brownie for my dessert tonight!

So my stepmom is out of town for three days with my grandma, who is having eye surgery, which means that my sister and I have to take care of the house. FUN. I'm a weird mixture of laid back and control freak, meaning that IF I do something it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be done a specific way.

Yeah, it's only one night into the three days and my sister and I are already starting to get on each other's nerves. I don't think she realizes that as the older sister, I get the last say in everything...

I've also been making more stars! My awesome English teacher last year is a big Poe fan, and I found this awesome template online for the stars so I thought, hey why not make some for her?

She's probably going to be writing me a lot of recommendation letters so I figure why not shower her with gifts. It's the least I can do.

Not to mention I've been so inspired lately with my art... I can't wait to post about my new sketchbook and all of my drawings, but that post will probably come later :)

Master Plans

So a few days ago this guy in my class and I came up with this GENIUS plan.

Well, ok, anyone with an IQ over 100 could have come up with it, but I'd like to think that I'm pretty smart.

Since I started high school I've been awaiting Junior year when we got to vote for class officers and I've got to say, I'm really excited about the possibility of being an officer for my senior class.

Anyways, in English this guy let slip that he wanted to run for President, and I was like, NO WAY, I want to be Vice President! Being the opportunists that we are we quickly joined forces and found a Secretary and Treasurer to be a part of our team. We even have a campaign manager.

Voting won't start till probably April or so, but I think that we have a good chance of winning and whatnot. All we have to do is snag about 50 or so votes each and we're set!

I'm so antsy! I can't wait for election time so that I can start campaigning for votes!

in which my heart flutters like a fangirl

It's no lie, I've been a Fall Out Boy fan since the sixth grade. Even when Infinity on High came out I still stuck true as a fan, despite the fact that I felt that the album was a little overproduced. BUT NOW.
Patrick, my favorite band member has gone solo. YES. His voice is like melting butter on a blueberry muffin; like Adam Lavine on silk; like dew on a blade of grass; like the smoothest, sharpest cheddar cheese....

Ok so maybe those similes were a bit disturbing and somewhat creepy, but you have no idea how many times I've listened to his voice. Back when I was all dark, twisty, and quasi-depressed (and seeing a shrink) his voice lulled me to sleep at night, and now that I'm ok his music is almost like the continuation of life. I've moved on, and so has his music. Ok, I just read the last two sentences, and I'm quite aware of the cheese ratio in them, but I don't care.


Patrick Stump is back, and his music is too :) BTW, if you haven't heard his cover of Marvin Gaye's song Let's Get It On..... well you should listen to it. I can't help but think that his new makeover makes him look like one of my favorite philosophers Søren Kierkegaard... Aaaaand that picture is my screensaver.

I usually don't think cover songs are as good as the original, but I like this verson slightly better than Andre 3000's.

Update in pictures!

I got my AcaDec medals in the mail! The gold is for scoring highest in my school division, and the silver is for placing second overall in literature. For some reason I though I would medal in Art, but I'm not really complaining with what I got :)

I found this gem in the art room today. In December we had an acrylic transfer project and we had to use photos of ourselves. My friend Andria didn't like her photo so she used one of me. She titled the above piece "Lizzi In the Sky With Diamonds". The piece below was my project that I titled "Butterfly Brains". Apparently my art teacher had them out as examples for her other students... I don't really know how I feel about that.

This project was probably the most unplanned thing I ever did. In fact, most of this piece was a happy accident, but it hey, it worked!

And last but not least I've finally filled my jar of stars! I decided to make some colored ones to mix it up a little :)

My Jar of Stars

I'm so close to having 100! And then I'll be the luckiest person alive, and I'll finally meet Anderson Cooper! Or at least that's what I'm hoping will happen. In all actuality I'll probably just find some money in my coat pockets.

So the end of the six weeks is coming up and guess what? MY GRADES SUCK BAD. Well not all of them. I'm doing well in Physics and English(95 ftw!) but spanish, and math are a whole other story....

Spanish will probably be a B, and math most likely a B-. I feel like my math grade should be higher since I'm one of the few students that does their work....?

Oh well. What's a few B's?

Yearbook has been quite stressful because we only have 2 weeks(!) to finish the book and there are SO MANY pages that haven't even been started yet. I've already devised a system for next year when I'm Co-Editor so that we won't miss any deadlines.

At the beginning of the year there will be hamsters (or perhaps goldfish since they're more economical) representing each deadline day. The staff will grow to love and enjoy the company of them, and hopefully want to take one home---- HOWEVER if the staffers miss a deadline a hamster/goldfish will go missing, starting with the class favorite. Then I will tell the staffers that I fed said beloved pet to the snakes that belong to the herpetology club, but not really. I'll probably just take them home.

Yeah, or I might just do a cupcake reward system. Or perhaps a marijuana reward system. I have a feeling that at least one of those incentive options will work.

Then again, I could be a ruthless task master and beat them with my jar of stars whenever I think they're being lazy....

What has the world come to?

So it's almost that time of year again. A time where girls work out like crazy and do a lot of core training to get into shape for summer, aka swim suit season.

Personally the only reason I like summer is because there's no school/homework/shy guys to ruin my life, but I also like summer because of water. And swimming. Oh yeah, and trips to Las Vegas/New Orleans...

But I'm straying past my original point. Guys have it pretty easy when it comes to swimwear. Throw on a pair of trunks, or perhaps even a speedo (if you're into the whole social suicide thing) and you're good to go. Girls however have to worry about a myriad of things when it comes to swimwear.

Will this suit give me weird tan lines?

Will this suit be prone to wardrobe malfunctions?

Does this suit make my butt look good big, or bad big?

Through painful trial and error I have had to approach these questions. And yes, I am aware that it is only February, but still. It's better to prepare ahead of time then to rush around Old Navy the day before you go to the water park hoping that they have a retro swimsuit in your size.

This year I plan on trying to search for the perfect retro swimsuit that won't make me go broke (sorry modcloth, I refuse to pay $80+ on swimwear) and I also plan on avoiding hideous ones like this, which I found on Marie's blog.

Call me crazy, but I don't think that 70's wood paneling is flattering on all figures :/

Oh, and for all of you guys state side, Happy Presidents Day! (hooray for no school!)

So awkward

The intensity of my awkwardness is often overpowering.

I'm not even kidding.

I ask the wrong questions at the wrong time, whatever tact I have is usually out sick, and I'm pretty sure the weird faces I make when people talk to me don't help my case.

Despite my shortcomings people usually think I'm funny and generally tend to like me.

Personally I think this reflects upon the society that we live in and the drive to have that "novelty friend" who makes art out of discarded materials whilst rapping and singing Gwen Stefani and Ke$ha songs.

But what's my point?

I don't have one. While I was out walking my dog I met someone who promptly told me I was the weirdest person they had ever met and then gave me a high five.

Seeing Stars

So for the past few days I’ve been origami obsessed. I’ve been making cranes, lilies, boxes, stars---- you name it. Hand me a piece of paper and I’ll make it into something. Right now I’m in the process of filling up a jar with origami stars. Rumor has it that if you make 100 you’ll have good luck or something….

I'm quite fond of the idea of having good luck.

School has been, well school-y. I had to retake a spanish test that I bombed(pre-ap Spanish, and I did mediocre on my physics lab BUT I found out that I'm eligible for NHS! Exciting, I know.

I've had my eye on a few scholarships as well, but some of the applications are so daunting that I'm afraid to even approach them.

Oh yeah... I have some homework to do... I'll just do it Monday since I don't have school that day :P

No need to be coy Roy

Shy guys are the worst.

Am right, or am I right?

If you like me, then do something about it.

Physics and other types of homework

So by the time I finish my physics lab I'm pretty sure all my teeth will be rotted out. Our teacher is making us do the entirety of it in Microsoft Excel so we can just email it to him and save paper. It's green but boy does it suck when you don't know how to use Microsoft Exel :/

Anyways I got lots of candy on Valentine's plus a new little sock monkey, and if it were'nt for my raging headache then the day would have been nice. Oh yeah, not passing out yesterday from said headache was a highlight.

But yeah after a ton of Aleve, NyQuil, and Zyrtec I'm all good now :)

I feel pretty good because lately I've been able to stay on top of my homework plus work on my giant 24x36 portrait of my friend Laurita... I'm not done yet, but here's a picture of it so far...

I have it tacked up on my wall above my bed as inspiration to finish it :P Oh yeah, it's all graphite pencil/stick. *UPDATE a more completed picture.

Hotel Art

No offense to those who have art work hanging in their local Holiday Inn, but I feel like hotel art is just that, HOTEL ART. You can't distinguish one from the other, it's pretty bland and forgettable.

Anyways, yesterday I participated in an art competition and it wasn't too bad. I scored well in my division and had state worthy work, but the pieces picked this year to advance onto state were somewhat akin to hotel art...

I don't feel disappointed in myself, but I do feel disappointed in the competition for not picking the more sophisticated pieces there. I felt like other artists (with visible talent) were overshadowed by some Jackson Pollock/Cecil Touchon ripoffs. No really, one piece looked like Ke$ha had peed on a paper.

And I would rant about some crappy stuff that happened to me today, but it all just boils down to one thing: I need to learn how to juggle school and finding a job.

Financial independence is probably the worst/last thing I need right now, but it's so appealing.

daydreaming

With the frustrations of teachers, deadlines, and douchey boys I often find myself daydreaming about meeting the lushest men.

French

Turkish

British

Australian

Hmmm... I'd really like to meet some foreign boys.

Yes, I know, the douchebag disease knows no race/gender, but I feel like if I ever met a foreigner that was a jerk his accent would make up for it.

Watching movies like Pride and Prejudice and Amelie only worsen my daydreams.

Throwed

So missing school Friday definetly threw me off. I forgot what homework was due and whatnot despite having a planner, but I ended up having all of my bases covered.

In history I made the highest grade in my class for our recent multiple choice test... Before you start congratulating me, know that I made a 78. Yeah. I have both the valedictorian and salutatorian in my class. The entire six weeks we only covered 2 out of the 4 chapters we were being tested over. We also spent two days on the art of the gilded age, which we were not being tested over.

Needless to say, our teacher was given the 3rd degree, but I felt pretty bad for her.

I stayed quiet the entire time that she was being interrogated by the other kids in my class. I couldn't defend her because no one in the class made above a 78, but I wasn't about to make her cry like my peers. When you have kids studying for an entire weekend for a MULTIPLE CHOICE test, you'd think that you'd get some A's and B's, but no...

This isn't the first time that this has happened either. If she would actually teach us a lesson, then maybe our grades wouldn't suffer so badly.

Oh well. At least I made the highest grade in my class....

Snow day

First off I would like to send a little thanks towards the Artic winds. Without it there would be no snow day for me.

I hate so say it, but I'm sort of glad that all my plans for this weekend are cancelled. It sort of gives me a chance to work on some art that I've needed to work on...

Anyways, here's another picture of my backyard... not exactly COVERED, but there's enough snow to freak out the entirety of East Texas. (btw, did anyone else know that the character Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory was from East Texas?)

Since I took this picture this morning at 6am more snow has fallen. My dog has been thouroughly freaked out, and he spends most of his time pining away by the fireplace, not wanting to go outside. For dinner my family had snow ice cream with apple pies... Personally, I like snow ice cream way better than store bought ice cream which is often at times too sweet for me.

And now, a video of my baby brother making a snow angel!

Don't cut this

I don't remember if I blogged about this last year, but my school is trying to cut AcaDec again. We had to fight hard to keep it last year, and I don't know. It could go either way at this point. We've already come up with a list of about 25 students who are interested in joining, and quite frankly I'd rather they cut the Debate program instead because:

1. There is no debate program anymore. Out of the 2500 or so kids who would be eligible to compete or be in the debate class only ONE actually does stuff (me), and I'm not even in the actual class. No lie, there is no team, we don't do any competitions, we've pretty much dropped off the map in the debate world. In fact, most people I used to debate with don't affiliate me with my school, and see me pretty much as a maverick.
2. The money for the debate program is going to waste. It should go to AcaDec, which actually has a class, and people willing to compete. Also, Academic Decathlon is a nationally recognized event that if you win, allows you to meet the president! :)

But yeah, if I felt that the debate program could be saved, then I would fight for it. I've been in denial for a long time, thinking that MAYBE just maybe this year would be the year that we'd have a decent debate program and a good coach, but I'm done holding my breath. I want to focus on something that is more concrete and more likely move me up in this world.

In other news, they tabulated partial results and I ended up placing 2nd overall in my region in Language & Literature for AcaDec... I should get my medals next week...

My other team members placed in the top 5 for other categories, leaving me again to be somewhat baffled that my school would want to get rid of a program that is still functioning, and that we're still placing in.

Ah well, maybe my school needs more money to throw at our crappy football team. UGH.

Since I'm the queen of plan B, if all else fails I'll just take out AP Art History class, or even pick up an extra yearbook period since I'm an editor and whatnot.