me myself and i

So this is the last day of August. SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY ENDING, PEOPLE! Yes, a tear is falling as I write this. (A single, glamourous tear, just like a movie heroine. Not at all like how actual people cry, oh no.) I had a pretty wonderful time... brief synopsis to follow, but today duty calls (cashier-ing is pretty important, right?) and I will just post my last photo of PDA.

Myself.

Because who doesn't love giant plastic dinosaurs, right? (All the while I was wishing for it to come to life... that would have been epic!) I will admit that I have not been the best at following this challenge... it was a good way to make myself post more often, except it didn't really work because I prefer to babble randomly rather than have prompts. (Which is a little sad.) Oh well, you have to try everything once, right?

I hope you all had a summer to remember (is that a movie title? no, never mind, I'm thinking of A Walk to Remember and OMG it's sad!) and that fall brings plenty of great memories as well!

(Also, wow. I just reread this post and realised I said 'right' about fifteen times. I apologise but am too lazy to change it.)

openminded to oddness

It is a truth universally acknowledged that dancing is fun. (Okay, maybe it's not universal... but it should be! Just think of how much happier the world would be!) Another universally acknowledged truth is (or again, should be) that dressing up makes everything better. It logically follows that, when you dress up to go out dancing, it's one of the most enjoyable activities possible to girlkind... and in this case, logic did not disappoint. What was I doing, you may ask?

Why, Jane Austen dancing, of course!

Have you ever watched Pride and Prejudice? If not (and shame on you, go watch it now!) here's a quick clip to show you what I mean.

Yes, I can actually dance that. Be impressed -wink- The other night, there was actually a ball near us! Well, more precisely a reenactment- and the only reason that part is important is because reenactment= volunteers= cute boys... in Regency outfits. (Score!)

Let's just say... it was a lot of fun.

However, our merriment caused some of the other dancers to become alarmed- and not only because we were so confused that we kept messing them up... tripping over poles and each others' feet... dancing the wrong dance entirely... etc! By virtue of being the youngest regular dancer, I've become something of a pet to the others. (Case in point: both my dress and the hat I sometimes wear- which can be seen here- were handmade gifts from two of the other lovely members.) The shockingly forward behavior (in Jane Austen terms) we were exhibiting (read: shameless flirtation) led one of the other dancers to whisper in my ear: "Remember, Wickham was a redcoat!"

Now, at this point, you will either start laughing (or at the very least give me a smile, come on!) or stare at the screen thinking... what? To the second reaction, I have only to say again: read Pride and Prejudice! Or watch the movie! (You know you want to stare at a young Colin Firth.) 

Really, though, all you need to know is that Wickham was a Bad Man- not someone you'd trust farther than you could curtsey. (Does that even make sense? I don't believe so, but oh well.) Never fear, dearest readers. I was in no danger of losing my heart. (Only my shoes, since I stepped on my own toes so many times.) 

Moral of the story: dancing is fun and Pride and Prejudice is wonderful, kthanksbye. 

And if this post doesn't count for my PDA prompt of 'something weird that I own'... I don't know what does.  (We're in the home stretch now! The full list can be found here!) What's your secret oddity? Are you a Jane Austen obsessionist too?

back to the real (..okay, the blogging) world

After a lovely cardio workout (yay for basketball practice!), I feel much better about the whole school situation. (Now, don't be impressed by the fact that I am on the team.  Fun fact: yesterday we had our school gala for kooky awards, and which one did I win? Klutziest. Yes, that is the heritage I will leave behind.) There really is something to be said for a school so small that you don't even have to try out- there's not enough people who want to play, so you're automatically on the team! (Weirdly enough, I think a quarter of the ENTIRE highschool plays. And that's just the girls.)

Plus, I realised that yesterday I was supposed to talk about... my favourite books!

These are some of my top ones... but they're only the ones I own! Most of the books I love I order through the library. More of them can be found here on my Goodreads page.  Do you go on Goodreads? OMG it's probably one of my favourite sites! As I mentioned here, I love bookstores, so it's like a bookstore that I can go through while sitting at home eating chocolate! (Mind. Blown.) 

29- Bag

This is my school backpack. Isn't it the cutest thing ever? 

Pandas, penguins, platypi (platypuses?)- p animals are just the best. Plus, I'll let you in on a little secret: I got it at a secondhand store (SHOCKING!) thereby proving the adage that one girl's trash is another's treasure. What's your opinion of secondhand shopping?

I couldn't resist a chance to show off my lovely look today, either. Don't I look retro? 

Since lately I've been loving these three things... I also decided to link up with this wonderful party!

Go check out some more wonderful links- I'm sure the joy will help carry you through the week! And speaking of joy... Finding new blogs to follow is something I absolutely love doing. New and exciting posts... makeup ideas... DIYs... recipes... (procrastination techniques....)- there's just so many great things about the blogosphere! With that in mind, I joined these two wonderful blog hops!

About halfway through my following spree, my computer decided that I was a robot and started requiring a word verification every time. (You'd think it would have more faith in me after all we've been through!)

Why not join up too? You might find some new and exciting blogs, just like I did!

first day of school

I interrupt August's Photo Challenge (yes, because I was so assiduous in following it, too) to say that... today was my first day back at school. (And I want to complain. Muahaha.)

Really, there isn't too much to say about this. It was basically the same as every other year. Same people, same hallway, same classes... except that this year will be my last. Am I disappointed? Sad? No, really I just can't wait to get out of here. Plus, there are without a doubt some advantages to being a senior.

-Getting to 'rule the school'...all forty people in it.
- Spares!...except that I have eight full classes.
-Getting to see my friends again... but everyone I actually wanted to see, I invited over during the summer.
-More freedom... okay, so I don't know where this actually comes in, this is just something I've heard.

...so okay, maybe I'm not too excited about this. Did you enjoy your first days back when you went to school? (Or if you still do, of course!)

a little story

Beware: this story may be confusing/odd/long/not really a story at all. Never combine writing with a longgg shift at work- you have been warned.

The soft shadows of dusk stretched their fingers across the playground, bathing the blue ground in a peaceful glow. Jenna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Anything you can imagine is real. After reading the line on one of Tim's postcards- a generic, cheap one, to be found at any tourist trap, sent from India and Pakistan and Africa- she'd taken to believing it. What harm could it do, after all? In a worst-case scenario world like the one she so often found herself trapped in, she would simply remain on the ground. In the best case... well, she could fly.

And that was certainly something worth imagining.

Just visualise, her aunt's self-help books exhorted. Eyes still closed, she placed both feet squarely on the base of the... what was this, anyway? A swing? A ride? A....

Stop procrastinating and do it, she told herself firmly. She often found herself doing this, as though there were two parts to her personality, running on parallel railway lines inside her head. Jenna One was firm, driven; the kind of girl you wanted for a project, who could take charge of her own life.

This side usually lost.

Jenna Two was softer. She followed the easier path, drifting through life lost in her imaginings and caught between the thin blue lines on her school papers. Somehow this very insouciance made it easier for her to conquer her more forceful half. Why bother trying when floating was so much easier?

Because the journey is the most important part. If her brother, whose head was filled with nothing but dollar signs and briefcases, could travel to such exotic places- and be so tightfisted as to send back only cheap postcards, filled with such preachy sayings as that- she should be able to accomplish this one dream.

"What are you doing?" Jenna opened her eyes. A little girl stood in front of her, arms folded squarely across her chest. She blew an orange-scented bubble, and said firmly, "Big people aren't allowed on the turny."

Jenna met her eyes, noting the obstinacy in her gaze, and said, "One spin?" shocked at her own daring. The girl continued to stare at her, before finally nodding and walking away. Jenna One smiled; Jenna Two sighed and slipped both feet back onto the turny before she could be pushed off. Anticipation filled her, shining like a soap bubble above her head. At last, she'd done something right.

Spin, spin, spin, until all your dreams blur to shadow. Spin, spin, spin...

This is also my contribution to the wonderful linkup over at City Girl Gone Country and A Beautiful Day!

why, naturally

....I'm posting a picture today! I would never do something so dastardly (I love that word, it's just so evocative!) as skip a day. Not me. Nope. ...right.

Anyway, the prompt for today was 'nature' and so I decided to post this picture!

This was taken during the hiking trip I talked about here. Butterflies are just so 'in' right now, I've noticed. (It seems slightly odd to mention an insect being 'in', but I'm not the one who makes the trends.) Clothing, art supplies... they're everywhere! (Thank goodness it's not wasps... somehow I have no desire to wear black-and-yellow striped clothing.) What's your favourite insect?

the narcissistic view from my window

So... I know I'm still doing the photo challenge... but today I am cheating a little bit. I already took a photo of the view from my window (and it can be seen here) so I decided to, instead, give you all a quick view of what is happening through the window of my mind. (Yay for metaphors!) Follows a (somewhat complete) list of everything I've been thinking about recently... (Also it gave me the opportunity to, as I mentioned last week, use the word narcissistic in a title! because let's face it I can be slightly self-obsessed.)

-why do I keep biting the inside of my lip? it's all swollen and sore, and I don't know why it keeps happening, I think my teeth are in the wrong spot but I used to have braces so that can't be right

-maybe I just eat too much gum, 4 pieces a day is perhaps excessive

-but then I'd just eat more chocolate-covered almonds OMG they are my life why are they so good and why do they have so many calories? it's just sad

-also salted nuts and roasted veggies yay food!

-but also exercise, running is so much fun, I ran to the post office and I am so proud...why does no one ever send me exciting parcels? A MYSTERY

-and why is amazon so slow? My gorgeous phone case probably won't arrive for a month and I want to show you all the amazingness that it is

-it's British and we all know that British things are the coolest

-during the university tour the guide thought I was British because this was my outfit:

-aren't we cute? Yes we are and we look so university-ish, OMG I can't wait to be a university student, I AM SO READY and yet I will probably cry a river when time comes to actually leave but it is so thrilling

-school starts in 5, yes FIVE DAYS, and I work this entire weekend so I can't even enjoy it

-I will be bored, but I will have money (yes I think about this all the time and have even posted about it I think, but whatever you all probably feel the same, amiright?)

-except school doesn't even pay me and yet it is probably more boring (except for english class because I get to write on my blog, hahaha)

-however the thought of fall is exciting, I am sitting on the deck and dying of heatstroke right now

-why does my laptop generate so much heat? Is it going to spontaneously combust? OMG I'M GONNA DIE, you may all share my hat collection

-thank goodness my cellphone is not this warm or I would definitely pass out since it is always in my pocket

-although really, I don't text that much, I swear I'm not that annoying girl with her phone always in her face

-no I'm the annoying girl who's always holding a book

-OMG I just read Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl (go read it now, link to Goodreads provided) and it is literally my favourite book ever, I don't say that a lot so you know I really mean it this time, it is so funny that I CRIED and had to stuff my face in a pillow for fear of waking the children I was babysitting up

-THANK GOD I am an only child because I think I would be tired all the time if I had a sibling

-especially if they decided to spray Febreze in my mouth, that stuff is VILE

And now I'm out of breath and must stop. (Gag. Even the thought of Febreze is revolting.) What are some things that have been on your mind recently?

And, as usual for the Thursday, this is my contribution to Jenny Matlock's wonderful linkup!