...is when you're on JV quiz bowl and you try out for Varsity quiz bowl and you actually make it on the starting line up for the B team. Yes, I am officially on varsity quiz bowl. For one tournament. But hey, I made it. YES!
Just thought I'd share a moment of pure ecstasy with my limited readers. :)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Weight of a Polar Bear
It was a brisk autumn day. It wasn’t warm outside but neither was it frigid. The trees had lost their leaves and they crunched softly beneath our feet as we walked on the asphalt. There was the slightest breeze blowing so softly it barely rustled my hair; it had no effect on the trees, they stood still and silent as if they were prematurely frozen. My brother Luke and I were walking towards Twelve Oaks Mall to buy my mother a Christmas present. We were both wearing hoodies, our hands were shoved deep into the middle pocket to ward our fingers off from the cold. Needless to say, we were unsuccessful. We chatted back and forth about possible ideas for presents. I suggested we get her something from Yankee Candle, and Luke went on to recommend we get her a scarf or some other winter accessory. We were entering the mall through the food court entrance. Luke said something entertaining and I laughed with him. As I finished my laughter someone approached me and tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned to see a teenage boy, as was obvious from the pink polo he wore with no jacket, his baseball hat, and facial features. He was unfamiliar and I did not recognize him. His face was impassive but there was a certain mischievous humor in his eyes.
“Excuse me,” he said politely, although I was sure he was laughing on the inside, “but do you know how much a polar bear weighs?”
This confrontation befuddled me; it was all so sudden and unexpected. My mind instantly began racing. What is this? Why is he asking me this? Is this a survey? Or is he sincerely asking me for some unknown reason? Why does he even want to know? Do I even know? Am I supposed to know? I don’t have a clue, maybe they weigh somewhere between five hundred to a thousand pounds? I honestly have no idea. But why is he asking me? I’ve never seen him before…right?
I am not very articulate, especially when put on the spot, so of course my answer came stumbling out of my shaking mouth.
“I don’t know,” I replied. My face was cherry red and in my shyness I had difficulty making eye contact with him.
“Just enough to break the ice,” he said, a taunting smile breaking forth onto his face.
He stuck out his hand and somewhere inside of my brain, a signal was supposed to travel down to my hand to tell it to shake his. But in my bewilderment, combined with busy nonsensical thoughts flooding my mind, my hand remained at my side as if it were dead. My only response was my face going even redder, if possible.
I must have looked clumsy and ignorant.
“No? That’s OK,” he said. And then he was gone. It all happened in a matter of only a minute or so but it was by far the longest minute-or-so of my life. I watched the receding figure of the boy and the redness slowly began to leave my face. I turned around to see Luke smiling, forcing the laughter back.
“What's so funny?” I asked.
“Emaline,” he said, “do you realize that guy just used a pick-up line on you?” “What? No he didn’t.” I denied even the thought. I was still somewhere between mortified and bewildered. Even as Luke said it to me, though, I realized that I had heard that line before.
“Yeah, he did,” he nodded to emphasize his point and the laughter escaped him then. I smiled in spite of myself and shook my head as Luke continued to enjoy himself at my expense.
We continued walking into the mall and the confrontation had perked my paranoia. I was alert; my head was constantly turning at every little thing. I was afraid of another incident. Of course I knew I was being ridiculous. I even told myself that as we walked through the mall window shopping and browsing. I expected something else to happen, a sort of follow-up. I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that nothing would happen. However, I was being afraid of practically nothing. It doesn't take much of anything to scare me.
Since that incident I have learned the appropriate response for any future inquiries as to the weight of a polar bear: male or female?
So this was a memoir I turned in for an English class. Just thought I'd share :)
I turned to see a teenage boy, as was obvious from the pink polo he wore with no jacket, his baseball hat, and facial features. He was unfamiliar and I did not recognize him. His face was impassive but there was a certain mischievous humor in his eyes.
“Excuse me,” he said politely, although I was sure he was laughing on the inside, “but do you know how much a polar bear weighs?”
This confrontation befuddled me; it was all so sudden and unexpected. My mind instantly began racing. What is this? Why is he asking me this? Is this a survey? Or is he sincerely asking me for some unknown reason? Why does he even want to know? Do I even know? Am I supposed to know? I don’t have a clue, maybe they weigh somewhere between five hundred to a thousand pounds? I honestly have no idea. But why is he asking me? I’ve never seen him before…right?
I am not very articulate, especially when put on the spot, so of course my answer came stumbling out of my shaking mouth.
“I don’t know,” I replied. My face was cherry red and in my shyness I had difficulty making eye contact with him.
“Just enough to break the ice,” he said, a taunting smile breaking forth onto his face.
He stuck out his hand and somewhere inside of my brain, a signal was supposed to travel down to my hand to tell it to shake his. But in my bewilderment, combined with busy nonsensical thoughts flooding my mind, my hand remained at my side as if it were dead. My only response was my face going even redder, if possible.
I must have looked clumsy and ignorant.
“No? That’s OK,” he said. And then he was gone. It all happened in a matter of only a minute or so but it was by far the longest minute-or-so of my life. I watched the receding figure of the boy and the redness slowly began to leave my face. I turned around to see Luke smiling, forcing the laughter back.
“What's so funny?” I asked.
“Emaline,” he said, “do you realize that guy just used a pick-up line on you?” “What? No he didn’t.” I denied even the thought. I was still somewhere between mortified and bewildered. Even as Luke said it to me, though, I realized that I had heard that line before.
“Yeah, he did,” he nodded to emphasize his point and the laughter escaped him then. I smiled in spite of myself and shook my head as Luke continued to enjoy himself at my expense.
We continued walking into the mall and the confrontation had perked my paranoia. I was alert; my head was constantly turning at every little thing. I was afraid of another incident. Of course I knew I was being ridiculous. I even told myself that as we walked through the mall window shopping and browsing. I expected something else to happen, a sort of follow-up. I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that nothing would happen. However, I was being afraid of practically nothing. It doesn't take much of anything to scare me.
Since that incident I have learned the appropriate response for any future inquiries as to the weight of a polar bear: male or female?
So this was a memoir I turned in for an English class. Just thought I'd share :)
Friday, November 28, 2008
A Month Later...
...and I blog again. I just finished reading Samantha's blog and now I feel like my blog is incredibly shallow. I mean, hers is deep and thought provoking. Mine you read in like five minutes and you feel like you just wasted five minutes of your time. Hmmm. Whatever.
So I'm extremely sore. I started this new swim team and it's a lot harder than the school swim team. I hurt all over. My lats hurt which are muscles I didn't even know could hurt.
Lately I've been having these really weird, arbitrary bursts of thought. For about two seconds, I think I still have my brace (Elle!) and that I'm moving around too freely. I feel like I should be wearing her although my one-year anniversary without her just passed this last month. These... sensations, I guess you would call them, are just happening frequently and it's so weird. I don't know what's wrong with me.
Recently I have realized how alone I am in this world. Then I remember something I once learned and I remember that I have at least one other person I can count on. But He's basically the only one I can really depend on. I had a sort of epiphany the other day, just out of thin air, and it suddenly hit me. You cannot rely on anyone. It's a truth known throughout the universe.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was an ok Thanksgiving. I feel like the day should have had more of a thankful, warm and fuzzy ambiance surrounding it. But it didn't. It was just another day.
Another epiphany I have had recently: time just goes on. Technically speaking, I don't really believe in time. But it's the only way I can measure this world. Time just keeps going. Neither you or me can do anything to stop it, pause it; no one can find the rewind button because there is none. Your futures becomes your present and your present becomes your past all within a matter of a blink of an eye. It all just becomes a memory; a fuzzy picture filed somewhere in the back of your mind. Sometimes you can recall it but sometimes you just lose your memories. I guess that's why the present is so important.
I don't even know. Like my father says, "You just can't think too deeply about things. It makes life a lot more complicated than it should be." (or something along those lines...)
So I'm extremely sore. I started this new swim team and it's a lot harder than the school swim team. I hurt all over. My lats hurt which are muscles I didn't even know could hurt.
Lately I've been having these really weird, arbitrary bursts of thought. For about two seconds, I think I still have my brace (Elle!) and that I'm moving around too freely. I feel like I should be wearing her although my one-year anniversary without her just passed this last month. These... sensations, I guess you would call them, are just happening frequently and it's so weird. I don't know what's wrong with me.
Recently I have realized how alone I am in this world. Then I remember something I once learned and I remember that I have at least one other person I can count on. But He's basically the only one I can really depend on. I had a sort of epiphany the other day, just out of thin air, and it suddenly hit me. You cannot rely on anyone. It's a truth known throughout the universe.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was an ok Thanksgiving. I feel like the day should have had more of a thankful, warm and fuzzy ambiance surrounding it. But it didn't. It was just another day.
Another epiphany I have had recently: time just goes on. Technically speaking, I don't really believe in time. But it's the only way I can measure this world. Time just keeps going. Neither you or me can do anything to stop it, pause it; no one can find the rewind button because there is none. Your futures becomes your present and your present becomes your past all within a matter of a blink of an eye. It all just becomes a memory; a fuzzy picture filed somewhere in the back of your mind. Sometimes you can recall it but sometimes you just lose your memories. I guess that's why the present is so important.
I don't even know. Like my father says, "You just can't think too deeply about things. It makes life a lot more complicated than it should be." (or something along those lines...)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
I have been Tagged.
I have been tagged by my cousin Deric. So here are my 7 random, unknown, and/or weird facts.
*
1) I am going through a purple phase where I love the color purple, and it's almost my favorite color. I feel 5 telling people I love the color purple.
2) Deep down, I love to paint my nails. I don't do it very often but secretly I love it when they are painted.
3) I like swimming. I like swim practice. Swimming 500's in practice are my favorite things.
4) I can recite the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice word for word although that's not unknown about me...
5) Someday I want to be either a ninja or Jason Bourne although I will most likely never become either one.
6) I love black and white films. Especially films noir. People may say that the acting is cheesy and the technology inferior but I love it. They were all made back when filming was a form of art, something to ponder over and consider as something more than cheap, shallow entertainment. Very few films today can be really considered as a form of art.
7) I have weaknesses for the classics/antiquity. Classic films, books, and art. I have issues with this modern literature/other media.
*
So here are my people to tag:
Zoopsia/Clayton http://mastertheory.blogspot.com/
Rielly (if he can) http://raleighriles.blogspot.com/
Samantha http://froomla.blogspot.com/
*
I can't think of any other people to invite that haven't been invited yet. So there it is.
Spontaneous
...combustion. But not really. So for some reason today, I spontaneously decided to do NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). For all those who have never heard of this, allow me to shed some light on the subject. NaNoWriMo is during the month of November where you drop everything and write a novel (of 50,000+ words). Some people fail, some succeed. I was in the first of the two categories last year. I'm excited for November but I'm kind of afraid of it. I have not idea what I'm going to write about. I'm thinking right now that it will be a collection of short stories. Hmmm, I don't know. But I'm determined to succeed this year!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
October!
And I forgot to mention that October is my all-time favorite month. I'm so happy it's just here. I love autumn!!! :)
AHHHHH!!!
Hi. So I'm blogging when I should probably be doing AP European history homework. But for some reason I'm not doing it. I think Samantha is a bad influence because this is something she would do. My mind is going crazy, I think I'm trying to memorize too many things. I have names like Ansel Adams, Hans Holbein III, Savonrola, St. Teresa, Bruegel, and Copler floating around in my head. Mixing Quiz bowl facts and AP Euro ones don't really mix. I have a tournament (for quiz bowl) on the eleventh and that is exciting. I'm so pumped for it. Then I have a swim meet tomorrow, next Thursday, and a tournament on the 25th. Bleh! I hate competing in swim. I'm also trying to write a short story for English (1000 words or less) and that's going ok. I'm trying very desperately to use the word tintinnabulation but so far it doesn't look like it's going to work. It's about this kid name Mika who finds this valuable...treasure and then gets bit by a rattlesnake. I think I'll leave the ending ambiguous and the last line will be something like, "and he lay alone in the unforgiving heat of the blinding sun," or along those lines... But anyway just thought I'd say hi.
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