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Grr Weebly

8/7/2012

17 Comments

 
Hello from sadness :/ I keep trying to find a way to copy and paste onto Weebly without it formatting all weird. This week I even tried typing out my blog in Notepad (no textwrap is SUPER annoying!!!) and it STILL didn't work! Weebly, you're really irritating sometimes. I hope you know that.
Anyway, my week hasn't just been about my failed attempts to overcome Weebly weirdness. I spent most of my weekend shooting stuff for Expect Squirrels! Things didn't go exactly as planned, since the weather was being kind of iffy, and we forgot to check and see whether one of our shooting locations would actually be open (it wasn't), but even though we had to shift some stuff around, we still got a lot done. For me, that meant sitting still while Rachael covered my face in goo and not being able to scratch my nose all day. It was really a lot of fun, though. Wearing makeup isn't that bad, particularly when you have someone as talented as Rachael to make sure it goes on just right, and I had a lot of fun costumes to wear. Plus I got to spend all that time hanging out with my friends! We also met Rachael's friend Mark, who graciously agreed to be our Rob, and I think it's going really well so far. I'm pretty sure we're on schedule to finish before everyone leaves for school, and I'm excited to see how it's gonna turn out!
In other news, county schools start back on Thursday, so today was my last day babysitting for the summer. That's one of the many nice things about college- my little sister's going to be up at 6 in a couple of days to get ready for her first day of school, while I'll still have two and a half weeks of sleeping in and hanging around the house to get out of my system before the fall semester starts :) Enough gloating, though- have some Questions!
Anna Beth:
Is there anything in real life as cute as it is in the movies, or is real life just awkward?

You know, the stuff that happens in movies has to come from somewhere. Sure, movies are fictional, so they can have all kinds of implausible, extremely opportunistic plot twists and storylines, but I feel like a lot of those kinds of things have been done to the point where we kind of expect them. Like, we see a girl and a guy in a movie who start out absolutely
loathing each other and we just expect that they're going to fall in love by the end of the movie. The advantage that real life has, then, is that it's... real. Not everything has a rhyme or reason to it, or at least not that a single person can be completely conscious of, so it's genuinely possible to come upon twists and turns in your own life that no script writer ever could have come up with in his wildest fantasies. There's also the fact that you have a personal connection
to the things that happen in your life. To some random spectator, it may not be interesting when that boy in your class strikes up a conversation with you, or when you bump into an old friend you haven't seen in years, but you know the deeper meaning that comes from these seemingly minimal interactions and can see the true cuteness of it.
The other day, Amy said something to the effect of, "I don't want to be madly in love, because that never lasts." Her point was about having a deep friendship with the guy you marry. Obviously friendship is important, but do you think romantic love just dies, like Amy implied, and all you're left with is friendship?
Uhm, no. Obviously it's important to be friends with whoever you're going to spend the rest of your life with, but people don't just pick one of their friends and decide, hey, lets get married!
There has to be romance there too. And I feel like you're not going to have a very good marriage if you just let the romance die. Sure, like anything else it'll take work, but I don't think it is at all necessary for romance just to die in a marriage. Of course, this is coming from my unmarried, lacking any kind of experience perspective. Judging from the happy marriages I've seen, though, I think Amy's just being pessimistic.
And speaking of Amy, she's been home for over a week now, AND I HAVE YET TO SEE HER! Amy, it's not fair! I misss yoououuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you really ever go "purposely looking for a good cry?"
I don't know about with books, but there are times when I voluntarily watch sad movies or listen to sad songs (I have a whole playlist on my iPod devoted to them :). Back to books, though, if I just see a random book that looks like it's going to have my heart ripped into tiny little shreds by the end of the first chapter, I am generally not all that interested. But if I'm
familiar with the characters and can really feel like a part of the story, then I feel like I'm more accepting of sad things happening, as long as they're balanced with not so sad things. Deathly Hallows, for example, was brilliant. I mean, there was a war going on, so obviously there were going to be sad things and events that I didn't want happening, but life was still going on, so the sadness and tears were balanced with moments of triumph and hilarity. That's one reason I've really liked everything I've read by John Green so far. He just has this way of perfectly balancing out his books: there are serious moments with profound realizations and heartfelt tears for the trials the characters are going through, but there are also, often within moments of the former, hilarious one-liners and descriptions that have me gasping for breath from all the laughter even before the tears have dried.
Do you prefer the sun or the moon?
Well, the sun is nice and all, but I think it's burned me one (dozen) time too many. I'm gonna have to go with the moon.
What is your least favorite type of normal weather (i.e. not including tornadoes and etc.)?
The icky muggy hot kind where you sweat buckets but it just stays there because the air around you is already saturated, so you're just stuck standing there with your clothes sticking to you and your deodorant getting less and less effective the longer you're stuck out there. Like last summer when we were filming A Moment.
Are all generalizations bad? And wouldn't that be a generalization?
Precisely :) If all generalizations are bad, then the previous statement, being itself a generalization, is also bad, so one or the other (either general generalizations or that specific generalization about general generalizations) is incorrect. While generalizations can be annoying and are, most of the time, incorrect, they can be helpful. For example, it's not very feasible to get to know the specific eating habits and preferences of every single snow leapard on the planet. Instead, it may be helpful to generalize about what most typical snow leapards like to eat, how often they eat, and so forth, so that you can use these generalizations to help you make decisions should you ever find yourself in a situation involving snow leapards (say, for example, the pros and cons of sneaking into a snow leapard's cage at the zoo, and the likelihood that you will be something it will want to eat). So, although generalizations in general are generally annoying and incorrect, they are also helpful to an extent when no better option is available to you. In general, you know, things that exist have some sort of use. It's just a matter of determining whether its usefulness is enough to make up for its annoyingness.
All the best things in life make sense: true or false?
Umm. False. Plenty of things in life don't make sense (at least, coming from the perspective of a single person in a sea of 7 billion other people, not to mention all the other life forms on the planet). That's part of the concept of Grace- getting what you don't deserve. Knowing that you are completely unqualified, imperfect, incapable of ever deserving the great thing that comes into your life, but getting it anyway.  It doesn't make any kind of sense, but it's pretty great in my opinion.
You love babies. Does this include the babies from the Evil Baby Orphanage?
Of course it includes the babies from the Evil Baby Orphanage! All babies deserve to be loved and cared for, even if they are destined to grow up and significantly increase world suck levels. In fact, it is babies like those in the Evil Baby Orphanage who need that love and care even more than most babies. Because it may be that all they needed in the first place was someone to care about them and prevent the giant attention-seeking temper tantrum that is threatening to take over the rest of their lives.
What's the most absurd, unnecessary thing you've ever brought along on a trip?
Well, I brought cardboard David Tennant to Nashville when we visited Amber. To most people, that's pretty absurd.
Where does gravity come from?
Go watch scishow.
Do animals go to heaven when they die?
Maybe.
Is it possible to cry under water?
I haven't looked this up or anything, but I would assume so. You just can't really tell that the person is crying, since their tears just flow into all the other water surrounding them. Well, you can't tell from the obvious, at least. If the person's face gets all red and puffy or something like that, then you'd still be able to tell.
If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?
Because the government is trying to cover it up to prevent mass chaos and justification of other conspiracy theories.
Does love make sense?
Yes and no.
Have you ever had a near-death experience?
Not that I recall.
What's your favorite movie?
Too many movies to pick from...
Name three reasons that those of us who haven't read the Host Club series should read it.
1. It's adorable.
2. SOOO much adorbs.
3. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really, though, I really like it. Sanaa got me started on it in high school, and I remember being really skeptical about whether I would enjoy it, but I don't think I need to elaborate much on how that turned out. I will say that, for me, at least, the manga format is a little difficult to follow. But that may just be because all I want to do is get through the episodes as fast as I can to see what happens. I have a hard time slowing down and actually looking at the pictures and paying attention to everything that's going on. But it's such a cute story! I mean, it's manga, so it's also completely ridiculous, but that just adds to the hilarity and adorableness of it all <3 So, seriously, go try it out. Then you can join me, Sanaa, and Amber in our SQUEE!!! fest :D
Would you, under any circumstances, agree to being cryogenically frozen
to be woken up in the future? What circumstances, if any?
If Kairan Fisher were going to be there :) Man, I can't wait for Chronicles of Syntax!
Would you rather have a wizard wand or a sonic screwdriver?
Well, I already have two wizard wands, but they don't work for me, since I'm not actually a wizard. So I'll have to go with the sonic screwdriver. At least I have a chance of figuring it out :)
What books would you like to see adapted into movies?
- Anything by John Green.
- The Young Wizard Series
- Fairies of Dreamdark (made any more progress on that Rachael? Or is it still boring you like the Young Wizard book?)
Would you ever want to be an extra in a movie?
Sure.
If you met a genie, what would your 3 wishes be?
To save the world and end world hunger and stuff.

Jill:
Are there any circumstances in which you would take a one-way ticket to be in the first group to colonize mars? If so, under what circumstance?

Circumstances would have to be pretty extreme for me to want that one-way ticket. Like, if I were being kicked off the planet for some unknown, unjustified reason, I'd rather go to Mars, where there were life support systems set up to allow me to keep living, than just be rocketed out into the vaccuum of space to die from asphyxiation/starvation/dehydration/implosion. Or was it explosion? I don't remember what we decided would happen to a human body unprotected in space.
If you had the opportunity to name a planet, what would you name it?
Ok, I feel like you guys are asking these naming questions just to get on my nerves now. How about Pluto, Mark II?
When looking at the night sky, do you prefer to look at the stars or the moon?
The stars. I don't know enough Astronomy to be able to find most constellations or anything, but it's fun to look and connect the dots on my own.
If you had to pick a sport in the Olympics to compete in, which would you pick?
Please tell me I'd have the opportunity to train for this sport and get to be somewhat acceptable at it, as opposed to just being thrown in there with a bunch of Olympic-grade athletes who actually know what they're doing? Assuming the former, my choices would probably be about the same as what I like to watch: Gymnastics or Ice Skating. I actually used to be in Gymnastics when I was little, although it's been so long since I did anything even remotely related that I wouldn't have any real advantage. I could never do the uneven bars at all :/ As far as ice skating goes, I've only actually ice skated once, so I would be really awful at it, I just think it's a really cool (lol, cause of the ice :P) sport, and I think it'd be fun to learn how to do some of the tricks.
What was your first impression of me?
I'm not very good at remembering first impressions of people. Like, the first thing I remember about you is when you wore your Green Chicken shirt to Poli-sci. And I don't even remember thinking that about you, just the random girl in my class who had a shirt related to Osborne's funny story about his wife.
What's your favorite fairytale and why?
FYI, favorite questions are almost as annoying as naming questions unless there's a limited amount of things to pick from. How am I supposed to pick my single favorite story out of the millions that exist?! Especially since I can't think of any fairytales right now... How about Beauty and the Beast? That's a fairytale-ish type thing, right?
If I were to ask you what argument/debate you've had with someone has been the most entertaining, what's the first thing to come to mind?
I don't know, my brain doesn't work. I know I've enjoyed lots of arguments, but I can't really think of any specific ones right now :/
Would you rather be accepted into Hogwarts and have magical abilities for a lifetime or travel with the Doctor for one year of your lifetime?
Umm, Hogwarts. Just think how lazy I could be if I could do magic...
Do you usually overpack or underpack?
Probably underpack. I try to pack as little as possible into as small a bag as I can manage, so there've been a lot of times that I've reached my destination and then had to make do without my hairbrush or an extra shirt because I totally overlooked it in my zeal to shrink my belongings down as small as possible.
Do you prefer your daydreams or the dreams you have while sleeping?
Daydreams. Then, at least, I'm in control, so I can make whatever I want happen. When I'm actually dreaming, though, I feel like my subconscious purposely feeds me just enough of a story or an adventure or a cool thing that I get reeled in and start enjoying myself before promptly turning lame or nonsensical, leaving me powerless to get back to whatever happy thing it is that I wanted to see more of. For example, I had a dream once that I was flying, but
once I realized this and started enjoying myself, my dream person started slowly losing altitude, and I had no way of getting back into the air again. It was really irritating. And recently I was having this cool dream about the town square (like, literally a square block of buildings and roads and things) and I was having fun with all the dream people, when all of a sudden we were all inside hiding from zombies and I was completely and utterly failing and killing them and protecting myself and everyone else. Even when my dreams don't take
annoying or scary turns, they just tend to be nonsense. Like this random scene turns into another nonsensical image turns into more randomness that makes no sense to me and is absolutely no fun.
How many books are in your 'to read' pile (of shame)?
...33 if you count my big compilation books each as one book. If I have to separate those into the individual works that comprise each of them, then you're out of luck; I'm not going to go through and count all that.
Do you work better with a deadline or without?
Unfortunately, I probably work better with a deadline. If it's just a matter of getting my work done whenever I feel like it, then most likely it's just not going to get done, because I'm not going to feel like it anytime in the next century. But as the deadline gets nearer, I get more and more motivated to work. Also unfortunately, that typically puts me up the night before an assignment is due and just starting on it. I do put the pro in procrastination, after all. That does only apply to an actual deadline, though. I can set goals for myself all I want, but if I'm the only one telling myself to finish that assignment before lunch then it's usually just not going to happen. I guess I just don't find myself authoritative enough :/
(also, going off this question, I give you a challenge. Finish reading all the books currently in the pile by the end of the year. If you're successfull you'll get a prize. Fail to complete it... and get a 'surprise.' [You'll only get the prize/surprise if you accept the challenge outright, so it's up to you])
Question: Are you including my compilation books in this? Am I going to have to read the complete works of Shakespeare by the end of December? Because that doesn't seem very feasible at all...
Is it still a good deed if you're forced into doing it?
Yeah. The living room gets vacuumed whether you volunteer to do it or your mom threatens to take away your cell phone. That being said, though, I feel like good deeds mean a lot more if they're done out of a desire to help as opposed to a desire to stay out of trouble. Back to the vacuum example, if you vacuum the living room after a week of your mom yelling at you and asking why you haven't done what she asked yet, then, yes, it is technically done, but no one's really happy about it. Your mom's feeling like the bad guy because of all the yelling and provilege revoking that was required to get the job done, and you're feeling irritated because you've spent all week getting yelled at and losing your cell phone, and you still had to vacuum the living room. Consider, though, if instead your mom comes home from a difficult day of work to see that you've cleaned the living room- and she hadn't even asked you to do it yet. Because this good gesture came as a surprise, and without any tooth-pulling or privilege-removing necessary, everyone is happy. Your mom has a nice clean living room (and we all know how moms feel about clean living rooms...), and you get that happy, fuzzy feeling inside that comes from doing something nice just for the sake of being nice. Isn't that so much better?

And the winner this week? Anna Beth again! STOP ASKING ME TO NAME THINGS!!!!!! Love you guys! Be sure to leave me Questions for next week!

Sara
17 Comments
Jill
8/7/2012 02:53:44 pm

"Where does gravity come from?
Go watch scishow." <---- Favorite comment

"Does love make sense?
Yes and no." <---- I approve

"I don't remember what we decided would happen to a human body unprotected in space."
Because I am (either weird or awesome, I couldn't decide which), I decided to look it up. According to the internet, the thing that's likely to cause the most damage overall is the lack of oxygen. The human body is quite resistant, so you wouldn't explode like many people think (though you might expand and swell a bit). And your blood wouldn't boil due to the pressure change because your own internal pressure would keep it stable enough (until you die of lack of oxygen anyway). Though apparently your saliva wouldn't be so lucky. Your own spit would likely burn your mouth and your eardrums would most likely burst. And though you would most likely get a nasty sunburn while also freezing, your body would still probably hold out long enough against those factors so you can die, as I've said, of lack of oxygen. Oh, and if you held your breath, you'd probably get serious lung damage due to changes in pressure (which is something that scuba divers sometimes have to deal with)
Isn't learning fun?

"How about Pluto, Mark II?" <--- Isn't that supposed to be Mach II?

I picked 'favorite fairytale' because I thought it was limited enough for you to answer...

"I don't know, my brain doesn't work. I know I've enjoyed lots of arguments, but I can't really think of any specific ones right now :/"
That would be why I asked what was first to come to mind. So you're telling me your mind was just a giant white space when asked to remember something instead of one tiny memory being sparked?

Dang. 33? That's a ton. And in that case the compilation books definitely don't need to be included in the challenge. It still might be a bit too much. But the New Year is such a nice deadline...

What do I have to do to get picked as favorite?

Reply
Sara
8/7/2012 03:13:25 pm

You're so thorough in your comments :)
Lol, yay for learning!
And I'm serious, no specific arguments came to mind at that question. I told you, my brain does not work for these questions!
It probably is Mach 2, I just didn't feel like figuring it out.
No compilations? Challenge accepted!
Stop asking questions I don't like :) I think the only reason I didn't pick you was because of the name thing :P

Reply
Anna Beth
8/8/2012 05:11:04 am

You approve of vague, noncommittal answers?

Reply
Jill
8/8/2012 05:41:46 am

I approve of answers I agree with, that love both makes and doesn't make sense. But if you want more of an answer: Sara, why do you say that love both makes and doesn't make sense?

Anna Beth
8/7/2012 03:29:09 pm

You're a really good writer! Your answer to #1 is my favorite. But I spy some cop-outs further down! :p ...although I'll forgive a cop-out on the gravity one since it directs us to scishow. lol. Also, HA! I'm right, Amy's wrong, and true love conquers all! Also, David Tennant is always necessary for any road trip! Also, absurdity is what makes dreams so much fun; things are so unexpected. I love it. =)
Oh, and I've gained a new respect for your devotion to fictional characters since you're willing to be frozen to be with Kai. lol.

Questions:
What is your nerdiest hobby?
Did/do you ever watch the show Monk? (If yes, what do you think of Tony Shalhoub being rumored to play Beetee in Catching Fire?)
Are there any songs that you can specifically remember the first time you heard them?
Who's your OTP? (lol...NOW KISS!)
What kinds of things do you find motivational?
You told us you have a playlist of sad songs on your iPod. Tell us about your other playlists. Because I'm nosy.
Did you know there's going to be a card game of Evil Baby Orphanage?!?! And will you buy it when it comes out?
Would you rather live in the Nashville Zoo or at Beech Bend?

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Rachael
8/7/2012 03:41:46 pm

To AB: what is OTP?
To Sara: what about 'Pluto, Take II'?
Would you volunteer to take the one way ticket to mars if Liam was defintely going?
And thanks for calling me talented :) and no, I haven't gotten any further in the book and I've read host club too!

Reply
Jill
8/7/2012 04:14:43 pm

OTP stands for One True Pairing.
watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c61d72fpa4c&feature=plcp

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Sara
8/8/2012 02:51:03 am

Read it, Rachael!!!!
I thought you'd read Host Club, but I couldn't remember whether you'd liked it or not...

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Jill
8/7/2012 04:59:22 pm

Has there ever been a non-edible thing that you've thought about eating, even briefly?
How long did you do gymnastics and why did you stop?
For $10,000 would you be willing to stand up spontaneously and sing The Star Spangled Banner at the top of your lungs in the middle a crowded classroom?
Would you prefer something inspirational or funny on your tombstone, or would you just want the dates?
The Zombie Apocolypse has just started. What is your first move/decision?
Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?
What song would you most want to be serenaded with. Would you want to be serenaded?
Somehow all the books you own are being destroyed but you have the opportunity to save only one copy. What do you save?
Would you rather have the opportunity to every day have an online chat with any one person of your choosing (celebrity, youtuber, historical figure, whatever) for as long as you want or spend 3 days with the same person in real life but never see or speak to that person again?
Would you rather sleep in only a tent and sleeping bag for 2 weeks but have access to decent shower/bathroom facilities or sleep in your own house but be unable to shower for 2 weeks?
Do you have any missed opportunities that you regret?

Reply
Jill
8/8/2012 04:47:33 pm

Also:

Going off Anna Beth's question of 'defining making sense', can you have too much sense?
So it's become apparent that Rachael, Anna Beth, and I all have a type of animal that we absolutely hate (Rachael - all rodents, Anna Beth - snakes, Jill - monkeys/apes). Do you have one, and if so what is it?
If, at some point in the future when you have a young child, let's say they're 5, and they ask you is Santa Claus real, will you lie or tell the truth? Is this any different from telling them about Santa in the first place?
When it comes to chocolate, quality or quantity?
Would you believe me if I told you I didn't ask the planet naming question to get on your nerves (and in fact I don't put it in the same category as naming, say, a car) but actually found it to be an interesting question, mostly because I found out the reasoning behind some planet naming a little while ago. In fact, here, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ppbbYXMxE&feature=plcp
What do you (or do you now) choose to call the 7th planet from the Sun? (not to bias you, but my personal preference is oo-ron-ohs)

Reply
Anna Beth
8/8/2012 05:23:17 am

Imagine you're a timelord and you get to pick one person to travel with you through time and space. Who would you pick?
How do you interpret the saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease?"
How many languages do you know at least one word of?
Would you rather be a queen or a president?

Reply
Jill
8/8/2012 05:43:27 am

'How do you interpret the saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease?"' <------ I interpret it as not a real saying but only something your family says

Reply
Sara
8/8/2012 06:59:04 am

That's a legit colloquialism, Jill. You've really never heard it before?

Jill
8/8/2012 12:24:27 pm

never....

Anna Beth
8/8/2012 01:53:53 pm

First of all, thank you, Sara, for validating my colloquialism.
How do you define 'making sense?'
Was the trash can in on the proposal? (You know what I'm talking about.)
If there weren't a person controlling the trash can with a mic (hypothetically)...as in, if you could actually have sentient appliances, would you want that?
Jill and I have issued challenges. Is there anything you'd like to challenge the rest of us to do this year?
Should we change the format of the blog in any way when the school year starts? What about when 2013 starts? If so, how?

Reply
Jill
8/11/2012 01:57:27 pm

Do we quote ourselves too much?

Reply
Anna Beth
8/12/2012 02:17:04 pm

And Jill's other question that she forgot:
Suppose one of us likes a boy, but the boy has a crush on another one of us (note: in this instance "us" refers to the friend group that makes up this blog). How would things go down?

And more from me...
Do the days of the week correspond to any certain colors in your mind? (Example: Monday--red, Tuesday--aquamarine, etc.)
Is there anything you wish someone would dare you to do because you're too shy to do it for no reason?
What would you include in the opening or closing Olympic ceremonies if you could design them for the US?

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