See?

It's all Qwip's fault I haven't been around. See, he managed to find me a job, and now I have zero time for anything but work and school. >.<

I now work for Once Sold Tales, an online used bookstore, in their Kent Warehouse. My job consists of hauling around heavy boxes of books, sitting at a computer, and making beepy noises with a scanner. Also throwing stuff and ripping stuff and knifing stuff.
As you can see, it's pretty much the perfect job for me. =D I"m purty happy.

On a personal level, I am very lonely. It seems like forever ago that I actually had a time where I got to just talk (in person) to someone I trusted... to just have time together. I'm kind of affection-starved. Maybe it's my own fault, for only connecting with guys, but... augh.

Anyway. My time for break is over, so I'll have to finish whatever random bout of writing urge brought this useless post about LATER. =P

-=Brenna=-

Reflection

I was editing my Gmail Buzz down to a manageable  level today, and I noticed that there are numerous "Quotes Of The Day" posted. I thought I'd share them, especially for those of you who don't have Buzz. Or Gmail. 


Quote Of The Day: "Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you. I was listening to your lungs."


Quote Of The Day: "Join the Army! Travel the world! Meet exciting, diverse people and kill them!"


Quote Of The Day: "Friendship should be braided with strength, able to withstand plenty of tugging and jolting. Friendship should be give-and-take, a two-way street. Friendship should be cautious, practicing discretion amidst closeness. Friendship should be loyal, fiercely so. Friendship should be sincere from the whole heart."


Quote Of The Day: "If someone doesn't worship the ground you walk on, Brenna, their opinion of you is obviously either too low, or doesn't have enough information to make a correct assessment"


Quote Of The Day: "I think the Selfhood is in a little sidecar next to the Denial of Self."


Quote Of The Day: "Dare to be naive. Love without shame."


Quote Of The Day: "You know that something inside of you still plays a part in what I do. Always ... I think that if we were all we had... that's more than most people ever have."


Quote Of The Day: "If someone says "That's impossible," you should understand their statement as "According to my very limited experience and narrow understanding of reality, that's very unlikely."


Quote Of The Day: "You always complain about the red lights, but you never celebrate the green ones!"


Quote Of The Day: "First person: What do you want to be when you grow up? Second Person: I just want to be happy..."


Comforting Quote Of The Day: "It's in His hands. He won't lead you into something that isn't good for you in the end, even if it's scary or difficult at the onset. He knows you better than yourself and has everything nice and preordained. So stop trying to read the entire map of your life if you notice that God isn't showing you the whole thing. It'll be all right." (Cody S.)


Quote Of The Day: "There's something disconcerting about someone you love playing a character you are supposed to hate. For that time on stage, you dislike them. But your mind knows that the person is really a loved one. And it's confusing, especially if they're convincing." (Rhonda Hummel)


Quote Of The Day: "Of course I can't agree with you. If I did that, we would both be wrong."


Quote Of The Day: "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they aren't all out to get you."


Quote Of The Day: "Don't die of the joy of the future. Die of the joy of the past."


Quote Of The Day: "Watch your step, and see what you run into."


Quote Of The Day: "I knew I had to have him come and share with the students... he was so brilliant, so articulate and he was so politically incorrect"


Quote Of The Day: "A true friend is cheaper than therapy."


Quote Of The Day: "If you're alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your comfort. If you need to be happy, I'll provide smiles. But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me."


Quote Of The Day: "Procrastinators UNITE!......... tomorrow...."


Quote Of The Day: "Yeah, I don't even know that guy. I shot him in the FACE "


Philosophical Statement Of The Day: "Why is it that we say we "fall into" temptation, the same way we say we "fall into" love? Do we not have control over where we step in bothcircumstances?"


Quote Of The Day: "When there is a herd of elephants in the room, it is difficult to navigate without severe injury to one's toes."


Quote Of The Day: "Whoa. Another female... blech"


Quote Of The Day: "Next time try applying some common sense directly to the forehead"


Quote Of The Day: "If your heart were really broken, you'd be dead. So shut up."


Quote Of The Day: "Those who don't know me think I'm quiet. Those who do know me wish I was..."


Quote Of The Day: "This isn't a paper. This is a lark."


Quote Of The Day: "Work like an Arminian, but sleep like a Calvinist."


Quote Of The Day: "God could be this tree. Right here. God the tree."


Quote Of The Day: "My foot has fallen asleep. It feels like it is covered in moss. Moss and a hedgehog. An upside-down hedgehog."


Quote Of The Day: "Sweetie, I didn't just fall for you. I fell down the stairs for you."


Quote Of The Day: "It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious."


Quote Of The Day: "If you give a man a fire, he's warm for a day. If you light a man on fire, he is warm for the rest of his life."


Quote Of The Day: "Behind every successful man is a feminist shaking her fist"


Quote Of The Day: "My future is pain medication and more embarassing half-dressed exams."




Compliment of the month: "You're like a Pixar short film... silent, animated, and entertaining." 

Experiences.

I'm in Eastern Washington right now.


1) It's really hot and sunny. I got burnt on one side of my face. I'm half redskin, half paleface.
2) There has been pie, ice cream, and Fanta strawberry. Also Mexican Hot Chocolate.
3) There was a Pancake Breakfast, a Parade in which they threw candy, and tonight we are going to see the Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan) at the Zillah High School.
4) My uncles are in the next room telling Racist Jokes. Earlier, we were having a spirited conversation about Cat Abortions.

5) Uncle Martin has almost convinced me that I need to become a criminal psychologist, learn Farsi, and work for the FBI. He says I would be snapped up really quick and paid lots of money, as long as I was willing to move somewhere foreign and hot and wear a burka for a while.
6) Everyone's tan over here. I am ashamed of my vampire skin, for once. Perhaps this summer my Project should be Operation: Tan...?
 
Ah, things.
 
-=Brenna=-

More Off The Shelves

I've finished several books in my long silence... let's check out a few of them.

Many thanks and brownie points to Problematic, who suggested The Green And The Gray. It was a new genre and a fabulous book.
I want more Zahn!
The really great thing about The Green And The Gray, other than the fact that it's alien/mythological fiction with various of hostage situations, weapons being tossed around, and an intelligent writing style/plot, was the development of the relationship between the first two characters you meet - Caroline and Roger Whittier, a married couple. The psychologist of my brain was in raptures.
Also, it features a guy-girl friendship that's platonic. (Okay, fine, they're like 12 years old, but whatever.)

Thanks go to Jester for this one.
Jacob Have I Loved reveals the things that girls never tell anyone about growing up. I identified with the girl in some ways so deeply that it made me fidget.
There are "abnormalities", "phases" that come when growing, especially between 11 and 16, that we girls never think anyone else goes through or would understand.
But here they are, glaring up at the world from the page, because Katherine Paterson has written them down... indelibly so, due to the Newbery Award gracing the cover.
Truthful? Yes.
Uncomfortable? Undeniably.
Disturbing? Vaguely.
Not uncomfortable or disturbing enough to mar the story's beauty, however.
Two random things that come to mind about the writing:
1) Paterson spans years easily. This isn't a story that develops over a week. These aren't lessons or experiences that can climax and resolve in a month, a year... it's a lifetime.
2) I rather worry about Paterson, to be honest. She writes gorgeous stuff, but both of her books that I've experienced (Jacob Have I Loved, and Bridge To Terabithia) include good guy-girl non-romantic friendships of the closest kind... and in both, something screws it up massively and beyond repair. We all know that the girl dies in Bridge To Terabithia, I'm not even going to bother with spoiler protection for that one, but I won't ruin the ending to Jacob Have I Loved for anyone. 
I will say that what happens is suitably horrid. I would have rather he died.

I'm not going to say much about this until later... perhaps if I have leftover thoughts after Book Club tomorrow I'll do a post with the remnants.

Reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead felt rather like doing drugs. Am I spinning, or is the room, or there any point asking?
'Twas a trip, to be sure.

I have a strange infatuation with terrifying myself before I go to bed.

Enough said.

Poe's a good read.

A Tale Of Three Hours Sleep

I've been doing a bad job of writing up the Summit story. No posts = bad job.
I've just been massively busy. I took the SAT yesterday (more on that later), and this morning I'm in a great rush to fill out a rather belated job application.

At Summit, I shared a room with 3 other girls. I should introduce them before proceeding further:

"Edie" - Sophomore. Plays clarinet. Has a bit of a stutter. Always ready with a compliment.
"Rain" - Senior. Rather a wild child. The "official" room leader, though she let me be in charge of everything. (I  "named" her Rain after a character in a Gordon Korman book. A hippie. She reminds me of a hippie.)
"Dots" - We've already met Dots. Senior. Tall. Scary looking. Member of my Awesome Locals Quiz Team. Hilariously random and easy to be around.

Here is a sketch of what mornings with these three lovely ladies was like:

[due to circumstances beyond my control, the sketch of mornings begins the preceding night]

11:00pm - Brenna says she has to take shower in morning because of her hair. Asks what the rest of them require, "because we need to get a schedule nailed down."
11:01 - Everyone else says they want to take showers in the morning.
11:04 - Short silence as everyone mulls conflict over.
11:06 - Dots breaks silence, saying that Brenna really does need the first morning slot because of her hair and the fact that she's "one of those weird morning people".
11:06:20 - Everyone concurs.
11:07 - Dots and Edie pleasantly agree to take showers at night, because they don't care about the state of their hair when they get up.
11:09 - After all this is settled, Dots rushes the bathroom.
11:10-30 - The bathroom contains the only sink and the only mirrors, so the Rain, Edie, and Brenna are stuck staring at each other until Dots is done, and they finally have an opportunity to wash their faces and brush their teeth before bed.
11:45 - Edie takes over shower while Dots, Rain, and Brenna finally get to bed.
12:15(am) - Edie gets out of shower and wakes Dots, Rain, and Brenna up with much crashing and banging and blinding light.
12:30am - Everyone but Brenna asleep. Brenna stares at ceiling and focuses on not thinking anything.
1:00am - Brenna is finally asleep.
4:00am - Brenna wakes up, looks at clock, and hauls her body (which has become a sack of rocks) out of bed.
4:10 - Shower begins
4:30 - Shower ends
4:30-5:00 - Various activities such as dressing, face washing, hair-doing, and makeup-applying is silently accomplished.
5:10 - Emerging from the bathroom, Brenna realizes that she hasn't managed to wake up any of her roommates with all the bathroom activity.
5:11 - Brenna nudges Rain, who has the next morning slot. Says something to the effect of, "wake up, Rain, we have to be out of the room at 6:30 to get to Fine Arts this morning."
5:11:30 - Grunting noises are heard from beneath Rain's pillow.
5:12 - Brenna gives up nudging Rain and begins nudging Edie and Dots alternately.
5:15 - Having failed to rouse any of her roommates, Brenna proceeds to open all the curtains and turn on the desk light. Various noises of complaint are raised from the bed vicinity. The lumps under the covers begin wiggling in protest.
5:17 - Brenna begins boiling water and preparing packets of hot chocolate.
5:25 - The hot chocolate is ready, and the scent seems to have drifted to the cover-lumps, who are beginning to wiggle with more resolve.
5:30 - Brenna flings covers off of lumps and demands that they get up, because they now have "just one hour to get up, get dressed, and get ready for Fine Arts!"
5:45 - Teammates stumble out of bed and cause a traffic jam at the bathroom door. Brenna yanks confused Edie and confused Dots out of the doorway and shoves Rain into the bathroom, insisting that she "be quick about it."
6:00 - Rain emerges from bathroom, quite clean but not quite awake.
6:01 - Edie and Dots take over bathroom for face-washing, tooth-brushing, and clothing-application purposes.
6:02 - Brenna, after reheating her hot chocolate, sits back in her wheelchair and sips while mildly commenting that Rain needs to pick up the stray clothes on the floor before it was time to leave the room.
6:20 - Edie and Dots emerge from bathroom, and tidy up their things.
6:25 - Edie asks Brenna to curl her hair.
6:30 - Brenna has managed to oversee tidying in the bedroom while curling Edie's hair in an extremely hurried manner in the bathroom.
6:31 - All girls are out of the room and at the elevators, only one minute late.
6:32 - Brenna bashes head on wall in the elevator
::day continues::

-=Brenna=-