I Must be Physic...

Last Sunday was a good day. A VERY good day. I took my little sister to Best Buy to stock up on new music. Together we purchased four Cd's.

• Boys Like Girls, Boys Like Girls
• The Format, Dog Problems
• Hellogoodbye, Hellogoodbye [EP]
• Corrine Bailey Ray, Corrine Bailey Ray

All are amazing. I am especially excited about Boys Like Girls. They sound so much like All-American Rejects. But better, if that is possible.

But that isn't the best part. As my sister and I were heading to the checkout line, something struck me. I suddenly veered over to the MP3 player section to look for a case for my Zen Vision:M. Cases are so hard to find for my player! And there it was...the pretty pink leather case that I had been ogling on the Internet. Original price: $32.99. Clearance price: $4.99!!! FIVE DOLLARS! So, I of course bought it. There were two, so B and I each got one. I was so excited!

The problem arose when we got home. I put the case on my player, and it worked wonderfully. B's on the other hand, locked up her player because it was too tight. I told her we'd go get her a new one, but she said she wanted to wait for it to stretch out. Needless to say, I get out of my shower and she tells me that it works perfectly, it only took a little bit to stretch it out. That seemed a little fishy to me. Later, in bed I go to play my music and it won't work...she traded cases while I was in the shower. She left before I got up on Monday, so I told my mom and she told me to go find B's player and trade the cases back. It wasn't in her room. She knew that I would call her on it because I am not stupid, so she took it to school--a direct violation of my mom's rules.

What bothers me the most is that this is not the first thing that has gone "missing" of mine. I have a list of things that have disappeared from my room and have mysteriously been "gifts" to B from her friends. I have realized that I have no privacy. Nothing of mine is safe from her. And when I go to call her on it, she gets mad because I am accusing her of stealing. Well, she is stealing! She is taking my things without asking, and not returning them. I don't know what to do...I've told my mom, and she has talked to B, but B denies it every time. As she is wearing one of MY favorite belts. I can't go through her room--that would make me no better than she is. I am so frustrated right now because I will be looking for something that I need for school or whatever, and I can't find it. I've taken an entire day tearing through my room to find something, and then I see it on B's bed the next day. I am so lost as to what I can do.

So, enough of that rant for now. I am so tired, I think I will go watch SNL now. Hope everybody is having a good weekend!

A Moment to Catch my Breath

Oh my goodness. It has been so long since I last posted. So much has happened! It feels nice to be able to sit down and just write for a few minutes. So, now on to my updates:

1. I am 6th alternate for the state Speech tournament in Drama.
2. I am probably attending State. (Not to compete, but rather to support my other teammates)
3. I am going to the Fall Out Boy concert in May. This has made my year.

I honestly can't think of anything else. I have been so insanely busy, yet I can't seem to think of anything that you don't know.

However, I have new music.

• Lily Allen, Alright, Still
• Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High
• Barenaked Ladies, Are Me, and Are Men
• James Blunt, Back to Bedlam
• The Academy Is..., Almost Here
• and more that I can't seem to recall at the moment.

I highly recommend all of these CDs. Superb. So go find them, buy them, and enjoy!

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D--Find Out What it Means to Me

ACK! Finals week is probably my least favorite time of the year. Why create all that stress right before Christmas???? Well, it's better than after Winter Break like some schools have it. This is the first time I've actually had to dink around on the computer in the last two weeks. And that is only because I have one final tomorrow, and if I study any more, I may explode. And we don't want Ashley exploding now, do we? I didn't think so.

With school being half-days, I've had a lot of free time--well, sort of. Today I watched a rerun of Oprah when she was talking to Bono about his new (Product)Red campaign. Wow. I am definitely super interested in that. It is a great way for everyday people buying everyday things to change the world. I am truly inspi(red). I feel a field trip to Gap coming on!

And I finally saw the first of my favorite holiday movies today. You know the ones from like the 1970s, the stop-motion ones that are musicals? I totally love those, and yesterday I was thinking to myself that I hadn't seen any so far this year. After Oprah, I was channel-surfing and I stumbled across Santa Claus is Coming to Town. How I love those movies! One of my favorites is the Christmas donkey one. I don't remember the name, but it is so funny!

Well, I've run out of things to say. So, if I don't update soon, happy holidays! Remember, 'tis the season of giving! (and I don't mean finals!)...

PS You should definitely check out Hoops and Yoyo. They are so cute (see picture above)!

My One Year Anniversary

So, I realized late last night that I had been blogging for one year. I can't believe it! Time has passed so quickly. I just glanced over my past blogs, and I realize now how much this blog has helped me over the last year. It has been there for me through interviews, Speech tournaments, frustration over classes, and really happy times. When I have had no one to talk to, I would just come on and shoot of my thoughts into cyberspace. And I really love it. So, happy one year anniversary to me!

Also, some super exciting news. I get to go to my first concert since Cher's first farewell tour. Yeah, I know, that was a very long time ago, I don't need to be reminded. But on Tuesday I get to go see Barenaked Ladies! Woo-hoo! So I bought their new CD today so I can learn their new songs in time for the concert. I can't wait!

Also, today was HOBY day. I had a meeting with the new nominees and told them how beyond incredible HOBY is. I miss it so much....I have to get working on my community service hours so I can turn in my Junior Staffer application by April 15th. Hopefully I'll get to go back.

And the Panic Begins to Set In

So, Saturday is the final novice speech competition. I've worked with all my "mentees," so I think they are all ready. And I get to go judge. Only thing I am starting to worry about is my piece. I have seven characters, and each has a different voice. Most are variations on a British accent, but then there is the one that is giving me the most grief. A male Italian accent. I've been working so hard on it, but I just can't seem to get it. And then there is the issue of memorization. I keep reading over it again and again, but somehow I just haven't been able to memorize it. And that poses the biggest problem of all. Until I memorize it, I can't work on pops, I can't work on pantomime, I can't work on timing. And it has to be good enough for competition by the 4th. Yes, next Saturday. This is the first year I've had doubts about being ready. I think it has to do with having so many novices that I am helping. Once again I am putting others before myself. And right now, I have a lot of work to do...

The Chilling Possibilities of the Future

I just found a new author to go on my favorites list. Scott Westerfeld is amazing. And when I say amazing, I mean truly and utterly remarkable. He wrote a trilogy that includes Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. The Uglies Trilogy examines our society, not as it is now, but what it has the possibilities to become. Okay, it is Sci-Fi, but it is really startling how much he is satirizing and warning us about.

These books take place in the future, only a century or two away from today. While they are still very young, the children of this society are brainwashed into believing that they are all Ugly until they turn sixteen and they have a special surgery to make them Pretties. The Uglies are treated as sub-humans; they have very few rights and are always seen as trouble makers. This is the basis for the story of Tally Youngblood, a girl who has been waiting for her sixteenth birthday all of her life so that she could be pretty and perfect, just like everybody else. Suddenly, however, she meets Shay. Shay despises the practices of the pretty surgery, and intends to run away, bringing Tally with her. And that is only part of the first book.

These books are truly eye-opening. They take the issues we, as a society, are dealing with today and project the possible consequences our actions may have if we don't change soon. Westerfeld attacks anything from war and conflict to self esteem and the "ideal" image that is forced upon us by the media. He even criticizes the idea if "peace" and what it truly means.

I highly recommend these books. While reading them, I kept noticing the cause and effects that we may not have seen before. And, yes, I do realize that they are fiction, but that doesn't mean we have to write them off as totally pointless. As we all know, the main goal of satire is to bring about change...

Arggh You Ready Kids?

So, happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! This has got to be one of the coolest days out of the year, and I forgot about it until I signed into my email today and looked at my homepage, and there it was. I was compelled to send an eCard to all my HOBY group buddies, because we were the pirate group at our conference back in June. I miss HOBY.

One would think that with today being such an awesome obscure holiday, it had to have been a good day. Not so. I am so wiped out, and the only reason I am posting is because I am beyond stressed out and I needed to vent a bit. I technically should be doing some AP Chemistry homework right now, but I can't bring myself to look at it, and instead of surfing my favorite websites, I figured I'd do something slightly more constructive. So here I am. I don't know how else to describe today except for "one of those days." You know the ones I am talking about. Your alarm clock doesn't go off, so you are running late to a before school meeting and therefore forget money for lunch. You stayed up late the night before trying to finish your Trig homework, so you are about ready to fall asleep during 2nd hour as you are watching a quick film. You end up having to stay at the school until 5:30 pm because of some PSAT/SAT seminar you signed up to take, only to come home, rush through a quick dinner, and delve into approximately four to five hours of homework, all the while adding more things to your mental To Do List without ever actually getting to cross anything off. Yeah, I'd say it has been "one of those days."

I just wish I could go back to that weekend in June. HOBY was the best time I have ever had, and I need that pick-me-up from all my groupmates. Plus, cheering at the top of your lungs really helps keep you awake when you are functioning on very little sleep.

ARGHHH!!!!