End of Times

This is it.

The end of my blog.

Not that it's the end of me in anyway.

Mom and I are in my room packing for Alaska and Gretchen is talking to Dad from her bedroom door.

I'm leaving them each a present on my bed, then when they come home they'll see them and I'll have already left.

Love you all.

liz

A La Past

At the end of last week I happened upon a few old photos of Gretchen and I on the home server. The picture above is of Gretchen playing mini-golf in Arizona. I thought it was perfect considering she spent the last week in Arizona.

I'm above, not sure where it is exactly. Just that I had those shoes and that swim suit top when I was in second grade. (making the photo from the summer of 2002)

Gretchen arrived home tonight, or well day now. I haven't gone to bed yet, so I'll say she arrive home tonight. She had a few stories and a few things she had gotten for herself, but nothing for the family. I know this sounds a bit greedy, but this is a blog and I want to express my feelings. I really wish she would have gotten something for us. I always get my family something when I go on vacation without them.

Though I should have seen this coming, when I went to Florida with Courtney and they went to Texas I got nothing where as I gave them gifts. I don't know about you, but I feel that it's a nice thing to do, buying a gift for the poor family members left behind during your vacation. Perhaps I should just suck it up. Okay.

Bam-Sment

We recently finished off our basement, well almost.

What I mean is that you can sit on a couch and it's painted, there is a ceiling and walls and doors. So, it's livable, but we haven't put the door back on from when we put in the carpet (because we need to saw a bit off, it's kinda long) and the flat screen TV is still sitting upstairs in the living room and not mounted on the wall downstairs like it should be. For goodness sakes, it's the first thing Dad bought when he decided to finished the basement.

So, the whole family spent yesterday in the basmeent doing things. Even the cats came down and hung out.

Above is a picture of Dad and Hank. Dad originally had only one chair out. Then he stood up to do something and Hank snuck onto the chair. When Dad saw he was on the chair he brought out a second chair so he didn't have to move Hank. (squeeee!)

How adorable are my two guys?

University of Minnesota

This is long in the works. I know I told Meghan that I was going to make a vlog about it, but then...

I forgot my charger to my video camera up in Alaska this summer and I didn't realize it until a few weeks ago. And my family is very messy up there, and not very relabel (I still love you!) which means i'll never see that charger again. I have been bumming one off of Mrs.Drew the past few weeks, but for school projects.

No video sorry.

But I can still talk about how much I loved it!

Tip: When I go to schools I look at bulletin boards to see if I would want to do anything on them. The social aspect it a huge part in picking a college. It could be great for your interestes, but if there is crappy people then their is some other college that can give you both. Believe me, there is a ton of colleges out there.

 The rooms were the best i've seen so far. Air conditioning, heat, cable, and wireless internet. The washing machines can also text you when they are done with your clothes. It's pretty awesome.

My Grandpa's building!

This is the main square where they have a annual snowball fight. The college has a ton of clubs to join. Like the sweatpants club, where you only wear sweats because your sick of wearing only jeans in high school. Or the 'Hi my name's Mike' club. You don't even have to have the name Mike to join. But the BEST part of the whole trip was that they have a college quidditch team. They were flown out to New York to play in the championships last year. Apparently a cross country player dresses in all yellow and runs around the college campus playing as the golden snitch. I so want to join!

Mom, Dad, and Gretchen came with me. The above photo was taken inside a completely green building on the campus. It was fun walking around with them, we had lunch afterwards and it was a good Saturday. I really liked the college, a lot more then I thought I would. I was happy with that surprise.

Calm Down Chick

This past Friday I saw Black Swan with my dad and sister.  Okay, it's not a weird as you think. I have a good relationship with my parents so it wasn't creepy. Well, to be with my dad, now the movie is another story.

I can totally see why Natalie Portman was nominated for best actress, she did an amazing job. Everyone was casted really well. Sure, there were some interesting scenes, but that's what ties the amazing movie together.

It was kinda' funny because Gretchen was talking the entire time, the past two Friday's I've sat next to her in the theater and all she does is talk. During the lesbian scene Gretchen (who was sitting on her knees) leaned over to Dad (who was sitting next to me) and said, "Haha, Dad." Dad was totally cool, but Gretchen just had to make that comment. Then during the puking part it was really quite in the theater and Gretchen didn't want to hear or see that part so she plugged her ears, closed her eyes and started humming really loud. I tried to tell her to stop but ended up having to elbow her to quiet her down.

In all it was a very funny experience, Gretchen is more like Mom then she cares to admit. But mom's movie theater story is for another time.

Word Me!

I have become obsessed with Wordle, this website that rates the highest used words in a section of writing. It's kinda' like what I have going on for my labels, but cooler.

I did the song Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie because it's Dad's favorite song and he thought she was not cool until he heard the song.

Give Me A Gift

Today when I got home I went to bed right away, just for a little hour nap. I told Dad to wake me up in an hour and I preceded to sleep for two and a half hours. Yea, Dad left for his hair appointment without telling Mom to wake me.

The next thing I know I'm being jolted awake by Mom saying it's six. I thought it was morning, and was depressed until I wrapped my mind around everything. Then I was sad that I hadn't finished my dream. Nora had sent me a big package with tons of presents (all for me), but I hadn't gotten to the opening part before I was awaken.

With My Dad

This past year has been amazing, and trying all in one little bundle, but as midnight approaches (and as I sit here in the hotel room) I am ready to bring in the new year and set my 2010 'bundle' on the shelf of my life.

The wedding was lovely and Dad and I got to dance to 'Twist and Shout'. Afterwards people were influenced by our amazing moves and joined us on the dance floor.

Lack Of Tears

This is a post in response to this post.

When the cousins arrived, I really didn't feel like Tekla was too cool and that I had to act too cool. Thanks to my companions in Math class, who told me to just be myself, I was able to calm down and just chill. This visit there was no breakdowns and I think Tekla was surprised by my actions, I wasn't envious of Gretchen, instead I felt bad for her. She tried a little to hard to be buddy-buddy with Tekla.

*note on picture above: we be cool....can you tell Dad caught us off guard?

Down In History

Tonight the vikings play.

I'm not even a fan, yet I know this.

As Expected

As expected, from everyone that is but me, I caved in and purchased (way better then got, am I right?) the Nook.

It is quite a sight, I'm super excited, but I'm having a few issues sinking it to my laptop....I'll have to ask Dad later tonight, or I'll resort to googling the answer, which is what i do for everything.

What's the mass of the Moon? What happened during the Russian Revolution? What's the conversion for cm to m? Jodi Picoult. Post Secret. Donny Osman. West Side Story. The Julie Andrews Show. How many times has Lindsey been to rehab?

What I google is kinda' scary when I think about it. What do you google that is not ordinary?

Asher or C.J.

This past week I was riding in the car with my dad and the radio station was asking the viewers a question. The question was: Would you rather work at the White House for the President of the United States or work as a professor at Harvard University?

Both are upstanding jobs, and neither are skimpy on the pay so it really comes down to what you envision yourself doing. Although it might depend on your opinions about the current president when asked this question, so I can see why a chunk of people would jump at the Harvard choice.

So, are you more like Asher Fleming from Gilmore girls, do you want to teach classes and have a love affair with a student? Or are you more like C.J. Cregg from The West Wing, willing to stand by the President of the United States being the first to hear about some of the top news stories?

How Your Mother Locked Me Out Of The House

"Okay Liz, just walk away and stay calm." I tell myself. This is after I drag the hose up the deck and spray the house with water.

Gretchen had the bright idea that she would lock me out of the house and I had gone a bit crazy and decided to spray the house with water. She didn't budge from her spot at the sink washing dishes. She doesn't even like washing dishes!

Dragging the hose back down to the grass I suddenly come up with a brilliant idea, I'll bike to Courtney's. So, after (thankfully) finding my shoes still out in the garage from after mowing this morning and writing a quick message in chalk on the drive way I'm off.

Arriving at her house I slam the kick stand down and ring the doorbell. Chrystal starts barking and I brace myself for the 30 seconds of crazy time where Chrystal goes a bit well....crazy.

"Hey, what do you want?" Courtney says while pushing the dog away with her foot. I walk in and am greeted by her mom. Then the weirdest thing happens. I feel a sharp pain on my leg, it's not until I've started my 'locked out of house' story that I realize I'm bleeding.

Both Courtney and her mom race around the house looking for Band-Aids, and disinfectant. "I'm not going to touch your blood, sorry Liz." Courtney informs me while holding open the door to the garbage under the sink.

And after a few minutes I'm kicked out (nicely) by the two lovely ladies on their way to the softball game, but not before they apologize a million times. Hopping on my bike I ride off into the sunset where I hold the 'locked out of house' story over Gretchen's head and where I finally end up telling Mom and Dad while eating burgers. Ah, what a wonderful story to tell the nieces and nephews. Want to hear about the time your mother locked me out of the house?

With Us Are History

His carefree days with us are history. In short our pal is doomed. - Hakuna Matata

My poor dad.

We've been redoing our cabin and the past five weeks he's made the four and a half hour long trip to Roslyn, South Dakota where it's located. Tomorrow the whole family is going and that will make it his sixth trip and my second, I went a few weeks back during memorial day.

I'm kinda' excited to see how it looks.

Iron Chef

You are my wife.

Good bye, city life.

Green Acres we are there.

Grilled cheese, just the thoughts brings me to a warm and comfortable memory of sitting in Grandma's kitchen eating grilled cheese with potato chips. According to the German exchange students we eat chips with everything, so it's fitting.

Dad inherited his mother's cooking ability, and same with mom. True, mom couldn't figure out the grill for the longest time, and dad didn't know where to find the strainers, but I think they're neck and neck with cooking.

Mom cooks more often then dad, mostly because I think she enjoys it more and if it were up to dad he would either a) give us McDonalds to eat or b) forget. Dad is harder on himself then mom is, so if something doesn't go the way he wants it to then he tends to give up. But if he struggles through it, he can be real wonder at the stove.

Still, his grilled cheese isn't as good.

Open Delight or Pleasure

On Thursday, My life changed. I blame Meghan.

Sure, I had seen so many commercials about the new show Glee and Kayla and Meheer won't shut up about it, but I just didn't find it appealing. Then last week Meghan decided to start posting videos and one of them just happened to be about Glee.

One thing lead to another and I found myself asking Hannah if I could borrow the DVD. I don't think i've ever been so excited about a TV show, not even this years NCIS premier. Wednesday and Thursday night I really didn't get much sleep.

The best part, Dad loves it more than me.

Best quote: I could be wearing sunglasses and you wouldn't know I was looking at you're boobs.

Second best quote: That Rachel girl makes me want to set myself on fire, but she's good.

Cross Out Liz/Babies

I'm running on 5 1/2 hours of sleep and Mom just told me my breath really smells. She won't talk to me until I brush my teeth. I feel loved.

Last night after I had edited my newest movie project (which I will put up on youtube) I settled into my bed and tried to fall asleep.

The key word here is tried.

A bit before midnight I heard this scratching on my closed bedroom door. I finally got up to stop to noise, after debating about it for a awhile in bed. Opening up the door I looked down and saw the end of Hank's tail as he scampered between my legs and under my bed.

Having no patience I opened up my parent's bedroom door and told Dad that he had to rangle up Hank from the depths of my room.

Five minutes later my door was being scratched at again. I jumped up and whipped open the door. Looking down at Hank I screamed my battle call.

"I'M NEVER HAVING CHILDREN! IF I CAN'T DEAL WITH A CAT I SURE CAN'T DEAL WITH A BABY!"

Hank raced into Mom and Dad's room and I proceeded to follow him.

The door banged on the wall as I pushed it out of my way. Following Hank in the dark I got down on my hands and knees and tried to pull him out from under the dresser.

"Liz! Stop it, just go back to bed.", Dad said several times.

Grudgingly I walked back into my bedroom and slithered under the covers.

Aim, Shoot, Score!

My goal in life is to order in spanish at Chipotle. I told Dad this when we got in the car after getting lunch. He thinks I should do it next time we get Chipotle. I'm kinda' scared, I don't want to offend them or anything. I guess I'm gonna' have to practice.

Good part: I could understand what they were saying.

Cheat Sheet

Sparknotes:

This Trip & How To Deal: Eat

Content:

Liz started her blog on the first of January 2010, and has since then updated (semi-faithfully) her blog every day. Sometimes she will share deep thoughts or personal feelings that she has or just funny things that had happened to her that day. During the post Eat (posted March 18th, 201o) she wrote about her feelings she had about her trip.

Plot Overview:

Liz's whole post is about Arizona (a topic she has been writing about for the past week) and how it feels to her. Her father (being an amateur photographer) had been obsessed with his camera the past week and was constantly taking pictures which interests Liz. She also thinks she came upon something to fix one of her friends problems.

Major Characters:

• Liz is a 15-year-old girl who took a trip with her family to Arizona She blogs about everyone and everything. She can recite the states in alphabetical order in 18 seconds.
• Liz's father is a shy man living in a house with three women, he needed a hobby to keep him from going crazy so he took up photography. Liz and him share an unusually close bond for a father teenage-daughter relationship. He can do a very nice scottish jig.
• Courtney is never far from Liz's thoughts. Courtney's life is the complete opposite of Liz's. Liz tries to understand her friend, but can't. So to make it up she is always on the look out for solutions to Courtney's problems. Courtney's favorite word is 'goodness'.
• Meghan is not mentioned in Liz's post Eat, but is always commenting on her blog, (which Liz is very grateful for) but sadly Meghan can't understand anything without the help of sparknotes. Meghan owns one of Liz's favorite movies, Jennifer's Body.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols:

• Religion - When Liz says "being a human I tend to only trust the things I can see" she is referring to many human beings who don't believe in what they can't see. Many scientists don't believe in God/Jesus, and Liz is agreeing with them because she can't quite believe she lives in Minnesota after all of the time she spent in Arizona.
• Photography - Time exposures show the paths of moving objects in one photo. Liz shows a deep liking towards them possibly because she enjoys spending time with her Dad. She seems to think about then a lot because of her 'life exposure' idea.
• Photo of a Church - The photo in the post Eat is an example of a time exposure there to give us the idea of one. The photo could have deeper meanings, but we can't be certain.

Summary & Analysis:

• The post's title is Eat, what for we aren't told and there is no reference towards any food in the post.
• In the first paragraph, Liz begins talking about how the trip to Arizona with her family seems like a completely different world compared to her real life in Minnesota. The more time she spends in sunny Arizona the harder it is for her to remember cold, dreary Minnesota. She refers to 'being human' and how many humans can't believe in things they don't see. The people who don't accept things tend to be more aggressive and slow to trust. Liz states that because she is one of them, it puts her at a disadvantage because she just can't believe.
• In the second paragraph Liz tells us a little bit about her father and his favorite pass time, photography. She explains to us about time exposures and tells us about her 'life exposure' idea. Liz wonders what her's (or anyone else's) would look like.
• The third paragraph can't really be called a paragraph, it's one line. It's a message for Courtney, one of her best friends. Liz has apparently come upon something that would help Courtney, but the message is quite vague, which might tell us that she doesn't want to tell Courtney the idea just yet, or that it's a bit too personal to publish on the internet.

Eat

This whole vacation seems like a dream. I can barely remember going to school and walking between classes, it seems like a dim daydream and that my true life lies here, in Arizona. I know that's not true, but being a human I tend to only trust the things I can see and/or feel. This puts me at a real disadvantage.

Dad has been taking time exposures, my favorite form of photography. The picture is layers, upon, layers of pictures that come together to form one picture. I wonder what my life, or anyones life in that matter, would look like in a time exposure.

Courtney, I think I figured out something beneficial for you.