Craziness

Orchestra is diminishing. Ever since Pastor Troy mentioned that the orchestra was only going to be playing on "special occasions" nobody seems to want to be in it. Many of the people feel that their ministry is being taken from them and I have to agree. Next month we're only playing 2 songs, one of which only part of the orchestra plays. We still have practices though every week. Nobody wants to practice the same two songs for an hour and a half each week. It seems like it'll only be a matter of time before there is no orchestra at all. :(
Tomorrows Friday! I have to keep reminding myself that throughout this busy week. However it does not look like this weekend will be any less busier. I have a test on Monday and a paper due on Tuesday. Yuck!
However, I'm hoping to get together with a friend that I haven't gotten together with in a long time. If that works out it'll be lots of fun.
In Botany class, we did an experiment with rootone. The funny thing is that it didn't really work all that great. The control plants seemed to root just as well as the untreated. However, my mom is happy that we did it cause I'm bringing home some herb plants today.
I loved this cartoon, hopefully some of you will get a kick out of it.

Today I'm staying at college all day long. (yuck!) Luckily I don't have any tests for a few days so I don't have to study like crazy. I hate cramming before tests.
Today we made microtomes of asparagus in Botany class. They didn't turn out very good and they took forever to draw. We spent like an hour just drawing a bunch of stupid little circles. I wish I could show you what the drawings look like so that you could understand the pain.

I took this quiz and have no idea how I ended up with this song.

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

I like to say that my theme song is Living by Prayer performed by Stellar Kart.

Hectic Weekend

These pillows look awfully nice right now............
Today I'm running on low. Yesterday was CRAZY. In the morning I went to church (like every Sunday). After church, I went home, ate lunch, and cleaned my room. Then I babysat for a few hours. And THEN I went to combine at St. Marks Cathedral on Crown Hill.

Going to combine was strange. Some of the people there were dressed like they were going to church. Others, however were in street clothes. Some people were even lying around on the altar! I couldn't believe it. (this was an assignment for my music class) A mens choir sang, some of the songs were in Latin and some were in English. Most of the songs were scriptures. After the choir sang, an organist played. The organ at St. Marks is the biggest pipe organ in Washington and my is it huge. I started counting the many pipes but gave up after counting over forty and having not counted most of them. The service was very solemn. Nobody talked. Very Strange.............

So yeah, I went to that all between the hours of 9:30-11:00 and so I'm very tired.

Blessings and Curses

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a few days. If you were wondering why, I've been really busy with college.

I was reading my Bible this evening and came across a list of blessings and curses in Deuteronomy.

The Blessings...
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NIV
If you fully obey the Lord your God
and carefully follow all his com-
mands I give you today, the Lord
your God will set you high above all the
nations on earth. All these blessings will
come upon you and accompany you if
you obey the Lord your God:
You will be blessed in the city
and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be
blessed, and the crops of your land
and the young of your livestock- the calves of your herds and
the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading
trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you
come in and blessed when you go
out.

All these sound great. However the curses which follow, do not.

The Curses...
Deuteronomy 28:15-19
However, if you do not obey the
Lord your God and do not carefully fol-
low all his commands and decrees I am
giving you today, all these curses will
come upon you and overtake you:
You will be cursed in the city
and cursed in the country.
Your basket and your kneading
trough will be cursed.
The fruit of your womb will be
cursed, and the crops of your land,
and the calves of your herds and
the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you
come in and cursed when you go
out.

I haven't been as Christ-like as I should. When I read my Bible, I often feel convicted. All though I cannot decide for the rest of my family: I will serve the Lord! It is a continuing battle against what I want and what God wants, but as Stellar Kart says,
"People change and plans get changed. Everything changes but You. Everybody moves around and everything bets pushed around, but You. You always stay the same, stay the same. I want to finish last, last in the world's eyes. No matter what I do, I will be first in Your eyes. I am running in this race and I am pressing onward toward the finish line. You have promised me a better life, far beyond this world, far beyond this place in time."

Mozart, a child prodigy

Quotes of the Day:
"I am never happier than when I have something to compose, for that, after all, is my sole delight and passion." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"When I am . . . traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal,or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasionsthat ideas flow best and most abundantly." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg Austria. Mozart is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, authoring over 600 works before his premature death at 35.Mozart, the son of orchestra leader Leopold Mozart, showed remarkable musical aptitude early in life. He was playing the harpsichord by the age of 4, composing music at 5, and performed his first recital at age 6 for the Empress of Austria. Recognizing his enormous talent, his father devoted most of his time to his son's musical education, and taking him on concert tours throughout Europe.Mozart left Salzburg in 1781 to seek his fortune in Vienna. He married there in 1782. Mozart made his living performing and selling his compositions and giving music lessons. No longer a child prodigy he had difficulty earning sufficient income to support a family. He died in poverty in 1791.Mozart excelled at nearly every kind of musical composition. He wrote 22 operas, over 40 symphonies, and composed a great amount of church and chamber music. Much of Mozart's work is still performed and enjoyed today.

I find it facinating that though he was a genius, Mozart still died in poverty. His music is beautiful. I play some of it on piano and enjoy it quite alot.

By the way, check out the pic. The poor kid wore a grey wig, what's up with that? He was only six in that picture.

Googling my name.

It's Emily the goth!

I donno, maybe I'm a ghost?

Acid!

Oh it feels good to be out of class. (It's too bad I still have one more class later tonight.)For botany class, we looked at cells in potatoes, celery, pear, and geranium leaves under compound microscopes. It was funny though cause some guy in my class was trying to be nice so he offered to help add the HCI stain to my specimen. Well he did get plenty on my specimen but he also squirted it all over my hand. For those of you who didn't know, HCI is an acid, and acids BURN your skin. My teacher saw it and since there wasn't a sink nearby grabbed my hand and dunked it in the slide morge. My hand ended up fine but that was sure an interesting experience.

As for the tabs that people were talking about. Yes, I can play some of them. They're quite fun and easy to play.

It's Monday :)

Its like the worst day of the week today. However, after getting 33 out of 33 on my botany test (I normally suck at anything science related) I have decided that today isn't so bad. Also we won't have a quiz in botany tomorrow cause my teacher forgot to bring our new lab manuals (Ohhhh Right!).
So how did people's Easter go? I had an interesting Easter. Our family goes to relatives house for an Easter lunch every Easter. Unfortunately this year, only the really really extended family showed up, so I pretty much didn't know anybody. However, in the morning my mother gave me an Easter basket. In it was a Hawk Nelson tableture book! The tabs are awesome but they are almost all in drop D tuning which is kinda a pain cause that means that I have to retune my guitar if I want to play a song in standard tuning. So I solved that problem by tuning one of my guitars to drop D and the other to standard. However, now I need to buy another stand and another set of strap locks. Sorry, I'm probably going on about stuff you have absolutely no idea about.

Konbanwa

Konbanwa! Tonight TBQElite, Rabenstrange, and I have Nihongo Kuras (Japanese Class). Today I didn't really accomplish anything other than coming to school and teaching kids piano. I hate my class schedual this quarter, advice to anyone who doesn't already know: NEVER take a morning class and an evening class, it's highly annoying. I'm not saying that I dislike Japanese class, I just don't like that its in the evenings while all my other classes are in the morning.

Here are a few important Japanese words.

Baka-Stupid
Urusai-Annoying
Konbanwa-Good Evening
Yuki-Snow

"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, strategems, and spoils."
-William Shakespeare

I came across this quote in music class today and I liked it so I thought that I'd post it. I have friends who don't care much about music and I just don't get that. How could you not care about music? Music is LIFE! Without music life would be boring.

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

It's a good thing I got "excellent cook". I mean I'm constantly cooking something or other.

Are You A Good Cook?

You Are an Emo Rocker!

Expressive and deep, lyrics are really your thing. That doesn't mean you don't rock out... You just rock out with meaning. For you, rock is more about connecting than grandstanding.

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

I like emo rock but some of the actual musicians are kinda creepy.

Long Day

Today is my long day at school. I have both morning classes and night classes. Since gas is so expensive here, I have decided to just stay all day long. Unfortunately, that means that I have nothing to do but study and surf the web. (no piano, no guitar:( )
I took a test in music class and got lots of extra credit, however, I do not know my grade for sure since it hasn't been listed yet. I also took a quiz in Botany which I'm pretty sure that I received an A on.
This weekend, my sisters, mom, and I are going to go shopping. We're on a mission to find some nice outfits to wear for Easter. I'm thinking about getting either a pair of capris or some of those plaid shorts that are the new style. (I know, plaid shorts sound ugly but some of them are actually cute)
I can't wait till tomorrow is over, I'm taking a test in Botany and I SUCK at science... Off to read others' blogs.........

Just another Monday.

Ugghhh! Okay, I'm done venting about Monday. Anyways, this weekend I played worship at a nursing home. The guy in charge didn't think that my Gibson sounded "happy" enough so I guess next month I"ll play through a pedal.
Also, Rabenstrange is in the process of helping me make a template. It'll be freakin cool so keep your eyes open for it. Since I changed my template, no one seems to be posting on my blog. Hello, is anyone out there? (and No this isn't the cool template that Rabenstrange and I are making, its just temporary)
Tomorrow I have two tests. (YUCK!) I'm not a very good test taker but I'm getting better. I usually manage to pull A's. However, I find that I forget things when I'm under pressure.

Oh, I almost forgot... I have a new profile pick finally!

My freakin' cool Gibson

Well, here's the pic of my new guitar. She's a Gibson Les Paul Studio made in the USA. Check out her two humbucker pick-ups. The list price was about $1600 but I got her on sale for about $900 + about $100 tax (Stupid Seattle taxes!) The body is solid mahogany, no finish. I don't particularly care for all the crazy finishes... The sound is beautiful, much better than my Eleca. Also, if you look at the strap pins, you'll notice that they're not standard, a result of my first modification-locking straps. I'm still trying to come up with a name, hopefully a British name. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

Flash from the past.........

As a little girl, I used to carry this doll around with me everywhere. She's even in our family vacation pics. For those of you who may not know, it is a Raggedy Anne doll. I'm not sure where I got her from but she got plenty of use. I carried her around so much that my mom would even smock her dresses so that she would match me. The funny thing is that she wore out from use so my mom gave me a new one but I didn't like the new one so as she wore out, my mom would replace parts of her with parts off of the newer doll. Notice the legs, I guess I ripped one of them off, when my mom repaired her, the legs weren't the same length. Even today she is loved and used as my little sis Madeline found her........

A weekend of studying and junk food

My parents are going somewhere this weekend to get away from us. Unfortunately, the babysitter that they were going to have watch the little kids had a sick child. So, we're babysitting all weekend. That's okay though, my little sibs are cute and tend to be well behaved.
My crazed botany teacher has decided to have another test. There will be one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. Ughhh........ So I was thinking, with no parents home, Ri and I will probably bake some goodies and watch a movie tonight. Any suggestions?

Here's a recipe for scones (I made these this morning)

2 cups flour
2Tbs Sugar
1Tbs Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1/8 shortening
3/4 cup water or milk (if you use milk, they are heavier)

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Stir in milk. Knead until smooth. Bake at 450F for about 12 minutes or until golden.
(for a variation, add craisins and orange zest and use 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice and 1/2 cup water instead of 3/4 cup.)

Well, I'm off to enjoy my weekend........................

Girls and Guys ARE different

1. When girls get angry, you can often talk through it with them. When guys are angry, stay out of their way.

2. Girls show off their shopping finds, guys show off their scars.

3. When girls are going somewhere and need a lunch, they pack a cute little lunch with lots of different stuff. Guys tend to grab whatevers in arms length.

4. When girls workout at the gym, they shower off and put on clean clothes. Guys seem to think that wearing sweaty gym clothes is attractive.

to be continued...........

Today I'm stuck at college all day... For fellow college students a piece of advice DON'T take morning classes AND night classes, it's horrid!
So I've started my music and my botany classes. Gym starts tomorrow and Japanese starts tonight. My music teacher is nice, so far the class has been mostly review. My botany teacher is CRAZED. Yesterday, she took the first half of class rearanging our seating. Then, she decided to have class outside. Uggh....
I got the new Hawk Nelson Cd in the mail yesterday. It's release date is today. Rabenstrange being a good brother bought it for me for my birthday (in September). It's an awesome CD. Even my four year old brother loves it and begs me to put it on. :)
Oh, I found out the Switchfoot is going to be at the Puyallup fair this year in September. I REALLY REALLY want to go. I saw them last year and they were really good. So if there are any fellow Washington bloggers out there who absolutely LOVE Switchfoot, go to the concert!!!

Life is better in black and white

My blogger buddy Sarah posted some cool black and white pics, so this was actually her idea. Check out her pics here, I really like her pic of the girl and boy in converse.

Craziness

Today I'm going to a show at the Fifth Avenue theater in downtown Seattle. (yes, downtown Seattle is pretty cool, for those of you who don't live in WA) I'll be leaving for it as soon as my grandmother gets here... Tonight, my fam is going to Cold Stone Creamery in celebration of my straight A's. (the best ice cream ever!!!!) Ri is gone though, so I really miss her.

Since I don't have much to post about, here's a superb recipe for you peoples to try....

Soft Pretzles
1 1/2 cups warm water
1Tbs yeast
1Tbs granulated sugar
1tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

Disolve the yeast in the water. Mix in dry ingredients. Knead until smooth and elasticy. Divide into 18 pieces. Roll and shape. Bake at 375F for about 15-20 minutes or until golden on top. Enjoy!

These are a family favorite. Ri and I make them almost every day for snack.