Goodbye America!

I gotta be quick about this (taking off rather shortly), but now that the stress of school and finals is over, my New Zealand trip is really exciting! I've planned on not being bored on the 13 hour flight with music, a book, sleeping, and watching whatever movies they have and eating (also have to make sure I move around since the ankles will really swell!). This first week will be exciting stuff - zorbing, bungee jumping, black water rafting (basically rafting in caves with glowworms), and then all family rest of the time. I can't wait... this has been way too long. From the shy girl with a unibrow and boy's clothing to the outgoing and adventurous me... time to show my family that change :)

Pressure Makes Diamonds

Here I am at 2 in the morning, sitting in my little walk-in closet with the light on and laptop handy, finishing an assignment. I've had since Wednesday to read, annotate, ponder, and write... so why on a Sunday night am I not in a cozy bed dreaming and am 4 hours away from my alarm's wake up call? Good question. You see, as a writer (or English major or a college student even), we get things called a "writer's block." Right, not an incredible excuse, but I find myself a more creative person when I procrastinate. Sure the late nights really suck when I'm nodding off in the classroom, but when I turn in a paper that reads like an A+, that's more rewarding to me than the C I could have received with sleep! How am I so sure my late work isn't "C worthy?" It's as simple as my experiences - for my Consumer Math class Junior year in high school, I turned in a portfolio of a vacation trip for two. My project was shown to the class on why one shouldn't procrastinate! Oh, the irony (my secret for those is always colored construction paper and scrapbooking skills). Oh, and no I don't work in my closet often - I was being polite as to not to disturb my sister while she rests herself all over my new bedding <--RUDE! :P

Listen to the Band

It's been 10 years since I claimed the Monkees was better than the Beatles (an atrocity to most people, I know). I couldn't help but smile when I reminisced last night with my twin sister of these four capricious oddballs chosen to be part of a sitcom/band. While everyone else was getting into the pop sounds of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and *NSYNC, I was jamming to Last Train to Clarksville and spending my unoccupied nights on monkeegirl.com. My allowance (earned simply by taking vitamins, exercising, and eating dinner) curtailed quickly from the 12+ albums purchased at Media Play - luckily my sister shared the same appreciation. My poor dad was most likely puzzled having to replace the ink cartridge in no time from something Amy and I covertly created called "The Monkee Binder." Inside included a mini bio of each band member (Davy, Peter, Mike, and Micky), a list of all the show's episodes, lyrics to all songs, a small gallery, and even recipes! Yep, I was definitely smitten by them, enough to where I couldn't wait for the weekend to end just so I could wake up Monday through Friday to watch them in their typical red, 8-button shirts.

P.S. Thank you mom for getting me that autographed Micky Dolenz Monkees lunchbox tin!

P.S.S. Their movie Head was a total flop! You'll know it with only 2 minutes of viewing...