too much Facebook...

Sorry I haven't been posting lately!! FB is taking all my computer time :(

Today I had a Spanish class after culinary, a homeschool class in someone's home. Eh. Then raced over to rehearsal at the Grange where I creeped Eva out by how much I know about her schedule, plans for the weekend, etc. I have a tendency to do that to people. They start slowly backing away from me. "I am the human BlackBerry," I joke, as we plan our next rehearsal. As the other two distract me by sundry exploits with frozen bottles of water: "The BlackBerry's hard drive is overheating! It can't multitask!"

My current FB status: Bethany is looking forward to a nice evening. Risotto [with farmers' market chantarelles] on the stove--check, fire in the woodstove--check, biology homework completely [as of yesterday] pwned for the WEEK--check, new Artemis Fowl book from the library--check, geekiness--check.

Fall is here. I was just warm enough last night. At farmers' mkt today there was a notable presence of woolly hats, jackets, wellingtons, and a general air of brisk heartiness.
I wore a lovely pair of mismatched woolly long socks to school today and my feet were toasty.

Tomorrow at bio class we've got a field-trip [all of 50 feet, I think!] out to the pond to collect samples of pond-water which will then be allowed to percolate for a week, prior to excited inspection by us with microscopes. It's always fun to chase a swift-moving Volvox across the screen.

Oh wow--Blogger found about a dozen "mispelled" words in this post!
And OH YES......WHO knows about Pogo Possum???? Grandma, is it you????

That chair in front of the woodstove is beckoning me....cheers, folks!

Hello, my name is EPIC

So it's been a busy [but epic] few days around here.

On Friday we had a cheese-tasting in culinary. Nothing terribly interestin. The Brie was passable but bland.

Saturday morning we were up early and off to the farmers' market. We were in a great hurry owing to need to get to Fall Festival early for parking purposes. Left me mum in the car, Daddy and I hurried off in search of carrots. All went well until.....at one of the booths [the community stand] the owner who knows dad asked him as a special favor [nay, asked is too tame a word.] to man the booth for a minute. It was a plea for help. Before Daddy could open his mouth to say that no, we were in a terrible hurry, she had done an about-face and was halfway across the street. He, confounded, was left to man the booth accordingly while I headed out to do the rest of the shopping. I had time to ask if flax-seeds were available [no], wait for a LONG time at the mushroom stand, select a bouquet for Eva and he was just able to leave when I got back. He also got roped into making a sign, and weighing some grapes which weighed .66 lbs. and came to $76 [emended to 76c].

Anyway, we got to festival and walked around for a bit. I bought a Celtic-design t-shirt. I got a similar one from the same vendor last year.....we'll begin a tradition.

I was busy at home until 1:30, when I headed off to the combined dance rehearsal and surprise birthday party for Eva at the Grange. 'Twas epic. Listened to Flogging Molly and Gaelic Storm. Sang Happy Birthday and listened to the Beatles' rendition thereof....which we had last heard two weeks ago, at my party. :)

After that the four of us [Eva, Phillip, Dallan and myself] must have spent half an hour at the least trying to decide what to do next. We were all going to Eva's bowling party that evening but transportation was an issue as always. With much plying of the thumbs on our cell-phones, we finally got everything arranged. Went into town.....rendezvoused at the library where we collected Sophie....to Eva's house for dinner.....off to bowling. Did that all evening.

Here's where it gets really epic. I've only been bowling once in my life before. We played two games and for the first one [about 13 people] I was the overall winner.

!!!!

With a score of 116. To be sure, that was with bumpers, against the boys who were playing without bumpers. On the second game I still did pretty well. Woot.

There was one epic moment when I was sure I had missed a pin, and was turning away after the second play, only to find that it had gone down too.....lots of high-5s all around.

I've never seen so many people high-tenning each other. Awesome.

Saw a lot of peopleses that I hadn't seen in WAY too long. Lots of hugs.

Me dad drove Phillip and Dallan home and we were all squeezed in the back seat and here's some more epicness. They were writing random things on each others' hands with a pen they'd picked up off the floor [this was after a long episode of us three handing the pen back and forth "sketchily", with much averted eyes and mafia-technique. "Oh what a sketchy pen. Looks kind of shifty-eyed, don't you think?" "Oh definitely. Sketchball."] So anyway we were using an iPod screen and my cell-phone screen for light. Weird beyond belief.

Today [after early church service] we pretty much worked all day, what with painting window-trim, and chores around home and all. Went into town to catch a performance at Fall Fest by the celtic punk group erhh...whatever it was called. Andana or something like that. It was more rock than celtic and the bass too loud.

And then this evening I finally convinced my parents to let me have Facebook!!!!!!!! Woot!!!!! I just signed up and have been hunting up all my friends :) including some who I haven't seen in years, and a few I never would have guessed would have fb.

But meh: fb entries have to be short! :( So I'll keep posting on here. But my computer time is only one hour so don't be hurt if I don't comment as often :)

Erin go bragh

Walk away, me boys
walk away , me boys
and by morning we'll be free





Been listening to more Flogging Molly and I'm feeling pretty Irish.

I tootled around in Photoshop this afternoon and made this bit of awesomness:

It's me own lovely foot in a pointe shoe; is the tattoo not awesome? I've got only the one pen that works on skin and it had an incident after going through the laundry the other day.

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to take a photo of your own foot that's not terribly distorted.

So I posted on Food Freedom at Carpe Noctem, go check it out!!!

flippin' crepes

In culinary today we made crepes. Not the flaming Crepes Suzettes, just the ordinary, non-incendiary sort. They didn't really work that well. There was this dome-shaped pan which you dip into the batter and then invert over a hot stove. It was sort of....an epic fail. Our batter [as well as everyone else's] was dripping down into the burner, and getting the crepe off the pan involved a lot of scraping. We scrapped [or dare I say....scraped?? lol!] that idea and went for the skillet.

One of the other groups was exhibiting the proper flipping technique. One guy was demonstrating how "you want to catch it on the return loop", and another described a pleasing parabola with his hand, dramatizing the Escape of the Crepe ["There it goes! Incoming!"]
Meanwhile Nate [in our group, the math guy, you recall] made coffee as per the teacher's direction. However he didn't really measure it properly and the result was a remarkably weak brew [one might almost call it flaccid].

Then I raced off across town to bio. That was also fun. First lab--intro to microscope--viewing thread and cheek-cells. And definitions review. There are 27 definitions to know for this module. Mod. 6 [The Cell! Rejoice!] has over 40. Inhumane.
Micro-organisms: "Organisms that are micro" and Consumers: "Organisms that consume" were two of the jewels offered up at one point or another for our thirsty, knowledge-seeking ears. [It is, perhaps, superfluous to note that there are two guys in the class.]
One other girl and I have already done bio [or half a year thereof, in my case] and are sort of dominating the definition scene.

Then during lab we were using a Q-tip to take samples of our cheek-cells and Emily thought her mom [the teacher] said "smear the west side of the qtip on the slide" when of course she meant "wet". Yes, don't use the east side, use the west side! lol We also managed to break a couple of slide covers "Oh I'm going to see how long I can go without breaking one this year!" CRUNCH!

There were some adventures with the methylene-blue stain, too. Fortunately nothing too dramatic.

At the end of class our teacher was quizzing us on definitions. We were supposed to say "ding!" to replicate the sound of a buzzer when we knew the answer. At one point one of the girls received a comment: "That was a weak 'ding'" which made us all laugh.

I was slightly buzzing from the coffee, I think; despite the weakness of said stimulant.

Oh yes: I forgot to mention at the relevant time that in culinary we learned that the glass shields above buffet cases are called "sneezeguards". Is that not hilarious?


Let's talk sherpa. [Have we had this conversation before?] So yeah, I am pretty much a certified sherpa. Carrying oodles of stuff, balancing things, opening doors with my feet are all parts of daily life. My dad says I inherited it from him.....these awesome pliable toes.


During one shoot last spring I was carrying about 40 bags of camera equipment out to the car [prior to transfer to ANOTHER set] and had no hands free, and the other actors and such were lagging behind. Here's me, a heavy bag crossed over each shoulder [choking me--but Certified Sherpas care not for such trivialities], and a bag or costume in each hand. The trunk of the car demanded to be opened. I slipped off my shoe, stuck my foot in the handle, and [using my balletically strengthened muscles] hefted upwards. 'Twas quite a feat--the others were quite impressed.

We've got this tour book on England and we're poring over it....."Clovelly--perfect Devon village oozes charm as thick as clotted cream".....I kid you not. The book was, needless to say, written in Britain. I seize this opertunity to interject a bit of lucidity penned by myself a few months ago.

'Twas in regards to a hilarious bit forwarded to me on Britain taking charge of the affairs in The States. Amongst my suggestions were:

- remedy the peculiar American method of naming towns in words of two syllables or less. Towns deemed to be unsuitably named will be rechristened with such names as: Urswick-by-the-Tweed, the Firth of Forth (actually that's a body of water), Chipping Mutton (not to be confused with Chipping Norton), the Wallops (a pretty trio of towns, Upper, Middle and Nether), West Eastwick, Huddleston-in-the-Moor, Twiddlesbury, Wootton Plunkett, Thrushmutton-on-Rye (with caraway seeds) and Woolesley-Henworth. These names are particularly suitable for abbreviating on sign-posts--such as, M'finch, U'wk-by-Tweed, W'ly-H'wth.

- re-institution of the noble sport of mangold-hurling

- elimination of the costly habit of making beds with two sheets. Only duvets are really sensible. [Warning: duvets may prove a hazard to uninformed American-types. The management of many British hotels have had to rescue a great many hapless tourists from the duvets [known familiarly as tourist-traps] on the hotel beds. Duvets are not sleeping bags!! ]

- prompt installation of surveillance-cameras at strategic points, for example in grocery-store parking-lots. Persons wishing to abscond without paying parking-fees for a full hour when they've only been there 20 minutes will need to resort to ploys such as: finding they do not have change while at the pay-station, meandering back to their auto to get it, rooting in the auto, being "horrified'' to then discover they don't have any change, and other sundry tactics intended to assure the British government they really are trying to pay up.

- treatment of national landmarks, historical sites and such in the British fashion. To wit; not swathing them in velvet ropes strung between poles and then hiring a lot of security guards to ensure that no-one (heaven forbid!) actually gets close to anything interesting. Outdoor-type attractions, such as ancient monuments, Stone Age earthworks and stone-circles (which, we are informed, the U. S. has a painful dearth of), will be open for the general public to walk up to and touch.


- signposts are another issue. Customary American standards of navigational signs tend to be confusing. It is not necessary, for instance, to change the mileage-to-destination notation with distance traveled. A typical British road (let us say, to Scorhill stone circle) would obviate this difficulty by continuing to state the same mileage, i. e. , "Scorhill--2 1/4 km". The next sign, a good mile later, would be marked thus: "Scorhill--2 1/4 km" and so on up until the destination which, we wish to emphasize, need not be marked at all.

- small roads, such as those exemplary ones to be found in England's South-west, are just as efficient as large ones. When traveling along a small, two-lane road, one does not worry about oncoming cars until one meets them--and one does not see them until one meets them. Then there is usually a little lay-by handy to pull into and politely let the other auto pass. Very civilised and polite, you understand.
Some (we would say over-anxious) drivers might feel it expedient to travel in the wake of other, larger (if slower) vehicles such as farm implements which act in the role of "brush-cutter" to ensure there are no obstructions (oncoming autos, pedestrians, projecting hedge-material etc.) in the path. A small auto, progressing in this way, may proceed without fear and even reach alarming speeds before overtaking the farm-implement. Still other drivers may wish to attach long slender "whiskers" to the fronts of their autos (in order to sound out the terrain), some models even coming equipped with little red warning flags at their tips.


Humourous, no? [That word has WAY too many U's!]


I forgot all about Reader Wednesday but better late than never. I want your thoughts on computers: Macs vs. PCs, Vista versus XP, html-coding, are you a comp-geek, how often do you de-frag, etc.
Hey, that's a good idea for a poll!

Poll has been added [two, actually] GO VOTE!!! All patriotic followers of the Republic of Varied Topics are encouraged to vote early and often!

her eyes were the color of insanity

Ahem....somebody has been listening to Flogging Molly.....and getting up too early after a crazy night.....and realizing she didn't need any coffee......who needs caffeine when you have adrenaline? ??!!!! o_0

SO yeah.....the crazy night referred to my dreams, of course. I think it was after I woke up the first time, at 5, that I dreamt about various people that I know, a fellow blogger who I've never met, being inside a story, a torrential rainstorm in Mississippi, a murdered cat, ten on to the next attraction: off to the farmers' market where we encountered a very long dachshund with the face of a beagle, and more inter-personal stuff. My last dream before waking was that I was single-handedly fighting three other people including a robotic taser or somesuch......armed with nothing more than a hefty chunk of wood. I won. Oh yeah. *thumps chest*


This, dear people, comes a few nights after I dreamed that I had to hire a bodyguard. For myself. It was some sort of Agatha Christie-ish mystery, there was this coat that must have had something valuable concealed in it because everyone who took charge of it got knocked off. It also involved a sketchy part of my town, at night. And I was pretty scared, knew if I went home alone [oh yeah, I think I was in a dorm or something, not at my home] I would be killed. Hence the bodyguard. I don't remember what happened after that.

I haven't been able to remember most of my dreams recently. But I do have a tendency to be either being pursued by or fighting something. The aggressor varies from the British soldiers of 1776 to the Communists to cannibals to unknown random people. One night I'd just read the short story [oh drat. WHAT is it called?!] that involves a cast-away on an island being hunted for sport by an elderly Russian gentleman....really creepy, anybody ever read it?



Or wild animals. Cougars, house-cats after my chickens, rabid dogs, pythons.



My dad opined that being chased probably indicates insecurities. I guess it's good that recently I've been fighting, not running away. Yeah, my greatest wish [one of them] is to be able to fight and defend myself. I'm stronger than most girls [really buff arms meheheee] but still pretty wimpy compared to guys. :(

This summer I sort of obsessed over combat and self-defense and such.

Today we have Bio. Hehe, it's pretty funny really. One of the guys in the class I have seen twice outside of class, and both times have been extremely random. First was at the library, when Eva and Dallan and I were there. He didn't know us at the time, just Eva. So she's over at the drinking fountain, talking to him, and we come up looking like our crazy selves [I was wearing my epic red plaid skirt] and it was really awkward because it wasn't evident that we were together.
Then after RenFaire Dallan and I stopped in at the Co-op to grab some dinner. Now the Co-op [I love the Co-op!] is the sort of place where people do not really turn a hair at the sight of someone wearing a long black skirt, peasant blouse, Scottish dress, accented by a wide black belt with a knife hanging off it. That's what I was wearing, and very sunburned. So of course we had to say hi. I am the sort of person who does not care a twit about going out in costume. My sense of humor has developed nicely in the last few years. I really don't care too much what people think. MWAHAHAH. It's my superpower.

Siamsa and Victory can still make me positively rabid. And anything by Gaelic Storm.

Await the next installment of Bethany's epic adventures!!! Hugs, people!!

OH YES. You remember how I said one of my friends was wating on some important info? Well, he got it. *dances up and down, grinning madly*

Yay! I've hit my stride again in blog-posting! Maybe it has soemthing ot do with the fact that I am listening ot the ever-present Lord of the Dance soundtrackl! excuse sp. errors

The reigning mathematics queen!

Ugh. I smell like incense. Had to go into some stores for *ahem* a reason I cannot reveal at this time :) Went into Grass Roots too. That was after school which rocked. Or rather, I rocked. [Ain't I modest?] So this guy in culinary was doing some math problems whilst our souffle was baking and I helped, and totally pwned it. Just lots of simplifying multiplication. But epic because I haven't done any math for a few years and never went beyond Alg. II, and was somehow managing to do lightning math in my head way faster than him. Meeheeheeehehe!



And I got a new song from itunes, from Gaelic Storm. "What's the Rumpus"



Weeded the garden and dug potatoes.



Feeling sort of weirded out. Three [yes, 3] of my friends have been hit by cars while riding their bicycles in the last week. They have thankfully all escaped with no more than scratches but it's still worrying. :(



Australia is covered in a red cloud of dust. Weird. A whole bunch of my bloggie friends are sick.
My sunburn is still sort of painful--I actually got a necklace burn.

cheers, folks!

Sorry I haven't posted! :(

I'm sorry, stuff has been going on but I've just not had the inclination to write..... :(

Two new followers have joined: Camellia Dayla [I'd link, but her blogs are private] and smorgan!!!! Thank you!!!!

So Friday at school we had an assembly. I was all unknowing until I got into the office before class with a form to deposit, and there's suddenly this ruckus at the bottom of the stairs--drums, a couple of band players. [Those of you who go to school are terribly familiar with this, but I thought you homeschoolers might get a kick out of it.] Worrying about whether my class was rescheduled [and the TEST!], I floated along on the press of people into the gym. Half-hour pep rally, CHS-ers certainly have a lot of school spirit.

The test [actually it was two tests] went well. Woot!

Good day at school, in other words. I saw a whole bunch of people that I know, which is fun. Happy reunions.

On Friday night our first swing dance rehearsal went very well.

[Here's me, on the far left, in the middle of an apparently violent "pretzel" or equivalent bit of awesomeness]

Saturday I worked most of the day, doing chores around the house [ugh] and yardwork [UGH!] and cutting up Italian prunes for drying.

Sunday was the epicness that is RenFaire. We went to early church service [very early!] and then picked up Eva and Dallan. Twas a perfect day for faire-going: actually a little too perfect, I got a nasty sunburn.

We got out to the faire site a bit before noon. Lovely area, a valley in the foothills, on a grass-field.

Here's Eva Dallan and myself

L.-R.: Eva [note the necklace she just bought], Sophie [she's the only one whose face is not in shadow, hehe], Dallan [WHY is he wearing a tophat?! and talking on the phone?!], Phillip [in epic red shirt] and behind the camera is Bethany in Scottish attire. We were standing on this really steep slope, trying to get cell-phone reception to arrange rides home and such.

Here's some more of the people we hung out with--I think we're examining a knife right there.

I'm afraid I was very remiss about taking photos :(

We didn't actually do much of anything the entire 6 hours we were there but we were never bored. Did a bit of shopping--I got a fabulous ring and chain-mail-ish necklace. Tug-of-war. Did not watch the joust. Got sunburned, in my case. And really dusty. My clothes smelled like renfaire when I came home: a mixture of wood-smoke and sun.

We had a fabulous time.

Went to folk dance afterwards which was also great, although I did not have time to go home and consequently was extremely hot in my layers of wool!

Yesterday I sort of crashed, was pretty exhausted since I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Rehearsal today, among other stuff.

My posts seem to be getting less interesting and humorous.....sorry! :( But I've been having a good time, it just doesn't show in my writing.

exhilaration for no reason

So I was listening to three Lord of the Dance soundtrack songs on my mp3 player while I was cooking dinner just now and I got completely psyched up---breathing speeding up, sweat breaking out, wild gleam to my eyes---and had to listen to them again. Awesome.
Three songs you must listen to: Warriors, Victory, and Siamsa, all by Ronan Hardiman/Lord of the Dance soundtrack.
I just downloaded Victory today, and a Gaelic Storm song [another good group]. Fun. Oh yeah, and Euchari by Garmarna, a Swedish or suchlike group.

I also took time to download and watch The Celtic Zuccinis, a nice little piece by Bracie and Ophelia......hysterical, you must see it! here

I just cooked a nice pot of rissotto, for the monthly potluck at the Grange. Yum yum.....zuccinis as the foundation.

Bio was good, it's a nice group of peeps.

At culinary today I managed to freak out a couple of people. I recalled that "whoops, I'm not supposed to be wearing ear-rings" and just totally ripped them out [clip-ons, of course]. A gratifying expression of shock was the result >:-)

Ooh darn, I just looked up "The Call" [the credits song from Prince Caspian"] and now I find it's ALBUM ONLY???!!! :(

Running off.....cheers, folks! I'll be back!

Before you go....

I thought of a few more things.

1. This is quite possibly the most random thing that has ever happened to me. Today I was pulling up the zipper on the side of my nice dark leather boot and I managed to scratch my hand with my toe-nail, drawing blood. CRAZY!!!

2. I love goat milk!! I can drink it by the glass. I think I'm slightly allergic to cows milk. Also I have a source for buying raw goat milk, which I am pretty sure is not legal in this state [the one good thing about going to Cal. is buying raw cows' milk] Must protect my source! :) Mehehee

3. Slugs are practically the state animal here. Big brown ones. A few weeks ago my dad stepped on one on the porch, in his stocking feet. He was not happy.

4. Does anyone use Firefox for their browser? I tried to switch to FF the other day and no go. Firewall issues, I believe. I've heard that peeps have trouble sometimes with Norton security and FF. Any input, folks??? I'm not happy.


My mom is on the couch eating watermelon and I can smell it all the way over here at the computer. I got some nice green grapes at the farmers' market, and had a spate of phone-calls regarding rehearsals, both theatrical and swing-dance. That's on Friday.

I just spent way too long on the computer. Drat, and now I have a headache. But it's been good, I was reading in the archives of Minas Tirith [don't you love that scene?] so to speak :) old posts on Carpe Diem.

I love edged weapons! *Rubs hands, evil gleam in me eye* Swords, knives, daggers.
Let's do the run-down of blades that I own/semi-own:
one sabre, edge not sharpened, but with a deadly point
two small pocket-knives, black plastic handle--one was found by me, in a lake. No kidding.
two hunting knives, 4--6 inch blade and sheath, oh how sweet
the awesome Kershaw flick-open pocket knife

I can open an egg with one hand!! I saw a kid doing it in Culinary and decided I could do it too. I tried my hand on it at home this morning, making eggs for brekkers.

I like wearing my hair in two long braids, pinned on top of my head. It never fails to get comments on how Swedish I look. [I actually am 1/4 Swedish, more than 1/4 German, and half everything else. I had one Scottish ancestor, a Minerva Twaddle from Tweedsdale, Scotland.]

I just heard that Grandma sent over some custard, so I guess I'd better see if there's truth in that rumor.....teehee

She sent over some pasta with tofu the other day. I love tofu, for some reason, and I never make it....idk. But I said, pretty much, "Don't worry about the tofu. I'll take care of it for you." and it pretty much disappeared....lol

EDIT EDIT EDIT: I have a new follower!!! Thank you Aquaria Longstream!!!!!!!

cheese, culinary class, and cargo pants

Life has been a bit scattered-and-random lately. On Monday night I was too discouraged to write, my parents had just decided I couldn't take the theatre class that I'd been so looking forward to :(

Yesterday I perked back up again. We made omelettes in culinary arts and that was fun. My group went the whole nine yards and made a nice ham-and-green-pepper sauce, which was awesome, but we were the last ones cleaning up. :)

Off to rehearsal at 4, at the Grange. That went. That's all I can say, it went.
We are still ironing out details. Eva and Dallan came over to my house afterwards and we had fun getting a costume for Eva for RenFaire, and discussing Faire in general. Played with the goats and went walking. Dallan stayed to dinner and we watched a recording of what I still consider the best play I ever wrote/acted in, Anne of Green Gables. 'Twas epic.

Today it's 73 F and raining a bit. I am feeling vaguely influenzal, hopefully that won't develop, I am NOT going to be sick before renfaire!! I'm still hungry though! I think it might just be allergies.

I submitted my [rather epic] film Road to Freedom to the local film festival, in the Young Filmmakers' category. Woot! First film fest! I've got a contact there, who liked my submission to the Fast Film Project last spring and encouraged me to go for the big one. fingers crossed....

Tomorrow is the first of our weekly bio. classes. There's about 6 students, all homeschooled, mostly a bit younger than me and all shy/quiet [I think--I don't know them all]. It'll be interesting. Kingdom Phylum Class Order.....

H School [henceforth abb. HS or CHS] is also interesting. The fashions are [gotta say it again, sorry] so interesting!! Ninety percent of the population is clad in denim below the waist, of course. But even that ranges from my conservative boot-cut Levi's from Montana [*heart*!] to skinny grey jeans to black holey concoctions. A lot of the styles are things I'd never wear, and would cringe at in the stores, but I don't know: people look good in anything. Maybe I just like looking at people. I've always thought that artificially-colored hair is rather awful but I've seen some girls with blonde hair dyed with a couple of pastel colors just at the sides, and it actually is kind of nice. [Ahem...don't freak out please, I'm not planning on dyeing my hair.]

So that covers "culinary class" but what about "cheese" and "cargo pants"? Well I was just thinking about how much I like cheese, is all. And cargo pants is what I'm wearing right now [POCKETSES!!! Love em!].
Yeah--pockets. Starting with the filming this spring I have started to carry stuff in my pockets all the time. Big ole knife [except not at school, which kills me] clipped onto the side, pencil, iPod sometimes, rubber band, string [little random tail-end, and a lovely ball of high-quality waxed stuff], needle-nosed tweezers for splinters, lighter [two, on my birthday. SO handy for lighting candles, and it means you're never without a fire-source. Just don't try to light a bunch of birthday candles and expect that the lighter will be cool enough to put back in your pocket.] um yeah, where was I....audio cables sometimes, converter, watch [that's when it's not attached, ninja-like, to my belt loop], band-aids, paper, and for the sake of this discussion I just added two paper-clips, a second lighter as I think my main one is running out of steam, and three aaa batteries. Nice, huh?

One time I found one of my mood-rings in my pocket and had NO idea how it got there. Then of course I couldn't find it again.

Jewelry is another variable. I never used to wear anything, ever. Now I wear a cross, or an amber pendent which I got in Germany, or a string of jade beads which my dad brought back from Thailand. There are a few other assorted things, nothing very valuable, but nice. Right now it's this cool wood-bead-and-stones thing. I like it.

Oh yes, I've got the most fabulous costume for renfaire!!!! Scottish-inspired. There's this nice green plaid jumper-sort of dress, over a black skirt and white puffy-sleeved shirt. Add a knife, wide black piece-of-awesomeness belt, and I'll be good to go. Except there are no pockets....

*bounce-and-squeal!* Wednesday Market today!!!! Yay!

Welcome back to Rochelle Blue!! Fare-thee-well to J. William!!!

Oh yes, I just remembered that I mentioned I'd do a special each Wednesday, Reader Wednesdays. Ths time I want your thoughts on fashion [ordinary clothing, not Haute Coture which is too weird]. Leave a comment!!!

Also I recalled the role-play which I started and did not continue with: It will come back, I'm just not sure when. :)

epic epic epic

Well thanks for all your birthday good wishes!!! :)

We had an interesting couple of days. Friday night around 9 I was in the middle of cake-baking when it turned up that I might not be allowed to take the theatre class after all. Can you spell "disappointed"? I had been so looking forward to a really fun class.
But the workload was worrying my parents, as it might shuffle out other things.

Anyway grr grr grr. End of long day. I take the cake out of the oven. It breaks as I flip it out of the pan. I decide to taste-test it, it already looks erm...disappointing.
I forgot to add any sugar.
Yep, just clean forgot the sugar. The recipe was one of those annoying ones where the ingredients are listed at the beginning and then it says "mix first seven ingredients".

We shall draw the curtain of compassion over the rest of the scene [to quote Mark Twain]. Actually I just went to bed.

This picture was not taken last night. I wish it weren't so fuzzy, it perfectly captures my expression [purposely for the camera] of craziness. teehee

Saturday I was up early. I can't seem to sleep in, and I've been not getting enough sleep recently.

But there was a nice sunrise, very pink. Off to the farmers' market under a blue sky and warm air, just perfect party weather. We spent a long time at the market, getting various bits of produce for the party. Fixings for tortillas, grapes, a melon, flowers.

Here's me bouquet being specially made:

Then off to the Co-op for more cheese. Home, where I began the day-long operation of washing and preparing produce. A few phone calls to Dallan and Eva, my confederates in party-planning.

I frosted the doomed carrot-cake [what remained of it. It made a surprisingly good breakfast, and I have it on good authority that it was a rather tasty midnight snack as well] which improved it.

Around 5: 30 we took the first load of stuff out to the field. Dallan arrived to hep set up. Here we are struggling with the tent-poles whilst my dad takes photos [lol. He was working harder than anybody.]

By 6 or thereabouts [party scheduled for 6:30] I was in my usual pre-party state of happy frantic hospitality, struggling with a table, carting tubs of food hither and yon, greeting guests, directing traffic.

We started off with frisbee. That's me, grey shirt, far right [I didn't know my hair was that red! Henna, lols]

A large contingent of less athletically-minded gals [including myself] were the pioneers in a new sport, contact Frisbee. Your hands should never leave contact with the frisbee. It's great fun, you stand in a little circle and serve up the disk with great ceremony or perhaps a twist ["Under the leg! Ooh, a mean trick!" "Backwards! The plot thickens!"]

There was a lot of music, live and iPod

Around 7 we felt a few drops of rain. An hour before there had not been a cloud in the sky. We hustled the stuff under the tent and it cleared up.

There aren't many more good photos, alas. It got dark pretty quick.

But oh the epicness! I think there were about 15 people there. Fairly early on we made a foray out to the clump of trees in the middle of the field. The trees are clearly not visible in the left-hand side of the picture. That involved one person running alongside, holding the wireless iPod player to spur us on, and most everybody else joining arms and skipping. Do I not have awesome friends?

Did a little more dancing. Came back and had more food. My dad made tortillas over a propane grill/burner/whatever it is and that was fun. Who would have thought that 15 teenagers would scarcely touch the four bags of chips?

The grapes, on the other hand, proved extremely alluring. People wound up with grapes in their pockets ["I have a grape in my pocket! What is it doing there, I did not put a grape in my pocket!"]

Speaking of pockets, Bethany once again proved her reputation as carry-all. "Need a band-aid? A signal-splitter? A converter, AA batteries? How 'bout some triple-A's? Do you know, I've got needle-nosed tweezers in here, and two lighters. What's this? I did not know this was in here! What's that, do you need an audio cable, or a USB?" I had specially stocked my pockets for the day's events.

As the night wore on we got increasingly hilarious. The rain had not returned but there was a sizeable quantity of lightning to all compass-points of us but thankfully not above.

There was more dancing, in a circle this time. My playlist includes the perennial favorite Siamsa which had us all up and dancing. The plastic cups did not survive. "Oops, we're dancing on the cups!" CRUNCH!

Another epic memory had to be doing the folk-dance Dermish under the stars. It's a very epic dance, everybody's in a circle holding the hands of the person two down from them, spinning round.

Sword-fighting too. And adventures with glow-sticks. A bit of singing. Around 9:30 I decided we needed to open the bottle of expensive French imported sparkling apple cider, and did so with much ceremony. The cups were mostly gone by that time but we made do. A very nice vintage.

Cut the cake that Eva had made, toothsome. Stood round in a huddle, trying to keep warm, as the breeze had picked up.

Oodles of fun. We had all cleared out by 10:45, just as the rain began again. Got the tent down, but we need to head out there today to pick up bits of cups no doubt, and collect any sundry items left behind. We'll have to start a "Lost and Found from Bethany's Epic Party".

Next weekend is RenFaire!!!!! I'm excited, Eva and I have been commanded [tehee] to go, and rendezvous with the other peeps that are going.

And regarding the theatre class, prayers that I can convince my parents would be appreciated!! :)

In short, I had an awesome birthday!

Yep

Well you're all waiting for me to say something, aren't you.


I'm taking classes for college credit at a local high school, is all. Culinary Arts and theatre. The CA class is for College Now credit---how awesome is that, credit for learning how to cook! I was just going to take the CA class but today [first day] after I discovered that the jewelry-making class I'd signed up for was filled, we decided theatre would be cool. The peeps in theatre are SO friendly!! Maybe it's a symptom of theatre-peoples in general, I don't know.

So today was my first day. Rather intense. I was dropped off at the appropriate time only to discover that due to the r a n d o m schedule, I only had culinary today and that wasn't for another hour. I trotted back over to the main building and chilled in Counseling and Accounting. I've gotten mighty familiar with that room, that was where I waited many times on Wednesday and Thursday whilst we were figgerin' out my schedule.

Later, whilst talking to the theatre teacher I was getting more and more excited, I think I've found my niche. Stopped in at Staples for supplies.
I do so love rolling-ball pens. Not ball-point, which I loathe. I found a lovely 5-pack. Mmm.

And thanks to the latest follower, the awesome Lady Brainsample, a fellow theatre chick! Check out her blog Cease Repining!

I am in the middle of baking my birthday cake. The usual plans to bake it with my grandmother fell through, owing to a severely disrupted house due to major renovation. I love carrot cake!!!!!! It's been a birthday tradition as long as I can remember.

Yep. It's been good. Don't expect anything more out of me for a while. Big party tomorrow.

oh boy here it comes....

....some interesting news. Lots. Actually I realized that the following week or two is going to be very, very interesting for me and a few peeps I know.

By tonight/tomorrow I should know if there is going to be a radical change to my year. [Stay tuned!! Major freak-out! Am I crazy??!] By the end of the week I will be seventeen, after an epic party. By the end of next week one of my dear friends will know something very important.

Several of my pals are starting public school for the first time, this week. I, for the first time in seven years, will not be returning to my homeschool co-op group. RenFaire is next weekend [go here for cool pics!]

We live in interesting times, my friends!!

Well with that remark I will leave you to wait, and wonder.....wonder why I'm saying "interesting" so much.....lol....wonder if Dallan and I can actually move the baby grand piano without squashing my toes.....wonder if I can pull off a performance of "Two Tophats" in a month....wonder....?

ciao!

Internet Exploder, walnut-chucking, and other fun stuff

Yesterday was busy, to put it mildly. Started off in the morning with Co-op Sale Day, and a few other bits of business. Then back home, over to my grandmother's where I taught her how to leave a comment on my blog, and back here bearing fruit to take to rehearsal.


Rehearsal was at 4. Rehearsal went well. Rehearsal disintegrated into mass sword practice around 5. [We had our Guest Instructor, Phillip, present specifically for Instructing us in sword-play, requisite for one scene of the play.]


Us four [Dallan, Phillip, Eva and myself] stayed late--very late--doing various fun stuff. A frisbee was involved for a lot of the time. And we chucked walnuts at tree-trunks, endeavoring to crack them [actually I watched that part--I am very unskilled at any sport involving a ball, disk or anything of that sort. Although I just yesterday learned how to throw a frisbee and was told I didn't do badly. Woot!]

There was a flurry of telephoning. My cell-phone [actually it's more "the family phone"] was with my dad at work, so all four of us were forced to rely upon Phillip's phone.

Dallan: I need to call my parents. Eva: I'd better call my mom. Bethany: And I'll need it too!

At one point the last cookie was in debate. Dallan and Eva dashed inside: question marks from the others: Bethie, who heard it all: "They converged upon the last snicker-doodle."


Back into the Grange where we listened to music for the swing-dancing scene, and did some card tricks. Eva regaled us with a story of how she got lost, ran out of gasoline, and was broke with no cell-phone. Dallan served lemonade, marketed as "strong" but dismissed by me as "wussy" [I am infamous in my tolerance of sour stuff]. We discussed Converse as a shoe, coolness factor, and good idea [subsequent on seeing Phillip's new pair], and ran around barefoot on the grass outside.

I, of course, told of my little jaunt to the Grange last Saturday, on foot, and how when I got there I heard a pounding coming from inside and wondered what it was coming from: this was enlarged upon by the others: "Are you sure it wasn't a pounding coming from inside your head?" "Bethany, what were you doing the night before? Was there any sort of a party?"

The Hazlenut Incident was mentioned and related to Phillip by we three who had of course been present.
There was some arm-wrestling: epic fail, on my part. But I'm getting better.


About 6:45 Eva, being a dutiful young woman, felt it incumbent on her to depart, to help with the peach-canning at home. There was more sword-fighting [we use non-lethal weapons, by the way. Solid chunks of aluminum]. There was a foray across the road to look at the sheep. There was one pleasing little incident involving the electric sheep-fence.


More discussion of fake blood for the stage ["Zesty mint flavor!"]. A good way to simulate a knock to the jaw: take a mouthful of Tic-Tacs and a little fake blood [must be Zesty Mint flavor] and presto, there you have a nice mouthful of broken teeth.


The remaining half-gallon or so of lemonade was polished off by the two lads, who declared themselves "Blub!" This reminded me of a Pogo Possum cartoon and I promptly mentioned the name. They started backing away from me uneasily. Pogo Possum is known only to the few, the weird, the awesome.


Plans were made for the epic party coming this Saturday.


Pretty soon Dallan opined that we had best begin heading our separate ways. This proved less easy that it sounded, and involved a lot of use of the cell-phone. It turned up that Phillip did not have a ride home, and Dallan's parents were less than eager to head all the way into town again. I broached the matter to my parents and they pounced happily upon it, since we are moving various lead-like bits of furniture preparatory for a new floor, and a strong-arm was in demand. Finally got everyone home around 8:30, and stopped in at the Co-op again, as I had neglected to buy a nice goat-milk Brie earlier in the day.
Fun stuff!

Oh yeah, Internet Exploder [I did not make that awesome name up :)]! IE is....how do I say this nicely?.....yeah. You know what I mean. It sometimes treats webpages like pop-ups---opens about 2 million copies of a page and freezes up....nasty...I'm trying to switch to Firefox but that's having issues too....ugh.

catching roosters

We had to catch roosters yesterday and today. Today, because the ones we caught yesterday managed to escape. The roosters are not tame. The air was filled with the sounds of strife. [We had placed a "free' ad in the newspaper, to get rid of our superflous young roosters which squall at unearthly hours of the night.]
Folks came today to take them away. I sweetened the deal with some hens for sale, also.

Thanks to my newest follower, Eruanna!!!

Last night's folk dance was very fun, although sadly there were only four teens including myself [mostly younger kids and senior citizens]. The large core group of die-hard folk-dancers that never miss a class was conspicuously absent.

I came home and made a midnight snack of raisin bread and Brie and reheated spaghetti from dinner. And lemon cucumbers and tomatoes. Spent way too long on the computer, replying to blog comments.

Made and received a few calls about theatre business, today.

After a stint of yard-work, I took a lengthy bath. I haven't taken a bath in months. Now don't panic, dear peeps. [By the way, the word "peeps" has only come into my vocabulary in the last 6 months. It refers to friends/people/pals. I like it.]
 Where was I...oh yes. I shower instead of bathing. But my shower can beat your bath in terms of length every time, hands down. 30 minutes, easy.  But then not everyone is gifted with the excuse [used to propitiate irascible family members] of having two feet of hair attached to one's head.

And I nerved myself to write the climactic latest post in the role-play over at The Legends Live. A romantic bit, just in time for closing ceremonies on Wednesday. Awwwww. *sniff* A happy ending.

Also I made a header for Kendra Logan--check it out! [Actually she found the pic, I just did a few tweaks on the font/colors and border.] Perhaps I should advertise custom headers like Olive Tree does.....but I don't really have time! I do love working in Photoshop though.

Two rehearsals this week, including [hopefully] a swing-dance rehearsal on Saturday....and omigosh! Birthday! I don't know why I'm excited, actually. All year I've been saying that I don't want to be 17.

Tomorrow Co-op Sale Day is also on the agenda [very devious]. That involves shopping lists, reuseable bags, and goat milk and sundry other goodies.

DINNER........

Did you want the last of the Brie...? The last! How much was there?!

Drove to Eugene today. We went to Borders Books, and Trader Joe's [the two main attractions in Eugene]. At TJs I selected a nice creamy Brie, and a carton of Greek yogurt with honey. I managed to consume the greater part of the [sizeable] chunk of Brie on the way home, with chips.

When we got home there was a flurry of calls regarding various theatre affairs. My mom, picking up the phone for the third time, said "Bonjour", assuming it would be for me. It wasn't; it was somebody else entirely. I went into hilarity.
The upshot of it was that my friend and co-conspirator Eva is coming over in half an hour, to discuss matters, before I head off to FOLK DANCE!!!!!! The first folk dance in quite a while. Yayz!

I am trying to decide what to wear to folk dance, too: my [current] red plaid wool skirt [one would think it would be too hot, but it's pretty short] with grey t-shirt, or perchance one of my long plaid shirts over my hand-distressed blue-jean cut-offs. Hmm....we must consult with Vienna on this.....does anybody else on here read Pogo Possum cartoons??????!!!!!

I just had the most fabulous idea for another award, too. :)  For all Sydney Carton/Tale of Two Cities fans [particularly fan-girls :P] out there! Coming soon to a blog near you!

Take 2

Yes, allow me to present....um, whatever it was that I was going to present. I hit Publish instead of Save, whoopsies.
Thank you to my 3 new followers!!!!!!! Liberty, Cassie, and Kevin Atteridg!!!

So anyway,  my polls are indicating that the general populace (my beloved Readers) would like More Humor, More Photos, and More Writing. 
There is a two-way split between More Posts and Less Posts.  I assume that some want to see more of my briliance, and some think I am overloading their dashboards.
 I am glad to see that no-one requests that my posts be marred by any more seriousness; that would be a gloomy day for all of us, me not least.
Also there is demand for Bethie Getting Nostalgic, and More Mentions of Other Bloggers.
It is with that last request that I comply with now.

Some may have noticed that my last post [scroll down!!!] elicited an interesting string of comments [read them!!!]. It even inspired a post by the splendid Danzibar, on a topic which my readers [specially the older element] will find interesting. Also my good friend Scotland has been posting recently on the same subject. I invite you to check out the well-thought-out and somewhat philosophical musings in their latest posts.

I will endeavor to mention a few blogs each post! The more comments you've left, the more likely it is that your blog will be mentioned! :)

Lessee. Yesterday was not even typical of the random excitment associated with Bethany-the-amazing. Friday night I had resolved to walk to the Grange in the morning, to help out with the work/paint/etc day which began at 8 AM.
The Grange is about a mile from my house, if you take the picturesque shortcut over the fields.
At around 3 in the morning I was awakened by excessive rainfall outside my window and decided to be wimpy and not walk. [remember that I have never bicycled in my life]  But when I arose at 6:45, I was as determined as ever to cover myself with glory [and rainwater] by walking.

I did.
The rain had thankfully slacked off a little. I encountered a coyote at one point, but nothing else untoward occured. The folks at the Grange were, as predicted, awed [heh] by my fortitude. I wielded a paintbrush there for a few hours, and then my dad picked me up and we headed to farmers' market, in the rain which had picked up a bit. Got another flat of tomatoes, which occupied me all evening. Stopped in at the natural foods co-op and got some chocolate, then over to Dairy Mart for cheap cream.

I came home for a quick lunch and then it was off to the Grange again, for play rehearsal. That went well and swiftly.
After that we did a few more miscalaneous things and I came home to deal with the tomato-sauce making. I also had to deal with roosters in the plural. Catching them, in fact. Not fun.

Went to Home Depot and the co-op [again] in the evening. Bought some cheese-curds yum yum!
Then I stayed in the blog world way too long, checking peeps' blogs, and replying to comments on my own. I switched to the New post editor-----does it have spell-check?? I can't find it!! Gah!

The weather is being nasty. It's pouring rain and chilly today. My dear friend Eva is, alas, camping. She is being rained upon. I do not envy her the joys of pitching a sodden tent, attempting to dry things out after being rained on all night, huddling in the van trying to stay dry. I speak from the pinnacle of painful experience.
It's windy, too. This reminds me of one happy incident that I was thankfully not a witness of. 'Twas during the last week of school, when I was taking a few classes at a private school. We had just got done with Mini Sessions and one group had gone camping.   At the final assembly the teachers were regaling the appreciative crowd with anecdotes.
The boys' camping group: "We remembered the tents. The tent-poles, on the other hand, were left behind." [Hilarity from the audience] "We were trying to rig things up with duct-tape"

I do so hope that it is dry next weekend, for my birthday festivities. There is to be a Party of Special Magnificence, on Saturday night. I wish you all were here!!!!!
I am not a flower-buyer, but I intend to pick out a nice boquet for myself at the market on Saturday, one of the lovely brilliant orange-and-pink-and-yellow concoctions sold by the little Peace Seeds stand that I emoted about in my last post.

Allow me to present...

two things you didn't know about me

1. My left ear is seriously messed up. For some reason it's always the one to get water in it when I shower. And earbuds never stay in the left ear. Ever.

2. Today I came *this* close to eating a spider. A big one, too. It was on the other side of a blackberry that I had just popped into my mouth. " !!! That does not feel like a blackberry!! Phutph!" Note to self: inspect all sides of blackberies before eating.

3. [Yes I know I said "two things". No such luck.] I am very paranoid. There's no room in my profile for this [darn thousand-word limit!] but I thought you ought to know it. Especially in the health realm. Somebody coughs in a public place and I will unobtrusively but swiftly move away. Hand-washing is epic. I don't really care about some things, though, like sharing food with a friend or hugging a goat. Or drinking raw milk or undercooked eggs. But don't even get me started on the dangers of raw meat!

Another little quirk of mine is personal safety. That was aquired this spring when I hung with some very self-defense-oriented peopleses [don't you love the word "peeps"? so handy], which really increased my awareness. I'm going down the street with a friend in the evening and I pop my head slightly around the corner of shop-doorways before going by. I do that inside buildings, too. You never know who's going to be waiting there. When I pass a dubious [which in my book means anyone bigger than me] personage, my near elbow is slightly out and raised, ready for a swift defense.

I'm taking a self-defense class the October. I took a one-night class last spring and I came out of there and punched a telephone-pole [wooden, of course].

Check out the cute lil maters! They have noses!

I stole a tag from Kendra Logan: the finish-the-sentence tag.

I like: the Betsy-Tacy books [more about that further down]

I like: herb teas

I like: pasta in any form

I like: being around people who are younger and sillier than myself [in moderation]

I like: making movies [I really need to post about that!!]

I like: using brackets instead of parentheses. It started with my messy handwriting, because a parentheses looks exactly like a C. And it's easier in typing, too, because you don't have to press the Shift key.

I like: Big River restaurant

I like: the way Borders Books smells [coffee and paper]

I like: talking with somebody when you know exactly what they mean, when everyone else doesn't

I like: the words epic and awesome, which I overuse

I loathe:

-clothing that's not cotton

[forget all the "I loathe"s. Plain list.]

-being sick [don't we all]

-not being able to use the right muscles in ballet class [grrr!]

-news-people and general populations that treat Obama like a father-figure, a super-star, or a national treasure

-anything pink-and-shiny-and-girly [for the most part]

-glitter [I can't stand the stuff. Yuck. And as for girls using the stuff as make-up, I've got just nothing to say to that.]

-the male element which allows their Fruit of the Looms to show above their skinny jeans

-big cities, especially Detroit

-when you're talking on the phone with somebody and the connection is bad and you can't understand what they just said but you hate to ask them to repeat it

-clay soil!!! Specially when it's early spring and you tilled it too early and it clumps on the bottom of your shoes

-cleaning supplies/make-up/shampoo etc full of dangerous chemicals, and when people won't take a moment to consider how toxic these things are.

I tag anybody who wants to do this! Leave a comment to let me know if you did it, I'd love to read it! :)

Oh yes, I said I'd talk about the Betsy-Tacy books. Total chick-flick material. Set in the early 1900s, about three girls called [you guessed it] Betsy, Tacy and Tib. The four high-school books are my favorites. That's what high-school is supposed to be like!

Mushy, in spots. Very enjoyable and humorous. Anything by Maud Hart Lovelace is good, actually.

Hmm. The sky is darkening up and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Lovely, for all the Grange members [me amongst them] who are supposed to be having a work party over there tomorrow morning. Not to mention rehearsal at 1 pm.

Also: Kendra is holding an event on Sep. 26 called Followers Say, at her second blog Carpe Noctem, where all you interested viewers will be allowed to post for one day on varied political/philosophical-type topics. Check it out!! Looks fun.

Ah yes, time for a memory, as requested by two beloved voters in my latest poll [please vote].

Teehee. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a memory, straight from Bethie's unlimited supply thereof. "

Last December. I had just got my lovely green cloak and was wearing it with pride and joy.

My grandma had just broken her hip, lamentably. She was in the hospital just before Christmas. We became especially ticked off at the medical staff, for one reason and another. She couldn't even go in for surgery for nearly two days, and there were other, worse, incidents. Suffice it to say we were glad when she was able to get home [the nursing home where she stayed briefly was even worse].

Just wandering, here.

Anyway, my dad and I went into south-town one day, as I had to deliver some dance-instructions to one of my worthy cohorts in preparation for the movie. South-town, as it's known around here, is a very interesting place. Poorer, in places, than the rest of my fairly affluent town. But nicer too, in parts. If I had to live actually in town, South-town is the place I'd choose.

Down by the river there are various organic homesteads.

We do have trouble finding places down there, however. My dad, who delivered mail way back in the day, says he'd always have a few letters left over and would never know where they belonged. We had issues finding a place on the garden tour there, last year. And it proved nearly impossible to re-find the cob [mud] building with three whimsical little pigs sculpted on it [I told you it was a cool place]. Yes, we have our own Bermuda Triangle right here in the old home-town.

Then we attempted to find Mushroom's house one day last fall, going by the phone-book. Mushroom, as he's fondly known, is one of my dad's friends, a distinguished seed-breeder and organic gardener who abandoned a degree in biochemistry [I believe] to live in a little house in South-town, with a room entirely filled with seeds in hand-labeled packets, and a formiddible collection of botany books, and that's not even mentioning the gardens. All kinds of fruit, vegetables, flowers. The marigolds are amazing, three feet high. His daughter and son-in-law have a little [and occasional, alas] stand at the farmers' market, where they sell neon-colored flower boquets and cherry tomatoes and marigold wreaths and Long-pod Major Fava Bean seeds. In other words, awesomeness incarnate.

Yes, well, anyway, we had a hard time finding the place. There was one place [with a tin roof, and a natural, happy, hippy look to the landscaping] that looked possible, but proved not to be it.

The actual place is a large sprawling house [warm and dark, and fragrant with soup, the night we were there] with surrounding yard. Winter squash and garlic drying in the porch, cats everywhere, apples and pears under cover in the backyard. Anyway, we went in, and chatted, and bought seeds, including one for an eating pea with purple flowers.

But that was not what I started out to talk about. As I said, on the day before Christmas we were trying to find this other house in south-town. We'd previously searched with nothing to go on but the phone-book address [I couldn't get in touch by phone] and that involved me going up to the wrong house once. The place is set back considerably from the road, and can only be reached by a little bark-chip path winding between garden beds. No cars allowed: right in the middle, where it would be tempting to drive up, is a TV antenna, of all things, lying on the ground. I finally did get there, cloak wrapped around me, and delivered the minuet instructions.

Happy times.

I've got a feeling that Memory Day [another Kendra idea] will be no hardship!

And what do you think of the new [albeit probably short-lived] header?

tomatoes! and tags!

First off: Thanks to Cavender James, my awesome 30th follower!!! Woot!

And check out the two new polls in the sidebar. One on what you wanna see more of, here at A Selection of Varied Topics [other than, well, a selection of um....varied topics], and the other is on where all my beloved visitors/followers are from.

Yes folks, we are rolling in [and on?] tomatoes. Yesterday at the farmers' market I bought two whole flats of Romas, and our bushes are producing too. Last evening I had a grand slicing and squeezing and simmering. There were two huge pans [no. Cauldrons. They demand to be called cauldrons] simmering on the stove. I couldn't resist quoting "bubble, bubble, toil and trouble" as I stirred the gurgling contents of the cauldrons [I like saying that word] with a too-short spoon, at great peril to my hands from flying tomato sauce.

A side note here: say the word "dweeb".

Yes of course out loud. Right now, sitting in front of your computer screen.

Now that your parent or sibling has said "Huh?", you have broken into embarrassed laughter, and have become pretty fed up with me, I shall explain. 'Twas at one of the famous get-togethers of The Big Three [Eva, Dallan and guess who], whilst we were trying to think of an insult for the play-script we were writing. It came up that "dweeb", while manifestly inappropriate for a production set in the 30s, is nevertheless a very fun word to say. Try it. [Oh wait, you already did.]

Now that we've got that out of the way, we can move on to more pressing business, such as Tags. I've been tagged a grand total of three times in the last couple of days: Rose gave me the "hopeless romantic" tag which I did a month or so back but I don't mind doing it again :P And Olive Tree and tinydancer both tagged me the same day, hehe, with the "3" tag. Three favorite characters; one pic of each; three things about them; shall we be overeager and tag three people?

So! Hopeless romantic first. I'll repost some of what I did before. And really, Rose's answers are identical to mine almost all round, and better phrased :), so go check out her post!

What two qualities do you want most in your future husband? Being able to apologize when he's wrong (something I struggle with) and, definitely, being a survivalist. I think that's going to determine a lot of things, in the coming years.

Is there a fictional character you see as a model for your future husband? Hmmm. No. Well, maybe Flagan Sackett, from Louis L'Amour's western novels. [Since I wrote this a few months back, I've figured at Aragorn is pretty awesome...]

Where do you want your wedding? I don't know...garden? Top of Mary's Peak?

What are your views on courtship?Nice idea. Don't know if it's going to happen.

[here's what Rose said, which sums it up perfectly] I think that courtship as opposed to dating is a very good idea. It seems much more family oriented, instead of just couple oriented. I'd like to get to know his family well, and i want him to get to know my family. Of course a couple of "dates" on our own would be fine with me.

What are your views on your first kiss? [Again, here's Rose.] Well, i'm not so sure i like the "wait until my wedding day" idea. I mean, it's a nice idea and if my future spouse wants it that way then i'll probably agree, but i don't really care for that. I'd really like my first kiss to be right after he says "Will you marry me?" and i say "Oh certainly you most wonderful man! I'd go to the ends of the earth and back with you!" Or something like that. Knowing me i'd probably just say "Yes" and burst into tears. So yes, the first kiss when i get engaged, and then wait until the wedding.

Do you have or want a purity ring/locket? Nyet. I'm not married. I'd feel sort of hypocritical wearing a ring on my ring-finger. I hope I can stay pure without a ring!! Mmf.

Do you have or want a hope chest? Why??? A nice collection of seeds, towels, cook books is far more practical! When I'm on that ranch in Montana, I won't be wantin' no fancy carved chest!

Will you wear a veil at your wedding? Natch

What kind of wedding dress do you want? Hm. Medieval?

What flowers do you want in your bouquet?Lavender and roses and wheat.

What do you want to name one of your daughters? Anne--my middle name.

What do you want to name one of your sons? Husband's middle name

Do you believe in the 'knight-in-shining-armor' view of courtship? Erm...sort of. But I'm no princess and I don't want a prince. Let's say more the 'cowboy with one hand on the Bible and the other on his six-shooter' view.

What music do you want to play at your wedding? Theme from Lord of the Rings! And probably country. Yes, definitely. And something hoe-down-ish for the party. Ahem, there is more I could say in this vein.

Are you a hopeless romantic? I wouldn't say so. Hopeless country western romantic, maybe so!

And I tag [um]

Kendra

Olive Tree

Bracie

On to the "thr3e" [sorry, couldn't resist] tag!

I've got too many favorite characters to choose between.

Here's Anne Shirley

1. She accidentally dyes her hair green [trying for a nice raven black, of course]

2. She's terribly poetic

3. In the movies she's played by the lovely Megan Follows who is perfect for the part

The three chickies in "Ballet Shoes"--Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil

I could cheat and just put one thing about each of them.

1. Posy is the wonderful dancer I always wanted to be.

2. Pauline is prob. the most like me, she's a fabulous actress

3. All three girls go to dance and theatre school during WWII

I just found out there's been a movie made, I want to see it so bad!!

Benjamin Martin, memorably played by Mel Gibson in "The Patriot":

1. Law-abiding farmer

+

2. Nasty plundering troops

=

3. Epic warrior

...need I say more?

That tag goes to

Ophelia

Bracie

Equus Delirus

Hmm, sorry Bracie, I just realized that I tagged you twice....I'm not going to change it now though! :)

Other stuff: I got someone to agree play the villain in "Two Tophats and a Spy"!!! Yayz!! Our other actor fell through. Rehearsal Saturday.

Went to the library today. Never, I repeat, never, read the opening chapters of "The Stand" whilst standing in the library. Every person who passes you while coughing [and there were several] will add to your mounting paranoia. GULP!!

I can't believe only two people commented on my last post!! Especially the "reader input requested" bit at the end. I really do want to hear your camping stories!! Post post post!

I think I'll make the "comment on random topic" thing a weekly event. We'll call it Reader Wednesdays. [Sort of stealing Kendra's idea here, hah]

get your blog posts in bulk!

I was trying to think of a post title....[such pressure--stage fright--writers' block--augh *throat seizes up, and she falls over*]
and I remembered a random thing that happened to an email I sent, the computer turned the title into something like "BULK re:off we go" and the bulk bit struck me as funny because I do write emails in bulk. That is, they're simply packed with info, anecdotes and so forth.

So yeah! I was reading a really interesting post over at Carpe Diem and it reminded me of something similar. I started off on a long-winded anecdote from my own troubled past [ insert your tongue in your cheek ] but I realized I might as well make a post of it. It was regarding favorite childhood spots being preserved.
Here goes.

At the church where my homeschool group met for about 6 years things have not been so happy. The church was expanding so much that they finally decided to renovate, and put in new parking lots and such.
Well imagine the sorrow when our lovely grassy field [it was about an acre] was graveled, and then paved, over. That field had been the site of many happy memories, playing soccer and tag and running races and such. :( Our grass shrunk to a measly patch and finally disappeared altogether. Fortunately we were growing up by that time so it wasn't so unhappy.

When I was about 11 or 12 my 4-H group [which included most of the homeschool group] planted some baby trees for a service project. They were ornamental cherries. This spring [5 years later] I became aware of how tall they were, about 15 feet and blossoming beautifully.

Then there was the curly willow. It was huge, had probably been there longer than the buildings. More fond memories.

This June, with church-expansion on the horizon, all the trees were lopped down. Need I say more??

Even that was as nothing, compared to the misery caused by a saw last spring, at the school where my dad teaches [yes I know, homeschooled daughter + teaching father = ?? It's a long story.] There was this nice wild cherry tree. We enjoyed its fruit [this was while I was taking French class there]. But last spring, about April, just when school-induced depression is at its height, the tree was cut down. Sure it produces tasty fruit. Sure it's not in the way. Sure you can cut it down.
Last week I observed that the greengage [a greengage is a yummy plum] hedge in our neighborhood was being trimmed viciously. Yes, it was somewhat intruding on the roadway, but couldn't the trimming have waited til after the plums were ripe?? sniffle
[have you noticed that I don't like it when trees are cut down? Do you want to share your thoughts? :)]

Play practice went pretty well. O dear, Dallan and Adam [the two main characters] are too funny! Afterwards the Three Musketeers [Dallan, Eva and myself] puttered about discussing various vital bits of theatre business. And chucked walnuts at each other [there are a bunch of walnut trees at the Grange].
Then Eva drove home, and Dallan and I started walking on the road home to intercept my dad-the-chauffeur. Hehe, we were successful hitch-hikers! :) Managed to Baa at the field of sheep, too.

You have to wear studs for 6 MONTHS after getting your ears pierced???!!! Oh, *conniption*! We went into Claire's [men, never ever go into a Claire's. Your retinas will become permanently scarred with images of sequins, pink, glitter, scarves, and little dangly things. Ghastly. You will die a horrible death-by-bling. As soon as we asked about the piercings I said "Okay, we are done here" and scooted.] Anyway, went in there to ask about ear-piercings. I don't like studs.
Oh yeah, we are talking about studded earrings here. Just wanted to clear that up. ;)

As a side note, I do not like the mall. Sort of creepy. The best part is Old Navy which can be accessed from outdoors. At Ross' I got absolutely caught in the cross-fire of two people sneezing/coughing. I scooted.
I scoot a lot.

This is the time when, if I were in a gloomy mood, I would diverge into a discussion of swine flu. I am not in a particularly gloomy mood, however, so you shall have to await that edifying topic on another day.


Say a prayer for California, folks! I can't imagine how awful it must be to be there with the fires and all. *shudder*

Hah, my mom just discovered a whole basket full of spare programs for the play "Mystery in the Highlands" that the homeschool group put on a few years ago. Dear dear, we rather overdid the program-printing! The house was less than packed. It was a fun performance but we forgot the lines a lot. Not unsurprising, as we were still practicing with scripts two rehearsals before performance.
That was the show where we had a pathetically small cast [about 7 all told]. There was one bit where a scrap of tartan fabric was essential to the plot and in its second scene it was MIA, somewhere backstage. Prompt freak-out on my part. ["Bethany! Calm down!"] But I managed to merely reference it in passing [hooray for ad-libbing lines], and that was okay.

Oh my, this is the 60-post mark! Buy me some roses, someone!

Oh yeah! I want to hear everyone's stories about the worst trip [camping or otherwise] that you've been on! Random I know!
Leave a comment! *steps back and rubs her hands whilst anticipating merry tales of mosquitoes, hotel rooms without AC, sick family members, lost cameras, and missed flights, tehe*

[As promised, I do feel better today :) which is good, as in a few minutes we're going shopping AGAIN, to return the shirts unhappily mentioned in the last post and attempt to hunt down other neccessary stuff.]



Later: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found some shirts!!! Happy day! And after only two solid hours of going into every clothing store on the face of the planet! [or at least in Heritage Mall, teehee]

I promise, I'll do the tags soon!!! :)

I've got to run off to play practice now....