Munch munch munch, said the vulgan

Another interesting conversation with Will this morning:

"Emily, that huge bird outside, eating the little bird - was that a chicken or a turkey?"

"Oh, that was a turkey vulture."

"What?"

"A turkey vulture - they eat dead animals."

"A turkey vulgan?"

"No: vulture."

"A vulgan ..."

"Okay, call it that if you'd like."

"We saw a vulgan! Just like Star Trek!"

I don't even know where he learned that term (okay, so I tease Ben about having certain Spock-ish characteristics. That might just possibly be where he picked it up).

~Emily

"I think they should just call them 'dogs'"

What is your idea of like a completely perfect Saturday?

Benjamin and I went to see Star Trek ... and then came home and played tennis. So awesome. So completely and utterly wonderful.

(Oh, and the movie was too. Ben wasn't sure he wanted to come but had a spring in his step on his way out of the cinema.)

Seriously ... what is your idea of a completely perfect Saturday? I would like to know.

The day had a little extra glow with this morning's conversation with William. I take it most parents eventually have the conversation about hot dogs with their kids? The why-are-they-called-hot-dogs talk? I find myself wondering how often the conversation goes like this:

"Emily, why do they call them 'hot dogs'?"

"Well, I don't really know."

"I think they should just call them 'dogs'."

I was kept busy today. In the unscheduled way. And that is just the way I like it!

The last couple of weekends were really busy, in the scheduled kind of way. This is something I also tend to like, but not as much.

Except for the upcoming voyage to Minnesota: this is one scheduled event that doesn't faze me by its being scheduled. Leaving on the twenty-fifth to see the Fiends (see http://fabulouslorraine.com)!!

William is watching a movie on the other side of the room. Ever since the paintings were rearranged, so that the smaller one is parallel to the television and the larger one above the sofa, I cannot see the film reflected in the glass. I keep glancing up out of sheer habit.

The smell of popcorn fills the house as Jack and William watch their film. I have to tell you ... things have been so wonderful since my ex-father left the house.

~Emily

Emily, The Purest Creature On Earth

Had a doctor appointment as bland as ... as ... well, I almost said vanilla ice cream, but not only would that be perfectly unoriginal, it would also be going against my opinion of vanilla ice cream. Vanilla is special. So mostly, the appointment was just bland. Aren't these people DONE with me yet?

Anyway. Went home and brought myself back to life with "The Trouble With Tribbles." It helped. A lot. Then tomorrow of course I have another appointment and I think by then I just may be too dead to bring myself back to life. Maybe someone else can do it for me?

I am taking the "What Fantasy Creature Are You?" quiz I found on Facebook (speaking of which, who ever knew Facebook could be so much fun? Er. Well. You probably did. I only just got an account and am very happy I did). Let's see.

One moment as I finish the quiz.

"When someone attacks you, how do you react?"

Can't I just scream or elbow them or something? I don't think I would "drown them or rip them limb from limb; use [my] inhuman strength [to] drain them of their life force; crush them with [my] powerful legs, and stab them with [my] weapon; strangle them with vines, burn them, drown them, crush them ...; scorch the flesh off their bones," or "cause their death with [my] good looks."

Huh.

If I had to choose one of them, maybe the last.

Kidding. Er. I was just ATTACKED, right? So I don't have much time for thinking, do I? So, let's say I would just ... This will take a minute. Moving on.

I chose the second. Can I give back their life force after I've gotten away from them? Does it hurt them to take their life force?

I wonder how much faith I should have in a quiz that contains the word "vegitables."

Here comes my result.

Unicorn. I am "the purest creature on Earth."

Right. Sure.

Otherwise it does sound surprisingly like myself.

Maybe now I should try "Which of the Seven Deadly Sins Are You?".

Or, I could read a book. This is the library.

I opt for book.

~Emily

Profile Update!

I think it's time to update the Profile. So I did. Things change fast at sixteen.

~Emily

Algebra, Fotoflexer, Why Beading (Like Shelving) Is Therapy, and Potential Pancake Wreckage

I had a dream that I posted a new blog entry. A sign? I can't remember what it said. Sorry.

I don't have anything much to say but feel I simply must post. Hmm. It's raining. I have a new bracelet on my wrist, one that I made - plus a ring (which was once a bracelet - but I didn't have enough wire to re-bracelet it, so I turned it into a pretty little ring). I am having enormous fun with my new jewelry hobby. It's therapeutic. It is actually a lot like shelving - a lot of concentration, but not much brainpower. So calming, so entrancing, so satisfying.

Oh, I have also been having more - much, much more - fun than I ought to with photograph-enhancement sites like FotoFlexer.

It's an avenue in Providence - some of the trees were a bit on the green side for October:

I've been reading "Impossible" by Nancy Werlin. It is wonderful and weird at the same time - and it gave me horrid nightmares; I'm not sure how I feel about this book - it's been taking some rather disappointing turns. On the other hand, there is still something morbidly beautiful about it.

I'll try and see if I can learn how to upload other photos from my overly-fun time on Fotoflexer and Picnik - for some reason they couldn't download onto my computer files, so I had to save them on Facebook instead. And then I couldn't upload the Facebook photos onto the blog, so, er, if anyone wants to teach me to do this, I would be happy to accept some instructions.

On a final note, I made William's pancake this morning and did not leave the insides sticky with batter or the outsides black and crumbling. Normally I'm like a teen sitcom character - the kind of cook that runs out of the kitchen in an apron and chef's hat screeching, "It's gonna blow!"

This has never happened to me. It will. I will post when it finally does. I will even try and take pictures.

Off to do some algebra. And then read. I need book time after algebra. (I had taken a long break algebra and I quite hoped that my brain might have improved while I was away from it, but of course it didn't.)

~Emily

Shelving is Therapy - and Why You Should Click to Give

I feel like a teen just sitting here at this little laptop in this little library. Sometimes I feel older than other kids I know, and right now it just feels good to be, like, your typical high-schooler pitter-pattering away on the laptop.

Although my mind is programmed as, "I should not be sitting here having fun on the computer. I need to work: shelve, check in, answer the phone." But Wednesday is not a storytime day - I am free to hang out. I'm so used to being here on Monday and Friday to help out.

Library work, I think, is therapeutic - checking books in has kind of a rhythm to it; and shelving, especially, requires a lot of concentration but very little brainpower. Perfectly soothing and steadying.

I think I'm starting miss it a bit. I definitely feel a prick of jealousy for the volunteer who is shelving now. I think she sort of has to do it, as, you know, a signed-up volunteer, rather than a walk-in one such as myself (Mondays and Fridays are not really walk-in days - I've been working at story hour for five years and am not about to stop this wonderful three hours a week!).

So anyway, Happy Earth Day. I'll repeat what I said on St. Patrick's Day - my blog is terribly green, is it not?

Please, please, please, please, in honor of Earth, will you Click to Give at The Rainforest Site? - http://therainforestsite.com. The more Clicks, the more money goes to conserving our pretty chattery creepy wet green forests. There are all sorts of organizations on the site - child health, literacy, animal rescue, breast cancer, and hunger - as well as the rainforest.

I make an effort to do it every day and woul be enormously grateful if you did, too. You can pick one, or do all of them. Or just a few. It's up to you.

~Emily

Parrotfish Vs. Luna

After I read "Parrotfish" by Ellen Wittlinger, I wondered why on earth people kept comparing it - often putting it down in the process - with another novel about transgendered teens, "Luna" by Julie Ann Peters. So I read "Luna" (though the first Julie Ann Peters book I read was "Between Mom and Jo" which pretty much rocked) and finished it yesterday.

And here are ...

Reasons to like "Parrotfish":

1. It's a riot.

2. It will stay with you because it's hilarious AND touching AND infuriating.

3. The main character's first-person narration is pretty much priceless. Grady. Rocks.

4. It gave Benjamin the idea to get me a bottle of organic peppermint shampoo for Christmas.

Reasons to like "Luna":

1. It's intense and fascinating.

2. It's really multifaceted.

3. It rips at your heart really hard. You know ... in a good way.

I can't help it. I think I like "Parrotfish" just a little bit more. But "Luna" will never leave my heart.

~Emily

P.S. I just started another Julie Ann Peters novel. It's called "Far From Xanadu." Methinks this Julie Ann Peters is a really marvelous writer.