Very Vague Theme Songs and A Note on Digital Cameras

Howdy, y'all. So how've you been? Hope you're well. Sooo, today's topic is: Theme Songs. i was thinking about this earlier today, and I thought it would be fun to try and come up with theme songs for all my buddies. Now, with my limited musical knowledge and small iTunes library, it might not work out all the way, so feel free to offer suggestions, contradict me violently, whatever. If you have a better idea for someone, just tell me, because it's quite possible that I've never heard the song before. I'm only using songs I know. I'm just doing this for fun.

Margaret: "Stayin' Alive", by the Bee Gees. There is no question about it, this song is 100% her. Well, actually, this and "Give Peace a Chance", by John Lennon. These are both songs that she introduced me to and they are just really HER.

Lexi: Knowing Lex, the best choice would probably be some extremely popular song which I don't know, but because of the aforementioned reason, I'll have to go with something else. The something else would probably be "The Quack", by Smoosh. this is not because it describes her, but because the song is zany and wacky and a private joke between us :)

since most of the people who read this blog don't know who Mags and Lex are, I shall explain. Margaret goes to private school, so she has no contact with you guys except at my birthday parties. Lexi goes to the same school as us, but she's a grade up. But both of them live in my neighborhood, and we became friends this way: first I met Margaret, then Margaret became friends with Lexi, then Lexi invited me over one day and we all became bestest buddies :)
Ok, this post is getting long, so I'll do a couple more people, do the note on cameras, then sign off :P

Kit: Kit gets 2 songs. "You Won't Succeed On Broadway" from Spamalot, and "Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc. The first one is obvious, just look at the lyrics: " You may have dancing mano-mano, You may bring on a piano, but they will not give a damn-o if you don't have any Jews!" The second one is just very Kit. For a lot of these, I don't have real reasons, but am just going on instinct.

Matt: I would have to say "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon. This is one of those songs that just seems to fit, and though there are probably far better ones, this is the one I shall put up. Maybe his hair played into the decision a bit.....

I'll do the rest of you guys later. One post can only be so long :) I think I'll have to edit this post maaaany times in the future, or maybe just make a lot of follow-up posts. Coming up with theme songs ain't easy.

So- digital cameras. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! :D I just got one for Christmas, and I am having sooooo much fun with it. I'm like a kid with a really expensive toy. But the reason I'm excited about it is because that now, I have a new way to record my world! I've always liked photography, and the digital camera I borrowed when I went to Japan just made me so happy. this one isn't as hi-tech, but is still amazingly fun. I realized this a while ago, but I have hardly any pictures of my friends! Of these people who I spend every day of my life with! Of course, their images are still imprinted firmly in my mind, but I'd like pictures to have, to hold, to shuffle through when I'm old so I can have a good laugh. A way to remember the good 'ol days, y'know? Hopefully I'll get some soon. Well anyway, here is a picture of my adorable puppy dog, Dory :)


Isn't she SOOOO cute???? I love her :) Anyway, bye guyz. Please comment! I love you all!!!

<3 Aliiiii the Magnificent

Christmas Shopping and Random Thoughts

So......both today (12/24) and yesterday (12/23), i was forced to go Christmas shopping by my dad. he insisted yesterday that i get my mom a gift, and today that i get my sister one. not that i have anything against giving gifts, I just did NOT know what they wanted (OK, i know my mom wanted a garden gnome doormat, but there is NO WAY IN HECK i am getting her one of those). i have problems like that - i want to get people gifts, but i don't know what to give them. There are some people whom i feel obligated to give gifts to, i.e. family and very close friends. Then there are the other-friends-whom-i-am-not-extremely-close-to-but-who-got -me-gifts-anyway. Sigh. The holidays are rough. But still, I was able to have some people over on Saturday, and I hope the pleasure of my company made up for any discrepancies, because of course it is such an honor to be in my presence. :D Aw, you guys know I love you. Hope that's enough of a present.

Anyway, another topic. Who here likes pins? I know I do! i'm not talking about the kind you use for sewing, i'm talking about the kind with funny slogans that I attach to my book bag. Here are some of my favorites (that I have seen, not necessarily on my bag.)

• Those who dance are thought crazy by those who can't hear the music.
• The best things in life aren't things.
• Well-behaved women seldom make history. (this is seriously one of my favorite quotes ever)
• Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing an idiot.
  
• One person can only do so much. (the only is crossed out - i can't replicate that, i'm no formatting wizard)

I only brought this up because i came upon some pins while (surprise, surprise) Christmas shopping yesterday. i think they are amazingly fun.

So, in conclusion, happy holidays everyone. Later this evening, I'll be off to drink hot chocolate, open a single present, read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" with my family, go to bed, and then wake up promptly at six a.m. using my still-existent childlike instincts. Enjoy your break, guys!

Love,
Ali

More Riddles! It's Brain-Strain Time!

Ok, since my last riddle was figured out within about a day (kudos to you, Tyler), I'm going to post a few new ones. If you think you know the answer to any of them, comment please!

Number 1:

I can sizzle like bacon,
I am made with an egg,
I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg,
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole,
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole,
What am I?

Number 2:

No legs have I to dance,
No lungs have I to breathe,
No life have I to live or die
And yet I do all three.
What am I?

Number 3:

An old man wanted to leave all of his money to one of his three sons, but he didn't know which one he should give it to. He gave each of them a few coins and told them to buy something that would be able to fill their living room. The first man bought straw, but there was not enough to fill the room. The second bought some sticks, but they still did not fill the room. The third man bought two things that filled the room, so he obtained his father's fortune. What were the two things that the man bought?

Good luck & have fun!

Love,
Ali

Riddles and Baking (Wait, what's the difference?)

hey, guess who? three chances, and your first two don't count. anyway....i have two subjects to post about in mind right now, but said mind tends to wander quite a bit, so don't mind any random interruptions.

Subject #1: today, i attempted a very grand feat. i tried....drumroll please.....to bake cookies, all by meself, with no parental supervision or advice. naturally, it was mildly disastrous. first off, i left the nuts out of the recipe. that doesn't matter very much though, and i don't like nuts. not in cookies, anyway. i also didn't put enough flour in, so the batter was more like really sticky play-doh than actual food. i rolled the dough into balls and put it on a cookie sheet. one 25-minute, 300 degrees Fahrenheit baking spell later, i was left with a really big, really flat mass of cookie-ish thing on the baking sheet. i put the tray down, then came back a minute later, forgot it was still hot, and promptly dropped it back on the counter. this caused all of the so-called "cookies" to shatter, not to mention giving me some annoying burns that i was painfully aware of for the next half hour. but, dear readers, here's the moral of the story: the cookies actually didn't taste too bad! they certainly didn't taste like they were supposed to, but more like really sweet shortbread. i put powdered sugar on them, left 'em to cool, and i'll be bringing some (or maybe most) of them into school tomorrow (that would be the 14th of December). hope you guys (those of you who i'll be seeing at school, anyway) like them!

Subject #2: Riddles!!! ok, who doesn't love riddles. nobody, that's who! well anyway, i have decided to host a contest of sorts. i'm going to put a riddle here, and you guys have a week (that's seven days) to figure out the answer. comment if you get it! the first person to get it right will....i dunno....i'll think of something. maybe i'll make some correct cookies and give them to you. i'll figure it out. so heeeeeere's the riddle! it's from Gail Carson Levine's book Fairest, and I think it's really cool.

"I sharpen ears
And weaken eyes-
Who am I?

Thieves love me
Though I steal nothing-
Who am I?

I linger long in winter,
In summer I'm too soon gone-
Who am I?

The silver queen rules me.
I light her candles-
Who am I?

Cereus is my flower,
The owl is my bird-
Who am I?"

ok, some of you are probably thinking "that's soooooo easy! what a lame riddle." if so, please keep your opinion to yourself and just enjoy it's poetic-ness. i may do something else like this again in the future, if i can think of a prize.

Ciao for now!
Ali

The Complete and Intimate Inner Workings of My Mind (In a way)

ok, well, the title sort of lies. i just wanna talk about the uses that i've been putting my mind to lately. for one, i'm trying to teach myself a bit o' basic spanish out of a library book. i just want to get acquainted with the language, because it's becoming so widely used. since i take japanese in school, i don't have the pleasure of learning from a teacher, so obviously i'm not going to get very far. but still, it'll be useful just to know some basic sentence structure, common vocab & phrases and the like. i will persevere!!!!!! anyway, just wanted to share that with ya guys.

another thing that i've been thinking about lately is.....well...everything. I do a lot of thinking normally. sometimes i just sit down and think. i think about how many people there are in this world. meditate on this, my dear readers - there are billions and billions of people who don't know that you exist. the same goes for you and others. a man in India could be getting run over by a bus right now. a girl in france may have just learned how to knit from her grandmother. stop for a second. ........ someone has just died. someone else has just been born. the next Mozart could have just signed up for his very first piano lesson. i guess what i'm trying to say is that everyone - yes that means YOU - should just take some time every day and let yourself feel what others are feeling right now. mourn with the grieving, laugh with the joyful. hope for the best and remember that everything will get better. peace out, dudes.

I'll be practicing my vocab if ya need me :-{ ) (i hope i have permission to borrow your mustachioed smiley, kit)

Adios,
Ali

Eduardo and the Room of Doom

so, you may be wondering who eduardo is. well, I am here to tell you that. said "eduardo" is a character that my friend, who i will call s-san for the sake of her privacy and cuz it sounds cool and secret-like, came up with one night. i was talking to her on the phone while she was IMing a friend of hers whom i am not acquainted with. I told her to tell her friend "s-san's evil twin says hi". she did, and then i told her to say "s-san's evil twin says 'have you ever eaten a crowbar?'". he replied "a crowbar?". "you know, the big metal stick with that flat end that you use to lever stuff up with." "who hasn't??" and thus, we replied with "eduardo hasn't!"
hence began the saga of eduardo.

we only have a few notes on eduardo's adventure epic so far, but i will reproduce them in full here so that the whole world can marvel at them.

• Eduardo
• Room of Doom
• hasn't eaten a crowbar
• can do anything except eat a crowbar
• has crowbar-eating sidekick named Antoinette
• has faithful chinchilla with funny-sounding name which is pronounced differently than it is spelled and a mohawk
• villain's name is the Ink Ninja (copyright Shamoo, another of my friends), and said ninja goes around smearing ink on people's noses and/or fingertips in the dead of night and during the school day
• Ink Ninja's (copyright shamoo) real name is Amy (another one of my friends!!)
• Ink Ninja (copyright shamoo) has a japanese-style ink brush that turns into a bowstaff, a knife, a sword, or nunchuks when you hit a button
• Ink Ninja (copyright shamoo) also has shuriken (a.k.a. ninja stars) hidden somewhere, we dunno where
• Ink Ninja (copyright shamoo) has some connection to the Room of Doom
• at the end, Eduardo finds a mustache that gives him the power to eat crowbars

so there you have it. it only proves i'm (we're) crazy.

in our English class, we have to turn in a paper soon. the paper can be on anything we want - we can write a story if we feel like it. so I have a diabolical plan to write down eduardo's story and hand it in for a grade. wish me luck.

lotsa love,
Aliiiiiii!!!!!!

Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

ok, now who here has heard about the new version of the movie "sweeney todd" that's coming out on December 17 or 21 or something like that? I want to see that movie soooooo bad! It looks really good. I mean, it's got a lot of great actors in it - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen. and, it's a musical, which moves it up even higher on my list. plus, it's about a homicidal barber! who wouldn't want to see that sort of movie? tell me that, folks! did i mention that Johnny Depp is in it?!?!?

well anyway, the basic plot of the movie is that there is this guy, Benjamin Barker, who is living a happy life with his wife and daughter, then this judge puts him in prison and takes away his family. consequently, he goes insane, becomes a barber, and starts slitting his customer's throats. he also has an accomplice named Mrs. Lovett who bakes the people he murders into meat pies. i know, i know, gory, but it still seems like a good movie. unfortunately for me, the movie is rated R for graphic bloody violence *sob* ah well, maybe my mom will still let me go to it. here's links to my 2 favorite songs from the movie (so far). they're called "a little priest" and "epiphany".

a little priest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REotp4Mw6AI

epiphany
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NZJy2BMbWc

i know some people say that the new movie looks like a piece of junk and that the old one is way better, but this one looks pretty good to me. sure i'm no diehard sweeney fan, but it doesn't seem like it messes too much up. but who am i to say, eh? and just cuz i feel like it, here's a pic from the movie:


the website of the movie is www.sweeneytoddmovie.com

that's all for now. and no, i am not being paid to advertise :D
Cheerio!
Ali

Blog titles and miscellaneous informative matter

it took me forever to come up with a title for this blog! seriously, i was asking my friends about it and i just kept revising and changing and blehhhh. some titles in consideration were

• Ubiquitous Zaniness
• Winged Pie, Mortimeriez, and All-Around Lunacy
• Temporary Mustache and Ubiquitous Zaniness

ok, that probable makes no sense to most of you. my friends and i have a lot of code words, i.e. winged pie, temporary mustache. ah well, we enjoy it.

so, you may be wondering (unless you already know) who is mortimeriez? well, first off, his name is not pronounced mort-ih-mer-eez, it is pronounced fred-er-ick. he is a fuzzy pink hedgehog (thus the URL), he's about 3 inches long, an inch-and-a-half wide, and 1 inch tall. That is when he is on his stomach, of course. Here is a picture:


no, the hand is not his. this photo was taken on a subway in Japan. Whoopee Japan! it would be much less blurry if it had not been taken on a moving subway. oh well.

well I think i've written enough for today. at least for right now. see ya all later!

Love from Ali