Dreams

I had these two fantastic dreams consecutively last night and the night before last. 

During my dream the night before last, Alwaysbored, Robot Wizard, and I had Ms. Merriman for English in the same period, and we made it a point of really getting on her nerves the first day back.  Well, long story short, we all got two detentions apiece.  Oh, and it's important that Ms. Merriman looked like Umbridge, but was wearing leopard print instead of pink like Umbridge would.  So anyway, my first detention (we were all doing separate things) was in the athletic department.  It was my job to wash the used, gym uniforms for the school.  As I worked, the words "I will love the Grapes of Wrath" etched onto the back of my hand.  That's when I woke up.

Then last night, I was pretty furious about the detention the night before, so I challenged Ms. Merriman (again wearing leopard print) to a duel.  I won (of course!), but during the fight, she cursed off half of my left eyebrow.  Robot Wizard told me that the curse was Dark magic, so my eyebrow would never grow back.  But then, all the sudden, Turtles was there singing "Bubbly," and my eyebrow grew back.  That was the end then.

"Breakout" came out today.  I bet Alwaysbored's pleased!  In case you didn't know, Miley is Alwaysbored's favorite artist!  =P  (Ha, ha, ha...)

Oh!  I made this fabulous blackberry pie yesterday.  It's delicious...

Tags: Life, Dreams, Sleep, Miley Cyrus, Music, Cooking

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Smoothies!!!

Ah... yesterday was nice.  I think it was the first day all summer that I had to myself.  I woke up, and decided to go with my brother to return some videos to the video store.  While we were out, I picked up fresh fruit for smoothies!  I made my first smoothies of the summer this week, which is really late for me.  Then we went to Cebolla's, so that was really good, too.  I love their chimichangas.

So far, I've made blueberry, peach, and banana.  The peaches weren't so good; they weren't quite ripe enough yet.  I have some kiwis and strawberries, but I'm deciding whether I want to use them in a smoothie or put them in a salad that I plan on making for dinner tonight.

I also finished all seven of the Harry Potter books.  Yay for me!  It was fantastic to read them all - very refreshing.  I've started a new book that my mom got for me while I'm in Florida, The Last Patriot.  It's a little bit confusing at the start, because it changes perspectives about every chapter, which are usually about three-seven pages long.  There was an assassination in the first chapter and a terrorist bombing in the fourth.  The author, Brad Thor, writes similarly to Dan Brown; they began their books almost the exact same way.  Not that I'm trying to judge Thor's book early, but I have a feeling he's trying to get some attention by piggy-backing off Brown's unique style.  He may be trying to prey off of America's recent "Oh my God - it's a conspiracy!" obsession.  All the same, it's not bad so far, so I'll keep reading.

I just read that this is the seventh book in a series on Thor's web site (where I got the picture).  Ha, ha... oh, well.  It reads as if it's a single or a first, so we should be good.

Tags: Life, Food, Restaurants, Smoothies, Books, Philmont, Scouting

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Midwest Politics and Mensan Purists

On my trip I had the privilege to delve into a lot of fascinating minds from a variety of Midwesterners.  I had one ultra-Conservative confide in me that it was to his great displeasure that the four Liberal, Supreme Court Justices were not murdered.  Another crew member from Huntington told me (and this is an exact quote), "All gays should be shot."  A different member of the youth would complain about how much he hated people, camping, and scouting in general to anyone who would listen.  He professed incessantly that he only went, because his mom made him.  He won the trip from a needs-based lottery, and told everyone he wished he could have just taken the money and spent it on something that he considered "worthwhile."  This guy totally redefined "ingrate" if you can imagine.

Then my disgust had its limits pushed even further this morning as I read this month's Mensa Bulletin.  A seventeen-year-old Mensan (Mensan) started an article with "Down here in South Florida..."  Maybe he's originally from the Midwest, too, but that's beside the point really.  What especially got my attention was an answer a reader sent to the magazine when it posed the question, "Is the information gap today growing, shrinking, or holding steady, and why?"  I was pretty suspect of the review from its start considering that reader Mr. John Bute began it with "I don't know if the gap between the educated and the masses is getting wider..."  Why the heck would you write an answer to the question if your topic has nothing to do with it?  (And even more importantly, why would Mensa Bulletin choose to publish the answer?)  Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Bute's response:

~ "...the last U.S. president who was clearly not a demagogue was Eisenhower."

~ "Demagogues enjoy this widespread success because the ignorant masses poison the democratic process with their mercurial, perverse personalities that are easily bent to the will of the demagogue."

<FONTCOLOR=#FF0000>~ "...innumeracy is the greatest single problem [among the masses]."

~ "P.T. Barnum said that it is immoral to let a fool keep his money."

~ "...it is social suicide to let fools have a say in government."

~ "Americans' liberties and prosperity are in danger from the political participation of the ignorant masses."

Did anyone but me notice the lack of anything that has to do with the status of the modern information gap?  Pretty crazy... Mensa should be ashamed for posting that in their publication.

Tags: Life, Conservativism, Liberalism, Politics, Magazines, Mensa, Scouting

Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico

"Wow," is all I can say.  My trip to Philmont was fascinating, and I'm sure I'll never forget it.  The scenery was fantastic - a nice change from Isle Royale surroundings.  The wildlife was amazing, too.  My first night I met a Diamond Back Rattlesnake, and I saw Black Bears during my last two days on the trail.

Philmont wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but it was good none the less.  The hiking was a bit of a joke sadly.  On four of the days, we averaged less than a mile per hour, which is definitely not a standard I'm used to, but the situation was not for me to handle.  I was looking forward to a good workout, especially after what everyone says about it being for the "best of the best backpackers."  I don't see how that can be true, though, when three of the nine youth in my crew had never gone backpacking before... whatever!

Unfortunately, I have broken a digital camera for the fourth time.  Before it shattered, however, I managed to take a fabulous panorama of Buck Creek, which a friend of mine will be assisting me sell to a local art gallery.  (The money will go to buying a new camera.)  I would post the picture, but I'm new to profession photography.  I don't want to break an ownership clause or something.  Anyway, my camera can still take pictures, and store them on the memory card.  Just the preview screen had busted on the inside, so you have to look through the little, manual window.

Tags: Life, Boy Scouts, Backpacking, Hiking, Philmont

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