We just discovered something really cool around here. Miss B. can play Ingrid Michaelson’s songs on piano by ear! Ingrid has really simple and repetitive arrangements, which makes them easy to decipher. (They still sound really pretty though. Simple does not mean it doesn’t sound good! It basically means she plays piano like how a guitar is usually used, just for chords. So all Miss B. has to figure out is what chords she is playing in what pattern and it’s usually the same for the entire song.) I am SOOOOOOOO excited. I don’t play piano but now I want to learn, considering I can’t sing. Sam refuses to sing the lyrics which I think is mean. I think she is just doing it to spite Miss B. though, just to get a reaction. Hopefully!!
She can play “The Chain” and “Sort Of”. When she was trying to figure out “Sort Of” some random guy came up and decided to play this intense arrangement by ear… but Miss B.’s accompaniment was correct. Um, score. Piano hogs are annoying.
So – “Sort-Of”, an example of how Ingrid’s new songs are mastered and basically how she can’t play piano. But, she’s still amazing and that makes it way easier for us. You can hear the notes really well in this video.
OMG LEISH. My favorite disease… MB asked me for a weird favorite so of course I had to bring this one up! Leishmaniasis is kind-of awesome because I can pronounce the name and recognize it and it’s rare AND a tropical medicine diease so doubly awesome. Don’t look it up if you get squeamish.
Soundtrack? The Weepies. Something Sam and I actually agree on. Sam loves folk, and I love weird indie stuff, especially weird lyrics.
If you haven’t been following the Confusing Clues Mini-Album series, here are the links to the prequel, and parts 1 and 2. We are taking pics of parts 3 and 4 today. Yes, the confusing clues are FINALLY answered! Oh, I can’t tell you? Say what?!
Sorry I haven’t updated in awhile, but there is truly nothing going on. Besides skating practice, skating practice, and skating practice. But really, what else is new in life? I have a doctor here too, who is not as cool as Dr. Kolberts but will do for the short times I stay in OH. Who knows if I will even be here next summer, if I’m off doing some internship thing…? Anyway, once we got home and unpacked from our 15-hour drive from good old Omaha, we all changed into casual summer clothes and went downstairs to hang out with some other OWT girls. I have to say, I am getting along really well with most of them. I doubted I would, but they are all really accepting and nice. I really like Kira; she’s going to be a college junior next year and is a ton of fun.
One of us is thinking about entering the Little Miss Playthings Contest this year. We’re not sure who yet. Hope really wants to do it but Sam thinks I should. Honestly I don’t see why – okay, I do think I’m a bit photogenic, but some of the themes seem a little daunting. Like “Lines”. I am not a photographer! And “Heroes” – I don’t really have one. But it would be a ton of fun, so I’m thinking about it. Then again, I don’t want to compete with Hope about it if it comes to that point (but on the other hand, isn’t she like the star of *everything*? She’d totally go off on me about being spoiled if I did this, though…).
I’m hearing some odd things from Baby-Ruthie. They have capes, and they say they’re investigating something that requires sneaking around at night. I don’t really want to know what they’re up to. They just got back from Chicago, so maybe it has something to do with that. Baby has told me she’s pretending to be “Narcissa”. From Harry Potter?! By the way, did you know her real name is Ruby? I didn’t. I don’t see why she goes by Baby when she has such a pretty real name.
Miss B. was rereading something she wrote about us. (That’s what she does: write down our stores. IMO that is way creepy, but whatever floats your boat.) Anyway, she read some of the convos I’ve had with people and she could not stop laughing! She was surprised I’ve been that funny! First of all, I try…but I don’t think I’m THAT funny. But seriously where has she been?! I do live with her! She thought it’s great that I use big words all the time and don’t use contractions for dramatic effect and that I quote songs. (Um, I quote songs on here 24/7!) Oh, Miss B.! We knew you were scatterbrained, but not to this extent…
On another note, here is a picture of me blogging, with Samantha.
Well, there has been some drama around here. The good thing is that I think I’ve finally started to make a friend. We aren’t very close yet, but Sam is really fun to hang out with. She has a unique taste in music and we like to compare what we listen to. We each like some of what the other likes. Right now Sam is on a 60s/classic rock kick and it’s all very bouncy, so we have dance parties! It’s a great time. Miss B. likes to join in the dance parties too.
Harper, though, I think is kind-of mad. She and Sam are supposedly best friends, but since I came Sam has been really nice and made a point to try to include me, while Harper and Hope are pretty cliquey and keep to themselves. Now that Sam and I are friends, all of a sudden Harper hates both of us. Or, at least that’s what it feels like. She and Hope whisper more then ever and shut up quickly when Sam tries to talk to them, and Harper and Miss B. had a “long talk” the other day. It’s really annoying. Why is it so hard to share friends?! It’s not like they never hang out. Sam always tries to include them both in our parties and things but now they’re busy or not interested.
So this weekend Miss B. took me with her while she stayed at a hotel with her grandparents on break. I didn’t really do much, but it was nice to get away from the drama here. On the way out, I heard her say something to Sam about “talking”. I think she expected Sam to clear up the situation since she is kind-of in the middle of it. From what I can tell, though, nothing happened. Harper and Hope are being polite but still not interested in hanging out with us, and Sam said she was really glad I came back. I want to go home, but this summer I am staying with OWT for some summer classes. I hope the people back there are not as cliquey, but from my past experiences they definitely are. I don’t know WHAT I’m going to do…
So tomorrow we are flying back to OWT for spring break and everyone’s going to be there. I NEED to get out of here! I have this one really stressful class with tons of reading… I’d go into it, but I’m just so tired of it that I don’t think I can talk about it anymore. Harper and I have been discussing it for the past two days. Hope is so lucky she doesn’t actually go to school here because it’s a requirement! And Sam is taking some classes to transfer for college next year but she’s just taking whatever she wants, not core classes.
I’m sorry I haven’t written for awhile… it’s this class! I know how I talked about how college was easier than I thought. Now I’m just frustrated! What’s more, I found out I have to go to the doctor to update one of my prescriptions which is going to be LOVELY. And I think a lot of – ok, ALL – the girls here are really nosy. I don’t need them to know what medications I’m taking. That’s totally private. To complain even more, I have to get a local doctor which is going to honestly suck. I like Dr. K. I wish I was going home for break too… as I’ve said, I find it so hard to get along with everyone.
Sorry for the short post; gotta pack.
Yesterday was at first disastrous. We played Truth or Dare, which – as Sam predicted – turned out horribly. I don’t know why, but they kept attacking me with really personal questions. They didn’t ask anyone else as mean questions. Most of the truths were more like “What did you really get on that test?”, which, compared to what I was asked, was pretty benign. Then Hope kept bugging me to be on her Relay for Life team, which I Do. Not. Want. To. Do. I’ve been asked to do it before and I just don’t think it would be fun. I was so glad we weren’t playing Truth or Dare then because I know they would’ve asked me why. UGH. But we got some really cute shirts in the mail that have Valentine’s Day sayings/pictures on them. Then Cupid Elmo flew over and gave us a Hershey’s bar that was decorated and said “From a Secret Admirer!” We were really confused and about to eat the chocolate when this red bull came up to us and started going on about how his love “burns like the heat of a thousand jalepenos”. It was pretty funny. Harper suspects he is one of Stitch’s friends sent over to bug us. A Secret Admirer – Album
OK, I was homeschooled, right, so I really don’t know too much about normal school. Well, everyone I kept talking to said college is really difficult. I honestly kind-of think that once you hit a specific point, the material doesn’t get that much harder (at least in subjects like history), just more detailed and specific. And you are just expected to think more. It’s not as bad as everyone made it out to be. Plus we have tons of free time. Miss B.’s friend gave her a scrapbooking kit and she said she might let me work on it. That would be so cool – I’ve never scrapbooked before. Hope is still trying to trick me into doing Relay for Life. I don’t want to. Harper said she is going to do it, and Sam said she probably will then too but really, I would just feel uncomfortable. Hope is totally pumped about it, Harper’s kind-of embarrassed (why, I am not sure), and Sam doesn’t want to leave me alone if she doesn’t do it, but I can tell she’s really trying to support Hope.
16 random things about me (idea stolen from Miss B.’s facebook):
1. I am a competitive ice skater and just placed third in nationals.
2. I have made my own ice skating costumes ever since I started. My mom and coach help.
3. I am really good friends with my coach, Coach OH!
4. It takes me a long time to trust people. I make friends pretty quickly but my very good friends are few and I’ve known them for a long, long time.
5. I am pretty outgoing and some people might describe me as brutally honest and/or blunt.
6. I am fascinated by medicine. I want to be a pediatric oncologist who specializes in leukemia.
7. Coach OH! is supposed to move to Omaha soon, but in the meantime I am working with a new coach who is really cool, but he’s really demanding. I like that in a coach.
8. If I had gone to “normal” school I’d have missed so many days I would have probably been kicked out.
9. This past spring and summer I sailed around the world with my venturing crew.
10. I was never a Girl Scout, but I did take ballet. Those are like the two essential elements of girlhood. I am back taking ballet now because of skating.
11. Miss B. has this box of popcorn on her shelf that she won’t share with me, and popcorn is my favorite food. When I smell it, I can’t resist making a bag myself or stealing some from wherever it is. It’s like an addiction.
12. Contrary to a lot of homeschoolers, I’ve never taken an online course. I like having someone there in person to teach me. I have taken classes with other kids before I came to college.
13. I’m not sure if I want to have kids, but I think it would be after I got my career established. But I do want a big white wedding. And to marry a lobsterman and live on an island in the blue bay. No seriously.
14. I am still waiting for a prince to come whisk me away on his white horse. I LOVE Disney films.
15. I like to go around singing random lines from songs, really off-key. Currently my favorite is “How Lucky We Are” by Meiko. It tends to drive people crazy.
16. I can tie every knot in the Boy Scout handbook, except for the noose. I refuse to learn that one, for obvious reasons. I love tying knots. Learning them can be hard at first, but really rewarding, at least for me.
Well, Miss B. did something really stupid the other day… she thought her class was at a different time, so she missed it! She said she was really embarrassed because now the professor knows her name and he doesn’t know anyone else’s name. But apparently he seems understanding. That is her Honors II class, and I am in the other one on Monday-Wednesday-Friday. I’m not really sure why I signed up for that one because I don’t have a lunch those days, but I like my teacher. Professor. I always forget to call them professors, unless I am talking to them, in which I call them Dr. ____.
Today in Creative Writing, we were talking about why we like writing, and what inspires us to write. I took that class because you have to have a writing class for pre-med, and everyone says comp sucks. Since I’m in honors it was OK to skip comp and take an upper-level course, and I think it will still count. Miss B. is an English major, so she bypasses any pre-med writing requirements. Well anyway, one person said they hear certain lines of lyrics, or a snippet of conversation, and those things stick in their head and they feel like they need to work them into their writing or come up with something similar. Usually for something to get stuck in my head, it has to have a good snippet of melody too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard something someone said that stuck in my head like that, unless it was a compliment I wanted to write down (like from Coach OH!), or a funny joke. So I guess I have! Anyway I kept racking my brain for what line I’d been repeating constantly, and I was just like… duh! “I know better not to be friends with boys with girlfriends, oh, I know better than that, I know better./You be the victim and I’ll play the bad guy, yeah I know better than that, I know better.” I’m like obsessed with that song.
Do you have any lines rolling around in your head right now? Miss B. said when “Love Song” came out, she stopped counting how many times in a row she listened to it at 30. She just couldn’t stop singing the refrain and thinking about what a unique idea it was.
Yesterday Hope’s friends and my classmates Harper and Sam arrived. I am not sure why they didn’t come with us but they stayed in Chicago a few extra days. Anyway. Here are the pictures of me and Hope that I promised:
Hope found this giant box and came to announce to me that it was there (like I couldn’t see it, as it was right in front of me…):
Then she jumped up on the box and told me to take a picture of her in front of our window that overlooks Omaha. I am not sure if I actually got any of the view out the window though since it was pretty far away.
Finally I convinced her to open the box and let poor Harper and Sam out! Except they were covered in tissue paper and looked like mummies! Sam tried to scare us.
And finally, here are all four of us at college. Yay!
Oh, and in case you were wondering… obviously I posted yesterday after finishing nationals and yes I did go to class, um, long story about how that worked out but… I got bronze! It was so exciting!!
To "flutz" is to screw up a lutz, basically, and it's the last thing you'd ever want to do at Nationals, Worlds, or Olympic Trials.
However, I have been known to flutz. Even double-flutz. We shall see.
"Flutzing to Vancouver" is a fictional blog told from the point of view of the character Cate Flannery. It does not represent anyone actually involved with US figure skating. For more information on the OWT Girls visit [here].
