National Geographic

This is pretty amazing. I love reading National Geographic Magazine, and, even if you don't get it, you should check out the website at nationalgeographic.com/ They have pictures of the week you can put on your desktop as well as a lot of other neat things.

Wishful Thinking

I feel guilty for not posting, because I keep getting after Lauren and Bree for not updating their blogs, and mine is even more outdated. I don't really have anything interesting to say, though. I have been staying busy all day, between homework, practicing the piano, and doing driver's ed. It's enjoyable, though, for the most part. My brother's friend Ty has been here since after school yesterday, so there has been no little brother problems. I'm feeling a bit sad that neither of my good friends have been emailing me recently. Let's see if they read my blog, shall we? Happy Saturday.

"This Land is Your Land"

So I started piano lessons again today, as did my brother. He is currently practicing some new songs, including the title of this post. I have been assigned two songs entitled "Flying Leaves" and "Novelette." They are pretty difficult. I'll will let you know how it goes. I wrote a poem today, and have just decide to post it. Here goes:

Pen in hand, I make the dots. Marking on and on and on... Music pours in, Drowns the voices, Droning on and on and on... Dots won't do. The words spill out. Writing on and on and on... My words, like dots, Are different. Halting on and on and on... My dots don't work. Not soft or smooth, Flowing on and on and on... Edges rough Like character, Reflecting on and on and on... Smooth up close: It's all the same. Stretching on and on and on... Mirrors the people, Voices, faces: On and on and on and on... The difference is in the dots.

Rudy

My wonderful little brother, who you have been hearing about with regard to the peachie poker tournament, yesterday competed at the regional hoop shoot contest, having already won the local and school competitions. Unfortunately, he took fourth and therefore didn't place, but he did a great job, and, I thought, deserved mention on my blog. I was hoping to scan the photo from the local contest, but our scanner is not working, so this will have to do.

All the Latest

I am terribly sorry to not have written in a while. I doubt many people are checking this regularly anyway. I have been uber-busy. I am glad to say that my 'Clouds in My Coffee' project is going well, there have been no updates on the Peachie Poker Tournament, my friend Lauren is, sadly, sick, I think I am going to take up piano lessons again, with my other friend Lauren's teacher, and I have a knowledge bowl meet tomorrow. That is all the interesting news, but I, also sadly, don't have a picture to go with it. By, the way, if you don't know what uber means, it is a German word meaning over that is slowly making its way into common English usage. I hope everyone is avoiding sickness, besides Lauren, who is not. Hey, I wrote a poem in fourth grade called The Sickrush. If I ever have time I will put it on here. Toodles. P.S. Uber is supposed to have an umlaut, which is two dots, over the u, but the computer will not let me do that. Sorry.

Peachies #3: Poker

Well, my brother is in the semifinals of the Peachie Poker Tournament: Still in it are Benny, Bobby, Priscilla, Suzanna, Prairie Rose, Little Fish, Little Bug, and Daisy. As not all of the peachies have had the honor of being scanned, here are Little Fish and Bobby. As a matter of interest, Little Fish is in second grade, and his girlfriend's name is Swimming Otter. Bobby is in fourth grade, he is a mechanic, he's married to Lillyanna, and in addition to his two daughters Mandy and Luanna, he is now the proud parent of Millie, which is what we decided to name the new girl pictured earlier.

Hugh Laurie

Well, it's Friday. Friday the thirteenth, actually, but I am not superstitious, and that didn't seem to have any affect on my day. I do seem to have the most problems on Fridays, though. Problems as in depression about where I am in life and where I'm going. I guess it's because it's the only day of the week I'm not having to rush to get everything done for the morrow, so I actually have time to think. To be truthful, I hate thinking. On that subject, I recommend the poem 'Astonishment' by Wislawa Szymborska, which we read recently in our English class. On a lighter note, my mom and I are about to watch a Jeeves and Wooster. This is, as you can see, the promised post on Hugh Laurie. If you have ever seen the TV show House, Hugh Laurie plays Dr. House, the cynical, awful, hilarious, great title character. As Bertie Wooster, however, he is much younger, clean shaven, goofy and way, way, way more hilarious. The picture in the upper left is Laurie as Wooster, and the picture in the upper right is Laurie as House. After watching a few Jeeves and Woosters (available at your local library) I also highly recommend reading the original books by P.G. Wodehouse.

"I had some dreams–they were clouds in my coffee..."

Do you know that Carly Simon song? It's 'You're So Vain.' I had an idea for a drawing project we have to do, and I am calling it that. The idea is a teacup with steam coming up, and three human figures floating in the steam, which is intermingling with rain falling from the clouds up above. I have no idea where that idea came from, but we are supposed to do it with pointilism in ink. If the composition turns out I will scan and post it, but it will probably be several weeks.

Profile Sadness

I have been having one heck of a time trying to upload this picture to my profile, so here it is anyway. The picture is from last spring, and I used it in the slide show played at our eighth grade continuum. It is the best picture I have on the computer, even though I rarely straighten my hair anymore. Thank you to Breanna for that!

Peachies #2: New!!!!

Thanks to my dear friend Lauren, we have recently (today, in fact) acquired these adorable new peachies. We are thinking of naming the boy Benny, but the girl's moniker remains a mystery, and if you have a suggestion for either of them, we eagerly await your declaration of it. Please comment. (This photo is also courtesy of Lauren, as is the idea for a naming contest. I highly recommend you visit her wonderful blog at lmbell.blogspot.com)

Book to Read + Movie to Watch

Sense and Sensibility: I finished this book on Friday night, and watched the movie last night, and, as it was enjoyable, I thought I'd recommend it. However, I would not recommend either the book or the movie, but especially the book, to everyone. If you like classics, or romance, or old English writing, then you should read it the book. Otherwise, probably not. The movie, however, is slightly more interesting. I would recommend reading the book before watching the movie if you like to know what is going on and what is going to happen, but if you like suspense and sorrow, watch the movie without reading the book. The book is slightly difficult to understand at parts, owing to the aforementioned old English writing. I, personally, liked the movie better. It stars Emma Thompson as Elinor, Kate Winslet as Marianne, Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars, and Alan Rickman (Snape in Harry Potter) as Colonel Brandon. Also, if you happen to know anything about Hugh Laurie (who I love), he has a minor role. More about him later.

Peachies #1: Hannah

We are on the verge of getting a digital camera, but as of yet we don't have one, so the pictures I have are limited. This is Hannah. She is about eight inches tall, with a plastic head and limbs and a body filled with 'beans.' Hannah was the first ever 'peachie,' a term coined by my brother and I. We now have thirty peachies, fifteen white ones, thirteen Indians, and two blacks. My brother is currently holding a peachie poker tournament. By the way, this image of Hannah was obtained by scanning her. I never would have thought that scanning three dimensional objects could turn out so well!

Welcome!

My name is Erika, and, as you can see, I have just created a blog. My guess is that if you are reading this, you know me personally, so the introduction was unnecessary, but that's all right. As of now, I have no idea what is going to make its way onto my blog. I hope to include book recommendations, recipes, and interesting news, as well as things about my life. So, again, welcome! I hope you come back soon.