LIFE IS GOOD

_{BEWARE! Random italicized German words will follow in this post.}

So, I was takin' college testing, and I was panicking because I somehow forgot how to divide.

WAM! Mom appears in the doorframe. She holds up a slip of paper:

DON'T PANIC, the paper says, in large friendly letters. Just like the Hitchhiker's Guide. It continues as she unfolds the parchment: It's all good. I love and adore you.

And suddenly this warm glow overcame me and I finished with college level reading and writing, followed by high school level math. Viola! Not that that has anything to do with what's going on right now, but I just wanted to proclaim how wunderbar my world really is.

Don't panic, world! It's all good! People love and adore me. I am so happy.

Now, I'm sick to my stomach thanks to too much of Momma's homemade pie, and I just saw videos of dear Mutter pre-meeting-Vater, and I just danced to some of my favorite songs (BREAKING BENJAMIN :D), and I just hung out with my dear Aunt Mars and Grandma and her BF, and I just partied like it was 2011 BABY, so I just wanted to say just how cool and sweaty and happy I am. No alcohol involved, I swear. (Dear Sis and I have a pact. But that's another post).

So. Life's cool. Life's great.

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY. I LOVE AND ADORE YOU.
You rock :3

Snow Patrol

I love this band beyond words. It inspires me. His voice is so soft and beautiful. The lulling beats are hypnotic (they make me think of The Phantom of the Opera, almost). The music just draws you in.

And then there's the lyrics. I look for song meanings despite the fact that I already feel what they are about; I just have a hard time putting it to words. Yet most everyone seems to think these are break up songs. I don't buy it. The ones that ARE about romance don't feel like an 'end' to me. More like a road bump. Like a row in the middle of a loving couple. That's what I love about this band-- how their lyrics portray the rough side of a relationship with someone you care about without being rid of the good side.

"It's beginning to get to me
That I know more of the stars and sea
Than I do of what's in your head
Barely touching in our cold bed

Are you beginning to get my point?
How all this fighting with aching joints
Is doing nothing but tire us out
No one knows what this fight's about

It's so thrilling but oh so wrong
Don't have to prove that you are so strong
'Cause I can carry you on my back
After our enemies attack

I tried to tell you before I left
But I was screaming under my breath
You are the only thing that makes sense
Just ignore all this present tense"

I mean, how beautiful is that? Don't get me started on 'Eyes Open', 'Run', or 'Chasing Cars'. Those songs make me cry. Then there's 'Shut Your Eyes', just about the COOLEST song EVER, and the bouncy 'Hands Open'. Anyhow, check Snow Patrol out. Seriously. The two albums I've heard of theirs rock.

Does anyone read my blog anymore?

Not that there's anything wrong with NOT reading my blog. I have been on an unannounced hiatus for what feels like forever. But now I'm curious as to whether or not anyone's stopped by and read up on my posts. Please comment and say 'hi' if you have!

On another note, I'm still practicing piano. I really love doing it now. I've even written a couple songs! One is music Dear Sister can sing to (she has a lovely voice) and the other is slowly coming along. I'm not sure what to do after the first few bars. Anyhow, we're working on our band together, and maybe one of these days we'll actually have an album. Yaaaaaaaaaay!

Music

Being a crazy, crazy teen, I've been VERY into music of late. Some of my favorite bands are Shinedown, Evanescence, Solas, Snow Patrol, Three Doors Down, Flyleaf, Breaking Benjamin... wonderful groups like that. I love music with heavy beats and a catchy melody, or pretty voices mixed with hard guitars and drums (Evanescence all the way), and Celtic I near always find lovely. I'm not a Lady Gaga fan, nor so much into hip-hop, rap, or country. But there are always a few good songs in every genre, at some point at least. Speaking of which, I have far too many favorite songs to list, but Rooftops is truly glorious, and you should blast that right now yourself. "... All the love, I've met - I have no, regrets. If it all, ends now, I'm set. Will we make our mark, this time? Will we always say, we tried? Standing on the rooftops, everybody scream your heeeeeeeeeart oooooooout..."

Did I mention I was a published author yet? Oh, wait, I have. *sniffs* There's a link on my sidebar if you want to check out my book ;-)

My First Dance

Last Sunday night just me and I went to a homeschool costume dance together (to clear up any false assumptions, I'll tell you now that we're JUST FRIENDS); Dear Sister would have come with us, but she isn't quite old enough yet.

Eventually we had fun... but at first I really didn't know what to do, the music was deafening, I kept tripping on my skirt, we didn't like any of the songs, we weren't allowed to go outside (to ESCAPE the noise and commotion!!!) if we wanted to come back in, and my hair fell out the moment a good song started to play(of course it was BEFORE we remember to get our pictures taken).

So my hair is a bird's nest, I'm feeling nausious from the "dancing" and we're both bored and a little lonely. We decided to get our pictures taken (for five dollars) before my costume got any messier, and we did--the lady was very nice and she said my smile was pretty, which made me feel good, though even now I'm sad about my hair. We still didn't want to go back up (anything to keep away from that noise), and we THEN found the room...

It was light peach and pink, with two cozy chairs and a vanity with a cushioned pink bench. There the music wasn't quite so loud, and even though we weren't allowed to keep the door closed (why, I have no clue), it was still a wonderful escape away from the ruccus.

Anyhow, I got the pins out of my hair, we chatted for a bit, then he went up when he heard a song he liked, while I braided my hair (without a hair-dooly-bopper) and pinned it (with the pins from my old hair-do) to the nape of my neck. It actually looked kind of pretty. I then followed him upstairs, and we had quite a bit more fun after that, going back and forth from dancing and eating grapes (me), oreos and punch (just me).

On our way upstairs we ran into someone who's makeup was done wonderfully to look like a skull. It was terribly frightening. Anyhow, he stopped just me and asked if they knew each other. Just me said...

"Well, I can't really tell..." then gestured to his makeup. I could empathise.

"Oh... yeah..."

Their discussion afterwards was really very, very humorous and I couldn't help but laugh as they speculated as to how they could possibly know one another. Eventually just me acknowledged that they must have seen each other at some point. It ended like this:

"Well, we know each other..."

"We don't know from where..." (just me)

"But we know each other! It was good to see you again!"

"You too!"

Later just me and I discussed who to vote for in the competitions (scariest, best make-up, craziest, prettiest,... and I think the last one was 'most creative'). I didn't vote, but gave advice to him on his choices(later two of the people we voted for actually won! It was pretty cool). I then looked behind me and saw a girl with a cute, short haircut, and I wasn't quite sure what she was dressed up as. I got closer to her, and then I noticed the 'blood' all over her and the bloody gash on her neck.

I talked to her for a little bit, and it turns out we both have the same name! I introduced her to just me and she introduced us to her friends and it got a lot more fun after that, because dances are just more fun with more people.

I entered a dance contest (just by dancing in the circle of people) for 'most original dance move' and did a few double pirouettes and developes because my arthritis was really good that day (of course, after I did that I could hardly move... so maybe it wasn't so good after all. And even that day I couldn't jump... it's been a while since I could jump). I didn't win, but it was fun, and just me and I decided we'd have to choreograph something with a bunch more people for next time.

We went to the room (which I mentally called 'The Escape Room') a couple times, running into the girl who shares my name and her friend and hanging out with them for the rest of the time.

We did the macarana, danced some more, they played Chasing Cars (one of my all time favorite songs!!!) and the Beetles (which just me apparently loves) and had a DJ contest. I requested Because the Night (another of my all time favorite songs), though they didn't have it by the right artist.

I warn you, I probably got the order of many of these events off because that night, when I look back on it, really is quite a blur. During the last 20 minutes of the drive home just me and I wrote the following poem:

The night was dark,

With ne'er a spark,

The wind it tossed and howled,

The birds came down,

Without word,

And the world was silent,

Then came the knight,

Of the white light,

Who called forth the sun,

The sun then said,

Gold and Red,

"At last the world is lightened."

When I got home it turns out my sibling had missed me so much (and had been so bored) that they made me a card! It was lovely, and they even cut out a sunflower and stuck it on the inside! Both Brother1&2 "drew" inside it, and I absolutely loved it! Anyhow, I said goodbye to just me and his mother, went to bed and promptly slept in to an hour I am, quite frankly, too embarrassed to mention.

Go to the top to see some pictures of me before I left (with my hair done-up). I was Cinderella, and just me was a Gambler/High Roller. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of him dressed up, or of the girl who shares my name and her friend.

So, boring at first, but later lodes of fun!

Happy Halloween!

Galaxy

P.S. This is a nice follow-up to my pathetically short posts, eh?

One Week

I simply adore this song! It's sooooooo cute! Anyhow, I randomly decided to make a music video for it using the Sims 2, and here is the product of my labor! I've made (and posted) two other Sims music videos, and here are the links to them. Tell me which of the three you like best!

Hey Baby
Do You Sleep?

Galaxy ;-)

A Short Burst of Glory

I won't say it again, because I'm sure I must have mentioned that I love a good rain storm somewhereinthisblog(.blogspot.com, hehe). So, you can only imagine my glee when I was sitting on my favorite reading chair earlier today and heard the wondrous sound of pounding drops. It was really nice just sitting there and listening... it could only have been better if I was sitting on a padded bay window and it was nighttime--with lots of wind! Unfortunately, the rain passed fairly quickly... I was terribly disappointed.

Wow. This would be a pathetically short post if I ended it here, wouldn't it? Er... let me think of more nonsense to randomly jabber...

I guess I'll settle for a 'Coming Soon!' rant: I have to write a post on a dance I went to, I'm going to add another "Everyone Loves ____!" post after I get a few more posts up, and I may or may not post another sims music video.

Here's are some links to two others I made that are kind of cool:

Hey Baby
Do You Sleep?

Anyhow, I guess that's it. Wow. This did turn out to be a pathetically short post after all.

Oh well!


Galaxy ;-)

Harps

I started writing another book that had to do with a harp, so I looked up 'harp' on youtube to see how it sounded. Now I'm obsessed with them. They're just so... so pure, clear, lovely... it sounds like so many instruments, so whole... Here are some of my favorite youtube videos I've found having to do with harps:











I just love how the harpists' fingers look like they're dancing... I love how their hands move like a ballerina's. I love how each string echoes eerily, lovely, magically... This is the first instrument I have heard to rival the violin--to me, at least. I love it.

Unfortunately, harps are really expensive, and where are you supposed to find someone to teach you? I probably wouldn't stick with it anyways. Look what happened with piano (of course, my instructor did die, so I suppose it wasn't entirely my fault).

Galaxy

Christmas Presents

Nana bought us a few presents... And they are AWESOME!

First, I have three tiny boxes of VEGAN truffles, I have Inkspell and Inkdeath (which I have been utterly longing for), I have Solas (a Celtic band I adore) CDs and one DVD of them playing, pen book marks and a pretty blue shirt.

Music, Books, Blue and Chocolate... You can't go wrong with that!


Galaxy ;-)

Red Rose and Piano

A long time ago, I took up the Violin. I still think it's one of the most beautiful sounding instruments in the world, but I wasn't able to keep up with it... The teacher we had loved was replaced, and things just kept coming up until it had been quite a few years since I played a note on that wonderful instrument.


Dear Sister and I have a band--Red Rose--and we have some pretty cool songs down. Unfortunately, we don't have any music, just vocals. Rose started learning guitar recently, and we were hoping she could play for our band. As lovely as a guitar sounds, we both thought there should be something more... I'm not sure exactly how it was brought up, but somehow, we all ('we all' being my family and I) started thinking about me learning to play piano... and it just so happens that Dear Sister's and my Singing Instructor also teaches that instrument! It was so convenient we couldn't resist, and now I'm learning to play. It's really confusing, trying to get my hands to play different parts, but I think I'm getting it! Hopefully Rose and I will get good enough with our respective instruments that we can actually write some music for our songs... maybe I'll post one, one of these days...

With love,


Galaxy

Semper Fidelis

As you might remember from this post, I'm attempting to learn Latin. I'm starting to grasp the grammar (which is rather confusing since you could say the words in almost any order you could possibly want) and learned quite a few words... I'm even getting to more complex sentences, such as these ones*....

Puella est portat aquam ad agricolam.

The girl is carrying water to the farmer.

Here's another one....

Nauta est navigat (the 'v' sounds like a 'w') circum (the 'c' sounds like a 'k') insulas (the 'i' like the 'ee' in sweet) ad patria.

The sailor is sailing around the islands to the homeland.


I've been trying to write a song in this forgotten tongue, but it's rather hard... I've got something of a melody, but it's a little repetitious and boring, and if you are going to write a song in a different language that no one can understand, the melody had better be pretty darn beautiful and exciting. Maybe I'll post it up when it's done....

Anyways, my Grandparents (on Daddy's side) have come down so I'm very excited to see them! They came and visited yesterday (with some awesome toy trucks they had made by hand for both brothers , and a couple pretty boxes and two necklaces they had made for Dear Sister and I), but we should get together again soon!

And why did I call this post Semper Fidelis? 'Cause it's a Latin phrase (meaning "always faithful") that I think sounds absolutely beautiful, and it's the name of my song.


Galaxy

*Please note that I composed these sentences in proper English order in case you wanted to translate them. Also note that there is no 'a', 'an', or 'the' in the Latin language, so you have to add it in yourself, and that there are also little marky thingys that go above some letters in some words that I am unable to add since I am using blogger to write this.

The Phantom of the Opera and my Gorgeous Gown

So here is a picture of me, the day before my birthday, in a beautiful dress right before I head off with Daddy and Dear Sister to see the Phantom of the Opera.

The show was fabulous, and the effects were amazing, the costumes extravagant, the acting realistic... It was a wonderful show, but I didn't like how they changed some lines in 'Think of Me' and other songs and how they would be singing in some places when they were supposed to be talking... They also tried to make it more of an 'operatic' style, and didn't have them sing it strait. There was way too much vibrato and some of the songs just weren't as pure, or sweet, or enchanting (and I almost mean literally enchanting... the music from this play is really amazing) as they were in the original with that style... it may be called 'The Phantom of the Opera', but I think it's better as a musical.

With that being said, it was a great show and I'm so glad I had a chance to see it!

Galaxy

P.S. If you want to see a larger version of the picture try clicking on it.

Almost there

Right now I am getting ready for The Phantom of the Opera. I already took a shower and put on some make-up, but I still need to curl my hair (tough luck with that... my hair never curls!) and Mommy needs to finish sewing the straps of my dress so that it will fit.

Anyway, I'm super duper excited and I will tell you all about it the moment I can!


Galaxy :-)

OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!

Tomorrow's the day! I get up, I get all 'prettied' up and Dear Sister, Fabulous Daddy and I head off to see this big stage musical that I have been wanting to see for over six months. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and now it's here. Tomorrow. Wow...

I can't believe it! And afterwards, it's time to head off and watch that movie that I made that's probably called "The Rose Of Gondor". I really, really, really am so, so, so excited... I'm all giddy and happy and wonderful feeling and I just can't wait. I just want to go to bed now so I can wake up and do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that's me for you. I've been waiting so, so long. And now I don't have to. It's going to be great.

I hope I can wait.


Galaxy ;-)

Another Music Video

I had so much fun doing the last one (please read previous post) that I decided to do another! This one was much harder than the last one since in order to do make my vision of 'Hey Baby' I needed bunches of sims, and it was really hard to get them to do what I wanted.

Eventually, I got the video to look pretty good and I showed it to my fam. Dear Sister and Mommy liked it, but Daddy not so much. He did like the 'DJ' parts (which I thought were really cool myself) and a couple other points though. Well, I hope you like this! Enjoy!

Do comment what you think, if you can!

Galaxy

My First Music Video and Movie Editing

Hey All!!!

I'm a Simadict, as you probably know if you regularly read my blog, and last night I was listening to one of Lisa Loeb's songs-- "Do You Sleep?" from her album "Tails", and you probably know that too, if you read my blog regularly.

Anyway, I thought it would be cool to make a Music Video for it with the Sims, so I listened to that song and thought about what I would do, and this morning I built the sets on the 'house building' mode, I made the Sims I was going to use in the film in 'family mode', and shot the necessary scenes. It was a lot of fun.

After that was done I opened up 'Windows Movie Maker' and edited the scenes... cutting, arranging, music coordinating.... that was even more fun than the filming! When I was finally done I hit the button to make it a movie on our computer, and it CRASHED!!! Thankfully, there was an auto save shortly before then, so it wasn't too much of a loss.

Well, here it is, the finished product! My favorite part of making it was the movie editing, though the crash was REALLY annoying!

Hope you enjoy!

Galaxy

...spinning fast and freely...

I was going to drop off one of my Netflix videos in the mail box, singing the song I always do when I'm going to the mail box:

Two little princesses,

Dancing in a row,

Spinning fast and freely,

On their little toes,
Where the light take/find (which one I say depends on my mood ) them,

No one ever knows/There's only one way to know, (again with the mood)

Two little princesses,

Dancing in a row,

Spinning fast and freely,

On their little toes,

Where the light will take them,

No one ever knows,

Two little princesses...(etc. etc.)

To end the song, you hold the last note (row...) and... er, make kind of mysterious sounding? Ominous? It's hard to describe. Anyway, I got that song from 'Tin Man'. (it's a mini series which is basically the Wizard of Oz--futuristic style. Instead of Oz, we've got the O.Z. (Outer Zone), instead of Dorothy Gale, we have D.G.... stuff like that. It was a good show, with a good theme, and was very interesting, though at times it went a little over the edge in morality... or, rather, violence? No, it was just the pain you see people in... it's hard to describe.)

Anyway, I was going to the mail box singing my little song. I put the D.V.D. into the mail, I turned around and starting walking home, then, I noticed my shadow. I started watching it. I had been walking for a while when turned my head, and my hair bounced in front of my shoulders and I saw little curl ups at the bottom of my some-what strait hair. I started shifting as I walked so I could see the curls bouncing around. It looked really pretty. And then I started spinning, using my ballet trick of spotting (keeping your head in one place as long as possible then whipping it around) so I could keep my eyes on my shadow. And then I stopped looking at my shadow, and was singing proudly and happily and was dancing across the street towards my house, spinning and spinning and skipping... somehow I got passed my joint pain for then, (I'd taken my Ibuprofen(sp?) and I'd been moving around for a while. That helps a little.) and continued up to my door, where I finished the song with one happy note and burst into my house, with a big grin. I felt really good.

I don't know why I'm posting about this, I just felt like it. It was a good experience.

Galaxy

Sorry!

Well... I haven't posted in two weeks! I think that's a record... Why haven't I been posting?

1. I've been working on that Vacation post, and it's a real pain. So I just stopped working on it for a while (I'll get it finished and posted soon, don't worry!), and it didn't seem right to post without it.
2. Another thing, I just didn't feel like it. I was reading, and Drawing, and watching American Idol (DAVID COOK WON!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!--I love David Cook, he is SO awesome!) and making brownies and hanging out and reading in the rain (which I will post about... it is quite lovely. And as you've probably guessed, I did read many books in May... I just haven't posted them on my book blog. Lazy, lazy lazy.) and just doing stuff.

So, I'm back(!)... and you can expect many more posts this day.

Galaxy

How to write a song in ten easy steps:

1. Invent a melody. You really have to memorize it, I'd recommend to record it on your computer/MP3/Ipod/Tape Recorder/whatever you have on hand so you can be sure to have this melody for later steps.
2. Think of some adjectives describing the melody that you just came up with. (one melody might sound: sad, longing and waiting, while another might sound: joyous and excited)
3. Use those adjectives to decide what type of song you're writing. Work off of them and your melody to write the lyrics.
4. Now you either have the chorus or a verse of your song. Work off of the lyrics and melody you already have and write another verse, or the chorus.
5. Repeat step 4 until completion of the lyrics.
6. Add new melodies where necessary (you must base it after the first one).
7. Sing through your song and fix any remaining bugs.
8. Name your song. (When in doubt you can use common lyrics from your song, an adjective describing the song, an emotion felt in the song, or some common words in the chorus or verses)
9. Sing your song to a relative or close friend and ask for advice. You'd be surprised what a help they can be.
10. Record your completed song to your computer/MP3/Ipod/Tape Recorder/whatever you have on hand .

Congrats on your new song!

Galaxy ;-)

Why haven't I been posting?

The answer's rather simple: My fams been sick (I have been spared, thank goodness!) and dear Mommy has been hit the worst... Rosi and Brother1 got hit rather bad, but they've gotten over it mostly. Brother2 has it as well, but he's doing much better than he has been... it was so sad seeing a little baby like that!
Anyway, that's one reason... the main one is that I've been having problems thinking of something to post! (as I'm sure you've guessed)

So what's been up with me? Rose and I are writing a musical and we're really excited about it! (if only we could think of what it's about!) Kings of Darkness is coming along... slowly, I've been going to ballet regularly, and I went to my second class of Salsa/Swing dance Thursday. Life has been pretty good, I just wish the fam wasn't so sick...

Well... until next post!

Galaxy