Mind of Mischief

2010-03-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

And so the little sister got busy with other stuff and the blog died.

WHERE'S THE MISCHIEF?

Seriously ppl, I can't even take care of my own life, and now I have to keep up a blog? It just... doesn't make sense!

Well, but since it seems this blog's mischiefness depends on me, here goes a little story. It wasn't written FOR the blog, so my bad if it doesn't reach requirements ¬¬, and if it only has subtle mischief [that doesnt really exist, come to think of it] but at least it's something (better than a movie review :x, no offense)

2.Love

“I’m going to win this.”

“No, Steve. Trust me, you’re not.”

“Wanna bet? All I have in my wallet.”

“That’s a pretty thick wallet.”

“And it’s gonna stay that way. I’m winning this tennis match -- two love sets.”

“Hohoho! Someone’s getting cocky. Deal. All in your wallet against… fifty bucks.”

“FIFTY? Are you kidding me, Will? Do you know how much I have in this?”

“Certainly not your life-time’s savings. Lemme see.”

“Get your filthy hands off!”

“No money, no deal.”

“500 dollars. Happy?”

“Oh wow. Hey guys, come look at this! How many bills do you think this is? That’s got to be --”

“Stop that! You want to get us mugged?”

“Relax, Steve. Do they look like thugs to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, they do. But stop getting so wound up! You’ve been like this all day. Wait, don’t tell me. Are you… PMSing?”

“Shut up and tell me how much it’s gonna be.”

“500 bucks.”

“Do you even have that much money?”

“No, but I will when you lose.”

By the looks of it, Will was going to have that much money soon. Who had Steve been kidding? He didn’t even know who he’d be playing against, and it turned out to be a powerful opponent. He’d struggled to win the first set, thankfully winning both games, and, if he continued playing like this, he was bound to lose the second. Not happening.

He racqueted the ball quickly, almost allowing a second bounce. He tightened his lips and felt sweat running down his chin. He quickly rubbed it off as he skidded to catch the next ball. It went out on the other side, easily. He wasn’t paying attention – he was losing concentration. He knew how to do this.

With that point lost, there was a deuce on 40. The next point told who was in the advantage. It didn’t matter that he had won the first game of this set – if he lost this one, he’d lost his bet.

He missed a ball that had flown to the right end.

“Advantage-40,” the umpire called.

He saw the opponent once more serve the ball with intent eyes and tried his best to predict where it would land. It was a fast ball that went to the other side of the court, and he had to slide in to try to make his racquet touch it. Miraculously, it did, and it all but hit the top of the net as it passed over. He got up just in time to see the ball come again, straight at him. He hit it, making it careen right over his opponent’s racquet, out of his reach. It bounced once and went out.

“Deuce.”

A careless hit from him after two well-placed ones led to a too-fast ball that went out.

“Advantage-40.”

Come on, Steve, concentrate, he thought fiercely.

The ball bounced quickly back and forth over the net before he lost his breath and failed at making his racquet’s middle reach it. It struck the metal around the netting and bounced once. He ran to try to reach the ball before it bounced again, but he was too late.

“Game!”

He didn’t pay attention to what else the umpire had to add. He huffed with his head lowered, cap shielding his eyes. Hands on knees, he lifted his head and glanced at the sidelines, in time to see Will with his wallet in hand, waving the $500 in the air with a look of triumph, a vicious, white-toothed grin lighting his face.

“I hope you get mugged!” Steve yelled breathlessly in his general direction.

**cheers, kid sister

Abrindo o Livro de Eli

2010-03-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sexta à noite, eu fui ao cinema com meu pai e minha irmã. Estávamos divididos entre assistir A Ilha do Medo, com Leonardo DiCaprio, e O Livro de Eli, com Denzel Washington. Como meu pai e Anna já haviam assistido A Ilha do Medo, optamos para ver o outro, apesar de que eu estava e ainda estou morrendo de vontade de ver como DiCaprio aparentemente enlouquece.

O Livro de Eli tem uma história simples e limpa, porém, interessante, que vai sendo revelada aos poucos ao longo do filme. Seu enredo apocalíptico e aventureiro me cativou, além da fotografia maravilhosa e da trilha sonora bem feita que faz o peito vibrar nos momentos precisos. Surpreendi-me com o papel do Denzel Washington, pois nunca o vi em filme sem envolver policiais (Pelo menos não sentimos falta das armas!). Também, como amante das obras de M. Night Shyamalan, me senti extremamente satisfeita com a surpresa muito bem bolada que aparece ao final do filme.

Mas vamos falar um pouquinho mais sobre a história. Afinal, a mídia é um meio de comunicação poderoso e os filmes são um reflexo da cosmovisão de quem os criou, portanto, é necessário entendermos bem a ideia que está sendo passada.

O filme reflete o título; trata-se da peregrinação de Eli (Denzel Washington) para o oeste dos Estados Unidos com a missão de lá encontrar um lugar seguro para a última cópia da Bíblia existente (talvez do mundo... não foi detalhado). A história ocorre num período e ambiente pós-apocalíptico, depois que uma guerra mundial (e aparentemente provocada por motivos religiosos) destruiu o meio ambiente de tal forma que abriu um buraco na camada de ozônio (fato deduzido, pois não é bem explicado no filme) e, assim, permitiu que os raios solares queimassem toda vida na superfície da Terra, destruíssem recursos naturais, evaporassem reservas de água e matassem grande parte da população. Trinta anos depois desse desastre, encontramos várias comunidades precárias ressurgindo e muitos indivíduos se aproveitando dos outros pela astúcia, força e ganância. É um verdadeiro caos. Eli é um homem numa viagem solitária e está determinado a chegar ao seu destino, custe o que custar, pois Deus lhe havia dado a missão de proteger a Bíblia e lhe prometido que, até ele chegar ao final, ele seria protegido e ninguém nem nada o impediria. O filme enfatiza bastante o fato de que Eli lê a Bíblia todos os dias e que conhece bem as palavras e entende a importância do livro. O problema surge quando Carnegie (Gary Oldman), homem de poder num pequeno vilarejo, descobre que Eli carrega a última cópia da Bíblia e decide tomá-la para si mesmo. Carnegie está convencido de que, se possuir o livro e utilizar as suas palavras, poderá controlar e manipular a comunidade, solidificando sua ditadura. Sua explicação é de que isso já havia funcionado no passado e que, com certeza, o povo lhe obedeceria novamente se ele usasse a Bíblia como fonte de autoridade. Eli, obviamente, não entrega a Bíblia e começa, então, a perseguição do Carnegie.

Bom, não detalharei mais. Recomendo que assistam ao filme, tanto pela história como pela arte, e especialmente pelo final J. No entanto, gostaria de apontar algumas coisas que notei durante o filme. Como boa calvinista, colocarei essas observações em pontos, começando pelas palavras do próprio filme:

“Não é só um livro! É uma arma. Uma arma direcionada aos corações e às mentes dos fracos e desesperados. O livro nos dará controle sobre as pessoas. Se queremos governar mais de um vilarejo, precisamos do livro. As pessoas virão de todas as partes e farão exatamente o que eu lhes mandar, se as palavras vierem do livro. Aconteceu antes e acontecerá de novo. Tudo que precisamos é aquele livro.” (Carnegie, ao ser confrontado por um dos seus)

A história inteira trata-se sobre a Bíblia, sobre a influência da mesma na nossa sociedade, sobre a sua importância, e sobre o mau-uso em contraste ao uso apropriado das suas palavras. Vemos que o filme não acusa a Bíblia como sendo responsável pelo seu mau-uso, pois Eli é retratado como bom exemplo de um indivíduo politicamente correto que segue as “verdades” bíblicas. Ele é o herói, pois ele põe em prática o que lê. Já o Carnegie representa os mau-intencionados, os sagazes manipuladores, que são capazes de torcer as verdades bíblicas com fins egoístas e gananciosos. Infelizmente, esse é um retrato verdadeiro de muitas igrejas na nossa sociedade hoje em dia. Encontramos líderes que professam ser evangélicos e fiéis às Escrituras, mas que simplesmente usam e distorcem a Palavra de Deus como instrumento para atingir seus próprios fins. Prometem curas e bens materiais, pregam prosperidade e um deus fraco, lojista da 25 de março, que lhe dará tudo que você desejar se você tiver o que dar em troca. Pregam o que a massa desesperada almeja ouvir e garante seu controle, mas estão, no final do dia, condenando a sua própria alma, assim como a alma dos milhares que os seguem. Mais uma vez, infelizmente, é o que vemos hoje em dia e atrai o olhar do mundo e os faz rir.

“Não, eu ando pela fé, não por vista. Significa que você sabe alguma coisa, mesmo que não saiba coisa alguma. Não precisa fazer sentido. É a fé, é a fé.” (Eli, explicando sua missão para Solara, uma jovem que ele encontra no seu caminho)

Pois é. Ao caminharmos pelo mundo, caminhamos pela fé, pois temos certeza das coisas que não vemos. É só ler Hebreus 11 para entender. No entanto, uma coisa com a qual discordo é que a fé precisa ser uma convicção sem sentido, como Eli nos explica. Muito pelo contrário, apesar da nossa fé e a revelação de Deus em Cristo não fazer sentido e ser até loucura para os que não são de Deus (1 Cor 1.18), Deus é o mesmo Deus que criou a lógica e, portanto, os que creem são muito capazes de entender o mistério da cruz e não possuem uma fé ignorante. Existem, claro, coisas que só descobriremos no além, pois não nos foi revelado tudo agora. Mas até lá, podemos falar com convicção que nossa fé faz sentido, e não é uma fé sem provas, pois encontramos tudo que precisamos para crer na Palavra de Deus e pelo testemunho interno do Espírito Santo.

"Durante todos esses anos nos quais carreguei e li a Bíblia todos os dias, me concentrei tanto em mantê-la salva que me esqueci de praticar aquilo que aprendi nela. (...) Faça aos outros mais do que você faria por você mesmo. Pelo menos, é o que eu consegui tirar dela.” (Eli, falando a Solara)

Algo que mais me saltou aos olhos durante o filme inteiro é que, apesar de ter um bom conteúdo e recitar a “regra áurea”, eu nunca o usaria como meio de evangelização.

Quando compartilhei isso com algumas pessoas, retrucaram que é claro que não poderia esperar mais nada de Hollywood... A maior indústria de filmes do mundo não está nem um pouco interessada em divulgar a nossa crença tão contrária a muitas coisas que pregam nos seus filmes. É claro, concordo plenamente.

Mas não deixo de me sentir incomodada pela enganação em massa quando assisto a um filme assim e vejo que isso pode refletir no viver de muitos crentes, até no meu. Tenho certeza de que muitos, mesmo com a mais “pura” das intenções, tentam “evangelizar” da mesma forma que o filme fala sobre a Bíblia. Falam sobre as virtudes, sobre as bênçãos, sobre o estilo de vida e até sobre Deus. Falam sobre tudo e, no entanto, sobre nada, pois em nenhum momento mencionam o nome de Jesus. Às vezes temos medo de chocar ou espantar as pessoas ao citarmos o nome do nosso Salvador. Sentimos vergonha, medo de sermos ridicularizados ou simplesmente achamos que é mais fácil atrair as pessoas sem incluir nosso Salvador na história. A todos que fazem isso ou fizeram, inclusive eu mesma... devemos nos envergonhar!

Washington, ao ser questionado, numa entrevista sobre o filme, sobre o que aprendeu nas suas leituras bíblicas, falou o seguinte:

"Antes das refeições a gente sempre abençoa e agradece pela comida, fala uma prece e encerra com amém. ‘Deus é amor’. Eu achava que ‘Deus é amor’ era uma só palavra, por ser algo que você recita a toda hora, rapidamente, de maneira quase automática. Aos poucos, durante estes anos, fui aprendendo a recitá-las mais lentamente e percebi que são três palavras. Deus. É. Amor. Independente de qual a sua religião ou livro que esteja lendo, acho que esta é uma lição que ainda estamos aprendendo como pessoas, como raça. Não significa que meu Deus é amor, e o seu não. E aqui vou parafraseando de novo (risos): ‘Faça aos outros o que gostaria que fizessem a você’. Essa é a mensagem fundamental de todas as religiões, mas, de alguma maneira, nós distorcemos isso."

No final do filme, e vou tentar não estragar por completo (me perdoem!), vemos que a Bíblia finalmente encontra seu lugar numa estante, bem ao lado do Corão e de outros livros religiosos, mandando a mensagem de que todas as religiões são iguais e se encaixam na mesma categoria.

O que nos diferencia das outras religiões, se todas pregam a mesma coisa? Pregam a bondade, a busca pela redenção, pregam o amor e até falam sobre Deus. Sim, talvez todas as religiões são iguais, mas posso afirmar com mais absoluta certeza que somos diferentes, queridos, porque a nós nos foi dado o evangelho. A palavra evangelho vem do grego euangelion, que significa boas novas (eu = boa, angelion = mensagem). A Bíblia nos traz uma mensagem impossivelmente fantástica, incrível e boa (me faltam palavras) para todos que nela crerem: Jesus morreu por nós e ressuscitou, nos garantiu perdão, e abriu o caminho para estarmos com Deus apesar de todos os nossos pecados. Aleluia! Jesus é a razão de tudo! Ele é a mais linda revelação da Glória de Deus e, sem Ele, não há razão para nos alegrarmos. Se Ele não existisse, ao lermos a Bíblia, nós deveríamos nos desesperar profundamente, pois somos merecedores da ira de Deus sem o perdão dado por Cristo. Li em algum lugar que “a Bíblia sem Jesus é uma carta morta” e que é como ensinar “matemática sem números, física sem massa, e biologia sem vida”. Toda mensagem da Bíblia aponta para Jesus e sem Ele, não há motivo para evangelização.

O diabo com certeza não se incomoda em ver um filme assim e duvido que ele se incomode quando tentamos falar da Palavra de Deus sem incluir Jesus. Ele sabe que Jesus é o único meio de salvação e que, quando Ele está ausente, não há esperança. Devemos nos envergonhar de nós mesmos.

Paulo diz: “...não me envergonho do evangelho de Cristo, pois é o poder de Deus para salvação de todo aquele que crê...” (Romanos 1.16)

Deixemos de ser hipócritas e evangelizemos, no sentido mais absoluto da palavra. O mundo precisa da luz de Cristo e não temos o direito de escondê-la.

.:.:.:.

Talvez, há muitas outras coisas que poderiam ser ditas sobre o filme. Talvez você tenha em mente mais do que eu mencionei aqui, mas coloquei as três coisas que mais me saltaram aos olhos e mexerem com meu coração.

Mais uma vez, recomendo que assistam ao filme, mas com discernimento, assim como devemos assistir a todos os filmes. Muitas vezes, falhamos ao fazer isso e permitimos que as ideias contrárias à Palavra de Deus infiltrem na nossa mente e influenciem nosso pensar, andar e falar sem percebemos. Mas que Deus continue a nos abençoar com Sua misericórdia e sabedoria.

What Google Says of Us

2009-04-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Anna is ...sexy ...the answer ...a high-level programming language ...a palindrome ...a stool pigeon.

Anna thinks ...sheep are funny ...no one can see her ...I'm the cutest baby ever ...she's a hawk ...I neglect her.

Anna needs ...to be excused from class today ...whatever sense of humor works for her ...to find a toilet ...caffeine ...a drummer.

Anna wants ...to be famous ...to do too many things at once, to do any of them with much verve ...to be next to Daniel ...to break free ...a Margarita-filled wedding.

David is ...the devil ...clearly suggesting that he has transcended the physical world ...Goliath ...a hypocrite ...a record-breaker.

David thinks ...you're stupid ...he's frightened? ...he's above the law ...something is dumb ...that daylight savings time is the best thing ever.

David needs ...a wash! ...more money ...your story ...prayer! ...a doctor.

David wants ...to essentially hijack the current Domain Name System ...to work with J-Lo ...to go [and] ...you to join him ...to rewind gay rumours.

Samuel is ...the best thing that happened to the Earth's profile ...a major risk ...called ...doing fine ...a shutdown star.

Samuel thinks ...it is fun to be one! ...China is being hypocritical ...crayons are more nutritious ...about sport's most pressing questions ...he's hilarious.

Samuel needs ...our help!! ...a home! ...to feed his family ...a wife!!! ...an assistant to count up to 20.

Samuel wants ...to be traded ...YOU! ...Germany ...to stay ...to get paid.

Samuel knows ...I have a strategy ...German and English ...to ask God ...numbers ...first time home buyers are often eligible for special mortgage programs from lenders that want to promote home ownership.

Dee is ...now safe ...rude about others ...not Eric Franklin ...in the Oscar spotlight ...37cm tall.

Dee thinks ...Pop-Tart news is LOL ...herself more educated, more fashionable, and more eminent ...so highly of this film ...Charlie is suddenly being nice and has just developed a conscience ...it may be raining and windy out ...they need to start planning for their future, like getting a job and settling down.

Dee needs ...a bigger trophy cabinet ...more beer ...signatures ...help ...lots of spaghetti.

Dee wants ...to be back in 2012 ...to rock again ...to know what you are doing today? ...more than that ...to turn into museum pieces.

Dee knows ...how to throw a party ...the source of their panic ...she's a little different ...how being homeless works ...the importance of having self-belief and facing your fears.

My new best friend

2009-03-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

I killed them. all of them. Yes, I am evil. but hey, those mosquitoes can become very pesky!

Here is the 'shortened' tale. Sitting at the table two days ago, eating with mum (or maybe it was just yesterday...). I feel bites on my leg. I get annoyed. I slap the bug. More of them, mom takes out the fly-swatter!!!!

but it's not your original fly swatter. It's a battery-powered one. I swing around with it, holding down the button and kill some of those nasty things. I look up at the ceiling. aha, thats where they all come from! they grow on the ceiling!! So i get up on my chair and zap their wits out. I kill a billion gnats too, just for the fun of it. Without finishing my food, I go around the whooooole kitchen, getting onto chairs, crouching under cupboards. I swat without even seeing if there's anything. I hear some crackling nonetheless. they're burning. BUUUUURN!!!

soon i smell smoke. And I look at the little sparks on the swatter. One of them is still being electrocuted to its death. I watch.

Mom finishes my fun saying: 'Finish eating!' and so i do, fly swatter in hand. I'm done and glare at the air, searching for more victims. There's no more left in this little cozy, now mosquito-less room, but the rest of the house must be full of them! So we finish the table and I look around the living room. Sure enough, those little dastards are trying to get away by hidding on the ceiling. But they are no match for my weapon.

I think the world's mosquito population must've diminished by at least 1%. Not really, but you get the picture.

it is not long for me to find very resistant mosquitoes. They get trapped on the fly swatter, get half-dead, and still persist in frying! Man, those guys must have some juice to boil! There was one that would fry for some time (i see the light and hear the crackle), but kept on burning! I would release the button and would still see it move! So i shake the swatter and press down the button, and it emits some light and crackles once again. I'm serious: i walk into the dark, shake the thing and press the button, and i can see some in front of me! maybe we might want to start making some mosquito-powered lightbulbs...

There was this one that wouldn't stop smoking. I pressed the button down for at least ten seconds and that thing let out a trendle of thick grey smoke. then it finally gave up and died. It smelled awful.

I walked up to a corner on the ceiling and there were like, 5 of them just congregated in that one spot! i'm afraid i might've interrupted a meeting of some sort. Maybe on how to bite people more succesfully. Freaky.

So it is not hard to understand why the eletric fly swatter has soon become a great friend of mine. When it's not there, i really miss it. I think i might start sleeping with it in my hand.

I wave that thing, I smell the smoke, i see their little bodies getting fried as they get fed with that little amount of electricty, I hear the crackle...and i'm happy. I think i'm in love.

I wonder why those things only attack humans. Its all the animals' fault! they cheat: they have natural fur to cover them. So maybe i should shave my yorkshire bare and see what happens.

mischief done, mischief appreciated.

*over and out

-Kid Sister

Camp, Cats, and What Not

2009-02-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

At last, Carnaval has arrived, and we find ourselves swept off our feet to church camp.

Hero Dinner. Must admit, I was not the least bit excited to dress up as any sort of hero for dinner for two reasons: (1) they were supposed to be our childhood heroes and mine is Ariel (the little mermaid)... hence, for undecency reasons, I avoided waltzing about in nothing but a bikini and fishtail, and (2) i was feeling grumpy and lazy. In the end, we all did dress up, including David who also had absolutely no intention of dressing up whatsoever. Here are the characters we posed ourselves as:

Anna as the notorious and yet unstereotypical bellyless Winnie the Pooh
Hendrika as a shorthaired, magicless version of the Adam's family Morticia
David as a curlyhaired but impressively well impersonated L from Deathnote
Nathalia (NatiE) as a ready-to-fight Sailor Venus.
Natalia (Titosa) as a lovely and charming Indian Jasmine.
Julia as a very pink, white, and fru-fru Sakura Cardcaptor.

Neither Anna nor Julia nor I had the intestines to parade down the hall and compete for the prizes, so we just sat and applauded our way through the presentations. David and NatiE, on the other hand, marched up to the jury with confidence and style. See below (ignore the bad film quality, I was in a bad position and state of mind to do any decent filming).

The Pool. The only thing I am capable of reporting about pool time are two episodes. The first was our pathetic and sad attempt at having a nice swim at night. I was eager to get into the pool, but it seemed no one else, save the 12-year-olds, was as excited. Meaning, instead of having a nice swim and chat in the water, I played the babysitter for two shrilly girls... one of which found it a blast to play carry-and-dunk-the-Drika for half the time. All the while, Natie and David sat on the edge of the pool talking, Anna and Julia didn't want to swim, and Titosa was playing Fogo no Paiol elsewhere. I had been abandoned by my friends. The second episode I merely witnessed audibly (David can report it a little better later on), as I heard my beloved brother scream "I'm a SHAAAAARK!!!" repeatedly, followed by a violent SPLASH! and another "I'm a SHAAAAAAAAARKK!!" At first, I believed him to be running around and pushing people in, but it seems he was hurling himself in instead.

The Late Nights. Trying to sleep the last night was a wee bit frustrating as no one had really decided on the latest someone could go to bed. Meaning, in our room, there were the 1am girls, the 2am girls, the 3am girls, and the crazed 5 and 6am girls. I was in the first group of 1am girls (and that was pushing it for me). Unfortunately, the 6am girls had forgotten their cell phones on and around the room with alarm clocks set. Hence, at 5:40am, a sudden music began from one part of the room. Several girls began complaining. "Who's is that?!" "Shut it off!!" but the 6am girls weren't around. So, I got up and ran for the cell phone, yanked it out the plug where it was recharging and starting clicking like mad. I managed to snooze it, but didn't know how to turn it off. For some mad reason, I read the name "Pri" on the little screen, and instantly thought, "This must be Julia's cell phone!" I placed the cell phone next to Julia's pillow, in hopes that when it began ringing again, she'd have the decency of turning it off. As you are all much smarter than I am, you know that that obviously did not happen, and when the alarm started going off again, I grunted from my bed, "Ju... turn it off please..." She sounded surprised and confused, "But how...! How do I turn this off? Who's cell phone is this?" I feel really bad.

Those are but a few stories from camp.

Announcing that there are two new kittens at home with the sole function of scaring off the rats and saving our bananas. I have dubbed them Ron and Ginny Weasley (don't believe a word David tells you about their names). If you've got a problem with their Harry Potter names, well, I just don't like you. :P

Off I goes to tend to my duties.
*cheers
dee

Nonchalantness

2009-02-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

Sibling: The Most Beautiful Eldest Sister of Them All (and Most Modest, too)
Mood: Peaceful
Song: Chocolate by Snow Patrol
Eating: Chocolate
Drinking: Chocolate milk
Real mood: Hyper (but I'm too lazy to show it)

photo by me

Last Sunday, a waiter stole my mushroom. And, for some completely nonsensical reason, I recall a middle school trend back in 1998 or something, where we would answer MUSHROOM! to everything - it was a very cool thing to do - ...as opposed to saying ALL OF THEM! as my dearest brother Samuel has the mind to do every so always.

So this waiter, he stole my mushroom. They say, leave the best for last, right? I was doing that. That was the biggest, fattest, juiciest slice of champignon Anna had left on her plate. And it was all mine for the savoring. I wanted it, badly. And then, the waiter swiftly and professionally snapped the plate up, and I was left with my eye on an empty table space. I admit it was worth the laugh but...

My boxer peed on Anna's yorkshire. Honestly! Anna told me all about it. Ask her. He just sniffed the pup and raised his leg like he would on a tree. And Navy/Pepper/Chewbacca (the Yorkshire) just stood there, unaware of what was happening to her. I thank God I don't have fur. It would be so dreadful to take care of, aye?

I'd like to announce that absolutely nothing amazing or fantastic at all has happened to me this week. But it probably is happening to my brother as I speak. He has left for the Candlelight Dinner with a small box containing two rings in his pocket. He is proposing to a dearest little girl of his class. In dateship, of course, not marriage. How do you say that anyway?

I have posted several new pictures on DeviantArt :) Do check them out and... I dno... flatter me or something. Honest, it's good for your health. My latest below:

photo by me

I don't know, but... maybe nothing. She and he don't really whatever. I need a splash of warm rain. And three red roses. It's Valentine's, duh?

Mood: Cold (it can be a mood, believe me)
Song: Dreams by the Cranberries
Eating: Nothing, I promise
Drinking: Saliva mixed with tidbits of melted chocolate that were stuck in btwn my teeth
Real mood: C'mon...

xoxox
*dee

Too useless to put my picture up. Since this post is only about me and almost all about me, with a few exceptions, kudos to the person who comments on something other than me.

Towels and Cookies

2009-02-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Topics to be explored today: Anna's New Identity and A Weekend Without Parents.

There are always a gazillion things to do when your parents are not around, especially mischievous things. But as I am only a mischievous-wanna-be, I shall simply let you know of our perfectly well-behaved events during this weekend.

Oh, but I cannot continue without first letting you all know of my sister's recently found identity. You see, lately my brother has been under the impression she resembled a little poopie (not just her, i include myself. But this part is about her, so forget about me). I try hard not to imagine that. Why the connection? you ask. Simple. When our grandparents were here, David had to sleep in our room, and we began a long pointless conversation at night before sleeping. For some reason, Anna said something about pupils, but instead of pronouncing it "pew-pull", she said, "poo-pull". And, obviously, you can all immediately come to the conclusion that "poo-pull" must be related to "poo-poo", which sounds cuter when you pronounce as "poo-pee". This was the logic sequence my brother followed. And he immediately dubbed Anna and I as such "poo-pees". Anyway, the point of this is that Anna is no longer a poopie, but a towel. Sunday morning, as I sat down to have my daily coffee, I overheard something or other in the other room about someone being a towel.

(ME) "Who's a towel?"

(ANNA) "I am."
(DAVID) "Anna is."
(ME) "I thought she was a poopie."
(ANNA) "I was a poopie. Now I'm a towel."
(DAVID) "She was a poopie, but now she's a towel."
(ME) "Why??"
(DAVID) "I confused her for a towel and dried my hands on her face. She got angry."
(ME) "Oh, that happens..."
(DAVID) "Yeah..."

That concludes that story.

What did we do this weekend without our parents, though? Quite simple. What is the most obvious and fun thing you can do without your parents being around?? Invite a friend over and... BAKE COOKIES!! If that isn't mischievous enough, you can always STUFF YOURSELF WITH COOKIES!! and not leave any left for anyone else. And, if you want to be over the top mischievous, you can always rent a PG 18 movie to watch with your 17-year-old friend and your 16-year-old sister. You might get in trouble later, especially if you yourself, um, do not qualify as a responsible adult, but... what?? No, I don't believe I did that! How irresponsible!! What do you take me for? I am 22, but I'd never do such an awful thing! I just let them watch P.S. I Love You (we all spent the movie sighing). I tag Naty here (you so totally love mischief and cookies!) as our cinnamon cookie making accomplice. Her fingers are all guiltily sticky with unbaked cookie dough. You have trouble written all over you, girl!

Anyhow, I leave this post open for comments as to what else we could have done. Anna, David, Sam, any suggestions? If I am not mistaken, this next weekend is also parentless. We need to come up with something horrifically mischievous!!

*cheers

drika (on-a-computer-which-is-sadly-not-hers)

It's about time!

2009-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, let's post the first mischief of this blog, shall we? "FINALLY!! MISCHIEF!!!!!" Yes, yes, I agree. this is what the blog was originally meant to be, right? oh, but don't stop readin! this will be mild, trust me. just some mild meanness coming from the youngest of this boring family that can't even think up decent mischief. let's cut the crap and start.

have you ever heard of a chinese torture in which one is kept in a way that they cannot move? well, i've lived through it. it was horrible. i couldnt reach the bowl of stale bread but i managed to save up saliva so i wouldnt grow thirsty.
...
jk. anyways, being immobilized is not the worst part of it. one has water droplets constantly falling onto their forehead. it does not matter how hard one tries to escape from the reality of their situation, the unrelenting dripping is a dreadful reminder of what they were trying to run away from.

well, i'm not going to be as cruel or extreme as the chinese, but let me propose something to yall readers. kids, dont try this at home. get a deep sleeper when they are dozing off in their usual sunday dozing, or their casual saturday day-time-slumber or.......whatever: any time they're sleeping. night works perfectly fine. poor people! let them sleep! nah...why? where's the fun in that? its just once! look, lets leave them semi-sleeping. half a hole is still a hole, isnt it? theyll still be sleepin. get an iPod or any other cheap mp3 and choose a soft-ish song. not crazy and upbeat enough to wake the person up, but not too soft so that the person will sleep right through the whole thing. when that person is asleep, or almost asleep, put the music on low close to their ear. make sure they sort of wake up (even a groan will do). Then quickly take the music away. do this continuous times and have fun snickering evily at the person as they roll over in their sleep. do that until they finally wake up. when they do and grumpily inquire you about it, deny everything. it was all just a figment of their very fertile imagination! they just dreamt that they were listening to Yellow from Coldplay. they also just dreamt seeing you hovering over them with iPod in hand and a smirk on your face (uh-oh. run!!).

That was a bit of cruelty to you, from Anna Lopes. Stay tuned.
*over and out.

broken baby

2009-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

My laptop has gone through a very rough childhood, and now he's acting up. He was dropped off a chair a few days ago. Today, he froze on me, out of the blue. And then, he decided to turn off in my face. Is that what children do? They grow up, and then decide to confront their parents. Well then, my laptop has reached puberty... erm... not in every aspect of the word, but mentally (or softwarely speaking). I put him on time-out for a few minutes, pulled out his battery (the equivalent of grounding, perhaps? no TV? no internet? no battery!), and then returned. The puppy has been working just excellent up to now.

Caution to the reader: If my baby dies, I'm stealing yours.

*cheers

Bloody Day

2009-01-24T12:37:00.001-08:00

Okay, well, since Anna won't post it, I will.

Today was the day we had to go do medical exams. We had spent over 12 hours without eating and were starving by the time we arrived at the clinic. The place was teeming with people. It didn't seem like we were going to get this done quickly. So we sat and stared for a while until our number popped up on the screen. First of all, I'd like to make it clear that I had no recollection of exactly what exams I was there to do, figured it was just the blood test (oh the thought of it just makes me sweat!). So the lady went through the papers and got my things in order and, when she was done, I said I was going to the bathroom and left. The moment I got into the bathroom, I hear a shouting outside... "HENDRIKA!!" It was my mom. She was hunting me down the clinic, trying to find out what bathroom I was in. Utterly embarassed, I popped my head out of the W.C. and asked what on earth was going on. "You have a urine exam, too!!" she said. "You can't pee!"

There was a whole discussion that followed, but I don't believe, as mischievous and schemeful as this blog might be, that it qualifies to be posted here.

And then, I got poked with the needle. Okay, there was a whole blubbing before that. I sat down nervously. The lady did that torniquet thing around my right arm. I admit, I don't think I'm scared of needles... I'm just incredibly scared of tissue damage, especially along my arm, especially involving bleeding, especially involving seeing the blood!!!! (so speaks the biologist) She asked me what arm I usually drew blood from. I said, "I don't know... I haven't drawn blood in--(she shows the needle; my heart stops, my eyes start watering) oh my goodness, this freaks me out, honestly, it does..." "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. The needle is much thinner than usual and--" in it goes! All the while, I'm staring at the wall beside me and biting my lip so as not to cry. The tourniquet hurts more than anything. I start wondering how much pressure you need to cut off circulation, how long it would take before the arm became numb, then motionless, then useless, then necrotic. And then it's done, she pulls the needle out, makes sure I see the blood with my name written on it (I feel slightly lightheaded).

I return to the waiting room, and then it is Anna's turn. She goes and comes back a little while later with two bandaids, one on each her arm. Apparently, the woman could not find her vein on one arm, because, apparently, her veins are too thin.

We are not supposed to bend or lift heavy things for an hour after the pricking. So, that meant I only had my left arm to get by with, and Anna had no arms! We left with our arms hanging at our sides pathetically. She wanted to eat a cracker. I had to feed her. She wanted to drink some chocolate. I had to put the cup to her mouth. She wanted to read her book. I had to open it to the right page. I found it completely unfair. We had both been poked, but why the hierarchy amongst the temporarily disabled? -- Oh, I'm twice as temporarily disabled as you are, scratch my nose for me! Sheesh. It could have been me! *rolls eyes*

so that is the tale for today.

*cheers

Tuition PWN

2009-01-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

I just received an e-mail from Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. The subject line read "Great news from Jacobs University!". I could tell what was coming--well, kind of. My acceptance wasn't a huge surprise (though it did put me in a state of wild ecstasy), but I was caught by surprise by a 14 thousand euro merit scholarship. I flipped out and sent e-mails to friends and my guidance counselor. I called my love and told her all about it. And I asked my dad, "aren't you proud of meeeeee????"... and then he said we were still 11 thousand dollars short of being able to afford an education at Jacobs. Oh well, at least I still have a chance with need-based aid.

The Drop Before the Storm (hopefully)

2009-01-22T17:55:00.001-08:00

THIS IS A BLOG OF MISCHIEF. Alright, perhaps not that much mischief, because we're hardly that naughty. In fact, erase that. Let's start again.

THIS IS A BLOG OF FICTIONAL MISCHIEF.

Oh, bother, scratch that. Once again...

THIS IS NOT ONLY A BLOG OF FICTIONAL MISCHIEF, BUT MORE OF RANDOM EVERYDAY STRANGE THOUGHTS. We are baddie wannabe's; we have our fair amount of gruesome thoughts, but also a plateful of odd philosophy. We are lightyears ahead of lightyears ago. Our well-behaved role--disguising our suspicious sparks of crazy--in society and family suits us very well. It is the leash on a pitbull, it is the bars of the state prison, it is the... well, you get the picture.

So let me make myself quite clear here. The title of this blog is suggestive. When you picture a child sitting in the corner, what do you imagine? Calvin, naturally! The boy has been unfairly sent to the corner to stare at the wall and ponder over his foolish actions. But, obviously, he is doing no such thing. He is plotting and scheming vengeance.

Of course, we all also have a strange Hobbes sense of reason. Whoever knows when he'll show up? I ramble nonsense.

This is a startup post ;) I'm giving my fellow writers/siblings a boost here to expose their darkest and deepest and most nonsensical thoughts here. Hopefully, they'll bite.

*cheers