Little Green Triangles and a New Year

For those of you who have not had the wonderful experience of working on commonapp.org (either it wasn't around when you were applying to college or you just aren't old enough yet), there are three symbols that you get to know...very well.

Red Triangle

Yellow Square

Green Triangle

Guess which one makes you feel the happiest!

You may ask yourself, "What is the best way to end a year?"
I'm here to let you know that there is only one way: a lot of green. Not just the money green (though that will not be denied by this blogger), but lots and lots of green triangles. So, let's end with that wonderful note...

Happy New Year's!  

Here's to 2011 and new beginnings!

Little Star

Stresssssssss

Just thought I'd post a little and take a break from my other stress-inducing activities...which shall remain unnamed at the moment. Basically, this post is a conglomeration of multiple different ideas and topics. Brace yourself for multiple trains of thought.

Recently, I've been hooked onto those cute little love quotes/poems/whatever you'd call them. At the same time, reading the sweet confessions of others makes me mourn my own loveless state...

I've also been hooked onto an online photo editor program (which is fantastic, by the way): Pixlr.com With it, I've been able to create effects similar to those found on Adobe's Photoshop, but on any computer with access to the internet - not just those with the expensive program loaded. Granted, Photoshop is more advanced and intricate, but for my level of image enhancement/creation, Pixlr is fine just the way it is. I've also discovered Picnik.com, similar to Pixlr, but without an image creation element - rather, you can edit the photos you already have with some pretty cool preset editing options.

Speaking of liking something just the way it is, it seems the music scene has been changing quite rapidly. For those of you who haven't heard by now, there is a music mixing master who creates a giant mashup of the top 25 songs of the year (according to Billboard's US charts): DJ Earworm. However, his mashups aren't just clips of each of the songs one after another. Rather, he forms them into an actual song using snippets and clips of the singers and the instrumentals. On his website he has downloads for most (if not all) of the mashups he has done in the past.

If you wanted to get to know someone with just one question, what would it be? Is there anything you can learn from their political stance? Favorite color? The country they've always wanted to (re)visit?
I dare you all to answer these questions in a comment. Actually, I double-dog-dare you. Why, yes, I did just go back to elementary school with that.

Here's a couple of corny jokes just to end this post.
Where did Napoleon keep his armies?

Up his "sleevies"!

What cat should you never play games with?

A "cheetah"!

Simba and Mufasa (from Disney's The Lion King) are racing. Who will win?

Mufasa because he "mufasa" ("mu fasta" [moves faster])!

With those fabulously corny jokes and that double-dog-dare (oh, no, did you forget already? Don't you dare forget!), I'll leave you to find your peace own now.

Little Star

Just a thought....

The great thing about the internet is that it's so open! You can find almost anything!
The not so great thing about the internet is that it's so open! You can find almost anything!


Do you know what I hate?
I hate those internally inconsistent pairs of statements. You know, the ones that read like this:

The following statement is false.The previous statement is true.

 or like this:

 This statement is false.

See? It's just one sentence or just one pair of sentences and it goes on and on and on and on and ad infinitum (to infinity)!

Anyways, goodnight moon!
Little Star

The SpongeBob SquarePants Show as The Scarlet Letter

I know, I know, you're thinking, how...?
Just wait a little bit and keep reading and it will start to make sense.

The format will be as follows:
SpongeBob's character/item/place: description
Scarlet Letter's character/item/place: description

Next one.
And so forth.
Here we go!

Pearl: Eugene Krabs is the husband of the mother, but he is a crab and Pearl is a whale - biologically not possible to be her father. Really, don't question it, just not happening. She's the energetic outcast at her prom (in one episode).

Pearl: Roger Chillingworth (aka ??? - we never know his real name) is the husband of Hester Prynne (Pearl's mother) but is not Pearl's biological father. She's the outcast in town.

Eugene Krabs: see above for more. Manager of the Krusty Krab (responsible for making sure the restaurant stays clean, either by doing it himself - not likely, or making SpongeBob do it - more likely)
Roger Chillingworth: see above for more. Physician of town (responsible for keeping it healthy either by caring for patients himself or having God help take them to rest)

Krabby Patty: The secret good thing in Bikini Bottom
Innocence/Purity: The secret good thing in the world of the Scarlet Letter

SpongeBob SquarePants: Protector/creator of the Krabby Patty
God: Protector/Creator of innocence/purity

Sheldon Plankton: Continually attempts to steal the forumal for the Krabby Patty from SpongeBob - one solution he comes up with (and tries many times)is pulling SpongeBob's brain out or controlling it from within SpongeBob.
The Black Man (not racist, just what they called the devil in Hawthorne (author)'s time): Continually attempts to steal people's innocence and replaces God's commands with his commands in people's minds.

Sandy Cheeks: The smart/different one in Bikini Bottom.
Mistress Hibbins: The witch who knows what happens in the forest and with Hester Prynne, therefore she is the different one in the town.

Squidward Tentacles: The neat/ordered one who tries to keep SpongeBob and Patrick under control, irritated if things aren't calm and quiet.
Governor Winthrop: The person in charge of the town, irritated if things aren't calm/quiet and Puritan.

The Jellyfish Fields: A dangerous, unknown, beautiful, disorienting place where you catch jellyfish. Noises include the buzzing of the jellyfish and occasionally the presence of SpongeBob or Plankton. Characters gather jellyfish there.
The Forest: A dangerous, unknown, beautiful, disorienting place where you catch sunlight. Noises include the babbling of the brook and occasionally the presence of God or The Black Man. Characters gather plants in the forest.

Rock Bottom: A place under the sea - it's "motto"/slogan is basically, once your there, you can't get out.
The Scarlet Letter: The sign of adultery in Puritan times, once you have it, you can't get rid of it easily (the stigma stays - it may have faded, but it can always and will always be renewed for some reason or another).


You may have noticed that I haven't put many characters/items/places down...that's because I (and my English class group) haven't found strong comparisons for them. If you have any suggestions, comment them!

Little Star

Labels.

Some of you may have noticed these little things that we call labels.
Used by humans to keep everything in their little nooks that they belong in.

I started using them, but honestly...I have such a hard time remembering to put them on. So, I'm just not going to. Oh, well. Just thought I'd document this decision somewhere! :P

Anyways, that's all for now.
Until I hear otherwise, I've still got school tomorrow and that means I've still got homework to do...

Little Star

Would it be all right to rant...

...if there's near record level amounts of snow and your school district has not announced closings yet the district right next to yours has already canceled school for the rest of the week?

...if the said-school district that canceled school for the rest of the week canceled school for today and tomorrow on Friday when the snow first moved in?

...if your school district did not announce the decision to close school today until yesterday at 11:15 and you heard about the neighboring district's decision on Friday?

...if your brother attends school in the district that is closed for the week along with all of your neighbors because you just happen to live in that district and attend school in another?

...if you gave up all of the perks of being a student in your home district to attend a prestigious school in your current school district only to find out that the grass was definitely greener in your home district?

...if said home district closed schools for the rest of the week (the whole 2 days) before winter break this year following the earlier major snow storm on Saturday and your school district did not close the rest of the week (the whole 2 and 1/2 days) until late on Sunday night? Thus history repeats itself...



I think it is completely all right to rant in this case.

My previous post was ranting at my home district - but actually not the school board of my home district. Just to clarify, my home district's school board is wonderful and amazing.



And now, continuing my rant about the flood plain behind my house.
Not only do they cut down the trees on that one side of the flood plain, they attempted a beautification project a couple years back and planted all these scrub plants on our amazing sledding hill on the other side of the flood plain. Then, they didn't take care of said beautification project area and now it's all scrub and ick and ugly and dead (so not eco-friendly) and a completely ruined sledding hill. Which we totally would have loved to have back especially this winter.

Another side thing associated with the flood plain, a couple of years back, I think I posted about this, but all the talk of the flood plain has me thinking of it again.
There is a storm drain near the back of the flood plain that got clogged up (I think late summer of 2003 or 2004? Can't remember, anyways, a while back). It rained and rained and the flood plain flooded. That fall and winter, we had lakefront property! That fall, my dad attempted to windsurf on it, and did pretty well, except all the trees that were in the flood plain that got flooded were still there... trees plus windsurf board does not equal easy ride. That winter, the "lake" froze over in another winter of great snow and cold. After shoveling away part of the snow and checking the ice, we had created a great skating arena for ourselves. Ice hockey, just skating around, all so easy to get to and so fun to do. Then spring came and the ice melted and we had another lake. Finally, that fateful day...the county finally sent people over and unclogged the storm drain. Alas, there went our lake...


GRRRRRRRRR. Can't take it anymore. Must stare at homepage of school district and refresh every 10 seconds...

Little Star