I don't feel like putting a title, so there!

Mood: …I’m slowly calming down.
Listening To: Jesse McCarteny’s new album samples on iTunes’s music store.

Jeez, school is starting to be so stressful! I mean, I could never actually be stressed out… but it’s pretty close. I guess it’s just because I have so many composition essays I still have to finish. And besides that… there are times when the books ask for a specific ingredient/material for one project, and we never have it! It makes me want to run out and stomp all over the place in a huff. It makes me want to go: “ARGH! This so frustrating!” Anyway, besides that I guess things are OK. I think... I’m not 100% sure.

Anyway, let’s move on. I accomplished something yesterday that I wasn’t even planning to do. I thought that I should at least try to write one of my ideas for this story in late 1800s. (I don’t have name for it yet…) So I got the idea to try and maybe write one of the characters’ past. Instead of doing that, I ended up writing the whole general plot! It was a complete accident. I didn’t even have any ideas for the plot before, so it was a pretty cool accident. I’m not sure if I should post it here yet. Because it’s sort of strange, because since it was my idea to write the characters’ past, I ended up writing it/organizing it in a sort of strange way. But I’m feeling confident nonetheless.

Jesse McCartney has a new album, called “Beautiful Soul.” It was just released yesterday, September 29th. I’ve listened to some of the songs on his website (which you can find here: http://hollywoodrecords.go.com/jessemccartney/), and I have also listened to the rest of his songs on the iTunes music store. I love all the songs except for one, called “Without U.” It’s oddly slow, sort of off key. Well, not really. I just don’t like it… at least of what I’ve heard of the sample. But the rest are great. And I want to buy it…

The week is going so fast. It was Monday only 3 days ago, and now it’s already Thursday! I can’t wait for the weekend =3. But even that goes pretty quickly.

Uh, it’s almost 3:40 and I don’t know what else to say. The day’s not over, so maybe I’ll edit this later… Maybe.

-- TChao!

P.S. That’s actually how you spell bye/good-bye in Portuguese. The only reason they put a “T” there is because they pronounce “ch” like “sh”. So they put a T to make our “ch” sound. I know, I know. There was probably no need for that explanation. But I just thought people might wonder.

Inuyasha Episode 150: A Strange Light that Guilds a Saint

Before I begin I must warn you that this entry contains spoilers for those who either are not past episode 150 on Inuyasha, or still reading the English manga. So if you are one of those people and do not want to become confused, frustrated, or disturbed by spoilers, please to not read any further. Thanks.



So, now we know Kikyou is alive. Or at least she might have the potential to live. I personally am glad she’s alive. It would have been so strange without her and it has been so hard for Inuyasha to cope with it when her name is mentioned.

How is she alive? Well, like Inuyasha realized, he didn’t see her die. And now two shikigami, Kouchi and Asuka, have gathered all her ashes. So it is a possibility.

Now we have the question about Hijiri-sama. “He” used his arrow and actually broke Hakudoushi’s barrier, which even Inuyasha’s sword could not do. Only someone as powerful as Kikyou could do that. And even Miroku said he had sensed Kikyou’s energy at that time. Now the question is answered in this episode. On Inuyasha’s way back to meet up with the others after destroying a group of youkai, Inuyasha met Hijiri-sama by the mountaintop and he asked to show his face. (Well, he more like commanded him.)



In the meantime, Miroku and Sango were fighting off some youkai. Kagome was said to stay out of the fight, so she stayed with Shippo. But Shippo noticed something that scared him, and Kagome realized it was shinidamachu. (“Shinidamachu” is the youkai that gathered souls for Kikyou.) And so when she realized this she decided to follow them, thinking maybe Kikyou would be there. Miroku tried to stop her, but by the time he got to her she seemed to go through a barrier.

Inuyasha said, “Answer me! You’re not Kikyou, right?” That was when Asuka and Kouchi spoke. They said: “She was ravaged by a very potent shouki. Her body cannot be restored to its original state. Her voice remains lost as well. She is fighting her spirit alone. However… she will run out strength soon.”

That is when Inuyasha finally realizes that Hijiri-sama is Kikyou, or so he thinks. He then runs to Hijiri-sama. But before he reached him, Hijiri-sama “shattered” to pieces. And that is when Inuyasha saw a glimpse of Kikyou’s face, but it faded quickly before he could reach it.



When Inuyasha looked up, he found Kagura above. He asked her if Kikyou really is alive – of course, only after insulting her.

Kagura told him: “Naraku thinks so. The arrow that broke through Hakudoushi’s barrier… There was dirt from Onigumo’s cave on the arrowhead.” At that moment Inuyasha realized what he had smelled when he found the arrow. It was Onigumo’s smell.

Kagura continued, “Onigumo’s obsession for Kikyou had penetrated into the ground there. Apparently, that’s what defies Naraku and keeps Kikyou safe. Kikyou is the only one who can use Onigumo’s dirt. At any rate, it means that we’ve both been jerked around by a fake.” Then she left. Well, this tells something. For one thing, it means Hijiri-sama was not Kikyou nor was he a real person, but a doll controlled by Kikyou. So where is Kikyou?

Let’s go back to Kagome. She was still following the shinidamachu. They paused once or twice to wait for her, and Kagome was starting to think they were inviting her. When the shinidamachu finally found their destination, Kagome found a waterfall in front of her. She walked up to the waterfall and looked into the water. What did she find?



She found Kikyou lying in the water, in full shape. How did this happen? Because like I said before, Asuka and Kouchi collected her ashes, which I’m guessing once put into the water, she was put back together.

That’s it. Yes, it ended like that. Isn’t that frustrating? (Now before you complain, or whine I have to tell you that I didn’t tell you the whole episode. The beginning I left out because I wanted to just talk about what I thought was most important in it.)

After they sang the new ending “Brand New World” by VS… they showed a preview of the next episode. You could definitely call this a teaser, for it left me wanting to download the next episode right away. I’ll give you a peak (It won’t tell you much, though. It’ll just leave you wondering.):



Now before I leave, I want to review the different things I have found out in this episode and what I think the results are to come from that.

1. Kikyou is alive, which is a problem for Naraku. And it will distract him from his plan to find the border between this world and the “after-life”. It also would be interesting to know what would be Inuyasha’s reaction if he saw Kikyou.

2. Hakudoushi does not have his little horse anymore since his barrier broke and Inuyasha destroyed him. A pity, but I’m curious what plan he will conjure up next now that he has more problems in his face.

3. Kagura realized that Hakudoushi is hollow, and he obviously does not have a heart. Where is the heart? It is with Kana, in the other half of Hakudoushi which split. And that part is supposedly (I think) a child of one lady, who Kana meets in the last episode, episode 149. It’s interesting to ponder what they’re going to do with that half, which holds Hakudoushi’s heart.

Weegie boards are a total spook.

At lunch Dad told me a story when he was kid. I don’t remember how the conversation came up, but we were talking about spooky stuff. (At least in that content, anyway.) He told me that one time he and his friends decided to go up in the attic and do a weegie board thing. They didn’t actually use a board, though. They just had a table and used one of those wine glasses, and everybody put a finger on it. It didn’t take a while to start moving! Some of them just took of their hand said, “I’m not moving it!” and after a while there was only two people: Dad and one other guy. Dad said that it definitely wasn’t him moving it, and he doubted the other guy could because it wasn’t easy to move, and it was moving pretty fast!

Anyway, they asked different questions. But Dad said that they couldn’t be direct questions. They had to be indirect questions. And one of the questions they asked was, “Which of the people in this group do you know?” And guess what? It started moving towards Dad! I said that I would have freaked out so bad, but he said he didn’t. At that time he thought it was cool!

Who would want to do that, anyway? It’s really freaky…

A SIDE NOTE:
I got my test results last night. I was so nervous! She said (my teacher who grades my test) that I have improved and that I should be proud, but then she told me what I did wrong. Some of the mistakes were little, some big, but it still makes me frustrated! For whatever strange reason I was nervous looking over the test and looking over her notes. It makes me feel so stupid, like I made a mistake only a person in 3rd grade could make. Oh well. I just hope the test that I’m sending now will get better results.

Small Talk...

This morning at breakfast Dad told Mom and me that he got a letter from Gurudeva! He showed it to me after breakfast. It was more directed to Dad, but he mentioned my name once or twice, and Mom. It was sweet. I’m glad I got to see it, though. It makes me happy.

In school I’m reading a new book called The Phantom Tollbooth, and it’s the last book we’re reading this year. Before I read: (from the first to last)

The Swiss Family Robinson -- That was an extremely boring book for me to read. I really didn’t like it. I don’t know why exactly, I just didn’t.

Anne of Green Gables -- I own that book. So it was the second or third time me reading it. I really like that book!

Theras and His Town -- It wasn’t so bad. It kept me interested, I guess. The setting was in ancient Greece.

King Arthur and His Knights – I have to admit that this book was probably my favorite book to read for some reason. It was full of King Arthur stories. It wasn’t one full story. But I actually really liked it. I also liked the words they used and that it was a fantasy setting in the middle ages.

Now I’m reading The Phantom Tollbooth. It’s interesting, and it makes me laugh sometimes. It’s about a 10-year-old boy named Milo who isn’t interested in anything, and he thinks everything’s a waste of time. So one day he gets home from school and in his room (which has a ton of stuff, but he hasn’t used any of it because he doesn’t think it’s interesting) he finds a huge package which holds a mysterious mini-tollbooth inside for him to use and supposedly --the instructions say this-- will let him go where ever he likes. So he takes his little car in his room, thinking this is just a game, and decides to try it out since he has nothing better to do. But he learns that it’s not a game and that he has ended up in a strange world.

Ok, that was a big summary, but I didn’t really even say much. I’ve only read 2 chapters so far, and it seems interesting. Because Milo has ended up in this sort of strange world – that have places named such as “Doldrums” which is the place you end up if you stop thinking and the only way to get out of there is to start thinking! – and he meets all these strange people, like the “watchdog” who has a body of a watch! Like I said, it’s interesting.

Like normal, I’ve been browsing Dad’s huge collection of music on iTunes, and I’ve been listening to the BeeGees a lot. These are some of my favorite songs/the ones I listen to most: (In no specific order.)

1. “Staying Alive”
2. “Emotions”
3. “Our Love”
4. “Grease Theme”
5. “Masschusetts”
6. “How Deep is Your Love”
7. "Heartbreaker”

I also came across Beethoven. He has beautiful music. I’ve only heard some which are “Nocturne”(It’s done by a whole group of musicians including Beethoven, I think) and “Furelise”, and 2 others that I don’t know the names of. I’ve always liked classical, I just don’t listen to it much. I mostly listen to New Age. But I still love classical music. It’s just so… I don’t know. It takes you into a whole new world.

Oh, and one more thing! I think I’ve got a new story idea. I get mostly foggy ones that I never use, but this one I like. Maybe I’ll use it, maybe not. I have 2 characters so far, and one is named Adrian, and the other is Jasmine. The setting is most probably in the late 1800s, where the women still wore those frilly dresses and corsets. (I’m not exactly sure if that’s the right date, but I’m pretty sure.) Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say. I’ll give more info once I get a more fixed idea of it. I’m excited though. Maybe for once one of my ideas will end up as a story! Becuase I usually have so many little ideas of scenes and made up characters in my head but I end up never using them. My current fantasy story that I’m working on is the only idea so far that has been used. But even that is a bit unclear.

Janmastami

Janmastami was… comforting, in some ways. But it was also tiresome.
I fasted through the whole thing. I spent most of the day laying in bed, reading a book, and drinking lots of water. I actually read 3 or 4 books the amount of 130 pages in a couple hours! Once I played a game on the GBA, to see if I could get farther on that Final Fantasy game, unfortunately I failed. I didn’t go on the computer at all that day. Not once. And that’s not normal for me. I felt I shouldn’t after all it was Janmastami.

I did help with cooking though. I helped peal boiling hot potatoes with a knife, and “dried” slices of potatoes with a cloth to make chips. I was terrible at the pealing. I was going so slowly compared to Marçiana. She pealed 2 or 3 potatoes in the time I was still struggling with my first! And they were so hot, too. Oh, and I also helped watch the tapioca on the stove to prevent from boiling over for my mom. Not much, but something at least.

In some ways it felt strange fasting, because it makes you feel so weak. One time I was looking for my mom and ran up and down the stairs twice and I was already exhausted and shaking when I found her. Just supporting my head on my hand made my hand quiver, but amazingly enough, I lasted through the whole thing, despite my hunger. Once when I was helping in the kitchen, I was flipping through the cookbook looking at all the yummy looking dishes. I swear my mouth was watering just looking at them. That’s how hungry I felt.

Before I helped in the kitchen, I made garlands for the Deities. We only had one kind of flower, so there was only one color. It was strange though, I had to make 3 garlands, and every time I made the next they became bigger. The first one was the smallest, the second bigger, and the last was the biggest. I guess I didn’t measure right. But it was creepy when I had to go outside to pick some more. It was getting dark and everything looked eerie in the silence, especially the pool. So I was quick to pick them, I didn’t want to be out longer. But I had to go twice because the first time I forgot to take the basket to put the flowers in. When I came inside again, my dad was smiling at me and sort of chuckled while he said: “It’s spooky out there at night, huh?” “Yes” was my answer.

While my dad went to the program at the institute/center, I stayed with Maçiana and my mom. We did other things in the kitchen. After that, we waited for the devotees to come, since we were going to do the abbhi-shake (I have no idea how spell that, so I’m making my won way.) at home. It felt like waiting forever. I was hungry and the only thing I could think of was eating, especially since it was so close to breaking fast. I was also really tired. I always found myself laying my head on the kitchen table and just closing my eyes. Only my hunger kept me awake.

When they arrived, I was relieved. When we were still waiting for them, in between my mom and me sat there watching the camera that looks out to the driveway to see if there were any cars coming up. And in between that I found my mom watching a movie on TV just to distract herself. What was she watching? Edward Scissorhands. It was at the ending, though. Anyway, it took a while, but somehow everybody arrived in the nick of time.

It’s strange, but when we did the abbhi-shake my hunger was pushed aside. I completely forgot about it. I got to pour some honey on them, but that was all.

After the deities were cleaned and dressed in new clothing, Marçiana and I helped my mom serve prasadam. We brought it all outside on the table where we usually eat breakfast and lunch, and everybody ate there, except Marçiana and me. We needed a separate table because we couldn’t fit on the other since there were so much people.

Even though I was really hungry, I didn’t eat a lot, as someone would expect you to if had just fasted for the whole day. I couldn’t. Since I’m spoiled I’m use to my mom’s cooking so I mostly just ate what she made. Anything else, I didn’t like. And since it was such a small plate and there was so much food it was all squished together on my plate. I don’t mind it that much, it’s just frustrating because usually when you have something salty, it collides with the sweet things, and the flavors mix into something that does not taste good. Even though I didn’t eat much, I sort of secretly took seconds, but just the things I liked.

When everybody finished eating and people were getting cold outside, of course, everybody went inside and started talking away. I was still tired as ever so my mom allowed me to go upstairs to go to sleep. It was a relief. But even though I was tired I couldn’t resist but to read some before I went to sleep.

Since my mom is so generous she called Sabrina this morning and said I couldn’t do school because I went to bed so late. So I was able to sleep in. Now it’s morning and almost 12 o’clock and I’ll be able to eat something soon. We have to fast till noon since it’s Srila Praphupada’s appearance day. But fasting till noon is a piece of cake for me, so I won’t complain.

Catch me... if ya can!

In this post I will be talking mostly about the movie “Catch Me If You Can”. So if some of you still would like to see that movie, I warn you that there may be some spoilers here.

This movie was directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, and others. It is based on the true story of Frank W. Abagnale, drawing from his autobiographical book of the same name. And the brilliant soundtrack is by John Williams. Rated PG-13 for some adult content.

Based on a true story, Frank W. Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer, and as a co-pilot for a major airline company -- all before his 21st birthday. A successful con artist and master of deception, he was also a brilliant forger, whose skill at check fraud netted him millions of dollars in stolen funds -- much to the chagrin of the authorities. FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) has made it his prime mission to capture Frank and bring him to justice, but Frank is always one step ahead of him, baiting him to continue the chase.

It is truly amazing what this guy does, what he does to escape and disguise himself! Especially since it is a true story, it is somewhat of a shock to think that there was person who really did it.

“The actors did very well in the movie. And the movie itself was very well done. The clothing and everything was very authentic. And the way people talked, too.” – A somewhat edited version of what my Dad said. I don’t exactly remember everything he said.

I personally enjoyed the movie and thought the story was amazing. I mean it was actually real and happened! And the actors played well, and the movie was just cool. If you want to see the trailer you can go here It also shows a quick sypnosis of the story.

I give you some advice. Go see this movie!

I officially have a loathing to alarms that go off for no good reason...

I barely slept any last night. It took an extremely long time for me to go to sleep. I kept waking up in the night and having the weirdest dreams. And some time past 2:30, the alarm went off. You can image in that it woke me up, of course. First I sprang out of bed and was going to wake up Dad but before I did I looked for Mom in her bedroom. She said it went off because the electricity went out. How annoying! I guess those alarm people never thought of that happening. A mistakable power outage…

Anyway, I decided to wake up later and sleep in just a bit because I barely slept a wink. So I woke up a little past 6:30 and I thought: “I am NOT waking up at this time.” I went back to sleep and woke up a couple minutes past 7 o’clock. I just knew I was going to be cranky at school today. Mom warned me before I went to sleep that I only can read for 15 minutes. I thought: “Maybe.” I didn’t exactly do what she told me… (We all started getting ready for bed around 10:30). …Like not reading till 11:00.

But I have a good reason for ending up going to bed late last night. I got to see “Monk”! It’s at 9:00 on Wednesdays and 8:00 on Sundays (I think) and I haven’t seen it in such a long time! So this time I got to see it. It was a good episode but they didn’t answer the question: ‘Who killed Trudy?’ We only got to find out who set up the bomb. It was funny as always, of course. I want to see it again!

A funny thing happened today. In between second review, Mom came in the room to return a pencil she borrowed. When she came in Sabrina (my teacher) got startled really badly because she hadn’t noticed her coming in. The funny part is that usually when I get startled she doesn’t, but this time she got startled I didn’t get startled at all! And I’m usually very easy to startle. Strange, no?

Even though I was a little cranky at the beginning of school, the rest of the time in school I was more spaced out then anything. I could barely concentrate in History and Science review. I had to constantly make her repeat her question again before I actually got it. But fortunately review is over and the test will be tomorrow. I hope that’s fortunate…

Later in the afternoon Liana and I didn’t read anything, because I had to go to the dentist. She took me this time, instead of Mom. The dentist said that I was doing better last time she saw me, so she said me I need to brush my teeth more. But I don’t understand why they are worse; because I’ve been doing the same thing that I did last time, so I don’t see where the change is coming from.

It took a while for the taxi driver to find the way back home. But even though then I would normally be worried, I was strangely calm.

When we arrived home I ate a sandwich that Mom was making for Dad, which was a sliced piece of bread with melted cheese and tomotao on top. It was delicious! While eating that I watched “Changing Rooms” on the People & Arts channel with Dad. I don’t have a lot of shows that I like but “Changing Rooms” seems to be one of those that I do like.

Uh, nope. I can't continue.

I would have said more before, but now I am just too tired to. So hopefully this will be enough for those bored people who might be reading this. Sorry to leave you dissapointed. I am just too lazy to talk about my whole day.