Yes, I know it's been an obnoxiously long time since I've last blogged, but that's probably because I've spent so much time on tumblr, that I have almost forgotten about where my blog adventures have started: here.
Now to the important stuff that you'll actually want to read.
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Since the recession began in about 2007, (I was a mere middle school student at the time), and before that, (my dad was unfortunate enough to lose his job before the recession) I had learned about money, and what is and isn't important.
Example: a new video game console isn't important, paying for the mortgage is extremely important.
Recently, since I have had no luck in job hunting and my money is tight, I have learned this lesson even further.
See, in 2009, I tried to be and dress like some kind of drama queen and become more girly, buying my clothes only at the mall and paying attention to all the latest fashions. I would buy my clothes exclusively at American Eagle Outfitters, Aeropostale, Hollister and Garage. Now, since I'm older and realize that I need to manage my own money since I can't keep mooching off my parents for cash, I have learned that I don't need to restock my wardrobe every season and that I can buy nice clothes at cheaper places.
Which leads me to flea markets.
A few weeks ago, my mom dragged me out of bed at 9 AM on a Sunday to go to a flea market. I was not very pleased with this, considering that 1. It was 9 AM, 2. I had gotten less than six hours of sleep that night, and 3. I did not want to go to a flea market. Reluctantly, I got myself out of bed and went to the flea market.
After spending about twenty minutes trying to find a parking space, and me simply wanting food and to go home, (I was tired and had skipped breakfast), we entered the flea market. I was surprised to see my friend (let's call him Andrew) there, and he showed me a Nintendo Power Glove he bought for less than $10. I was surprised that he found one. So was he.
I wandered the flea market, being pleasantly surprised by the world around me - a place where jewelry and hats that can be bought for less than ten dollars and the amount of CD's and LP records are innumerable, where you can buy Xbox and Wii games next to a man selling a Gibson Les Paul, where you can get Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses for less than the cost of a frappuccino, and clothes are not only very cheap, but are not cheap knockoffs of designer brands.
I went back to the flea market yesterday (yes, it was open Easter Sunday), and bought a David & Young hat for six dollars, and two Abercrombie & Fitch tank tops for fifteen dollars. I wasn't able to find the tea shades I was looking for, but I did buy a beautiful watch locket necklace from a very nice Chinese woman, whom, despite her broken English, was extremely helpful.
Recently, I have also started shopping at thrift stores and consignment shops. Although the interior of a Goodwill looks depressing, you would be surprised what you will find there. I bought a TV for my room for $10, and saw a brass telescope, several record players and a professional video camera there. I have also learned that if you're short on cash and need to make a costume, thrift and consignment stores are the best places to go. I saw many nice things at consignment stores that would work wonderfully as costume pieces, including a beautiful black sequined blouse with a matching skirt, and a silver corset, not including the trench coats, high heels and hats sold there. (I do love hats.)
I know I should probably be humiliated for shopping at these places, but I'm not. It's nice, it's cheap, and I don't care about name brands anymore. Now I wear what I think looks nice, whether it comes from Chanel or Target or Goodwill, and is comfortable. I can buy costume pieces cheap and during the ten months a year Halloween stores aren't open. I will probably buy my Halloween costume for this year at consignment and thrift stores.
UPDATE:
I've realized that I've become far too accustomed to not having money that I don't know how to feel when I have more than $30 on me. I received a handsome sum of cash for my birthday and now I don't know how I'm supposed to feel now. When I counted the bills, I seriously had no idea how I was supposed to feel.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Life
I realize I haven't updated this in a little while. Okay, a long while. Like a few months while. But whatever, life happens and shit happens.
I don't have anything to blog about right now, so I'm just gonna update on my life right now.
I'm in a band. Well, I've been in a band for about four months now, and we have five members. I play keyboards and backing vocals, Tina lead vocals and rhythm guitars, Pat plays lead guitar, Justin is our drummer and Jimmy also sings lead vocals. He's learning guitar and bought himself a new acoustic-electric and is saving up for a Flying V. We're doing mainly covers right now, but we're working on creating an original song.
I would consider myself an atheist now. I know I don't believe in God or any deity, I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, I don't believe in reincarnation or karma or whatever you want to call it. I used to be pretty religious, but I don't necessarily look back on the times I was the most religious quite fondly. (From when I was 12 to 14. Let's just say they weren't my best years.) I don't necessarily hate religion, I just don't agree with it. I don't hate people who are religious, I have friends who are devoutly religious. I just don't share their beliefs. And I'm not ashamed of it.
I plan on picking up a few more instruments beside piano. I want to learn to play violin, but in a folksy/fiddle style instead of classical violin. This would probably help if my band ever wanted to cover "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard. But I've wanted to learn violin since I was a kid, and it is one of my favorite instruments. I also want to learn guitar, because I also love the guitar.
There's some other things I want to say, but I really don't. Either because I don't feel comfortable telling them to everyone on the Internet, or I'm just too tired and it would be pretty long to explain. And I'm watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind right now because I can't find Moulin Rouge and it was the next romance film I could find.
It's probably both.
All I'm gonna say that life is like a person - they can be nice and sweet, they can be angry and vengeful, or they can be worrisome and depressing. My life recently has been a roller coaster, filled with ups and downs, and more recently more downs than ups. I've been lazy, apathetic, unmotivated and my grades are in the toilet right now. All that matters to me right now are my friends and family and the music. Everything else, I couldn't give a shit about.
All I know is that I'm willing to throw everything away for what I want. And what I want more than anything is not to lose what I have, even though I know one day I will, and to be fantastic as both a pianist and as part of a band.
And that Rock Band 2 with DLC is the best video game for the Xbox 360. And that I really want both Rock Band and an Xbox 360.
I don't have anything to blog about right now, so I'm just gonna update on my life right now.
I'm in a band. Well, I've been in a band for about four months now, and we have five members. I play keyboards and backing vocals, Tina lead vocals and rhythm guitars, Pat plays lead guitar, Justin is our drummer and Jimmy also sings lead vocals. He's learning guitar and bought himself a new acoustic-electric and is saving up for a Flying V. We're doing mainly covers right now, but we're working on creating an original song.
I would consider myself an atheist now. I know I don't believe in God or any deity, I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, I don't believe in reincarnation or karma or whatever you want to call it. I used to be pretty religious, but I don't necessarily look back on the times I was the most religious quite fondly. (From when I was 12 to 14. Let's just say they weren't my best years.) I don't necessarily hate religion, I just don't agree with it. I don't hate people who are religious, I have friends who are devoutly religious. I just don't share their beliefs. And I'm not ashamed of it.
I plan on picking up a few more instruments beside piano. I want to learn to play violin, but in a folksy/fiddle style instead of classical violin. This would probably help if my band ever wanted to cover "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard. But I've wanted to learn violin since I was a kid, and it is one of my favorite instruments. I also want to learn guitar, because I also love the guitar.
There's some other things I want to say, but I really don't. Either because I don't feel comfortable telling them to everyone on the Internet, or I'm just too tired and it would be pretty long to explain. And I'm watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind right now because I can't find Moulin Rouge and it was the next romance film I could find.
It's probably both.
All I'm gonna say that life is like a person - they can be nice and sweet, they can be angry and vengeful, or they can be worrisome and depressing. My life recently has been a roller coaster, filled with ups and downs, and more recently more downs than ups. I've been lazy, apathetic, unmotivated and my grades are in the toilet right now. All that matters to me right now are my friends and family and the music. Everything else, I couldn't give a shit about.
All I know is that I'm willing to throw everything away for what I want. And what I want more than anything is not to lose what I have, even though I know one day I will, and to be fantastic as both a pianist and as part of a band.
And that Rock Band 2 with DLC is the best video game for the Xbox 360. And that I really want both Rock Band and an Xbox 360.
Monday, October 24, 2011
My Life in Video Games
Growing up, I was a PC gamer. There's a picture of me when I was two playing on a computer. My dad took me to work with him, where I would play Putt Putt and Sesame Street games on the computers. Yes, I was a quite nerdy child.
When I was six, my sister and I got two Nintendo Gameboy Advance's and a Nintendo GameCube for Christmas. We each got one game with our Gameboys, mine being Rayman Advance and hers being Lady Sia. Since I liked the indigo Gameboy and Lady Sia, and she liked the fuchsia Gameboy and Rayman, we switched our games and Gameboys. We still both have the games and the Gameboys. We got two games with our GameCube, Luigi's Mansion and Wave Race Blue Storm. My dad sold Luigi's Mansion, but I still have Wave Race Blue Storm. (Which is a great game. If you can find it, check it out.) I have bought and traded probably at least 30 GameCube games since I got the GameCube for Christmas when I was six.
When I was seven, I got my own computer. I was probably jumping around screaming in joy. I remember coming home from my grandparents for two weeks, and seeing a desk and PC in my room. I've had PC's ever since, but now since my last PC crashed, I've been leaning more towards netbooks and laptops.
Then in 2002, Kingdom Hearts was released. And I wanted it SO badly. I begged my parents for years, which led to them buying Chain of Memories for me before getting Kingdom Hearts. I didn't get Kingdom Hearts until 2006, when I got a PlayStation 2 with my Christmas money. That year, I bought Shamu's Deep Sea Adventure (I was eleven, give me a break), Kingdom Hearts and Need For Speed Underground 2. Later on, I bought Kingdom Hearts II, Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition, The Sims Castaway, Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary. (Yes, I bought, played and finished two Tomb Raider games. And not because of Lara Croft's severely disproportional body. They're good games.) I still have these games, and several more that I have lost over the years.
Then a few years ago, I got a Wii. I got Wii Games and Wii Sports with it. I haven't used it much, but I still use it for GameCube games since my GameCube died. (My sister spilled something on it and it hasn't worked since.)
I'm still a huge PC gamer, look at my cabinets and shelves of video games if you don't believe me. I have hundreds of PC games, about 20 PS2 games, around 20 Wii games and over 30 GameCube games. When you add these all together, I'm a pretty huge video game nerd. Quite a few of the PC games are actually my dad's from as long ago as Windows 95 (and maybe earlier), and quite a few are mine, mainly mystery games, The Sims and any MMORPG, or most RPG's for that matter. I think the only games I don't have are first-person-shooters (FPS), and that's because I'm saving up for an Xbox 360 so I can play on Xbox Live with my friends.
Ever since I've had more guy friends, I've become more geeky. This is either a good thing or a bad thing.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Religion
Religion. A pretty serious subject. Yeah, this is the actual subject for this post.
I think its good to believe in something. I am friends with Atheists, Christian, Pagans, Agnostics, Hindus, I know people who are Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and Wiccans. (I recognize Wicca as a religion. Because it is.) Most of these people believe in something, I know atheists that believe in love or music. They don't believe in God, but they believe in something.
Here's another thing that really annoys me. When people call religion a race. I hear all the time, people saying "You look Jewish" or "I'm half-Muslim." How can a person be half a religion? By that standards, I'm half Grace-Brethren. People don't say "You look Episcopalian" or "I'm half-Pagan." (But I have heard someone say "You look Mormon.") It doesn't make sense to consider yourself or another person half a religion, or by saying another person looks a religion. It doesn't make sense to call a person "half-Sikh" or "you look Agnostic." A person can convert to another religion if they want. I know a woman who was Protestant, but converted to Judaism. I hope you see my point.
Another thing that annoys me about religion is when people get in your face about it. You know the person who really, really, REALLY tries to get you to join their cause, whether it be awareness for something you've never heard of, or get you to convert to their religion? Yeah, I think everyone knows that person. Here's what I say to them: I'll do my thing, you can do your thing. As long as no one hurts each other or gets out of control, you be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you. It all comes down to respect.
So does this mean that no one should eat this or do this because another religion does it? No, but you should respect that. There are too many religions to count, and that's the reason we have diversity in this country. There are Kosher markets, and vegetarian stores.
The other thing about religion also comes down the being nice to people. If we as a species could get over our hate of other people, we would have no problems. If people just respected each other, there wouldn't be any wars. Religious wars...seriously, why do they exist? Because when you think about it, war is pointless.
If a person distorts their own religion to the extreme, and to the point it doesn't make any sense to anyone else, there's a problem. This does nothing but fuel hatred and prejudice against whatever you're doing. In the end, it doesn't work and you look like an idiot. And no one really likes you.
Religion is a very touchy subject, and I know I'm probably going to get floods of hate mail after this is posted. (Yeah, right.) But whatever religion you practice, just respect one another. Just about every religion involves some kind of writing about respect. So it all just comes down to the golden rule.
(By the way, I'm Roman Catholic, but my dad is Grace Brethren. So you might call me half-Grace Brethren. Mull that over in your head and realize how little sense it makes.)
I think its good to believe in something. I am friends with Atheists, Christian, Pagans, Agnostics, Hindus, I know people who are Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and Wiccans. (I recognize Wicca as a religion. Because it is.) Most of these people believe in something, I know atheists that believe in love or music. They don't believe in God, but they believe in something.
Here's another thing that really annoys me. When people call religion a race. I hear all the time, people saying "You look Jewish" or "I'm half-Muslim." How can a person be half a religion? By that standards, I'm half Grace-Brethren. People don't say "You look Episcopalian" or "I'm half-Pagan." (But I have heard someone say "You look Mormon.") It doesn't make sense to consider yourself or another person half a religion, or by saying another person looks a religion. It doesn't make sense to call a person "half-Sikh" or "you look Agnostic." A person can convert to another religion if they want. I know a woman who was Protestant, but converted to Judaism. I hope you see my point.
Another thing that annoys me about religion is when people get in your face about it. You know the person who really, really, REALLY tries to get you to join their cause, whether it be awareness for something you've never heard of, or get you to convert to their religion? Yeah, I think everyone knows that person. Here's what I say to them: I'll do my thing, you can do your thing. As long as no one hurts each other or gets out of control, you be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you. It all comes down to respect.
So does this mean that no one should eat this or do this because another religion does it? No, but you should respect that. There are too many religions to count, and that's the reason we have diversity in this country. There are Kosher markets, and vegetarian stores.
The other thing about religion also comes down the being nice to people. If we as a species could get over our hate of other people, we would have no problems. If people just respected each other, there wouldn't be any wars. Religious wars...seriously, why do they exist? Because when you think about it, war is pointless.
If a person distorts their own religion to the extreme, and to the point it doesn't make any sense to anyone else, there's a problem. This does nothing but fuel hatred and prejudice against whatever you're doing. In the end, it doesn't work and you look like an idiot. And no one really likes you.
Religion is a very touchy subject, and I know I'm probably going to get floods of hate mail after this is posted. (Yeah, right.) But whatever religion you practice, just respect one another. Just about every religion involves some kind of writing about respect. So it all just comes down to the golden rule.
(By the way, I'm Roman Catholic, but my dad is Grace Brethren. So you might call me half-Grace Brethren. Mull that over in your head and realize how little sense it makes.)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Muse
I am going to say right now that Muse is my favorite band. If you don't know what Muse is, YouTube search it. If you don't like Muse...I can't be your friend. Just kidding, but Muse is pretty freaking awesome.
I've been listening to Muse since the summer of 2009, when my friend showed me "United States of Eurasia" and the first thing I thought was "They sound like Queen." And I like Queen. So I listened to their songs. And I fell in love. I fell in love with Muse. I have at least 30 of their songs on my iPod, and spend quite a bit of time listening to their music. As I write this, I am listening to their song "Hoodoo".
If I was asked to describe Muse, I would say that they are a mix between alternative rock, progressive rock, alternative metal, and classical. AND IT IS AWESOME.
Lead singer, guitarist and pianist, (among other instruments such as keytar, organ and synthesizer) Matt Bellamy has the voice of a god, using both vibrato and falsetto in many of their songs. He is also very attractive. Scratch that, he is damn sexy. So damn sexy that I do not feel worthy to have him as my Forum Family lover, and even less to add him as my husband.
Chris Wolstenholme, (bassist and backing vocalist) and Dom Howard (drummer) are perfect. In my opinion, they are the greatest on this Earth. This is what made me think of Queen when I first heard them. When Matt and Chris do the harmonies, with Dom just being an awesome drummer, you have the greatest band on the face of the Earth.
Several of my life's dreams are Muse-related. Being able to play "Butterflies and Hurricanes" on the piano is one of them, along with seeing them perform live and losing my virginity to Muse playing in the background. It is that awesome.
Just YouTube search "muse". You will not regret it.
You're welcome.
I've been listening to Muse since the summer of 2009, when my friend showed me "United States of Eurasia" and the first thing I thought was "They sound like Queen." And I like Queen. So I listened to their songs. And I fell in love. I fell in love with Muse. I have at least 30 of their songs on my iPod, and spend quite a bit of time listening to their music. As I write this, I am listening to their song "Hoodoo".
If I was asked to describe Muse, I would say that they are a mix between alternative rock, progressive rock, alternative metal, and classical. AND IT IS AWESOME.
Lead singer, guitarist and pianist, (among other instruments such as keytar, organ and synthesizer) Matt Bellamy has the voice of a god, using both vibrato and falsetto in many of their songs. He is also very attractive. Scratch that, he is damn sexy. So damn sexy that I do not feel worthy to have him as my Forum Family lover, and even less to add him as my husband.
Chris Wolstenholme, (bassist and backing vocalist) and Dom Howard (drummer) are perfect. In my opinion, they are the greatest on this Earth. This is what made me think of Queen when I first heard them. When Matt and Chris do the harmonies, with Dom just being an awesome drummer, you have the greatest band on the face of the Earth.
Several of my life's dreams are Muse-related. Being able to play "Butterflies and Hurricanes" on the piano is one of them, along with seeing them perform live and losing my virginity to Muse playing in the background. It is that awesome.
Just YouTube search "muse". You will not regret it.
You're welcome.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Harry Potter
My childhood is over. My life is over. MY CHILDHOOD IS DEAD. HARRY POTTER HAS ENDED. I cried. I CRIED. I CRIED WATCHING HARRY POTTER. THE LAST TIME I CRIED WAS WHEN I WATCHED "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY".
My emotions are all over the place because of this. My voice is shot from shouting about how my childhood is dead and Harry Potter has ended. Carmen, Tina, Pat, Jimmy, Hilary, Lorenzo, Kate and I had a huge group hug while screaming and crying about how our lives are over. We spent an hour after the movie ended, taking pictures, talking about the movie, talking about how the series influenced our childhoods, and hugging. People thought we were drunk, but we didn't care. We made tee shirts and E wore a Gryffindor scarf while wearing glasses and holding a wand. N wore a Hufflepuff hat.
This is both the best and worst night of my life. Harry Potter made me want to learn how to read. I saw the first movie opening weekend when I was six years old. I read every book, watched every movie, bought every book and movie, went to the film and book releases. When I turned eleven, I awaited my Hogwarts letter. I believed that a world such as the world of Harry Potter existed. Harry Potter was everything to me.
The movie was amazing, the books were phenomenal, and everything is fucking fantastic. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will ever match up to Harry Potter. I will buy the audiobooks, every book in Hardcover, every movie poster, the soundtrack for every movie, and I will go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.
Nothing will beat Harry Potter. Nothing will match up to this amount. I will look back on Harry Potter with fond memories, and everything that it was to me. I will keep every Harry Potter merchandise I have. I will keep the tee shirt I made. I WILL BE FORTY-FIVE AND STILL HAVE HARRY POTTER.
J. K. Rowling is a freaking genius. She created a world within our own, brought it to life, and did everything absolutely perfectly. Her works influenced young authors worldwide and inspired children everywhere. She is the most wonderful person in the world.
I now now that Harry Potter is is not dead. Harry Potter lives on in those who were in the Harry Potter Generation. Children like me who lived off Harry Potter. Children who lived and breathed Harry Potter. Children who learned to read from Harry Potter. Harry Potter is not over. Sure, there are no more movies or book releases. But Harry Potter lives on in the hearts of children of the Harry Potter generation.
Hopefully, they will make it a required reading in schools 20 years from now.
My emotions are all over the place because of this. My voice is shot from shouting about how my childhood is dead and Harry Potter has ended. Carmen, Tina, Pat, Jimmy, Hilary, Lorenzo, Kate and I had a huge group hug while screaming and crying about how our lives are over. We spent an hour after the movie ended, taking pictures, talking about the movie, talking about how the series influenced our childhoods, and hugging. People thought we were drunk, but we didn't care. We made tee shirts and E wore a Gryffindor scarf while wearing glasses and holding a wand. N wore a Hufflepuff hat.
This is both the best and worst night of my life. Harry Potter made me want to learn how to read. I saw the first movie opening weekend when I was six years old. I read every book, watched every movie, bought every book and movie, went to the film and book releases. When I turned eleven, I awaited my Hogwarts letter. I believed that a world such as the world of Harry Potter existed. Harry Potter was everything to me.
The movie was amazing, the books were phenomenal, and everything is fucking fantastic. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will ever match up to Harry Potter. I will buy the audiobooks, every book in Hardcover, every movie poster, the soundtrack for every movie, and I will go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.
Nothing will beat Harry Potter. Nothing will match up to this amount. I will look back on Harry Potter with fond memories, and everything that it was to me. I will keep every Harry Potter merchandise I have. I will keep the tee shirt I made. I WILL BE FORTY-FIVE AND STILL HAVE HARRY POTTER.
J. K. Rowling is a freaking genius. She created a world within our own, brought it to life, and did everything absolutely perfectly. Her works influenced young authors worldwide and inspired children everywhere. She is the most wonderful person in the world.
I now now that Harry Potter is is not dead. Harry Potter lives on in those who were in the Harry Potter Generation. Children like me who lived off Harry Potter. Children who lived and breathed Harry Potter. Children who learned to read from Harry Potter. Harry Potter is not over. Sure, there are no more movies or book releases. But Harry Potter lives on in the hearts of children of the Harry Potter generation.
Hopefully, they will make it a required reading in schools 20 years from now.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Party
Tonight (technically last night) I went to an almost all-guy part. Two guys with the same name, we'll call them Jimmy and Marley, and I'll use fake names for everyone else. Pat held the party, invited me, Hilary, Tina, Jimmy, Marley, Justin, and Owen.
I got to Pat's house about half an hour late, because the only way my mom had any clue where his house was is because of a nearby church. After thirty-five minutes of driving to wrong locations and back roads of suburbia, we finally found Pat's house and met Hilary, Jimmy, Marley, Justin and Owen. I met Kate, Pat's older sister, and Pat's parents. I had known Hilary, Jimmy and Owen from school, and Tina came about half an hour later. Jimmy, Marley and Pat were setting up Rock Band, which Jimmy brought. Once Tina came, we played Rock Band for about an hour.
Owen, Pat, Tina and I played Vocals and Guitar for a short while, and were then standing in the kitchen talking about guitars, when Pat tells us that he has a recording studio in his basement. We followed him into a surprisingly well-lit basement, which was filled with various recording equipment, six guitars, a banjo, a keyboard , a xylophone and a drum set. Tina had what can only be described as a nerdgasm. She squealed for a full ten minutes when he showed us around. I was not as excited by the equipment, because the piano was upstairs. There was a second half to the basement, which was used as a game and exercise room. I fell in love with the air hockey table.
After watching Pat play his $800 guitar for about twenty minutes and talking, we noticed that the music had stopped upstairs. Hilary, Marley, Jimmy and Justin had found us. We told them what we had been doing, Jimmy joked about a possible orgy in the basement he was missing out on, and we realized that it was pouring rain outside, and we needed something to do until it passed. Pat suggested Apples to Apples, which we played for hours, and Kate played music boxes and snow globes,. She also spent some time distracting Tina with different books.
After finishing Apples to Apples, (I won, by the way) we spent a few minutes annoying Jimmy for not bringing his Ouija board. It was still pouring down rain. We were desperate for something to do. Then we noticed the second half of Pat's basement. Kate showed everyone the VHS tapes, while I fell in love with air hockey table, and Owen tried using the elliptical. When he got off, I jumped on. I did not realize that it was broken, the handles gone and no controls at all. I started slowly, but then Owen grabbed the handles and shook them violently. I tried to stay on, but fell off. The entire time, Kate was flickering the lights so it changed from visible to pitch-black. I banged my shin on the machine when I fell off, swearing the whole time. After a few minutes I got over it. Owen said thing like "Holy shit, sorry." I did have to blame him for my pain.
Tina suggested we go outside. Then someone (Pat, Jimmy or Owen) suggested we play Manhunt. I did not know the rules of the game, so Jimmy and Owen told me it was basically Hide-and-Seek, just at night. Marley and Justin stayed inside. It was still pouring down rain. Tina took her shoes off and shared a jacket with Pat. They ended up looking like the two-headed dragon from Quest for Camelot.
I got to Pat's house about half an hour late, because the only way my mom had any clue where his house was is because of a nearby church. After thirty-five minutes of driving to wrong locations and back roads of suburbia, we finally found Pat's house and met Hilary, Jimmy, Marley, Justin and Owen. I met Kate, Pat's older sister, and Pat's parents. I had known Hilary, Jimmy and Owen from school, and Tina came about half an hour later. Jimmy, Marley and Pat were setting up Rock Band, which Jimmy brought. Once Tina came, we played Rock Band for about an hour.
Owen, Pat, Tina and I played Vocals and Guitar for a short while, and were then standing in the kitchen talking about guitars, when Pat tells us that he has a recording studio in his basement. We followed him into a surprisingly well-lit basement, which was filled with various recording equipment, six guitars, a banjo, a keyboard , a xylophone and a drum set. Tina had what can only be described as a nerdgasm. She squealed for a full ten minutes when he showed us around. I was not as excited by the equipment, because the piano was upstairs. There was a second half to the basement, which was used as a game and exercise room. I fell in love with the air hockey table.
After watching Pat play his $800 guitar for about twenty minutes and talking, we noticed that the music had stopped upstairs. Hilary, Marley, Jimmy and Justin had found us. We told them what we had been doing, Jimmy joked about a possible orgy in the basement he was missing out on, and we realized that it was pouring rain outside, and we needed something to do until it passed. Pat suggested Apples to Apples, which we played for hours, and Kate played music boxes and snow globes,. She also spent some time distracting Tina with different books.
After finishing Apples to Apples, (I won, by the way) we spent a few minutes annoying Jimmy for not bringing his Ouija board. It was still pouring down rain. We were desperate for something to do. Then we noticed the second half of Pat's basement. Kate showed everyone the VHS tapes, while I fell in love with air hockey table, and Owen tried using the elliptical. When he got off, I jumped on. I did not realize that it was broken, the handles gone and no controls at all. I started slowly, but then Owen grabbed the handles and shook them violently. I tried to stay on, but fell off. The entire time, Kate was flickering the lights so it changed from visible to pitch-black. I banged my shin on the machine when I fell off, swearing the whole time. After a few minutes I got over it. Owen said thing like "Holy shit, sorry." I did have to blame him for my pain.
Tina suggested we go outside. Then someone (Pat, Jimmy or Owen) suggested we play Manhunt. I did not know the rules of the game, so Jimmy and Owen told me it was basically Hide-and-Seek, just at night. Marley and Justin stayed inside. It was still pouring down rain. Tina took her shoes off and shared a jacket with Pat. They ended up looking like the two-headed dragon from Quest for Camelot.
(Short dragon - Tina, tall dragon - Pat)
I put on my hoodie and we were ready to hide. Hilary was the warden, while Tina and Pat, were seekers. Then Jimmy, Owen and I ran off into different directions. I hid in the woods behind his house and Owen hid behind the garage. Owen was found, but ran into the woods to find me. We talked, but kept our voices low to avoid being caught. We failed and ran towards the driveway. Pat disbanded from Tina and caught me. I was put in "prison". (Next to the recycling bin) By then, everyone was found except for Jimmy. Tina and I searched the yard and around the house while Pat and Owen searched the woods.
They came up with nothing. There was no sign of Jimmy. We began to panic, calling out his name, calling his cell phone and telling him that he won. There was no answer. We continued looking. Hilary then passed Jimmy's car. Jimmy was inside his car the whole time. Of course, we were ready to kill him. We banged on the door, the doors being locked, and Owen jumped on the trunk. Jimmy finally got out of his car and we went inside. We faced a scolding from Pat's mother telling us that we're crazy, and we should have dressed better. She did offer to put our clothes in the dryer, which we gladly accepted.
We continued to play Rock Band, with Pat's younger sister Mary until everyone left or their parents came to pick them up. I called my mom and my sister to pick me up at 10:13. My mom has a very bad sense of direction, especially at night, so it took her an hour and twenty minutes to get to Pat's house.
So I finally went home, and it was no longer raining. I noticed the pain again in my shin. Now I'm sitting here blogging about the party I went to, and there is a two-and-a-half inch area of my right shin that is swollen.
Thanks Owen.
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