Getting more into this posting-often thing....

So after much delay and frying of my braincells repeatedly throughout the weeks, with few breaks in between and a serious lack of caffeinated beverages, SPRING BREAK has finally made its much-anticipated entrance.

Sadly this annual vacation has its disadvantages. My psycho AP US History teacher gave us a project to work on over the break, I have to search for a summer job whilst competing with the thousand other nearby applicants, I need to organize and rearrange college stuff, my room, my life, try to hang out with all my friends at once, beach, mall, and so on and so forth. Ah, the trying hardships in the life of a task-bedraggled teenager.

You may have noticed that the text you are reading has decided to see what life is like on the other side of the fence. Just something experimental. I'm finding that it puts a new perspective on things when you change, literally, how you're looking at it. I'm trying to scrutinize the contents of the universe to get new ideas for what to post here, and doing some random things will help a bit. Hopefully now that it's spring break I'll have some more time to post interesting things here. For example, I have an idea for a story, well, characters in an as-yet-nonexistent-story, which I may post here. I'll also likely be posting art I've created here for critique or commentary.

Now I remember what I actually wanted to write about.
There's this AMAZING, award-winning website for the most creative online games ever:Orisinal.com.

This website is created by its owner for the owner as his 'personal playground'. Most flash games are really crappy, but this guy has gone above and beyond with the most artistic games ever. And they're SO addicting. View the trailer here to see what I'm talking about. ^^

That's all, folks. Peace out.

Update on Life At The Moment.

Hi there. It certainly seems like ages since I've posted anything here... I feel neglectful. :( Therefore I will simply dump everything and anything interesting or important that's been going on into this post....

So lately I've been getting up at the Ass-crack of Dawn(4:50am) to go jogging with my friend by 5am down our unlit lane. I've wanted to go jogging before, and I did it once, but my dad was too lazy to get up with me after that. Finally someone wanted to go with me, and now we get up every weekday(Monday through Friday) to run. Now let me say that although some of you don't exactly enjoy the prospect of running enthusiastically out the door at ungodly hours to get your daily exercise, it's actually pretty refreshing. My friend is jogging in order to lose weight and also to have more energy throughout the day.... we still haven't gotten the energy bit, but we'll get there eventually!! I want to jog to get energy and get into shape(all I do is sit around all day). It's pretty fun. Once you get used to it. The best part is proving people wrong who thought we wouldn't pull through with it(AHEM--*Gina*--cough-wheeze). *smug smile*

There are some bad points though too... it's really dark that early in the morning down the road, so we'll probably have to change our route. Not to mention at least 3 child molesters living at the end of that street.... yeah, we're definitely gonna change the route.

STATE COMPETITION IS COMING UP!! :D Not just State for drama(Mother Hicks), as previously mentioned, but also State for chorus(Chamber Choir). We got Straight Superiors at Districts in Performance, Sight Singing, and for both of our student conductors. Also, the number one choir in the county got an Excellent, which means they can't go to State!! Halleluuuuuujah~ Not only that, but both of these State competitions are in April, back to back. So the first week of April is Spring Break, then a week of school, and then the following week I have State for drama to go to. That ends Saturday night, and the next day I'm traveling to the amazing location of the chorus competition-- Daytona Beach!! xD Then I miss 2 more days of school, and then I have to go back. :/ And my costs are reduced because I'm missing part of one of the competitions. :)))

Let's see... other than that there really isn't anything. I haven't really had time to write lately, although I've had plenty of ideas, and I haven't even drawn much of anything. :(

Here's a shameless plug to my Deviantart page: Skybornesaki. All my art is posted on that account, so take a gander. :D And if you have a Gaia account, send a friend request to Starflight-Nights and send me a message telling me that you're a reader of my blog so I know who you are. :P

Toodles.
~Joanna

My Loverly Trampoline

Hello there, and happy Singles Awareness Day!

Right now I am enjoying some delicious strawberry-flavored Life Savers and some Dove chocolates. They're quite good. ^^ I'm listening to "I've Just Seen a Face" from the movie Across the Universe. Great film. Go watch it--now.

Today I mostly did nothing, just chilled around the house. This morning I was having a bad start to my day, and so I went where I usually go to think a while: my giant trampoline outside.

Our trampoline stands about 3 feet tall and at most 12 feet across, with blue padding around the edges and a dotted circle in the middle like a landing platform. It stands right in front of our jungle gym, and sometimes we like to climb to the top and jump onto the trampoline. And then of course my mother runs screaming out of the house and yells that only one person should be jumping at a time(yeah, right) and what on earth are we doing?! Pretty funny, actually.

Other fun games include: Moonwalking around the edge in a frenzied race, double bouncing your friends(you bounce right before they do and it shoots them miles into the air--loads of fun), bouncing onto your back or butt, and then standing up again on the bounce up, bouncing on your back and flipping over, handstands, playing "popcorn"(someone lays curled in a ball in the middle, and everyone else bounces around them, trying to get them to unclasp their hands from their knees), people crawling around on the trampoline while someone underneath tries to hit or tickle them.

On lonely days, though, when you just need to chill for a while, you can go outside and just lay on the trampoline. Usually no one will bother you, unless it's your younger sister who wants to play. If you turn over and rest your head in your arms, you can see the ground and it feels almost as though you're levitating. At night you can just lay there and stargaze. Trampolines are also good for having deep conversations with friends, playing jokes on best friends, making new friends.

What is your favorite thinking spot? Where do you go for random bits of inspiration?

~Joanna

Slump.

Reading: Rite by Tad Williams
Listening to: "Kimi ni Negai wo" by Miyavi
Drinking: Diet Pepsi
What I'm doing right now: Procrastinating. Aren't we all?

I've been in an artistic slump as of late. Actually, for the past few years. My inspiration has been in steady decline and I have no idea what to do... I don't even really feel motivated to write this blog anymore, although I've just begun. I consider myself an artist and yet I don't remember the last time I completed a picture. I also write stories but never seem to finish them. When I sing I don't know why I am singing anymore.

I think that I am serving two masters: Creativity and the Expectations of Others. Rarely do the needs of the two coincide. I'm constantly busy with the outrageous amount of pointless school work my teachers heap on me and trying to keep my grades up in Pre-Calc(curse it!). By the time I'm done forcing my way through the day I have no energy left in the end. I want to do something creative to take my mind off things but I'm too lazy to even pick up a pencil. :P I try to avoid stress as much as possible, so this makes me pretty lazy. Whenever I think about the amount of work I have I purposely put it out of my mind. Everything becomes a chore at some point. Including art. And it sucks.

As for life in general, I just got over being dreadfully sick. About a week and a half ago I went to school with a bad fever and dizzy spells, and by 2nd period I knew I had to go home. I hit the sack as soon as I got to my room, until sometime in the afternoon. Then I watched a couple movies and was peeling an orange standing up in the kitchen. I remember asking my mom to peel the orange for me because I wasn't sure if I could lift my hand that far, and then the next thing I know I'm lying on the cool bathroom floor with my parents standing over me. Whenever people describe their experiences of passing out, they say "Everything went dark," but really there's just a lapse in your memory and suddenly you're somewhere else. What happened was that my blood pressure was too low and blood wasn't getting to my head, so my brain shut itself off. My dad managed to catch me and take the knife out of my hand before I stabbed myself though.

And I performed my solos this weekend for the Solo & Ensemble competition. The best score is Superior, and under that is Excellent, Good, Poor, etc. I sang "Solvejg's Song" by Edvard Grieg which has some high coloratura parts which were difficult, and then my other one was Bach's "Bist Du Bei Mir" which was easy for me because it was in German. I was still really congested during my performance, so my breathing was terrible and my voice cracked on the first note, which never happened before. I also panicked and it took me a little while to remember the lyrics. Therefore I got only an Excellent. I hate being sick. But I don't really mind too much. It wasn't my fault, and the judges were really harsh this year. Many people who should have gotten Superiors got Excellents instead. Bah.

Well, here's my Calvin and Hobbes post: :)



With that, signing off.
~Joanna

It Builds Character.

Reading: Geisha by Liza Dalby
Listening to: "Don't Trust Me" by 3OH!3
Drinking: Spiced Apple Cider
What I'm doing right now: Trying to keep my eyes open.

Apparently, sleep and lack of association with my best friend build character. And also white blood cells. Therefore I'm doomed to isolation and hibernation for the duration of my weekend vacation. Alas, the anguish.

And for the time being, that gives me nothing better to do than homework(ugh), wasting away on the web, quibbling with siblings(and mothers), drinking spiced apple cider from a cow-speckled mug, and reading novels in a cozy corner.

Which reminds me. I was thinking about picking up my old habit of writing stories again, except this time I want to actually finish them. Possibly. I just need the proper motivation. So I'm going to be posting any interesting writings I might have here on my blog for your critiquing pleasure. Please be brutally honest<3

I thought I'd mention one of my lifelong inspirations: Calvin and Hobbes. One day I found this amazing comic on the wall-sized bookshelf in my living room and I've been addicted ever since. I found out Bill Watterson, the creator of the series, made collections of the comics, and I also figured out that they were all in our local public library system.
Therefore I have read every single Calvin & Hobbes comic ever made.
Crazy, huh?
Me and my friend over at Comedic Life are huge C&H nerds. She even dressed up as Calvin once and made a Hobbes toy. It was pretty adorable.

I wonder if it really does. I think if I tried it my mom would blow a blood vessel in her brain. Haha. The thought makes me laugh. Hmm. Maybe I'll put in a random Calvin and Hobbes comic every time I post now. Not every time. But something to make you guys giggle. :D

Ciao, kids!
~Joanna

WE MADE IT TO STATE!!!! :D

HELL YES.

The One Acts Competition was amazingggg. Our competition play, Mother Hicks, won the most awards out of all the schools competing. Our play won Star Actress--everyone picked for star actor/actress would have been the cast if the sponsors made a play(the girl who played Alma), Best Leading Dramatic Actress(Mother Hicks), Best Supporting Dramatic Actor/Actress(Tuck and Girl), Best Tech Crew, and we made it to State Competition! We made not one mistake during our performance, and everyone was hugging each other as soon as we made it offstage. Ironic that everyone was shaking with nerves just before. Haha.

Okay, let's backtrack just a bit. One Acts was 2 days long at a university campus theatre, and I got to skip school to basically watch a bunch of plays. :) There were good and bad plays, but the funnest part was all of the drama kids. They're so crazy! It's fantastic. Each school had 2 minutes to set up the set and/or props, and then 40 minutes to perform one act of their play. In the 20 minutes or more between each production the sound crew played 80's music and dance beats and alternative hits and of course, show tunes. Drama kids, being drama kids, get up to sing and dance with every ounce of their souls. One of my friend Gina's friends Nick from her school had brought the tiniest ukulele you ever did see. Us and two others waited outside the doors for the awards ceremony to start and he started to play some funny tunes like the Sponge Bob Fun Song and Tiny Bubbles and what have you. Soon he was attracting an entire crowd and was completely at ease making up random lyrics to his invented little chord progression. Soon everyone was taking turns saying random things to the beat and cheering him on. What cracked me up was that the kids who normally were the popular ones were now trying to fit in to the new "in" crowd. And they were too embarrassed to even make up lyrics.

It was unbelievable how many great people and plays there were, though. Some schools didn't take it as seriously and some made a bunch of sexual innuendos in their plays just to get laughs, or used the sympathy trick. But there were enough good plays to keep my attention.

From the first day, I really liked the kid from A Midnight Summer's Dream. He was friggin' hilarious. He had this sort of stupid swagger that deservedly won him the Best Comic Actor. My friend CJ from How to Eat Like a Child was hilarious too, and he won Best Supporting Comic Actor. This adorable little boy with amazing black hair from Cyrk was pretty cool too. There were a bunch of kids with awesome hair and cool personalities, too many to count. The only downside was that the majority of them were gay. So basically, almost no flirting involved. :(

The other three plays that made State were How to Eat Like a Child, Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, and Cyrk. Hands down, even over our play, my favorite was Cyrk. It was a play written by the actual drama teacher at their school. It's very similar to Cirque de Soleil, with incredible visuals and choreography. It was black and white and red all over, and it had a very gothic-lolita look to it, with the casts faces painted all white with black clowny markings and dark outfits. It was based on the circus fires of the early 1900s. It was dark and creepy and fantastic.

That's all for now. Toodles!
~Joanna

Ugh.
The entire course of my day today was spent rehearsing for Mother Hicks. I am sooooooooooo tiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeddd..... =_=

But enough of that for now. Mostly I wanted to post today because I just went digging through some old stuff on my comp and found this poem:



I dunno if you can read that.... If you can't, just right-click on the picture and open it in new window. I wrote this poem ages ago and found the pic randomly on the web.... Thought it was pretty cool. :D I almost never write poetry because I only pop out a really good one about once a year. Literally. And that's probably because I never write... heheh... it's an endless cycle.

Well, that's all for now.

Peace out, kids~
~Joanna