Analogies...Sort of.

If laughter is the spice of life, music must be the cheese. Spicy food and cheese go well together. Most places where there are music there are people smiling, laughing, enjoying one another's company...People play music together because it makes them happy. Cheese makes me happy, personally.

Love is definitely life's sugar. Makes almost any situation taste better, but if you get too much at once you get sick to your stomach. So love can range from teacakes to fudge brownies...and I love both. So love must be sugar.

Wisdom is pepper. It's difficult and sometimes unpleasant to embrace in many situations, but sometimes it's exactly what is needed to make something complete. Only the wise enjoy wise decisions, but everybody likes the taste of profitable outcome. So pepper is wisdom.

Friends are salt. Life gives us so many people, and they are all so wonderfully different. Whenever something needs some extra flavor, we ring up our friends. We know that our chicken noodle soup evening of staying in and watching a Gilmore Girls marathon will be a lot more bearable with The Zany Friend, The Witty Friend, and The Chronically Awkward Friend there to keep us company. To add that extra kick to just about anything, ya' gotta add some salt.

So our overview...laughter is the spice of life, but which one? Love makes us laugh in delight, wisdom allows us to chuckle to ourselves when we are put out, and friends give us the comfort and cause to laugh out loud until our guts hurt and our eyes water. So which spice is laughter to you? What part of your life makes you feel the most relaxed, most free to cut loose and giggle a little?

That's not a question you can really answer, is it?

You can't survive on a few pinches of sugar or a handful of salt every day. Spices add to food, but are not food themselves. Life is what you have to work with. The blend of all your experiences, relationships, the alternate paths of all your choices, and everything that you are and that you strive to be...that is what you survive on. Don't like the way things taste? Change your recipe up a little. You've got your whole life to get it right, so don't be afraid to make mistakes. Spend time with people if you feel a little lonely, or if you're bitter inside, tell your family, friends, or significant other that you love them. If you feel put out, take time to step back and analyze the situation. Have you made the wisest decision? How can you work with what you have to get the best possible result? But most importantly, what will you be content with in life? NOT what will you settle for, but what can you be content with?

When you go to sleep tonight, will you be able to close your eyes and think about your life and say, "If I never wake up again, this was awesome."?

Unsettling? I can't say I can always sit back and be content, but I should be. We have an incredible amount of things to be thankful for.


I try to end every day by smiling at all the things I love about my life, and life in general. I thank God for it, and I go to sleep willing to live and ready to die. It's a very peaceful way to exist, I believe. When you can lay everything down and say, "I'm happy with who I am and how I live," you have nothing to lose but everything to give. It's a nice feeling, though often fleeting.

Keep fighting the good fight. You'll lose battles forever, but the ride's so worth it when you know how to cherish the ones you win.

Goodnight,
~W.V.~

There is a cat very close to my head an I am a little afraid.

Damn you, Bobby the Cat. Damn you.

I got some crazy-awesome Converses yesterday. They are niiiiiice. Also purchased a pendulum, some amazing incense for my smelly room, and some strawberries, which I ate within a few hours of buying them ^_^ yummy strawberries...mmmmmm...

Anyway, band has been incredibly fun so far and I look forward to my year of Senior French Horn ownage. HOORAY! I'm watching Steven play Homeworld. Quite interesting. D has become addicted to Red Faction and I've been on a writing spree lately.

So my latest event...THRILL THE WORLD! Visit http://www.thrilltheworld.com and become part of something amazing! More info at website. I promise it's worth the time.

Also, an acquaintance of mine has a blogspot that I found to be quite refreshing. Check it out http://www.phatgirlsusa.blogspot.com .

Zero Gravity is an amazing store. Very my style. I've come to embrace the fact that I have no set style (though I usually fluctuate between artsy, punk, and hippiechick), so Zero is the perfect place for me.

I discovered that I have unlimited IMs on my phone. Go for it.

naomiclarks@yahoo.com

Current events: School starts Monday. Scary, I know. Especially when you're concerned about money as much as you are that you haven't completed your summer reading because your ever-shrinking attention span desires to heed to nothing but writing and making plans for the quick-approaching future.

D is joining the Marines. I worry, but I'm really happy he's embracing what he wants to do in life. He would never try to talk me out of writing, and I won't try to make him change career choices. The idea of the military startles me a little, but my past has probably given me an unfair bias about it. I simply can't wait until everything's sorted out.

Michael and Michael Have Issues. Great show on Comedy Central. Check it out. (I love Michael Ian Black!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In my preparation for Thrill the World I have listened to more Michael Jackson music than I ever have at one time before. He truly was an amazing performer, all else aside.

Stop the Ellen Degeneres jokes. They're not funny and they're in really bad taste. That woman has never acted a fool and flagrantly insulted people on live television or done anything to hurt anyone, so leave her be, please. Go pick on Rosie, already.

Kathy Griffin is hilarious. My Life on the D_List...priceless. Her mind works a little like mine, so I find her quite refreshing in a deja vu kind of way.

With all good luck i will have English with ED and McCurly again this year (if so, i have soooo many laughs to look forward to)...

My topic of choice- Bobby the Cat. Bobby was born with a urethra so tiny that it was agonizing for him to pee, and, in short, he now has no penis and relieves himself through a hole. Numa, his female counterpart, became a part of the family many years after the amputation of Bobby's gigglestick, and now whenever she enters heat (we hear her yowling incessantly from across the house), Bobby mounts and attempts to mate with her, despite the absence of his manhood. It is quite possibly among the most amusing (and depressing) things I have ever seen.
Poor Bobby. I salute you, impotent kitty.

When I started typing Bobby decided he was going to lie on the back of my computer chair, therefore preventing me from resting my head, lest my face be horribly disfigured by his back claws. Sometimes I feel sorry enough for that cat to let him claim my headrest, but today it just made me uncomfortable.

So here I am, rambling for the amusement of the infinitesimally low number of people that actually read this blog. Ya gotta love it.

Quotes for the day:

"Why can't we be friends, Brendon? Why?!" -me

"That was an epic fail." -Mr. Sloan

"Hello, Moochie Rumpum!" -Saucey

"Goodbye blackbird." -Johnny Depp in Public Enemies

"MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!"

...need I say more? I think not. Until next time, my friends...

"Live long and prosper." -Mr. Spock, Star Trek

Arvous,
~W.V.~

Oh Snap!

So band camp was this week. It was amazing. And truly hilarious. Most commonly used phrases of the week- "Oh snap!", "Je-su-uh-us!", "Fondue", "Squeal like a pig, boy!", "You got a purdy mouth...", "Bojangles", and "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard; that's right, it's better than yours, damn right, it's better than yours". Most commonly played songs other than show music- "Lean on me" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

It rained all week and was cloudy and fairly nice out in general. Today is my anniversary with D, and so far it has been quite wonderful. I discovered Yahoo IM on my phone, which is sweet because now I'm online pretty much all day to talk to whoever wants to.

I had an interesting conversation with my best friend the other day involving philosophy, among other more personal matters. The basic idea was that no one should expect liberties without giving the exact same liberties to others without withholding. We each decided that neither of us is quite up to par in that respect, so we have something to think about as we go throughout life.

I'm excited that school is starting soon. One more year. It feels so strange to know that I'm about to transcend between more stages in life....it's exciting, nerve-racking, scary, poetic...

Molin Rouge. Great movie. Ewan McGreggor has the voice of an angel. I'm sure ED would agree with me. :)

I'm gonna research some stuff now. Peace.

~W.V.~

Self-analyzation

Well, here I am again. Right now I'm cuddling with David and kinda sorta watching a Vietnam movie called Tunnel Rats. I hate Vietnam movies...except for Forrest Gump, which doesn't count :) .
I'm glad school is starting back. Yeah, it'll be busy and crazy and uberstressful as usual, but I kinda like knowing what I'm doing every day. I'm planning on hanging out with McCurly tonight, which brings me immense happiness. I haven't seen her in ages, and she's always wonderfully insightful, even in her nonsensical statements. David just belched in my face. Gross.

So I remembered...he did it again. Gross.

Anyway, I remembered a conversation I had with someone my sophomore year about psychology (a favorite dabble of mine). He got angry with me and refused to let me walk away from him because my leaving him alone after the presentation of my various theories about him would allow his mind to automatically self-analyze. (D just burped on me again. Gah.) Remembering my conversation with The Cryptic Fat One reminded me of a fact that I've discovered in my own life; usually the best, most definite way to be comfortable and happy with who you are is to really get to know yourself- to self-analyze yourself and decide which of your flaws you can live with, which of them you can't, and which of them are universals...which are so generally human that everyone shares them with you. No matter who complains about universal flaws, everyone has them, so you automatically bear them without feeling that they are a burden. Another great attribute of self-analysis is that it gives you the ability to see the good things about yourself; it creates a positive sense of pride, confidence, and self-worth. I realized today that I haven't self-analyzed in a long time, mostly because the people around me make me feel so wonderful that I don't feel the need to really read into who I am and criticize myself. For the sake of health, I think I should.

Let's see...negative traits first.

-I'm headstrong. I won't give up on something, even if it is a heavy tax on me emotionally or it takes too much out of me.
-I overthink things sometimes. I allow things to stress me out too much. I'm afraid of being too lax, so sometimes I'm too high-strung for my own good.
-I'm a tad ocd. I have a specific way I do things, and alterations throw me off. If i can't do things in a specific order I arrange things so that I can get them back into the original order, and that sometimes makes me a little inefficient.
-I can be too kind to people. Despite my good judge of character, I often knowingly give people more slack than I should, and it can end up costing me.
-I can have a one-track mind. I like to finish minor to moderate tasks before I consider taking on others, when I should be multi-tasking.
-I multi-task too much. (lol)
-I can be moody. Sometimes I let it show, sometimes I handle it pretty well. When it does show, I usually take my frustration out on people I know will put up with it (which I usually end up guilting myself to death over later...which brings me to-)
-I beat myself up. Rather I made a mistake or was simply a witness to something I couldn't control, I beat myself up over what I could have done, should have done, or would have done if I'd thought about it (which is so stupid to criticize one's self over).

There are a ton more than that, but those are specific to me. As for positives...

-I'm adaptable. Sooner or later I can become efficient at most things, which is pretty useful.
-I really care about people. People can rely on me and I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of helping them, rather or not they decide to return the favor.
-I understand people and empathize very well. I've learned how to work through emotions and it comes in handy in social situations.
-I'm usually conscious of how I behave, which is an improvement over how I was only a year or two ago. In fact, I'm practically a different person.
-I'm headstrong. Though it can be a fault, it gets me through tough times and helps make me a good leader.
-I'm insightful enough to deal with life. I don't really see the point in elaborating on that one.
-I see beauty in simple things.
-I try to see the good in everyone, even if the bad seriously gets on my nerves.
-I focus on the long run. I pay attention to the present and follow the philosophy that you only get one life and should cherish every day, but I try not to stress something if it's not gonna make a difference in a few years. I try to see opportunities and keep my eyes on my goals, and I strive for them without relent.

There are also more of those, but as before I see it as somewhat pointless to list them.

I feel better. Knowing that one knows oneself makes the world a much friendlier place, probably because when one knows oneself, one always has a friend close by.

I'm a senior. Dude, it's so weird (and relieving) to say that. One more year and I've got a new life ahead of me...talk about gnawing anticipation. I love not knowing where life will take me, and I love the few things I do know are in store for me.

Wow. This movie is awful. Good cinematography, but it's an awful film. No one wants to see life as it really is. Everyone knows that :) .But seriously, I don't know if I can finish it.

My quote of the day is original...

"My goddaughter is adorable. Michael Jackson is dead. Brownies are still yummy. Life is good."

Seriously, people. Some of his music was good...some. But he was only ever sexy or a good performer when he was a not-so-skinny, big-nosed black boy who actually sang and danced instead of grunting and grabbing his crotch. Get over it. He lives on in cds and the bank accounts of drug dealers. All I'm worried about is where all the Beatles merchandise is going. There's a lot more going on in the world than the death of yet another pop star junkie. For example, Iraq, Darfur, north Korea, and a Latina senator (JUMPIN'). Or, if you'd rather not focus on the world political stage, there's Kathy Griffin. She's friggin' hilarious. So is Gabriel Igleseas (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong). Check them out.

"Big brother is watching you"

~W.V.~

"These Tears Are Deadly"

So life has been interesting lately. My mom had her surgery a little over a week ago and this afternoon had an appointment to see what the findings about her cancer were. I'm nervous, so here I sit, blogging, alone. I'm generally calmer that way.

"Simple and Clean" is a great song. All versions. Check it out.

Well, I am a senior, and the AHS French horn/Mellophone section leader. LIfe is...good. Good enough for living. If a person can wake up and breathe and find some goodness inside themself, life is good, as good as it gets, and that means carpe diem is the way to go. Despite that carpe diem and que sera sera are two contradictory philosophies in two different languages, I try to live by them synonymously. Seize the day, but what happens happens. Only God can stop the world from turning, and while Earth spins, life moves on, with or without the living.

"She sits in her corner, singing herself to sleep,
Wrapped in all of the promises that no one seems to keep.
She no longer cries to herself, no tears left to wash away.
Just diaries of empty pages, feelings gone astray.
But she will sing
'Til everything burns while everyone screams
With all of their hopes and all of my dreams"

"Everything burns" ~Anastacia feat. Ben Moody

Almost all my friends have been consumed by World of Warcraft. I'm occasionally tempted to beat them senseless with their Internet routers. Though it's a fun game, hours upon days upon weeks upon end of leveling up to gain status in a video game while you're sitting there getting older is just a bit foolish to me. Get a life, folks. You only get eighty years or so. The Internet will always be there, but you won't. Live a little.

Everyone take a little time to just sit, or listen to music, or talk to loved ones. To read, to write, to paint, to pray. Take pictures, sing songs, dance like you're the only one with eyes. Turn off your phone and turn up the volume. Drive with the windows down. Sleep naked. Stand in the rain. Laugh at yourself...laugh at everything. Love everything, even the things you can barely stand. Just live. Live your life; it's the only one like it you'll ever have.

The title of this entry comes from a Hollywood Undead song entitled "I'm Sorry". It's riddled with pain and regret and anger, but somewhere towards the end of that song there is such relief...the release of human emotion is...amazing. All the potential for every great discovery lies within the human soul.

I've made a new friend. She's one of my freshman horn players this year, and she's an incredibly sweet, interesting person. Her vitality is refreshing to me. Constantly having random deep thoughts can be hectic, and she's a real breath of fresh air. A free spirit, like myself. I wish her well. She has no idea how much fun she's going to have in the next three years, and I'm excited to see how she adapts to full-fledged high school life. Best of luck, gal.

Mmm...Bon Jovi. Something about that man's voice is wonderfully enlightening. Great songs, to boot. I'm craving some Guadalajara cheese dip. Mmmm...yum.

D is supposed to be leaving work now, but he'll probably try to stay til close for the extra hours...I miss him, and he's wearing himself out...I wish he wouldn't. I can say one thing for the boy, he works really hard to reach his goals until he's met them. I admire that greatly.

I had an epic Avoid-Being-Farted-On-By-My-Randomly-Disgusting-Boyfriend Battle today. He let a real stinker loose, and I got one whiff and had no intention of remaining in the room for the rest of his gaseous expulsions, so of course he attempted to restrain me and fart as close to my nose as possible. He should be awarded a gold medal for taking as many consecutive knees to the hindquarters as he did. Poor thing was definitely hurting... :) But I won, as I always do.

I saw an act of extreme redneck-ness (and illegality) near D's house earlier this week; a family attached a fire hose (where on earth did they get that?! Did they jack a f-in fire engine?!) to the fire hydrant on the corner, ran it down the block to their curb, along the fence that surrounds their yard, into their backyard, and used it to fill their above-ground pool.
...Seriously?...I mean...seriously?...Even the yuppies can't afford to use their own friggin' garden hose? What is wrong with people? Is it worth being jailed and fined massively? ...Seriously???

A song recommendation for Evanescence fans: "Lies". A song from the Origin album that wasn't terribly advertised due to the fact that the band had not yet signed with Windup...you could also find the original versions of Whisper and Imaginary (that one's particularly good), along with some more great titles, such as "Forgive Me", "Fields of Innocence", and a wonderful instrumental called "Outro".

My quote for the evening:

"Sinners, men, and chivalry
And softly spoken lies;
You never know just how to look
Through other people's eyes."

~from "Pepper" by the Butthole Surfers~

(...what's up with that name...?)

Peace,
~*W.V.*~