Ah, Christmas time. A time of cookies and chocolate, trees and tinsel, annoying songs and annoying movies that, if they were gone, we'd still strangely miss. Yes, we all have those certain somethings that NEED to be seen or heard at Christmastime, otherwise it's not Christmas.
I haven't felt too much in the Christmas spirit yet, and I know why. It's because I haven't been home to see the decorated Christmas tree yet... or, rather, the two special ornaments on it.
My family's always been kind of sci-fi oriented. With good reason, I suppose. My parents' very first date was going to see The Empire Strikes Back at the movie theater. Our Christmas tree, thus, is decorated accordingly, with numerous Star Wars and superhero ornaments. But the two special ornaments that really usher in Christmas are one notch above--they have SOUND.
When you see the famous picture of Neil Armstrong on the moon, you probably don't think of Christmas... but I do. You see, we have this amazing ornament of him, standing on the surface of the moon, holding an American flag... and when you press a button on the side of his back pack, you hear him say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." What this has to do with Christmas, I'll never know, but I'll tell you one thing, it just isn't Christmas without Neil on the tree.
But personally, Christmas for me REALLY begins when I hear our other sound ornament. It's just a box-like shuttlecraft from Star Trek. I'll be honest, I really know nothing about Star Trek, so I couldn't tell you if this particular spacecraft was ever even on the show or movies at all, but it's certainly on our tree every year! This one has a button on the bottom that, when you press it, you hear a very loud, "Shuttlecraft to Enterprise, Shuttlecraft to Enterprise! Spock here! Happy holidays! Live long--and prosper."
My younger brother and I always prefered this ornament to Neil, because on Shuttlecraft, every time you pressed the button, Spock started his whole holiday schpeel all over again, regardless of if he was already in the middle of it. We were able to make a rap out of it, forcing poor Spock to say, "Sh-sh-sh-SHU-sh-sh-sh-SHU-sh-sh-SHU-sh-sh-SHUTTLECRAFT to Enterprise..." Our parents always told us to stop because we would break the ornament, but we were doing a good thing, really, by helping Spock get in touch with his inner Porky Pig.
Have a very happy holiday season, to both the sh-sh-shuttlecraft and all the inhabitants of Earth. Live long... and prosper.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sports story
On December 4, he Dana women's basketball team scored a victory by 18 points over Nebraska Wesleyan, with a final score of 77-59.
Four Dana players scored in the double digits during the game: Tricia Trotter with 13, Megan Finn with 12, Chelsey Zimmerman with 11, and Amanda Bryant with 11.
This put the Vikings to a record of 6-4 for the season, and 1-1 in conference play.
http://www.dana.edu/athletics/news/womens-bb-news/111/
Four Dana players scored in the double digits during the game: Tricia Trotter with 13, Megan Finn with 12, Chelsey Zimmerman with 11, and Amanda Bryant with 11.
This put the Vikings to a record of 6-4 for the season, and 1-1 in conference play.
http://www.dana.edu/athletics/news/womens-bb-news/111/
Personal Profile
I never know quite what to write about myself on these things.
You know how every time you open a new account on a new website--no matter what website it is--there's a spot for your personal bio? I never know what to say.
I think my fanfiction.net bio is the best, because it's short, in third person, and just lists bullet points about myself. You know, "Commander is: female; twenty-two years old; a dork", things like that. If I try to actually make paragraphs about myself, I just ramble.
Which I guess is one of my major personality traits--I tend to ramble.
I can't help it. My mind rarely stays in one place for very long. I'm always thinking about something else--like cartoons, computer games, reading, American history, and the like. Either that or I think about the story I want to write, which seems to change every month or so. And I can't write a full story in a month. So, on the rare occasion I actually start one of my ideas, I rarely get more than five pages into it before I put it aside. I have so many unfinished stories on my hard drive! I've sometimes considered combining them into one long nonsense story.
And I guess I don't know what else to say about myself, other than just that word--nonsense. I make no sense. I make no sense to myself, much less other people. I can only imagine what they must think of me.
See, I never know what to write, and I end up writing nonsense. And I think that's all that needs to be said about me.
Toothpaste
You know how every time you open a new account on a new website--no matter what website it is--there's a spot for your personal bio? I never know what to say.
I think my fanfiction.net bio is the best, because it's short, in third person, and just lists bullet points about myself. You know, "Commander is: female; twenty-two years old; a dork", things like that. If I try to actually make paragraphs about myself, I just ramble.
Which I guess is one of my major personality traits--I tend to ramble.
I can't help it. My mind rarely stays in one place for very long. I'm always thinking about something else--like cartoons, computer games, reading, American history, and the like. Either that or I think about the story I want to write, which seems to change every month or so. And I can't write a full story in a month. So, on the rare occasion I actually start one of my ideas, I rarely get more than five pages into it before I put it aside. I have so many unfinished stories on my hard drive! I've sometimes considered combining them into one long nonsense story.
And I guess I don't know what else to say about myself, other than just that word--nonsense. I make no sense. I make no sense to myself, much less other people. I can only imagine what they must think of me.
See, I never know what to write, and I end up writing nonsense. And I think that's all that needs to be said about me.
Toothpaste
NOTE: This is an assignment for a writing class and completely fictional.
Two youths were killed in an ATV accident outside Butteville Saturday.
Cooper Black, 13, and Arial Bookman, 14, both of Green Lake, skidded on ice on a bridge on Highway 111 and into the rock cliff, falling over 120 feet.
Geneva Franklin, 14, and Gill Sans, 16, also both from Green Lake, were in a separate ATV that skidded but didn't fall. Franklin called for help while Sans attempted to climb down to reach his friends, but fell and broke his leg.
Black and Bookman were pronounced dead at the scene. Sans was taken to Providence Hospital in Dawson for a broken leg and is listed in satisfactory condition.
Two youths were killed in an ATV accident outside Butteville Saturday.
Cooper Black, 13, and Arial Bookman, 14, both of Green Lake, skidded on ice on a bridge on Highway 111 and into the rock cliff, falling over 120 feet.
Geneva Franklin, 14, and Gill Sans, 16, also both from Green Lake, were in a separate ATV that skidded but didn't fall. Franklin called for help while Sans attempted to climb down to reach his friends, but fell and broke his leg.
Black and Bookman were pronounced dead at the scene. Sans was taken to Providence Hospital in Dawson for a broken leg and is listed in satisfactory condition.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
John Quincy Adams's alligator
Honestly, I think that if you're going to be president, you're going to need a pet to help you get through the four years of living hell that await you. Now, don't get me wrong--I admire every single one of our forty-three (well, forty-two different men, since Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms) presidents, if only for having the guts to take on such a demanding and often thankless job. (Or maybe they were all just crazy?) But it's certainly a job I'd never want.
I have to wonder if John Quincy Adams really wanted the job, either. I suspect that if he had abandoned his duty to his country, he would have written angsty poetry, an earlier version of Edgar Allan Poe. But no, he was an Adams. And an Adams, by thunder, lived to serve his country.
JQA was amazingly intelligent and had spent his entire life from the tender age of ten being schooled to be a prominent figure in public life, just like his dear daddy, John Adams. Before he was president he had been ambassador to many different foreign countries, US Senator, and secretary of state. He never could have won the presidency in this day and age because he was, by his own admission, "a man of reserved, cold, austere, and forbidding manners". He had none of the charisma that propels politicions of today. If he believed in a cause, he pursued it, not worrying about whose feelings he hurt along the way. Heck, he didn't even win the popular OR electoral vote in the 1824 presidential election.
Oh, and he had a pet alligator too.
Did I mention that?
Yeah, John Quincy Adams receieved an alligator as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette. A surly pet for a surly president, I suppose. He kept it in the East Room of the White House, and enjoyed watching government officials flee in terror the first time they walked in the room.
I wish I could find out more about the alligator, but the sites that mention it are only interested in the fact that JQA had the alligator, and don't mention when he had to give it up and if he donated it to a zoo or even what the alligator's name was. This site gives us a little information (and I like the name Jacques for an alligator), but it's surely mostly fictional--I mean, what kind of alligator plays cards? The alligators I've known only know how to play Candyland.
And don't even get me started on Candyland.
I have to wonder if John Quincy Adams really wanted the job, either. I suspect that if he had abandoned his duty to his country, he would have written angsty poetry, an earlier version of Edgar Allan Poe. But no, he was an Adams. And an Adams, by thunder, lived to serve his country.
JQA was amazingly intelligent and had spent his entire life from the tender age of ten being schooled to be a prominent figure in public life, just like his dear daddy, John Adams. Before he was president he had been ambassador to many different foreign countries, US Senator, and secretary of state. He never could have won the presidency in this day and age because he was, by his own admission, "a man of reserved, cold, austere, and forbidding manners". He had none of the charisma that propels politicions of today. If he believed in a cause, he pursued it, not worrying about whose feelings he hurt along the way. Heck, he didn't even win the popular OR electoral vote in the 1824 presidential election.
Oh, and he had a pet alligator too.
Did I mention that?
Yeah, John Quincy Adams receieved an alligator as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette. A surly pet for a surly president, I suppose. He kept it in the East Room of the White House, and enjoyed watching government officials flee in terror the first time they walked in the room.
I wish I could find out more about the alligator, but the sites that mention it are only interested in the fact that JQA had the alligator, and don't mention when he had to give it up and if he donated it to a zoo or even what the alligator's name was. This site gives us a little information (and I like the name Jacques for an alligator), but it's surely mostly fictional--I mean, what kind of alligator plays cards? The alligators I've known only know how to play Candyland.
And don't even get me started on Candyland.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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