best of the best...

[2005]
best planet: in a shocking upset, the award goes to...the moon.
[which isn't even really a planet. investigation pending]
best website discovery: wikipedia
best chickens: savage chickens
best blog: emma
best blog runner up: milicent
best xanga: lydia
best xanga runners up: shepherd and kates
best blog-hater turned blogger: betsy
best blog of someone i've never met: janice
best coast: west
best boss: mrs. martin
best BOD: joel maynard
best short-term roomies: allie, dani, lily, and rach
best cd: nickel creek 'why should the fire die?'
best band: the postal service
best series: a series of unfortunate events
best memory: a gorgeous day at the pacific ocean in celebration of twenty
best city visited: dc
best month: july
best summer flick: batman begins
best other flick: narnia
best old flick: zoolander
best coffee drink: starbucks coffee frappe with caramel on top
best starbucks location: portland gateway
best meal: dj's bread bowl
best activity: dancing
best wedding: stephanie and michael garvey
best betsy: betsy maynard
best activity: knitting
best house: the state house
best collages: mili
best new shoes: green suede loafers
best hug: trinity
best waste of time: facebook
best baby: david michael garvey
best little: little emily
best party: the hillsdale garden party
best wal-mart trip: the one with joel, swaagh, and audge
best lame insult: your mom plays elf bowling
best accent: scottish
best transportation: bike
best hat: fossil flower beanie
best purchase: ipod
best new title: the fifth suitemate
best why-the-heck-didn't-i-know-you-before-friend: swaagh
best laugh: mary twist
best style: rachel toppert
best suite: 334
best new career considered: ballerina
best tv show: lost
best fad-now-over: napoleon dynomite

oh, anthony...

For all you Creek Freaks.
You will die of jealousy when you see this.
And not only because Lydia, Jessinah, and Kiana are adorable.
You will wish you had made this.
Milicent, can you please hurry home so we can do things like this?

under a dozen, round four...

Fun with Dick and Jane
Dick and Jane are truly funny, but the fun is slightly predictable.

texas...

Nearly a year ago, a Texan came to visit me. I'm going to marry a Texan someday. And since it was my number one New Years destination, I thought I'd post my second favorite song from my new George Strait album. If you don't understand this song, you need to go there.

there wouldn't be no Alamo
no Cowboys in the Super Bowl
no Lonesome Dove, no yellow rose
if it wasn't for Texas

i wouldn't be a Willie fan
nobody'd swim the Rio Grande
i wouldn't be an American
if it wasn't for Texas

Fort Worth would never cross my mind
there'd be no Austin city limit sign
no lone star of any kind
if it wasn't for Texas

it made me the [girl] i am
thank God for my old stompin' ground
i wouldn't be standin' right here right now
if it wasn't for Texas

I'm thankful for Texas.
You should be too.

snicket wisdom...

Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.

Taking one's chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck.

Deciding whether or not to trust a person is like deciding whether or not to climb a tree, because you might get a wonderful view from the highest branch, or you might simply get covered in sap, and for this reason many people choose to spend their time alone and indoors, where it is harder to get a splinter.

I'm finished with number ten in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I just read the entire thing in one sitting at Starbucks. Talk about a good day. I also finished a 550 page book by Mark Helprin and am about to start another. Can I just quit school and read for a living?

under a dozen, round three...

King Kong
Kong is cool, even lovable, but Peter Jackson is King of Filmmakers.

from pooh corner...

Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws, and began to think.

There is little argument among my aquaintences that I most closely resemble A. A. Milne's Rabbit. And yet, at times, I also channel our favorite Bear of Very Little Brain.

Like Winnie-ther-Pooh ["don't you know what 'ther' means?" "Ah, yes, now i do," i said quickly; and i hope you do too, because it is all the explanation you are going to get"], I have to do my thinking in a Thinking Spot. Being a city chap and lacking a fallen log in the woods, I've given my neighborhood Starbucks the honor.

I escape to that magical place where the music is peaceful and subconscious, the people [with and without the green aprons] are friendly, and the world revolves are a warm, soothing beverage. I am able to sit and surreptitiously tap my empty head with a finger, repeating the mantra, 'think, think, think.'

I complained to my family yesterday that school has been out for a week and a half, and yet I'm still having stress headaches. My mom's response was to raise her eyebrows and say, "Well, you do worry about everything..." I wouldn't say I worry so much as think about everything. But they're probably the same thing. I'm too busy thinking to figure out some other way of living.

Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.

I'm glad that my life is adventurous enough to deserve contemplation and even some worry. My world is big enough that I can plot my exploration through word, picture, and country. I have the freedom to dream bigger than most people.

But right now, I'm learning how to wait. I'm trying to pound it into my frail heart and forgetful head that my plans are in God's hands, that my only responsibility is knowing Him. I know my purpose, but I don't know about all the little things like school, relationships, money, travel, home, etc. Moving closer to Him, my lack of Real Life plans doesn't seem so worrisome anymore. Because perhaps, the Adventure of knowing Him is Real Life afterall...

As soon as he saw the Big Boots, Pooh knew that an Adventure was going to happen, and he brushed the honey off his nose with the back of his paw, and spruced himself up as well as he could, so as to look Ready for Anything.

the snow song...

"But it's no good going home to practice it, because it's a special Outdoor Song which Has To Be Sung In The Snow."
"Are you sure?" asked Piglet anxiously.
"Well, you'll see, Piglet, when you listen. Because this is how it beings. The more it snow, tiddely pom-"
"Tiddely what?" said Piglet.
"Pom," said Pooh. "I put that in to make it more hummy. The more it goes, tiddely pom, the more-"
"Didn't you say snows?"
"Yes, but that was before."
"Before the tiddely pom?"
"It was a different diddely pom," said Pooh, feeling rather muddled now. "I'll sing it to you properly, and then, you'll see."

So he sang it again.

The more it
SNOWS-tiddely-pom,
The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom
The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom
On
Snowing.

And nobody
KNOWS-tiddely-pom,
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
Are
Growing.

He sang it like that, which is much the best way of singing ii, and when he had finished, he waited for Piglet to say that, of all the Outdoor Hums for Snowy Weather he had ever heard, this was the best.

And, after thinking the matter out carefully, Piglet said: "Pooh," he said solemnly, "it isnt the toes so much as the ears."
[A. A. Milne]

saturday afternoon...

Look who spent the afternoon at my house!

davey and auntie em

he's the cutest monster ever!

steph, david michael, and emily

He was smiling like crazy [and he spit up a lot. sick] when we weren't taking pictures!
[okay, i'll admit it, this post was entirely to make Rach jealous]

"I'm not sure what to do, but in the mean time...I'm putting up more twinkle lights."

christmas cheer...

In some ways, Christmas is so much better as a kid. Well, the presents are better at least. Somehow, it's not as exciting when you're no longer getting toys... But the season itself becomes so much sweeter as you get older. The meaning becomes clearer and the time is more special. It's all about family, music, no homework, and of course, fudge.

I love that my family has been calling me every day since the beginning of December. I get to recite [from memory, of course. no mistakes yet!] the story on our Advent Calender. When I'm done every day, I get to listen to them arguing about who gets to put the next token in place.
Only four more days til I get to argue too!

The other question to ask the Maynards this time of year is, "What does the mantle say?" Let me explain...no, there's no time. Constitution papers and bed are calling my name...I'll sum it up.

Several years ago, my mom bought actual stocking holders to hang on our mantle. The push pin holes just weren't working, I guess. The perfect numerical combination for our eight oversized knitted socks is found in the individual letters for "Joy" and "Peace." I'd be bragging to say that it was my genius English Major mind that immediately walked to the fireplace and created a new phrase. Though it's been at least a year since anything original appeared [only so much you can do with eight letters], our family has enjoyed many combinations of letters. [my mother gets mildly annoyed when it changes every time one of us walks into the living room. which, though it may come as a surprise, is acutally quite frequently]

Today, AmyGrace told me it actually says "Joy" and "Peace."
But only because she just changed it back...

playing dress up...

 

end of semester...

Already?

That's right folks. Emily is officially done with her last Greek class Forever. Last Greek test. Forever. I will miss all the good times with the Clique. And though it's highly doubtful, I may even miss some of the strange phrases which emanate from Dr Holmes' mouth.

Here, for your enjoyment or scandalization, are several of the margin notes from this semester. Unless otherwise noted, all are original quotes from the Mormo herself.

-And then...he gets bumped off at the end! Ha! [on socrates]
-If you're happy and you know it, bring your Smythe [on our thirty lb grammar book]
-I say, 'what's good enough for Buttman is good enough for us!"
-I don't exactly remember...Oh! Wait, I know...square brackets or pointy.
-Let's hack and slash through some Plato, shall we?
-Guestfriend. Like a railroad.
-You have a pen crawling up your face. It's disturbing. [it was]
-She's a boogie lady!
-We'll just kill you three or four times, okay?
-Pleasant? or Present? It sounds like you have a Chinese accent.
-Mr. Schilling...are you chilling?
-When should you stop? Whenever you run out of spit.
-It's like enmity. [half the class spends a couple of minutes mouthing 'enmity' and 'emnity.' the former is correct, by the way]
-Sorry, I can't hear you with my nose covered like this.
-Were you playing footsie under the table? Naughty Hellenists!
-You are certainly not entitled to your own opinion, because you hardly know anything!
-Then Jesus told the demon, 'shut up and get the hell out of here!'
-Angels are like the Pony Express of God.
-A dyslexic man walks into a bra...
-That's true, you can be self-decieved.
-People's health is generally their priority. Especially if they're dying of something.
-I'd have to compliment myself for that.
-That's not responsible lexicography!
-Zacharias couldn't talk. It was a nice little break for Elizabeth...
-Oh, they always make it the woman's fault.

fifty dollar words...

Words are expensive...but worth the money.

Powell's was blissfully overwhelming, as usual. I kept picking up books, determined to add them to my collection, only to be distracted by some new pricetag. That's the way I shop at Powell's: grab everything that catches the eye, pile them all on, then evaluate and purchase some. Sometimes I sort them by author, sometimes by size. One likes to get the most words possible for one's hard earned michigan-minimum-wage-dollar.

Allison and I talked about all the 'everyone-reads-this-in-highschool' books that we haven't read. There are a lot.

In the end, I left trip poorer in dollar, but much richer in word:

-A Curly Girl book for my favorite little corkscrew redhead in Michigan
-A collection of fifteen early Jeeves [mostly unread] stories will keep me company on the long flight back to Chicago on Sunday
-Through Painted Deserts: Light, God and Beayty on the Open Road to fulfill my stream-of-consciousness and roadtrip-of-life quotas
-And a gorgeous illustrated hardback copy of Poe's darkest stories for those long lonely nights and occasional flashes of 'so much for my happy ending.'

I enjoy public transportation. I learned about life, love, fashion, portland, idaho, money, and gwen stefani on the Metro Area eXpress yesterday.

And to all you boys who think that tinted windows will keep the objects of your stares from noticing, think again. That might be tolerated in the backwoods of Michigan. But this is Portland. Please act accordingly.

under a dozen, round two...

Pride and Prejudice
Take pride in your prejudice against bad acting and lousy dialogue.

thoughts of saturday morn...

[in phx]

I heart flying home.

On my flight from Detroit, the Flight Attendant said, "We're going to be dimming the cabin lights. However, if you push the button above your head with the lightbulb on it, your light will turn on. But no matter how often you push that button with the person on it, you will not turn your flight attendant on."
Sketch, but funny. And the other one told jokes.

Why are all of the electrical outlets actually located in convenient places turned off? I'm huddled up parallel to a will in the exit area of gate D7. Ackward, but it works. And hey, if I hadn't been sitting here watching Emperor's New Groove, that cute little blondie exiting his plane never would have talked to me. Isn't it amazing how the simplest decisions can change your life?

He just ran up to me and explained something long and complicated. I didn't get it all, but I think it involved visiting his grandma. If he was twenty years older, I definitely would have been in love with him.

Ha. I haven't really slept in three days. And the eating schedule has been pretty inconsistant too. But being at home will remedy all of that. I plan to sleep most of the time and eat constantly whenever I'm awake. That should counterbalance everything, right?

Now I'm crushing on a boy with blue eyes, a crew cut, and yellow windbreaker pants. We're making faces at me and keeps checking me out with sideways glances. Woah. Flirt! He just blew me a kiss. His name is Owen; I'm infatuated.

Alas, he has to board his plane.Airport flirtations are short but sweet.

And now it's time to board my plane!

happiness is...

when your fingers are coated in modpodge, but you're looking in amazement at something that is exactly right.

[i'll post pictures later]

name that tune...

[procrastination brings memories]

...calling Emily...
...calling Emily...

I can still remember the techno static coming through the old speakers in my living room.

The brown speakers lived near the fish tank back in the day when we'd use our fireplace door handles and a chair to make a clotheline. This was after the record player was gone, though. Years of "discovering" that jumping up and down made the record skip had ended the poor electronic life.

But sometimes, the weird space noises and opening lines of the music would come through those speakers and I would start to squeal.

hey emily
it's your birthday
i'm in charge of the stars
and i'm here to say
hey emily
you're the big star today!

I'm not sure how my mom found the Happy Birthday Tapes. I think they were at Toys R Us, probably. They were exactly the same except for the name. I wish I could remember more of the words. It's possibly about as corny as you can get.

i'm the man in the moon
and i sing you this tune

But Captain Spaceman was singing me a birthday song. Me. The Emily Song. I squealed and fussed and was angry that they played it to laugh at my reaction. But really, I only reacted because it made them laugh. Sometimes I wished that it would be my birthday more often. I would bring it up and pretend like I hated it. "Just please don't play the Emily tape..." I'd start to hint before my birthday. Sometimes they wouldn't, but sometimes the would, and I was the star for one and a half minutes.

Childhood vanity? Absolutely. Spotlight seeking? Still. Have I gotten better about hiding it? Not really.

But today, I thought of that tape and it made me realize how far I've come...and how far I have to go. Maybe I'll try to dig around and find it this week.

see you next yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear!

snowgazing...

Yesterday I hit two out of three. Still need to write that paper, though.

The snow is still coming down, but even heavier now. I love it. We really only had a week of ugly leaf-less Hillsdale. I'm so excited about the white snow on the raggety pines and trees full of red berries. Cardinal spotting has been greatly advanced.

The view out my window is foggy with my breath. I could sit here and stare for hours. Falling snow is mesmerizing. The Arb is being transformed into a Winter Wonderland. I'm exhausting the one and a half Christmas cds that I have. I'll grab the rest on Saturday... ON SATURDAY!!

I GO HOME IN TWO DAYS! In less than fifty hours, I'll be snuggled up with my sisters.

Thanksgiving Break:
-family time
-church
-friends
-hold my nephew
-spend monday at UP
-see the new Pride and Prejudice
-read by the fire
-reread through the Crito and everything Biblical for Greek
-see Harry Potter IV
-Milicent time
-drink coffee at Costello's
-meet Pammy and talk about dead poets
-dance in the rain
-learn to knit
-Powell's
-eat chinese food
-voodoo donuts
-a massage
-beat up my not-so-little brother
-make a pie
-goodwill shopping spree with the sisters
-see how far I can get in A Series of Unfortunante Events
-wear hip Portland clothes in Portland
-secure a Christmas break job
-reread This Present Darkness
-find a Gryffindor Seeker hoodie like Jess
-buy Blue Like Jazz
-write
-buy a UP hoodie
-get my hands on a cool new scarf
-spend cool uninterrupted time with Jesus

Off to enjoy more snowgazing...

I'll see you on the other side!

it's beginning...

to look a lot like Christmas.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

a new distraction...

You know you've always wanted to run your own country...

Now you can.

my city, my town...

Allison just posted about Portlandia.

I thought I would let you all know the news from Hillsdale: an 18 year old high school senior just got elected Mayor. I've heard of this happening in a tiny town of a hundred people, but the Dale is home to a proud nine thousand. And this kid was a write-in, because he wasn't 18 when before the ballot deadline. Of course, not a lot of people voted.

He won by two votes in the final count. And they said your vote doesn't matter...

My townie roomie knows him from high school and claims that he's always been super political. It's not like the position of Hillsdale Mayor is much more than a figurehead, but still...

He was on CNN and Letterman already. And Goodmorning America is tomorrow.

I think I'll just stick to the Student Fed elections, thanks.

[maybe i should get his help on the campaign, though]

you've got quote...

Frank: What about you? Is there someone else?

Kathleen: No. No, but there is the dream of someone else.

costumes...

Continually going out of control with the pictures.

We closed the dorm and had a girls costume party on Monday night. Goodtimes. Mac is the best dorm ever!

i'll give you two guesses...

tiffanys and hawaii kate

hannah, emily, emily

the eastside ra girls: zorro [mary], homeschooler [hannah], morticia [erina], hawaii [kate], audrey hepburn [em]

west side animals: moose [grace] and lion [leah]

emily at tiffany's and chelsea lu who

don't mess with mary and melissa. they have swords!

sam, melinda, jackie, emily

viewing...

Introducing a likely-to-become-more-frequent feature:

Under-a-Dozen Movie Reviews

Where else can you get such a bargin, I ask? An entire movie reviewed in less than twelve words? Priceless! [and for today only, it's free]

Kung Fu Hustle
A lot of hustle, but not nearly enough Kung Fu.

washington: things...

this cute little guy was just waiting for the metro

for steph, with love

flags on the fbi building

modern [art?]

the blue muppet eagle?

flag draped from the pentagon after sept 11

washington monument

washington: places...

How cool is it that our country has miles of land dedicated to the memory and celebration of our nation! I was so amazed once again by the extent of God's blessing on this land. We are free enough, rich enough, and safe enough to just roam around history.

chinatown

president lincoln died in this house across the street from ford's theatre

capitol, capital

again

national treasure

iwo jima memorial

washington monument

ww ii memorial

each star represents one hundred men

now this is my kind of mall...

korean war memorial

washington: people...

[yes, kates, "places" and "things" will follow.]

Lovely, lovely time. Two midterms on Wednesday will keep my antics to pictures and captions til the weekend.

bekah and emily

emily and dominique

g and c

the cha

garrison and yellis

g-mor and e-may

another happy 19th century family [garrison, emily, natalie, dominique]

cindy and emily

natalie and emily

garrison

somehow, there are absolutely no pictures of will

washington: copycats...

What good is a camera if you're not posing?

natural history smithsonian dinosaurs

this one was 'head number 4.' so yellis and i are numbers 3 and 5.

navy memorial

why pay money for the insect zoo if you can make your own?

meow

'it's an anorexic contemplative rabbit!' - bekah

the invisible yellis man