My Very Own Proverb

If you're a yawner...

...you're a goner.

(it's profound and you know it).

And yes, I wrote that all by myself. 

Philosophizating About La Música

I used to say that people just weren't good musicians anymore, and that none of today's music was good.In middle school, I basically only listened to the Eagles, Boston, Heart, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Journey, Styx...lots of bands like that.
Then I discovered Pandora online radio.

DA DAAA DUHN!

Now I have this Pandora station that plays basicalmente zero classic rock. But I love pretty much every song that comes on it.

I think I just wasn't listening to the right "new music". 

I still think that pretty much everything on the radio is...eh-stinky.

(If you didn't just get that Nacho Libre reference then we presumably can't be friends anymore).

But there's plenty, that sadly isn't ever granted much air time, that has relaxed style, awesome vocals, originality...lots o' that good stuff. 

Oh and harmonicas. 

And whistling.

And good lyrics...HOLLA for the songs with a catchy tune AND a good message!

And holy crenshaw, don't forget UKES! Ukulele accompaniment can almost automatically make a song my fave.

But mostly, they're just...new. Or something. I dunno. 

And it's nice to know that it doesn't cost nearly as much money to see a new artist live...just sayin'. Seriously, U2 concert ticket prices are obscene. 

Plus, younger bands probably still have all their members. 

Example time! Last year I got to see Paul McCartney live. It was amazing, wonderful, excellent, exciting, awesome, fabulous, stellar, and much more. 

But I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to see ALL the Beatles. At the same time. WHOAH.

Did you just imagine that with me? Whew! Ah! 

And now that I've gone on a complete tangent and completely lost track of what the point is supposed to be here...

I feel like I owe you something for actually reading this. 

How about a free smile and/or hug next time I see you? Does that count?

P.S., have you picked up on the fact that I kinda like music yet? Just a little bit?
Tee hee.

Also, I wish "philosophizating" was a real word...

Dear Ability To Focus,

What happened to us?
We used to be so close.
I just want things to be the way they were.
You used to stay by my side during every homework assignment and test.
But now it's like we don't even know each other.
You only bother to approach me at the last minute, when you have nothing better to do, if ever.
And it's breaking my heart.

And possibly ruining my sleep schedule and getting me way behind in school.

Could you try just being available whenever I need you?
As in, like, sometime before 10 at night?

Anxiously unfocused and procrastinatively yours,

Aubrey

You Weren't Aware That I Am, In Fact, A Poet

...cause I'm not. Duh! That title didn't even rhyme.

Recently, a friend of mine wrote a blog post entitled "map of my heart." It was a lovely, profound, insightful, poetic piece of loveliness.
So, naturally, it inspired me.
Except, I'm not all fancy and poetic...

Map of A-Money's Heart

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Look in my heart, and you'll find some stuff about me.

I can't really tell you what you'll see

My heart's full of questions

Questions like "why am I here...

...on my computer...

...when I should be reading A Tale of Two Cities..."

My heart's full of desires

like food

and water

and to get more sleep

and to go skiing and to go skiing and to go skiing

and to be famous for my super-white-girl rapping skills

and for some guy from a renowned organization who probably wears a suit

and might be balding and has glasses to randomly say

"Hey, you won a million bucks,

because you have a really cool trucker hat".

My heart's full of memories

like when I peed my pants in 2nd grade

and when I crashed into a dumpster on my bike

and when I accidentally did a back flip off a swing

and when Abbert and I mixed up a bunch o' gross nasties together

and convinced my brother and his friends it was a delicious smoothie.

My heart's full of feelings

like "whoah, that was exciting"

and "whoah, that was cool"

and "whoah, that makes me mad"

and "whoah, that's hilarious"

and "whoah, I love this person"

and "whoah, I'm tired"

And, my heart's full of songs

that I make up on the spot

about brownies, or sometimes steak

or about school, or people

but usually about life in general.

My heart is also a vital organ that pumps blood to the other organs in my body.

This is where I make my dramatic escape. Pretend you didn't see it coming.

WHOOSH.

Warning: Do Not Read If You Hate All Things Lovely

This is solely about a song. Don't worry, it's under 3 minutes long.

This beginning of the vocals in this song literally gave me chills the first time I heard it. Talk about harmony!
Then I listened to it some more times, and went "hey, this is a good song. I like this."
Then I started thinking about the lyrics, and went "WHOAH. This is an AWESOME song."
And...it would be rude if I didn't share it with you.

Cold is the water

It freezes your already cold mind

Already cold, cold mind

And death is at your doorstep

And it will steal your innocence

But it will not steal your substance

But you are not alone in this

And you are not alone in this

As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand

Hold your hand

And you are the mother

The mother of your baby child

The one to whom you gave life

And you have your choices

And these are what make man great

His ladder to the stars

But you are not alone in this

And you are not alone in this

As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand

Hold your hand

And I will tell the night

Whisper, "Lose your sight"

But I can't move the mountains for you

So, basically:
Help is there if you want it.
But in the end, you determine your own life.
Cool message, no?  

Aub Learns About Patience

It went something like this.
Yesterday was the day of call backs for the school musical.I looked at the list, and there was my name, printed in black ink.
This is exciting, right?
Wrong.
Sore throat. Headache. 5 hours of sleep. No lunch. And a preconceived almost sure knowledge that I will not receive a main part, because there is a plethora of girls at my school who are much more qualified than I am.
But I went anyway, because that's just what you do. You go for the experience, and to see what you were at least being considered for.
Well, apparently, I wasn't being considered for anything. That or they forgot to put me with the group trying out for that part.
After 3 1/2 hours of sitting in the same desk, as every other girl in that room was called up to the stage to read lines or perform a song, I was starting to feel a bit puzzled.
"Why the heck am I here?" I wondered and inquired out loud to no one in particular.
When the director said, "Okay, we'll do this last song, and then you'll be free to go," I knew something was wrong.
"Um," I said, timidly raising my hand, "I haven't done anything yet."
That bearded man looked at me quizzically, because apparently he hadn't noticed that I had not once left that hard, brown seat.
"Well...um...I wonder why you aren't...uh, well, let's have you sing with this last group."
So I learned the song that I was never intended to perform, and got home 4 hours after school ended.
And I still had a headache.

And the best part? I might be on a family trip to California during the show dates anyways.
10 points to the I-Make-People-Hate-Life fairy.

P.S. For your daily dose of optimism to prove that I'm not going to die:
Everyone else did great, it was really funny and entertaining to watch them, and I learned a lot. And let's be honest, it's nothing a little chocolate ice cream can't fix.

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes

I wanted to use a quote from a Mumford & Sons song for this title. Because I just bought their album. Because, with the exception of one song containing some colorful language that I don't appreciate, I am in love with their folksy tunes.

But that's not the only thing I want you to know today.

I want you to know, that even though I wrote a somewhat cynical post about America once upon a time (you can read it here), I actually really appreciate the U.S. of A. And even while I think there's definite room for improvement in how our government operates (national debt anyone?) I have a lot of opportunities here that are just dandy. Most of all though, I appreciate our military. I talked about this in that other post, but I'll tell you again (because I know you're all too lazy to go read it). I don't profess to understand what soldiers have to go through in combat or even training. My grandpa fought in World War II and I can't remember him even mentioning it once. But I can say that I appreciate the ideals and values they are defending. I appreciate that they are willing to sacrifice their own safety for ours. And it's not just the military, either.

Seeing as I'm doing this in honor of 9/11, I want to mention the people affected by that too.

I didn't know anyone personally who was killed or injured in the disaster. I don't live near any of the crash sites. I don't think I really felt a change in my life at all when it happened. For 10 years I've been wearing red, white, and blue on September 11th and piously participating in a moment of silence during school. For 10 years I've been "remembering" the victims, firefighters, police officers, and families that were involved. And I still never really felt that affected by it. I didn't comprehend what it meant.

Well, after yesterday, I think I've finally come to understand what it means to me. Again, I don't think I can ever fully comprehend what the actual victims went through. But I can understand what I learned from it.

I learned that our world is never as safe as we think it is. We need to seize opportunities, make friends, tell our family members and friends that we love them. We need to gain all the knowledge and experience we can, because we can't predict when things we took for granted will be taken away by powers beyond our control. And most of all, we need to stand for what we believe in the face of trial. There is a certain power in sacrificing to help other people. And we need to appreciate the people that make those sacrifices for us, and then return the favor.

I know, I know. This isn't normal for me. Usually dead trees are more sappy than I am. But I figured it was appropriate for such a solemn occasion.
Solemn?
...I wonder if "hopeful" would be more appropriate.

Eh, you can take from it what you want.

Thwarted!

Most days, you don't miss your piano lesson because you were trying out for the school musical. That's why it's  a little stressful when it does happen. Especially because you forgot that you even had a piano lesson. It goes something like this:

"Oh NO! Was my piano lesson at five? I think it was! Lars, where's mom?"
My older brother didn't even glance away from his computer screen. "Uh...she's...not here."
"Thanks, you're really helpful!"
A few moments later, I discovered my dad was on the phone with that very same evasive woman that held the answer to whether or not I was doomed to a painful demise!
"Dad! Ask her when I was supposed to go to piano lessons!"
As he hung up the phone, he confirmed my worst fears.
"Yep, it was at five."
"OH NO! My poor teacher...I better call her. Dad, what's her phone number?"
"How should I know?...Oh, wait, actually..."
As he said the number, I thought it sounded familiar. But in my flurried state of frenzy I didn't bother to think about it. I ducked into the laundry room and dialed.
"Good afternoon. The time is: 5:38. Today is Tuesday, September 6..."
Ooooooh the shame. How could I fall for such an elementary joke?
As I staggered back into the kitchen, my face was pure chagrin. The expression, or situation, or probably both, was enough to pull a snicker right out of my big brother.
My dad's remark was, "Aub, you've really got to stop putting that blonde stuff in your hair..."

Oh, the hilarity and shame of having a prank pulled on you.

Aw, Shucks...

Wanna know what I did for 3 1/2 hours today?

Picked, then shucked, and shucked, and shucked corn.
Yummmm-y!
I love corn. Home-grown corn on the cob is the one thing you can grown in your own backyard that's like sweet nectar of the heavens. Corn on the cob became the sole reason braces were a nuisance to me (well, that and flossing. So stinking tedious!). But Dad, really, we don't need to plant a whole field. I swear he wants to grow enough corn to eat 4 ears, 2 meals a day, for a year, until the next crop comes in.
P.S. I'm not complaining. Because now all that corn is in my freezer. And I will be munching on it in the winter and all of you will be gazing at me listlessly, drooling.

Call me a redneck, but this is my life right now.

Stuff Happens.

And sometimes, that stuff is super wonderfully awesomely bodacious and magnificent.

If you actually consistently read this humble excuse for a blog, you might recall that one time when I wrote a post about the shoes that I want so very very much. The shoes that make my heart quicken and my head rush just looking at their online picture.Oh, if you perhaps did not read that post, now's your chance!

And now that you have the preface refresher, I'm going to tell you a story about stuff that happened to me.

Yesterday afternoon was an unexpectedly fateful one. Oh yes indeed! It was a regular (to be said the Spanish way, because yes, it is spelled the same) afternoon,  "doing homework" on the computer...yeah we all know how that goes. Of course, I was actually watching Julian Smith videos, reading blogs, and shopping online. I mean, I had my English class forum open in one tab...that counts for something, right?
Suddenly, I thought to myself, "hey, I should see what the 'deal of the day' is on Amazon!"
My mouse went "clickkkey!" right on that little icon that I love so very much on my bounteous bookmarks tab. And then it went "clickkkey!" right on that little icon that I love so very much that says "today's deals".
And...

there was nothing good.

 ha, ha, see what I did there? You thought it was going to be something really awesome? But it really wasn't? haaaa...

The important part is what happened after...when my mouse went "clickkkey!" right on that little icon that I realized I hadn't clicked a very very long time that says "my wishlist".

Surprise, surprise, those little stripey kicks that I discovered a few months ago were sittin' in there, waiting for some attention. Well, they got it, let me tell you, when I saw that the price had dropped down to $25.12.

WHAT?! WHOAH!

Plus guess what? When my mouse went "clickkkey!" on that little icon that is so very very bittersweet that says "proceed to checkout" Amazon went and applied a cute little $7 discount onto my order. Plus I got free shipping because the order was over $25 (by 12 cents...)! Coincidence? Of course not! I'm positive it's Amazon's way of saying "thanks for buying a buttload of stuff from us and cluttering your room up with a lot of our empty boxes"...or maybe just fate. These exquisite footwear and me were meant to be together. Finding a soul mate, who is actually a person? Psh...

Basically, you probably think I'm a materialistic shoe addict who spends too much time browsing amazon.com yet has limited monies and is subsequently a miserable piece of misery who is headed nowhere in life. 

But I don't care, because I just got the shoes that I love so very very much for $18.

How 'bout that, world? Woot!

I guess this would be a good time to say that I actually love people more than shoes. If I had to choose between these hi-tops and any one of my friends or family members...well, I guess it would be pretty unethical to choose the shoes wouldn't it? 

Kidding. I'm KIDDING. I love all of you guys! A lot! In fact, have you ever noticed that the only reason anything is ever fun is because there are enjoyable people present? 

Thanks for making life great. (Especially school...)

Also, I love the amazon.com people right now. ;)