What I'm... No. 7

Ta da! I'm back! I missed you all. :(

Reading:

Books:

Rocket Men by Craig Nelson

This was such a wonderful book. It was written beautifully and I actually cried when they landed on the moon. Amazing!

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is extremely good at explaining things, and everything he says makes sense. Everything that eighth grade science tried to teach me about astronomy is explained perfectly and clearly in this book. 

The Fellowship by Philip and Carol Zaleski

This book was amazing, and heart-wrenching. I loved the parts about Tolkien the best. I have to say that Charles Williams bewilders and baffles me. And I feel bad for Owen Barfield.

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

I just finished this one and I loved it. It took me a while to read, but that was because of the weirdness of what is presented. Everything made a lot of sense, but it requires a great leap of faith. (I'm looking at you, quantum mechanics. And you, string theory. And you, braneworlds.)

The Last Empress by Greg King

Alexandra is such an intriguing person and this book is shaping up to be amazing from the get go. I'm about a hundred pages in, and I love it!

The Whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris

Very excited for this one. I am very intrigued by the idea of multiple universes, and from the subtitle, this covers it.

The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport

Anastasia is my favorite, and the reason I am completely obsessed with the history of Russia. Russia is just such an intriguing and interesting place. I also feel like any books that cover the whole family have a tendency to focus on Nicholas, Alexandra and Alexei, which is important, but I want to know about OTMA!

Origins by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith

B hates Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and she gets so upset seeing this in my TBR pile.

Blogs:

Sprinkle of Glitter

Louise's blog is always amazing.

Sunny Sweet Pea

I want to live in Britain!! Could that possibly be possible? God?...

This Charming Life

Kaelah's blog makes me want to be an adult, something that nothing else so far has managed to do.

Fleur De Force

Sometimes you need to read posts about perfume scents.

Gala Darling

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Anna Saccone

Love everything about the Sacconejolys, including Anna's blog.

Life of Bon

Always funny, always refreshing, always weird...

Adventures of an Anglophile

I STILL WANT TO LIVE IN BRITAIN!

Nishaantishu

see above ^^^

picklebeanbooks

Marie is amazing.

HelloIAmMariam

And so is Mariam

Listening:

Music:

Fall Out Boy

I've run out of words.

Panic! At The Disco

Hallelujah, This is Gospel, the door song (I Write Sins Not Tragedies), the weather song (starts with London, don't know the whole name... the chorus is about sarcastic weather? *shrugs*), the swear to shake it up song (that's the chorus) and New Perspective are mine and A's favorites.

Ed Sheeran

Always genius...

OneRepublic

Native is superb.

Imagine Dragons

Everything Imagine Dragons has done makes me happy, or at least feel emotion. (Not always happy songs, are they?)

Taylor Swift

1989 is what genius sounds like.

Podcasts:

None :(

Watching:

Movies:

Quantum of Solace

This one was pretty good. Nothing to write home about. I liked it, but I didn't love it, you know?

Skyfall

This one I loved. It was phenomenal, amazing, heart-breaking, beautiful and had a Q. I love Q!

Home

I cried. Very, very good.

Annie

The first half was a modern retelling of the story. The second half was where the interesting stuff happened. Loved it!

Paddington

I loved Paddington as a child, and was super happy to watch this movie featuring such people as... Q from Skyfall, Molly Weasley, The Twelfth Doctor, the kid from Night at the Museum, Dolores Umbridge, that pirate from Season 6 of Doctor Who, and DUMBLEDORE!!!!!!!!!

Paper Towns

Phenomenal, amazing, featuring two cameos you will love and the Pokemon theme.

TV:

Food Network Star

Love Food Network Star, but now it is over. :(

SYTYCD

GO GABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cutthroat Kitchen/Camp Cutthroat

Hilarious, and a Health and Safety Hazard

Great Food Truck Race

YAYYAYAYAYYAYAYY!!!!!!!

YouTube:

danisnotonfire

He is not on fire. Except for one time...

AmazingPhil

Phil is amazing.

vlogbrothers

I've gotten to 2015!!!!!!!!!

Crash Course

Learning, learning, learning...

And that's it! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up; life's just been super crazy for me right now. But, we're finally done traveling, and will be at home until the end of September. However, you do have to factor in school.

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Chorus of the Day!

Your clothes never wear as well the next day

And your hair never falls in quite the same way

You never seem to run out of things to say

This is the story of a girl

Who cried a river and drowned the whole world

And while she looks so sad in photographs

I absolutely love her

When she smiles 

Last Chorus of the Day:

1985 by Bowling for Soup

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La! ~SCP

Waterpark Adrenaline

Last week, my Aunt M and Uncle J took A, B, J, and I, along with our Grandpa to the waterpark. (Wet 'n' Wild in Greensboro, NC) Now, I'm not a big thrill person; that's A, but I enjoy going down somewhat mild rides in inner tubes. (They make me feel safer, even though they usually run me over in the splash pool.) We went down the first slide, just a slide into the water. Well, J and B refused. Aunt M took B on the kid version after we were done. A and Grandpa went on the super huge scary tube/funnel/dark thing, while the rest of us went on the one person tube/river rapids. We all loved it. Then, we went on this new racing ride. You go down the slide on glorified yoga mats. B decided, last minute (naturally) that she didn't want to go, so Uncle J took her to the end. Then we went on the three person river rapids thing. A and Grandpa showed up, and Uncle J didn't go. He waited at the end, and laughed at us. I went down with B and Aunt M, and I fell off at the end (He said it looked like I just fell straight through the raft.) and they ran me over. I was underwater, so I was fine. Grandpa dared A to go on the straight down, super high, death drop slide. The two of them, plus Aunt M and Uncle J went down. J, B and I sat at the bottom, figured out what we wanted for lunch and to do after lunch, and dropped the map in a puddle.
Lunch was chicken wings with ranch and fries. We spent about an hour in the wave pool, floating around and goofing off. J and B started having races to see who could move farthest with the wave. It was a wash. Aunt M tried to swim and touch the wall where the waves come out, but the lifeguards made her go back. Uncle J taught B to float. We then headed for the Dragon's Den, a slide with a dragon in it, basically. A and Aunt M went on the scary half pipe tube ride thing instead. J and I went down the dragon ride first. As you climbed the stairs, you could see the dragon inside it, but I wear glasses, and have to take them off on rides, so we had some conversations about that dragon shaped blur over there. B and Uncle J went next. Funny thing is, B usually screams the whole way down rides, but she didn't want to bother the dragon, so she was silent the whole way down. J and I screamed like babies. Then, we went to the Lazee River and rode around twice. I got stuck in the tube, Aunt M spent most of the time falling out, and B fell asleep. Uncle J was asking A if she wanted to go down the big black tube ride, and she kept saying no. But I, the stupidest person on Earth (and the least likely to ever do this), said, "I'll do it." I think A had a heart attack, and she was laughing at me, and then she was going, and I was going, and J said sure, and Grandpa and Uncle J and Aunt M were going, and we were on top of the slides, and I thought I was going to pass out, and I went down the slide and I sat down, and a lady noticed Aunt M's elbow was bleeding. Then, A checked my elbow and I was bleeding, and I started crying, and then we left because blood and tears, plus J was about to fall asleep on the bench. (He got to the top, decided he actually didn't want to go down the slide, so he climbed down the stairs and almost fell asleep.) The moral of the story is: KEEP YOUR ELBOWS NEXT TO YOU ON TUBE SLIDES. ALSO, DON'T SAY YES TO GOING DOWN SCARY WATERSLIDES.
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Chorus of the Day!

Bruce Springsteen, Madonna

Way before Nirvana

There was U2 and Blondie

And music still on M-T-V

Her two kids in high school

They tell her that she's uncool

But she's still preoccupied

With 19, 19, 1985

Last Chorus of the Day:
All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran

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La! ~SCP

Road Trip 2015 - Day 12 & 13 - Driving

We woke up in the hotel, packed our stuff, ate hotel breakfast and started on the road for Omaha. We stopped at several rest areas, fought, and were generally depressing. We had Omaha pizza for dinner. Dad got it while A, J and B went swimming. Mom watched them. I enjoyed being left alone. We played one game of Uno, then slept. We woke up to put everything in the car and head for home. We had lunch at an Omaha restaurant that served burgers. A and I had the Inside Out burger, which is basically cheese and bacon inside a burger patty. It was awesome. We tried to have dessert at Mockingbird Cupcakes, as seen on Cupcake Wars, but they were out of business. We drove for a while, then had cupcakes at a different place from Cupcake Wars. They were great. We ate dinner at Portillo's and got home at three in the morning. Fun, fun, fun!

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Chorus of the Day!

So open your eyes and see

The way our horizons meet

And all of the lights will lead

Into the night with me

And I know these scars will bleed

But both of our hearts believe

All of these stars will guide us home

Last Chorus of the Day:

Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy

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La! ~SCP

Road Trip 2015 - Day 11 - Almost Denver & Errands

I'm sorry I've put this off for so long, but after Yellowstone, the trip was just so much less exciting. We woke up in the hotel and ate hotel breakfast, then hit the road for Denver. We stopped in a city on the way to have breakfast for lunch at a local diner, The Breakfast Club, and then decided we wouldn't actually go to Denver. We went to Boulder instead, and straight to Barnes and Noble. We spent about an hour and a half there, and then headed to the Apple Store because I needed a new computer cord, due to exposed wiring. We got the cord, had coffee/tea/juice at Peet's Coffee and then headed back to the hotel. A, J, and B went swimming, I watched YouTube videos, and Mom and Dad did whatever Mom and Dad did. We played Uno and ate more pizza? Then, we slept.
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Chorus of the Day!

Dance, dance

We're falling apart to half time

Dance, dance

And these are the lives you'd love to lead

Dance, this is the way they'd love

If they knew how misery loved me

Last Chorus of the Day:
Gold by Imagine Dragons

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La! ~SCP

Deja Vu

I had deja vu yesterday. I've had deja vu before, but this was especially vivid. I volunteered at a triathlon, and there was a point where Mom asked me to pick up something on the track. I got up, put it in the trash and washed my hands with ice from the cooler. Then, I sat down next to A and she put a cold water bottle on my leg. I'd seen that moment before. I actually remember it, I was laying on my bed and daydreaming. This vision hit me, and it felt so real. I knew it wasn't a memory. It was a flash-forward. Super weird.
As many people may know, time has a direction. It runs one way, and physics says it is impossible to change. This makes deja vu impossible, according to the laws of physics, and those govern everything, right? I don't know. This is not fitting into my worldview. Wikipedia?! (What I wouldn't give for an interrobang!)

Definition: Déjà vu, literally "already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced, has already been experienced in the past, whether it has actually happened or not.

Explanations: Memory: Research has associated déjà vu experiences with good memory function. The similarity between a déjà-vu-eliciting stimulus and an existing, but different, memory trace may lead to the sensation. Thus, encountering something which evokes the implicit associations of an experience or sensation that cannot be remembered may lead to déjà vu. In an effort to experimentally reproduce the sensation, Banister and Zangwill (1941) used hypnosis to give participants posthypnotic amnesia for material they had already seen. When this was later re-encountered, the restricted activation caused thereafter by the posthypnotic amnesia resulted in three of the 10 participants reporting what the authors termed "paramnesias".

Explanations: Dreams: One theory of déjà vu attributes the feeling of having previously seen or experienced something to having dreamt about a similar situation or place, and forgetting about it until one seems to be mysteriously reminded of the situation or the place while awake.

Links with Mental Disorders: Early researchers tried to establish a link between déjà vu and mental disorders such as anxiety, dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia but failed to find correlations of any diagnostic value. There does not seem to be a special association between déjà vu and schizophrenia.

The strongest pathological association of déjà vu is with temporal lobe epilepsy.This correlation has led some researchers to speculate that the experience of déjà vu is possibly a neurological anomaly related to improper electrical discharge in the brain. As most people suffer a mild (i.e. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (e.g. a hypnagogic jerk, the sudden "jolt" that frequently, but not always, occurs just prior to falling asleep), it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in an erroneous sensation of memory. Scientists have even looked into genetics when considering déjà vu. Although there is not currently a gene associated with déjà vu, the LGII gene on chromosome 10 is being studied for a possible link.

Very interesting, very, very interesting. In summary, I'm not crazy, but scientists believe that deja vu is related to fuzzy connections in the brain. This means that it doesn't conflict with physics! Which is good. I'm just going to take my not-very-crazy self off to the kitchen. I want food.
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Chorus of the Day!

when everything, everything, everything you

touch turns to gold, gold, gold

everything, everything, everything you touch

turns to gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold

Last Chorus of the Day:
Violet Hill by Coldplay

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La! ~SCP

Road Trip 2015 - Day 10 - Driving

We woke up in the hotel in Salt Lake City and headed to Kneader's, the Panera-like restaurant of yesterday. I had the French Dip as did J, Mom and Dad. It was quite good. Dad drove for a while, then I drove for about an hour, then Dad drove. This was a fairly nothing kind of day. We drove, we fought, we hated being in the car, and we wished it were yesterday. We arrived in Laramie, about an hour and a half from Denver. Dad got pizza at a local pizza joint and we ate pizza on the bed. Mom and B went to sleep earlier than the rest of us, so A, J, Dad and I played Uno while the laundry was being done.
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Chorus of the Day!

If you love me
Won't you let me know?

Last Chorus of the Day:
Calling America by The Electric Light Orchestra

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La! ~SCP

Road Trip 2015 - Day 9 - Salt Lake City

We woke up in the hotel, and went to a Panera-like restaurant, Kneader's, and had breakfast. I had Cinnamon French Toast and it was amazing. Then we went to Barnes and Noble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We spent about an hour in the store, reading, compiling lists, looking at books, dreaming about having enough money and enough time to read every book in the store, give or take a few. At least, that's what I did.
We loaded up and headed to Antelope Island to swim in the Great Salt Lake. It smelled awful, and was full of dead bugs and brine shrimp. You could float brilliantly and it was super amazing and cool. I am so glad I went!

Great Salt Lake

Without the weird car bit.

Buffalo

Rocky hill on the island

More Buffalo.

Lots of buffalo.

Buffalo and salt flats.

And sage brush.

And mountains.

We went back to the hotel and everyone took showers. J and Dad went to buy Minecraft Minifigures at SuperTarget. J was so excited for them. We then ate at In-n-Out Burger. It was pretty good, but not fabulous. Dad drove us through the center of the city, so we could see the temple and the capitol. Both were imposing and awe-inspiring.
(I forgot my iPod.)
We played Uno on the hotel bed until ten thirty, then goofed off on electronics. We went to sleep around eleven.
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Chorus of the Day!

Calling America

(Can't get a message through)

Calling America

(That's what she said to do)

Calling America

(That's where she has to be)

Calling America

(She left a number for me)

Calling America

Last Chorus of the Day:
Clocks by Coldplay

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La! ~SCP