This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, I just wanted to show how odd florida weather is. Where I'm sitting in my car, it's nice and sunny, but dead ahead, it looks like some serious rain.
Those Floridians that read my blog know what I'm talking about. You can literally drive/walk into a literal wall of water. Raining on one side of the street, clear on the other. On shabbos it was pouring so hard we could not see across the street. Though we have desperately needed the rain, what with the water restrictions and all. In my opinion, we need a new resevoir that will supply south florida, not just Lake Okechobee. (Which according to my family doesn't exist, becuase we went looking for it a few years ago and we never found it. So we came to the conclusion that it doesn't exist) And yes, I know, I'm babbling, but I could not for the life of me think of anything else to post about. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm for bed, before I make an even bigger fool of myself.

Are You British?

I've gotten asked that question a few times recently. The answer is no, I'm not. Never even been to England. But I have a tendency to speak a bit fast, and my vocabulary is sprinkled with british terms. Like "bum" instead of "a$$" or "bloody hell" or "bugger" and probably some others I'm not even aware of. I blame that on the fact that alot of the books I read are by british authors. Like Terry Pratchett, JK Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones....but I'd have to say it's Pratchett that had the biggest effect. It's really amazing how reading can expandyour vocabulary.

Having a Blast

Yesterday was a ton of fun. I went over to CJ's and another friend of mine who came down from NY for the week was there, as well as a good fiend of CJ's and CJ's sister. We swam for about four hours, took a lot of pictures, had a barbecue, and rented a movie. We also got the pictures developed, though I still have to get a copy of the CD from CJ. I had such a great time, CJ and I agreed we should do this once a week during the summer. We'll see how often we can get together and do that. WHeeeeee!

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the good ol' US of A, to remember the soldiers, in every war, from the revolutionary war to the Iraq War, who sacrificed thier lives, so we could live in Freedom. Thank you.

Cats In Heat: Things I've Learned

So, my cat, correction: one of my cats has gone into heat. That would be Mittens, the only one who isn't spayed. I'm somewhat reluctant to have her spayed because with my previous two cats, I had the spayed=they got fat. There seems to be a corellation here, and I would really rather not have three fat cats, thank you very much. So, I went on google and typed in "cat in heat." One of the first websites that I got, that I thought at first would be helpful, was this. (WARNING: Click at your own risk!) I absolutley refuse to do that to my cat. Sorry, not happening. So, apparently I only have two other options: to spay her, or I can take her to the vet to have her get a shot that would delay the going into heat. From what I gather, it's like "the pill" for cats. So I'm going to have to find out the cost of that, and then I guess I'll make my decision. But hey, at least I didn't have the same situation as this guy.
Oh, and according to every cat owner on the planet, including me, a cat in heat is one of the most annoying things ever.

Today is a holiday!

No, not talking about Memorial day weekend, it's National Towel Day! On this holiday, started by fans of Douglas Adam's The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, fans of Douglas Adams carry around towels to commerate this author, (died May 11, 2001). It is also a holiday for Pratchett fans as well, though not by commemorating anything with towels. I believe the tradition for fans of Pratchett's Discworld series get stinking drunk, and wear lilacs....though for the reason, one would have to read Night Watch all the way through. However, if someone can explain it short and simple for non-pratchett fans, I would be most grateful. Anyways, I wish everyone a happy Towel Day, May 25, and anything else that I don't know of.

Superheroes Part 2

I guess with the first post, I don't feel like I really finished the thought. True, people are looking for superheroes, someone who will come to the rescue in the nick of time, and make everything all right in the world. We know that to change the world, we must change ourselves, make everyday just a little bit better in any way we can, a smile at a stranger, a random kindness. People can be their own superheroes, they just haven't realized it yet. True, there's no cool suits, or fantastic powers, and they might not even believe they are making a difference. Perhaps saving a life just by being a friend and there for someone. So while there are no superheroes flying through the sky, saving the day, the average Joe Schmoe, is out there being a hero, making a difference, and doesn't even realize it.

My Desk

A peron's desk, and all the clutter on it, can tell one alot about the person who sits at that desk. Whether it gets much use, or not, the places they've been, what they are interested in, perhaps even a few secrets revelealed. I look at my desk...it's a mess, as per usual, and I need to straghten it up again. But what do I see? I see dirt from Israel, in two little bottles, truly bottled memories, as they came from when my seminary went on a tiyul. I see a little box, closed right now, but it has a beautiful blue cover, done in asian flowers. The box contains two ivory balls, with pictures of mice upon them. A gift from my grandmother, when she still traveled the world. Beside these, I see a statue of a tiger, that I got for myself at Jungle Island not that long ago. I don't have that much in my room that shows my love of tigers...if you disregard the stuffed, plastic and glass versions of tigers that I own...*ahem* Besdide these I have a keychain with a dragon that I got while in Epcot, attached to a Jumpdrive of 2 GB, which I use to transfer things from one of our computers to the other, when the e-mail wasn't working. Beside this, I have a glass egg, with violet flowers painted on it, it opens to reveal several of my earrings, it was a gift from my father for one of my birthdays, though I don't recall which one.
I think I will continue this one another time...too many things!

Superheroes

Why is it that the last few years there has been at least one superhero movie out every year? What triggered everyone's sudden need for a superhero? Perhaps it's really a wish, a desire, that because the world has turned upside down, the average person feels powerless, unable to do anything that they feel would make a huge difference. So Hollywood gives the people something to wish for: a super hero, someone who saves the world who has the power to change the world, to change it for the better. Often the superhero begins as your average John Doe, and then something causes him to change, whether it's an event that effected his body, or his mind. So it re-creates him, and he goes out and does something to better the world, to save it from evil villains, no matter who they may be. Our society, our world, perhaps feels the need for superheroes more than ever, in these uncertain times. Do you?

A Good Thing

A while back, I posted a story about a girl who commited suicide, because a boy she had met on My Space, who had been pretending to be her friend told her "the world would be better off without her." She hung her self an hour later. It turned out she was not talking to a boy at all. A neighbor, the mother of one of her classmates, and one of her coworkers had made up the whole thing to find out what Morgan had been saying about her daughter. Today, I saw on the news that the woman has been indicted. See here for about the indictment, and here for the original story.
In my own opinion, I think it's a very good thing she's been indicted, and think it's an absolutley sickening thing to do to a child. Particularly since the poor girl had low self-esteem in the first place, and then to play with her emotions like that?! It's absolutley revolting.

Jury Duty

Whirrrrrr, whirrrrrr, whirrrrr...that was the sound I awoke to this morning as my step-father drilled around our bathroom's doorhandle. The bathroom was opened at 7 o'clock which meant that, unfortunately, I still had time to get to Jury Duty. I got there about a half hour late, due to traffic, difficulty with the GPS, and getting gas before hand. But it wasn't too terribly late, people were still coming in. I spent most of the time bored out of my mind, but I got to go home early because no one in my group was picked (we were a group of 40) and some cases had cancelled. So I got to leave two hours early, and now I am home and I am exhausted. But like I said, most of the time I was bored...and cold, they keep it freezing in the courtrooms.

The Truth is Stranger than Fiction

Well, tomorrow I was supposed to go to jury duty. Um...not happening. I managed to lock the bathroom door, locking everyone out, and my contacts and my glasses in. Sooooo, no jury duty for me tomorrow. Instead I get to stay home and wait for the locksmith. Fun.

Reality

Humans create something that we call "reality." A whole world that exists and if we can't see it, touch it, feel it, or understand it, it's not "real." That is where religion comes in. Religion sets up a whole new reality based on things we can't feel with any of our senses and which is based on that intangible thing called "faith." Yet even our "reality" is not quite as we seem to think. Look at a chair. You see something solid, you feel something solid. All of your senses tell you that that chair is there and that it is "real." But if you went down to the tiny atoms that make up that chair, the protons and neutrons and electrons, and all that empty, empty space, with nothing there, you'd go, it's not solid, it's not real, it's not possible. And yet there it is, we can feel it with every sense. We have senses that we are not even aware of that tell us that g-d is there, even if we can't feel it with our everyday senses. People will go into denial and say there is no such thing, but when push comes to shove, when you think you are abut to die. ALL of your senses are at thier height, and you say there IS a g-d.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm so excited, I am now 21 and am fully legal! Whoot!
My family had a birthday party for me yesterday, and that was lots of fun, good cake, ice cream, etc. Today I'm making a birthday present for myself, I want to go to Color Me Mine and paint something. That's one of my favorite things to do, it's very relaxing.

Happy Mother's Day!

Why I No Longer Open the Door for Tzedakh Collectors

Or to be more specific: why I don't walk out when they come. This happened about a year ago, maybe a little more. I opened the door for this young guy, he looked to be in his early twenties, and since he was collecting I went and got my step-father to deal with him. I had to leave while he was still there, I had an errand to run. When I walked out, I saw him trying to get Boots to come to him. (She was still an outdoor cat at the time, and very wary of strangers.) I smiled at him, a little, a friendly smile, got in my car, and left. When I came bakc, he was gone. But I found out from my step-father that he had asked for my hand in marriage. Okay, do not need any more random marriage proposals, thank you very much. I no longer go out, when they come to collect.

Class

I had my first class today, and I think that this term will be....interesting. A lot of work, but interesting. My teacher is funny, though I also think she's a little bit crazy. Not in a bad way, but she calls some of thhave e problems that we have to do, "cute" and "adorable". I have never heard of math being referred to as cute or adorable and I have never thought of math in those terms. But like I said, it will certainly be interesting.

College (Again)

Tomorrow is the start of a new semester just days after I finished the last one. Fortunately however, I am only taking one class this term and will hopefully not go crazy. Unfortunately, the one class which I am taking is College Algebra. Meaning math. I really don't like math. But, it is the last math class I have to take for a while, so that's good. And I don't have to get up so early to get to class, which is also good. So all in all, I think the good outweighs the bad in this situation. We'll see how class goes tomorrow, then I'll decide whether I should be dreading this summer, or loving it.

Nada

Y'know what would be nice? If I would get a couple more comments once in a while! I've put up 10 posts and gotten no feedback. Yes, I know I'm complaining, and it's not a very good complaint at that, but I have nothing else really post-worthy. Er....yeah, nothing else comes to mind, had a very boring day, and got nada to report. Maybe tomorrow. "May you live in interesting times!"

More Bizarre Dreams!

Last night I had two dreams though I'm actually not sure it one was a continuation of the other or was a seperate dream entirely. First dream, I, along with a bunch of other girls am summoned to the palace to find a bride for the prince. Just one problem, the girl that the king and queen chose has issues with the fact that the prince is quite a bit older than her. I am for some reason sleeping in the window,when the prince turns around and seems dejected. End of that dream. Next dream. People come from outer space but are drressed as firemen. One of the girls throws a fit because they should be wearing spacesuits, not fireman outfits. Then the introduce us to some talking flowers that also kill disease. The end.

Family

Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I should have. I love my brother, and I know that I have a much closer relationship with him than some girls do with thier brothers. I do tend to whinge and complain about his OCD and how it makes life difficult for me, but life is a whole bunch of tests and this is one that I have to go through. However, because I never complain about it out loud, except to my therapist, I need a place to let it out. As to him finding this blog....in all honesty, I really REALLY doubt it. He goes on fishing forums and gun forums. He does not look at other blogs, unless I showed it to him...which I would most likely never do. When I started this blog, my idea was to be able to use it as a journal for my feelings. I don't usually showcase my feelings here, but last night...actually that was as a remnder to me to talk to my therapist about it. She'll say what's been going on with your mother and stepfather. I'll go: I don't remember. I'm afraid I'm shutting it out on purpose, because it's unpleasant. My mother knows I have this blog, and she encourages me to write on it, so does my therapist. One of the reasons I want to go into therapy is help people like my brother. My brother is a good person, even if he goes through some rough times. But the only thing is, what you see on my blog is the rough stuff. He learns with a kid younger than him, he's taken several kids under his wing. I know of at least one boy who would very likely go off the derech if not for my brother. My brother has his own terrific mentors, who I admire and respect for helping him, even when he's going through his hardest time. So perhaps I shouldn't have posted what I did yesterday. I've taken it down, and thank you anonymous, I think I needed to post this.

More Odd Dreams

A lot of my dreams lately have me ending up in a forest or jungle trying to either find something or escape from something (Or in one case, destroy something) . What on earth is up with that? I am not that outdoorsy, and I have not been in any forest or jungle lately. I'm also either falling down cliffs or climbing them...and I have not been anywhere near a cliff lately. Florida is FLAT....no cliffs, not even any real hills.
Lessee...dreams that I can recall: (not in order)
1) Trying to destroy an ancient evil artifact, but the guy whose spells we0're using are really not effective. Takes place in a jungle near a resort on a cliff (which i climb up). The evil artifact is in fact a shiny red button. Don't ask...I know a bit where the evil artifact comes from, I was reading a book with one in it before I fell asleep.

2)No jungle in this dream. I am in a floating city/a city built in the treetops, and I have my own dragon (note: my first dragon dream EVER!!!!) I want to race my dragon, but my mother won't let me, so I go to watch other dragons racing, and then my mother freaks out about my doing that. She's very overprotective. Everyone knows that, and is trying to convince her to let me race. Not working. For some reason everyone bursts into song and dance while trying to convince her. Whatever.

3)Jungle dream. I am running away from...something. No idea what, but it wants me and my friends. I go down a water fall (cliff) and end up in even more jungle. Don't remeber much of that dream.

4)The drean I posted before with the two sisters. Has mountain and forest.

5)Had a Disney dream last night. Everything was cartoonish. there was a guy with a horse's head, and the vilain was trying to take his head off, because he was convinced it was a costume.

That's all I can remember right now. Maybe I'll add more later if I can recall.

A Dream

Two sisters have lost thier mother, and are on a quest. For what, neither knows...but they each have a piece of the shawl thier mother left. One piece is yellowand purple the other is red and blue. They also each have a "familiar" onne in the shape of a cat, the other a raven. They need both to find what it is they are looking for, but do not want to work together. One sister calls for the shall and familiar to come to her. It won't come, for the other sister won't let it. "Do not call what is not yours, or there will be grave consequences." Much later: In front of a muntain watching the sun set, the sister that called is watching the "Maiden's Hair" - aline of light that lasts for one second more after the sun sets and is seen just before the sun rises. Suddenly she looks up and in one of the trees is the other part of her mother's shawl fluttering in the breeze as well as the other familiar. She gasps, and climbs the tree to get it. "If it is here, that means my sister is dead. I never meant for that!"

That was my dream last night. Really, really odd. Anyone here interpret dreams?

Today

Let's see...what's new? I have a cold...again. For the second time in as many months which is unusual for me. I went to my grandmother's for a couple of days, though didn't do much because I was sick. But last night I got some bad news from my mother. Apparently, Baby bird managed to get out of his cage...and the kitten killed him. My brother was devastated and understandably, he has not forgiven the kitten. I'm sad, but the bird was getting braver and was sticking his head out of thecage more and more. Can't blame the kitten because she was just acting according to her nature.Our first cat-like cat.