Under the Skin

So, I'm going to just give a travel log because that's what I can give. Today, I woke up, and then I read Hamlet for a few hours and then I played Oregon Trail a few times because I haven't in forever. Now I'm going to work on some TOK stuff, and then I'll go to work and then I'll write. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

I have the habit of stealing post ideas from family members. Since I'm having a rotten day, I'm tired of my life, I'm dealing with a bunch of junk at school today and I'm frustrated right now as I attempt to remove a trojan from my computer, I'm going to attempt to make a count down of things I'm excited for. 10 days until I get to go to Christmas break! 12 days until I turn eighteen. I don't know what I'm going to do to celebrate, because all the "now you can..." are things I wouldn't do anyways. Maybe I'll go get some dry ice...because I can. 16 days until Christmas. 6 weeks until the Literary Magazine deadline and I get to start EDITING all the submissions. I'm actually excited for that. 7 weeks until I go to Washington DC for NAIMUN (North American Invitations Model United Nations)...It's sort of my highschool graduation present. And it will be my first time on a trip without my parents. 24 weeks until I graduate fr...

Another NaNoWriMo complete! I know that some people do not understand the amazing feat of this, but I have once again written 50,000 words in the month of November. I know that that doesn't seem like a lot at the moment, but there have been multiple times that I just wanted to stop. However, I have made it through. I have continued onward. I have achieved what I sometimes doubted I would. I have won! I love my characters deeply by now, and though I must admit I have written some bone fide garbage this month, I feel I have gotten the beginnings on paper, and I have acheived some gems this month. The things I'm most proud of this month (those moments when I could swear that some amazing writer has come to me... and I'm not writing it) are as follows (sorry if it's stuck up to share my favorite parts of my own writing): 1. " It was surprising to me that Andros Andropos would make this opening up of his soul—he was a Greek Orthodox! The Methodists were seen as s...

So, Caleb and I have a tradition. We ALWAYS go to a movie during the Thanksgiving break. Every year. This year, we attended Australia. I must say, I cannot write movie reviews without spoilers. Just an ability I've never had. I'm sorry. If you don't want it spoiled, read no further. I have seen better movies, but I have also definitely seen worse movies. I guess, It's probably a two or three out of five. It was almost three hours long (which is just too long), and there were definitely parts that easily could have been cut. People say that it's called "Epic Drama," but I call it, "There were way to many plot lines, all good ones, but just too many." I think that there were two plots that I just loved, but they were stacked so that they were "one after the other." I would have liked it if there were instead the two interwoven with one another. Another thing that I would have liked, ( AND THIS IS BIG TIME SPOILER ) I think that it w...

So very recently the question came up for a writer's group. What is in a man's wallet? The few men responded before they asked, "So what is in a woman's wallet/purse?" So I thought I'd tell you all as well. So, my purse contains: seven pens checkbook transaction register moist wipe things this little plastic hamster that I don't know why is in there three band-aids In wallet: receipts the results from my drive test that was forever ago post-it notes a statement of my tuition to CNA school. I'm keeping it because if I get employed at a sponsoring hospital/facility within a year of taking the class (for example if I do end up working at Overlake, I get it refunded) Museum of flight wristband also from forever ago scripture mastery cards from Old and New Testament Family picture money CareFresh hamster bedding coupons coupon for Baby Formula--it was one of those ones that "You WON!" at Safeway change a phone number for a friend a movie stub ...

So, some notes on how it's been going so far, and some solutions that we've found to our previous problems/updates: Techies Needed! Update! So, the update on this one is as follows: We still have this problem. We're still bumping techies left and right, but that's all good. We haven't missed a change yet--yes the trashcan was a close one on Opening Night, but it made it on. Also, it would have been better if the techie putting it on didn't slide offstage as if it were a baseball game. Would have drawn less attention, but that's okay. The Case of the Colorblind Fly Operator CASE CLOSED! This was relatively easy to solve. We simply put navy blue under the orange spike of all the flies that he flies in. And that solved it. The Dilemma of Detained Shriner Table Clamp DILEMMA ELIMINATED If you can't solve a problem, eliminate it. We just don't have a clamp anymore, and when the tables move as two of the shriners do Russian stars on the top of the t...

This is what dominates my life at the moment. I have been roped into being the support Stage Left ASM. The real SL ASM is having a rough time in her life, and she's never been a stage manager before, so my English teacher (who is also the drama teacher), has asked me to kind of help her out. Now, this means that I have gotten hardly any sleep this week, because with the exception of today (they let us out early for good behavior), I have been in rehearsal until 9:00. A couple of problems that have been prevalent that we're still trying to work out: Techies Needed! We have to bump them around sides of the stage to make the numbers work out for the scene changes. We don't have enough. In fact, we've had to abduct an actor and turned him into an actor/techie hybrid. The Case of the Colorblind Fly Operator We have a colorblind fly operator. We really appreciate him, as he's a last minute helper, and he's a really great guy. However, our fly master decided to m...

So, not yesterday, but the Saturday prior to that, my mother and I attended the DAR National Defense Luncheon (Daughters of the American Revolution). Yes, we're Daughters of the American Revolution--well, almost. We have to be "validated." DAR luncheons are interesting. There are the fun parts, like the nice ladies and the speaker (a black, female Air Force pilot) was very interesting as well. However, there are those little bits and pieces that you kind of just accept. For example, the lady who was kind of deaf and we were passing notes around the table the entire time. Also, the fact that one of the raffle items was this: It's a toothbrush sanitizer...have no idea what that is. Anyways, when this was announced, just everyone started laughing.

MyHeritage : Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

So, I was a senior portrait model person. And it was a lot of fun, but just for the hey of it, I looked at this website, and to think that I'd be accused of being a Woodinville Falcon! I go to Inglemoor High, thank-you very much. I'd never want to be accused of being a FALCON. This pure Viking feels this to be serious injustice. Oh well, one of the girls on there accused of being a Bothell Cougar is a friend of mine at Inglemoor...she's pure Viking too.

I'm looking at the IB Exam Schedule for May, and I'm taking votes. Will I die come May? So here's how it goes down. On Monday, May 4, in the morning, the torture and chaos ensues with Paper 1 of Higher Level English Literature. The next afternoon, the torture and brain-racking will continue with Papers 1 and 2 of Higher Level History. This will focus on document analysis in Paper 1 and I believe 20th Century History in Paper 2. Carol or Beth may correct me if I'm getting Papers 2 and 3 backwards. The next morning, on May 6, the torture will continue with Paper 3 of Higher Level History. This shall be history of the Americas. This does not mean specifically only American history, though it's rather central. If you don't mention some other country in the Western hemisphere, they probably won't like you much. Even if it's bringing up how the Great Depression was detrimental to the Brazilian coffee market. That afternoon, I will be subject to Papers 1 a...

Some very funny things happened at school today. To share the small parts: 1) So, in English, we were supposed to be working on our Extended Essays/Culminating Projects (another day to explain this annoying graduation requirement). We had all worked on them, and were getting slightly bored with the heinous project. So, we were discussing politics. And we got around to Sarah Palin and creationism in schools. So, one of the guys in our group, his dad is a minister, he's full preacher's boy. He just gets this really confused look on his face and says, "Wait. What's Creationism?" We all look at him for a few seconds before he gets the "duh!" look on his face and says, "Oh yeah, nevermind." 2) I'm tutoring this girl in French. We come to this part of her reading that says, "Je te l'ai dit." This essentially means, "I told you about it." She wanted to know what it meant, literally. I tried to explain to her that it ...

I've decided that for the sake of all adults, I have created the glossary of high-school slang. So they know what teens are talking about. If any teens would like to add to this glossary, please post a comment. awesome used when something is particularly exciting or buff awkward turtle done in the place of awkward silence, done by placing one palm on top of the other and rotating the thumbs beast when someone does something particularly buff "Chaaaaarlie" just done to annoy people. Etymology: from the online animation "Charlie the Unicorn" chillax a combination of chill and relax "Come to Candy Mountain" see "Chaaaarlie!" creeper used to describe people or are disturbing cutter a derogatory term, referring to people who self-harm delicious amazing, see "awesome" emo also used as derogator (see "cutter"), but also when someone's having a bad day, they might say, "I'm e...

So, I kept on having ideas of what I was going to do to update my little thing-a-ma-blogger, but none of them were working out so well. So, here we go: I am back in school (yuck!), and I'm enjoying it for the most part. My schedule looks as so: 0. Seminary New Testament- I haven't really met my teachers yet. Thursday was the welcome back breakfast, and Friday was parent day...so I'll get back to you. 1. IB Biology 2- same teacher as last year, but not pregnant this time. I really like her. She knows what she's talking about and she's friendly. 2. IB Chemistry- I like this teacher too. She's a really friendly lady with this "Texan y'all drawl." And, especially compared to my Pre-IB Chem/Bio teacher, a VERY good teacher. 3. IB English 12- Okay. So, on Thursday and Friday we were discussing this story called, "The Witness" written by Jorge Luis Borges. I liked it when I read it myself. I interpreted it to be about legacies, and wh...

All right everyone, I don't know if I'd admitted this before, but I am an Olympics addict. No really, I am. What's even weirder about this? I couldn't care less about sports most of the time. However, when the little doo-doo-doo-doo theme comes on, I just get excited. I think it's because I like the more obscure sports. Anyways, I'm really excited about these games. I can tell you what's going on in them at most anytime, give you the update on a fairly recent medal count and explain details about different athletes. I'm INSANE about the Olympics. So, I root for mostly the US athletes. Of course I'm rooting for Michael Phelps (because who isn't?), I'm quite pumped up for Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and excited about the Redeem Team (somewhat...I don't really like basketball), but I shall share my less-well-known rootings and fascinations. Non-Americans! -I was rooting for the Ukrainian Men's Archery team (Viktor Ruban,Mark...

I thought I'd let you all know how good Inglemoor High School music is, because I had a discussion with how much better Inglemoor is than Woodinville more than once this week. Here's a band video from last Christmas. It's better than Woodinville, which is the following video. I picked these videos because they were easily accessible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNGqTmUGGI4 (Inglemoor: The Polar Express) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPYBqb5WrLU (It's the April Fool's Day Parade, but the music is the Woodinville High Marching Band) I guess it's only fair to put in an Inglemoor marching band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCLAa7ptWAw (Inglemoor: Iron Man and Inglemoor Fight Song)

I have now passed CNA school! YEAH FOR HANNAH! Anyways, I'm very excited to take the test. I will probably not work as a CNA until next summer, because the shifts are not very conducive to the high school schedule, but I'm still excited. I'm also very satisfied with the people in my class. I'm so happy that I can say that I'm very impressed by all the people that were in my class, and I liked everyone so much. Usually in every class there's that one person who you just kind of think, "Wow, they're kind of annoying," but everyone was an interesting and fun person to be around. I liked it.

Okay, so in my CNA class, they tell us that those who you care for are in their second childhood. Many of the things that they learned to do, they can no longer do. I have found that I'm somewhat in that second babyhood, as I teeth. The wisdom teeth kind. I actually usually really like the feeling (I guess I'm a masochist, because I like the feeling of hypodermic needles too), but today it hurts. I think the reason it hurts today is because I have a canker sore right next to the excavation site (or more exhumation site I suppose), and that's somewhat painful. I don't want to get them out though. Because then I'd miss school and/or work. My hope is that I can hold out until Christmas of my first year in college. Because then I will not have a job and I will not be in school. Whether that happens or not, I know not. It's only one side that has ever hurt, and I enjoy chewing on hard stuff when they're coming in. I love the little shooty feeling. Once ag...

At my family reunion, my uncle asked me what I liked about James Joyce. Here's why: I only like some of his work. He's an intriguing man, who has some good things to say. Ulysses is nuts, Chambermusic is weird, and I have to admit, I find Finnegan's Wake incredibly hilarious, but I couldn't do with more than two lines at a time. But, awhile ago, I made this slide show about Dubliners, and I'll put it here: The interesting parody about the music I chose (I thought it fit very well), is that the group, Battlefield Band, all the members are actually Scottish.

Well, first of all, everyone, I have no TB. Good news there, right? Yeah, I had a really weird red bump for my TB test, but I have been declared negative anyways. It's a little frightening that when you get them read, a lady comes into the waiting room, brushes her finger over your arm and then hands you an already printed out sheet that says you're negative. It wasn't THAT big ever though. Probably like 1.5 cm in diameter at the largest point. Anyways, what's going on in CNA school? Well, I can now take blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rate can TECHNICALLY take temperature, make and change sheets in an occupied bed, catch falling people without injuring myself regardless of weight, can roll people over to any desired position, can assist with Passive Range of Motion exercises, can put a bedpan under somebody even if they cannot lift their hiney, can care for ostomy bags and catheters, give bed baths, know how to clean the gender-determining parts of either gender,...

So what did she do to me? Let me explain. So, on Monday, Beth, Carol and I begin our class. Our CNA class. Yes, we're going to be Certified Nurses' Assistants. Fun times. Anyways, I was searching out our uniforms: light blue scrubs and white sport shoes. Why is this a problem? If you google for medical apparel stores in Seattle, you will not find any very easily. Why? It's Katherine Heigl's fault. Why? She just had to star in a medical drama that takes place in Seattle, and then (to make everything worse) she is releasing her own line of...wait for it...fashion scrubs. No. I'm not even kidding. So, all I find are articles about this fashion line of Izzie Stephens Scrubs or whatever. To make it even worse, what is the line called but Seattle (well...one part of the line). Curse you Katherine Heigl! By wanting to make life more "fashionable" for women in healthcare, you have made my life more difficult. When I become an RN (not if...when), I dou...

I'm learning. But here is my first feature film. Yes, the dorky smiles are on purpose. Why did I pick this topic? I currently don't have a sound-capture camera, so I'm doing something that doesn't need it. I can capture sound, and I can capture film, but not the two at the same time. Maybe I'll try something with synchronization, I don't know.

So, I've been working on my extended essay. That's my big, huge, macho, large essay that I have to finish for my IB diploma, and it also doubles as my culminating project, meaning I get to graduate from high school. So...I've been reading a lot of websites and books and whatnaught. My guiding question for my essay is as follows (we can pick any subject, any topic): "To what extent, if any, did the hemophilic status of Czarevitch Alexei Nikolaevitch Romanov effect the outbreak and outcome of the Russian Revolution of 1917?" It's a history topic, by the way. So, while I've been researching, I've realized that I always get stuck in places of research with ridiculous conspiracy theories. This one lived, that one lived, they were all saved by random aliens, Rasputin was a nice guy (yeah right). Et cetera. I think my favorite one that I found was a website where they were putting out all the most random garbage about how Rasputin was a nice guy who made...

So, I've been trying to think of something to update with and I just haven't had the will-power. I was going to put the pictures I promised, but I don't have any clue what mom did with them. I was going to update with the Scotland thing, but it's missing something and I don't know what. Well, I don't know what to update even now, but at least I'll give you a reason why. I'm going to write about the reunion, but I don't feel like it at the moment. Isn't this just sad? Anyways...umm... Well, last night, Caleb, Sam, Carol and I stayed up and watched literally THE WORST MOVIE of all time. It actually has won an award saying as such. It's the #5 worst movie of 2005 technically. It's called, "Stealth." Don't worry, we didn't spend any money on it. It came from the library. Even if it were not completely and in all ways cliche, it also had antics involved by several characters that would have the US Navy in serious t...

Hey there! I know that I was doing stuff with the Scottish thing. It's being worked on. Partially done. However, I went to a feis on Saturday, and I've got to tell you about that! Firstly, a feis (pronounced fesh) is an Irish dance competition. I competed in reel, light jig, single jig, reel special and light jig special. I won second in everything except light jig where I won a third. Pictures are to come. Some of me, some of my awards. :-) I learned a very important lesson though: First, let's just clarify the make-up of Irish dance costumes. They're wool. They're layered. They're long sleeved. They're to your neck. They're HOT. It was 90+ degrees on Saturday. Irish dancing is not an "endothermic" sport. Both Hatches and Russells are heavy sweaters (not good genes there). Don't ever forget to bring deodorant to one of those feis things. I'm just glad that in Irish dancing you don't move your arms, because some dancer...

Okay, I guess I should continue our Celtic Cultures Course. The next people on the list are basically the people that everyone think of when you say "Celtic Culture": The Irish. The Irish people have a long, complicated and engaging history. Where Manx was easier to write about because it's just so quaint and lovely and endangered and dying, Ireland is hard to write about. Where the Manx are just the Manx, the Irish are vividly diverse. Their on-island variety is so complex it is rivaled in complexity only but Irish history and Irish politics. Irish culture isn't just Irish culture anymore, but a culture influenced not only by its ancient roots but also by the minds and brains that have come out of Ireland: Shaw, Joyce, Swift and many others. I really don't know where to start. If you want to hear the history of Ireland in fifteen minutes in humor that will never be matched, ask my English teacher, Mr. Curtis. It's hilarious. To begin with the basics, he...

Okay, we'll revert to the Celtic Culture lessons shortly, but as the only Russell with a blog, I feel I must make this announcement. Carol's mission extension was working, but then all of the sudden, it's not happening anymore. Carol is coming home next Friday from her mission. I'm sad that she didn't get the extension she wanted, but I'm also excited to see her.

I feel that people misunderstand Celtic cultures way too much. So, being a person fairly well-versed in Celtic culture (at least for an American), here I am to teach you about Celtic cultures. I'm going to break my pattern today, but here's the way I'm going to usually go: I'm going to arrange it by lingual development, because being someone who studies lingual development for fun...you know. And we're using the Insular/Continental Hypothesis. I don't like the P/Q Hypothesis. If you understand that, good for you. If not, it's not really important. So, we'll start with the Insular Celts, because they're more...stereotypically Celtic I guess. I'm going to start with the Goidelics, because they're my favorites. We should technically start with the Irish (their language came first), but I'm starting with the Manx (second in the Insular Celtic languages), because I want to start with someone obscure. Then we'll go to the Irish foll...

The question is becoming more real. As my first good piece of writing (at least my first good novel) is nearing completion, I'm beginning to consider publishing. I know, I know. How could I let my baby out into the world to be picked apart? The answer? I really don't know. I guess I've just finally realized that eventually this baby needs to grow up and be out in the world. I've submitted short stories to magazines. The many rejection letters posted on the wall remind of where those all went. I should become more involved in that again, I think. I've submitted freelancing. I've made a total of $.05! YES! But I tell you, eventually, they will get accepted as well, if I keep trying. My nonfiction skills have not developed enough yet I guess. To tell you the truth, the $.05 is because the source/freelance agency that I uses gives you a cent if you're in the top five choices. You don't get the actual cash promised to the writer unless they use...

All right guys. I'm having some trouble writing anymore today, which is what I LOVE to do on Sundays. Why am I having trouble continuing? Today it is not writer's block as it usually is. I know what I want to write. It's writing it that's the problem today. You see, there are three/four subjects (one is kind of a subset of the another), which all writer's will eventually need to face at least one of in every novel. What are they? 1) Law 2) Military protocol, organization, strategy, etc. 3) Medicine Subset 4) Mental Health I pride myself on being able to do the medicine thing. I usually know enough that I can navigate my way around the internet to find exactly what I'm looking for. Sometimes, I can do the mental health thing, though some subjects are harder (such as PTSD, which is what I'm facing in my writing right now). However, Military, I always have to revert to one of my three trusty sources. Their names are Sam, Caleb and Dad. Amongst th...

I'm taking a poll at the bottom of the page. Please give your opinion. In biology, anything that either replicates (such as DNA) or reproduces asexually, is considered "female." For example, cells that are reproduced out of another are called "daughter" cells. Chromatids that go together are called "sister" chromatids. This goes on. After research, I've learned that the reason for this is that biologists refer to these organisms as female (though they actually in reality don't really have a gender) because women are reproducers. Or at least in the traditional sense. Anyone over the age of thirteen knows how babies are made and understands the man's part in it, but you know what I'm talking about. So the survey question: Is this sexist? (Some feminists organizations say it is, so I'm getting a feel for it).

First funny story of the day: There is a gal in some of my classes, who's really super nice, but she unfortunately says things that she doesn't really think about until it comes out of her mouth. Such as, when receiving new seats in Biology, where we now sit near each other, "Hannah, I liked it when I sat over there, and you sat way over there." Today's event: We were working on our History Internal Assessments, where we have a topic for an essay that we chose ourselves. My topic is the effect of the Harrison Narcotics Act on morphine-addicted World War I veterans. I had made a flow-chart of the important cause and effect relationships, and I'd oversimplified for the purpose of my notes so that my chart read, "Harrison Narcotics Act passed->lots of people hurt in WWI->people shot full of morphine->people addicted to morphine->no morphine to addicts->LOTS OF MORPHINE ADDICTS RUNNING AROUND." A guy in the class glanced over at my no...

Today's theme is three laws that I think the entire country should know about, but, as I've come to learn recently, few people do. These are laws that protect you! 1. Good Samaritan Laws These laws state that you cannot be held accountable for any ill that befalls a person when you were attempting to help them. For example, you cannot be sued for a rib you broke while performing CPR. 2. Baby Moses/ Safe Haven Laws Babies that are abandoned at a Hospital, Fire Station, Police Station or other similar place are taken into the state child protection, and the parents cannot be accused of child abandonment. Some states have variations that state they have to be into the hands of a healthcare worker, fireman/paramedic or police officer. Some say that this encourages bad decisions, and is therefore a bad law. Personally, I try to let everyone know about this law, because I'd much rather that the child goes into the state child protection than is dumped in a bus depot trashcan t...

I decided that I should update, if only to get the pictures of burning McMansions out of the current post. They're getting a little old, if you ask me. So? What's up with me? Not a lot. Basically, the highlights of the week are as follows: 1) My cousin, Jalayne, and her roommates decided to pay us a little visit on Monday and that was great fun. 2) It was WASL week. Since I passed the WASL last year, this means that I got to not go to school until 9:35/10:05 depending on the day. I enjoyed it immensely. 3) I've discovered how much I LOVE words. This week's best word-of-the-days? Tintinnabulate (means to ring or tinkle), tinctumutation (a change in color) and brobdingnagian (gargantuan). I already knew brobdingnagian, but that's because I've read Gulliver's Travels, and it's still an awesome word. 4) I have a sadness in my life tonight. I have math to do, a psychology IA (a replication of Stroop (1935)) to finalize, a French essay to write, and t...

For those who were not aware, ELF (Earth Liberation Front) has struck again with their environmental terrorism. This time, very close to my home. They burnt some five multi-million-dollar homes very close to my hometown: in Echo Lake. So, these houses are on the Street of Dreams, which is a collection of houses built every year by corporations such as Costco, Walmart, Microsoft, etc. The houses are then auctioned off. They are HUGE houses and worth millions of dollars. In an attempt to save the environment, ELF lit five of them on fire. The damages are estimated at $7 million +. What they don't seem to understand are a few concepts: a) House-fire is bad for the environment. It threatens forests, releases CO and CO2 and that these houses aren't completely wood. Everything else that they're built of(such a petroleum based products) is going to go up in flames as well and be released into the atmosphere. b) The corporations are just going to cut down more trees and ...

Yesterday, at approximately 10:30 am, I left Inglemoor High School for the wonderful land of French camp. I've decided that I would perhaps share the top five highlights or things to tell you: 1) At French camp, you CANNOT speak English. "Ca c'est interdit!" as they say in France. If you speak English, you are sent to "La Bastille." This is the collection of those who have spoken English, and they get to clean the toilets, or in the case of the last set of "Bastilleurs" mop the cafeteria (which we called "Le Tour d'Argent." Every building was named after some famous building in French culture...usually something in Paris). When we returned to Inglemoor today, someone said, "I'm so afraid to speak English now. When I'm speaking English, I keep on thinking that someone's going to come up behind me and go, 'That's the Bastille for you!'" 2) The bread is amazing at French camp. At French camp, you eat Fre...