What's happening with me today

I really shouldn't be writing this...I've got a project and a paper and a test... all due before Monday (test today... in about 40 minutes... Astronomy!  Yikes) Sociology paper due Friday, Music project due on the 5th and I spent most of last night trying to get a video off our camera for my music project and answering questions about baby names on Yahoo Answers... my favorite time wasting activity.  When all this craziness is done, I'm supposed to be working on my screenplay (Twice Upon A Time)...*sigh*  I'm WAY too busy...

I'm going to sing for my piano teacher today before my lessons- she also teaches voice and is Elli's voice teacher.  She's going to give me some pointers so I can be really good for my audition on March 1st.  I'm so nervous!!! And I'm getting myself all worked up about this...I've been excited about this for a year...no joke.  I really hope I get the part.  It's my favorite fairy tale, and a musical, the last one I'll be able to do at my school- The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast- not the Disney version- but still...

I feel like a complete dork because I spent some of my birthday money on the 2 disc special platinum edition of Beauty and the Beast... and I'll probably go see it in theaters in 3D if I can get around to it.  We ordered a bunch of other movies, and they're all coming by Feb 3, but my movie won't come till the 24th!  *frustrated*
Oh well, wouldn't have time to watch it anyway.

I'm going with a bunch of friends to see the college's musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in a few weeks, so that should be fun...

We picked parts for my church's passion play on Sunday.  It's called the Living Stations of the Cross.  I'm a junior this year, so I was hoping for a good part, like Mary Magdelene, Pilate's wife, or Mary, wife of Clopas, or Mary, mother of John... or even a flash back Mary (we have a LOT of Marys) but I look nothing like the girl who got the part of Mary, my friend Heather.  She'll love it that she can hold the baby Jesus at the beginning (we start with the presentation in the temple- there's a flashback when Jesus dies and two girls stand with a baby doll and the kid who played 12 year old Jesus... I can't do the 12 year old Jesus flashback- I'm 4'9" and not only is my friend like 6 ft tall, but the kid playing 12 year old Jesus is taller than me...yeah, I'd look real motherly.)  So anyway, I was hoping for a part where I get to do a lot of crying, since according to Elli, I'm really really good at fake crying (who knew?)

Yeah.  I'm a serving girl.  I get a towel chucked at my face (if I'm lucky) and I stand there with a straight face.
This should be interesting

Okay, I just wasted 10 minutes... I've only got half an hour before my test!!!  Study, you fretting Haili, STUDY!!!!

okay.  I'm out.

I really should be doing something else...

Why do I like elipses (...) so much?  I use them constantly!
I need to be working on screenplays... and my music quiz... I really should go...

I'm babysitting my guidance couselor's daughter tomorrow, so that should be fun.  My weekend is insanely busy and our first Living Stations practice is Saturday... I'll explain more later... I REALLY should go do my work.

Adios... (there I go again...STOP!)
Haili

French horn solos and musical themes- I'm Bored!

So, I'm learning this song called "Puck" by Edvard Greig (youtube it- I can't play it near that fast yet) and it's based off of the creature Puck, made famous by Shakespeare's use in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" He's a pretty cool character, and I like him, and the song is fun to play.

Now, in band, we're doing our annual "solo and ensemble" concert, or Dessert Concert.  I have to play a solo or in an ensemble on French horn (my band instrument) because my band director won't let me do a piano solo, which I assure you, I have plenty of.  Anyhoos, I thought I was going to play a piece called "Andromeda" by Beethoven (I liked it at first because there's a character in When the Stars Fall named Andromeda who goes by Andi and I really like her and the name) But it cost almost $6 for the sheet music.  Then I found not one, but 2, possibly 3 (last one has some range issues I'd have to work out and arrange to be higher...it goes in the bass clef and for a french horn, that is LOW) amazing solos that I like better- and best of all, they're all free. (Thanks 8notes.com) So now I'm either playing the Finale from Swan Lake (the really mysterious and deep song at the end- it's gorgeous) or a Mendelssohn Nocturne from...wait for it... "A Midsummer Night's Dream"! Okay... I'm starting to catch a theme here...

I'm bored, but I've just discovered a way to entertain myself!  Watch skaters on youtube!!! Elli skates, and I like watching- I couldn't skate if my life depended on it... well, maybe... I may have to think about that.  I might be able to slip and slide and "skate" to flee someone, but if someone told me I had to win a competition or die- I'd die.
Elli wouldn't, lucky thing.

au reviaur
Haili

What happens if you marry in purple, that's what *I* want to know...

So I'm researching my Irish heritage (for my world music class) and found some very interesting wedding traditions.  Such as, do you know that the saying "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," came from Irish tradition, and originally ended with "An old Irish penny in her shoe?"

Blue was probably a reference to the line of this little rhyme regarding the color of the bride's dress and what it signified:

Marry in white everything’s right

Marry in blue lover be true

Marry in pink spirit’s will sink

Marry in gray live far away

Marry in brown live out of town

Marry in green ashamed to be seen

Marry in yellow ashamed of your fellow

Marry in black wish you were back

Marry in red wish you were dead

Marry in tan he’ll be a loved man

Marry in pearl you’ll live in a whirl

What I want to know is- what about purple? That's my favorite color...I know purple and orange don't rhyme with anything and most people couldn't afford purple back then, but you'd still think they'd add a line about "Marry in lavender be a traveller" or something of the like... or maybe they had enough of that with grey and brown... still.  I'm also looking at getting a tin whistle...can't be too hard to play.  I already play recorder.

Anyway, I can't think of anything else to say at the moment, so I must bid thee adieu!

-Haili (and that was a random bit o' french for you from an Irish girl...tehe)

My book cover!!!

So, I finally finished my book cover- and here it is!!!! (drumroll, please) *drumroll ensues*

Doesn't it look awesome??? I spent all weekend on it...I took stock photos from deviantart.com and put them together on Gimp.  (girl is from XNBcreative...I think the background is from inadesign stock... or something like that.  Here are the links: background and girl.  Here is the picture I got the inspiration from...the girl's hair was too long, though.

Anyway, I'm also on deviantart if you want to find me- I'm Haili73 as well.

My life as of this moment...

So... I haven't blogged in a while, so I'd thought I'd better update you on all that has happened in my life.
So first of all, I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the college I go to informing me that I had made the Dean's List and could join Phi Theta Kappa, which is a pretty big deal.  So that's exciting.

I'm taking 15 credits this semester-Intro to Creative Writing for Stage and Screen online (note to self- Twice Upon a Time) Intro to World Music (also online), Astronomy, Relationships, Marriage and the Family (a sociology class), and Small Group Communications.

We're running an awareness campaign on campus in my Small Group class... there's only 17 of us, which is nice.  We're researching our own ancestry and the music from that culture in World Music- that's Irish for me!

I'm currently searching for stock photos and such that I can use for the cover of my novel... I probably will end up getting someone to take my picture in a fancy dress...It's hard to find a stock photo with a short haired girl like Halyn...this was kind of what I was picturing...but with short hair.  It's titled When the Stars Fall.  this image kinda has the girl I was picturing.

I'm working on typing Elli's YWP NaNo and I have just finished her book cover.  I used an image by mocking-jay-birdy on deviantArt for the skater, since Elli wanted a cartoony look.  It's an experiment until I hear back from the artist that it's okay.  The book is self published...so, hopefully she doesn't have a problem.  Here it is: (I've blocked out her name for privacy reasons)

Basic Plot (or back page blurb)
"Caroline Pattinare always considered herself a mediocre skater.  She would never be good enough to beat Kristal.  Until one day, a tornado blows her attic into pieces, and Carol finds the skates of Rina Malloy, a legendary skater who won an Olympic gold medal.  The blades of the skates are blue, and Carol is convinced they are magic, because when she wears them, she can do anything.  Carol is invited to compete in the ISI Summer Skating Competition, the same one Kristal competes in (and wins) each summer.  Kristal will do anything to win... but will she resort to sabotoge and theft?"
(just made that up... don't know if Elli approves as she is at winter camp.  But  I shall find out when she returns...it will be a surprise!

Over and out
Haili

How to tell if parents have no imagination...

So, I don't know if you know this (you probably don't), but I am kind of obsessed with baby names.  I think that's the reason I started writing- I ran out of dolls to name!  Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time on Yahoo! Answers helping parents-to-be name their kids... and keeping them away from names like Warrior.

I made up a family with some... interesting names.  So here's my little story.

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Mary Sue Johnson.  She met a man named Marty Stu Anderson.  Mary and Marty fell in love, and soon married.  Within the first year of  their marriage, they became pregnant.  Nine months later, Mary gave birth to a little girl.  Unsure of what to name her, they chose Abcde, the first five letters of the alphabet.  (Pronounce Ab-sid-dee).  Abcde grew up and when she was three, Mary and Marty decided that Abcde needed a little brother or sister.  Mary became pregnant again.  When she went in for her first ultrasound, she found out she was pregnant with quadruplets!  When they were finally born, they named the first boy Jay.  The rest were all girls, and were named Kaye, Elle, and Em.  


So the Anderson family now consists of:
Abcde Anderson
Jay Anderson
Kaye Anderson
Elle Anderson
Em Anderson


..... The end.


Changing the subject, my brothers got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, so that's what they're playing right now.  My sister and I got bedding.  It's very colorful... this is what it looks like:
I'll be posting a picture of it in our room soon, but she has the striped side up and I have the other side up (shown in this picture).  She currently has fleece sheets on her bed instead of the ones that came with it because she's always cold, but I have all the sheets on.  Neither of us can use the striped bedskirt since I have a loft bed and she has a captain's bed with drawers underneath, so my project over break will be turning our bedskirts into a valance for our window, and maybe making a few throw pillows out of the leftovers. This is kind of a big deal for us since we have had the same bedding since we were like, 3 and 5.  At least a good 10 years.  Elli was the one who picked it out and, surprisingly, I actually liked it.  She usually picks out little kiddish pink things with kittens and ladybugs and cupcakes on it, while I like anything purple, things with big flowers (sometimes) and bright colors, and despise anything pastel or with characters or animals or ruffles on it.  I also was going to make a music note quilt for my bed until she found this.  Here's a picture of what I was planning to make:

maybe I'll make a pillowcase or something... a bag? I don't know.

okay, I'm finally going to post this... I meant to post this weeks ago... but I got distracted (something that never happens to me... right, Haili, right...*sarcastic*)