The Nautimander!!

Digging through my old picture files recently, I stumbled upon this treasure that I drew in Paint one day when I had nothing better to do. Enjoy.

the horror! the monstrosity! (... the best pet ever?)

yey

So I have this graphic drawing tablet that I got for Christmas last year, and I've been finally using it. Woo!

...but as it turns out, I spend my time doodling and drawing flatworms in Paint.

(I recognize lyrics from "Storytime" by Nightwish. I don't remember what the rest means.)

AA

For those of you who think Lamby has always been my favorite stuffed animal, let it be known that before Lamby, there was AA.
AA, the small pink bunny with a bowtie (though I insisted she was female), whose name stands for Adventurous Adventurer, who has three older brothers that belong to my three older brothers, who eventually got played with so much that she turned slightly gray, earning her the nickname Gray-Gray. AA, who eventually got played with so much that I--under the influence of my brothers' urging--gave her to my mother for safekeeping some years ago, lest her head fall off with too much affectionate attention.
Being the immature fifteen-year-old that I am, imagine my delight when I found this in the bathroom a few nights past.

(The note says: "Nina, SURPRISE! Mommy wants me to take a spring break from the (cup)boarding school...How I missed you! <3 <3 <3 <3 AA)

There was a joyful reunion.

They used to be best friends, you know.

AA IS SO CUTE

(And another joyful reunion)

what my mother makes in her free time

Last Day of Blog Challenge, Squirrels, and Other Miscellaneous Stuff

Today is the last day of the Blog Challenge! I think I've succeeded.
It's sad that January has come to an end already. I can't believe that we're a month into the new year so quickly.
I wish I had something extremely insightful to say on this auspicious day, but I don't.

Our AP Biology midterm is tomorrow. Wah.

I don't want to quit piano lessons, but I'm seriously doubting their worth when I don't get to practice enough during the week. The piece I'm working on now is really hard, and I feel guilty that I can't give it the time it needs to be good. I don't think I'll be ready for a recital in May.

Apt Visual Depiction of High-School Students at USP:

they say you're really not somebody
until somebody else loves you
well i am waiting to make somebody somebody
soon.
~ Are We There Yet - Ingrid Michaelson
(Emmie showed me this today and I love it :D)


Look outside. Stick your head out the front door. It's a beautiful day today.

Yan Yan!

I opened my Yan Yan today (THANK YOU ELLIE).

The sticker on the top is an additional gift from Ellie.

There are "fun words" on the cracker sticks inside. 

Here are a few:

Note the animal illustrations.

There was also a cow that said MUUUUUU, but Mom ate it before it occurred to me to take pictures.

Bunny Spam

My earlier post on cute things was just not enough.
I'm sorry if this crashes your computer.
 

Cred: I get most of these in emails from Ellie...I dunno where she finds them.

Biology

I've been doing quite well in my AP Biology course so far this year. I think this academic success can be attributed, among other things, to my notes that I take in class.
Because these notes are not just copying down whatever's on the PowerPoint. No, these are notes with annotated illustrations.
I'm sorry, that sounded really pretentious. It's really not that impressive, and I don't annotate everything. I only illustrate the concepts that strike my imagination.

Here are a few examples:

Archaea: prokaryotes that can live in extremely cold, salty, or hot habitats

Lysosomes destroy nonfunctioning organelles by digesting them

Stoma: leaf-pores | Stroma: the fluid-filled space between grana in chloroplasts

In Photosystem II, the carotenoid pigments pass excited electrons to the main pigment, chlorophyll a.

Energy transfers from sunlight to glucose through photosynthesis, which is ingested by other organisms like us, where our cells convert it to ATP through cellular respiration, which is then available to facilitate cell work. And so we live.

Apoptosis: programmed cell death when something goes wrong. The cell pulls itself apart, and the fragments are digested by little...thingies.

These pictures have helped me remember so much. I definitely advocate doodling in the margins while taking notes, because it actually does help (if you're drawing things related to the course matter). Especially if it's a little silly. Hehe.

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms: one of the sweetest cereals in the world, approaching unbearable sugar content.
Contains: ...um...Ireland stereotypes in the extreme? Also sugar.

Mommy doesn't buy Lucky Charms for us very often, but we happen to have a box in the pantry at the moment. I never paid attention to the shapes until this morning, whereupon looking into my bowl I became greatly confused while trying to ascertain what the distorted marshmallow things were supposed to be. So I went to the two most easily accessible sources of information: the Internet and my brother Nathan.

This is what the Internet gave me:

I was less than satisfied.
I liked Nathan's answer a lot more. Even though he didn't get to all of them, because you're lucky (:D) to get what you get in your bowl.

"You see," he said, beginning to pick out the various shapes, "They all have significance.

"This is a Christmas tree...this is a cross...this is a Christian fish...and this is a fat Christmas tree...

 

 "This is the star of Bethlehem...

("and here's another star of Bethlehem, and another star of Bethlehem, and another...)

"This is Noah's rainbow...

 

 "This is the hat that Saint Patrick wore when he drove all the demon snakes out of Ireland...

 "This, uh, this is a 'u'...

 "And this is one of the magical red balloons that will make your life magical if you get 100 of them in one bowl!"

 

Mom: Nathan, that's impossible. Don't be silly.

**Heart Attack**

I love cute things. When coming into contact with anything remotely cute, my heart immediately goes into spazz mode. This, of course, has interesting implications on the sounds I produce at such a time.
I will henceforth present you with various examples of the reactions I may have upon being exposed to cuteness of all kinds.


Spazz Catalyst #1:

Reaction:
**begins grinning like a maniac**
*eeeeeeeemmmmmmmmppphhhaaaakkkkkkeeeee*
**bounces in seat**
*guaaaaaagggg*
**looks away for a second**
**looks back, grins again**
**small giggles**




Spazz Catalyst #2:

This only has one reaction. Here I commence a silent wheezing chuckle that starts small but ends up racking my entire body. Then it stops, and I look at the picture again, and the process repeats itself.




Spazz Catalyst #3:

Reaction:
“SMALL CHILDREN!!!”
**violent swaying from side to side**
**headtilt**
*kkeiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaooooo*
**big, dopey smile**
**slow, halting laugh, mouth still wide open**
(Here I may eventually drool from having my mouth open for too long)




Spazz Catalyst #4:
!AEGYO!
[Aegyo (애교): n. the act of being overly cute, commonly by way of high-pitched voices, small sounds, and beaming facial expressions. May cause in others desires of strangulation and/or punching in the face.]
This is best explained through visual means.

(Okay, the second one is not so much aegyo-ish but they are definitely doing it at some points)

Reaction:
*GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKGGGHHH*
**thrashes**
**covers eyes**
**peeks**
*eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
**puts hand in mouth to stop from making further noises**
**bursts into nervous-ish silent laughter**
**wipes drool from hand and re-inserts it to mouth**
**thrashes again**
**closes tab because it’s too unbearable**
**watches again**




Spazz Catalyst #5:

This, like Catalyst #2, elicits a single response from me.
“D’aaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww **breath** awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww **breath** aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww...(etc.)”


My point: I absolutely adore cute things and would eat them for breakfast if I could.
So...if you ever need to incapacitate me for a small amount of time...




P.S. (Feed me in the comments if you’ve got stuff.)