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.

"trickies"

That's a folder in my bookmarks. It contains all the sites I find useful in a slightly sneaky sort of way.

So in case you were all wondering.

Convert Files - This nifty little tool lets you upload, convert, and download files (though not always in the best quality). It also lets you download videos from quite a few video-hosting sites, like YouTube. Which is how I watched YouTube videos back in the days of Jorund, my old computer. It takes a while, but is mostly reliable, so I still like this 'un a lot.

YouTube to MP3 - This essentially performs what its name says, converting YouTube videos to mp3 files that you can download. It's useful, but I liked it a lot better before it got all fancy and advertisement-happy. Convert Files (above) also has a convert-to-mp3 option for videos, so I tend to just use that.

Video Toolbox - A pretty nice video-processing website with a lot of cool functions like adding watermarks, embedding subtitles, trimming the video, etc. It works but not all the time, at least not for my computer. Sometimes I try to upload a video and it never uploads.

Site2Pic - I actually haven't used this, but it gives you a screenshot of a site from a URL, plus a link to that image. I used to use Aviary's Firefox extension for that function, but it doesn't work anymore, so I might use this sometime soon.

sleepyti.me bedtime calculator - I LOVE THIS ONE. It calculates sleep cycles and tells you when you should try to fall asleep in order to wake up feeling refreshed at the time you need to, because it'll be at the end of a sleep cycle as opposed to the middle, which makes you feel groggy.

media.io - Another conversion site, but this one just for audio. I like it because it has a neat, compact interface, and also because it works really quickly.

Dropbox - Basically allows you to access the files you upload into Dropbox from anywhere. You can work on the files on multiple computers, and it'll sync the updated versions to all connected computers after you're done.

Typical Conversation #8

ME: Mr. Sommar was talking about majors in college, and he said something like, "Say I went to college and decided to major in twelfth-century Chinese women's studies--"
MOM: That's what, the 1100's? Twelfth-century Chinese women?
NATHAN: Oh, that's you, Mom!

-_-

sometimes, when i'm tired, i put my clothes on backwards.
and then i feel really dumb.

I FOUND LAMBY

Yes, she was lost, but now is found. She was dead, but is now alive.
Well, underneath my brother's bed, but now in the washer.

I am so relieved.

My Favorite Music Videos

 because i had nothing else to post about.

Warning: Majority of content will not be in English. I'm sorry about that. I need to listen to more music that's in English. Ohhh well. 
Advice: Do not watch all of these in one sitting unless you have time to spare. This is not a good-enough reason to waste time if you have something important to do.


CATEGORY 1: Made Me Laugh

  

CATEGORY 2: Is Well-Made and/or Pretty

 

CATEGORY 3: My Favorite Dances (not quite music videos anymore...)

 

Home

The sunset sky last night was beautiful, bright red and orange and yellow streaked across a soft blue-purple canvas. I watched it through the black naked branches of the trees stretching up into the west, and it took my breath away. Just a day before that, crystal-white snow covered those same branches and blanketed the ground, while sparkling icicles hung from every twig and roof and windowsill.
There is something about the quiet beauty of Nature that stirs a longing in me, a yearning for something else. It is a longing that I have always had, but mostly stays sleeping within me, only awakening from time to time. I think this is a longing that everybody has, though each person has a different perception of it. It's perhaps funny, because many people look to Nature to satisfy that longing, but for me, it only makes the longing worse. I stared out the window the other day, thought of forested hills and golden moonlight, and wondered what I was looking for. Then it occurred to me.

I want to go Home.

It is as simple as that. I see the sunset and I think of a wider sky, perhaps painted with more colors. I see the trees and I think of taller ones whose branches will hold me without fear of falling. I see the rivers that we pass by while driving and I think of walking along one's side, marveling at the sweet clear waters and the joyful rushing sound, walking, walking under dazzling open skies and over higher, greener hills. Following the river on and on until I come to a shining city where the gates are always open.
What will it be like to open my eyes to a brighter world, to wake up free from sin, to finally run to my Father and feel His arms around me?

I can't wait to go Home.