Hey, Ya'll... What's Up?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
long time no see. not even going to bother laying blame. There you go. =]
So... new things...
Cassandra Clare MIGHT be inching her way up to, -gasp- my favorite author.
Garth Nix, step it up and get a new book out and we can still be friends. Sabriel can only go SO FAR.
but Miss Cassandra Clare and i are getting much closer. i love her easygoing style, her voice, her awesome characters... so far she seems to REALLY like female leads (but Garth Nix kind of does too...), but i don't mind. her guys are awesome. her ideas are spectacular. her Downworlders are fabulous. her Nephilim rock my socks. I CAN GO ON!
I lied. she's not inching up.
she is my favorite author.
-sigh- i feel like a traitor. it's like telling one of your children, "Sorry, you're awesome, but your sister is SO FREAKING MUCH COOLER!"
but Clary... Clary is... Clary is just plain awesome. Jace is tight. i'm already in love with Jem, from Clockwork Angel. (He better be the love interest. he's super sweet and cute and sickly, and Will is kind of like Jace, except all cocky and no super sweet center. RABBIT Hehe. cocky. sorry.)
Miss Maria V. Snyder has a chance. i just got Sea Glass and Spy Glass, which might be totally awesome. but i really miss Valek, and Opal isn't as awesome as Yelena.
Joelle, i'm pretty sure you're the only person who understood anything in that. Thanks.

So! interesting and exciting news.
remember how i told you i was moving into an apartment?
i did.
it's awesome.
and remember how i said i was getting a cat? (even though it's... illegal. in my apartment.)
i lied.
i got three cats.
-cringe-
now, i'll talk about that in a minute.
i'd show you my room, but there's two problems.
1) it's messy. i got home from work and just crashed. laundry not put away, cat played with stuff, all that jazz.
2) it's SO BARE. i hate it! i have four posters on my wall. i'd give anything for more posters. (Think they have a poster of Josh Shank? KIDDING! i'm not THAT much of a stalker. maybe. NO REALLY. hehe. seriously, though. (you don't have any idea what i mean now, do you? HAHA!)) but seriously. no posters. well, 4. an Avatar poster, from Cole. ie, i stole it from Cole. 2 Alice in Wonderland posters, one of Alice standing in the Keyhole, and another of the Cheshire Cat. (love him!) and a Hawk Nelson poster. then my door is so far partially covered with stuff from Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. i'd love more posters. or artwork! i would love artwork. the stuff i have is too heavy to hang up with tape. i've toyed with the idea of hanging up what i politely refer to as my embarrassing Joshua Shank autograph, but... i don't know. i don't want to put tape on it. haha. :D it holds good memories. who knew you could embarrass yourself THAT MUCH in only one weekend? Only me, kids. only me. :D
next. my cat.

Come on, who couldn't love that?
Her name is Gypsy. notice her cute purple collar. :D
So, a little while after we moved in, Paige went out and brought back two cats. Their names are Oryx and Pandora. she adopted them from a shelter. Oryx is grey with white feet and green eyes, and Pandora is... i don't know. She's fat. HAHAHA, no but seriously. they're both kittens. they were malnourished, but Pandora was big anyway, so Paige knew she would be fat.
i like them okay.
no, but seriously, i realized i'm REALLY a dog person. blech, cats, and all that.
but then, one day, i looked down as i carried in groceries to find this little calico meowing pitifully at me from the ground.
i melted.
she was beautiful.
she was sassy.
i loved her.
her ribs stuck out, her fur was in dire straits.
i wanted her.
Paige said, "We'll see if she's here tomorrow."
she wasn't.
i missed her, desperately.
which was weird. because, again, i'm a dog person.
but three weeks later, (October 28th), i got home to see a beautiful little calico pawing around in my front yard.
i did what any normal, sane person would do. i lured her inside, fed her, petted her, and refused to let Paige send her away.
it worked.
and now Gypsy is mine.
she is a MEGA BRAT. she is sassy and rude and full of personality. sometimes she jumps up on my lap and snuggles with me, other times she growls and snaps.
she's perfect.
she sleeps with me, she scratches her ears like her dog, she purrs like a motorboat, she wakes me up to play, she tries to steal my phone, or turn it off when she wants to sleep. that one is really cute. if the light comes on, she turns it over, or if i'm texting, she pushes it down so that you can't see it.
she's the best.
You may meet her, if you want. i'll trade her for artwork.
KIDDING.
i love my kitty.
and i recently got picture texting! so you might get cute pictures of my kitty cat.
did i mention she's cute?
sorry.
no i'm not. :D
other things... i love school. i work as a professional babysitter, and i LOVE that, too.
the most important thing--Ray. he's wonderful. he didn't freak over the cat, who i love. and he hates cats. he got me a diamond penguin necklace for Christmas. we went to a hockey game (WOOOO ICE! LOVE LOVE LOVE! SOMEBODY PUNCH SOMEBODY!) for New Years with my family, and i wore a giraffe coat and he STILL LOVES ME.
hehe.
he's the perfect boyfriend.
-sighs happily-
anyway, that's what's up. what's up with you?

Larkwhisper Is Still A Cool Name

Mom had a bad day Sunday.
so we went to Red Lobster, just the two of us, and then to Barnes and Noble. (What's better than crab meat and books? hmm? the answer is pretty much nothing, except cake. maybe.)
okay. soooooooooo...
i bought two things. due to my current obsession with birds, it comes with the territory of writing a story with a main character named Larkwhisper (inspired by yours truly!), i bought myself this cute little notebook.
isn't it cute? i love it. it's blank inside, perfect for writing. =]
anyway, the other thing i bought was a book called Hawksong.
i have this bad habit of not paying attention to the authors, which can sometimes get me into a little trouble. (Like accidentally picking up a book by Stephanie Meyer, for example. oh, fateful day. just teasing, i knew who she was, i just can't not finish a series. but other authors, that i should know are crazy feminists/serial killers/the leader of communist Russia/whatnot. not really to that extreme, but generally just authors that i didn't like something else by them, and wouldn't have picked up their book if i had realized who they were.)
well, i picked up Hawksong. now, i got home, and as i was reading, i thought to myself, "Hey. this writing style feels so familiar. wow... it feels like..." -checks book cover- "Oh, yeah it is. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes."
which i'm totally okay with. i'm rather fond of her, in a big sister/little sister way. (Depending on what thing i'm talking about.) for example, when i read her book, which is, by the way, rather simplistic in writing style, with large, often hard to pronounce fantasy names and things like that, i feel like an incredibly proud older sister. like, i read In The Forests of the Night, and i was like, "Wow. for a 15 year old girl, this is pretty stellar." and now i just keep reading stuff by her, and i'm watching her writing style grow and blossom and she's so much more accomplished now... and yet it still has an almost childlike quality about it. it makes me think of me, kind of. but different. we write differently. but it's the essence that's the same.
anyway. i also feel like a little sister. because, well, i wish i could get my book published. i wish i could be just like her, and have someone read my book and be like, "Hey, isn't that awesome!" and publish it for me. but that's not going to happen.
i'm not forward enough.
also, i think a little of the joy will be taken out of it for me.
Ben's sending his children's book to a publisher.

[this is where i'm going to whine a little bit. (Sorry, guys, i've been in a bad mood.)
i've written two full length novels. (Granted, they're not amazing. but they don't suck, and i like them, and other people like them, and i've worked hard on them.)
Ben wrote a children's novel. yes, it's awesome.
Mom read it and got all excited and helped him find a publisher and won't shut up about it.
she hasn't even read either of mine.
i even offered to let her. i gave her my first one, in a nice, bound copy, and said she should read it.
four months later, i finally asked if she had finished it, because i really needed to get it to the girl who had offered to help me edit it.
she had read, like, a page, and then set it down and hadn't even looked at it again. it was in the bottom of a drawer somewhere. she had to look for it.
that really, really, really hurt my feelings. so i know i'm not going to get any help from her. i'd like to get it published, but i don't think i'd be able to deal if my conversation goes like this.
Me: OMG I'M GETTING MY BOOK PUBLISHED AND AAAAAAH!
Mom: that's nice, sweetie. did you hear what Ben did? he got his children's book published. it was so amazing, and he even drew his own pictures. isn't he awesome?
Me: ... uh... yeah... i guess so...
Mom: Yes, he's perfect.
Me: i'm going to go now.
Mom: okay. oh, yeah, good job.
or this.
Me: i didn't get my book published. they didn't like it.
Mom: i'm sorry, sweetie. Ben got his children's book published. it was so amazing, and he even drew his own pictures. isn't he awesome?
Me: -bursts into tears-
Mom: OMG WHY ARE YOU CRYING? -confused face-

so, yeah. both of those sound pretty sucky. so i figure it'd be better just to not do it. (or not tell my mother, and publish under a different name. MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)]

Anyway. i went to a funeral yesterday. it. was. awkward. see, it was my aunt, so my mother was really, really, really upset. but, see, the last time we'd seen her was when she came to our house to give me a christening gown. (Yes, i'm serious. it's been, like, 17 years.) so i didn't know her. and it was a lot of meeting cousins i didn't know, and an uncle i've never met... not fun. Dad took us out to lunch, and then we came home.

Finale was last night. interestingly enough, Finale is also tomorrow. (who knew you could have more than one Finale? =])

also, Paige and Elliot broke up. Elliot and i have plans to watch Moulin Rouge! and eat ice cream. super fun. =] (Not that they broke up, that we're going to hang out.)

Later, kids. =]