10DYC: four books

This one was a lot harder to do, just for the fact that I read often but there aren't many books that truly stick out to me.

1. Looking for Alaska

by John Green

I read this over the summer, and though I thought it was a decent book I haven't really thought much about it recently.  It did however give me a lot of food for thought that I thought about a lot over the summer.  One of my favorite quotes actually comes from this book that helped me sort my thoughts out about a situation with a friend of mine that had happened a few years ago.

"Because memories fall apart, too. And

then you're left with nothing, left not even

with a ghost but with it's shadow."

2. The Dictionary

I know: I'm such a nerd.  But seriously, I love the dictionary.  I have a college Merriam Webster dictionary, hard back that my mom bought me last year when school started.  I used it primarily for debate, so there's a ton of sticky notes in it, and I've highlighted important words, that usually pertain to the government in some sort of way.  My English teacher a few weeks ago assigned us this vocabulary list and asked us how we were going to complete it. Someone said to look the words up in the dictionary, and she said that took too long, and that no one wanted to lug around a dictionary. Unknown to most, I keep my dictionary in my car. And I even named it Lucy.

3. Kansas Curiosities

by Pam Grout

I prefer to read things with historical references in them, or history books in general.  Once again, I know I'ma nerd.  While I was living in the library this past summer, I found this book called Kansas Curiosities in the new section.  Considering I love my state a lot and the cover looked interesting I checked it out.  I seriously learned a lot about my home state that I didn't even begin to know.  I read most of the book outloud to my mom, and she didn't know of half the things.  The book basically gives you interesting places to go visit throughout Kansas and a description of the history pertaining to that place.  I've been to about a third of the places in the book (which is the second edition, I have yet to read the first edition).  This book inspired me so much as to put the entire book on my bucket list; I want to check every single one of those places off before I die. And there's a lot of them.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J. K. Rowling

I've basically grown up with the Harry Potter series, and I have to thank, again, J. K. for such a brilliant series. In general, the Harry Potter series has helped me through a lot of hard times but if I really had to chose a favorite of them all, I'd chose Deathly Hallows.  Deathly Hallows just seems to be the beginning of everything to me.  Yeah it's the ending to the series, but the fact that it still leaves room for imaging what happens afterwards is nice.  I can't even fully explain why I love Deathly Hallows as much as I do.

Today is awesome because: I'm giving blood for the first time at the American Red Cross who come to our school once a year. Bit nervous, but I"ll be fine.

days until ACT: 30
days until the fall musical: 54
days until I become an adult: 108
days until graduation: 239

BEDA 12: 50 random facts about me

Today was actually really eventful, but considering that one of my best friends who I basically call my little sister is staying over for the night...after she helped me clean my room.  But the reason why I'm not blogging about my day, because I actually had a nice blog planned out, is because my brain really can't function to write all of it out. So you're getting a cliche Facebook type note for a blog post to read today.

1. I'm ginger.
2. For people my age around here, I seem to be pretty tall.
3. I love to go fishing.
4. My family means everything to me.
5. I'm a Lutheran.
6. I love drinking hot tea, especially in the morning.
7. I can't stand coffee.
8. I love coloring in coloring books.
9. Being outdoors always wins over being indoors.
10. I love going on walks.
11. Back in 6th and 7th grade I used to play volleyball.
12. I had my first hip surgery when I was eight.
13. My brother and I are fifteen years apart.
14. If I wasn't disabled, I would probably go into the Marine Corp.
15. I enjoy writing, but can never stick to a specific project for long.
16. I love watching Doctor Who even though half the time I don't understand hardly anything.  There's just something I love about Doctor Who.
17. I can't decide on my favorite Doctor...
18. I named my car Carson so I could call it Car for short.
19. I name inanimate objects that either I work with a lot or mean a lot to me.
20. I get really touchy when it comes to the word crippled.
21. Harry Potter was a major part of my childhood, it got me through a lot of rough times that I don't think would have ended up the same if it weren't for J.K. Rowling and her amazing writing.
22. My favorite colors bounce between orange, yellow, green and teal. I guess it depends on my mood.
23. I have a feeling I might end up living in L.A. in the future for a while, or California in general.
24. I want to get my doctorate in history.
25. I'm okay with the thought that I may never get married.
26. I tend to get along better with men than women.
27. My favorite food dish is fish and chips.
28. One of my role models is my mother, she's an incredibly tough woman.
29. I actually really really enjoy blogging...I just need to pretend every day is BEDA so I'll actually post at a regular schedule.
30. I'm a second year (policy) debater.
31. I freaking love sticky notes.
32. My mantra is: You can never have too many books or fishing lures.
33. I tend to use quite a few British phrases/words...it throws my friends off.
34. I just recently with in the last year completely stopped spelling things with an ou on school assignements: favorite instead of favourite.
35. I once wanted to be in the film industry...but not acting.
36. There was also one time when I wanted to be a stage actor.
37. Thanks to John Green's, An Abundance of Katherines, I really like the name Katherine.
38. I have a maroon BlackBerry Curve that I named Agnes, but call Aggie for short. All because of my random love of Texas A&M University.
39. I love music, it's in my opinion the best communication.
40. I over think things far too much.
41. I read TIME magazine faithfully.
42. I'm really excited for this project that my "sister" and I are working on. Details should be up some what soon...I hope.
43. I'm a proud nerdfighter. :)
44. I refer to my hair as The Mane.
45. Over 75% of my music on my ipod is classic country.
46. If I could live any where in the world besides the United States, I would live in Scotland or Denmark.
47. I love the idea of coming back to my high school in the future and teaching.
48. I don't mind peeing outside.
49. I love to travel.
50. If asked, I'll give my brutal honest opinion.

So there you have it, 50 random facts about me...some of them might be a bit obvious, but I tried to share things that you wouldn't necessarily know.  I guess this pretty much sums up today. RANDOM.

Today was awesome because: 1) I got to help decorate the senior hallway today AND 2) I now have a clean and organized room.

days until senior year starts: 4

days until I become an adult: 147

days until graduation: 280

steps taken today: 6,819

the story of my nerdiness

Hello internet! Long time no blog, eh? Sorry 'bout that. I've been in one of those funks again, or maybe it's just the fact that it's summer now and I can do whatever I want...regardless, I feel guilty for not blogging as often as I know I should be.  But today we're going to be discussing the history of my nerdiness, this mostly pertains to the Harry Potter series. You have been warned.

I have always loved reading, I just always have.  I remember when I really started reading though, more than just the occasional book outside of class.  It was fifth grade when I really got into the Harry Potter series.  I kept a stack of books on the corner of my desk in home room.  The stack always had a Harry Potter book in it some where, I remember it took me a long time to read them, but I loved them regardless; and then there would be three or four other books stacked as well.  I remember I got a Star Student certificate for being, and I quote, "A lean mean reading machine."

Out of all my friends, I would venture to say that I am probably the nerdiest out of all of them.  Don't get me wrong, I think EVERYONE is nerdy about something or another, but I'm really the only one that doesn't care if my nerdiness shows.

In middle school, I went through a hard core Harry Potter craze, it got to the point where my best friend just nodded her head and listened to me talk and talk for hours. There were several occasions when in English we'd have to write certain things, and nearly all of them can be traced back to my Harry Potter crazed stage.  Even now, as a senior in high school, I still have a very deep love for Harry Potter.

I've had a rough child hood, and I could always remember having the Harry Potter books to read and to help me escape whatever it was that was going on.  I felt like I was in a new place and I could be anyone who I wanted to be.  It was a nice feeling to just to let go and let my imagination roam.  I think, had I not discovered the Harry Potter series, that I wouldn't be the person I am today; I'm a friendly and open minded person.  There aren't enough words to express how much J.K. Rowling's writing means to me, she developed something so magnificent that I think even the fans don't even know how much it really affects us all.

On to other nerdy stuff, I absolutely love to write, although writing is one of my weaker points when it comes to keeping up with it.  I tend to start a project and get side tracked, never end up coming back to it.

I have however, have become obsessed with Doctor Who over the last couple of months, and though I just recently started Season 3, I freaking love it.  My goal is to get caught up with the series by the time school starts.  And since I'm talking television shows, I've also become addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I plan that I'll have Buffy finished by school starts as well.

What's your nerd history?