Feed Lifeguards, Not Seagulls: I survived the beach 2008

Another year at the beach, distinguished from the others by:
1) Seeing Mamma Mia with my grandmother ("Dancing Queen" was stuck in my head for days afterward)
2) not getting completely sunburned
3) having the only rain be the morning we planned to go fishing
4) causing an LBI sensation by sending my dad off to the hospital in an ambulance. Even the police officers knew about it. (He's ok, btw.)

and the following books:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen--for school
Kushiel's Scion and Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey
M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway--I was really impressed with this book. I'm ashamed to say I don't know as much about the siege of Sarajevo as I should, but this book uses four different people to illustrate various aspects of life in the city during that time, from a symphony cellist who plays to commemorate the deaths of neighbors to the sniper assigned to protect him; a man who travels miles to fetch water for his family and an ungrateful neighbor; and a man risking his life just to cross a street.
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat--A Haitian writer with a real talent for bringing her culture to life, both in Haiti and the US. She really devotes herself to telling women's stories, and that comes through in her writing in the moments she speaks to herself, to her characters, and to her readers.

Musikfest starts today! Hope it turns out to be a good year!

Back in the 'Burg and confused about Easter

The beach was a blast! We were in this amazing house that could have fit about 20 more people in it, about a five minute walk to the beach through a neighborhood of increasingly ridiculous/cool/huge houses in interesting colors. The beach was usually chilly, but we had a few good days, including one where I braved the freezing water to go ocean kayaking with Genevieve. We also played frisbee, paddle ball, flew kites before a thunderstorm, went for walks, huddled under towels when it got cold and we were too stubborn to leave... And back at the house we had lots of good food made by various people, including chocolate fondue and Cranium playing. Awesome all around. And I actually managed to get some work done, too, though I still spent most of yesterday trying to finish it up.

The only down sides to the trip were leaving early, ending up as the only one left with a couple (not that they were horrible, it was just awkward sometimes), and saying something really stupid while not sober (hopefully they won't remember it, but it's the kind of thing I can't get out of my head and I want to go back in time and throttle myself before I can say it). Oh, and being really disappointed by TMNT. Sorry Rachel, it just wasn't that good! Except for the Raph-Leo fight and Raph's fight with the little red monster that reminded me of Hikari. :) Maybe you had to be a fan to really appreciate it. And why, if they could make the turtles animation so amazing, could they not have created more proportionate people?

The only problem is now I have nowhere to go for Easter. I was going to go to Genevieve's, but she forgot to tell me that I couldn't come because now they have extra relatives coming. My family's going to New York, and I have to work on Monday, so there's no point in going all the way up there to have to spend all of Sunday driving back. Unless they hook us up with something at church, I'm just going to end up sitting around in my apartment with nothing special going on and no good food, which would be completely awful. Boo.

I'm on my way to the beach!!

:)

And wow, I probably seem bipolar, given the nature of my last post...oh well!

In other exciting news, the book I sent to Australia got a journal entry! Who knows where it will end up next! Check it out! Which reminds me, I should grab a book or two to release over break down at the beach...