Why I Despise Labels and 100 Hearts

Tonight I'm writing about something that's a little bit more serious, however, since I don't do "serious" well, this will just have to be a typical sounding post on a topic that I feel strongly about.  And that's labels.  I'm not exactly sure where my loathing for labels originated, but all I can tell you is that I honestly do not like them.  I think the first reason I don't like them is that I feel that they create certain expectations.  For example, if one is labeled as "super smart", then suddenly everyone expects them to get good grades and go to an elite college.  If that's not what they want to do, then they let everyone down.  They're labeled as arrogant, unprepared, and people say you they're throwing their life and opportunities away.  And to me, that doesn't seem fair, or desirable.  This can apply to every single label too- once one is labeled, society tries to take away their freedom to act individually and independently.  Once you've becomes labeled, there's an expectation and pressure to act or look a certain way.
The other reason I don't like labels is that they go hand in hand with stereotypical, cookie cutter ideals.  Labels take away your freedom to choose to do what you want.  It's like a multiple choice question, only there can never be enough options.  Take religion or politics for example.  I don't consider myself religious, but I'm not atheist either, although I follow certain Buddhist ideologies.  But when people ask me about my religion, I don't really have a ready made answer.  And when it comes to politics, I tend to be liberal, but at the same time I don't always agree with democrats.  I'm not independent, and I'm not communist, but I'm not anti-commie either.  Which is why I typically try to say, with both religion and politics, that I'm non-conformist.  And that's an answer I can accept.  In fact, being non-comformist basically sums up the motto of my life.  I believe in being unique, and independent, and being an individual!  So that's my life and explanation, and reason for frustration with labels.  For an excellent book, and one that addresses labels, read The Acorn People by Ron Jones.  Thank you loves!


And before I conclude this post, I must say I am feeling like an accomplished blogger!  100 posts as of this one, YEAH!!!!!  Thank you darlings who read :)      

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Make It Stop- Rise Against
Smelyalata- Never Shout Never
Don't Bother Me- The Beatles
Never Grow Up- Taylor Swift
Alone, Together- The Strokes
Details In The Fabric- Jason Mraz
Wednesday- Tori Amos

Spreading the Music Fun!

Alright guys!  So, here I was, reading my bestie's blog, and I'm checking out her post on fun iPod games!  And, like she couldn't resist, I couldn't resist either, so I'mma play this game!


Here are the rules:1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool...because none of us are

• Waking Up: Hanging On- Active Child
• First Day At School: What Is And What Never Should Be- Led Zeppelin
• Falling In Love: Keep Holding On- Avril Lavigne (inspirational)
• Fight Song: China Girl- David Bowie
• Breaking Up: Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair (hahahahaha)
• Prom: Two Hearts Beat As One- U2
• Life: I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe- OK Go
• Mental Breakdown: Hey Tonight
• Driving: Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down
• Flashback: Little Child- The Beatles
• Wedding: In Between Days- The Cure 
• Losing your virginity: Suffragette City- David Bowie
• Birth Of Child: Sun King- The Beatles
• Final Battle: Lady Jane- The Rolling Stones (okay, this is a sucky battle song :P)
• Death Scene: Car Jamming- The Clash
• Funeral Song: Empty Garden- Elton John (ehhhh.. not too bad)
• End Credits: Tumbling Dice- Rolling Stones

Yeaaaah.... I'mma have to agree with Miss Julia, this game does NOT create very create life playlists.  But oh well, it's still fun and silliness to enjoy!  So hey, copy and paste, and have fun!

DYEing Hair!

There comes a point in one's life when they feel the need to do something crazy, something spontaneous.  For some, it's drugs.  Others go cliff jumping.  Me?  I dyed my hair red.  However, all things must pass, and since I am a spontaneous person, I really didn't want to have red hair for too long.  So I decided to kill it after a month.  I bought me some dye-molecule expanding shtuff, glob bed it on my hair, took a shower, and my hair turned yellow.  

No, it's not as horrifying as it sounds.  Yes, my hair is no longer red.  No, it's not quite back to it's natural colour.  Yes, if I had to assign it a colour, I would say it's yellow.  But it's cool.  Anyways, I love my hair, and I can't wait to be my true blondie self again!

And while I'm at it, have a fantastic day, I love you, Happy Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, and have a wonderful season!

HEY!

HEY!  Hey YOU!  Wanna see something funny???  Wanna see something awesome??? Well, what are you waiting for?!? Check this out!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/17N3Jk/www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CN_HrkBlRs/




Alright guys.  Just saying, I thought that was pretty hilarious--- The looks on the people's faces!!!  At first, I was like "whaaa?" and then I was like "ohhh, haha... wait...."  and then it was just pure entertainment.  Gooood times!

Secondly.  I LOVE hot pockets.  Okay, so they're not really called hot pockets.  But I don't know what they're called, so I'm going to call them hot pockets.  You know, those things, that come in little bags, and you shake them up, and then they magically start heating??  Those things!  Because let's just say, after a long evening of Christmas carolling to songs you hardly know the words to in the frigid Reno air, and crazy Wii dancing and such, those little suckers become your best friends.  I still have two in my pocket, and this is two hours later, hahaha.

GOOD NIGHT PEOPLE, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!

Quite Adorable!

Well this is a cute little piece I stumbled upon whilst browsing the Internet!  Enjoy!


***Guy's point of view***
You might agree with it, but
when it actually happens 99% of girls don't realize it 'til it is too late
and that guy who did it is so frustrated that he has moved on to someone who
will take notice.

From a guys point of view:

We don't care if you talk to other guys.

We don't care if you're friends with other guys.

But when you're sitting next to us, and some random guy walks into the room

and you jump up and tackle him without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off.

It doesn't help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without

even acknowledging the fact that we're still there.

We don't care if a guy calls you, but at 2 in the morning we do get a little concerned.

Nothing is that important at 2 a.m. that it can't wait till he morning.

Also, when we tell you you're pretty/beautiful/gorgeous/cute/ stunning, we 
freaking mean it.

Don't tell us we're wrong.  We'll stop trying to convince you.

The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.

Yeah, you can quote me.

Don't be mad when we hold the door open.

Take advantage of the mood I'm in.

LET US PAY FOR YOU! DON'T 'FEEL BAD'
We enjoy doing it.

It's expected.

Smile and say 'thank you.'

Kiss us when no one's watching.

If you kiss us when you know somebody's looking, we'll be more impressed.

You don't have to get dressed up for us.

If we're going out with you in the first place, you don't have to feel the need 


to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you 
own.

We like you for WHO you are and not WHAT you are.

Honestly, i think a girl looks more beautiful when she's just in her pj's.

Or my t-shirt and boxers, not all dolled up.

Don't take everything we say seriously.

Sarcasm is a beautiful thing.

See the beauty in it.

Don't get angry easily.

Stop using magazines/media as your bible.

Don't talk about how hott Morris Chesnutt, Brad Pitt, or Jesse McCartney is
in front of us.

It's boring, and we don't care.

You have girlfriends for that.

Whatever happened to the word 'handsome'/'beautiful'.

I'd be utterly stunned by a girl who greeted me with 'Hey handsome!' instead of 
'Hey baby/ stud/ cutie/ sexy' or whatever else you can think of.

On the other hand I'm not sayin I wouldn't like it ether.

Girls: I cannot stress this enough: IF YOU AREN'T BEING TREATED RIGHT BY A 
GUY, DON'T WAIT FOR HIM TO CHANGE. DITCH HIS SORRY 
DISGRACE-TO-THE-MALE-POPULATION AND FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL TREAT YOU 
WITH UTTER RESPECT

Someone who will honor your morals.

Someone who will make you smile when you're at your lowest.

Someone who will care for you even when you make mistakes.

Someone who will love you, no matter how bad you make them feel.

Someone who will stop what theyre doing just to look you in the eyes....and 
say 'I love you' ..........AND ACTUALLY MEAN IT!

*****Give the nice guys a chance*****

Holdin Hands- 
Girls : If you want to hold his hand, gently bump into it a 
couple of times. Guys : Grab it if it happens more than once.

Cuddling- 
Girls : When you want to cuddle with him, tell him you're cold. 
Guys : Automatically move closer to her.

Movies- 
Girls : During a movie, if he puts his arm around you, tilt your 
head on his shoulder Guys : Lift her chin up and kiss her.

Loving each other- 
Guys : When she tells you she loves you, look deep into 
her eyes, give her a peck on the lips, and tell her you love her too... And 
mean it.

Laying below the stars- 
Girls : When you're both laying under the stars, 
put your head on his chest and close your eyes as you listen to his steady 
heart beat Guys : Whisper in her ear and link your hands with hers. Now.




Well, I thought that was positively adorable.  Hope you liked it!

My My

Okay, so I realise it has been 14 days since my last post.  And now, it's excuse time.

I'm am SO. TIRED.

I have a lot of homework.

What little time I have in which I'm not sleeping or doing homework is spent as social time.

I'M TIRED.

I am a terrible procrastinator.

Family time, and trying to spend less time on the computer!

Facebook.

I AM SO FREAKING TIRED.



Alright.  I'm done.  So today, I'mma talk about texting.  I hate texting.  Just so you know.  It's emotionless, and pointless, and no where near as great as talking face to face.  Heck, even phone calls trump texting.  However-- still, no matter how much I voice my loathing of typed talk, if I'm texting that one special person, I can't help but have a mini-spaz attack, scrambling for my keyboard whenever I receive a text.  Pathetic, I realise.  Moving on, another thing that annoys me about texting is when people are bad at it.  I just hate it when I'm conversing with someone, and shoot off some text only to get a reply such as "lol" or "haha yeah" or "nm".  Typically, I don't respond to texts such as those.  What is there to respond to?  The annoying thing though, is when you end up replying "haha yeah" right on back, hoping to end the conversation, and they text back again!!!  It's like, listen- I know you wanna talk to me, but please be more interesting.  Ahhhhhhhhh!  What are your thoughts on texting?


Sweet Dispostition
Temper Trap

Well...

First things first:  I spent about thirty minutes composing a beautifully long, endless paragraph all about myself.  It was basically every random thing I could think of that had to do with my identity as a person jam packed into a Note on Facebook.  Then my computer jammed up, had a hyperventilation/asthma attack, and I lost everything.  So I wrote a new Note, this one specifically about the one thing that's been on my mind and been frustrating me recently.  Love.  I've decided to put it here as well, for my beloved blog readers. And maybe, just maybe, I'll retype my "Me" in a long paragraph bomb, if I get around to it.

I am a total crazy obsessive mess. I am naive, and vulnerable, and afraid of falling and geting hurt. I absolutely hate texting, because you can try as hard as you would like, but texting will never compare to a face to face conversation. Real conversations require emotions, and feelings, and sincerity. It's too easy to misinterpret electronic words, and I have an awful tendency to overthink things and fill my head with doubts. Despite all that, when I'm texting that certain person, the second my phone buzzes I have a mini seizure, hurrying to grab it and find out what they've said. Whenever I see them my face illuminates with a smile, and I forget my fears. But alone with myself I tell myself it'll never happen, and I'm being too optimistic. I am normally an incredibly positive person, but for some reason, when it comes to love, I completely fall apart. I have only initiated the first hug with a guy once in my entire history of ever. It's pathetic, and lame, because even though I love being spontaneous and outgoing, I am really truly very shy. I hate waiting, but I won't ever do anything about that, because I'm afraid of appearing too forward, and for that reason I think I've missed out on multiple pontential friendships, something I regret. I'm skeptical, and doubtful, but that being said I can get swept off my feet very easily. I love a guy who is a gentleman, but at the same time I'm too afraid to trust and let my walls come down. I need someone who isn't afraid to do what they want, is outgoing and crazy, and isn't afraid to take a chance, because all of those things scare me, and they''re things I wish I was myself. I confuse myself- a lot- and rely on hour long convesations on the phone with my therapist and best friend to get me through these crazy times. And then, after all is said and done, I write myself a very long paragraph with too much information that no one needs to know or care about. But I don't mind, because this is how I organize my thoughts. It's a mini letter to myself, just to let me know that as insane as I am, there's at least one person who kinda gets it. And that's me. If you actually read this, you're probably more convinced than ever that I am mentally insane... If you know me I guess it'll be easier to understand.


And that's that.  I know, I'm insane.  But hopefully I'm not alone, hah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4306i99LMXo

Window to My Life

Have you ever read a book that hits you, hard?  A book that as your reading, reality sinks in and you realize exactly how much you can relate to it?  For me, those are the absolute best types of books.

Yesterday, I finished a book by Jodi Picoult, called House Rules.  It was excellent.  And true, very very true.  Now, I'm not going to tell you about the book, and I'm not going to give a book review, but I'm going to put down my favorite quotes for you to read and maybe they'll inspire you to read the book yourself.


‎"Nobody ever asks Superman if X-ray vision is a drag; if it gets old looking into brick buildings and seeing guys beat their wives or lonely women getting wasted or losers surfing porn sites. Nobody ever asks Spider-Man if he gets vertigo. If their superpowers are anything like mine, it's no wonder they're always putting themselves in harm's way. They're probably hoping for a quick death."


"Truth is a lie and lies are the truth... And no one is listening, no matter how loud I'm screaming inside my own head."


"Nobody looks into the face of a newborn son and imagines all of the things that will go wrong in his life.  Instead, you see nothing but possibility: his first smile, his first steps, his graduation, his wedding dance, his face when he is holding his own baby."


‎"'You get used to it,' I say, although I'm not sure this is true. In reality, you don't ever change the hurricane. You just learn how to stay out of its path."


The last quote in particular really sticks with me.  To me personally, it means so much.  I hope that someday you will read a book that will find its way to your soul as easily as this one has for me.

Lovers In Japan/ Reign of Love
Coldplay

Carry My Picture
The Connells

Soldier On
Temper Trap

What I'm Thankful For

There are a lot of things to be thankful for.  I am thankful for my family, my home, my life, my school, my country, my pets, and on and on.  Most of all, I am thankful for my friends.  My friends are the ones who genuinely care about me, who can make me laugh with their crazy shenanigans, and who can make me smile no matter what.  My friends are my family, and I would not know what to do without them.

So, let's make every day Thanksgiving, and think about all of the wonderful things in your life that you're grateful for.  And most of all, don't forget to be thankful for the little things!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47D9-U8hn5I




Lots of love,
Sierra

CRUSHing

Why hello there.

Hmm... so it looks like this is my second post on crushing within two months!  Wow!  And surprise, this time I'm talking about a completely different type of crushing.  What other type of crushing can there be other than midgets in a high velocity car and the falling head over heels for a person, you may ask?  Well, this particular form of crushing I shall be addressing today has to do with band crushing.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Band%20Crush&defid=4184538

The funniest thing about this particular bout of band crushing is the band itself.  Any guesses to what the name is?

Crush.  The band's name is Crush.  So, my dear friend Julie and I have spent the past week "band crushing" on the band Crush.  Ironic, huh?

Let me tell you about this band.  First of all, their music is absolutely fabulous.  It's a little more dub step-y-esque than I usually listen to, but I'm totally in love with it.  I have to confess, I've probably listened to their CD about 20 times within the past 3 days.  Scary, right?

Anyways, besides the amazing quality of their music, this band happens to be local (yay!) and the band members are all really nice!  I mean, it's one thing to have a great band, but it's even better when the people in the band are fantastic and great personalities.

This is the case with Crush.  Great music, firm handshakes, great personalities, and oh, how could I forget?? They have girls tshirts!  Sure, sure, that sounds pretty dorky, but you have no idea how many local bands only have guy tshirts.  It's frustrating.  And not only do they have girl's tshirts, but the tshirts have woolly mammoths on them!  Ahh!

To sum this pretty random post up (let's face it, it's 9:50 (doin' double parentheses style... yeah.. anyways, I realize 9:50 is really pathetic, I do.  I typically would stay up to like 1 if it was an option, but high school just does not allow for that), I'm sleep deprived, listening to music, and should probably be studying for that Odyssey quiz tomorrow... it's hard to focus on blogging.)  this is what my past few days have looked like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNRVazAVVdA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vSYR0Eqkw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRHzgciHtxg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFmZaGkpP4I

Enjoy :)

My (not so secret) Undying Love

Urban Outfitters.   I love you.  So, so much.

Hey guys!  So I've been online store browsing for the past two hours or so, mostly obsessively clicking all over urbanoutfitters.com, skimming through all of their amazing clothing.  Seriously- they have some cute stuff.  However, they also have some EXPENSIVE stuff!  Ah!  So here I am, sitting on my bed, thinking quietly to myself, "If I had 70 bucks, I would so buy a pair of pleather pants..."

Oh well.

Let me talk to you about fashion.
Quiet frankly, I don't understand it.  It changes too fast, and is too particular.  At the same time, I kind of love it.  I don't consider myself to be very fashionable, but I do like finding legit pieces of clothing that just look cool and feel totally comfortable.  That brings me to another thing- I really really really don't like shopping for clothes.  It takes too long, the right size is all too often impossible to find, and it is EXTREMELY difficult to find exactly what you want.  For example, I went shopping for a blouse the other day.  That's all I wanted, just a one color, simple fit, no pattern blouse.  But noooo, everything has to have ruffles or plaits or shiny buttons or something!  What happened to simplicity?  Ugh.

Overall, I think what matters most in fashion is comfort and originality.  Don't dress like your best friend just because she's the most popular in school, don't wear heels if they're uncomfortable (which in my honest opinion, they are) and don't feel the need to force yourself into tight-fitting, skimpy clothing.  Have polite conversations with your parents, so that they know that fashion is a way to express yourself.  Don't sweat if you're not a size 0, petite girl.  Who cares?  There's more to life than constantly worrying about looks.  Be comfortable and be you.



The Artist in the Ambulance
Thrice

A Little Bit of British Humour

Alright, now just warning you, but British humour (and I promise you, if my autocorrect tries to correct humour to humor one more time.....) is not for everyone.  True, it is magnificent, fantastic and hilarious, but some people just don't appreciate it as much as others.  Maybe it's like coffee, and it's and acquired taste.  I dunno, but all I can say is I love it.  So, my little blog readers out there, here is a funny video to get you introduced to British humour, as well as to provide an amazing take on climate change and present my personal environmentalist feelings to y'all.  I hope ya love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-F8EO3qOVk&feature=player_embedded



Good.  Now go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Funny Things to Brighten You Day

Hey guys!  You know those days that make you feel like you have a bad case of the Mondays?  The days when you're too tired to do anything, and all you want is to curl up and sleep.  Well, I'm here to offer a brief period of entertainment to lighten your life! :)  Enjoy!

Have you ever been surfin' YouTube, just chillin', when all of a sudden you're jumped by this CRAZY video????  Well here's a crazy video for you. Laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu2ZLLvN1n0

And if you don't laugh at this one, I'm gonna feel like a horrible person, because I laughed my head off.
http://www.pics2lol.com/mother-of-the-year-award_355.html

Next mission:  Pull up Google, go to the Google Search homepage, and type in the search box "barrel roll."  Do it now!
.
..
...
.....
That's right.  Cool, isn't it? For more Google fun, here's this neat-o website.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6201814/Google-easter-eggs-15-best-hidden-jokes.html

Amazing how demotivational posters can cheer you up, dontcha think?
http://www.despair.com/believeinyourself.html
http://www.despair.com/wishes.html
http://www.despair.com/ambition.html

I love this video with a fiery passion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ1HKCYJM5U

Oh and watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4  and every other video in the series.  Nerds unite!


To finish off this post, click this link and make yourself happier.  http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/11/03/do-a-barrel-roll-anywhere/

.. but click it while listening to this song.. The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti & Spearhead

Toodledoo!

Crushing

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crushing

If you have no idea what crushing is, Urban Dictionary dictionary defines it nicely for you.  If you don't understand why in the world I would want to talk about stuffing numerous midgets into a high velocity car, I'm talking about definition number one, thankyouverymuch.

For further clarification:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crush  (oh, and read definition 7 for laughs)


Crushing.  It happens to everyone.  From that one time in kindergarten when Shirley-stole-your-orange-crayon-and-made-you-cry-but-then-nicely-gave-it-back-to-you-with-a-shy-smile-that-made-you-laugh, to that time in Chemistry when you-couldn't-help-blushing-whenever-Jeremy-with-the-amazing-hair-and-his-oh-so-beautiful-blue-eyes-looked-your-way, at some point in you life you are bound to develop a crush.  It happens to the best of us.  So I'm going to talk about crushing!


Isn't it funny how big of an impact that one person can have on your day?  They smile and wink at you, and suddenly you can''t stop smiling, there's a skip in your step (which sounds cliche but I can promise you, really does happen) and you feel like laughing for no reason at all.  It's like magic.  On the other hand, if you see your crush with another girl/guy, or they barely give you the time of day, your soul sinks.  You get tired, bored, and have a sinking feeling in your chest that you just can't place.  True, crushing does involve getting crushed sometimes.  Sometimes, you will be let down, but you have to rise above and be strong.  Don't focus too much of your energy on a crush!  Crushes are meant to be fun, lighthearted!  They're supposed to give you happy butterflies, not make you feel like sinking into the earth.  I personally like seeing the sunshine, so I'm gonna focus on all of the happy stuff, how about you? :)


Google is amazing.  I've been busy searching wonderful Google for a bit now in order to provide some interesting new reading about crushes... This is the first one I found, and it's a bit dorky and seems like it's aimed towards 5th graders, but hey- maybe if more things were explained to us in this easy, little kid way things would make more sense! After reading it, I personally think it has some good points and some good reminders that maybe everyone needs reminding of every now and then. http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/thought/crushes.html#

When I was in fifth or sixth grade, WikiHow was my savior.  It was my go-to guide for everything.  And anything.  Trying to decide if I should get bangs?  WikiHow it.  Cutting my own bangs?  WikiHow it!  How to cover up a bad haircut?  WikiHow it!!!  Yes, WikiHow has helped me through a couple of sticky situations in my life. But eventually, I realized that WikiHow isn't as great as I thought it to be.  Yes, I will still turn to it every now and then to figure out how to distress a pair of jeans, but never ever again will I use it for relationship advice.  I confess, I once spent hours taking "does he like you?" tests and looking up "10 steps to make him fall for you" in my free time.  But then I realized- life is about making mistakes.  Especially when it comes to love, you can't plan anything out.  There is no right or wrong way.  In the end, the only way to figure all of this confusing stuff out is to just get out there and go for it!  If they like you, great.  If not?  Try again next time, it's not the end of the world.  However, if you want, feel free to read this webpage.  The tips it gives are legitimate enough.
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Your-Crush-(for-Boys-and-Girls)

Be yourself!!! I cannot stress this enough.  If a guy (or girl) is the one for you, you won't have to change for them.  If your crush can't love you for who you really are, they are definitely not worth it.  This blog entry brings up this point a couple of times, yay!
http://allwomenstalk.com/ten-ways-to-get-a-guy-to-ask-you-out/

and another one, just for girls, by allwomenstalk: http://love.allwomenstalk.com/things-teenage-girls-should-learn-about-love/#mostliked  what can I say?  I love this blog.


Mkay, well, that pretty much sums up this post.  I hope I've served you well, and don't be sad if you want to hear more about this "crushing" phenomena, I'm pretty positive I'll be posting about this topic in the future.  Peace out!

I love my family.

It's strange how this happens, but sometimes you get involved in a club, or some activity, and the people you interact with, the people who are part of that activity with you- they become your family.  Today I'm going to talk about my debate family, and my weekend.

Before I begin, I warn you that the next 2 paragraphs are incredibly boring and debate-jargon-y.  If you really want to, feel free to skip to the last paragraph, which is really all I care about, and don't bother reading my blow-by-blow of my weekend.  Otherwise, you can try reading it, and hit me up if you were confused and want a thorough explanation of the specifics and theory behind debate.


Friday afternoon at 12:45 I got to ditch my last two periods of school, get on a school bus and drive to Carson Valleys Middle School for my very first speech and debate tournament.  I was... nervous, excited?  I don't even know.  I was so psyched to be going, and I was going to have fun.  Friday was a speech day, so that meant I was going to be performing my Dramatic Interp. script.  I wasn't worried.  I had it memorized, and if I didn't do well, oh well, what matters most is that I had a good time.  The bus ride  to Carson was a lot of fun, involving me learning how to say "the purple elephant ate my pants!" in Tagalog and singing Rape Me by Nirvana with my friend Emily*.  When we finally arrived, we got to go into the lunchroom and chill, waiting for rounds to start.  Three rounds later (each round being in the same class room), I finally finished for speech, and got to return to the lunchroom so I could wait and see if I broke.  "Breaking" means making it to finals/semi-finals by the way.  Results were posted and my friend Charlie* and I both got to go to the final round of speech!  Yaaaaay us.  Then we all piled back into the bus, trying to make it home in time to watch the final few minutes of our last home game.  We didn't make it in time, but we had tons of fun singing Beatles songs at the top of our lungs, off pitch and out of tune.  That's alright, Reed murdered us anyways.  

We got back at about 10:45 (keep in mind that I woke up at 5 Friday morning) and all went home.  Saturday morning my alarm went off at 4:50, I woke up at 5, and was out the door by 6:15, heading for school.  At 6:30 the bus left, and we were on our way to Carson Valley again.  Saturday was debate day, so I had my first official round of debate at about 8 o'clock.  I'm a novice debater for Lincoln Douglas (LD) I was pretty sure I was going to fail miserably.  My buddy Charlie, the other novice debater, is a beast at LD.  Luckily for me, my opponent for first round was unexperienced and I did pretty well.  Three rounds later, (my fourth round with my Sophia*, the most challenging opponent and one of the nicest girls ever), I was pretty sure I was finished for the day.  But I was wrong.  At about 4:30 they announced the places of the Speech event competitors (I placed fifth out of six finalists!) and announced who of the debaters would be moving to Semi-Finals.  Surprisingly, I broke.  And guess who I got to debate?  Sophia again!  So me and Charlie (he placed first in speech by the way, and he also broke for debate) went to the Semi-final room and waited for semi-finals to begin.  Charlie debated first, on the affirmative side, (the resolution being "a just society requires the recognition of animal rights") against this SUPER CRAZY girl who said that if animals were given rights, then someday on the television we would see a giraffe debating the president.  ..... I know.  Insane.  Then she moved on to saying Charlie was advocating for murder and the slaughter of babies, and accused animal rights activists of being terrorists.  It was really entertaining.  When their round was over and it was my turn to debate, it was almost exactly like my fourth round.  Same opponent, same level of difficulty, the only difference was I was debating the affirmative instead of the neg.  When Semi-Finals was over, I was so tired!  All I was thinking was "I hope either Charlie and I both win, or I lose, because I really don't want to debate another round."  You see, if me and Charlie both one, it would be a Reno close-out, and we would automatically both win, and there wouldn't be a Final Round.  The results were posted eventually, and you know what happened?  I broke.  I was going to Finals up against crazy girl.  I have no idea how she beat out Charlie, because his case was amazing, and she was friction mental.  But all I remember is me freaking out, Charlie and Sophia and a million of my debate friends hugging me, and then me going to Finals for debate.


For my final debate round, a bunch of my Reno friends came to watch, and I got to be the negative side against Charlie's* crazy opponent.  I was pretty chill about the whole thing, because my advanced kids told me to just keep doing what I'd been doing all day, because apparently it was working.  So, I did what I did all day, didn't take it super seriously, and had fun.  I was kinda relieved I got to be the neg. that round, because the neg. has fewer speeches, and at that point of the day I was so brain dead and mentally tired I didn't want to do a lot of work.  So after I delivered my final speech and it was my opponent's turn to basically tell the judges why she won, I was so happy.   I just hung out for three minutes, listening to my opponent ranting about my case, with a smile on my face.  (it rhymes!)  Then the round was over, I shook my opponent's hand and congratulated her, shook all of the judges' hand, and then the Reno posse was out.  I didn't think I did super well during that last round, but everyone kept hugging me and telling me how awesome they thought I was.  It was overwhelming.  Finally, finally, they began to announce the results.  Charlie took 3rd place for LD Novice debate, and I took-  First.  I still can hardly believe it.  All of my friends were high-fiving me and hugging me and it was wonderful.  Speech and Debate might be an intense hobby, but when you have so many wonderful, amazing people there to support you...  This is pretty lame and pathetic, but it was all I could do not to cry.  I love my debate family, so, SO much.  They are amazing, annoying, loving and frustrating, and dysfunctional but hilarious, just like a real family.  Sometimes you doubt them, but they come through when you need them to.  I love Speech and Debate.  I love my adopted family.  And I truly hope with all my heart that you have a special group of people you can call your "family", because it is one of the truly greatest things in life.

Love,
Sierra


*I changed all the names in my story for all you creepy stalkers out there

Hair.

Tonight.  I am going to talk about.  Goldfish.



Naaaaaaa, just kidding, I'm gonna talk about hair!! As you may or may not know, I used to have long-o hair.  Then I got sick and tired of it and decided to chop it all off.  Now I have short hair.  And, as of right..... Now! I'm growing my hair out again :)  Yes, that is how the thought process of Sierra works.  I change my mind over and over and over and over again!  So I thought I would just bring y'all up to date, and explain this to you.  Also it's because I was like "Oo! Good blog entry!  I'm gonna talk about my life!" but this has turned into a pretty much meaningless ramble.  It was actually pointed out today by one of my friends that I talk.  WAY too much.  I was telling my friend this super crazy (actually kinda mellow) hilarious (ehhh) incredibly interesting (not really) story today and when I finished my awesome story he just looked at me and said "Oh. My. God.  That entire story you just spent 5 minutes on could have been told in 2 sentences."  And he's right.  I do talk away too much about non-interesting things.  You see, I am amused very easily.  So I tell my very amusing, ordinary stories to my friends.  All the time :)

Stealing From Julie who Stole It From The Nearsighted Owl

Yes, that is correct, I am stealing.  GASP!  Okay, so, check out my amazing friend Julie's blog, http://tastejulieslifesoup.blogspot.com/ and check out this person's blog! http://www.nearsightedowl.com/
A. Age: Old enough to be blogging and rock at it!!
B. Bed size: Curious question.... Twin :) 
C. Chore that you hate: MOWING THE LAWN.  Which is no longer a chore for me :) yay soo now I say homework.  Definitely homework.
D. Dogs: Sky, Sag and Mesa :) two australian shepherds and a corgi!
E. Essential start to your day: Music. I wake up to music, listen to music my entire morning, and then leave.  When I come back I listen to more music.
F. Favorite color: I do not currently have one.  There are too many beautiful colors in the world to pick just one.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver :)
H. Height: 5’1 and a half :) haha
I. Instruments you play: In 4th grade- the recorder.  In 6th grade- the viola.  In late 5th thru 7th grade-the guitar.  Now?  The piano :)  
J. Job title: Blogger, Chief of Happiness, and Observer of Siblings.
K. Kids:  None for me!
L. Live: Biggest Little City in the WORLD!
M. Mother’s name: Deborah
N. Nicknames: Cece, Sierrabear, Sierrabeara, Snjy, Midget
O. Overnight hospital stays: None that I can recall!  Yikes!
P. Pet peeves: Mean people irk me.  It is also incredibly annoying when A- I am trying to sleep in on the weekend and people feel the need to be super loud and obnoxious. B- I'm trying to watch a hilarious sitcom and people in the kitchen seem to be having a shouting match. C- When I'm reading an amazing book and people keep interrupting me. D- When I'm trying to finish homework that is due the very next day and I keep getting interrupted. E- When I accidentally pull my earbuds out of my ears really quickly and annoyingly. F- MEAN PEOPLE.  
Q. Quote from a movie: "Party Time!  Excellent!" -Wayne's World
R. Right or left handed: Righty tighty!
S. Siblings: My younger sister Mo :)
T. Time you wake up: Weekdays.... 5:05.  Weekends.. 9.  Summer?? Whenever, but mostly 9.
U. Underwear: Uhmmmmmmm well this is awkward.. Yes, I love underwear....? (????)
V. Vegetable you hate: Tomatoes.  Ew.  EWWWW. 
W. What makes you run late: Forgetting everything.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: On my wrist :)
Y. Yummy food that you make: I suck at cooking.  I'm too ADD for a kitchen.  But.. Kraft Mac n Cheese :)
Z. Zoo animal: Elephants.  They make me happy.






Alrighty then.  That's that.  If there are any more bloggers out there interested in copying me copy Julie copy Nearsighted Owl then feel free to do so :)

Umm... yeah... right...

Ok, so I left such an incredibly long comment to my amazing friend Julie's post that I decided to post this as a post... cuz I'm lame and have no original ideas for posts right now... Maybe some this weekend... Anywaaays, I'm also advertising for Julie's Life Soup!  Inspirational, educational, and flat out SICKLY DELIGHTFUL!  Yeeeah!

Read her blog.  Or else.

http://tastejulieslifesoup.blogspot.com/


Sierra Norton said....
HA! Like that random guy in the hall??? :D and I would like to say... I kinda-ish am content with singularity.. I dunno. I get to the stage where I'm like, "whatever, it's cool, I'm gonna find an amazing guy sometime." But sometimes I watch a romantic movie, or read a story, and become totally WTHECK like you said. And then I get all insecure, but then I get mad at myself for being insecure, because it's stupid. I am confident! HA ooooor sometimes I meet some guy, and I over think, and think what ifs, and become a tad bit obsessed and oh, yeah, OVER THINK! Plus I'm so bad at flirting. It's pretty awful. P.S. I love your new background, Needle in the Hay is awesome! Liam is amazing! Ha aaaaaand... oh, you Have been busy! Cr-azy! And I WAS THERE TOO! FIND ME! Haha I loved their cover up until the point when CJ killed his guitar. Oh well, in the name of expression.. haha love this post, this is a long comment.. sorry... later!










As you may have noticed, there are a total of SEVEN! (7!) opportunities to click a link and read her blog.  If I am informed that you did not, I will find you.




Naaaa, just kidding, I'm not that menacing.  But I will be saddened if you don't read :(




http://tastejulieslifesoup.blogspot.com/


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