wondrous gem, the Arkenstone

I finally finished The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and it was not like other books that I have read. It was very different in the way in which J. R. R. Tolkien is able to bring this new world of hobbits, dwarves, eagles, goblins, men, trolls, giant spiders, wolves, a dragon, a wizard, and Gollum, to full life.

I borrowed this book from my little cousin who had just finished reading it. I remember her telling me, "Read it soon because the movie is coming out in December."

And that is what I did.

To say the truth, The Hobbit hadn't caught my attention before this. I don't know. I guess, I'm not used to reading fantasy novels. The only other fantasy novels that I read before The Hobbit were Harry Potter.

I thought the story was unique and very well written. While I read page after page of The Hobbit I could easily imagine the places Bilbo Baggins and the thirteen dwarves were passing. In books like these I would say there is no correct way to imagine the scenery. The Misty Mountains, Mirkwood, The Lonely Mountain, and the dragon's liar could be imagined differently by everyone, but in a similar way. 

Now, I am ready to see the movie two weeks from tomorrow. I would recommend this book to everyone who wishes to know the adventures of a hobbit who lived a simple life and who later went on a very long and interesting adventure.

imagine

I have been watching television and everywhere they mention the $500M Powerball. That is a lot of money. After a while I began to question myself.

If I won the Powerball what would I do with the money?

If I won the Powerball....

I would buy my family a very nice home.

I would donate to different organizations and start my own organization, I'm not sure what cause(s) it would help.

I would create a very huge library in my house with many many books and grand couches and soft rugs, with walls leading to secret compartments to the other rooms in the house.

I would hand out thousands of dollars to all the paleteros that I see walking on the streets.

I would make sure that everyone I care about never worries to pay for bills, mortgage, or stuff like that.

I would open a restaurant for me dad, since he loves to cook.

I would give my mom a shopping spree.

I would travel to Mexico, Japan, England, and to places I have been to, but have not seen again in a very long time.

I would follow the tour of a band or two that I greatly admire.

From here to there

I created my first playlist. It took me three days, but around seven hours to look for, cut, and paste the letters from Allure ( a beauty magazine) to physically create this playlist from a paper of written songs and artist/band names.

 

My handwritten playlist is on the upper left hand corner.

Playlist

chocolate everywhere, chocolate in your hair

I made pilgrim hats and chocolate turkeys with my youngest sister for Thanksgiving this year. We don't have a working oven or we would have made many pies in different flavors. The last time I baked something I was eight or nine and it was with an Easy Bake Oven, but it didn't work. When mamagil (my grandmother) came about one months ago, my sisters and I spent a whole Saturday baking her specialty bread. My family doesn't do much on Thanksgiving and as a result of this, making pilgrim hats and chocolate turkeys gave us something new to do. It was fun and chocolaty.

Pilgrim Hats

Chocolate Turkeys

I think a lot

I think a lot when I am in a car and no one is talking to me.

When someone doesn't start a conversation with me, I think instead.

I make up stories and scenarios that could happen.

I think a lot when someone asks me a question like, "What is your favorite ____?" (insert favorite thing that pertains to question here).

I know I have a favorite color and, sometimes, a favorite food. It's difficult to answer questions like these. I can't respond with the answer, so I decide to keep it to myself.

I think a lot when I am about to go to sleep, many people do. I am one of them. After all, no one is an exception.

Thinking is what keeps me awake. When I stop thinking that is when I drift off to sleep.

I think a lot, a lot, a lot.

No one knows what you're thinking. It's one of the things that only you can decide to keep or let go.

Some people write what they think. 

I write that I think a lot.

it's true

I have a lot of little drawings of little monsters stored on my computer. Here's one. He has no name. Let's call him Monster One.

it was drizzling

Four years ago I was a junior in high school and I longed for the day I would be old enough to vote. I saw history being made with the election of Barack Obama as president. This was in 2008. It is now 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney ran against each other.

Yesterday, November 6, 2012, at around 5:30 pm I walked to my old elementary school one block from my house and cast my vote.
After voting I received a small slip of paper that I will save as a remembrance of my first voting experience.

Barack Obama was re-elected.

if i'm lost please don't find me

Crystal Castles was amazing!

I bought my ticket about a month in advance and, even though, the hours before the concert were stressful my sisters and I made it on time. This is what happened.

I had told my dad that we were going to take the car to the concert and my sister and I was supposed to pick up our other sister at school. She comes out at 3:30 pm, so at 3:00 pm we looked for the car keys and we couldn't find them. My dad had taken them to work, on this day of all days. We had to buy a bus pass and go downtown to my sisters school, pick her up, and go to the concert.

Luckily, we knew how to get there. By the time we got to the concert it was around 5:30 pm. At 6:30 they started letting everyone into the Congress Theater. We were standing in the third row from the stage. I had an okay view of the stage. From 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm a DJ played.... music.... that started getting on my nerves after a while. Someone asked a security guard at what time Crystal Castles would come on stage and he said 9:30 pm.

From 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm we listened to Kontravoid, an electronic group from Toronto, Canada. I liked him, his music was interesting.

Kontravoid

Then, the moment we were all waiting for, CRYSTAL CASTLES!

At this point, I was still in the front but squished in between strangers. If I would've been pulled up from where I was standing, there would be almost no space for anyone else to stand. When Crystal Castles came on, everyone yelled, "Alice! Alice! Alice! Alice!" Others yelled, "Ethan! Ethan!" I saw Ethan Kath at the start of the show when he walked on stage and started playing Plague. Alice jumped and the show began. Soon, everyone started pushing. Since I am short I was pushed farther from the stage and closer to the middle. I jumped and sang along to all the songs. At some point, my shoelaces became untied, but I was having too much fun to tie them back again or to care.

Pictures:

Crystal Castles III album cover banner on stage

Alice Glass crowd surfing

My sister took videos:

The show lasted until 10:48 pm. After the show, while my sisters and I waited for the train to arrive, a man approached us and asked for our review of the concert for an online magazine.
Review of Crystal Castles Concert at Congress Theater

The next day I woke up sore, but it was all worth it. I would go see Alice and Ethan again.

Ghouls and Goblins, Witches and Wizards

I tried being a skeleton on Halloween night. I made the skeleton shirt that I am wearing and tried to make my make-up emulate Florence Welsh's makeup in her video to the song Not Fade Away. I am not an expert nor talented.

I think I would've done a better job making my costume if I had not started preparing it two days before Halloween. My intention was to give out candy, I had bought two bags the day before, but my sister insisted that we go trick-or-treating. We went, after a while, to a suburb close to the city. I had a spectacular time, although several times it was weird, little kids gave me candy instead of I giving them.

I had a twin skeleton buddy.

....