What Shall I Say Then?

The answer to the question which entitles this post has recently managed to escape my grasp. As someone in the musical version of Anne of Green Gables, I believe (I haven't seen the play for at least four years), so aptly puts it, "I just can't find the words." It is rather annoying. Here I sit at the computer, desperate to pour out my heart to a yearning public, and yet words fail me. With the occasional exceptions of sighs and expostulations, nothing comes to mind. Nothing at all.

I have tried multiple times to come up with a blog post recently, but it has all been to no avail. (Or do you say nothing was to avail? It availed nothing? Nothing was of any use? I trust you get my meaning, and I will now move on to finish my thought.) For instance, last week I took a "before" picture of my deplorably messy room, both for blog-fodder and for inspiration, but when my room was only reduced to the level of "lamentably messy," I was forced to cross that idea off my list.

One topic that seems a bit more promising is our skating, which has been terrific. Nevertheless, it would hardly make a good, interesting, long post considering the facts that there is no real story involved and that I lack Claire's or Craig's gift of making every anecdote/non-anecdote incredibly intriguing. Therefore I will content myself with saying that the ice is good, I have been having a great deal of fun on it, and the "skatable" area extends farther into the swamp than ever before. Oh, and I beat my Dad in a race for the first time EVER! (Actually, I could probably write a spiffy little post about that, ending it with "The flush of victory was on his cheeks, betraying the agony of his aching lungs," but I don't really have the time.)

Hmmm... our lunches have not been as interesting these past few days, fit for a kuningas though they may have been. (Everything we have here is fit for a kuningas.)

I've been enjoying a number of my subjects this year in school, but that topic was already basically covered at the beginning of the year. Of course, there is no harm in reiterating that I have been enjoying all my subjects to some degree, particularly Calculus and Italian, but that fact is hardly worthy of a blog post in itself. Who wants to read a post about the definite integral of sin x on the interval from 0 to π being 2? Who cares that [∫^π₀ sin x = 2] means the same thing? Who labors to type in my URL or click my link just to hear me tell them that "Stai attenta! Le strade sono sdrucciolevole! Non guidare velocemente!" means pretty much the same thing as "Be careful! The roads are slippery! Don't drive fast!"? I do not check other people's blogs to learn such things, and I do not wish to presume that others are any different. Besides, I've heard somewhere that, deep down inside, we're all the same.

I could tell you that my retainer makes my mouth dry; I could tell you that torque is the force applied perpendicular to the arm of a lever multiplied by the length of said arm; I could tell you that I now have a graphite tennis racket; I could tell you that I do not have a microSD card; I could even tell you that I have a little bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol on my desk and that my printer is not currently plugged in; but would any of these subjects succeed in conveying anything interesting or of note to those who wish to hear interesting and notable things? I think not!

Dear me; I am undone.

A Lunch Fit For a Kuningas

"What," you may ask, "is a 'kuningas'? And furthermore, what is that delectable-looking luncheon?"

I will tell you. First, a kuningas is a king. It is not any special kind of king, merely a different translation of the same word. The language is Estonian.

"Where," you may ask, if you aren't up on your geography or just aren't the sharpest nuga in the sahtel, "is this wonderful nation of Estonia?"

This I will also tell you. Estonia is the northernmost of the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia), and lies on the Baltic Sea just across from Finland. Russia neighbors it to the east and Latvia does so to the south. Although its population of 1,324,333 is just slightly larger than New Hampshire's 1,235,786, Estonia's landmass is about twice the size of the Granite State's.

Enough of the geography. My connection to this country is that I am exactly one quarter Estonian by ancestry. My great-grandmother immigrated to New York from Estonia just in time for my grandmother to be born an American citizen. She brought with her the recipe for Glimpy Soup, a photo of which you have just had the honor of viewing. I'm not sure of the spelling of the name (the dictionary I used to translate suggested "klimp" should be the actual root), but it means dumpling soup.

Glimpy soup, as I will continue to call the dish for the sake of tradition and Americanization, is simply superb. It is also simply simple. It is dumplings in a milky broth, seasoned with salt and pepper. Everyone who's anyone who's had it LOVES it (except Kate, who is someone but nevertheless strangely abhors the soup; fortunately, I believe her sister Lisa's opinion is quite the opposite). It has always been a family favorite here and is beyond a doubt the best thing since sliced bread. You should try it sometime! You just might feel more like royalty than ever before.

(Glimpy soup is actually better than sliced bread, so if you want to REALLY compliment something, you should say it's the best thing since glimpy soup.)


Ryan sometimes gets so excited to eat his glimpy soup that he forgets his manners entirely.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Defeat. So painful. So hard to believe that I actually have nothing to do with what's going on in Indianapolis when so much of my happiness seems tied up in what just happened there. How could this have happened?!?!?!? My despair knows no bounds.

It's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game.......

(Actually, writing this post made me feel a little better.)

Football Time!

The Patriots' BIGGEST GAME YET is going on right now!

It's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game, it's just a game.......

Blog Scavenger Hunt!!!!

Here is my entry for the D&S J Official Blog Scavenger Hunt!!!! I must say it was a lot of fun...


* A Shoe
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. ~Frieda Norris
- From the blog of Cara S.


* A Tooth
"News about teeth!"
Everyone's favorite subject, I'm sure. Teeth just seem to fascinate everyone. Anyway, I'm losing a few on Tuesday (1-25-05)--my wisdom teeth, in fact. All four. My Oral Surgeon says that if he makes a mistake with the bottom, I could lose all the feeling in my mouth--possibly (though not likely) permanently. If he makes a mistake on the top, there is a small chance my mouth could be connected to my sinus cavity, and I could shoot water out my nose from my mouth! Sounds fun. I will be taking a TON of medications: Prescription Advil, Vicodin, some sort of steroids, and a special type of non-stinging mouthwash. Unlike most people, I don't consider this the opportunity of a lifetime.
- Me


* An Odd Name
Interesting name watch:
1. Hammer
This guy had a foreign accent which I couldn't place, and which was very difficult to understand. Our conversation went like this:
"What name do you want on the order?"
"Hamma"
"What was that?"
"Hamma, like the tool."
Katie looks confused. "Could you spell that please?"
"H-a-m-m-e-r"
"Oh!" Katie looks embarrassed.
2. Clover
3. Odelia (actually one of the employees)
4. Athena
5. Tiberius
- Kate A.


* A Car (fancier the better)
What could be fancier than a Lamborghini?

- Me again


* A Frightful Dilemma
SUDDENLY The Creature BURST through the grass about 20 feet in front of me, and my legs began to tremble. I stood frozen on the road, not sure whether to

1. run into the church,
2. stay frozen,
3. wait for a car to come by and rescue me, (and pray it wasn't scary stalker man who gives out flowers to people on walks)
4. scream loudly and draw all the attention of the neighbors,
5. faint,
6. or give chase! (Yeah, um... that one never crossed my mind!)

- Lindsay J.



* A Discussion of Childbirth
Jackson Josiah decided to make an early appearance yesterday afternoon. We're all thrilled he did, especially his mother, since he was 9 pounds 2 ounces--15 days early! Somehow my midwife had a sensing he was an extra big baby, so she took measures on Monday to help things along. I went into labor on Monday evening and he was born Tuesday at 3:42 p.m. A long, fairly hard labor, but we're so happy he's here. He's wonderfully healthy and so far very easy.
- Jill J.


* A Theological Discussion/Debate
After extraordinary personal struggles, and questions of life and death and God, and then after a soul-searching experience in which he deals with man's mortality, Hamlet finally arrives at this truth: "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all..." In other words, I cannot control my life or death, that is God's province. And He has it perfectly planned out. It is just my job to be ready for, and to accept, whatever He brings to me.
- Andrea M.


* A Funny Line, Joke, or Short Post
Guess what I just realized? Cara is a four letter word.
- Cara S.


* A Train (the engine and cars kind)
....It just struck my funny bone. To be precise, it struck my roll-your-eyes-and-marvel-at-the-weird/needless -attention- to- detail bone. It's kind of like when we're watching a movie that is supposed to take place a hundred years ago, and a train comes along in some scene, and [Brad] says something like," That's totally wrong. That train wasn't made for another forty years..." So now, whenever I see a train in a movie, I automatically shout, " That's not real! Anachronism!"
- Claire P.


* A Hairbrush
You wouldn't believe how long it took me to find this picture. I looked EVERYWHERE for some mention or picture of a hairbrush, and after a couple hours of searching, this is all I found. Notice the handle of the brush on the table in the far right of the picture.
- Picture from the blog of Jenna B.


* An appeal for money
All you will have to do to purchase this wonderful product from the evil older brother is call 1-800-DISAPPEAR or visit www.invisibilityworldheadquartersnh.com! Please make sure you have $758,220,700,000 on hand - cash only - in order to purchase your first dose!
- Ryan S.


* A Hobby
What you see before you is approximately two years' worth of fingernails and toenails. In all the time since I began the collection, I have not failed to add a single clipping to the egg. To be fair, my freshman year roommate and the kid across the hall contributed a few finger and toe clippings apiece, before they withdrew their support from my endeavor; in fact, last year my roommate (same one) tried to throw the collection away and once held it for ransom. It has also survived spills on several occasions, but is largely intact.
- Pat R.


* Green
While driving past a river near my house I told my mom quickly to pull over yelling "I need a green photo!" well this is what came out after a few tires it has some yellow in it but this is my green photo.
- Alex B.

Video: Ice Storm!

Well, folks, it finally looks a little bit like winter outside...and boy does it feel like winter, too! The temperature was 7° when I went to bed, and had risen only to 8° when I got up. If the ice isn't hard enough to skate on today, I'll eat my fur hat. (This is safe to say because I have no fur hats to eat. It is also safe because, after all, it was 7° last night, but I'm much too cautious to take even the smallest chance. It's part of my personality.)

The morning after the ice storm, Ryan and I went exploring a bit to see the results of the storm (besides that we had lost power), and they were fantastic! Every blade of grass was at least a half-inch thick with ice! Each pine tree looked like a giant wizard's hat, and saplings of every kind joined the birches in bowing to the ground. A glassy shimmer was visible in every direction.

Amazing as the surrounding beauty was, one of the best things about the storm, as far as Ryan and I were concerned, was the fact that our aunt's driveway was itself as smooth as glass. We had so much fun sliding on that little hill! I did wish that it could have been five times as long, but it's shortness was not enough to deter me or Ryan from having a blast!

HERE IT IS FOR WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER

More Elucidation

As another day of crazy weather rolls around, I have revised my theory. Now I think that there was a terrorist attack or epidemic that made everything and everyone get amnesia all at once, kind of like a mixture of Rip van Winkle and Sleeping Beauty. So even though everyone thinks it's January, it's really April or May. Isn't that weird?

Or maybe it's just a climatic cycle...

Monarchs!

Guess where I went last night? You'll never guess. I mean, what could you have to go on? There are a bunch of pictures above, it's true; but I'm not in any of them, am I?

Since your mind must be completely boggled, I'll just go ahead and spill the beans: I just went to my first Manchester Monarchs game with Ryan and Daddy! It was awesome fun, and we won.

Does anyone who reads my blog know how to change outfits in the time it takes for a bucket of glitter to fall on them? I sure don't, but someone at the game did. Too bad I didn't take a movie of it to study carefully. I still can't figure it out. This lady would step into a cloth tube which this man would pull over her, and then after about three seconds he'd let it down and she'd be wearing a different dress. And she didn't just keep getting shorter dresses, either. It went from full and frilly to figure-skater-ish to twenties-ish to long and straight and on and on (I would guess she changed a total of ten times). I should probably not reflect too long on the subject, as I'm not sure I'll ever come up with the correct answer.

Anyhow, the hockey was good, too. I was struck by the bloodthirstiness of some of the fans during the several brawls that broke out on the ice. Some people were practically leaping on their seats, cheering and wielding fists. The whole scenario made me think of the ancient Roman arenas, although you can take it from me that the Verizon Wireless Arena is NOTHING like il Colosseo.

OK, I know it looks dumb that I went to a hockey game and wrote almost all of my post about the show in between periods, but that's the part that stuck the most in my mind. I could say, "Well, this one guy took the puck and passed it, and then it got stolen, and they shot it all the way across the rink but the goalie got it" and so on and so forth, but in stead I'll spare you the details and myself the hassle. The Monarchs' website already has the story anyway.

Elucidation

You know how we have ALL been wondering about why on EARTH the weather has been so very peculiar this past year? How it's supposed to be a record-breaking sixty-one degrees tomorrow, a day which is usually one of the year's coldest? How there was no snow on Christmas, and skating ice for only a day or two? How it was too hot and humid in the middle of July, too cold in September, and how there was actually a windstorm once when we went sailing? (I heard it even rained for some people...)

I've figured it all out!

Want to know? Of course you do!

Well, here's what's going on - and it isn't Global Warming! No, it's something much bigger than that over-hyped politicized hypothesis. Methuselah's age finally caught up with him!

On the off chance that you don't know who Methuselah is, or that you think I must be referring to a different Methuselah, allow me to inform you that Methuselah is Adam's great- great- great- great- great grandson. That is a claim to fame in itself, but he also happened to live longer than any other man in recorded history! Nine hundred and sixty-nine years! Wow!

Well, Methuselah happened to die 1656 years after the creation of the earth, and that also happened to be the year that God destroyed the evil inhabitants of the earth through a great flood, saving only Noah and his family. Of course, the flood effected drastic changes to the climate of the earth, and someone needed to be put in charge of making sure the weather worked properly. Methuselah was the obvious choice, since he had just arrived in heaven and was reputed to have had the most experience on earth.

Methuselah set right to work. God did the first job - putting the rainbow in the sky for Noah - but after that it was mostly Methuselah all the way (with God always over-seeing, naturally). People generally thought he did a good job, although a few unfortunates thought he made it too snowy in the northern US. He disregarded these people's complaints, however, much to the gratification of the more open-minded sector of the populace.

In the middle of the year of our Lord 2005, however, things began to change. Methuselah, getting REALLY old by this time, decided to retire, and the job was given over to his descendant Peleg, who was also old. Unfortunately, Peleg was just not as organized as his predecessor, and he kept messing up the weather files. His first big mistake was to mix up the 2005 and 2006 Atlantic hurricane files. He dropped them on the floor, and, not being very meticulous, he piled all the papers into the 2005 folder (except for one or two that wouldn't fit). If the people of Louisiana had known who was responsible, they would have been very angry with him. Instead, they blamed the government.

The Dennis/Emily/Katrina/Rita/Stan episode was the only real disaster of the Peleg administration so far, but it wasn't the last error the angel was to make. This year, he FORGOT ABOUT SNOW!!! At least, he did in New England. Methuselah made it snow once while taking over the job temporarily as a favor for his [n(great)] grandchild, but other than that one time, the New England earth has been basically devoid of its usual January brilliance. It's possible that Peleg mixed up the Midwest file and the Northeast file, but I am more in favor of the theory that he mixed up the January and June sections of New England's file. Then again, why speculate?

The point is, Peleg forgot the snow in New England this year, and we miss it! I'm thinking maybe we should organize a strike or something...

Donations to the Aaron H. S. and Friends Amateur Meteorology Association(AHSFAMA) can be mailed to me at any time. I will always accept.

IT'S HERE!

Happy New Year to all!

(Well, OK, so I posted this at 12:12. Big deal! I had no sooner opportunity. HAPPY NEW YEAR ANYWAY! :)