summer spontaneity. {a guest post by abbey}

There's a certain aura of spontaneity that comes with the season of Summer. The random, off-beat things that come about, are just part of what makes the holidays so great. Whether it's an impromptu visit to the best ice cream shoppe in town, or just a frolic through the park, it's so nice to have a break from routine.

So, in celebration of Summer spontaneity, I dare you to...

{one} Share the lyrics from  your favourite song with the world. Canvas? Your driveway. Medium? Chalk. {I chose this song.}

{two} Read a book you loved as a child. Anything that evokes happy childhood memories is sure to make you smile.

{three} Do some cartwheels. Just because. If cartwheeling isn't your cup of tea, frolicking through a field is just as satisfying.

{four} Make a moustache. I swear, there is no finer accessory than a paper moustache on a wooden stick.

So, there you have it! I hope you all have a lovely day, and thank-you to Kendall for having me here. :)

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Hello! I'm Abbey - as aspring writer, photographer, and daydreamer, living in the Canadian prairies. It's a pleasure to meet you! Come visit me over at The Inglenook, my little space of lovely things.

au revoir!

Well, this is good-bye, for a week or so. I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Washington D.C. and I'm sure to have lots of adventures there! (I'll probably still be tweeting.) I come back the next Saturday. In the meantime, I'll be having some lovely guest posters to entertain you. 

Have fun, stay safe, don't let the dementors get you, etc.

Au revoir,

-Kendall

awkward + awesome thursday

{linking up}

Time for some awkward turtles* and awesomesauce.

awkward

-This heat. It's only 94 right now! If I was saying that out loud right now, there would be no trace of sarcasm in my voice, because that is cool compared to the temperature at five o'clock. Sigh.

-Construction in front of my house. Still. *sigh*

-Eating so much I felt like I was going to throw up. We went out to dinner last night for my dad's birthday, and I got this really delicious pasta dish. It was so good...so I ate it all. After that, even just looking at any food made me want to run straight to the bathroom.

-Having the same lyrics stuck in your head. Over...and over...and over again.

-Dead grass. In the background. It feels like hay when you step on it. Fun fact.

It's especially awkward when it's right next to barely-alive-but-still-green grass. It's like an weird tan line...

-Having ten (literally) tabs open at once and trying to click on the right one. It rarely happens on the first try.

awesome

-Having money to spend. Plain & simple.

-The other night, I had a dream where I was on the Harry Potter and Hunger Games set... simultaneously? It was really awesome, and I was friends with Emma Watson...and then I woke up.

-Cookies. Om nom nom. The recipe says it makes 112 so I cut it in half. We still have a lot. ;)

-I'm so famous, you guys. I was interviewed! You can read it here. :)

-Vacation! I can't wait to go to DC. See my family, stay in a hotel, take lots of pictures. Travel on public transportation. I love being a tourist.

-Funny people? I don't know, I needed to put something else here.

What's awkward and awesome for you this fine Thursday?

-Kendall

*Mayrose, if you're reading this, when I wrote that I thought of knock turtles. Just so you know. Which is awesome. 

there are very few things in this world better than cookie dough

I made some chocolate chip cookies today. Mainly for the dough. I HAVE NO REGRETS.

Eggs are pretty.

This was a mixture of butter and sugar. Delicious. (I didn't actually try any. I do have some standards, surprisingly.)

This was the real stuff. I kinda had a lot of it. It was kinda really good. No one's really surprised, are they?


And that turned into this:

Yum! You all want cookie dough/cookies now, right? Cuz that was my goal. They're for my dad, whose birthday is tomorrow. Last birthday of the month, I promise. :)

I think I'm going to go have some cookies, or read, because the last time I tried that I fell asleep for a while. Not good. Happy...Tuesday?

-Kendall

swelter

It is so hot, you guys. I know, it's hot pretty much everywhere. But it's really hot here. I walk outside to take pictures and I am sweating after two minutes. I kid you not. NOT FUN.

iced tea is lovely on hot summer days

There's nothing to do except stay inside all day and read depressing dystopian* novels and watch funny YouTube videos. And listen to the same songs over and over (this one for something somber, this one for a private dance party). Seriously. I have zero creative energies. I wrote a poem this morning but after that I felt burned out. Too much work will do that to you. I'm just feeling really...meh right now. This too shall pass, I'm sure, but until then... I'll be staring at my computer screen like a zombie. Or maybe staring at my pillow. I do need some sleep.

I think it's good I'm going to be traveling on Saturday. It's just the sort of thing I need to get out of this rut. And of course, I'm excited to see my cousins. The last time I saw them was February/March. The only thing I'm not excited about is the fact that is that the weather is going to be equally uncomfortable. Oh, well, it's that time of year -- you can't escape it.

Oh yeah, speaking of that.

EDIT: I have enough! Thank you.

Announcement: I'm going to be out of town for a week starting Saturday so I'm looking for a few guest posters to fill in for me. I just need one or two more, so if you're interested please email me. Much appreciated!

-Kendall

*Excuse me, Blogger, since when is this not a word? THIS IS A WORD.

things i do not understand.

At the risk of sounding incredibly dumb, here are some things that for the life of me I Just Don't Understand.

-Math. To clarify -- I understand how to add and multiply and all that stuff. I understand Algebra I, but it starts to get hazy after there. I've made okay grades so far, but me and math are not buddies, and I honestly cannot see myself having a profession where math is very important. 

-Most science. While we're on the subject of academics, I thought I'd tack this one on. Likewise, I did okay in Biology last year, but there is a lot of information there, and it's all happening on such a small level that it makes it kind of hard to comprehend. At least Bio is interesting and relevant. I'm going to have Chemistry this fall and I'm not excited. Why is learning about atomic levels and isotopes and all that jazz important for the 99% of us who are not going to be chemists? And even less thrilling is the prospect of Physics, which is pretty much just math. 

-Why some people continually misspell words or make the same grammar mistakes. Sure, everyone slips up from time to time, but it's kind of annoying to repeatedly read paragraphs containing phrases like 'your coming, right?' and 'you're blog is awesome' and the like. I mean, it's perfectly normal to make a mistake once or twice, but after that, you'd think they'd learn...

-War, what good it does, and how fighting and killing accomplishes anything. The end. 

-How to fishtail braid. I've tried like 20 times with like 20 different tutorials, all to no avail. I think I don't have enough fingers or hair or brain cells or something. 

-Why we have three jars of peanut butter in our pantry...

-Time. How it all melts together and fuzzes our memory, how it speeds up and slows down without ever really changing. 

-Why people smoke. It is so disgusting to me. I really don't get why anyone would want to inhale toxic substances...pollute the planet...and make other people gag. In what universe is that cool? I understand that it is addictive and hard to quit once you get started, but why would you start in the first place?

-HTML. It looks like Gobbledegook to me. I know enough to do stuff like change the post title font size and bold things when you hover over them, but that's about it. I'm okay with that, though; I can't do everything.

-Politics. I mean, I understand some of it, but a lot goes over my head. I know I'm young and whatnot, but I don't know if I want to understand it all.

-WHY IT NEVER RAINS HERE. :(

-In the words of the Matt Lewis (who plays Neville Longbottom in HP, for those of you sadly unaware): "There was a lot of running. I don't like running. I don't understand why people run."

I think that is a good one to end on. 

I had a lot of (unexpected) fun writing this post. And this is just a small list; I could probably go on for a few more hours. What are some things you do not understand?

-Kendall

a whole new perspective

My new 50mm lens (the one I was eagerly awaiting) came yesterday, just as we were leaving for dinner. I'm still getting the hang of it, but I really like it so far. It's very nice.

It's like looking at everything with a new perspective.

Normal things, like fences and flowers and frogs (okay, I don't see those every day) can become interesting again. You just have to change your focus. (Literally and figuratively.)

Just so you know, these are all unedited. Most of my photos are. I haven't got any expensive editing program, and the cheaper ones are often slow and tedious.

-Kendall

c'est la vie

(alternatively titled: In which I am so tired of thinking of a title that I just go for something really cliche and overused in a different language that doesn't really have anything to do with the real post. Oh wait, I do that all the time. Carry on, little elves.)

For once, I have lots of words drumming about in this head of mine. We'll see where this takes us, eh?

What have I been up to? In the mornings, my writing camp, where we read and write and share, basically. On Wednesday we took a field trip to a museum, which was...quiet. I appreciated that. (Speaking of writing, thank you for all your kind comments on my last post. Really, you are too nice.) And in the afternoons, I helped out with my mom's camp, which involved lots of little kids. I sure missed hearing really loud screaming and being climbed on! Aw, it's okay. Some of them were pretty cute. And athletic. Exhibit A:

Anyway, today was the last day of that. After everyone had gone and we were cleaning the place up, some lady from Chik-fil-A came by, handing out coupons. My mom's friend/co-teacher's daughter went nuts, like she had won a trip to Disneyworld, when in reality it was a free chicken sandwich. My sister started singing "Be Our Guest" from Beauty in the Beast, because that's what it said on the coupon. And I was like, oh hum, I should blog about this. Yeah, I dunno.

So, last night, I went to go see some musicians* from Youtube (the ConTour.) It's really weird meeting people who you've only seen in videos or read blog posts by. It's different from meeting like, famous people, because these people seem more...normal and it feels like you know them. But you don't, and it's kinda awkward but still fun. Even though: it was blazing hot inside, the venue had double-booked them with some screaming men in white jumpsuits so it got off to a late start, and, of all things, the power went out suddenly, mid-song. But the show must go on, so it did, in the parking lot. It was still cool (well, not literally. Literally it was like 100 degrees out...but I'm glad my friend dragged me along).

Younger Sister Numero Dos is home from Girl Scout camp today, after being gone all week. I am mainly excited about this because it means I get to go see Harry Potter again I love my sister so much. I am also excited today because of some wonderful emails and the thing that I mentioned I was excited about earlier but that hasn't actually come yet so I don't want to disclose its identity. I'm pretty sure I just butchered about forty grammar rules there, but whatever.

Also, today there have been backhoes and trackhoes and all sorts of construction vehicles and police cars (I don't know, either) in front of my house (it's a very happening spot, you guys) but NO UPS TRUCK, which is all I really want. *sigh*

Hope your weekend is terrific! I'm off to get some pizza. Ciao!

-Kendall

*That word is very hard to spell. And yes, it was definitely completely necessary to make a footnote to tell you that.

poetry & prose

Libby recently requested I share some of my writing. Most of what I've been doing lately is journally stuff that doesn't really sound good/make sense to anyone but me, but I have been able to pick out some poems & pieces of short stories, sort of vignettes. So knock yourself out (by that I mean, try not to fall asleep).

(This the less embarrassing stuff, trust me.)

I. Poetry (or something like it, anyway)

she was born in december

on a monday

in the wrong era

it was a starry night

and the moon shone bright

she grew to bea birthday candle-wisher

a cloud-watcher

a blackberry-picker

a sea-sailer

a word-weaver

and, on occasion,

when her heart felt up to it

a dream-chaser.

i'm all drained of words at the moment

(like pasta in a colander)

and I don't have anything to say to you except

"adieu, adieu, adieu"

the words slip off my tongue

like pearls off a necklace

ricocheting into the night

one last goodbye

sometimes, it feels like

my thoughts are not

my thoughts at all

but stolen fragments of

other people's existences.

I am stitched together

with the whole world's

thoughts and feelings

to make

a mosaic of me.

hmm.

II. Prose


(An excerpt from something I wrote in June, whilst craving wintertime. It was never finished past, oh, six paragraphs)

It was a cold, crisp morning in January. The windows that lined the little house were fogged up and if you looked out, all you would see was an endless white blur of snow. There was tons of snow, mountains of snow, too much snow. It seemed like it would never stop snowing that winter.

Adelaide stayed inside that morning, made a breakfast of hot oatmeal and coffee. She brought the mug up to her lips to take a sip and let the steam escape down her throat. It unfurled in tendrils, rising to the roof of her mouth. It felt nice, like a warm blanket. Comforting. She ate her meal in silence, alone save her cat. Whiskers would occasionally make her presence known by wrapping herself around her owner’s ankles.

After setting her dish in the sink, where she would attend to it later, she wandered over to window. She pressed her nose up against the glass, like a child peering at a toy store, and felt a numbing sense of cold. Immediately she withdrew, but kept her eyes focused on outside. Snowflakes were starting to fall again, little specks of vanilla plunging to the ground. White, white, white. It was the only color she could see.

III.  Just some words

It may not look like it but

I am made of stars

I am a constellation in the shape of a girl.

I have been to two funerals in my life.

At one it rained, at the other it snowed.

At both, I cried.

Funny how things change. Swiftly, overnight. And slower, so that you don't notice until one day when you look back and realize everything's different. It's not always good and it's not always bad, but it's just the way things are. 

--

Oh, look, a post without any pictures! No one's going to read this, now, are they? I'm going to lose all my followers! Woe is me! Well, peace out, Girl Scouts (or something).

-Kendall

in pursuit of creativity

Yesterday, for no real reason, I decided to dig out some watercolors. I'm glad I did; it's a perfect activity for a summer Sunday afternoon.

Maybe it's weird, but I find paint-sets oddly beautiful. Perhaps it's the rainbow of colors or the thought they can create something magical. I'm not sure, but I love the haphazard drips scattered on the white. Like it's a whole other canvas itself.

I'm not really what you would call an artist, least not in the field of paint. I always have trouble coming up with ideas, and even then, it looks sloppy. But there's something so soothing about dipping your brush into the water, the paint, the paper. I don't even care how the finished product looks. I just like watercolors.

Hello there. How's your Monday been? Mine was rather tiring, with my camp in the morning and then helping out with my mom's camp. Now is relaxation time, though I have a whole other list of things to do. For instance, I decided rather spontaneously, at 9:30 last night, to reorganize my bookshelves. This is quite a feat, and it isn't half done yet. I've weeded out a few books I no longer care for that I'm going to give to my friend, which is a start. I also have some library books that were kind of due on Saturday, so that needs to happen. *shifty eyes*

Oh yeah, and speaking of creative stuff...something exciting (well, to me) is coming. More on that later. ;) In the mean time, I think I'll go destroy my journal some more...


-Kendall


P.S. I re-wrote my about me page. Check it out if you don't have anything better to do. :)

the shades of summer.

pink. 

rainbow.

yellow.

white.

blue.

gold.

These pictures have nothing, or very little, to do with each other. It's my specialty; you're welcome.

I just got back from a bout of roller derby. It's a very unique sport; I understand most of the rules but not everything, so if you want to know more, I'd suggest you Google it. ;) Our team was far behind for most of the match, but came back in a stunning feat. But alas, it was not enough to win. 

Lately I've just been lazing about all day and then going out in the evenings (to the movies, to dinner, to roller derby). Such is summer! I love it, I truly do. I still have some things on my summer list I need to do (go thrift shopping, practice driving, do crafty stuff) but I'm surprised by how much I've accomplished so far, and how much fun it's been. 

I got my Wreck This Journal the other day (pictured) and it's pretty neato. I haven't done much yet, but I think it will be fun. I'm waiting for a rainy day so I can stomp in the mud and get it dirty. Actually I just want some rain, period. 

Also: I have to see the movie again. Seriously. 

Alright, I really should go to bed now. G'night!

-Kendall

it's not really goodbye, after all

{via}

Last night was the last premiere of the last Harry Potter movie. I went to the midnight (well, technically, it was 12:02) showing with some friends. We dressed up, of course, complete with wands (I've had mine since fourth grade -- my friend's dad made us all one!). I was so restless all day, just waiting for that moment when the lights dimmed and the infamous WB logo appeared on screen.

We got there around 9:30, got into the theatre relatively early, and had plenty of time to wait. When the movie finally came on, everyone cheered. And it was beautiful and heart-wrenching and I'm not ashamed to admit it made me cry at some parts. I'll try not to give any spoilers, but I will say that it was amazing.

my ticket stub.

And the ending, the epilogue! I didn't cry but it was so bittersweet. Because this is it, you know. There are no more books or movies to look forward to. And that is the saddest thing, but in the words of a certain very wise headmaster: "It's not really goodbye, after all." The characters, the places, the scenes -- they'll always be there. In the books, in the movies, and above all, in our hearts. That's one of the most important things I've learned from Harry Potter -- the people we love never truly leave us. They are always alive within us.

*spoiler alert* ;)

I can't wait to see the movie again.

Long live Harry Potter!

-Kendall

birthday recap

I had a lovely birthday yesterday. Thank you all for your kind wishes! My day started off with my favorite breakfast (which, if you've been here for a while, you might remember is chocolate chip pancakes ;). Then I opened presents. Among other things, I received a Barnes & Noble gift card (which I've already used up, hehe) and some TOMS, which are really comfortable.

I'm doing a three-week writing camp (from 9-12) so I had that in the morning. And in the afternoon?

The Civil Wars! I was originally going to go to their concert, but then it sold out. However I found out later they were also doing a free performance at a record store. Fate. We (my mom, sister and I) had to wait out in the blistering sun for a while, but I think it was worth it. We were pretty close, much closer than we would have been at the real concert, and I got their autographs! And a high five. And their CD. But we had to pay for that. :P Anyway, it was amazing and I'm so glad it worked out.

That's my camera zoomed in as far as it will go (55mm) with no cropping/editing.

We ended the day with some ice cream. My flavor of choice? Gryffindor Tower. (It was pink with M&Ms, and I don't know exactly what it was but it tasted good, so that's all that matters.) They also had Butterbeer and the Sorting Hat. Oh, yes.

Have I mentioned how excited I am for tomorrow night? Only a hundred times? Well. I am prepared to cry a lot. Is anyone else seeing Harry Potter at midnight tomorrow? (Mayrose, you can put your hand down.)


Taz is very excited, too, as you can tell.

-Kendall

fifteen

Today, I turn fifteen. 

That is exciting and scary and many other things, all at the same time. But before that, let me reflect on fourteen. In my fourteenth year, I did a great many things. Some were big, like starting high school and writing a novel in a month. Like starting this blog and traveling to Hawaii. Some things were smaller, more ordinary. I laughed (a lot) and cried (more than I'd like to admit). I made new friends and new memories. Fourteen was a good year, a year of change & growth & learning to appreciate the little things. With that behind me, here's to fifteen.

Fifteen. Truthfully, I sometimes feel a lot older than that. Sometimes I feel like I am forty, worrying about all the things I have to do, or maybe seventy-five, with tired bones and a heart seeped in nostalgia. And sometimes, fifteen seems like such an insanely old age. Sometimes I feel like I am still five, wanting to curl up in my mom's lap, or eleven, running around the neighborhood with my best friend. And sometimes, I guess, I feel like a teenager. 

And even though I'm not eleven, I still love this quote.

"What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don't. You open your eyes and everything's just like yesterday, only it's today. And you don't feel eleven at all. You feel like you're still ten. And you are—underneath the year that makes you eleven. 

Like some days you might say something stupid, and that's the part of you that's still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama's lap because you're scared, and that's the part of you that's five. And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay. That's what I tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry. Maybe she's feeling three. 

Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That's how being eleven years old is. 

You don't feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you say Eleven when they ask you. And you don't feel smart eleven, not until you're almost twelve. That's the way it is."

( by Sandra Cisneros )

Well, happy birthday to me. And you, happy un-birthday to you! (Or birthday, I suppose, if we happen to be twins.)

-Kendall

P.S. Not sure what's up with the font/spacing stuff here. As we all well know...Blogger...well, it likes to do its own thing.

cake, cats, and other things

Just a mess of topics that have crossed my mind recently. Welcome to my life.

the farmers' market.

So, I went to the farmers' market yesterday morning. (Shocker, right? I know you were totally not expecting that based on the title.) I usually take my camera, but I always feel I have to be discreet about shots, because I don't like people staring at me. I have to decide which I would rather have: good pictures or people not thinking I'm weird. Hmm.

Anyway, I got some delicious peach lemonade from one of the stands, and we sat down to listen to music. The temperature actually felt okay, if you sat in the shade with an iced drink and the wind happened to blow.

disappointment.
I mentioned in my last post that I possibly going to see the Civil Wars. Yeah, well, I should have known it was too good to be true. The only reason I had hope was because the website didn't say it was sold out, unlike other shows, but...apparently it was. (Might be useful info to share, website-people!) Not entirely surprised but pretty disappointed. So then I set my sights on seeing Adele...but my mom looked up the tickets and the cheapest ones were like $270. Yeahno.

an almost-cake disaster. 
Yesterday I decided to make a cake for my mom's birthday (which was really Friday). Everything was fine; the cake was in the oven; I had tasted the batter so I knew it was going to be okay. I went off to go do something else, and then I heard my sister's voice. "What's that smell?" Well, that smell was my cake. I pulled it out, and half the top was charred black and hard as a table. Great. It still had like ten more minutes; I didn't know what went wrong. Oh, well. I let it cool until my parents got home.

"So, how'd your cake turn out?" "Well..." "Did you remember to change it from 'broil' to 'bake'?" Silence.

Really, it makes me laugh how easily I can mess stuff up. The good thing is that it was salvageable! A little black on top, sure, but nothing a knife and a little a lot of cream cheese frosting couldn't fix. It was still delicious. Though I think I'm going to pass that job off to someone else for my birthday...

crazy cat lady.

So, my grandma sent me this shirt as an early birthday present. It says, "Cats are like potato chips, you can't have just one." And my cat walked right in front of the picture. >.< Not sure exactly how I feel about this representation of my personality...but thanks.

i saw a back-to-school ad today.
Really?! This is the sort of injustice that makes me want to use expletives. It is July; no one goes back to school in July! I hate being reminded of school until maybe a week before it starts. I certainly don't buy supplies until the last week of August. I don't even want to think about it right now. Gah!

one final note.
You should go check out Libby's blog birthday giveaway. She made everything by herself -- how cool is that? :)

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

-Kendall

P.S. You can now follow by email, if that's your cup of tea.