Amber is resurfacing!

Gasp! the air feels fantastic! I have been absent for way toooo long from this blog, and so many things have happened that I should have written looooong posts about, but I’m going to give the long/short version of them all combined in a neatly ordered list.

1. Jill, Steve, and I joined Team Fiona with Sarah and her family for the walk for Angelman Syndrome in Des Moines, IA.

2. Lindsay and I roadtripped to Peoria for a Wizard rock show to see Lena of the Butterbeer Experience, Lauren of the Moaning Myrtles, and Kristina of the Parselmouths (and we also got to see NinaMyrtle and the Ministry of Magic). We both wore super cute blue summer dress and hats, but it got cold so we had to switch into the clothes we bought at the nearby mall…

3. Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson got married, and I had to read all the tabloids. I never would have predicted that Ashlee would become my favorite Simpson. Life is weird.

4. NerdGirl Lindsay gets Married! (Lindsay left her wand in Iowa City, but I made sure to bring mine, because what good wizard bride doesn’t get a photo with her dress, flowers and wand? and Lindsay is for sure the good wizard bride.)

5. Bachelorette party for Sheila in Chicago! Never ever ever stay at the Wingate by Wyndham in Arlington Heights. The staff will stalk you and make you feel most uncomfortable. And apparently the staff at Howl at the Moon ALL know the words to a Spice Girls song now, even though back in February, when the Spice Girls WERE IN CHICAGO, the staff acted clueless to our requests, huff huff.

6. Sheila gets married in 21 words: walk down aisle power out water pours through roof priest says holy cow trees uprooted walk out of church all sunny.

7. Iowa City floods. Things are getting better, I just unpacked my emergency evacuation bag last night. My apartment was fine because it was on top of a hill, but water came up from 3 sides leaving only one road out–very scary. And my poor Art Museum (you can’t really see it in the video, it is just past the Theater Building). I feel incredibly guilty that I didn’t even help sandbag it (I only sandbagged one day, which is pretty lame of me. Although, most of the sandbagging was done on the east side of the river which we weren’t supposed to cross. Other people did though. But I am a loser and follow whatever anyone tells me…) I’m sure I don’t need to go into too much detail since it has kinda been all over the news. P.S. My roommate Cassi is the lovely videographer and narrator in the video.

8. And last, my anxiety disorder has made a reappearance. Maybe someday I’ll go into more detail on this since I think mental disorders definitely need to be discussed more openly so they can be better understood and so I guess I have to talk the talk, right? Not right now though. Things are getting better! I think I have finally found some medications that are helping (yesterday I smiled while by myself for the first time in a week! I was dancing to Ingrid Michaelson in my bedroom, which is also something I hadn’t done in several weeks. I never realized how much I normally smile until I stopped and the frowns just feel so foreign.) While I’m on this topic, let me just praise praise praise the latest installment of the Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot:

Princess Mia is one the best books, YA or not, that has portrayed depression honestly and realistically, and it is the first book with a depression theme where I have actually felt a connection with the character–many books on this theme seem to feature already jaded characters who endure incredible trauma or tragedy in their lives, which is definitely a needed literature, but I think it is also important to show that depression and mental disorders can hit even the cheerful, the happy, and the, well, average. Go Meg Cabot!

phew, now I am all caught up with the boring elements of life, I am free to blog about more relevant things, like why Sleeping Beauty and the Santa Clause 2 DVDs were in the SF/HORROR section in the library…

amberj.

Indiana Jones…seriously??!!

Howdy dear readers!

2nd post from Nashville!  Last night HWSNBNITB and I decided to do a date night.  So we went on over to Applebee’s and had some salads (kinda wilted lettuce, but otherwise not too bad), and then we went to the movies!  OMG, y’all would totally love the movie theater we went to.  It looked all old fashionedy with its fluorescent lights and everything.  I think the picture below is actually one of the theater we went to.
Anyhow, we saw the new Indiana Jones movie, which I have to say was pretty good up until like the last 10 minutes of the movie.  Seriously Mr. Lucas?  I mean, you guys couldn’t come up with a better ending than the one we saw?  I won’t spill any specific details, but OMG, when we saw the ending, HWSNBNITB and I just looked at each other and started laughing.  And we didn’t stop laughing until this morning.  In fact, we still sometimes just look at each other and start laughing again, it was so ridiculous.  What did you guys think?

Mmmm, so awesome!

Love y’all,

lindsayF

P.S.  You should all read Meg Cabot’s book, Airhead - totally adorable!

Meg Cabot is no longer in Indiana… :(

So for those of you who keep up on where Meg Cabot is like I do, you will know that she is no longer in Indiana.  According to her blog she flew home like yesterday.  Apparently she was up here in the Midwest for some reasons political.  Now why do I care that she was in Indiana?  Because she was in Bloomington, Indiana, which is where Amber’s friend Stephanie lives.  I thought Amber and I had an agreement on Saturday night that she would get Stephanie to kidnap Meg and hold her there until I got there and could hang out with Meg.  But alas, the agreement on Saturday night turned out to be null because there was alcohol involved (and ribs and Hannah Montana jammies).  So Stephanie, if you’re reading this, you no longer have to be on Meg Cabot Watch…but I’ll make sure to update you next time she makes her way back there.  Speaking of Meg Cabot, she just released her new book, Airhead, the other day and I have been dying to go buy a copy and read it!  But I’m trying to exercise some self discipline and instead do homework, study, write lab reports, etc.  So far I’ve been pretty successful.  I have a lab report due tomorrow and I’ve already written everything except for the conclusion, so I’m sitting pretty right now.  Hahahaha.  Well, I’ve got to go see a computer about a presentation, so I’ll catch you guys later on the fly.  Coolio.

<3, lindsayd.

Jinx! You owe me a Coke (aka a pop, not a soda).

I just finished listening to Meg Cabot’s book, Jinx yesterday night.  I loved it.  Even though Meg Cabot’s books are all pretty much the same plot - girl meets hot boy, girl gets hot boy in the end, except with different charactres and different settings and circumstances - I never get tired of it.  Jinx (aka Jean Honeychurch), is about a girl who moves in with her aunt and uncle in NYC to escape a situation in her hometown: Hancock, Iowa.  Hot boy = Zack Rosen.  I’m going to ruin it and let you know that Jinx and Zack get together in the end….but then again if you have ever read a Meg Cabot book, the ending was already spoiled for you.  I did have 2 problems with the book.  #1: She called pop soda.  It’s like a big Midwest thing that we call it POP.  We all know this.  There are exceptions, but I’m pretty sure that almost every single person in the state of Iowa calls it pop.  And Meg should have known that one.  The only other problem I had with this book (which I probably wouldn’t have had had I read it instead of listened to it) was that the boy from Iowa (I cannot remember his name off hand) had an accent.  I was a bit offended - why did you do that reader?  Why?  The reader voiced “Iowa boy” as a southern farm boy.  What?  It’s true.  I hope Meg Cabot didn’t have any say in that one.  I hope she listened to it and went - why did she do that?  That’s not what I was going for.  Oh well though.  Creative license I guess.  That’s all for now - must focus on homework.  Blurgh.

<3, lindsayd.

Why does Meg Cabot own an Oliver (from Hannah Montana) doll?

 

I can’t give you the answer to this question.  I think only Meg can do that for us.  What I will say is that I think it’s awesome she owns one, and I am lead to believe she must have the entire set of dolls from Hannah Montana (because who would only buy Oliver??).  But really, I understand why she’d have Ken and Raspberry Torte and other dolls from yee olde times, but Hannah Montana didn’t debut until 2006 and who even knows when they started making dolls for it.  Hmmm.  And he looks too well taken care of to belong to children, so my theory that she doesn’t own Oliver but instead borrowed him from a child doesn’t seem to pan out.  I guess I won’t know until I get to meet her - I’m going to start up a list of questions I want to ask Meg when I finally get to see her (Amber, Jen, get on this stat).

List of Questions for Meg from Lindsay

#1 - Why do you own an Oliver doll, and do you own the other dolls from the show?

#2 - Is it possible I was personality cloned from you?

#3 - Would you like to have tea with me and Dolly Parton?

#4 - If you’re ever in Nashville, would you like to come over and play barbies with me?

I will be adding to this list and then preening it because I am sure that there will be lots of other girls there to see Meg and I don’t want to monopolize her time too much. 

<3, lindsayd.

Fictional Characters I Would Date: Part Three

To get back to much happier topics, here is the next entry in my series of posts:

David from “All American Girl” and “Ready or Not”

“All American Girl” is a fabulous book by our favorite author here at NerdGirlBlogging, Meg Cabot, and “Ready or Not” is its sequel.  It is about an ordinary girl who just happens to save the life of the President of the United States.  David is the son of the president, and boy is he dreamy.  He is tall, with green eyes and dark curly hair (I will always be a sucker for curly hair).  He is the kind of guy who looks great in a suit, but prefers to wear t-shirts and combat boots.

Even though his dad is the president, he has a mind of his own and isn’t afraid to disagree with his parents.  He also likes to sneak away from a formal state dinner to eat hamburgers with you (mine could be a tofu burger).  Oh yeah, and he’s an artist as well.  And when he asks you to come over for the weekend to “play Parcheesi,” he actually means play Parcheesi.

These books are super cute and I recommend that everyone go out and read them.  They make me laugh and whenever David gives one of his secret smiles to Samantha my heart goes a little bit gooey.

Meg Cabot is a way better blogger than me

Ok, so I obviously am the lamest blogger.  I even have a whole bunch of really cool, nerdy things to talk about (a wizard rock concert, author visits, me dancing around the apartment in goth black eyeliner trying on all my clothes)  uuh, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that–it was just a tease because I’m not going to talk about any of those things right now.  I should be showering.  So just so I maintain a presence on this blog–Here is the funniest and most helpful thing I experienced yesterday.  Viva Meg Cabot!  

oh, and here is the scene from Becoming Jane that got me all out of sorts last night (who am I kidding? I have been out of sorts since I first saw this scene in theaters months ago. . .) when I was trying to research a paper on the Harry Potter fandom and copyright. mmm, James McAvoy does the best kissing scenes (see Atonement and Penelope for more evidence) and when he says “I’m yours Heart and Soul” I’m pretty sure I am witnessing what Heaven is going to be like.

success. I love putting youtube videos up and calling it a post.

amberj.

A Few Ways I Have Demonstrated My Nerdiness Today

I just realized that I was wearing my lab goggles a few seconds ago and decided that I needed to share my nerdy moments of today with you all.  I fully believe that first sentence demonstrated just one way in how I would be classified as a nerd…I didn’t take my lab goggles off after I left the lab and I didn’t notice until just now.  I also think that wearing my goggles pushed up on my forehead (sunglasses style, oh yeah) looks cool.  I wished that classes were canceled because of the snow, and then when they were I actually wished that we still had them because I wanted to learn how to do an energy audit at my 4:30 class today, but then I thought to myself that it would be OK because I would get a huge jump on my homework due next week.  I took a dance break a few minutes ago and smacked my knee on the heater in my office, and before that I people watched from the 3rd floor lab hallway of the IATL for a few minutes and imagined backstories for all the people I saw.  Today when I went out to lunch at Baldy’s I said “Neato!” when I saw that I got potato chips AND a cookie with my sandwich.  I also spent almost an entire half hour drawing lines in a geometric pattern with a green hi-liter earlier.

I also just checked Meg Cabot’s Diary, and the last post was about Eli Manning and Tom Brady because they were the quarterbacks in the Superbowl that was on Sunday.  I realized that I didn’t even know who won the Superbowl (I’m not sure if that’s because I’m a nerd or because I just don’t really care…I would totally pay attention if the Packers or Colts had been a part of it)…I had to look it up - BTW, the Giants won (that’s Eli Manning’s (Peyton’s brother!) team).  Share some of your nerdy moments of the day below?  <3, Lindsay

P.S.  Just because…..

Dance Party with the Schwartzman Brothers

I take my dancing very seriously, and I have recently discovered the secret to having a crazy fun dance time (not to be confused with the rules on how to have a super fun dance party–I won’t name them here since I assume the only people who read this blog are also the people who I have forced to watch a certain video masterpiece created by a certain dancing goddess and her goddess friends).

The formula to have a crazy fun dance time is simple yet genius:
1. Energy–the jumping, sliding, hopping, arm pumping, stomping kind of energy
and
2. Music by the Schwartzman Brothers.

The new fave–Robert singing along to Coconut Records’ (aka Jason’s) Nighttiming:
 

The previous new fave–Robert and his Rooney mates wondering when my heart went missing:

And my all-time favoritest bestest I could dance to this song foreverest–Jason drumming along to Phantom Planet’s “Hey Now Girl”

And bonus NERDGIRLMOMENT:
So I’ve always just had an iPod shuffle, but this Christmas I became a real woman and got an iPod Classic. Totally awesome. But I still haven’t quite figured out what to do with it while I’m having a crazy fun dance time–right now I’m just sticking it into my pants (or even more embarrassing–my underwear when I’m wearing loose pj pants that won’t hold those heavy 80 GB of information).

And fyi, in the above photo I was listening to Coheed and Cambria/the Fratellis which means I was having a mega fun dance experience, but that is for another post.

amberj.

Coconut Records
Rooney
Phantom Planet

And just so I can tag this to Meg Cabot, this blog’s favoritest lady–I hope you all recognized Robert from his role as Michael in The Princess Diaries movie!!!! swoon-worthy of course. oh wow, I’m getting all giggly and flashing back to junior year of high school ::talking to self:: I am a mature young woman who has deep intellectual and creative experiences. I am a mature young woman who has deep intellectual and creative experiences. I am a mature young woman who needs to read Princess Diaries number 9: “Princess Mia” so she can find out if Michael and Mia stay together despite their distance–oh, I hope so because they are totally made for each other! but I’m going to wait until the library gets it on audioCD.

Dear God, are you there? It’s me, Margaret.

Why have I never read this book? I love Judy Blume. Another book I feel like I should have read - Little Women….but actually, I now know the plot thanks to Meg Cabot.

I need lunch, and I need it right now.

<3, Lindsay