[snow]

The clouds are slowly spreading across the night sky, blotting out the stars with white, edges outlined by the rising moon. She hides coyly behind them, teasing us mortals below with glimpses of her beautiful face. I gaze up, watching my breath escape to join its comrades before the moon. They tower up in the heavens, majestic and silent, but growing. The clouds are gathering their strength, pushing against the mountains on either side, unable to cross from their heavy burden.

Snow.

As the moon retreats behind another bank of storm clouds, the smell of snow comes into the air. Cold, crisp, and undefiled, like summer's rain preserved for winter. The wind sings to the moon, gusting the sound of sea gulls across her face. It dances to its own rhythm, wooing her with its eddies.

As we watch, the clouds begin to sink, bending down to drift between the trees. They float in and out among the pines while the moon watches from above. And then, she sighs contentedly.

One solitary flake drifts down, one piece of the moon's splendor, to touch the face of the earth. It alights, vanishes, only to be replaced by another. Faster and faster they come, the kisses multiplying until the object of their affection is no longer visible. And now there is a storm. The wind snatches at the flakes, jealous of their attention. It whirls them around in a dance, spinning and reeling in the cold January night.

I stand, feeling the kisses of heaven on my face, the jealousy of the wind, and relief of the clouds all on my face. There are no more stars, only snow.

Inflatable Monkey Wrenches

In an attempt to alleviate the super-mundane thoughts that have been cluttering my head since the fall, I've started a twitter account. If you want to know the weird little things happen to me during daily life, go to this finely crafted link to read all about my mundanities.

If you're not interested, you must be a reader of extremely discerning taste. My congratulations.

I hope that by creating this account, I'll be able to save the actually interesting things for It's Raining, and let my more intellectually rigorous followers choose how much of Problematic's spastic musings to expose themselves to.

That's all for now.

School started again today. I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Why? Because in addition to my normal 15 credit load and music requirements, I've got two college applications due in next week. I have to record my violin audition, apply for a job, write a speech, and somehow manage to have a social life, since some of my recently returned college friends are still in town for a few weeks.

Ack. I can't wait until January is over.

Figgy Pudding

Why, hello there. You must be the replacement year I ordered six months ago. What took you so long? Oh, yeah, I get it. Back-orders are a nasty affair. Well, I'm so glad you're here. Let me show you around a little bit. There's some figgy pudding warming up on the stov- oh, yes, fire is totally expected.  Now, over here is photo album from the last year...

I started it with the best of intentions, I really did. But the time, it just started to slide out of my fingers in this maddeningly deliberate stream. I soon lost myself in myriads of schoolwork and tournaments.

Would you believe that I attended nine tournaments last year? NINE! To list those off in quick order, I was at the Concordia Challenge, the Clarion Qualifier, the Puget Sound Qualifier, the Inland Northwest Qualifier, the Emerald City Qualifier, the Tulip Cup, Region 2's Regional Invitational, the National Invitational Tournament of Champions, and the National Championship.

At the Puget Sound Qualifier, I ended up competing in a debate form entirely new to myself - namely, Team Policy. And the most surprising thing was, I actually placed/got speaker awards in the new form, too!

You could say I was pretty successful in speech and debate last year. And I would most likely agree. But I consider it far more important to our new partnership that I am now an alumni of homeschool. highschool speech and debate. That's right. I no longer compete.

Over last summer, I went on two road trips to California in the space of three months, with entirely different people. Both road trips were amazing, for different reasons. I spent over a month on the East Coast, all the way from Boston to Key West and back up to DC. I attended a conservative political leadership camp, and alternated between loathing it and loving it.

I taught at speech camp again, but otherwise had a very low-key summer. Three sets of friends finally started dating. I lost some friends  and gained some new ones. And then I started college last fall.  See? That's me on my first day of school. Pretty skittish looking, I know.


Classic Epic Times: Debating my duo partner Calvin, hanging with Rubbish and Gabs in Old Town San Diego (especially when we found the root beer shop), playing music in the cold with Gray, peach goo fights with Ophelia and Tenor and HatGuy, wandering around DC with an unlimited Metro pass and no parental supervision, the road trip to Southern Oregon with Cassandra and Shorty and Shrimpy, zip-lining in Hannah's backyard and falling off, watching Hot Rod with Jay-EE and Lil Clay, Shorty running into a handicapped parking sign with her face, singing the Water Buffalo song in a final round of impromptu and WINNING,

First: Serious sharing of testimony, pregnant friend, time on a subway, time in a cab, time throwing up in a museum, time being 18,  time hating a friend, time at a Sounders game,

Most nostalgic songs: Mood Rings, Butterflies and Hurricanes, I've Got Friends, Shankhill Butchers, the Water Buffalo song,  Na Na Na, Float, Scalliwag, Nine in the Afternoon, Famous Last Words, Ain't No Rest For the Wicked, Sara Smiles, Resistance, Apres Moi, Soul Meets Body, Fever

Favorite memories: Summer Waterfights, star gazing with Gray and Ophelia, singing the doxology with Ophelia and Tenor and Sethasaurus in the peach fields, hanging with Calvin and practicing duo, my amazing speech club, being kidnapped by Gray and Ophelia and HatMan and MusicMan, painting my face green at a Sounders game with Pipsqueak, being a penguin with Wrath, and then with Cassandra and the Professor and Ms. Incredible, singing nonsense with Ms. Incredible, debating with Mr.Affable and then against him in Finals.

Major Hits: Mrs. Jackson, chains in my hair, little black dresses and little black swimsuits, Pass-A-Grille Florida, classy high heels, team policy debate, peppermint hot chocolates,

Best Books:  Mr. Monster, I Don't Want To Kill You, the Book Thief, I Am the Messenger, Alan Wake, I Surf Therefore I Am, not a fan, The Once and Future King,

Best Music:  Paul Baloche, Muse, the Decemberists, Peter Bradley Adams, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Manchester Orchestra, Michael Buble, Three Days Grace, Three Doors Down, Panic! At the Disco, Matt Redman, Christ Tomlin

Keywords: big ball of negative emotions, fast, slow, euphoric, resolution, confession, hopeless romantic

Keywords [inside joke edition]:Rubbish -heap, sweetie-lambkin, trippy, cool beans, Gertrude and Alfonso

Favorite teacher:Mr. McDevitt

Best quotes: "Sprague. It's like Prague plus sprouts minus the tasty."


Well, I hope you can make yourself comfortable, 2012. There's a guest bedroom back there if you plan on sticking around for long.

B