School hit me kind of hard this semester... It's my last semester in college (FINALLY!! I seriously never thought it would get here.), and my classes aren't exactly the most difficult... But everything is really time consuming. For example, this April, I am performing in my final, Sr. recital. It's an hour long, and I have to get an hour's worth of repertoire up to snuff in the next coming months so that I can pull off a decent recital. I'm also performing with the Nashville Opera in their production of Carmen, and that's going to be a doozy. Additionally, I've been having computer issues which have been resolved due to some amazingly good luck and a very kindhearted friend of mine who knows how grateful I am for his generosity and help. He looks more attractive than me when I cry. On a completely different note, I've had some personal issues that I've had to deal with that have kept me knee-deep in tears, Kleenex, and looking quite a lot like

First things first, Happy 1/11/11!!!!! Now on to the story. I shivered as I sat huddled underneath 3 different blankets and 2 sets of sheets, typing out a scene from my current WIP (I'll have it for you to read soon!). "BLARGH, it's cold!" I said aloud, directing my statement to the little ball of cat fur that I like to call Lily . She was curled up into a tiny little ball right by my legs and, upon hearing my voice, stretched out and yawned, exposing her white belly. The stretch was short-lived, however, when she realized just how cold it was in my room, and she quickly retreated into the fetal position in an attempt to preserve the warmth that she had accumulated while in a ball. A few days ago, my space heater broke. Additionally, my house is old and has astoundingly poor circulation, especially when it comes to the heater (I cannot wait to move out in June!). Thirdly, my room is located on an outside corner, and I have 2 very big, not very well-insulated

I normally don't like to talk about contemporary events or politics. In light of recent events , however, I have decided to comment on what all is going down in Arizona right now, because I, for one, am completely shocked and appalled by the media's response to Jared Lee Loughner's actions. Why on God's green Earth are people giving this paranoid schizophrenic such power? He was doing this for a specific political agenda! He's a raging Tea Party advocate! He's a liberal, leftist, Commie! He's been brainwashed!!!! Really, people? Really?   Why is it that people are so obsessed with making Jared Lee Loughner out to be this criminal mastermind? Why can't they just accept that he is a paranoid schizophrenic that, at the end of the day, we probably will never fully understand? But I won't sit here at my desk and deny that fact that I, too, was incredibly intrigued by this young man. What would motivate a human being to do such a terrible

To those of you just joining in on the festivities, feel free to look at Part 1 and Part 2 before reading this one. You don't have to... but things won't make very much sense if you don't. Recap: I am ridiculous and say stupid crap when I take NyQuil. After I sent text after text to Ephraim trying to apologize for my callousness, I received no response. I was in complete freak-out mode, thinking that he had gotten really angry and didn't even want to be my friend anymore. Have I mentioned that I tend to blow things way out of proportion? 'Cause I do... It's kind of a problem.

For part 1 of this rousing story, go HERE . So we left off with I Mistake #3 , when I said, "You never know. I could be a terrible kisser." No response came, and I'm not the type to send follow-up texts (i.e. Helloooooo?, Did you get my last text, yo??, etc.), so I just assumed he fell asleep and decided to follow suit. A couple of hours later - around 4am - I was awakened by the cheerful little chirp that is my phone's text message alert sound. Thankfully, I wasn't in full REM cycle, so I wasn't tempted to chuck it against the nearest wall. I looked at my phone with sleep-blurred eyes, my lids protesting against the light given off by the all-too-bright display. It was a text from Ephraim.  

You'd think I'd have learned, after 24 years of life, that not everyone wants to hear what I believe to be the truth. But no. Oh, no. You see, I have this habit of pretty much always saying what I think. I don't have an issue expressing my opinion, because they're usually pretty well thought out ideas that can be backed up with examples and facts. It's a life skill / rule that my Dad always made sure my sister and I had / followed. I am entitled to my own opinions, but I don't voice them unless I have researched them and can back them up. That being said, I am very opinionated. I know what I like and don't like, and I have no qualms in letting people know about it. This frequently gets me into boats of trouble. No, not piddly little boats that can be torn apart by angry sharks. Giant spaceships of trouble. Like the one in Wall-E (pictured right). I frequently find myself at the receiving end of a barrage of tears and hurt feelings, and it'