For you, Rachael.

I told my Harry Potter-obsessed friend Rachael (who is going to Potterworld, LUCKY!!!) that I wrote a post about Harry Potter, and one about old people on her formspring (there will be a blog about that one later.) Her reply brought up some memories that brought me to write this blog post about...

MESSING WITH PEOPLE.

Now, my group of friends are masters at this art. For example, this one time two of my friends and I were entering the mall behind this mother and her two children. We decided we were going to talk really loud just to freak her out (mean, i know). She looked back at us like we were crazy and walked away really fast.

My absolute favorite way of messing with people though, has to be asking them really awkward, annoying questions. For example, my swim coach. Oh my, what a funny man. He has the best middle name ever, Aloyicious (pronounced Al-o-ish-ous, thanks to my friend Anna for finding that one) and later that day, he wanted us to get into the pool to do starts before our meet.
Coach: "Guys, we have to do some starts!!"
Me: "Pronounce your middle name for me and I'll do a start"
Coach: "Aloyicious" (Coolest thing ever, I KNOW!!!)
*goes and does one start, I'm lazy like that*

At a later meet, we had a parents/coaches relay. This paticular coach wore a Speedo (that's another funny story) and I messed with him the next day.

We were slacking off at practice (as usual) and Coach tells us we need to work hard. I go over to one of my buddies and whisper "I'll work harder if he takes his shirt off." Coach heard the last part, and gives me this look like I'm insane. I later mentioned the shirt thing, and he told me that it was "innapropriate". Oops.

Another swim coach of mine is ... well, words cannot describe this woman. She's pretty awesome though. At a big swim meet, I gave her the shock of her life. I was listening to my iPod, and "J**z in my Pants" came on. I showed my friends, and we were all laughing. Other Coach (not the Aloyicious one, yes, I can feel your disappointment) asks what I am listening to. The look on her face was PRICELESS. >:)

Speaking of names, and messing with people, there was a lady at a certain Rite-Aid named Eugina. I think she yelled at us. She was pretty cool though, for her name was Eugina.

I don't know what else to say at the moment, and my mind is again filling with ideas for new posts, so I shall sign off for the day. Thanks for reading!!

Love, Luck, and Happiness,
Danielle <3

That's a Toughie...

One of the hardest things I've had to deal with this year as a teenager which was outside my personal mental/physical/emotional being has to be staying friends with people who hate each other. It's really hard, having to switch sides of the lunch table every 5-10 minutes or changing social groups during a party/swim meet/exc. in order to keep up with everyone. A lot of us teens are extremely self-seeing (myself included) and don't like to talk out our problems. I, for example, bottle up my emotions at exactly the wrong times then attack people because of it. I don't know if this is normal, but as a teen, what IS normal?

Normal is an odd word. From the wise, respected dictionary.com...
"Conforming to the standard of the common type; usual; not abnormal (REALLY?!?!); regular; natural.
...then some spam sent me to a website about diabetes.
From the even wiser, user-generated URBANdictionary.com...
"A word made up by this corrupt society so they could single out and attack those who are different."

Gotta love Urban Dictionary. I have to agree with their definition. The word "normal" had brough all of racism, sexism, discrimination, and hatred for all who do not follow the political correct (corrupt, more like) ness of society. For example, kick a ginger day. Wow, Canada!! Kicking people for having RED HAIR?! ? Not for ya know, bullying, or stealing, or just being a rude person, but for having a certain color of hair. "Normal" has created every stereotype, every rude nickname, every form of discrimatory hatred in existence. (I really need a bigger vocabulary.)

I'm going to cut this short because I have so many ideas for new posts... being as "creative" as I am really has its downsides. My mind is always filled with ideas!! It makes my brain hurt...

Love, Luck, and Happiness,
Danielle

Dear Diary,

Today, I had to work. But I love my work!! Teaching swim lessons is a blast, and the kids are the sweetest! And that is today's random topic... Children. And old people.

Children... I love them. Not in a creepy, pedophilic, "I lost my pet snake... can you come in my dark, suspicious, unmarked van and help me find it?" way, but in a genuine way. They are adorable, talk about the simplest things in life with such a zest and wonder... it's amazing, childhood. But then we grow up, and the vast majority of us wish at one point or another that we could relive that gentle, carefree time. One of the kids in my swim lessons was trying to teach me all about dinosaurs, telling me that tricerotopses have horns. Another spent the whole half hour playing a little game of tag with me. They love to be held, their smile can make pretty much any cynic's day.

Another group of people that can easily make my day... senior citizens. Today was a prime example of that. When I first come to work, there's this one older lady who will always smile at me. She's adorable, in that cute old people way. And today, an older man was aquajogging during my break, and he comes to the edge of the pool and starts talking to me:
Senior Citizen: "I need to move and ride around. I always wake up the next day feeling so much better after I move around."
Me (slightly confused): "Yeah, I always feel better the next day after exercise too." *smiles*
Senior Citizen: *smiles back* "Thank you." *walks away*

I still don't understand why he thanked me, whether I helped him with a problem of his or whether he was simply thanking me for listening to him, but it made my day. After all the teenage drama and angst that I am surrounded by day in and day out, the love and wisdom of those on both ends of the age spectrum really helps to give me hope for the days to come.

(Since that was a pretty good closing remark, I am going to end this. I'll talk more about it in a later blog)

Love, Luck, and Happiness,
Danielle :)

Since My First Blog Probably Sucked...

Here's another one. I have decided to write about something I am really passionate about... Let's play multiple choice to guess which one!!

A) Swimming
B) Boys!
C) Harry Potter
D) Ham Steaks

If you picked A, that WILL be a later post.
If you picked B, that MAY be a later post.
If you picked C.... YES!! That's right! :) Harry Potter. And if you picked D, you make me giggle.

So, Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Seven books, each one longer than the last (for the most part). Only one book was mediocre in my opinion, but overall they were truly... magical. So what happens, if you are ignorant enough not to have picked up one of the books yet, is that this guy who must not be named is killing people because he wants to be immortal (more on that later). He finds out that there is a prophecy about how some baby is going to kill him, so he runs out and tries to kill the baby. Enter the Potters, a good English family who lives in the lovely Godric's Hollow with their new son Harry. Sadly enough, both James and Lily Potter are killed in the attempt to save their infant son. Somehow, Harry survives and a certain half-giant Hagrid comes and brings him to his "Muggle" aunt and uncle. They treat him like a slave, which makes him an outcast where-ever (because I can't spell) he goes. Skinny, with knobbly knees and black hair that just won't stay put, Harry, unbeknowst (???) to him, is a legend in another world. The wizarding world. In the summer in which he is supposed to turn eleven, Harry begins receiving letters from a mysterious "Hogwarts". Furious, Harry's aunt and uncle refuse to let him see one letter, which leaves Harry bewildered and even more agitated at his semi-abusive adoptive family. One fateful day at the zoo leads to the family "going on vacation" aka leaving so the neighbors won't talk. They go to a cabin of some sort ... where who should come but Reubus Hagrid, the same Hagrid who took Harry to his aunt and uncle when he was a baby. Hagrid explains the wizarding world to Harry, who at first does not believe... but in the end, he gets to go to Hogwarts, where his life changes in every single way. Everyone knows who he is, and people point and whisper where-ever (again!!) he goes. He meets some very interesting characters, such as the tall, bashful Ron Weasley, the intelligent, bushy-haired Hermionie Granger (who could kick Bella Swan's ass any day of the week) and the sullen, grudge-filled Potions Master Severus Snape. No, I did not mention Malfoy, or McGonagall, or any of the other Gryffindors. I mentioned Snape. Since I am not going to rewrite all seven Harry Potters here on this blog ( I could if I wanted to, the books are right beside me...) I am going to talk about my favorite character, Snape. When I first read the books, I did not have a favorite character, but after reading Deathly Hallows, I saw how deeply affected and misunderstood Snape was throughout the entire series. Every character saw him in a different light, and since Harry hated Snape ,we all thought he was evil until the last twenty pages or so of the seventh book.

(Early info taken off Harry Potter wiki, I can't seem to put the link in...) Severus Snape, Capricorn, was born January 9, 1960 to witch Eileen Prince and muggle Tobias Snape. He was raised in a Muggle area, Spinner's End, where he met sisters Lily and Petunia Evans. Severus figured out that Lily was a witch, and fell in love with her. Jealous Petunia held a grudge against him and the whole wizarding world from then on. In 1971, Snape, along with Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remeus (spelling?) Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A disappointed Snape watched Lily become a proud Gryffindor while he joined what would become the first Death Eaters in Slytherin. He developed a deep passion for the Dark Arts, and was a constant victim of James and Sirius's bullying. One day towards the end of his fifth year, the bullying led Severus into calling Lily a "Mudblood" which drove her away from him and into the loving arms of James Harry Potter. Clearly, having the one you love in the arms of your enemy would piss anyone off, and in Snape's case it just drove him closer to the Dark Lord and the Death Eater way of life. After the prophecy told LV to kill a baby born at the end of July (Leoooooooooo!!!!) Snape begged his master not to kill Lily, because of his deep, irrevocable (spelling...?) love for her. But to go along with Sevy's luck, Lily just HAD to sacrifice herself for Harry. No wonder he hated Harry!!! :D Sulky Snape landed a job teaching Potions at Hogwarts, to "keep watch over Dumbledore" in the Death Eater's perspective (if they didn't consider him a traitor) and in Dumbledore's eyes he was truly a changed man. Dumbledore's a smart enough man, so obviously he was right. The whole "Snape killed Dumbledore!!!" fiasco was a farce of sorts planned by the two of them, because Dumbly-dore was going to die anyway and the Elder Wand needed to be protected. Confused, right? Severus is quite the character. Unlike Twilight characters. Snape was a brave, intelligent, loving, loyal man, and although he was fictitious should be honored as a hero in our hearts and minds. Until next time.

Love, Luck and Happiness
Danielle :)

First is the Worst, Second is the Best, Third is the One with the Hairy Chest!!

...Or the wedding dress, or the treasure chest, or whatever other word/phrase ends is "est". Enough blabbering though, let me introduce myself. I am Danielle, a self proclaimed ginger who does indeed have a soul. I swim, which is why my background is water. When I am not swimming, or at school taking strenuously boring Honors classes, I am usually either having a life with my friends or not having a life and playing Happy Aquarium on Facebook. I also write, which is why I find the idea of a blog that most likely no one will read sounds fun to me. I really need a bigger vocabulary...
Anyway, when I write I will pick a random topic to rant about. Today, I shall rant about... SillyBandz.
Also a self-proclaimed researcher, I know a lot more about SillyBandz than a sane person should know. But what's fun about sanity? SillyBandz, if you have been living in a hole for the last six months or so, are these pointless little bracelets shaped like animals, shapes, or whatever the hell you want them to be shaped like. The original brand, SillyBandz (there are many knock-off brands such as Crazy Bandz, Rubba Bandz, Bama Bandz, exc) first made just animals, such as the Zoo and Pet packs. Now, they are making guitars, shoes, baseballs, palm trees and mermaids! They glitter, glow, change color and are being "tye-dyed" now... Little kids just eat these things up! They've been banned at many schools since kids are swapping them in class or shooting them at the teacher. Now that the facts are out (aka, now that the boring part is over...) here's what I think.
As an extremely observant teenager, I am able to quickly pick up fads and figure out what it is and where to get it. It took me a while to be able to pick up some SillyBandz, and when I did, I got the dinosaur pack. They are absolutly adorable, and good for trading because most people don't have the dinosaurs. I think they are a tad bit overpriced (Five dollars for some rubber bands!?!?! It's worse than buying Twilight!!) but they match my outfits and most don't try to kill me by cutting off my circulation. Speaking of bracelets and circulation...
Those I <3 Boobies bracelets? What's the point?? Well, I asked around for that one... apparently, they are available at Zumiez for about four dollars, and the money raised goes to the Keep a Breast Foundation, who's goal is to open to public's eyes to the dangers and prevention of breast cancer (hence the "Keep a Breast" after the bigger, more obnoxious message.) Sadly enough, I am sure the majority of buyers of these bracelets are looking for a way to show how much they lovvvve boobies instead of raising money to save people's lives. Oh well... we all grow up someday.
I hope that wasn't too bad of a blog... I have some ideas for new topics, which I'll post in the near future.

Lots of Love, Luck, and Happiness,
Danielle(: