Christmas and Canada with Grandad and Nana

So yeah. I'm in Canada. Yup. For those of you who know me well, you know that it's not that big a deal. For those of you who don't know me well, then, prepare for some brief history.

My mom's family is from England. In fact, my mom grew up in England, near London (yes, she has an English accent). When my mom was 12, the family moved to Plymouth (Minnesota). Then, they later moved to Canada (I don't remember exactly when, but I think that it was before my mom finished high school). After my mom married my dad, she moved back to Minnesota, which is where we live now (duh). So now, my mom's family lives in Canada (her immediate family, that is).

Because of this, every other Christmas we come up to Niagara Falls, Canada to visit them. We also come up every summer for my birthday. I've only spent one birthday in America, my first one, and I've never spent a birthday without my grandparents, who we call Nana and Grandad because that's the English version of Grandma and Grandpa.

So yes, we are up in Canada again. Christmas was actually five days ago, but that's okay. We didn't get very many presents because most of them are at home, but I'm totally fine with that. I think my favorite gift thus far has been the DS game my aunt got for me: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

That's what the case looks like. Actually, because of this game, I've been on a Kingdom Hearts kick. There's also a manga about the series. There are four series that make up the total series. I read all four online yesterday. Actually, the series holds a very special place in my heart because it was the first manga I ever read (it was also the first one I ever bought, too). The style isn't the best, but there are definitely some interesting expressions in there here are some examples (of the interesting expressions)

In the last two pictures, they have to smile because that's their ship's fuel. You  kind of have to look at their eyebrows and what they're saying to see the expression they want to make. I think it's funny, but that might just be my weird sense of humor.

In case you're wondering, yes, it's from Disney, and that's why there are a bunch of Disney Characters that pop up everywhere.

To put it (sort of) briefly summarize it, in Kingdom Hearts, which is the first series, the main character, Sora,

teams up with Donald and Goofy to find his friends who have been mysteriously transported to different worlds. On this quest, he runs into different Disney characters like Aladdin, Ariel, Belle and Beast, and so on. He also discovers that he has the ability to wield the keyblade,

which has the power to "unlock hearts" and destroy the heartless, who are these monsters who have been terrorizing the many worlds that Sora travels to.

In the second series, Chain of Memories, Sora travels to Castle Oblivion, where basically his memories are changed by a mysterious girl called Namine. In this series, he also encounters Organization XIII, who try to stop Sora from finding the secrets hidden in the castle. In the end of the series, Namine puts Sora to sleep in order to restore his memories.

Which brings us to the third series, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which happens during Chain of Memories. This is the game I got. It follows a different main character, Roxas, who is a part of Organization XIII. He can also use a keyblade. I like Sora a lot because he's funny and enthusiastic, but I love Roxas because he's just so awesome and adorable!

I mean, look at that face! (Oh, and as a by-the-way, I'm sorry about that huge rant, I just love the series so much)

What was I talking about before this? Oh yes, Christmas and Canada. On Christmas, we had a huge feast. My auntie Bernadette  (yes, I still call my aunts "auntie") made appetizers, and my Nana and auntie Clare made the main dinner and desserts. It was super good, but my favorite was the dessert. My Auntie Clare made Turtle (chocolate and caramel) Cheescake and Chocolate Eclair with strawberries (that's right Clare made Eclair. Ha)

We also had Christmas crackers, which are always fun to open. I got a little blue car. It's next to my flashdrive so you can see how small it is.

Isn't it cute? So yeah. Now we're just hanging out, doing homework and whatnot. I don't know why, but it seems so much more peaceful here. It is without a doubt my second home. I even have a room that is mine

We drink tea a lot here, as I might have mentioned before. In fact while typing this post I've already had two cups of tea. I love it. My Nana actually doesn't like tea that much, but she still drinks it as often as the rest of us do.

You know, I really love my Nana and Grandad. They are so nice and I know it costs a lot to have seven of us up here. My Nana just had knee surgery this summer, but she is always moving around, making food, doing laundry, washing dishes, etc. I try to tell her to sit down, but she doesn't listen to me.

My Grandad works just as hard. He actually still works every now and then by helping my aunt manage the store (the store being the paint store that my Grandad used to own, but has now handed down to my auntie Clare). He got up at 6:00 this morning to help her with something, and he didn't get back until, like, 2:00 in the afternoon. In addition, he does a lot of woodwork projects. When I was younger, he made my desk. That's right, he made it. A couple of years ago, he made my sisters and me bedside tables. It's amazing how talented he is.

(sorry it's not the best picture, but they don't really like their pictures being taken, so it's the best I could do)

I especially love staying up late with them. After we put my three younger siblings to bed, we sit upstairs in the living room. Sometimes we talk, but usually we read (and drink tea). Most people would probably think that that's boring, but I think that it's really nice.

This is the living room where we sit. It's really comfy

 Of course, when we stay up late, we are joined by their cat, Missy Chrissy, or Missy for short. He (yes, it's a boy cat named Missy. We thought he was a girl at first) is adorable. He loves to be pet and played with. He thinks that he's the king of the house, which he kind of is.

 He's also super fluffy, especially his tail. Of course he's not as fluffy as one of my aunt's cats, Winston. We call him Sir Winston Fluffykins, because he's so fluffy and he reminds my Nana of Sir Winston Churchill (hence the "Sir" at the beginning of his name). Here's a picture I took of him a couple of years ago. I swear that this wasn't edited in photoshop or anything. It is honestly what he looks like

It's okay, you can laugh.

Anyways (I'm sorry this is so long! I promise that I'm almost done), since we're in Niagara Falls, Canada, I made sure that we did visited the falls so that I could post pictures. That's right. I made my family endure the cold just so I could post pictures. You're welcome. We went at night, because they light up the falls with colors. Right now, they use twenty one xenon lights that are 30 inches in diameter to light them up (I got this information from a poster in the convenience center). It's really cool because you can see the beams of light because of the mist from the falls

In the winter, they also set up a huge lights that are in the shape of different Disney characters in a park nearby. They're huge and a lot of them move!

Unfortunately, my camera started glitching out, and I couldn't get a picture of the actual falls....so here are some from Google!

If you've never seen them I very highly recommend it. They're beautiful, especially at night. And if you can handle it, I think going in the winter is even better. I really like how everything around the falls is frozen (like the trees and the lamps and stuff), but the falls themselves are still flowing and roaring over the edge.

There, now I'm done. Again, I'm sorry it was so long. Happy New Year!

Open Letter of Open Letteryness

Dear Idio- I mean, people standing in the middle of the hallway,

There's a....problem? No....conflict? Issue? Area of concern? Sure. There's an area of concern I would like to discuss with you. You see, when you stand, well, in the middle of the hallway during passing time, you cause what might be described as a traffic jam.

The heart of the problem is the fact that you insist on standing in just one wing of the school in huge clumps, which, for some reason, kind of remind me of the tops of broccoli - with those little individual seedy things forming lumps, and which are rather unpleasant to eat. Not that I'd want to eat you, just, you know, figuratively speaking.

Anyway, when you gather in such large groups, there is little room for others to squeeze by you. Imagine trying to hug a wall as you slide into people who are trying to go the other way. In addition, imagine that you are, say, five foot two, and don't particularly enjoy injuring yourself by trying to balance in ridiculously high heels, so it's kind of hard to maneuver through a group of tall people in the first place. I'm sure you can see why this might become troublesome after a while.

Now, I realize that I am the poor, pathetic, geeky teacher's pet who hurries to her next class immediately after the bell rings. I understand that I am looked down upon for being woefully inadequate when it comes to  following current fashion trends. And yes, my obsession with cats does border on the extreme. But I have a right to pull the stereotypical American move and say that I have a right to walk in the hallway without having to fight my way through.

So, please, if you could do a person a favor and distribute yourselves among the other wings and other hallways so that my fellow geeks and I can walk in peace, it would be greatly appreciated.

Humbly yours,
Kaitlin Heidelberger

How Dreadfully Risky

Are you ready for this? It's about to get deep.


Now, what did I risk with that opening? I risked you (the whole two or three people who read my blog) analyzing my post for deepness and then judging me based on said deepness. News flash: it might not be, and judging is bad. So there.

In all seriousness, I think the best risks to take are when they are about yourself. Especially when they deal with who you are. For example, on Thursday, I had an APUSH  presentation-y-thing in which I had to dress up like a certain historical figure. I wore a button up shirt, tie, vest, and nice pants. Oh, and a pocket watch. After my presentation, I very well could have changed into normal clothes. But I didn't. I felt awesome wearing it, so why would I change? I strutted down the hallways with my head held high and a smug grin on my face (okay, maybe not, but it creates a nice image, yes?). When I walked into my next class, my friend looked me up and down and said "You look like a guy."

I was very proud to wear that outfit, but there was a small part of me that was super nervous. What if people thought I was weird? What if they talked about me? But you know, I risked it because it's who I am. Yes, I do like wearing stuff like that. I shouldn't be afraid to hide it. So it is great to take risks when they deal with who you are.

In writing, I think it means showing your quirkiness. For example, I started this post in a pretty weird way. But that's just who I am. I do actually say stuff like that in regular conversations, it's not like I'm trying to be superficial. Also, risking in writing means sharing not only stories but also your feelings concerning those stories (or just your feelings in general). When you say "and then my brother ate my sandwich", it's kind of flat. But if you say "and then my brother ate my sandwich which made me so mad because I was starving not to mention the fact that it was for me and it was my favorite kind so I was really upset!" it adds something - it risks something (not including the risk that the people reading will get mad at your extreme use of run-on sentences).

So yeah, if you're just trying to show who you are, then those are the best kinds of risks. You can get real voice and heart into your writing (or just in general) when you do that. Don't be afraid to shine. As a favorite teacher always used to say "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy" (this teacher may or may not have had a magic school bus and a lizard and may have not actually been my teacher. Maybe)

There, was that deep enough for ya?

Argument using humor

The Two Ronnies

War of 1812

The Perils of Power Writing

So, yesterday we finished our second power writing session. I thought that I should share my thoughts.

First off, I don't actually mind the idea/practice of power writing. It will help us get ready for the AP test and it helps us notice things that should be revised (which is mostly due to the fact that Mrs. Cardona points it out). Additionally, the things we are told to write about are relevant to what we're talking about and interesting.

Why, then, did I title this The Perils of Power writing? Well, I'll tell you (duh)

So, it is a very well known fact that only three people can be in line at a time. Mrs. Cardona only told us this, like, fifty times. This, however, does not mean that you can lurk in the shadows just waiting to push other people in your mad dash for the line. It's kind of like this(click on it for a better view)

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little. But not by much. I hate it when people print something off and then walk over to the stapler and take for flipping ever to staple their essay and then  "Oh! There's an opening in the line? What a coincidence! Well, since I'm already here, I might as well just hop in line." Which ruins chances for others who have been waiting patiently in their seats. I also hate it when they start talking to people who are close to where the line is. Not only do they do it to just jump ahead of others, but they disturb the people who are trying to work. But the thing that is by far the worst is when they stand just to the side or around the corner. Just because there's a space between you and the next person doesn't mean that you aren't still standing in line. I mean, come on people! Do you really have to do that? Does one little stamp mean that much to you? (not that it isn't a very pretty stamp)

At one point yesterday (Friday), I noticed that one guy kept trying to get up to get in line. He was in the front row like me. However the lurkers - that's what I've decided to call them - kept pushing their way ahead of him. Eventually I told him, in a semi-joking manner, that I would sit in the middle of the aisle so that he could get up. He did manage to get in line after that without my help, but I think that I might have actually done it, because I was getting pretty mad at the lurkers.

So yeah. I like the power writing, but I don't like how selfish some of the people are. I don't think that we need to change power writing, but I think people need to be responsible and say to themselves "Yes, I have already gone up twice recently. I'll let someone else go right now."

An Epiphany of Geekyness

So, today I realized what a sad, pathetic little geek I am.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I think very highly of myself and I'm not trying to be depressing or anything. It's just, I finally came to terms with the fact that some of the things I do can only be described as "pathetically geeky". Here's what I mean.

In my bio, about me thingy on the side of the blog, I mentioned that I watch anime. Because it's hard to obtain anime in DVD form, there are a bunch of sites that let you watch it for free. This is a very good thing unless you are a procrastinator who doesn't have a lot of self-control (pshhhh that's totally NOT me! What are you talking about?). However, many of the players have a time limit for how long you can watch their player for free. After you reach that limit you have to wait a certain amount of time until you can again watch videos. Therein lies the problem I was facing tonight.

I was taking a break from homework, and watching some anime. Of course, after a while, I ended up hitting the time limit. As I tried to reload a video, a message popped up that I had to wait 26 minutes until I could watch my beloved episodes for free. Now, what was I supposed to do? Should I work ahead on homework? Should I go read a book (though that isn't that much better in terms of geekyness)? NO! I decided to mess around with my laptop until it would let me watch again. So I went on youtube and listened to a song that I am obsessed with and looked at some e-mails. And then I checked how much time I had left. 15 minutes to go. Shoot. I played with Google. And then I checked how much time I had left. 12 minutes to go. I sat there and stared blankly at my screen. 10 minutes to go. I read my friend's blog and commented on it. 5 minutes to go! What was I going to do for five minutes? Fine, I'd do some homework that's due in a couple of days. I got up and got my folder. Quick check: 2 minutes to go. Sigh. It was torture! But finally, It let me watch the video again.

And what is going on while I type this post? My episode is loading. Like I said: pathetic.

Popcorn and Selfishness

The other day, I was working at the movie theater the other day, behind the concessions counter. It was before we had opened, but there was a group that had come in for a special viewing. We were cleaning up and getting ready for opening when one woman walked up to us. She demanded that she speak to a manager as she plunked a large popcorn bag down on the counter. Hearing this, one of our managers, Fred, walked over and asked how he could help her. "Your popcorn tastes weird." she said "The butter doesn't taste like butter." Fred patiently explained to her that we cook our popcorn in coconut oil, and that that was what she tasted. I don't remember exactly how the conversation that followed went, but in the end, Fred told one of us to fill up her bag (because we give free refills for large popcorn bags). As the bag was being filled up the woman demanded "What are you doing?" confused, Fred told her that we were refilling her bag for her. "I don't want it to be refilled, she said "I want my money back."

It really made me realize that there really are people out there who are so selfish that they would demand that they get a refund after eating half a bag of popcorn that "tasted funny". And I find that sad. Why is it that as a society we have become so self-pleasing? And where will that lead us in the future?