Bluestar233

1. Buy pattern (Check)
2. Buy fabric (Check)
3. Cut pattern (Check)
4. Cut fabric
5. Sew dress

As you can tell, progress on this is really s-l-o-w.

...in little ways everyday. There’s still a lot that I need to do, but I’m getting there. Let’s keep going for it!

...am I right?!

I’m gonna stick to one day a week…I’ll try that out.

...somewhere. Perhaps, over the rainbow?

...plus, stealing is wrong. lol

...next year

...and money and time…but it sure was fun while it lasted.

Plus, most of them weren’t even interested in it!

Whatever the question is…the answer is Once.

I watched it (the film Once) with a friend downtown back in July on a Sunday afternoon. We had a pretty good time. I’ll admit, that while it was sweet and sentimental and had really catchy music^{I still catch myself singing one of the tunes} I was expecting a little more…blast those reviews…they hype things up too much! For those of you who have yet to watch it, I won’t spoil it, but it doesn’t exactly end up the way you’d expect it to, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…it just wasn’t what I though it would be. But I’ll admit that I enjoyed some really beautiful parts…the piano store scene…the recording studio…the last sequence. It was beautifully shot and the simplicity of the project makes me respect what they did. I think it’s important to support independent films…they do it for the love of film and not for that of the green goblin.

About a month ago I finally finished ‘The Underpainter’ by Jane Urquhart. I had had it for quite a while and found quite a few connections to it. Like when I saw the original art work on the cover at the Art Expo in Nathan Phillips Square last year. Or how in the last days of a Senior Arts AQ course, while I was finishing off the last pages, my prof. talked to us about it.

It was actually quite a sad story and it made me think of the regrets that we make for ourselves. The way we take things for granted. The way we abuse people because we’re selfish and think that they’ll forgive us, especially because we know that they’ll forgive us. The way that our choices effect other people. The way that our choices effect ourselves. The fact that you can have money and fame and perhaps be fine, but that you can never not have family or someone that loves you and be fine.

It was beautiful to read and the poetic images deserved a re-read just for pleasure.

My cousin in Italy and I have decided that we’re going to write to each other at least once every month. We’re going to write about stupid little things and probably send stupid little things to each other in the mail too. I’m excited. It’ll be a really nice way to keep in contact with her.

...’write for a magazine’ first. Once I have that down I’ll consider the publishing thing. Besides, magazines are such a waste of paper! Oh, what to do!?

There are three specific areas that I need to work on:

1. Printing paper…I will read and re-read all things that I need to print before I do so…no more recycling a piece because I made a stupid error. And even then only print what I really need for school…no random bits of info…I’ll use my notebook for that.

2. TP…oh the mighty two-ply…how you clog our water ways. I read an article about Sheryel Crow who’s asking people to use less tp when they visit the little boy’s and girl’s room…and it makes perfect sense. I feel like I’ve saved a tree already…and it’s only been two days.

3. Packaging and wrapping…I use re-usable containers whenever I can…that’s a no brainer, but I’ll admit that my gift wrapping technique is a little off. I’ve used homemade sacks one year for Christmas…but what about birthdays? I need to find a better way.

Saturday June 16, 2007:

If Your Birthday is TormorrowActor Greg Kinnear (1963) shares your birthday today. You like to be physically active. You have a positive, upbeat take on life. Nevertheless, you’re very serious about whatever you embrace. You’re an excellent planner. You have high ethics and a compassionate heart. You also have strong powers of persuasion! In the year ahead, a major change might occur, possibly something as significant as around 1998.

First off, Greg Kinnear is pretty funny! (Think ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Stuck on You’, that really horrible movie with Matt Damon.) So, like Kinnear, I’m also considered the “funny one” amoung friends…always laughing at something and making people laugh. But, you know, sometimes I catch myself, and I just want to be quite and go unnoticed, even when I’m amoung friends…especially when I’m amoung friends. I hate when I get the feeling like I have to be ‘on’ all the time. God forbid I should ever not talk or laugh as much as usual and everyone starts to question, “What’s wrong? Are you OK?” I just want to yell, “Yes! Why don’t one of you get up and perform for a while?!”

Ok, that went off in a direction that I didn’t expect…so back to the rest, shall we? You like to be physically active. Yes, it makes me feel good…and I’m getting better with not abiding with the whole ‘all or nothing’ mentality…but I sure do enjoy pushing it.

You have a positive, upbeat take on life. I would have to say yes to this one too…It’s a short journey, make it count! One of my favorite new sayings is “There are worse things than (fill in the blank).” I think it’s really important for people to stop being so self-centered…take a look around, notice the beauty in life and enjoy it, notice the pain and help stop it…stop complaining, moping or whining and get on with it already!

Nevertheless, you’re very serious about whatever you embrace. You’re an excellent planner. Sometimes I wonder if I come off as being rather unintelligent…maybe it’s because I tend to talk really fast and am constantly moving about, laughing and joking. Maybe it’s my own self-critical nature that keeps putting these ideas in my head. Either way, while I’m as fickle as a child with most things, if I believe in something you can bet that I will dedicate my life to it.

You have high ethics and a compassionate heart. I’m not very good with playing the game…and I think people need to feel more…don’t be afraid of it, it’s there for a reason.

You also have strong powers of persuasion! It’s all about rational thought…that and a calm voice…ok, who am I kidding, maybe a little yelling too.

In the year ahead, a major change might occur, possibly something as significant as around 1998. Wow, 1998, what in the world was significant then? Let’s see, math tests, prom, cafeteria conversations? I’m thinking this goes into the romance department…but I’m not going to go there…I’ve got other things on the brain.

The trouble with real life is that there is no danger music.
- The Cable Guy

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.
- Vanilla Sky

“Don’t take life too seriously, you’ll never get out alive”
- National Lampoon’s Van Wilder

I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me. But it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once…and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember… to relax, and not try to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain. And I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. Don’t worry… you will someday. – American Beauty

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
-Finding Nemo

You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.
-The Notebook

All our young lives we search for someone to love, someone to make us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope, all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, someone perfect is searching for us.
- The Wonder Years

We are who we choose to be.
-Green Goblin

Love is passion, obsession, someone you can’t live without. If you don’t start with that, what are you going to end up with? I say fall head over heels. Find someone you love like crazy and who’ll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart.”
-Meet Joe Black

Just taaaap it in, just taaap it in, give it a little tappy, tap, tap, taparoo.
-Happy Gillmore

Sometimes the simplest idea can make the biggest difference.
-Pay It Forward

What is life, without the pursuit of a dream?
-Vanilla Sky

Your future isn’t written, no one’s is. You can make it whatever you want…so make it a good one!!
-Back to the Future

I dream of a better tomorrow… where chickens can cross roads and not have their motives questioned
- Unknown

What if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?
- Unknown

Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?
- Unkown

Screws just fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.
-John Bender in the Breakfast Club

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” -Earl Nightingale

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
–Pope John XXIII

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” -George Bernard Shaw

“Continuous effort not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential.” -Winston Churchill

“Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.” -William Durant

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Who said it could not be done? And tell me what great victories does he have to his credit which qualifies him to judge what can and can’t be accomplished.” -Napoleon Hill

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” -Anthony Robbins

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” -Louis E. Boone

“The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.” -Richard M DeVos

“The amount you laugh in your relationships with others is the true measure of the health of your personality.” -Brian Tracy

“Keys to success… Research your idea, Plan for success, Expect success, & just plain do it! It amazes me how many people skip the last step! Practice being a “doer” and success will follow you every step of the way!” -Josh S. Hinds

Empower yourself, and become the person you dream about.” -Unknown

“There is no try. Do, or do not do.” –Yoda, Star Wars

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” -Carl W. Buechner

“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The “sure thing” boat never gets far from shore.” -Dale Carnegie

“The worst thing one can do is not to try, to be aware of what one wants and not give in to it, to spend years in silent hurt wondering if something could have materialized—never knowing.” -Jim Rohn

“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.”
-Norman Vincent Peale

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so Long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” -Alexander Graham Bell

“In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.” -Brian Tracy

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” -Helen Keller

“Plan your work and work your plan. Decide in advance exactly how you are going to get from where you are to where you want to go.” -Brian Tracy

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
- George Eliot

“Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. Hard is what makes it great.”
- From A League of Their Own
_{I really like this one!}

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”-Henry Ford

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.” -Bernard Edmonds

“Never, never, never, never give up.” -Winston Churchill
_{This is also another fave!}

“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
-Earl of Chesterfield

“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down—until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.” – George Sheehan

Never tell your problems to anyone…20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them.
-Lou Holtz

Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt and dance like no one is watching.
-Randall G Leighton

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY
Gio (Joe)
Mamma
That crazy girl

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD
Bluestar
Bluestar233
Bluestar2332006 (yeah, I know, not that interesting)

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
Creative
Adventurous
Sensitive

THREE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
Procrastinator
Self-critical
Impatient

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU
Failure
Being stuck in a rut
Creepy old men

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
Water
Peanut butter
Music

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW
Silver ring
Livestrong bracelet
Socks

THREE FAVORITE DESSERTS
Home made chocolate chip cookies
Pralines and cream ice cream
Watermelon (I could probably eat a whole one myself)

THREE THINGS YOU WON’T EAT
Meat/fish
Anything moldy
I’m game for most other things

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS
John Mayer
Pearl Jam
Anything my friend Jen introduces me to

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
Rock Climbing
Pottery making
Actually finishing a project that I start

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP
Passion
Trust
Respect

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
I’m a bocce (lawn bowling) champion
Old McDonald doesn’t really have a farm
I’ve always wanted to be an Astronaut

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO
Piercing eyes
Broad shoulders
Sweet smile

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN’T DO
Aerobics
Resist a child’s smile
Avoid road rage

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES
Running
Reading
Dicking around on the web

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW
Sleep
Sleep
and Sleep

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING
Art Historian
Environmental Conservationist
Entrepreneur

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION
South Africa
Western Europe
Australia

THREE KID’S NAMES
Avia
Patrick
Matthew

THREE CELEB CRUSHES
Jake Gyllenhaal
Channing Tatum
Colin Firth

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A Woman
I cry when watching anything sappy
I love a good deal
I’m complicated

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A Man
I don’t like being smothered
I’ll play in the dirt
Name me a sport, I’ll play it

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
Get paid to do what I love
Make a difference (awww…so cheesy!)
Connect with someone on all levels

I found a list of the 1000 Best Movies of all time…or something like that…here are all of the “A” movies. I’m gonna try and get through the whole alphabet.

A
À Nous la Liberté (1932)
About Schmidt (2002)
Absence of Malice (1981)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Adaptation (2002)
The Adjuster (1991)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Affliction (1998)
The African Queen (1952)
L’Age d’Or (1930, reviewed 1964)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, reviewed 1977)
A.I.(2001)
Airplane! (1980)
Aladdin (1992)
Alexander Nevsky (1939)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975)
Alice’s Restaurant (1969)
Aliens (1986)
All About Eve (1950)
All About My Mother (1999)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
All That Heaven Allows (1956)
All the King’s Men (1949)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Amadeus (1984)
Amarcord (1974)
Amélie (2001)
America, America (1963)
The American Friend (1977)
American Graffiti (1973)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
American Movie (1999)
Amores Perros (2000)
Anastasia (1956)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Angry Silence (1960)
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
Anna Christie (1930)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Apartment (1960)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Apollo 13 (1995)
The Apostle (1997)
L’Argent (1983)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
L’Atalante (1934, reviewed 1947)
Atlantic City (1981)
Au Revoir Les Enfants (1988)
L’Avventura (1961)
The Awful Truth (1937)

We write to create a world in which we can live, to heighten our awareness of life, to live and enchant and console others, to serenade our lovers…and to transcend out life. -Anais Nin

Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. -William Faulkner

Good writing is clear thinking made visible. -Bill Wheeler

I’m not sure what this one has to do with writing, but it was in there anyway…

A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs. -Joan Welsh

9. I can use chopsticks quite well and actually enjoy eating with them.

10. I try to avoid stepping on ants, bugs or spiders…they have feelings too…and they can be so interesting to watch as they go about their day.

11. I’m still not quite sure about what I want to do with my life…is everything an option?

12. I’m a big fan of grammar and punctuation…and while it’s obvious that I still need to work on my skills, I have a hard time taking someone seriously if they don’t use either of them properly.

13. I sleep in my birthday suit most nights…shhhhh, don’t tell anyone.

14. I tell little white lies all of the time…maybe something on this list is a lie…you’ll never know!

15. Every time the lottery get up to a huge sum, I play and am convinced that I’ll win…and of course I imagine what I’d do with the money.

16. I tend to say things like, ‘lucky duck’, ‘spill the beans’ and ‘all that jazz’.

17. I usually have the urge to break into song on quiet morning subway rides.

18. I often hum a tune while I’m walking down the street.

19. While I’m humming I hope that someone hears me and that I make them feel good about their day and inspire them to do the same.

20. My cat is the only boy who truly gets me.

21. I adore finding notes in random places.

22. I’m horrible at spelling. I’ve been able to hide it pretty well for most of my life, but I thank my lucky stars for spell check.

23. I have a crush on someone every other day.

24. I’m very proud of myself and the person I’ve become.

25. I know that life gets better, not worse, as you grow up.