Ode to Suburbia

Ah, Suburbia.
Where you can listen to fires crackle,
Crickets chirp,
And still hear sirens in the distance.
Where you can live in oblivious safety
With druggies across the tracks.
Where small children scream
And fire hydrants gleam.
Where people walk their dogs without a leash.
Not quite the city;
Not quite country either.
So indecisive people:
Move to Suburbia.

Ah, Suburbia.
Where mini vans abound.
Where the foreclosed house across the street
Is the creepiest thing around.
Where people almost burn down houses
Setting fireworks off in their backyards.
The land of basketball hoops and jungle gyms,
Of ice cream trucks and mailmen.
Yes, deep inside we all know.
Suburbia is where we live

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

****SPOILER ALERT!****

Hello, my name is Lisa and I am a Hunger Games fangirl. And the movie is coming out in 13 days!!!!! EEEPPP!!!

I confess, I have been doing a good deal of squealing lately. Like whenever a new trailer/still/clip is released. And yes, if you must ask, I am for Peeta. Against my will. See, I read it the first time and was COMPLETELY for Gale even though I knew Katniss didn't end up with him.. I refused to like Peeta better. Then I read it again and.... I changed my mind. Then they cast Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and I gave up all hope of reverting to Gale.

Anyway.....

Yeah, I have an entire board on Pinterest devoted to the Hunger Games. Here are some of my favorites:

Yes, Woody. That is exactly how it is.

It's so true. I thought I might actually be getting sick. I couldn't read another book for over a week. But then, that happens to me a lot...

This is pretty much 100% accurate

HEhehehehehehehehe. This just never fails to crack me up.

Yup. Do not interrupt me.

This is exactly how I will be. I am so not wearing makeup that day...

I love the hanging tree... It's so hauntingly creepy.

Okay, that's enough. I need to make myself stop. If you want to see all 200+ of them, you can find them on my Pinterest here:
http://pinterest.com/lisahumason/if-we-burn-you-burn-with-us/

Also, just a disclaimer, I am not on the bandwagon, I'm driving it. I liked Hunger Games WAAAAAYYY before the movie started being made. I read the first one the same year as it came out and I've been obsessed since then. I don't know why I feel the need to clarify this. I just don't want to be one of those annoying people who jumps on the bandwagon because everyone else did. So... yeah.

Remember, if we burn, you burn with us.
Lisa

Awareness

Recently, I took a challenge to only listen to Christian music for 30 days. Today is the first day I am able to listen to secular music again, and I kinda flipped out. I need music. I can finally listen to The Civil Wars again!! Eep!
When I started the challenge, I was kind of expecting it to bring me closer to God, or cause me to think about Him more throughout the day, and I suppose it did. But more than that, it made me aware of the importance of choice. I mean, I had little choices. I could listen to the radio (K-Love, obviously) or BarlowGirl or Flyleaf. Stuff like that. But there were so many things I couldn't do that I hadn't really thought about. I couldn't watch clips of Eben Franckewitz on American Idol (I still voted for him anyway) or watch The Voice of clips of So You Think You Can Dance. I couldn't even listen to classical like the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack. (NOooooooOOOo!!!) Obviously, there were places where I didn't have a choice of what I listened to, like at dance or at the mall, that kind of thing.
So, yeah. It makes me think about choice a lot more.
Also, unless you don't check Facebook or Twitter very often, I'm sure you've heard about Kony 2012. If you haven't, you can watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=g-logo&context=G209632bFOAAAAAAABAA or learn more at their website: http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/
Now, the movement sounded pretty amazing to me. I'd heard about the Invisible Children movement before, and I support what they're about. Kony 2012 sounded like a great thing to me. But then I read this: http://thedailywh.at/2012/03/07/on-kony-2012-2/ and got kinda really confused. Although, honestly, I'm not sure I trust anything on a website owned by icanhazcheezburger. There's also a Christian review: http://networkedblogs.com/uVnEa
Honestly, I don't know what to think about it anymore. Research for yourself, but I still think the Kony 2012 movement is a good thing, but there are things that people don't see all of it.
Anyway, just some thoughts for today.
Lisa

3/4/12

Sometimes there are situations where I can't do anything but pray. Sometimes I wish there was something else I could do. Sometimes I feel like prayer just isn't enough, even though I know it is. Sometimes I wish I could make it all better even though I don't know how. Sometimes I realize that I'm not a passive person. Sometimes I just want to take everybody's hurt and sorrow and crap and take it away from them, even if I have to put it all on me. Sometimes I realize that I can't do that.

I guess that's what Jesus is for.

Nuances of Humans

Over my years of playing piano-about 9. I think- I've begun to detect patterns in music students. There are many different kinds of people, and a few of them are always at a recital. There is the well known "Asian Prodigy". Sometimes these come in groups. They're the little Asian kids whose skill levels would lead you to believe that they're about 10 years older. And then you see them and they're, like, 5 years old. Then there's the one random awkward kid who takes himself waaaaaaayy too seriously. I don't watch them anymore. They just make me squirm. I just listen now. Then, there is the kid whose mother thinks her child is better than everyone else's. Her child played exquisitely. Everyone else was "cute", but not at the same level as her kid. There is also the one non-Asian kid who is like super-ultra-fantastically amazing and their song makes you want to cry, it's that beautiful, but they don't know it. They sit back down in their seat and look like they thought they did terribly. Then there's me. I'm not really sure where I fit. I'm probably the one who's just there because I want to play piano really well, and in order to do that, I'm required to go to these recitals.
I'm also learning to distinguish between violin students, piano students, and voice students. Voice students usually are wearing high heeled boots and short dresses/skirts and leggings. And they always sound amazing. Violin students often have long hair, black skirts/pants and a white shirt, and overpowering parents. Piano students, I like to think, are the more normal ones stuck in between these two groups.
Okay, disclaimer: not all people are like this. There are always a few exceptions, but, let's face it, that's how it is.

Yay stereotypes.
Lisa

The Unimportant Thoughts of My Brain

So, I was on the way home from a piano competition today-which has nothing to do with anything except that it brought this situation about- and I saw a car with a really fast turn signal. I realized that whenever I see a turn signal that fast I get this impression that the car is freaking out. Because, see, a normal car with a normal turn signal would sound something like "Um, 'scuse me, but at some point I'm going to need to be in that other lane, so, you know, just whenever is good for you, you think you could let me over? No rush." But these freaky cars are all like "I NEED TO BE IN THAT LANE!!! MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE!!!!" And that's how my brain works. Hah. So... yeah. Anyway. That's really all I wanted to say.
Don't be "that car",
Lisa

When Days Are Long and Nights Are Not For Sleeping

I don't think I have ever been as excited for summer as I am this year. Sad thing is: it's only March. *Sigh...* Seriously, though, I'm working on a list of things I'm going to do.

1.Re-read Harry Potter.
Okay, so this is kind of a huge undertaking, since it took me about a year to read the series the first time, but I want to see how far I can get in one summer. Honestly, I just plan to read a lot. Harry Potter or not.

2.See my old friends
Along with going to a new co-op this year, I have gained lots of friends and, unfortunately, started losing others. I don't think I have completely lost any that I care about, but I never see half of my old friends anymore. I desperately want to hang out with them, and I am determined to do it this summer.

3.Church-y things.
Like every summer, I plan to help with my church's VBS and a Choir Camp that we do ever year. I missed one year of Choir Camp, thinking that I wouldn't miss it. It was torture. I'm never doing that again. In addition to these, though, I'm hoping to be a counselor at the camp that I went to for three years. I haven't actually gotten the job yet, but I have fingers crossed.

4. Swim.
I didn't get to go swimming at all last summer. Well, I swam in the ocean, but that doesn't quite count. That's more like getting tossed around by waves and trying not to swallow salt water. I want to go swimming in a pool. Thankfully, my best friend just had a pool put in her backyard. (*SCORE!*)

5.Write.
I have been writing the same book for about a year and a half now. I'm kinda stuck with what I want to happen. I know how I want it to end, I just don't know how to get there. Plus, the way I want it to end, I have to pass about five months of "story time". Ugh... It's going to turn into "And March passed with nothing of consequence happening." BOOOOOORINGGGGGG So, yeah. I need to make a clear-er blueprint and, hopefully, finish this book. Well, okay, finishing is a little optimistic.

6.Hang with my dance girls.
So, every year at recital my friends and I are like "We HAVE to hang out this summer!!!" ......And then we never do. SUCKS. I've decided that this needs to change.

7.Clean/organize my room.
Okay, so I know this sounds really stupid, but I seriously need to organize. And clean. GAAHHHH!!!! I need to see my floor! Funny thing is, I'm not an organized person-well, I'm turning into one. My Western Civ. teacher is influencing me- but my room has been messy for too long. And, I mean, I'll clean it over spring break, but I really need to all-out organize. And throw things away. And get rid of old clothes. MY GOSH I need to get rid of old clothes. I don't have any room left in my dresser. Okay, moving on.

8.Take pictures.
So, I have this really nice Nikon D100 camera that I got FOR FREE last fall, and since New Years, it's been sitting around in my room collecting dust. This sucks. I need to see friends and dress them up all pretty and take pictures of them. And have them take pictures of me. Let's face it, I need new pictures for my Facebook profile picture.

Okay, so there's probably more, but I've bored you for long enough.
Wishing summer would arrive,
Lisa

P.S. I seem to be going on a list rampage with my blog recently...