Back!

I'm glad to say
I'll soon be on my way
I won't return to you but I don't care
I'm packing my bags, and goin' back to Ireland
At least the grass is greener over there
"Grass is Greener" by the Electrics
Heard at paddyrock.com


*Steps up to podium, sees empty space in front of him, the crowd having grown bored and left*
*Shrugs, begins adressing pigeons*

Hello, er, everybody. I've not posted in a while, because there has not been much to tell. Our small youth group has had a couple meetings. What's great is that there's really nobody there (kids or adults) who tries to be "cool." At least not the way I've seen at certain other youth groups... *norski voice* with the knucklings and the constant slaps on the back and the fake ghetto talk... Sorry if I sound like an old woman, but I've had experiences like that with certain youth groups at former churches, and it always seems fake and annoying... *steps down from Griping Platform*

So my dad lost his job... His last day at the insurance company was Friday... He knew like two months ago, so it was no surprise. He had three parties that last week. I think that's more than he's gone to in the past year. He has several months of severance pay and some freelance writing jobs coming down the wire, so it's not real worrying... Plus we got a new computer and DSL connection (both to support dad's upcoming home-based work), so now I can post in the Manor without worrying about tying up the phone line. Yay!

(I never say "yay" in real life, in case anyone was wondering)

Thursday night someone I know from the library gave a Flash Fiction writing workshop for teenagers. (Flash Fiction being stories of a thousand words or less.) It was fun. There was one kid, elleven y.o. or so, who was rather wild-- constantly pulling ideas out of the air, some of them really good. I wish I could think like that at his age. Anyway this class got me coming up with ideas too, and I kind of can't seem to stop... Some of them are dumb, some are pretty good. Sigh.

Friday night I slept over at a friend's house. They have three computers, so we had three (he and I and his brother) playing three-way Unreal Tournament and AoE2 games... Then we watched a strange and funny movie called What About Bob? I'd never heard of it before, but apparently alot of people have....

Oh yeah, we also went to see Ice Age 2. It wasn't great. There were some mild chuckles; of course Scrat was hilarious, and there was a funny (if rather morbid) musical segment involving vultures; but i wouldn't waste an hour and a half seeing it at the theatre, if you want my reccomendation. Rent it on video and watch Scrat, if even that. *scolds self for causing more unintentional rhyming*

Saturday was a three-hour shelf-reading party at the library. (Shelf-reading: Scanning the book/CD/etc. shelves and putting all the books/etc on them in correct order. Source: MTH Library Staff Lingo, 2001-) After Shelf-reading for quite a while, we (teen staff and the Assis. Dir.) ate pizza and stuff... all in all, pretty fun.

Sunday we had a youth group get-together--pizza and games, etc. We have a room with a pool table and ping-pong, and there is a cup in this room--apparently a former coffee cup whose Dregs were left to sit for a long time, long enough to become mold. And of course, rather than cleaning it up like the good children we *are* (snicker snicker), we (meaning my brother and one or two other young people) are feeding it (sugar, water, lemonade, etc.). I believe the mold has a name. Bob, my brother tells me.

I found a Great website. ("Great" gets a capital g because Ethan likes said website enough to give its adjective a capital.) www.paddyrock.com --"The best in Celtic Rock, Punk, and everything in between." 'Cuz there's alot of uncovered ground between those two.

My Grandparents are coming down tonight, from up near the Twin Cities. This is the visit they've been trying to make since Christmas. Should be fun. Upon finding out this week was good for them, mother declared this week is Spring Break. Yay! for homeschoolers' flexibilty. (Here, have some free propaganda...)

Apparently Sir N. has "tagged" me with some sort of survey... I shall have to investigate this... But not now.

Slainte agus Beannacht,
Ethan
(Exit, pursued by that bloody bear)