Hello, friends of TA37? We hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Jo's serialized work of fiction, "Princess Womponoke," that was put online this week. And by 'enjoyed' I mean 'were not terribly offended.' Yikes. There were a lot of discussions about "Princess Womponoke" in our house, but believe us, the entire thing is supposed to be an absurdist work of fiction.
Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, here's the good news: right now, at this point in time, TA37 has had a fantastic past two days and is embarking on a fantastic future two days! The lovely Nicole visited us from Tuesday to Thursday, and in about an hour Grace, Jo and I will be leaving for the Vassar Christian Fellowship's yearly camping retreat, "Authentic." Stuart's staying home to do work and hold down the TA.
We're sure it's going to be a great weekend, and we're even going to see if we can't get Kay to stay with us on Saturday night when we get back. Crossing another alumn off the old checklist!
In the meantime, so you don't miss us too much (LOL), here's a video we took on Wednesday night of Jo performing "Sweet Pea" with the Roundabout Ramblers at Babycakes.
Words and lyrics below:
Jo: "How about...one more 'go'..."
Jill, Grace, Nicole, Chelsea: (giggles)
Sweet pea, apple of my eye,
don't know when and I don't know why
you're the only reason I keep on coming home
Sweet pea, what's all this about?
You don't get your way, all you do is fuss and pout, but
you're the only reason I keep on coming home.
I'm like the rock of Gibraltar, I always seem to falter
and the words just get in the way
oh I know I'm gonna crumble, but I'll try to stay humble
but I never think before I say...
[instrumental]
I'm like the rock of Gibraltar, I always seem to falter
and the words just get in the way
oh I know I'm gonna crumble, but I'll try to stay humble
but I never think before I say...
Sweet Pea, keeper of my soul,
I know some times I get out of control--
you're the only reason I keep on coming--
you're the only reason in keep on coming
you're the only reason i keep on coming--coming--hoooome.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Princess Womponoke 1
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. It isn't fictionalized autobiography, either...
This is a tale of true love; this is the tale of Wompo and me. Well, I never would've called her that before...well, a lot of things.
There's this girl at our college. She's a big star, or something. I mean, I didn't know that when I saw her, you know? But all I knew was that she was really cute. Cute enough that it was hard to look her in the face. Yeah. She has dark brown hair, thick as---well, this is kind of awkward, but thick as cushiony moss in a quiet forest. (I like hikes. Call me a Thoreauly backwards troglodyte, but we come from all walks of life! Ha! Sorry about the puns. I like those too.) I wondered if her hair felt as soft...but I told you that she had brown hair, not green hair, not green like moss, don't get me wrong! And her hair wasn't soggy, like moss---I would find that out soon enough...
So, suddenly she's all over me, and I must've been blushing red as a baboon's bottom during mating season, because she was looking me straight in the eye, or trying to, anyway, because I was avoiding her gaze. (I tend to avoid gays, because they try to flirt with me sometimes and I get awked out. I mean, nothing against 'em, but I just don't...you know...) "Hey!" she said. "You're not trying to get my autograph! Hey...you have a cute nose." She giggled a little. I hate it when girls giggle like that. By that I mean...well, I love it when girls giggle like that. I noticed that she had one dimple. (I never liked "dimple" as a word (maybe I'd like "dimple" as a person...just kidding...), because it reminds me too much of "pimple," which is just not good. Anyway.) Everything about her face was super cute. Her eyes were clear (honest) and a little tired looking, but shining with excitement over---me, I guess (hope)? Very blue. But not transparent looking. Deep. You could dive for pearls in 'em. Yeah, something like that. Her nose was petite and overall a God-scent (ha, ha). Is my nose cute? I'd never heard that one before. Her lips were pursed with surprise, but I could tell they were a bit large, but in a good way. It's embarrassing to say, but I was thinking that they were a soft entrance to somewhere nice.......
"Do you know what time it is?" "W-what?" "You have the time?" "Yeah, it's two minutes to fifty. No! I mean, fifty minutes to two!" "Heh, heh. You sure you don't want an autograph?" I shook my head. "Why would I want your autograph?" (I wanted...) "Wow, this is weird! Look me up, I'm really famous around here. My name's Lily White. Well, actually it's Lily Black, they changed it because lilies are white, right?" She laughed at the rhyme, a little. "I sing and dance, so...look me up" pause "please." She smiled. Lips: roses blooming in that pause. Shy smile. My heart caught up later. "Wait, is it really one-fifty?" She leaned over to look at my watch, and that thick hair brushed my forearm, foreshadowing, forbidden, bringing sweat to my forehead four hours later, as I'm writing this, and, for all I know, for days to come! Unforgettable and unforeseen! And what for!? I could die a happy human. I'd had more than my share of romance for a lifetime.
Funny thing, though, on my way home I think I actually stepped on a womp-womp as I was running home with excitement. "Sorry!" I yelled back. The womper looked freakin' pissed. I have a bad feeling about this.
Princess Womponoke: The First Brainstorm Session
So a bunch of us were sitting in the Retreat this one time when we started talking about Princess Womponoke, Jo's serialized story project for the blog. He started tossing around ideas for an opening sentence, and I started taking down what he said.
Stop laughing. Not with him.
No no no, I don't want to start like that. It's too serious too soon. It should start in the heat of the moment--woah! DORITOS!
(at this point Chelsea comes up to the table with a big bag of doritos. Jo makes sniveling groans and pleas. We remind Jo that he is a vegan.)
Well, I think it should start with some epic poetry. Actually more like a rap. So it's like... (he chews pensively on Doritos) Womp-womp...womp-womp...my heart was beating in its furry chest...I'm glad she has one too.
A debate ensues over whether Jo himself is a womp-womp. We decide that he may or may not be a womp-womp, but either way he has a furry chest. "If you're a womp-womp," asks Liz, "Where's your tail?
It's on the wrong side.
ERUPTIONS OF GIGGLING AND BLUSHING
Give me some cola. I need some refreshment!
Liz interpolates: "Yeah, for some reason drinking breaks tensions. Other things do too, like Twix bars. 'Need a moment? Grab a Twix.' Maybe that's why Stuart eats so many!"
Grace had this to say about our very productive brainstorming session: "That is life. This is your life. You're just sitting there, totally innocent, and you see these babes passing you by, passing in, passing out, they just come in and out of your life. It's true, isn't it?"
Princess Womponoke: the first draft
Stop laughing. Not with him.
No no no, I don't want to start like that. It's too serious too soon. It should start in the heat of the moment--woah! DORITOS!
(at this point Chelsea comes up to the table with a big bag of doritos. Jo makes sniveling groans and pleas. We remind Jo that he is a vegan.)
Well, I think it should start with some epic poetry. Actually more like a rap. So it's like... (he chews pensively on Doritos) Womp-womp...womp-womp...my heart was beating in its furry chest...I'm glad she has one too.
A debate ensues over whether Jo himself is a womp-womp. We decide that he may or may not be a womp-womp, but either way he has a furry chest. "If you're a womp-womp," asks Liz, "Where's your tail?
It's on the wrong side.
ERUPTIONS OF GIGGLING AND BLUSHING
Give me some cola. I need some refreshment!
Liz interpolates: "Yeah, for some reason drinking breaks tensions. Other things do too, like Twix bars. 'Need a moment? Grab a Twix.' Maybe that's why Stuart eats so many!"
Grace had this to say about our very productive brainstorming session: "That is life. This is your life. You're just sitting there, totally innocent, and you see these babes passing you by, passing in, passing out, they just come in and out of your life. It's true, isn't it?"
regular ordinary post
THIS POST HAS BEEN DELETED DUE TO MEDIA CENSORSHIP.
A MORE APPROPRIATE AND NONTRANSGRESSORY POST WILL BE COMING SHORTLY.
THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY.
A MORE APPROPRIATE AND NONTRANSGRESSORY POST WILL BE COMING SHORTLY.
THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Pottermore Update
As I'm sure you all know*, Ravenclaw and Slytherin have been neck-and-neck in terms of House points for the past week or so, with a difference of hardly more than five or ten points. Stressful times.
So when I woke up this morning and saw that Slytherin was once again ahead of my own Ravenclaw, I knew what I had to do.
Brew a Sleeping Draught, that's what.
So I busted out my pewter cauldron, my lavender, my flobberworm mucus and my valerian sprigs, and...well, I messed up. Twice. But the third time I succeeded! I brewed a Sleeping Draught and earned Ravenclaw 11 House points. So basically I'm like a Pottermore hero. To Ravenclaw, at least. (Suck it, Slytherin!)
Now, about that actual work I have to do...
*Well, as you'd know if you were on Pottermore beta, at least :)
So when I woke up this morning and saw that Slytherin was once again ahead of my own Ravenclaw, I knew what I had to do.
Brew a Sleeping Draught, that's what.
So I busted out my pewter cauldron, my lavender, my flobberworm mucus and my valerian sprigs, and...well, I messed up. Twice. But the third time I succeeded! I brewed a Sleeping Draught and earned Ravenclaw 11 House points. So basically I'm like a Pottermore hero. To Ravenclaw, at least. (Suck it, Slytherin!)
Now, about that actual work I have to do...
*Well, as you'd know if you were on Pottermore beta, at least :)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Coming soon to a blog near you!
A young man, yearning for love...
A beautiful princess, burrowing deep beneath the campus...
introducing...
Princess Womponoke
an original tale by our very own Jo
inspired by Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke and based on a true story of love, loss, and groundhogs
To be continued...
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Where did half of September go??
I love Sunday mornings at college. It feels like I have the entire campus to myself :)
In any case, we had a fantabulous weekend at TA37! T.A. arrived Thursday night to spend the weekend, and Friday night was spent telling embarrassing stories about past romantic encounters, with special voices and sound effects from Jo ("Ahhah--he's blushing! Waaah....").
We then watched another episode of "Boys over Flowers" (no, JanDi, JunPyo really does love you! Give him another chance!!!) and Chelsea slept over (I don't have a funny quote for this one, but it was still awesome!).
Saturday night, my parents and brother came over for dinner! They brought us lasagna and carrot cake and apple pie for the week, but we made them 청국장 (Cheonggukjang --fermented soybean paste soup) with rice and sauteed kimchi. It was really good! Jo did most of the cooking. He's quite excellent!
But then this was the best part--after dinner we played Just Dance on the Wii. Four on four: Team S-- (my family) versus Team V-- (Grace, Jo, Stuart and T.A.). The game assigns you automatic player names to keep track of the shuffle, so I was 'Sunny,' my mom was 'Jumpy,' my dad was (forced to be) 'Baby' and my brother called dibs on 'Funky.'
The first round was my brother versus Stuart. Now, my brother'd been rather quiet throughout the whole evening and I thought he might make a manly protestation to dancing in front of a bunch of strangers. But he took the wiimote and started playing and he beat Stuart! It was nuts. And when the song ended, my brother turned around and said "That's why they call me 'Funky.'"
Then it was me versus Grace, to the best song in the entire world:
Grace won, despite my best efforts to 'disadvantage' her ("Whatever it takes to win, Jill!" my mother shouted over the others' outraged protests).
Then it was my mom vs Tian An. My mother won, though to be fair it wasn't for T.A.'s lack of trying.
And finally it was time for the Battle of the Jo(e)s: my dad versus Jo. And you know what song they ended up being stuck with?
It was amazing. And although Jo won, my dad was actually really good!
"Can I give you some tips?" Stuart asked him after the song had ended. "Use your hips!"
There's a video on my cell phone of this particular dance, but I'd better get some signed contracts giving me permission to put them on the internet, otherwise heads will roll.
Probably the highlight, though, was my mom vs Stuart for the last round:
Now, this was only the third time my mother had ever played Just Dance. And she got every single Gold Move on this song, utterly destroying Stuart with almost twice as many points!
In the end, Team V-- defeated Team S-- but there were valiant performances all around and quite a lot of hysterical laughter. It was a fantastic evening. And to top it off, after my family left, Irene brought over some Karaoke! What a night! There's nothing quite like hearing Stuart sing in a falsetto "'cause I'm your laaaady...and you are my maa--aaan..."
And on that mental image, I'd better get back to my homework! Happy Sunday, everyone!
In any case, we had a fantabulous weekend at TA37! T.A. arrived Thursday night to spend the weekend, and Friday night was spent telling embarrassing stories about past romantic encounters, with special voices and sound effects from Jo ("Ahhah--he's blushing! Waaah....").
We then watched another episode of "Boys over Flowers" (no, JanDi, JunPyo really does love you! Give him another chance!!!) and Chelsea slept over (I don't have a funny quote for this one, but it was still awesome!).
Saturday night, my parents and brother came over for dinner! They brought us lasagna and carrot cake and apple pie for the week, but we made them 청국장 (Cheonggukjang --fermented soybean paste soup) with rice and sauteed kimchi. It was really good! Jo did most of the cooking. He's quite excellent!
But then this was the best part--after dinner we played Just Dance on the Wii. Four on four: Team S-- (my family) versus Team V-- (Grace, Jo, Stuart and T.A.). The game assigns you automatic player names to keep track of the shuffle, so I was 'Sunny,' my mom was 'Jumpy,' my dad was (forced to be) 'Baby' and my brother called dibs on 'Funky.'
The first round was my brother versus Stuart. Now, my brother'd been rather quiet throughout the whole evening and I thought he might make a manly protestation to dancing in front of a bunch of strangers. But he took the wiimote and started playing and he beat Stuart! It was nuts. And when the song ended, my brother turned around and said "That's why they call me 'Funky.'"
Then it was me versus Grace, to the best song in the entire world:
Grace won, despite my best efforts to 'disadvantage' her ("Whatever it takes to win, Jill!" my mother shouted over the others' outraged protests).
Then it was my mom vs Tian An. My mother won, though to be fair it wasn't for T.A.'s lack of trying.
And finally it was time for the Battle of the Jo(e)s: my dad versus Jo. And you know what song they ended up being stuck with?
It was amazing. And although Jo won, my dad was actually really good!
"Can I give you some tips?" Stuart asked him after the song had ended. "Use your hips!"
There's a video on my cell phone of this particular dance, but I'd better get some signed contracts giving me permission to put them on the internet, otherwise heads will roll.
Probably the highlight, though, was my mom vs Stuart for the last round:
Now, this was only the third time my mother had ever played Just Dance. And she got every single Gold Move on this song, utterly destroying Stuart with almost twice as many points!
In the end, Team V-- defeated Team S-- but there were valiant performances all around and quite a lot of hysterical laughter. It was a fantastic evening. And to top it off, after my family left, Irene brought over some Karaoke! What a night! There's nothing quite like hearing Stuart sing in a falsetto "'cause I'm your laaaady...and you are my maa--aaan..."
And on that mental image, I'd better get back to my homework! Happy Sunday, everyone!
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