Master Toni

I've been training all week. I'm exhausted, but that's kind of the point of training. Soon, I will be implementing everything I have learned because I am too tired to resist (in Vader's words, "It is pointless to resist"). Soon, I will be a Jedi Master. Soon, I will have padawans. Yes, I have confirmed that "padawans" is the plural of "padawan." Just to be sure. Because a Jedi Master must be sure. And tough. In fact, I have been practicing this line: If you don't do as I say, I will become angry and use my magic. (Thanks to Luke and C3P0 for the idea!)

My magics. And a blaster gun cleverly disguised as an Earthbound water gun.

In the first week of class, we will go over the syllabus and begin the first unit, basic mind tricks. My goal is to progress the padawan learners to advanced mind tricks, force grip, and lightsaber construction by the end of the semester. This is going to be fairly intense for the younglings, but I have great faith in their abilities to learn and grow.

As for myself, I have been trained by the Greats. Few people know that Shakespeare was a Jedi Master. Chaucer was also a Jedi, though he was always rebelling against the Council. And then there was Homer, one of the most famous Jedi Knights. You'll be surprised what you learn in the Jedi Academy.

And let's not forget The Bestest Jedi Master Ever. I understand that he almost took home the award for Grumpiest Jedi Master Ever, but he lost it to Samuel L. Jackson.

In his natural habitat.

Mmmm. Hidden your future is.

May the Force be with my classroom!

The Burrow

If you were to come to my room, I would say, "Welcome to The Burrow!" You see, I've named it The Burrow because it is a small hole in the basement of my apartment. So, I kind of live like a rabbit. But I'm a very happy rabbit. Let's take a quick tour of my itty-bitty living space! Please note that this room is my attempt to create a haven for a graduate student studying children's and young adult literature. Also note that each caption is below the picture it describes.

This is my I'm-Still-A-Kid Area.

Please appreciate my line-up of heroes: Captain Moroni, Prince Philip, King Peter, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mario, who is being a creep in the background. Also visible in this shot: (giant) Flora from Sleeping Beauty and a snowglobe with the girl from The Nutcracker.

This is my Where Books Can Take You display. In the center is a picture of Lucy opening the wardrobe door, and spread around the outside are maps from children's books: Panem (from the Hunger Games), Neverland, Wonderland, Narnia, etc. I'm hoping to add more soon!

This is my weapons arsenal. Please appreciate my lightsaber. It makes me so proud.

I have decorated with birds and their homes. Everywhere.

This is my Classic Children's Books corner. It's right over my head when I sleep at night. So if the shelf fails one night and kills me, know that I died happy.

This might be hard to see, but on the back of my door is my pretty white princess/Jane Austen dress. Alex, check out the bow at the top! I made it just for you! And what are those straps hanging from the doorknob...

Why, it's a pretty red purse! I put all my pretty stuff on my door so that I remember to put on make-up before I leave. I'm a little lazy about that.

And what is a college room without a media center?! Right next to this is my tupperware tub of movies and DVDS, and right next to that is my glorious TV, shown in the first picture. Please note that the box of CDs says "Achmed was here! Mwah ha ha!" because my sister thought it would be funny.

And look, no room would be complete without a cat (albeit a stuffed cat in this case) curled up asleep on the bed.

So, all in all, I still have some blank walls to decorate (I just ordered a tasty poster that I can't wait to hang up) and some areas to organize. But in general, my room is my haven! I'm excited to try it out when school actually starts. Less than 3 weeks, gentle readers! Ack! I best get crackin' on that readings list.

My Muchness: I discovered the other day that I really like Converse sneakers...on cute guys. Now that I mention it, I feel the need to watch Back to the Future again. :)

Good Milk Gone Bad

We had a tragic morning. My roommate's milk decided to commit milk suicide.

It went sour.

Rest in the Pasteurs (of Heaven)

I made a milk joke, no?

In other news, I had another bizarre dream about an Ancient Crocodilian Dinosaur that was trying to eat me. And every time I mentioned it, I had to call it by its full name: the Ancient Crocodilian Dinosaur. It's a mouthful, especially when you're running away from giant, razor-sharp teeth! Picture me running down the street screaming, "Help! The Ancient Crocodilian Dinosaur is chasing me!"

My Muchness: I can build a trampoline! My cousins and I built one on Friday. When we had the frame set up, we thought it would be funny to pretend to have fun jumping inside it. So we took pictures.

Jump, my pretties!

And we may or may not have taken a video.

My Mind is Naked and I Don't Care

I've developed the most intriguing habit. All my life, I have experienced very vivid, memorable dreams, and I actually remember them when I wake up! It's like I can feel my brain committing them to memory as they are unfolding in my subconscious. Dreams are so bizarre; I love wondering where they come from. When I was 11 or so, I was convinced that dreams came out of the very last thing you thought about before you fell asleep. I know now that that is not true, or I would be having some disturbing thoughts as I slip in and out of consciousness.

Hee hee ho ho ha ha!

But I told you earlier that I have a most intriguing habit, and the idea behind writing a sentence like that is that I will eventually tell you what this most intriguing habit is. Consider the writer-reader contract fulfilled: I've been writing in a dream journal. It's awesome. Who knows when I'll get something amazing out of a dream! Because my dreams don't often have a lot of plot (though some of them do!), I write in short stream-of-consciousness phrases. And I write in present tense, which makes it even more awesome! Here are a few examples from my past two weeks of dreaming:

* I drive around in a teacup.

* I am a mermaid.

* I climb up a vertical sidewalk and I'm wearing a black dress.

* A friend tells me his age is 5 o'clock.

I also write down some of the strange images, like these:

* A cathedral in Montreal.

* A staircase that is an elevator.

* Girls in lacy dresses sitting on a flat boat that is floating down a canal.

* A rabbit who has lost its ears.

You should try it some time. You're probably worried about my sanity, reading all these things that come directly, unedited, from my head.

Never question the sanity!

You're going to avoid me from now on. Oh well. My mother and I enjoy analyzing dreams, and it always helps to have written the details down immediately upon waking. Dream journals = awesome!

My Muchness: I enjoy bizarre children's movies from the '80s, like The Labyrinth or NeverEnding Story. I love the idea of having an adventure inside a book, don't you?