It's been a month since my last post. For those who bother with this anymore, I thought I would update you. Blogging hasn't been the only thing that I've been putting off. The indescernable scribbles in my sketchbook are just attempts for me to start working on requests from people. I've got a lot to do. I've also been practising piano and violin less, which is definately not the best way to prepare for playing with CSYO.

I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last Saturday night with my friends. I'm usually not one to cry for movies, but (SPOILER ALERT. AVERT YOUR EYES NOW, YOU POTTER VIRGINS.) when Severus died, the tears just spilled. Severus Snape has always been in my top favourites for favourite characters. When I first read the first few books, I disliked him just as any reader exploring Jo's wizarding world alongside Harry did, and I was unsure for the longest time how Dumbledore could trust such a bitter man. However, I did admire his dry humour and well formulated insults. But most of all, I admire Snape's true love for Lily. Even after she severed her ties with him, he continued to love her (not without some bitterness, but love nonetheless). I couldn't imagine to myself how terrible it must have been to be in his position, to have her go and fall in love with his worst enemy.

Another character I really love is Narcissa Malfoy. She always makes her family her first priority. She loves them so much, and would do absolutely anything to try and keep them safe and sound, even going to the lengths as disobey the Dark Lord himself. Also, I could only imagine the kind of sacrifices she’s made for her family, like giving Draco her wand, the last remaining wand of the family. Another thing I really admire about her is how much she's been through all her life. Can you even begin to imagine all of the pain she’s gone? Scared because her husband was sent on dangerous missions for Voldemort, fearful for her son for becoming the same way, lonely when Lucius was sent to Azkaban, worried that she couldn’t parent Draco on her own, annoyed when people judged her family for Lucius’ failure, and frightened of crossing the Dark Lord because they were on such thin ice with him. Also, Narcissa Malfoy betrayed Voldemort, she betrayed the most feared wizard in the whole world. Can you imagine the courage that must’ve taken? This woman is so brave.

Alrighty, that's enough for now. I'm tired, and I've still got a lot to do tonight.

One last thing: Tom Felton is GOOD LOOKING, man!

kthnxbai!

I feel that it is necessary to blog, because honestly, I haven't been blogging and the guilt of not doing so has put its dark, slimy claw on my shoulder and said, "Sara, it's been a while." I have plenty of lame excuses for my hiatus, but the largest factor of it all is that I've been lazy and low on inspiration. And considering that I still am lazy and low on inspiration, I really have nothing to blog about in particular. Excuse me while I ramble about what's currently on my mind.

About a week ago, one of my best friends planned a cookout for yesterday. The cookout creeped closer as the week went on, and soon, Saturday was here. The forecast for Saturday? Scattered showers all day and into the night. Thus, the cookout was canceled and rescheduled for the following week. One of the invitees decided that instead of having a cookout, we could still get together for a water-balloon war down by Homestead Park, which would have no effect if it did indeed rain. I asked my parents for permission to attend, but my dad was convinced that the water that would drench our clothing would attract lightning. So, he suggested we all go to see a movie instead where it was nice, dry, and lightning free indoors. I decided that this would be a good idea so I brought this idea to my friends. By now, only about half of original invitees would be able to make it. So, around 7, the five of us all met up at the theatre to see the sequel of Hoodwink'd.

Woo. That's my story for this week. *shrug* Mediocre, I know. But, whatever.

[Tornadoes and Blinkers]

As I not-so-studiously prepare for an upcoming science test, bullets of water suddenly begin to torpedo at my window. I instinctively look to the pane of glass. Within a few seconds, my eyes are assaulted by a blinding flash of lightning, then my ears by a thunderous boom. In my mind, I'm thinking, "Aw, yeah, baby. STORM TIME!" That is, until I realized what could come.

Monday night at 8:10pm, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Moorefield Township, near Springfield, Ohio in Clark County. This tornado was reported to pack up to 90 mph winds. No injuries were reported, the NWS said. However, concrete blocks were lifted onto a roof, power lines were downed and at least one home was damaged. This was not a huge tornado, but it reminded me of what could have happened.

On Sunday, May 21st, the single deadliest tornado on record ripped through Joplin, Missouri. National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes said the tornado in Joplin was given a preliminary label as an EF4. This storm had winds of 190 to 198 mph. At times, it was three-quarters of a mile wide.

Sunday's killer tornado ripped through the heart of Joplin, a blue-collar southwest Missouri city of 50,000 people, slamming straight into St. John's Regional Medical Center. It destroyed possibly thousands of homes, and leveled hundreds of businessed, even massive ones like Home Depot or Walmart.

All of these tornadoes twisting up and down Tornado Alley had me thinking about when I was younger. I had not yet lived in Ohio yet, I was at the ripe, old age of about four and I had lived in the New Jersey/Philadelphia area. At this age, I had not yet learned much English.

Tornado sirens were going off, Mom and Dad had the news on to watch what was happening, and I was just a curious kid looking out the window at the medium drizzle. A news anchor reports the possibility of a tornado touching down. I look to my parents, "What's 'tomato?' " I ask. They only chuckle and say, "TORNADO?" Later that night, they explained to me of these rapidly whirling, funnel-shaped clouds of doom. As I was tucked into bed, I could help but try to figure out the difference between "tomatoes" and "tornadoes." Oh, god. I was a cute kid.

Have you ever mistaken some words for others, or had your kids mistake words for others? Like, water and quarter. Or maybe, as a kid, when you didn't understand something, you just made up something that made sense in your mind just so you had some kind of explanation.

I remember doing that around the age of five or six. Always sitting in the back seat ( Sorry, Rebecca, you can take the front. I ain't drivin' at five. ), I was always very confused whenever the ticking of the blinker went on. It always happened right before or as the car turned left or right, so, it must have something to do with that. I thought for a very long time that the ticking was the sound of the car keys hitting the interior of the car as we turned. Huh, and to think that at age five, I was thinking about Newton's first Law of Motion!

Have you ever made up explanations for things you didn't understand as a kid?