Break

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and has a happy New Year! :D What did y'all get for Christmas? I got a bunch of things, but I think my favorite is my panda pillow pet, which I have named Paul. I treat him with more love than half of my friends :) XD


So, I've spent most of my break either at Shayne's or watching Soul Eater. I'd say it's been pretty well spent. Monday I had a doctor's appointment [I'm down to 120.2 lbs!!!], then Shayne came over and we built a fort in preparation for Chrissy to spend the night, then Corey came over too. Twas probably the best day of break so far! Chrissy and I are going to Laura's tomorrow to spend the night for New Years, so that may top it o.o Then again, maybe not. I doubt anyone is going to nearly literally throw Chrissy across the room XD


I've been looking up what weird holidays fall on mine and some of my friends' birthdays. My birthday is on Occult Day. I feel this fits. XD Laura's birthday is on Best Friends Day and Nae Your Poison Day. I feel this may fit even more than mine XDD Laney's birthday is on National Pastry Day. I think I'm jealous. My sister, Naomi, has her birthday on Be Bald and Free Day XD My youngest sister, Ava, will be born on Chocolate Cake Day and Punch the Clock Day.
If you wanna see what's on your birthday, go here ---> http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/index.htm


And now, I will lead you to one of the best websites in existence! MyLifeIsAverage.com. If you've ever read anything along the lines of Fmylife, GivesMeHope, or anything like that, you should read the stories on here. The stories are thousands, if not millions or billions times better than the others I mentioned. That's what gave me the idea to get a Harry Potter coloring book and why I'm proud to have a pillow pet XD



Well, I'm bored.

Paul

Donovan

After we opened our gifts on Christmas. Idk, I like the lighting :)

Should we eat insects?

No matter how many good points you can find for eating insects, I refuse to do it! I mean, I know that I "accidentally" eat bugs every day just by eating processed foods, but I don't actually see the bug or hear it crunch. I practically don't know it's there.

Eating insects may be healthier for the enviorment [since their waste doesn't give off as much greenhouse gases as cow manure], more abundant, and have "good quality meat," but there is NO way I'm going to actually eat them. O.O

At Hot Topic [and many other places] they sell insect candies. My friend, Laura, bought some seasoned crickets and a scorpion lollipop and ate them as we walked around the mall. It sickened me to see her eat the crickets, especially when she spat a leg that was stuck on her tongue at one of my other friends. I was okay with the scorpion lollipop, even trying it before she got to the scorpion part. Watching her bite the pincher was so unreal I again felt nauseuous.

I can never substitute insects for beef and pork.

Holidays

Lately, many people have asked me why I celebrate Christmas since I am not Christian. My answer is always the same: I celebrate the happiness that the Christmas season brings, and of course, the presents. This answer is always met with doubtful looks and ocasionally a scoff or laugh, which makes me wonder, why do people celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday? Do they, like me, celebrate it because it is how they were raised? Do the holidays have meaning for them? Do they celebrate the happiness, or are they just in it for the presents?

Also, do you know how difficult holidays are when your parents are divorced? Being 16, I should be able to choose where I spend Christmas, but yet my mom still likes to "rotate" the holidays each year. Last year, being with my dad, I when to his family's Christmas eve party, then got up at 5 the next morning to open presents at his house then go to my uncle's house to open more presents with my cousins and grandparents, then to Anne's mom's house for dinner. The year before, I was with my mom and she dragged me to Alberto's house [he was only her boyfriend then] where I isolated myself in a room with his computer and didn't eat cause everything was mexican. Now, this year, I'm with my mom again, and she wants to have my step aunt and Shayne over for dinner. I'll still be allowed to go to my dad's for the Christmas Eve party, but I doubt I can go to my uncle's, and highly, highly doubt I can go to Carol's....


Another also:
What do you get your boyfriend for Christmas?! D:

Birthdays

My birthday was Thursday, and I must say it was a great one. On my actual birthday, none of my family was at home [they all had to work], so I took my sister over to Shayne's and hung out over there :)
Saturday was my party. Chrissy got me the A7X shirt I'm wearing today and Laney gave me the most adorable card ever :D Breanna's card tried to eat me. I swear, you shoulda seen the amount of sparkles o.o My mum and step dad got me a netbook, so now I'm really excited for the school to get wireless! :D
Yesterday my dad picked me up from Shayne's and took me over to my step gran's and then my mamaw's. My step gran had no clue what to get me, but she did pretty great with the clothes she got me. My step mom gave me a beautiful box with the trinity symbol on it and a Gir gift card to ht <3 My dad got me Death Note figurines. I <3<3<3 the Mello one :) Since I wasn't expecting to get really anything, I was really surprised [but in a happy way :D]


Now, Laney, we just have to get to your birthday. I can't wait to give you your gift!!!! :D

No, I did not write this because it's Spirit Day.

Today, there are many things that affect people in negative ways. While it is able to affect anyone, the focus of this blog will mainly be on teens, for that is what I am.
At the high school level, have any of you stopped and thought about how many smiling people were dying on the inside and out?

Depression affects almost every teenager at some point or another, it seems. While not all are "serious," a good portion are. Clinical depression affects over 17 million Americans each year; nearly 12 million women and over 6 million men. Clinical depression is quite common, but also usually unrecognized and untreated. Without treatment or help, those with this type of depression cannot get better. Clinical depression is not something you can just will away. It is also not a sign of weakness, like most seem to believe.
Clinical depression comes in different forms: Major depression, Dysthymia, and Bipolar Disorder. Major depression is a combination of symptoms [listed below] that interfere with your  life- your ability to work, eat, sleep, and have fun. Dysthymia is a less severe version of major depression, with a longer period of less severe symptoms that do not keep you from functioning. Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is alternate periods of depression and elation. Sometimes, these periods may be rapid, but other times, they're gradual. (I guess it just depends on the person.) You can go for a very long time not knowing that you have any of these, mainly because when people have these kinds of depression, they think it isn't serious and don't want to make a big deal out of it or burden their friends with their problems. Or, the person may not want help and/or think they are unable to be helped. This is not true, and everyone who suspects they may have clinical depression need to seek help.
Below are a list of symptoms, taken from the UHS Tang Center website.

Physical:

• Sleep disturbances-insomnia, oversleeping, waking much earlier than usual
• Changes in appetite or eating: much more or much less
• Decreased energy, fatigue
• Headaches, stomachaches, digestive problems or other physical symptoms that are not explained by other physical conditions or do not respond to treatment

Behavioral/Attitude:

• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, such as going out with friends, hobbies, sports, sex, etc.
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Neglecting responsibilities or personal appearance

Emotional:

• Persistent sad or "empty" mood, lasting two or more weeks
• Crying "for no reason"
• Feeling hopeless, helpless, guilty or worthless
• Feeling irritable, agitated or anxious
• Thoughts of death or suicide

There are many, many other things that affect teens. I was also going to cover eating disorders, but I don't want to overload this blog, so maybe I'll do that next time.

 I certainly suggest that if you exhibit a good amount of the symptoms listed above, to talk to your doctor about it.

Remember, someone out there loves you and you can get better. :)

Another Way To Die

I've been wanting to do a blog about something like this, but Laney beat me to it a while back. D:

Recently, Disturbed came out with a new album called Asylum. On this album is a song called Another Way To Die, which reminds me a lot of the video we watched in English. I highly suggest you watch the music video for this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwELajFteTo&feature=channel
This music video has clips of today's world and the dramatic world of tomorrow. Obviously, the dramatic "world of tomorrow" won't happen within a lifetime like it does in the video, but it could happen one day, and that's something we need to be concerned about. Even those who don't care about the Earth and say it's a later generation's problem would (or at least should) be affected by either of these videos. To me, it was really a wake-up call. I'd known that we were destroying the planet and that not many people recycled as much as they should, but the amount of destruction done is mind blowing. Even those who do recycle aren't able to help as much as they'd like. In today's plastic world, there is barely a thing made that doesn't have plastic, and most all of those objects are just tossed into the trash, which then goes to a landfill, to sit there, collecting. Truly, the only way to help is to cut back on plastic, to change our way of life, but how many are truly willing to do that?


Another Way To Die

The indulgence of our lives
has cast a shadow on our world
Our devotion to our appetites
betrayed us all

An apocalyptic plight
More destruction will unfold
Mother Earth will show her darker side
and take her toll

It's just another way to die

There can be no other reason why
You know we should of seen it coming
Consequences we cannot deny will be
revealed in time
Glaciers melt as we pollute the sky
A sign of devastation coming
We don't need another way to die
Can we repent in time?

The time bomb is ticking
and no one is listening
Our future is fading
Is there any hope we'll survive?

Still, we ravage the world that we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

Greed and hunger led to our demise
A path I can't believe we followed
Black agenda's rooted in a lie
Will we repent in time?

Species fall before our very eyes
A world that they cannot survive in
left them with another way to die
Are we dead inside?

The time bomb is ticking
and no one is listening
Our future is fading
Is there any hope we'll survive?

Still, we ravage the world that we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die

Still, we ravage the world we love
And the millions cry out to be saved
Our endless maniacal appetite
Left us with another way to die

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

It's just another way to die
Can we repent in time?

Vid

In English, we watched a video about a man who served in the war in Iraq. The video told about the struggles he suffered after the war due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Before the war, he led a happy life with a girl he had known his whole life and planned to marry after he got back. When he got back, they married, but they divorced not too long after. War had messed him up too much for him to have a normal relationship and deal with it's problems. It's sad that his life had changed so much that he couldn't even be with the woman he loved.

War had also made him suicidal. While in Iraq, he had nearly shot himself. He had the gun in his when the camp's doctor passed by and yelled at him. That was the thing that saved him. When he got home, he was still suicidal. The photographer that was with him sensed this and took him to a clinic. He didn't stay in the program he was put in for very long, so it probably wasn't much help. After the clinic and the divorce, he made new friends who hadn't known him before the war, who didn't see the change in him. Those friends made him feel almost like he was in the military again from the group's codes and closeness, and it made him feel at home.

Family

Everyone has a family, and they are all unique in their own way. My family has 4 sides- My mom's side, my dad's side, my step dad's side, and my dad's girlfriend's side. If you want to get really technical, it has 5 sides, but I don't know my biological father or any of his family.

My mom's side of the family is scattered across the Eastern have of the United States, but most of them live in Pennsylvania. Her mom lives in Pittsburgh, her dad and most of the rest of her family in Greenville, her sister in Florida, and her nephew [my favorite cousin on that side] in Kentucky. I don't get to see many of them that often, but we try to visit when we can. I saw my grandma, my grandpa, my uncle, and Lewis this summer, which is truly a record.

Lewis and Alexis '09

Lewis [10], Grandma, Me [5], Mariah [7]

Me and Mum

My dad's side is grouped in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virignia, although I have 2 great-aunts that live in Florida. I see this side of the family the most, and all of the older members have been there for me since I was brought to Ohio. My mamaw and papaw Dillon moved to Circleville 3-4 years ago, but they lived 10 minutes away from where I used to live before that, so I saw them a lot. Before my sister was born, they had a big hand in raising me because my mamaw babysat me while my parents were at work. I found out that they weren't my biological grandparents when I was 11, but that didn't change anything, it only made them let me know how much they loved me more so. I love the way they handle this situation because it lets me have an idea of how it will be for my my three little cousins. Two years ago my aunt and uncle adopted three boys who had been mistreated and put in a foster home. They are some of the cutest children I have ever seen, and I don't just say that because I love them to death. While I was always babied by my mamaw because she only had 2 sons and always wanted a daughter, my papaw always wanted grandchildren in general and has been happier than I have seen him in years with the addition of three more. The weird part about the boys is is that they truly belong with us. The oldest, Isaiah, is a spitting image of my papaw when he was child. The 2nd oldest looks like my dad who is the oldest between him and my uncle. The youngest, who is my baby, looks like my uncle, only way cuter :D My aunt and uncle have adapted to being parents probably even better than my parents, lol.

Isaiah

Payden

Donovan

Donovan and Isaiah

Me and Isaiah

Me and Mamaw

My step mom's side of the family is basically my dad's side of the family for the way they've accepted my dad. Her parents could one day be like my grandparents, which I'm okay with. They're extremely nice and really fun to be around. They're funny and love to party with their friends, which is different from my grandparents, but not in a bad way. :)
Anne is technically not my step mom, but I wish she was. I love her so much, but I don't think she knows. She is the best choice my dad ever made, except for maybe my mom lol. Anne's amazing. She listens to a lot of the same music I do, loves the same brands I do, knows what I'm feeling when no one else seems to, accepts me no matter who I am, and was once even a part of the religion that I am. She's pregnant right now, and I couldn't be happier. We're both hoping for a girl, even though most of my family wants a boy. My dad wants to name the baby Leonidas if it's a boy, but she says I should just name it since I'd have better names. She's the only one that thinks Matthew Lucius is a great name, although she'd pick a different middle name for the baby since her friend's son is named Lucian. She's also the one who suggested the girl's middle name should be Marie because my great grandma's middle name was Marie, which is something I will always be thankful to her for, because it would mean so much to me if it was. So far we think it should be Emma Marie, but my dad doesn't like to agree with us on names XD Regardless of the name and gender, I can't wait for it to be born.

Anne

She doesn't like to take pics with her glasses or while smiling because of her teeth, but I snuck one because I think she's beautiful just the way she is. :)

Ultrasound of the baby <3

My dad

And for the hell of it, my new cousin :) My dad's 20 something year old cousin just had his first child. I think he's absolutely adorable [so it's a great thing he has that hat :D]

Zion Kirk <3

The final side of my family is my step dad's side. I don't really know anyone on his side, but they seem to know a lot about me. Most of his family lives in Mexico, their home country. When I say most, I literally mean most. The only family he has in the United States lives 5 minutes from us- his sister, her husband, and their 1 year old son. They visit often, so since Alberto moved in with us a year and a half ago, I've seen them more than anyone on my dad's side. Mari, his sister, knows a good amount of English, and is still learning more every day. Her husband Miguel knows barely any English, but is still able to talk to us. His younger sister in Mexico is taking English in school, but I still don't talk to her. She is 17, and I have only seen a picture of her, although Mum wants us to talk to each other. His mother, my abuela, loves my sister and I, even though she really doesn't know us. The only words I have ever heard from her [translated by Alberto] are that I am beautiful and that she is proud that I am her grandchild.

Alberto

Miguelito

Mum and Alberto on their wedding day [Oct 2, 2009]

The one person who doesn't fit into any of the sides [besides, of course, me] is my sister, Naomi. We rarely get along, and most of the time I wish she'd go live with Dad, but I think deep-down I love her. She's five years younger than me, a complete tomboy, rude, obnoxious, and bad mouthed, but she can be nice when she wants to and loves buying things for little kids. She's really in to video games. Right now her favorite is Mercenaries 2, although she'll play pretty much everything. Most of the time I forget she's the age she is and think of her as if she's younger, but it's hard to believe she's growing up.

Weekends

Today's Thursday instead of Friday, but I don't have any of my writing with me to type it, so I'll switch the days.
Today my dear Laney is absent. D: The poor thing's sick, so envy her for her sleep and hope she gets well soon. :)
Can you hear my sarcasm? XD

Today we need to talk about the joys of deviantART. It's a really great artist's community and you can find a lot of GREAT art on there. Granted, you'll find some not so great art as well, but isn't that just how life works?
http://xdeidannax.deviantart.com/ Yes, I am giving myself a shout out. So, to be fair, I might as well give Laney and Bre one too.
Laney: http://xxlaneyxx.deviantart.com/
Bre: http://kiruthefirestarter.deviantart.com/

Everyone, be sure to leave a comment on Kiru's blog saying that she broke the helicopter. Don't ask, just do it. :D http://kiruthefirestarter.blogspot.com/

Are you guys as smart as Bre says you are? Cause no offense, she makes you seem like geniuses.
....And now she's unhappy. Guys, I need a video game. D:




Now today's Sunday, but I don't want to erase all that I already have. I like that little bit of randomness. :)

So, my weekend. It was eventful, and rather fun. :)

Friday night I went to Halloween Express and Tropical Trends (one of my favorite stores) with Laney and Chrissy. None of us bought anything at Halloween Express, we just basically walked around and made fun of the costumes, but I got some cones and a cone burner at Tropical Trends. :) The cones were a mix, so I don't know what scents they are, but they smell pretty great and I think at least one of them is vanilla something.

Saturday my little sister and I went over to Chris and Shayne's to hang out with them and Corey cause we were all bored. Naomi and I listened to them play their instruments until their sister-in-law came out and told them to stop (it's all because Corey's annoying on drums XD). We then decided to go on a walk and brought their shopping cart for crazy antics. We walked over to Bre's since she lives a street over from them, and left Corey sitting in the cart in front of her house. Unfortunately, her mom's boyfriend wouldn't hook it to the back of his van and potentially do damage to Corey, so we just said hi to Bre and left.
A little bit later that day, I went to the ox roast in Grandview with Mark. It was basically a school fair, so there wasn't much, but I still had fun. I won a goldfish on a game and convinced Mum to let me keep it. I named him Lucifer and I grew attached to him. He promptly died either while I was at work that evening or asleep that morning. (Which is just perfect since he was supposed to "replace" my cat that died Monday >.>')
After the ox roast, Mark and I hung out at my house, mostly just walking around, but then got into a RPG-style battle :) Only we are awesome enough to have a battle in which he is some Final Fantasy idiot with a blow-up sword named Vermillion and I'm a L4D witch. :D
Last night I had to work, so I didn't go to bed until 6:30 this morning. (I deliver newspapers for the Columbus Dispatch.) My mum woke me up around noon and we all went to Waffle House then to Arts in the Alley. I tackled Kasey without warning, and she jumped so violently she nearly flung me off. It was great. :D
After Arts in the Alley we went to Buybacks and Gamestop, where a variety of things were purchased. Matty, I think you want me to play Rockband with you soon ;D Just saying.

Hey Laney:
"My brothers, my sisters, my blood."
Haha.


I have to go help my mum with something, so this is the perfect time to end today's post.
Blessed be,
Dei

R.I.P. Penelope

R.I.P. Lucifer

Summer

I have nothing to write about, so how about I tell you about my summer? Yes? Good.

After school let out, I went to Colossalcon, which is an amazing anime con in Sandusky. I went with Chrissy, who I think most of you know, and her sister. It's the best con I've been to, and probably the best con in Ohio. :) There were a lot of amazing cosplayers, which made me feel almost out of place because I didn't have a really good cosplay for that weekend D: [Fyi, cosplayers are people who dress up as anime/manga/video game characters.] I didn't get a lot of pictures because I was too busy admiring all the cosplays and the ginormous dealer's room :D But, I did get one of a particular set of adorable kid-cosplayers....

The day after I got home from Colossalcon, my family and I went to Greenville, Pennsylvania to visit my grandpa and uncle. Greenville is a tiny, middle of nowhere, has nothing really going for it kind of town, so there wasn't much to do. However, about 15 miles down the road is the Spillway. I don't know if any of you know what the Spillway is, but it's almost ridiculous. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's park of a large lake, and some pretty large fish live there. Those large fish conjugate in very large numbers around the railings of the dock-like area waiting for people to feed them. There are so many fish, the geese can literally walk across them without ever touching the water, earning the Spillway the slog "Where the birds walk on the fish." You'd have to see it to believe it. And those fish are vicious when it comes to their bread. I lured a bird from the line that had formed around the battling fish closer and closer to the fish with bread until a fish tried to eat its beak when it ducked for the bread. The poor thing lost the bread and flew back a bit, where I guiltily threw it a slice of bread. ^^;


After we got back from PA, my summer was pretty quiet with a few sleepovers until Eclipse came out. Mark and I got a group together and went to see it, and I must admit that it didn't suck as much as the other 2. After that day, I hung out with Mark and Chrissy nearly every day. :)

Occasionally, Laney and Chrissy would both come over, and we would have their [at that time in Laney's case] boyfriends come meet us and we'd go to the playground at West Franklin.

As I said, I saw Chrissy and Mark often, and a few times we went over to visit Mattykinz :)

Mark, Me, Jas, Brandi, Bre, Jade

In July Brandi had her birthday party. :)

Me, Mark, Bre

On July 30th, my dad called me at 6 am with terrible news. My great grandmother was in the hospital and they didn't expect her to make it. Family-wise, my mamaw Kirk was my favorite person. She knew more about me then the rest of my family [excepting immediate family] and I could always talk to her, even if I couldn't ever be specific. My dad picked my sister up, and my mom and I followed him to the hospital. Being there was one of the worst experiences of my life. My mamaw didn't look like herself at all, she was unconscious and was being held on by machines. No one was really crying except for me, even though they were all as sad as I, maybe even more so. It was unreal, and even now I have a hard time believing it happened. The funeral was a few days later, on August 3rd. My sister went with my dad and my mom went with me. This is the most interaction my mom has had with my dad's side of the family since the divorce, and it went surprisingly well, all things considering. Thank the gods for little kids. What got me through the funeral, and another of my great-grandparent's funeral last year was my youngest cousin, Donovan. I don't know what it is, but something about holding a little kid calms you down.

Me [age 5], Mamaw, my sister [less than 1]

July 31st, I went to WaterFire with Laura and Rachel, and spent the night with them at Laura's afterward. The fire on the water part didn't really interest me, but the fire dancers were amazing. Watching them renewed my goal to become a fire dancer. Not professional, just in my free time as a hobby like my photography. :) I want to start training as soon as possible, but I need a set of poi before I can and no one wants me to do it. D:

August 13th-15th was Matsuricon, another anime convention, only this one was held about a half hour away. My cousin drove from Kentucky to go with me and on day 1 we brought Laura and her friend Amanda, just Laura on day 2, and Mark on day 3. It was a lot of fun, even though it was pretty small. :)

Laura cosplaying as Pein

Pyramid Head cosplayer

Jareth the Goblin King cosplayer

August 24th I went to Uproar Festival with Laney and her sister. It was a lot of fun and we both got to see our favorite bands- Disturbed [Laney's] and Avenged Sevenfold [mine] :D We waited in lines for hours, but in the end it was all worth it :D And we got pretty good seats [we didn't pay extra for the mosh pit >.>] The only way it could have been better was if we could have met members of the bands :D

Just because school starts, doesn't mean summer ends. To me, summer ends the first Monday we go back to school because every year on the first weekend of school my friends in Grove City and I have a sleepover. :)

Presley

Me and Rachel with Erica in the background

Funsize

Presley and Laura

After that, we went back to school and summer ended. It was a great summer, my favorite so far. :D



Love,
Dei