Israel (and some other stuff)....[More for Kunal]

Kunal,
I am sorry if they aren't up to either your standards or mine, but I thought that you might be able to work with some of this stuff maybe...


Here are some that aren't exactly landscapes, but rather more "city scapes" but since it is Israel it doesn't feel as much like a city...if you want them...




These are also in Israel, but they are from an archeological dig, and they are ruins from when the Romans were in Israel.












These are from my trip to Bonaire (an island in the Netherlands Antilles)...one is me underwater and the other is what I thought was a cute view of a blue building across the water.




And the last thing I wanted to mention...have you ever thought about doing interpretations of the plants you take photos of? I think that you could try getting major close ups and things like that. It could be cool. Playing around with light and shadows and stuff.

And the underwater picture is the only underwater one that I had on my computer, but as an idea you could try a sea scape sort of thing. You know how the water makes the wavy lines in the sand and the different fish and corals and kelps and stuff. It would also be a challange getting the way the light reacts with the water and stuff...just an idea.

Thanks so much for the Makhtesh pictures! They're so cool!

Lizzie~

Writing...

I was going back and looking through all of the posts from my past, and I realized that I haven't put up any poems for quite some time. Now I have two.
They both have almost the same title, and they are both what is called a "list" poem.
One is MUCH more light-hearted than the other. But I just thought that you might enjoy them. They are in chronological order.

Things I Learned Last Week

You send two men to a fishing expo,
You will find a pontoon boat in your basement.

When in kindergarten,
People teach you to fill in the lines.
Then there is school,
Teachers tell you to write between the lines.
As an adult,
They tell you to sign on the lines.
Then someone tells you to be abstract.
You don't know how, no one ever taught you.

Never plug something into a bad plug,
You may not have power for a day.

Life goes on,
But if you are stuck,
Sometimes friends can be the best tow trucks.

It's ok for life to be a whirlwind,
But don't spin too fast,
Or all the pretty sights will be nothing but a blur.

Walking on a crust of hard snow is good,
Until you fall through.

Things don't need to have a purpose,
Some things just...are.

Money rocks, but only if you have it.

Snow is cold, really cold.
Sun doesn't help you warm up all that much!

(Inspiration: what a wierd week!, Date:1/18/07)


Things I Learned Last Week
(And A Bit of This Week Too)

Writing is good, but overrated.

When you are depressed, beware of spontaneous explosion.

Most circumstances are only as akward as you make them.

You are never really as good as you think you are,
But then again, you aren't as terrible either.

Death and suicide scare people,
Don't mention it to them.

If you have an epiphany, keep it to yourself until the "oppotune moment",
Just trust me.

Insanity sucks, but it can be good for you.

You can be independant and relationship based at the same time,
Who knew?


(Date: 3/4/08)

So, yeah. Those are just two poems that I thought you might enjoy. If you didn't enjoy one, you are bound to have enjoyed another...or not... I guess that's your choice.
I hope that you are having better weeks than both of those that I have written about!
Lizzie~

And just when you think it's going to get better...

It does!!

I have been feeling so much better than the last time I posted. Even though little Tehilla is gone with her family, and I am still in "love" with my ex, some good, no, great things have happened.

I asked a guy to prom, and he said yes (!!!!!!!!!) and I am very excited. I learned a new thing about my blog (I put a new puppy on under Giggles the purple monkey), and I have been haveing a blast celebrating Passover.

This post is almost as long as the Wisdom Teeth one, and much less...umm...profound, but what can I say?

NOTHING!!!

Well, I hope that everyone out there's lives are as good as or better than mine right now. And I wish you all a happy Tuesday, may this week go more quickly than the last one!!

Lizzie~

P.S. It's my brother's birthday today. Sam is my brother, anoying and crazy as he is supposed to be as a younger brother.

P.P.S. IT'S SPRING!!!!!

Band, Law, Boys, Brothers, Girls, and a little bit of School in Between

Wow! It has been so long since I have even been on here, nonetheless actually posted! Since that time, my band has taken second in state (though if we had gotten to actually perform a second time like we were supposed to we would have won!), gotten an intrest in law, had times of wondering about the stability of my relationship with my boyfriend, wondered about whether my brother is really the person he seems to be, been completely fed up wiht some girls and gotten closer with others, and then had to keep up with my school work even with all these important things going on.

First off, let me tell you the darker news. I have no idea what is going on with me and my boyfriend. Sometimes we are the closest people on earth and he isn't just a boyfriend but also a best friend. Other times I can say "hi, how are you?" and all I'll get is a shrug and "good". I just want to say "yeah, whatever to you too", but I don't. I guess that I am just very very confused!!
Now for the lighter stuff. Law! I love law! I thought that people who said that they thought that I would do well in law were completely off their rocker, but now that I get into it, I love it!!!

Then, band. I know that what I said about us winning sounds like what everyone who gets second says, but this time it is true. The judges that Dr. C talked with almost all told him that they knew that had we been able to perform again we would have taken state!! Then Dr.C said that this last football game that we did was like our finals performance, and if that is true then we so totally win, becuase Legacy (1st place band) was so scared that they didn't even show up, meaning we win by default!!

Next, my brother. So, he has had some problems in the past; lighting his pants on fire, drinking, setting things other than his pants on fire (the bank of the canal for one), going to court for arson, ect. But just this weekend I learned something about him that I would never have guessed. He told me his "little secret" (which he will never actually know I told you becuase you won't tell!!!!!). His "little secret" is that he actually watches and enjoys the show on MTV Americas Next Top Model. We spent all of Saturday night watching the reruns that I had taped from that day. It was a wierd sort of bonding time for us.

Girls. I have been getting kind of fed up with some girls (in band) and at the same time I have grown closer with others. I will stick with telling you about the good not the bad. There is this girl who I first really got to know when I invited her over to talk with me on my trampoline (a VERY good place to talk), and we talked about all the things that we thought were really important, but were really nothing. This weekend I saw that she didn't look so happy, so I sat her down on the sidewalk and told her to spill it. After she did, I gave her advice on what to do (it was a guy problem) and then when I was done she said that the sidewalk was not nearly as comfortable as a trampoline, but that she was glad that I would give her advice any way. Just this morning she said that she had done what I told her to do (advised her to do) and I was thinking oh no it made him hate you and you are blaming me, then she continued to say that there was a rumour going around that he was going to ask her out sometime this week. I was so proud of her for sucking up her pride just like I told her to!

Then school, well, other than the fact that I love having a whole class dedicated to poetry, there isn't much I can say!!

And now that I have thouroughly bored you till your brain turned to mush and dripped out your ears (see why I don't often write in the morning), I have a poem for you.


Roses are red,
Violets are purple,
NOTHING RHYMES WITH PURPLE!!

So we say that
violets are blue,
so we can rhyme it with words like
You, to, two, too, and achoo!!

So, roses are red,
and violets are blue,
but they're really not blue,
they're really violet which is
a kind of purple,
but nothing rhymes with purple-
or orange- unless you say it
wierd 'cause then it sounds like doorhinge.

But doorhinge doesn't make for
very good poetry-
or does it?

Roses are red,
Oranges are orange,
Nick Weiber* I want you to run into a doorhinge.
The end!

*You probably don't dislike Nick like I do, so you can insert the name of anyone you dislike in Nick's spot and it will work the same (though first and last names or a 2 syllable name works best for flow and rhythm)

Marching Band is Starting Again

Well, yesterday is the beginning of the end. We (in marching band) are now finally in competition season and are going to be out from about 8:00 a.m. till about 1:00 a.m. the next morning from Saturday till Sunday. We say goodmorning to each other when we come, and say goodmorning to eachother leaving. It is fun, but a lot of work and time! I am really excited about this year, and I really think that our band is going to do well, but I really hope that even though we are doing so well, that the freshman know that we still have to work to keep our place as first (we got first at our first competition last night!!) Ashley, if there is any way you could see us at a competition, email me I would LOVE for you to come!!!!!!!!!!! Also, for all marching band fans out there, Marching Band State Championships are going to be at in Fort Collins and on Oct. 20th so if you want to come that would be awesome!! I really hope that my band can keep it up and make it there for the 4th year in a row!! Well, I am really tired because of the competition yesterday, and I hope that you are all doing well!!
Lizzie~

Homecoming Again

I've been to homecoming before, I went my freshman year, but I hated it! This year I am going because it will be different as a senior. I also will be going with my boyfriend. I don't think that those things will make the music better, or the dancing more fun, but I still think that it will make me have more fun at the dance. I don't have too much more to say, so I guess I will go.
Lizzie~

More From IST and now Israel

Hey! It still amazes me how amazing it is to be back home! I just love it!!

I told my friend Alyssa that I would have a story about pickles, so eventually I'll get to that, but let me start with some intro to this particular blog, post, thing.

I decided, back when I first blogged after coming home from my 6 week trip, that I would DEFINATELY NOT post about my trip in the order that it happened, and however confusing that is going to make it for all my dedicated readers out there, I apologize in advance. Unfortunatly with my first post that was specified, I went against my own rule and wrote about the first week, well, first. So, now I will follow my rule, and I will write this post on my trip through the desert.

We went into the Negev, the desert in the south that makes up about 50% (or something like that) of Israel. We went into a part of it called a maktesh(I don't know how to spell it, but this is it phonetically: mah-k-tay-sh), and did our hiking in that (Second pic is of the maktesh before we entered). A maktesh is a geological phenominon that only occurs in Israel. It is like a crater that is so big from each side to the other side that you can hardly see the opposite side at the widest parts. You could almost compare it to the Grand Canyon, but instead of being long and made by a river, it is round, and was made by layering of hard and soft rock. Then an ocean covered it, and it turned into a mountain of sorts. After that there was a crack on the top of the mountain, and when rain and other forms of water got in the crack it made the crack bigger. Finally the crack got so big that it widened out to look something like a bathtub. A G-d sized bathtub, that is what a maktesh is.

So, that is what we were hiking in. It was not a desert like what you would see in Aladdin, but it was many rocks and tall walls, a few scattered plants and the very occasional oasis surrounded by greenery.(Third pic is us in the maktesh hiking) The hours from 1 till 3 we were not allowed to hike because it got to be so hot that if we stayed out for more than 15 minutes we would be completely dehydrated and would not be able to rehyderate ourselves fast enough, so we had to sleep in the shade under a rock.

Before we got to the place we were to start hiking from, we got to visit an Alpaca farm. I am a knitter, and I love alpaca yarn, but the animals that the yarn comes from, I don't like as much. They are like bad tempered, ugly llamas. (First pic is of alpacas)

Now, to rapidly change subjects again, I will tell you the story about pickles.

When we were hanging out under the rock during the hottest part of the day in the desert, not everyone could sleep (me included). Right before we were told to go to sleep, we had been given lunch (last of the pics above). One of the things we were given for lunch was pickles, and very few people actually ate them, so we ended up with about a can and a half left over. Well, all the people who couldn't sleep were bored, so we went about trying to find something to do.

One kid found something to do that entertained all the people who weren't sleeping. He took a pickle from one of the cans, and slowly placed it in one of the sleeping kid's hands that was only open enough for a pickle to fit in. When he didn't wake up, we all had to try to keep from laughing, because that would have surely woken him up.

Then someone who did not have as steady hands as the first guy, tried to put a slice of orange in the kid's other hand, but he woke up. When he woke up, he looked at the orange in his hand and was unhappy to find out that we had found it funny that it was there, but it took him a whole three minutes more to even realize that the pickle was in his other hand at all. Had he noticed it right away it would have been funny, but the fact that he didn't notice it for the first while was even funnier! This story is probably one of the most boring stories you have heard in a while, and I apologize for that. Now that I have used up your time, bored you to tears (if not to sleep), and shown/told you more about my trip, it would seem that my work here is done.

Have fun with whatever is left of your summer, I know that there is almost nothing left of mine! And I will hear from you later, and post again sometime soon!

Lizzie~

I'm Home!!!!!

Oh my goodness, it is so GREAT to be home!!!!! I have done so much since I last posted that I don't even know where to begin! I have gone to Poland and experienced the five day tour of death of the Jews. I have gone to Israel and seen the Western Wall, and toured so much that I almost feel like I could lead a few Israel tours myself with all my new knowledge. Not to mention all the hiking that I did. I not only did some really really fun dayhikes, but I also went on a 4 day from six in the morning until you made it to the next campsite (around sunset which is approx. 8:00 p.m.) every day.
On that hike I was one of 18 kids and 4 councelors to go from Sea 2 Sea (the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee) or from one side of Israel to the other. 18 teens might seem like alot, but compared to the 98 that were on the entire trip, it was a very intimite group. In that group many boarders were broken, and ties were made, and so many inside jokes were made that if I were to see one of them in the grocery store I could say all of 3 words (and that is at most three) and make them crack up.
On this trip there were two kinds of madrichim (councelors), there were the madrichim that came with us from the US (all but one came from Colorado), and there were the Israeli madrichim or Israeli staff members. That was very exciting! It was such a change for me to have native (or almost native) Israelis with me on a group tour, though they were only there for the part spent in Israel.
In Poland we had our US staff members (not called madrichim until in Israel) and two tour guides. One was Devorah and the other Rabbi Levi Cooper. They were two outstandingly amazing people. When I say that I mean that they were not only fantastic tour guides, but they really knew how to talk to people, no matter what age, and they had great hearts as well as great heads.
I don't want to bore you any longer, so I will finish telling my story(in bits and pieces) filling in random pieces of the puzzle that is called IST (Israel Study Tour) until you get as clear a picture as I can paint in your head. I hope that everyone here has been well, even without my superb presance, and that you will still be my friend!
Have a super day and Happy Belated Birthday to me (on July 12th) and one of my bestest best friends Ashley (on July 14th, yes I am two days older!)!!!!
Lizzie~

Hello, Goodbye

Hello Blogging world! And at the same time, goodbye! I am about to embark on what is bound to be one of the most exciting, saddening, beautiful, life-changing, amazing trips of my life! I am leaving on Monday morning to go to Poland and after a week in Poland, I will fly off to Israel.

I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I am being torn in two by emotions that are both the same and irreconcilible. I have spent the last week and a half in band camp, (with my boyfriend as drummajor, which is so exciting! and my "band daughter" Alyssa) and I have been told by my boyfriend and "daughter" that I will be missed very much for the six weeks I will be gone and that it is sad that they will not see me for that long (being the longest time I have ever been away from them!) !

I have also been struggling through the difficult yet really really cool music. But I will be able to get that memorized by the time I need to.

When I am in Poland, I will see the concentration camps, and that is going to be one of the hardest times for me in my life. I will write so much poetry, that I think I may have to get a new poetry book. So, when I get back I just might have to throw a bunch of poetry at you when I get back in six weeks!

Lizzie~

P.S. I had so much more to write, but I have to go eat dinner!

Asking Questions

Have you ever asked questions that you never wanted to have answered, but you can't help but ask. I keep asking myself questions and don't know if I want them to be answered. I can never really tell that I am asking the questions until I try writing a poem, and they just sort of come out on the paper. One of them came out in this poem.


Untitled

When he looks at me,
can he see me smile inside?
When he smiles,
does he know I blush bright red?
Every time, no matter where,
I feel my heart soar.
It can't be held down,
it is too strong, it's wings beat too fast.
When I'm with him,
can he tell I'm nervous?
When he holds my hand,
does he feel it shaking?
Does he really love me?
Or can he really not tell?


(Inspiration: Eddie Lyon)


So, I don't know if I am the only one who asks questions like that, but if I am, thank you for bearing with me. I really want the answers, but I am afraid that they will be ones that I didn't want to hear. Am I the only one who feels that way? I don't know!

Well, I am having a fabulous time not being in school, so far!! I saw the Pirates of the Carribean 3! It was amazingly fantastic!!!!!! I loved it so much! I really think that it is one of my favorite movies I have seen in quite some time! The first in a trilogy is always the best, but this one was really close to surpassing the first for the title of "the best"! I didn't like the second one as much, so we didn't buy it, but we are going to have to so we can buy the third and have it make sence!

Hope that everyone is having a wonderful begining of summer!! I send my love to all my friends and family bloggers or not.

Lizzie~

Exciting!!

I have the most exciting news ever!!
I am now a published author! I have been chosen to be published in a book put out by Poetry.com. Do you remember the "Manifesto of Weakness" poem I put up a while ago? That is the one that is going to be published.
I have to go, sorry for such a short post.
Lizzie~

life is amazing, while you have it

Yes, this is a continuation from the first two "Life is Amazing" posts, and yes life is, and always will be, amazing. In those first two posts in this three part series, I spoke of the troubles I was having with my dog. Fortunatly, and unfortunatly, those troubles are in the past. On Wednesday, we had to put my dog to sleep. Dante was a beagle, and died at the young age of nine. He has been a companion, a company when I was in charge of an empty house watching movies late into the night, and a friend that wouldn't ever have the chance or ability to share my secrets or get mad if I said something wrong. He always had unconditional love for me, and every person he ever met (though he was antisocial when it came to other dogs). He never learned any tricks (other than knowing to come when I said "treat"), and was not always the brightest dog. He was over weight and had a slight pot bellie, but I loved him and he loved me.

My family and I live on a path than many a person and/or animal travel on. When ever a dog would come in our yard from that path, no matter how much bigger they were than Dante, he would howl and howl and chase them away. One time he chased away a couple of cayotes. He was an outside dog, but just recently we had started bringing him inside when he was cold so he could sit with us and watch TV or movies. Then, during the warmer seasons, we would eat outside on our porch and he would join us to beg food off us.

I loved my dog very much, and I will miss him so very much it is hard to even begin imagining, but as my friend Jake says: "life goes on". Not only does it go on, but life is amazing!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a wonderful May!

Lizzie~

P.S. On a much lighter note, Prom is tomorrow, and I am so excited!

Well, that was short

Hey guys! Guess what!
My internet is back on!! I think that it won't be so sketchy like it was before either! I am very excited! (If you couldn't already tell by my over use of the exclamation points!!) I want to thank Alyssa for being the only one who has commented and answered my "challenge" if you will, to write a poem or just tell me what you are waiting for. I guess that you guys aren't waiting for anything! That is too bad, but I guess it can't be helped.
I am feeling a bit goofy today, that might explain the crazy way that I am writing right now! I love being goofy!
I hope that all is well with other people as well! Have a wondermous rest of the week! (Yes, I did just say 'wondermous'!!)
Lizzie~
P.S. I just got back from my concert band audition. The guy that does the auditions said that I did well after almost all of the pieces that I played, so that gives me hope! I really hope that I can make it into Symphonic band next year. But if I don't, I will still be happy welcoming in all the new freshmen to the big scary world of upper musicianship. Fun fun!!

Having a few problems...

Hey all!
I have some sad news to tell you. Not tragic, thankfully, but sad just the same. We are having technical difficulty after technical difficulty with our internet. The only reason that I am able to be online at all is because I am not at my house, but rather at my dad's work where they are not haveing any trouble whatsoever. I hope that if you haven't already, you will still comment on my last post, even if I don't get to see it until days from now. I am not sure when all of the kinks will be worked out. I may be on tomarrow, I may not be on again (at home) for a few more weeks. I am just not sure.
I am sorry to say this, because I know that I only get to hear from some of you via blogger, so I will not know anything about your lives, and vice versa.
Hope that we get internet again soon! Until then, have a wonderful spring! Smell the flowers! Smile at everyone that you see! I send out my love!
Lizzie~

Sometimes you just need to love

In Creative writing, there has been yet another amazing prompt given to us. This one was entitled, "What are you waiting for?" It went like this:
Today, we'll use Ferlinghetti as our inspiration. He wrote a poem called "I am waiting". Respond to that same title with your own voice; tell me what you're waiting for...

"I am waiting for my case to come up
and I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting for someone
to really discover America
and wail
and I am waiting..."
~Ferlinghetti~

My version is this:


I am waiting...

I am waiting for love.
The love you hear of in story books.
The love of your best friend.
The love of a puppy.
The love that each person,
at all times, everywhere,
should have for one another.
I am waiting,
for love...


Now instead of commenting on how wonderful (or terrible) mine is, I want to hear what you are waiting for. It doesn't need to be in poetry form, but if you are feeling daring, then I would love to hear it as a poem!!!!!! Hope that I hear from everyone that I know who is on blogger! Everyone is waiting for something, but not everyone is willing to share it with others. I hope you all are willing to share!
Lizzie~
P.S. I am in the school library, and I am lolking out the windows, and it is snowing again!! I still hate snow!!!!!

Hawaii

I am sorry to say that I won't be home for the next week, seeing as I am going to Hawaii tomarrow morning. I may or may not be able to get online when I am there so, if I am not I will have to hear from all my wonderful friends on blogger next week! I hope that all of you who have spring break now I hope that you have a good one!
See ya!
Lizzie~