Celebrations!

I'm finally done with exams! Odds are my grades will not only kick butt, they'll also take numbers.

BRAGGING TO FOLLOW I'm at least ten points above the group average in every subject I had, assuming my finals don't suck ―which they won't.

Get this. Summary so far:

Gym ―me: 75% ―group: 52% (they're written tests, remember)
Genres ―me: 80% ―group: 70%
French ―me: 82% ―group: 62% (my grade will definitely go up, though, because I did great on my final essay)
Philosophy ―me: 84% ―group: unavailable (estimated to be around 60%)
Scenario/Editing ―me: 84% ―group: 73%
Journalism ―me: 89% ―group: 67%
Comics ―me: 92% ―group: 68% (I simply do not understand the group average on this one)
English ―me: 93% ―group: 75%

I mean. Seriously. And most of those should go up because of my finals. Awesome.

BRAGGING DONE.

Sorry about that. Sometimes, a girl needs to reassure herself.

Anyway. My employer called and I'm working again this very weekend. She scheduled me. I didn't even sign the season contract yet (I'm doing that tomorrow). This woman is really motherly, but she clearly hasn't come across reliable employees of late.

Word has it two employees from the fitness department stole a good few thousand bucks from the store. It's this top-secret thing with the police and all. Short story of it, I had to sign a police declaration that garanteed I wasn't a criminal, and gave Sears (oh, oh, that's where I work, oh em gee) the right to look me up in police files. Except I don't have police files.

But hey, suit themselves. I'm not exactly an international spy case. They won't be having a treasure hunt about me.

It was Mom's birthday today. She spent most of the day doing nothing ―it's her idea of rebellion, which for a housewife is pretty intense― and we had fun. I dropped by school for an hour, to finish my Comic exam― then came home.

There are kittens living under our porch. I didn't know about it until I sat at my computer in the basement and looked out the small ground-level window to my left. An adorable kitten was looking straight me, his furry little paws pressed against the windowpane. His sibling was rolling in the grass just behind him, attacking the long blades on the side of our house. It was the cutest thing since the Picori.

I called Mom and we looked at the kittens as they rolled around in the grass outside our house. It was really cute.

And then we found out they live under the cement slab of our front step. There's a really narrow space under it where the ground sunk, and they would dart in and out of it, tackling one another.

There are four kittens that we know of. A black and white one, a grey one, a black one, and the fourth I only know of because Mom spied on them. So I don't know what colour he is. But apparently, their dad is a street cat, big and wet and territorial, and their mother is also a stray, though I haven't seen her myself.

We don't mind, because... um... they're kittens. How can anyone think they're a hindrance? And it's not like they're eating our plants or anything. They bury their poop in the ground... Seriously. Cleanest and cutest squatters ever. We want them to stay, but we won't feed them, in case they get dependant. They need to learn how to survive.

I don't really understand why there are stray cats in my neighbourhood, but I certainly won't complain. There used to be plenty of stray cats on the Mediterranean coast where I spent so many of my childhood summers. I love cats. They're so smart and sleek and I love the way they move.

Anyway. If Link ever brought home a stray kitten, I have half a mind to think that it'd look like the ones living under our porch. No way could a sane woman resist a guy carrying a kitten like those.

Other news. Lord Llama (my brother) is coming to the end of his high school years, too. His prom is soon, and he and his girlfriend are competing for the position of speaker at the graduation ceremony. Fact is they're among the most eloquent (and spunky) people in the promotion, so they were convinced to make the student speech.

Anyway. The winner gets to step onstage at the ceremony and read their speech. Because they're not exactly the traditional lovey-dovey sort of couple, LL's girlfriend wrote a speech, and my brother entered the contest as an afterthought, to give her some competition. They're both very verbose (family thing, perhaps?).

So Mom guilted me into helping him. I don't know why, because he's fully capable of writing a decent and funny speech. Not to mention he's got a quirky style. But anyway, I said I'd help him because he's set on beating his girlfriend to it. And having been to the same school until last year, I know how to talk to the uptight, almost-fascist school administrators (it's a private school, doo dee doo).

So, hardly out of school and I'm already working on something at another. But whatever. It involves writing (or, helping someone to write), so it's okay.

Besides, my drought of inspiration ―you have no idea how painful wanting-to-write-and-not-being-able-to-for-lack-of-inspiration can be― has dampened a little bit, so I've started something new. And just talking about it probably jinxed me, but whatever.

If I don't croak (metaphorically, of course) in the middle of it, it would be a multi-chaptered story again. Futuristic. Zelink. The works.

But I'll shut up now, because I've given you so many previews to stuff I've been unable to finish already, and it's a bummer for everyone. Seriously. It kills.

But hey, it's all part of my creative process. Now you feel my agony!

...

List of movies I must see this year (updated list): Because you care.

Shrek 3 (TOMORROW, I CANNOT BELIEVE I WON'T SEE IT JUST YET!)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End (Because, um... Johnny Depp. Pirates. Swashbuckling. Self-explanatory.)
Becoming Jane (So sue me; I'm a fan of Anne Hathaway.)
Ocean's Thirteen (No need to justify. Plain awesome screenwriter. I would kill for skills like these.)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Okay, so maybe I enjoyed the first movie... That doesn't make me a weirdo. Ahem.)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (apparently, it's finally a decent adaptation!)
The Simpsons Movie (Dude. It's the Simpsons. Doh.)
The Nanny Diaries (Because chick flicks are a guilty pleasure.)
Silk (I'm also a fan of Kiera Knightley. That woman is too beautiful for her own good. Actually, I hate her for that particular thing.)
Enchanted (Classic animation, live-action, princesses and hot guys. Need I say more?)

Seriously. Any movie with hot guys needs to be sent my way. There aren't nearly enough attractive and demographically anti-statistical people in the movies. I see enough realism in my every day life. I don't mind shelling out ten bucks a ticket to see sexy men on the big screen.

And now, if you ever ask me why I write romantic comedies... Now you know. It's because of chick flicks with hot guys in 'em.

They're inspiring, okay?

Not to mention, I'm a girl at heart. You can't play tough and detached every day of the week. You also need some sort of clichéd love story from time to time.

Besides, Scarlet, Prophet and I still have places to fill in our 451 Hot Guys List.

... Maybe one day I'll tell you about that particular episode.

Okay, back to writing. Wish me luck!

Love,
CM

P.S. Okay, seriously. What colour are Shad's eyes? From Twilight Princess, I mean. I will write a haiku for the person who checks their game disk for me and answers that particular question. I am not kidding. And yes, you're right, I could check for myself, but I'm afraid starting a new game will detract from the all-important writing aspect of this thing.

To whoever is first to tell me what colour Shad's eyes are, I'll send a haiku. With a thank you note from Link himself.