hostage update + christmas

"april"also known as detainee number 001 (i only have one prisoner), is isaac's hamster thing, who is doing alright by the way. she might even be recovering, she's doing art again.

prisoner rations.

guard duty. mabel is really fascinated by april, she did this whining the entire time we opened presents.

"why won't you let me play with april?!"

christmas was really nice this year. it actually began last night at dad's place where we exchanged gifts and had a great time listening to cee lo green. then we watched Winnebago Man, which was a great film that i highly advise to anyone who can stand vulgarity. in my stocking i got electrolytes for my almost guaranteed "deli-belly".... yay!

in the morning we went over to mums. santa brought me a new laptop battery to replace my exploded old one, and an ultraviolet-pen (i don't want to need those electrolytes!). I am enjoying many new books, prayer beads from zoe, and simply enjoying the company of my family.

oh yeah, i got a brand-spanking-new pair of skates. i went to a friends pond with my dad, we made the mistake of being too close in a thin area, the ice shuddered as we heard a crack suddenly break and we quickly headed for a safer area laughing. i have fallen through ice before!

my very first hostage

dad and i went to Scarborough Maine to check out the greenhouses at the Morrison Center. the Morrison Center is a development center which uses the greenhouses as therapy. horticulture was first used as therapy when hospitals began to have their poor patients do gardening to help pay off their bills. 

after a while it became obvious that the patients outside in the gardens were healing much faster than the ones cooped up inside. the greenhouses at the Morrison Center specialize in orchids, native plants, and just for fun stuff -like a banana tree.

i might be crazy, but i think this is a pitcher plant, which is a carnivorous plant native to Maine!

apparently this plant is worth $300, but not for sale. it would be nice to have $300 to blow on one plant.

later i hung out with my friends. we hungout at hannafords and did some shopping. we got bread in a can. a loaf of bread is cheaper, but maybe the charge a little extra for the round shape. i was granted mainership now that i have had B&M brown bread (from a can). dad said it was a great excuse for butter, which it definitely was. it's bread in a freakin' can, we're in the future.

sooo busted.

and last, my very first hostage....

christmas break

Dad, Oliver, and I went to Bayside Bowling. I think my first score was 27, but my next score was well into the forties. I love these old ornaments that Oliver and I made when we were of the size in the picture. Below is Oliver's four pointed star, and below that is my star (I think I may have had help).

Someone got a bath. I don't think they like baths.

 

The snow thing happened! Please stay....

the lost chapter of Spannocchia: the pigs

I finally figured out how to get the photos and videos off my camera. Well, I still don't know how, but I managed to do it anyways. 

First I looked for my friends.

And then I found them.

That.... is a pile of pigs.

They really are pigs! This farm raises the pigs to be eaten. They are rarely grown now because they are not efficient. They take 2 years instead of 1 to get to slaughter weight, they are uncomfortable (like any pig really) indoors. Spannocchia saved this breed of pig with the Noah's Ark program.

fun after Indian food

Zoe and I had a little fun after we went out to dinner for Indian food.

One day they will have חֲנֻכָּה (Hanukkah) blend next to their Christmas and Holiday blend.

Then we made the bed.

And I fell asleep.

tea time

Down by the docks
I have no socks
the boogie man ate them!

for Zoe.

And then we had tea!

Zoe in action!

 Mad Hatter without a hat?

This blog now includes video!

high school in maine?

A must-do subseries of this ever changing, ever growing blog is my reflections on high school. I will do my best to organize them chronologically, and have them vaguely relate or make sense.

Ready??

the christmas of 2007

Since it is christmas madness we might as well look back and see what we are due in for. First of all, we are not traditional. Yes, that is Freddie Mercury.

I don't think Oliver liked his other gift.

But Mabel did!

Later on Christmas day we go to a party at our friends, we have been going for years. Oliver and I like to spend time with Harry and Kate.

Thanks Oliver.

nylon fumes and elves

I went to work again today, it is on the warf. The business is called Sea Bags, they recycle old sails into bags of all kinds. I am working there until Christmas to help out with the holiday madness and make a little extra money. It has been a good work experience.

This poem is about the my experience standing in front of the place you see below in the photo.

Winter invades us,
cold air sits on the water,
it sinks to my bones.

My romantic friend picked me up for a hour and a half lunch break to the crooked mile, federal spice, and the Portland public library. We picked up some Richard Dawkins and a few books she reserved.

Look who I found at Pickwick Independent Press!

Dad met up with Oliver and I, we went to Otto for some awesome cranberry, ricotta, sweet potato pizza. We then went to see the "Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris. This has inspired me to begin to document the long reflection I have made on my high school career. Keep an eye out for it!

back home in Maine

This is the snow Dublin could not deal with. It formed a thick slush that would freeze at night and splash during the day. I took this from the window of the awesome b&b where I slept about 22 hours in two days.

Mum and Mabel picked me up from the airport in Boston. The ugly 295 signs greeted me as I entered familiar territory I had missed so much. I was determined to get home for the Portland first friday art-walk, and had managed to catch the end. There I met up with my dad, Oliver, Isaac, and Mark, it felt so good to see them!

I managed to find my romantic friend in a triangular shaped cafe where a lot of congress street people hangout (it's a good time). I had wanted to see this person since the first day I left, some 135 days ago, but who was counting?

After I finished several more reunions with friends, family, and pets, things began to settle and suddenly it became Christmas! Dad and I went and got this tree, we picked the smallest one and cut it in half. Oliver joined us to decorate it, and the tree only fell over once!

Jenny Holzer came to Portland, she spoke, and presented some of her work on the Museum's walls. I was really amazed by her use of words and tolerating the strange Portland folk. 

I think I did something wrong.

Tonight my dad and I watched "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" which I highly recommend. Maybe the movie spoke so much to me because of my experience on farms, but I think it's really easy to get this film.