Arriving Home

After a long and rainy car ride, I am finally home from the Gulf, and back in Central Alabama, where my home is. Well, I’m actually not home yet. I am nine or ten exits away from home, sitting in the backseat of my mom’s car. I’ve been messing around on my Kindle, working on a novella I’m writing, reading Anna Karenina (even though I’m supposed to be reading the Hobbit), and all that. My laptop battery  only has thirty more minutes left, but I probably have only twenty more minutes in the car, so it’s all good here.

I’m still doing work for my Grandpa. Still making phone calls and things like that. It’s a little monotonous, but it’s a way of making a few extra bucks, and for the time being, I will graciously accept it. My school’s offering a big overseas trip to England next year, and I need to earn some money for it. Trips to Europe aren’t cheap, you know. Especially not this one.

All I know right now is that I’m tired, and I want to go to bed, and that I must be boring you to tears, so goodnight. See you later! ~Jess

Blogging on Christmas

What a strange kid I am, sitting and writing a blog entry on Christmas.
Hmm.
The things I do with my time.

Oh, well, this whole thing does have a practical application. By writing and/or reading every day, I will become a better writer. I want, almost desperately, to be a great writer. But I also want terribly to be a great actress, and the two can hardly go together. How will I manage to be an actress and a novelist? How? Maybe an actress and screenwriter, but I so want to write novels...It's agonizing to think about. Both of these things are so risky, such gambles, and yet, these are my two great dreams. Do I have to pick one? Will both of them come true? Will neither of them come true?

I don't know.
But Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Chilling on Christmas Eve

My family is so  funny.

It's Christmas Eve at my Grandma and Grandpa's house, and what are we doing? We're sitting in the living room, watching Duck Dynasty. (My sister Tonie is reading this over my shoulder right now, but that's OK because I love her. <3) Now, normally, I don't like things that portray Southerners as stupid weirdos with stupid accents, and normally, I barely watch TV, but a guy that I really kind of like spent several minutes one day trying to convince me to watch this show, and then I watched it, and now I love it. I'm hooked, not even lying.

This is the episode where Si quits, and Willie is trying to hire someone new. It's not really related to the episode at hand, but it bothers me that Jace and Willie call their Dad "Phil" to his face. You may be grown, kids, but that's still your father, so have some respect, for Pete's sake.

Also, I just got one of those nifty American Express gift cards that works like a credit card, so guess what I just bought on my Kindle? The Hobbit. Extra credit, here I come! ~Jess

Everybody' s working for the weekend!

Hello there!

This post may be a little shorter than the previous two. I'm attempting to post from my lovely, new Kindle Fire, which, though it is a wonderful device and is a ton of fun, is not actually made for this sort of thing. I would be reading the Hobbit right now, but I haven' t bought it yet.

So, I don' t have a job. Just thought I'd announce that. My dad has a nice little business, and I've helped him out from time to time, but this weekend, I've been helping out my grandpa, who runs a private investigation business from his home. It' s not anywhere near as glamorous as it sounds, and it's not like Tommy and Tuppence in Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime. I' m not making a lot of money either, but I'm helping out my grandpa and making a little bit of money, too.

All I' m doing really is making phone calls, and it gets really tedious, but hey. It's a job! ~ Jess

First-World Problems...In Other Words, Merry Christmas

...And yet another post tonight. Wow, I'm on a roll.

Writer's block. No +Starbucks Coffee to energize me. No money to spend feeding my shiny, brand-new Kindle Fire. Can someone say, "First-World Problems?" Haha. I'm just joking. I really do love my life. I have so much to be grateful for. Particularly my large, colorful (or diverse, if you prefer), and loving family. I'm also grateful for the fact that Johnny Depp exists, but that's a rant for another time.

Another first-world problem: I just remembered that because my laptop was being mean and not working, I missed the deadline for a scholarship-related essay contest. Oh, well, thank goodness there's more of those floating around.

I know that this is my second post, and the first day of this blog's existence  and as such, I have only one reader (myself), but right now, I just want to say something to the whole world.

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Um, Happy Ramadan. Happy Chinese New Year, or whatever you celebrate. Happy Holidays in general, I suppose. I know as well as anyone else that life is tough, whether you're dealing with first- or third-world problems, and I sincerely hope that all of you have a truly happy holiday, even if it's the only happy day of your whole year.

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases or other holidays be whatever color they're supposed to be. ~ Jess

The First Post of my Third or Fourth Blog

Hello, world, and welcome to my third or fourth attempt at a blog. :)

My name is Jessica, and I'm sixteen, going on seventeen. I would say I'm your average teenager, but I'm actually not. If I were, I think I'd have more friends that were average teenagers. None of my friends are what you'd call "mainstream." But don't get me wrong, I'm not a hipster.

I enjoy writing, reading, learning, and sometimes school, among other things. I'll probably talk most about school, and my attempts at writing- if I ever remember to get on here and post, which I won't promise. And when I say school, I don't mean silly Mean Girls-esque drama, I mean my classes, and what I'm learning, and things like that.

For example, I'm taking an elective this year, that is called Lewis/Tolkien Seminar. What we do is read (in first semester, which has already happened) The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis and (in second semester) The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, and talk about literary symbolism and smuggled theology and things like that. How neat is that? And also, I would like to add that my teacher is a published author. (Yeah. And who said private Christian schools were dumb?)

Anyway, we are on a really tight schedule and only meet three days a week, and that's kind of hampered our schedule. However, that's left me some really sweet opportunities for extra credit.
There are five things that we can do to get extra points. This is where the list stands so far. (Note: We were reading the Chronicles in the order of publication, so that's why the order seems off, but as far as our schedule goes, these were the last three books in the series.)

1. Read The Silver Chair.Check.
2. Read The Magician's Nephew. Check.
3. Read The Last Battle. Check.
4. Read The Hobbit.
5. Watch The Hobbit.

As you can see, I'm doing pretty well so far. I just got a new Kindle Fire for Christmas, so I'll be getting the Hobbit on there soon, and as far as I know, my cousins, siblings, and I are all going to go see the movie soon, so yeah. I'm going to be starting the New Year with 125 extra credit points in my Lewis/Tolkien elective. Some say I'm an overachiever. Some say I have no life. You think what you will. ~Jess