ROTFLOL

Reasons Why I Laugh So Much:

-Feeling awkward

-Finding things funny

-Having fun

-Giddiness

-Good ab workout

-Fond (and funny) memories

-Witticisms

-Good sarcasm

-Silly children

-Inside jokes

-Smug satisfaction

-A really good plan or scheme (more like evil laughter)

Nature vs Nurture

Things Lots of Other People Do Naturally That I Just Don't:

-get excited

-compliment people

-socialize whenever, where ever

-talk to people in the morning

-take initiative

-pay attention in engaging conversations

-smile at strangers

-show a full range of emotions

-say nice things to people

-ask questions that are practical

-like breaks from classes or graduating

-care about others' feelings in conversations

Things I Do Naturally That Lots of Other People Don't Seem to:

-talk to myself, pretty much constantly and about anything

-keep calm, or at least a stiff upper-lip

-keep my thoughts to myself in public

-enjoy silence

-enjoy solitude

-research everything ever just to know more about it

-accidentally scowl instead of smile

-space out, constantly

-giggle at seemingly nothing, pretty much everyday

-expect everyone to be independent and ask for favors

-expect things to be done for me (I've decided this is because I'm the youngest, so everything was always done for me growing up and it's hard for me to remember that I have to do certain things)

The Things that Take Up My Time Lately

My World Cup Teams That Have Lost:

-Argentina

-USA

-Cote d'Ivoire

-Brazil

-Portugal

-France (miserably)

Things I Mean to Read But Never Quite Get Around to:

-Notre-Dame de Paris

-Joe's novel

-In Defense of Food

-La Dame aux Camelias

-Any number of things I should be researching for my thesis

All I Really Want to Do of Late:

-Road trip to New Orleans

-Lay out in the sun

-Ride my bike random places

-Sleep

-Bake/cook random recipes and give them away to anyone willing to eat them

-Shop

-Go home

-Visit Seattle for a week

-Go to festivals/concerts

-Chat

In Honor of Lionel Messi (whose birthday is the 24th of June)

Reasons Lionel Messi and I are practically identical twins:

-He is only a year younger than I am

-He is half an inch taller than I am

-He is only four or five pounds heavier than I am

-We both have awkward haircuts

-We both are from the Americas

-We both have lived in Europe

-We both have been accused of hating our homelands because of living in Europe

-His name is Lionel (pronounced Lee-own-el). Take out the "on" and it's exactly my name

-We're both loved by many soccer fans

-We're both in a love-hate relationship with someone who has committed a handball that saved the game

-We both have parents

-We both are following the World Cup 2010 in South Africa

-We both could have been taller if things worked out better genetically (I swear my poor diet in middle school stunted my growth.... Messi's explanation is more rational)

-We both had birthdays this last year

-We both like the color powder blue (well, maybe he doesn't like the color, but it's in the best version of the Argentina national football team)

-We are both cute, like a puppy or a fluffy kitten, or a baby duck

-Neither of us resemble a baby pigeon

-Neither of us is married, yet

-Both of us appreciate the health care in Europe

-Both of us know someone who looks like an Argentine pirate

-Sometimes my room is messy (get it? it's a pun)

-Both of us have pretty much GREAT senses of humor

-Both of us entered our chosen careers at the age of 5 (he did soccer, I became a student)

-Both of us have known people from Rosario, Argentina

-Both of us have last names that end with vowels

-Both of us are awesome

Midsummer Check

Things Accomplished So Far This Summer:

-two road trips, both to California (one to Riverside, one to Santa Cruz)

-return back home (once)

-Manti temple pageant (the Mormon Miracle Pageant)

-found a job

-passed my comps

-go dancing (once)

-hiked Squaw Peak

-started Notre-Dame de Paris and gotten farther than all previous attempts

-some baking (and cooking, as well)

-watched World Cup games and NBA final games, too

-invented a crazy diet

-visited the beach

-taught a Sunday School lesson (actually, it's tomorrow, and it's the Preach My Gospel class, not Gospel Doctrine...)

Three Day Weekends

Things I Have Done Recently that Were Not a Waste of Time:

-Go to California and stay an extra week

-Study for Comp exams

-Go to the gym

-Sleep in most days

-Hike to Squaw Peak

-Watch Prince of Persia

-Start Notre-Dame de Paris by Hugo... for the fifth time

-Visit with old friends

-Make new friends

-Bake things, especially tortillas and peanut butter bars with chocolate ganache frosting

-Catch up on the latest Eurovision results (Turkey got #2! That makes me happy)

-Pass my comp exams (making the past year good instead of a huge waste of time)

-Laundry and cleaning

-LOST season finale (I liked it overall, but then I have no problem with questions going unanswered. Quite the reverse, actually)

-Bathing (apparently this is also the secret to Jake Gyllenhaal's work out for Prince of Persia)

-Sharing jokes with an old friend

-Chatting

100th Post

Top ten things about Grandpa Hayman:

-Corny sense of humour (really, he tells the cheesiest jokes I have ever heard in my life). There's this one he told quite a few times these past couple years about a little boy who went to a wedding that's really chuckle-worthy.

-His stories about his childhood.

-He's pretty prescriptivist in his language. It's easy to appreciate grammar and proper language when you're exposed to it regularly.

-Rhetoric. I always think of him when I think of people who know how to use their words effectively.

-His love of dogs. Mom says that he used to always say that, if you want to know how dogs should be treated, you should spell "dog" backward.

-His can-do attitude. One's limitations were usually self-imposed. It's a pretty rare attitude for his generation, from what I've seen.

-His devotion to his wife and family.

-I saw a picture of my grandparents at my parents' wedding, and Grandpa Hayman was so cute. I love pictures of him when he was younger.

-Stories about his side of the family are always great. Always. They were a bunch of true characters, Grandpa included. And Grandpa always told good stories (while his memory persevered).

-He traveled around the world, stepped on every continent, and drove on each one as well. He had visited over 100 countries (Grandma and Grandpa used to be in the Traveler's Century Club, until they stopped paying dues, I believe). How awesome is that? I hope someday to do even a fourth of the traveling he did.