So, uh, we don't live in T Town anymore.

Just as April came upon us, we stowed a few of our belongings into a big ol' truck and caravanned 1800 miles to Tuscon, AZ. I was behind the wheel of my nifty (new) little Mazda :)

Just before leaving Tonasket city limits for the last time, we stopped off at Roosters Espresso and said our goodbyes to the loyal baristas who'd always been there for our caffeine fix. Then it was four straight days on the road.

In case you couldn't guess, the primary difference between Arizona and the pacific northwest is the weather. Luckily, we weren't quite as unfortunate in Eastern WA, weather-wise. Still, seventy-degree winters? I think yes.

I started at Catalina Foothills High- or Catfoot, to its occupants- a week after we arrived, met with a puzzled group of counselors who wondered why on earth a student would start at a new school three weeks before summer vacation. In that three-week period I took up Bari Sax and decided to join band; and also experienced my first 'senior prank day'. Apparently the seniors of Catfoot take a liking to throwing food in various states of ripeness.

Sky served as my travel buddy, and helped us unpack and settle in. A couple weeks later Levi & Kassy decided to have their own sojourn to the Rainey Villa (or so-called, according to our Wifi)

So that's pretty much been life, lately. I'm happy here, and a sun-kissed complexion greets me every morning. I miss Washington for its greenery, but safe to say I'm more than content to live where the umbrellas stay away. Nanner and Shelby are coming to see me over summer.

Goodreads Review of Be More Chill

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was pretty good.

I really like Ned Vizzini's writing; he has the incredibly sought-after ability to write in the voice of his character, like a pro.

Be More Chill is a story about Jeremy Heere, social misfit in Middle Borough High. He gets ahold of a squip, a tiny quantum computer you ingest to make you act Cool. And then, of course, everything backfires.

The beginning was really cool, the way Vizzini set it up. It moves along at a fast-enough rate that you aren't bored, and it was compelling enough to pick it up.

I know it's fiction and all, but.. I mean, this story doesn't really capture what 'cool' is. And I thought the moral of the story would be something along the lines of 'Being yourself is more cool than someone's idea of it'. But, um, no. I don't think that's anywhere within the covers.

I dunno... I don't really like how teenagers and "cool kids" are shown. God knows I'm not 'cool' or whatever, but that doesn't mean I'm silent and withdrawn from my peers. The characters were pretty 2D in this book, is all I'm saying. But hey, it was entertaining.

I just had to laugh at some of the thoughts of this troubled youth. Do kids actually strive this hard to be 'cool'? As a tenth grade girl, I can tell you that no one in my school thinks nonstop cussing, random pop culture references, and being disrespectful to people is 'cool'. Or.. at least no one I'm friends with. Usually we refer to those kids as "tools".

And Vizzini didn't exactly strive for realism when creating the females characters, either.

I guess I felt it lacked the proper conclusion and ending that a book ought to have, there wasn't enough closure with the characters. (view spoiler)[ Does his mom make him do therapy? Does he get Christine? Is Rich alright?  (hide spoiler)]

In any case, I was not nearly as impressed with Be More Chill as I was with It's Kind of a Funny Story, another YA Vizzini novel.

There's a few gratuitous parts if you ask me.. um, I don't like reading about (view spoiler)[ A teenage boy jerking off to internet porn. I know it happens, but really? You had to include two pages of this information into a story line (hide spoiler)]. Also there's some cussing, but after Jeremy gets the Squip it 'censors' the cusses (a__, d_m_, __it, and so on)


View all my reviews

Goodreads Review of Be More Chill

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was pretty good.

I really like Ned Vizzini's writing; he has the incredibly sought-after ability to write in the voice of his character, like a pro.

Be More Chill is a story about Jeremy Heere, social misfit in Middle Borough High. He gets ahold of a squip, a tiny quantum computer you ingest to make you act Cool. And then, of course, everything backfires.

The beginning was really cool, the way Vizzini set it up. It moves along at a fast-enough rate that you aren't bored, and it was compelling enough to pick it up.

I know it's fiction and all, but.. I mean, this story doesn't really capture what 'cool' is. And I thought the moral of the story would be something along the lines of 'Being yourself is more cool than someone's idea of it'. But, um, no. I don't think that's anywhere within the covers.

I dunno... I don't really like how teenagers and "cool kids" are shown. God knows I'm not 'cool' or whatever, but that doesn't mean I'm silent and withdrawn from my peers. The characters were pretty 2D in this book, is all I'm saying. But hey, it was entertaining.

I just had to laugh at some of the thoughts of this troubled youth. Do kids actually strive this hard to be 'cool'? As a tenth grade girl, I can tell you that no one in my school thinks nonstop cussing, random pop culture references, and being disrespectful to people is 'cool'. Or.. at least no one I'm friends with. Usually we refer to those kids as "tools".

And Vizzini didn't exactly strive for realism when creating the females characters, either.

I guess I felt it lacked the proper conclusion and ending that a book ought to have, there wasn't enough closure with the characters. (view spoiler)[ Does his mom make him do therapy? Does he get Christine? Is Rich alright?  (hide spoiler)]

In any case, I was not nearly as impressed with Be More Chill as I was with It's Kind of a Funny Story, another YA Vizzini novel.

There's a few gratuitous parts if you ask me.. um, I don't like reading about (view spoiler)[ A teenage boy jerking off to internet porn. I know it happens, but really? You had to include two pages of this information into a story line (hide spoiler)]. Also there's some cussing, but after Jeremy gets the Squip it 'censors' the cusses (a__, d_m_, __it, and so on)


View all my reviews

Some Book Covers

Ha! Wow. Getting so old. Practically a geezer.

Yeah, anyway, just thought I'd show off some book covers! As an aspiring graphic artiste`, thought I'd get cracking on my portfolio. So without further ado, I present my works of art:

(photography found on weheartit.com... as I've yet to properly photograph my own book covers)

Visitors and Soup

Levi and Kassy pulled into our bumpy, L-shaped driveway last night around 8:30. They brought along the newest addition to their family, an adorable German Shepherd pup christened 'Chewy'.

 I had just finished hurriedly sweeping the house in prep for our guests while Mum kept her eyes glued to the window. Dad played with the touch screen Dell, a concentrated wrinkle in his brow. As for Jesse and Nanner, the other two occupants of the house, they were splayed out in the living room with nothing better to do than play iPad games.

 I had the privilege of being the first to see my older brother, after I'd finished my chores and pulled on a hoodie to head outside. The sky was navy and my eyes caught the glare of two headlights piercing the darkness. A smile lifted on  to my face, I'm sure.

Two groggy figures emerged from the car doors, and I rushed over the slippery driveway-leaves to claim Chewy from Kassy's arms. Priorities, people.

We spent the night catching up with them. It was kind of nice; laughing and exchanging barbed comments with my older brother over a bowl of my Mum's should-be-world-renowned Italian Wedding Soup. It made me flash back to when family time was all the time. To when I shared a house with five older brothers. Now, with the ever-changing present, it's almost sad to stand back and watch myself grow up.

Nano Failure

I officially hate my lack of inspiration. It has ruined NaNo for me.

You know about NaNoWriMo? All of November is devoted to novel writing, for aspiring writers across the world. You have 30 days and 50,000 words... or another goal of your choice. It's now the 13th and how many words do I have? Little over 2,000.

Yeah. Don't think I'll be fulfilling the quota for this year.

I was supposed to finish my book. I was supposed to power through writer's block like a 300-pound linebacker.. but no. I guess not. I guess this year, my novel will have to sit untouched, unwritten, and unread for another 365 days... or however long it takes for this fog of uninspired blah to get lost.

Seriously. I just want to write again.

Tired

Do you ever just feel tired?

Not so much the sleep-deprivation type, where all you have to do to feel justified is blame the seven cans of Mountain Dew you chugged before passing out at 2 AM. That's the simple kind of tired, the kind that lets you indulge in a nice, long nap, and then miraculously it dissolves into normality once more.

But then there's tired. Tired as in mental exhaustion. And it would take more than a fleet of Sith fighter jets lasering the surface of the planet to drag you out of it. You're not sure from what, but you know it hasn't always been this heavy.

 It occurred to me, as I was laying there with my head on my binder during Biology, daydreaming once again about taking a bubble bath in herb-scented soap: I was really freaking exhausted. At the same time, I couldn't think of anything I wanted less than sleep.

Why does that happen? What makes our bodies become internally heavy? My brain feels like it's chained to the back of my head, squished into a balled-up-rag-shaped mush.

It's not just my attention span that it affects. It's everything from Food to Free time. Instead of swallowing five casadillas without taking the time to chew, I feel to exhausted to eat. I'm too exhausted to organize my locker. Put my papers in their respective binder-slots. Brush my hair. Get up.

Pretty soon I get home from school and all I want to do is sit on my computer chair and scroll slowly through Memestache. Over and over again. And when my eyes start to feel like sandpaper, I lay down.

And I'm way too exhausted to make my bed, so it gets to the point where I stop getting up. I just hear my alarm go off in the morning and I lay there for five minutes; ten. The rest of the world is moving fast-paced as always, but I'm stuck in a state of constant REM. Walking REM.

But when I Googled all this stuff, my symptoms told me that I was, like, depressed or something.

And that just seems... sad.

The Flat-Belly Resolution

I had a moment of panic today when I realized my size-9 shorts fit me ah-lawt better than they used to, about ten pounds ago. Argh. Sadness. After-school snacking and a lack of good exercise weather has really taken its toll on me.

So I'm set on shedding my sophomore ten (if that's even a real thing), and I'm not exactly sure how but THE FLAB MUST COME OFF! PRONTO!

After last summer- no, wait, make that two summers ago- after a successful two-month period where I actually got rid of twenty-or-so pounds, I'm thinking recovery is still possible. I just have to sacrifice my after-school casadilla. And probably my beloved Chai Lattes for a while.

As for exercise, we have a rowing machine with a thin layer of dust forming on it, and I think I shall put my viking skills to the test on that one.

It's funny how I've accepted the grown-up truth that I can't lose ten pounds in a week like I really, really want to. But now I've set a reasonable goal, I think, and it involves honoring my once-owned Coon Hound, Penny (who is now the property of some happy farm family off in Wonderland)

If by summer, I can achieve the taut belly that my old hound dog used to have, I will award myself with a Victorias Secret shopping spree. Along with the flat stomach I'm hoping to attain envy-worthy legs as well. Legs that actually look good in cutoff daisy-dukes.

Heh heh. I'm not so sure the daisy dukes will fly with mi padre, but a girl can dream, right?!

So, I Got a Job

So, I got a job.

Yep.

I just finished making my last flyer for the day, so I'm sitting here in the toasty-warm office trying to think of something remotely interesting to write on this blog. As a blogger, I have failed to do this. I have sat here before empty blogger pages time after time and filled up the blankness with paragraphs of nothing.

A short recap of the last six months: freshman year ends, Cheyla spends the summer sitting through driver's ed, sophomore year commences, Cheyla gets job, Cheyla gets an iPhone 4s. The end.

My life is boring.

And that is all.

Skater Wisdom

My last attempts on a skateboard didn't go so well, so I was reluctant to try again now, even if it was a whole year later. On the one hand, breaking my face for a second time and suffering humiliation was pretty low on my to-do list... on the other hand, I am hoping to acquire some skill on the board, and as Jesse so lovingly pointed out to me, if I wasn't willing to get hurt, I might as well sell my board.

So I let him coax me into it again a couple days ago. We drove into downtown Tonasket and took the back alley into the skate park. It was easily ninety degrees out and there were three of us in the front seat of the F250. Llama and I slid out the passengers door and surveyed the empty park with apprehension. Jesse went straight for his board and then headed eagerly for the bowl like he was Tony Hawk or something.

It was my job to push myself down the smallest ramp there possible again and again to regain confidence in my sense of balance. When that went well, I decided to try things a little riskier.

"Keep practicing until you don't look like an idiot while you do it," Jesse told me the discouraging truth. I shot him a look and steadied myself to look as un-idiot as possible.

What started off as a couple successful days of practicing smaller skateboarding feats have now resulted in a series of bumps, bruises, and cuts decorating my arms and legs. And hips. And did I mention elbows?

But as my brother so expertly put it: "Ninety percent of skateboarding is being willing to do stupid stuff over and over again until  you get something right."

(I may have fancied the words up a little bit.)

There's your lesson in wisdom for today.

A First Attempt at Insanity

In an attempt to appease my ever-growing need for exercise, I begged Aunt Chanelle to dig out her Insanity video so I could squeeze some high-intensity cardio and drop a couple pounds before bikini season ends for good. (It makes me so sad to say that). She readily agreed, but asked nonchalantly as she popped  the CD into her Xbox if I knew what I was getting into.

Of course, I had psyched myself up by visualizing that bikini body we women always see so clearly in mind. I just nodded eagerly, tugging at my sweats, and thinking in typical over-achieving Cheyla fashion, this is gonna be no sweat.

Pause. Rewind. If you don't already know, Insanity is this popular workout video that is, true to it's name, INSANE. It's based on short-circuit, high-intensity workouts that are designed to kill you, er, push you to your limits. I was munching on popcorn, splayed out on a hotel bed when I came across an Infomercial on it. Naturally, their six-and-eight pack abdomens were enough of a sell to me.

 Then, when I discovered Chanelle  owned the video, I thought 'aha!'

Okay. So, fast forward again, here I am, reading the fifteen-minute-long WARNING that precedes the home screen. Then there's this huge picture of a bulked-out dude who could be the Incredible Hulk's Cousin. I'm like: Cool! Whatever!

And then I press play. I PRESS PLAY.

Can I just say, I have never done a workout video where the warm up starts so quickly? The dude from the title screen is all, "Why, hello! I'm your trainer! AND HERE WE GO! TWENTY POWER SQUATS! GO GO GOOO!"

So of course I break out into a set of poorly-executed 'power squats', followed with some other crazy maneuvers. Mr. Buff Trainer Dude then proceeds to place intermittent 30-second water breaks, and then moves on to the real workout.

MOTHER OF PEARL.

CHEESE NIBLETS ON FRIDAY.

I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE REAL WORKOUT.

MY BODY IS ON FIIIIIIREEE!!!

Every round just stretches on longer! I sound like Darth Vadar or something, I'm just gasping and wheezing as I rush to keep up, my limbs flailing all over. There's sweat pouring off my forehead, a puddle collecting at my feet. Then finally, finally, he moves into the last stretch, and gives this uber-goober grin at the camera, telling us to keep at it every day, for sixty days, and we'll have our results.

I dropped to the ground, whimpering, feeling for my muscles, begging them for mercy.

At some point, Aunt Chanelle made me drag myself to the shower, because I really stank, apparently.

And there you have it, my first attempt at Insanity. I'm doing it again tonight.

Sadistic Computer

I am going insane. Our dear computer has flaked out on us for a good three months now, allowing itself to be revived in 3-minute intervals at random points in time. I don't know when our how our Dell became a sadist, but evidently it's determined to deprive me the joys of typing on a real keyboard. So now I have been typing on the iPad for what seems like an eternity- one cold, dark eternity of undeserved spell-checks corrections. I even had to scroll through failblog like this. Curse you, computer. You and your stupid blue screen of death. Um, anyway. Moving on. So I'm wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket, plopped on the living room floor in my Aunt Chanelle's. Spent an exhausting 8 hours in the car today, escaping Tonasket just in time to miss the best storm of the season. Hmmph. It was one of those awesome, thunder-and-lightining type, hail streaming from the sky, everyone facebooking about it. Wanted to stand outside and reenact dramatic movie scenes, just to make good use of the weather. Tomorrow I'm going paint balling. I've got my kevlar vest in the car, and my AK-47 is in good repair. Now I'm going to pass out. Because I'm seriously exhausted.

Various Updates of Awesomeness

It occurs to me that I have blog-design ADD. Due to the fact that I have posted nothing meaningful for the past two weeks, I thought I ought to at least share that self-diagnoses with you guys.

Eight followers. Wow. Eight people in the entire web clicked on my blog and found me entertaining enough to cyber-stalk. Is it just me or is that dismal? There's a cheese fan group on Facebook that has more subscribers than I do.

Then again, who am I to compete with mozzarella?

For any who are interested, I have officially survived my first entire year of public high school, and I now remain the sole member of my family still going to school, and will continue to hold that honorary title for the next three years.

Jesse got his GED. Dakota and Gabe- both graduated. The other two finished high school a long time ago. The rate at which we're all growing up seems to be alarming, with almost everyone employed save for Jesse and I. This summer I'm stuck with endless hours of Driver's Ed, which means I still won't be able to sleep in.

I added another job to my potential-career-possibilities list: Video Game Graphics Designer. Technically speaking, it's still a job in Art. That in mind, the full list is up to three- not including my inevitable job as a successful published author.

In Honor of Jude lives. The manuscript is currently in re-write mode, since I decided to start fresh several months ago. The characters, plot and storyline live on in my head, but everything's a bit of a jumbled mess that I still need to properly execute.

Till next time.

Ciao!