Surprise!

Bonjour mes amis,

I. Give. UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, it's not what you think, I promise. See, there's this birthday coming up for a close friend of mine that I've been working my butt off the past three weeks or so to prepare for. He, however, is very observant and knows me like no other, so I was terrified he'd realize something was up and the surprise wouldn't be as special. But he also happens to be the person I go to to talk about things when I'm sad or angry or happy and excited! You see my dilemma here? So, now I'm going to proceed to rant about how amazingly wonderful it is, and if it's at all possible that you (you know who you are!) happen to read my blog, you'd best be clicking a new link before I count to 10. Or I will be unhappy. You don't want to make me unhappy, do you???

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Oh my goodness, so at first I had NO FREAKING CLUE what I was going to do to make your birthday special. I have limited options seeing as you live so far away, and I wracked my brain for all sorts of different ideas, and yet nothing seemed fitting. Then one night on Facebook, I saw you mention wanting to get a new tattoo, a phoenix with Celtic knots. My readers, you don't know this, but I am an artist at heart. I've been drawing since I could pick up a pencil, but the past year I haven't managed to at all. Sure, doodles in my notebook, but nothing serious. I lacked motivation. And then I saw it: a bright red and orange phoenix shooting towards to stars with flames trailing behind its wings and tail, with the Celtic knots built into the bird itself. But it HAD to be in color, and I'm absolutely awful with my color mediums like colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc.

I also have a friend who has discovered she, too, is very artistic at heart, although she's been doing a lot of painting. So I decided that's how I would go about this project, although I've honestly never done much in the way of painting. Once or twice in elementary school, really was it. However, I get my visual artistic side from my father and he's always loved to watch that side of me grow, so when I was visiting him, I explained how I had this amazing idea for my new painting and I started telling him all about the colors and the design and everything. It worked. We ended up walking to my favorite art store ever, Wet Paint, and ended up spending way too much on paint supplies. We decided to settle on acrylics since I was pretty new to painting and oils take much longer to dry, not even taking into account how expensive oils are! There was also a big sale on canvas, so I got a box of ten for a great deal. (I love my stockpile of canvas sitting in my room, it's like it's waiting for me to get another idea.)

So then it began. Prior to this, all I had was a rough sketch. When I got home, I began working on transferring my rough sketch into a clean sketch to put on the canvases. Yes, canvases. See, I didn't exactly mention to my father I was planning on giving away this huge project of mine, so I'm making two. Sort of. I'll get to how that ended up later! (Edit: I never actually get to it later. Sorry, it'll come in the second post with the pictures!) But both sketches were on the two different canvases, fully complete about a week after I had started, only a few days before it was time to go to my father's house again. It was a grueling task, and I remembered why I hadn't found any motivation to draw anything in the past year. It's become too much work and not enough play. But finally, I got to start working with the paints.

I had to experiment quite a bit to figure out what I wanted to do. I had grown up hearing my dad talk about how it's better to have lots of thin layers than one thick layer, so that's what I tried to do. It was a slow process, although less painful than the sketching. After I had finished painting the bird's head, neck, and majority of its body, I was struggling to figure out how to give it a feathered appearance. Then I remembered what the woman in the art store had said....

*Wavey flashback*

She was still standing behind the counter, talking about the big options regarding different paints, "And Acrylics have some texture to them, you can really work with the paint."

*Wavey flashback ends*

That was it! I threw out my father's advice about the thin layers of paint and started mixing more paint together to get a small pool on the plate to dip the brushes into. I applied the colors with thick brush strokes, a little like Van Gough's Starry Night, and then would smooth out the edges to give it a bit of a softer, less dramatic look. This way of painting was fun. In a way, I sort of had my own impressionism revolution by breaking away from the rules about art I've learned. I was jumping away from drawing even though I was good at it, I was ignoring what my amazing artist of a father told me about painting, and I did what felt good to me. And you know what? It showed.

Not only did the painting start looking much more awesome and artistic, but I worked on it much more often and for longer periods of time because it was enjoyable. I finished about two weeks after I started, and I had spent an estimated 13 hours painting. During the process, I'd gotten paint quite literally everywhere. I had it smeared across my palm and elbow, I had paint on both of my cheeks, on my shoulder, under my nails, on my thighs and all over my clothing, carpet, and pillow that I'd been sitting on. But it was so much fun.

And now? The painting is finished. I bought his birthday card on Thursday, and mailed the present off on Friday. The expected arrival date is the 19th, which is perfect. The 19th is a Thursday, so it gives them two days for error before it could be late since his birthday is the 23rd, the following Monday. I am SO EXCITED! I love surprises and I really hope he likes it. I've shown several people a quick shot of the painting I took on my phone, and they've all been rather impressed, so I have a good feeling about this. Now I just have to hold up a little bit longer. I'm so tired of answering "pretty boring" or "I worked on some projects (implying homework projects. I don't like to lie!) today" when he asks how my day went. The painting is currently "IN TRANSIT TO E. SYRACUSE, NY US" and it's just a matter of waiting it out. I can keep my mouth shut a little longer... just a little longer.

And thank you, for rekindling the sleeping bed of coals into a living, breathing, raging, artistic flame.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

P.S. I'll post a couple pictures here after I know he's gotten the present.

No "If"s, "And"s, or "But"s

Bonjour mes amis,

Be it reading poems (Wild Geese by Mary Oliver), listening to music (Taking Chances - Glee, Cave In - Owl City), glancing at the school website ("The real meaning of travel, like that of a conversation by the fireside, is the discovery of oneself through contact with other people." -Paul Tournier), or even reading Facebook statuses ("Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain), I am constantly reminded of my dream to go to school in Québec.

So I'm going to do it. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s about it. Where there is a will, there is a way, and boy do I have the will. If it means I don't get a nice pair of shoes or new clothes for the school year, if it means I have to continue playing my piano by sitting on my bed, if it means I have to hang out at home and save some gas money, if it means I have to skip lunch here and there... I'm going to find the money. I'm going to go to Québec for school. I filled out a few more job applications tonight and I'm going to pick some others up tomorrow.

I'm going to make my dreams into reality.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Money =/= Happiness

Bonjour mes amis,

While I realize this isn't the smartest idea, ranting here on this blog, as I have a link to it from my Facebook and my family has access to my Facebook... But I promised I'd write more and this is the only thing on my mind.

My family is big on bonfires. My mother and step-dad, anyways, and they decided that we were having one tonight. So at 7:30 when the sky was still bright blue, Jeff goes out and starts the fire and then drags us (my little sister and myself) out as well. Soon enough everyone has eaten and then is getting a little bored, so the little sister whines for someone to toss beanbags with her, and of course my step father agrees. Meanwhile, my mother and I get on the topic of college.

You see, I don't really run fresh ideas through my parents, I wait until I've thought them well over and they're pretty solid first, because I generally end up fighting for my ideas. Except, you know, I figured they'd be fighting about the Québec/Canada part... not the following-my-dreams part. Yep. My mother disapproves of me wanting to be a choir director. She thinks I should choose a job so I can be rich and "support myself." I understand this worry she has about me being poor, I mean, she's pretty much lived it her whole life and I see the way it stresses her out, but I'm also not going to be nearly as irresponsible with my money as she. It makes me thankful my father was the one who raised me.

Dad always raised me saying it's all about how happy you are with the job, not about the money. He wakes up every morning, hating his job SO much, but he always goes so that he can support not just himself but his four kids, two of which live with him even though they're adults. Don't worry, they pay rent. Or at least, one does, but that wasn't always the case. For a while my mother was out of the picture and he had to raise us on his own. God bless that man, raising four crazy children by himself!

I guess what I'm getting at, is this reminds me of a promise I made myself when I was younger. I told myself I could chase after any job in the whole world that I wanted, as long as it made me happy.

"Tout le monde m'avait dit que c'était impossible; moi, je leur ai répondu qu' « impossible n'est pas français » et puis je l'ai fait." (Everyone told me it was impossible. Me, I responded to them that "Impossible isn't French" and then I did it.)

And that's exactly what I intend on doing.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Tagging: Not Just for Facebook Anymore

Bonjour, mes amis,

I was just looking at random blogs and there was one saying she got "tagged" to answer a survey thing, kind of like how Facebook does it. Except at the end she tagged everyone who read it. I guess I can, I don't really feel like posting anything else super interesting and it gives me an excuse to start adding more than boring text to my posts. Allons-y!

1.What shoe size are you? Quelle pointure êtes-vous?
Size 8 - 9 depending on the brand, but usually 8 or 8 and 1/2.

2.Where do you work? Où est-ce que vous travaillez?

I wish I worked.

3.Favorite piece of clothing you own? Qu'est-ce que votre vêtement préféré?
My fedora, of course! Excluding accessories, I'll go with my newest shirt. Black, racerback with ruffles on the chest, loose fitting with the elastic on the bottom. Makes me wish I had some necklaces to layer with it.

4.Your favorite blog? Votre blog préféré?
I love reading all of my friends' blogs, but honestly, Two Beans or Not Two Beans wins this one.

5.Do you have any pets? Est-ce que vous avez animaux domestiques?
Yep! We have the family cat, and then I have a kitten named Sir Galahad. He's adorable even though he's not really a kitten anymore.

6.How many siblings do you have? Combien de soeurs et frères est-ce que vous avez?
I have a brother (25), a sister (22), a brother (19), a step-sister (11), and a half-step-sister (17). What's a half-step-sister? It's my step-sister's half-sister, of course.

7.If you could live anywhere where would it be? *Too lazy for conditional tense*
Québec. I love you France, but right now, I'm day dreaming constantly of college in Québec.

8.What were you doing before this? *Too lazy for French*

Ironically, tagging my friends on Facebook. It wasn't a survey-type thing, though, it was Henry Thoreau's "Friendship." :)


9.Your favorite food? Votre nourriture préféré?
Perogies, hands down. The real kind though, homemade, not icky frozen ones.

10.Do you have a middle name? *Hey, I don't have to write in French*
Yes I do.

11.Your favorite websites? *Lazy*
Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, StumbleUpon, Gmail, Dirpy, and College Fashion (no particular order to that).

12.Who do you tag? *Lazy*
French Bean, E, and Kayla!

Wow, I'm much more tired than I thought. Good night blogger, tomorrow I will catch you up on today's events!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Good News, Guilty News

Bonjour, mes amis!

What do you want to hear first, the good news or the guilty news? Let's start with the guilty, I like finishing things on a positive note.

Guilty News: I restarted World of Warcraft (WoW) yesterday morning. I've already played for a total of eight hours. Although it's not like I've had anything to do the past two days, so that's not *so* bad. It's that or sit on Facebook for hours. However, one of the positive things I did with my time is the....

Good News: I've begun learning how to play "River Flows in You" by Yiruma. I've figured out all of the notes on the first page (I'm not so great at working with keys other than C) and I can actually play about the first two lines with both hands! Hurrah! And, I'm also looking to buy ce pupitre pour mon piano. I shouldn't have too many difficulties convincing my parents. After all, they already spent $80 on the keyboard but I have a hard time playing with such an awkward height difference. The stand is only $20 and it's adjustable, plus I have $10 so they really would only have to chip in half. What's $10 to get me to use an $80 instrument?

As a result of both of these, I probably won't be doing any more double posts a day ('probably' being the keyword here). However, I should still be posting every day or two. I know I won't be able to resist rambling to my small audience here for long, nor exercise my French when my WoW buddies get tired of it. :P Now I have some cleaning to do to ensure the parents will be happy to spend $10 on me!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Qui-êtes vous?

Bonjour, mes amis!

I broke up with my boyfriend this morning for many reasons but the most important, I think, was that I need to rethink where I stand. Two years ago I knew exactly who I was and where I stood, but my Sophomore year of high school seemed to steal some of those morals away. My dear friend Kayla, over at That's Legit, inspired me to create a post about me. Who am I?

I like people knowing where I stand.

I hate hiding who I am. It's very important to let others know what you believe in, what your dreams and goals are, or even just what your favorite color is.

Tolerance and open-mindedness are very important.

That said, I realize that not everyone is going to be on the same page as me or agree with everything I agree with, nor will I always agree with them. Therefore, it's important to always be mindful of others. For example, I am not religious, but I like learning about different religions because it gives me an insight on the life of others. I cannot stand close-mindedness on either side of the argument, even if they agree with me. We must understand others in order to get along with them, and while we may not always agree on the same points, we can agree to disagree.

I'm a dreamer.

I like reaching for the highest of goals and dreaming up crazy insane perfect futures for myself. It's easiest said, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

I love chanter (to sing).

Ohhh my goodness! A year ago I didn't really understand this one, that's for sure. I mean, I sang when I was home alone, but that's about it. I couldn't drive yet and my siblings certainly gave me hell when I was younger for singing in the shower, so I avoided that as well. On Halloween this year I was at a party and my then-boyfriend heard me singing along to Cascada's Everytime We Touch (don't laugh, it's catchy..) and he suggested I join choir. I was placed into Women's Chorale which is mostly composed of Juniors (versus Choralaires, the choir where most Sophomores are put) and I was instantly in love. Everything from the amazing director, Mr. Hassig, to the girls in the choir that made me feel welcome, to the songs we sang, to the difficult struggles I had trying to get up to their level... I love it.

My worst subject is les mathématiques.

I've always been ahead of the general students but behind the honor students when it comes to math. So, as I've always been in honors math, I've always struggled very much in math. It frustrates me to no end when I can't understand something because I feel very awkward asking my math teachers for help. It's the only class I need actual help from the teachers in, but next year I will be in Pre-Calculus Honors and I can't put it off anymore. Luckily, I'll also have two handy tutors available to help me out. I'm actually a little excited for the challenge next year. I know I can handle it if I work hard.

I'm a geek.

I like school. Yep. Pretty much. ...No, I'm not mentally ill! Or at least, not to my knowledge. I like getting to see my friends every day and I like learning. My teachers were all so awesome this year, too! But yeah, not gonna lie, it's mostly the learning. If I could learn for a living, I so would! I challenge myself in as many areas as possible every school year, even the ones I know I'd never really want to go into *coughmathcough*.

I can't stand seeing people upset.

Seeing other people upset makes me upset. I care. It's a strength and a weakness, but I'd say it's definitely worth it. I love helping people get what they need; it makes me feel good. Shouting matches make me cringe, though. I hate it when anyone yells in anger, be it friends or parents or random people on the street. It just gives me a negative feeling, you know?

I'm addicted to Facebook.

'Nuff said.

I love making nouvelle amis (new friends).

Listening to other people's lives is very interesting to me. I enjoy talking with old friends and new friends and people I've never met before. I'm pretty open about things too, so if you can think of anything else you'd like to know, never be afraid to ask! (:

À demain,

Mlle Delphine