The Rose Garden

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

1.  I was listening to All Star by Smash Mouth, and I thought the line ‘Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb’ was ‘Your gay friends smart but your girlfriend’s dumb’.  And I thought it was so rude.  Then I realized I was the one at fault.  What is wrong with me? My hearing is all out of whack.  I’m going to be one of those old ladies that walks around screaming, ‘What?” all the time.  Maybe I’ll just do that for the heck of it.  To the people who bug me, I’ll just yell, ‘What?’ to every question they ask me.

2.  ”It’s the greatest time of year, and it’s here
Help me celebrate it
With everybody here, friends so dear
Let me simply state it
It’s our favourite way to spend the holiday
Yeah

There’s a special kind of feeling in the air
It only happens at this time of year
When everyone is filled with love and cheer
‘Cause that’s what matters

Pretty paper boxes tied with bows
Walking in the sun or in the snow
We can feel the excitement growing, growing.”

3.  I’m going to post Christmas song lyrics everyday from now until Christmas.  Yep.

4.  We watched On the Waterfront in film class today.  And I was so proud of myself, because I knew the famous line.  ”I could have had class.  I could have been a contender.  Instead of a bum.  Which is what I am.”

5.  I am reading Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.  And I always said that there was no way I could ever like a sappy teen drama novel.  Boy, oh, boy was I wrong.  I started the book yesterday, and I’m already on page 182.  It’s so good!  But you know I’ll probably end up ranting about it when I am done.

6.  Finals are next week.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.  I still feel like I am a freshman.  This high school thing is going by way to quickly.  I can’t believe I’m going to be sixteen in the summer.  Saying that, it sounds young, but to me, it’s not.  I tell you, life goes by so quickly.

7.  I dissected an eye.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  I felt very CSI-ish.  look out, Mac Taylor.  I am out for your job.

8.  The A capella group preformed the Glee version of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.  And it was the shiznitz.  Never before had I been so happy with our school’s singing ability.  And never before had I been so mad at myself for not auditioning for the A capella group like I had been planning on doing.

Don’t think you could stop it now
I’d like to see you try somehow
Realize that it puts it all on you
There’s nothing you can do

Right now you’re sick and tired
You’re feeling sad, feeling uninspired
But the clock just won’t slow down
Like it gets it kicks pushing you around

Maybe in the morning it won’t be
Quite as bad as it seems

The fact that you can’t change
The speed of sound, the rate of age
Is an understatement to
A state of mind you’re not used to

But…. you can buy a zorbing ball, which is not a name, but an adjective. The companies that produce the balls for the Zorb company make the same and better balls for other entities. Of these, places to ride are now popping up everywhere.
Companies like ZorbNewEngland, Hydro-core, Hyper-core, Vertiglobe, Spheremania, Downhill Revolution, and many more are taking over the industry, legally, and making it available to the common consumer using stronger, more transparent balls and charging half the price. ZorbNewEngland even offers giant mazes, soccer, bowling, pool, and other games you play from inside a zorbing ball, but on flat land.

The guys who invented zorbing in New Zealand - have a new website; http://www.theogo.com. This website has details on how you can get into business with them to operate your own zorbing park. They don’t sell the balls just to anyone though.

My dad and my brother and I fixed my laptop.  The one that I had broke in no less then two weeks.  It has come to walk amongst the living laptops again!  Except now, it’s on life support.  What do you mean by life support, Jackie? Well, I’ll have to give you the doctor’s synopsis.

Me: Dr. Google, my laptop appears to be broken.  I think it got in a terrible fight with the cat next door.

Dr. Google: Well, Jackie.  Let me take a look at him.  Ah yes, I see the problem.  His internal hard drive is malfunctioning. I’m afraid i’m going to have to let him go.

Me: No!  Dr Google, please!  Please do something to save him!

Dr. Google: I suppose I could put him on life support…

Me: Yes.  Yes.  Do it.

Dr. Google: …however, it is incredibly risky.

Me: I don’t care!  Please!  Just save him!

And that’s how it went down. Although, I don’t really know what broke.  It could have been the internal hard drive.  I don’t know.  But, my computer is on life support because It has no battery, so it must constantly be plugged into the wall, and the keyboard and mouse are broken, so I have to plug a keyboard and mouse into the USB slots.  Which will be interesting when it comes the time that I need to use the USB ports.  So my formally known laptop is now more of a desktop.  But I can’t complain.  i’m just happy it works again.

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely, dreamful, night, and I will see you in the morning.