Screen Printing Success...

So, yesterday, when I got home, I started working on screen  printing immediately. And, though it took a lot of hard work, I was able to finish the t-shirts for myself and my brother. I actually got out the sewing machine and modified mine, since I refuse to wear a giant, loose t-shirt. I basically just made it fitted. The thing was, I didn't use a pattern or pinning or anything. I completely freestyled it. I got to wear it to school today also. My brother refused to wear his because he said it was "too loose" but I think he just didn't want to match me.

Today I get to go out after school and do Christmas-y things. My mom, some friends, and I are going to go to our town's Christmas house touring thing. There are supposed to be like 5 stops, fewer than there were last year, but I'm still excited. Last year, they had wassail at one of the houses to drink. It was like hot apple cider. Strange, but good. I wonder what culinary oddities there will be this year. The Christmas decorations are all rather fancy too. Last year there was a whole mini Christmas town set up in one house. Another (I think it was the house of the mayor or something) had a guy dressed as Santa sitting in a sleigh outside and a person playing Christmas songs on the piano in the sitting room.

Right now I am in the middle of writing a poem. I watched these videos the other day on YouTube that were basically these long poems that rhymed, talking about Jesus and faith. One of them was titled "Why I love Jesus, but hate religion", in case you want to look it up, which I do recommend. Anyway, I started thinking about how it wouldn't be that hard to write a similar style poem since I already know how to write song lyrics. So, after I was done with my work in second period, I started writing it.

Here's an excerpt:

You say I'm strange,

but have you looked at yourself lately?

Living life for drugs

Searching out sex

Can't go a week without being in a relationship.

But I'm still the strange one

I still believe God's there

Still say Jesus saves

Won't give in and say "Happy Holidays"

I say I'm strange because thats how God made me

Told me "don't follow the trends"

After he saved me...

I think I may make it into a YouTube video eventually. I based it on those strange looks I get in the hallway and the comments I get about being different and reacting differently than others. I had a run-in with a guy the other day who basically was scoffing at my reaction to a friend in discussing how excited we were over the gifts we were getting eachother. He basically was stating that we were being strangely overdramatic and just too wierd. It bothered me a lot then, and it still does bother me a little.

The closemindedness of some people just astounds me. I can't believe how stupid they are in saying "my beliefs and my actions are the only ones that I can accept". People think that a teenager reading fairytales is wrong and that making your own clothes is a strange idea. They're all just robots, following what the world says. I know that God will love me no matter what, and so will my family. I think the world should be minding it's own business instead of telling me what to think, how to act, and what to look like.

I am not a robot

I am not a clone

You are not my puppetteer

And I am not a drone

I got a new master and I follow him alone

I want a good life 'til I'm gone...

I won't say that I've always been this way or that I don't occasionallly follow a trend in some way, shape, or form. I just try not to do it to impress other people. I know that I am an individual and that God put me here to be a person who others notice has something different. If I can show the non-believers that I am different simply by dressing and acting like I do, I will. I don't want to dress like I'm trying to get the attention or a boy, because I know that I will only attract bad attention. I don't care about having a Coach or Gucchi purse, I just want to have something that fits my personal style. I also feel that the way I dress and act reveals the childlike Joy that God has put in my heart. I have never wanted to "grow up" exactly. I just wanted to stay me, even as I got older.

When I was in about the fourth grade, I wrote a letter to my future self as an assignment in class. Everyone did it. I can't remember everything that I put in there, but I remember stating that I hope my future self doesn't do drugs or anything bad like that. I want to be that person, the person that I know my younger self would be proud of. My younger self didn't care what other people thought, and she wasn't mean or involved in drama. She was imaginative and smart, the way I strive to be today. It just makes me sad that I have no way of going back and seeing what exactly I was like back then, I can only rely on my memories. Darn it, why can't a tardis appear out of nowhere so that I can go back and see...

If you can't tell, I've started watching Doctor Who recently on Netflix. I'm still watching the last few episodes of the 9th doctor. I can't wait to watch more.

Well, ta ta for now.

Love,

Elizabeth W.