...My fencing foil broke today...

...

...At least it died honorably in battle. I'll have a little good-bye ceremony in a little while and place the pieces on my dresser.

You've served me well, old blade... You taught me much and gave me many victories. Thank you!



Now I've got to buy a replacement blade..

Well, after having a really good weekend, I'm actually really bummed right now...
On Saturday me and my family went to the Tower of Americas --had a fantastic meal, took a bunch of pictures.. Sunday was my Grandmother's 79th birthday and we had a surprise party for her.. took a bunch of pictures.
On Monday, me and my mom went to eat at IHOP. It was so yummy and we had a great waiter.. but...

I think I lost my camera there.. I think someone must've picked it up.. I didn't realise it was gone until today..

Man, I really, really hope it gets found! I had the Tower pics, and the surprise party pics on there...

I'm so bummed about it... *cry*

This has been the longest, hottest, most boring summer in the history of my life. Even my buddies seem to be ignoring me.. I call and text, but no one calls or texts back..and I don't wanna keep calling and texting because then I feel like I'm being a pest. *cry*

On the upside, I have cleaned and reorganized my room...

*sigh*

Just three more weeks 'til fencing starts again...

Oh, right... because I'm NOT DEAD!!

A friend sent me these... What hero and villain are you??

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% Batman 60% Wonder Woman 60% Robin 60% The Flash 60% Supergirl 55% Spider-Man 50% Hulk 50% Catwoman 50% Green Lantern 45% Iron Man 25%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test



Your results:
You are Catwoman

Catwoman 50% Dr. Doom 50% Dark Phoenix 49% Apocalypse 47% Magneto 46% Riddler 46% The Joker 45% Poison Ivy 45% Lex Luthor 42% Juggernaut 42% Two-Face 42% Venom 41% Mr. Freeze 40% Mystique 34% Green Goblin 34% Kingpin 30%

With a troubled past and an upbringing on the streets you have learned how to fend for yourself through crime.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

I've got so much to write, so many pictures to post... but I don't have all that much time. Plus, all my pics aren't on the computer yet..

Anywho, I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas and New Year's celebration!! Did you guys get anything really cool? My Christmas was a very Batman-heavy Christmas. Not that I'm complaining.. ;-) Also, I got season 2 of Remington Steel.. *drool* Oh, and I got a Mexican wrestling mask! Sweet! And because I'm a dork, my friend got me some Neocash to get stuff on Neopets.. :-D And my grandma in Marion made me some custom pillowcases! ^_^ They've got blue trim and my initials on them!

..The neighbors have asked me to feed their cats while they're away. And, ever since they left.. however many weeks ago it was.., some raccoons and I have been involved in a battle of wits. They'd steal the cats' food from the tub, I'd try to come up with a way to stop them... This went on every morning and every night. (Oh, and I think they took one of the cats' bowls. I can't find it anywhere!!) Finally, I just took the tub of food into my house. HA!! Up yours, raccoons!
Oh, and tonight, some possom was a-watchin' me from their driveway! :-O It was a big one, too!

Sometime tomorrow, I'll be going with my cousins to the McNay art museum because they are having some sort of Nightmare Before Christmas exhibit. Awesome! I don't know if I'll be able to take pictures, but I'll bring my camera anyway.. because you never know!!

More later, all!!

My lousy internet security is acting goofy.. So, I'm using a friend's computer! Yay! Anywho... in case I can't log in sooner, I'd like to wish all of y'all a happy turkey day! :-)

I do have lots of Halloween pics and other news to report, but that can wait until I can get my internet security squared away.

Hope all is well with everybody! I can AIM chat on my phone, if anyone's interested! I miss talking with those I'd chat with. So, if you see me on, do say 'hey'.. :-)

Okay, then, later all!

Just thought I'd share this game with y'all...

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/scarfit

If you get fast enough, it kinda sounds like you're playing a song! A song with very staccato notes... but a song nevertheless.. :-)

Today after fencing (I was in charge today! Whee! It went very well!!) several of my fencing buddies and I went to eat at Main Street Pizza...

...and some of the people from the station walked in. It was interesting. We started talking and it turns out, after I had left the station, the place pretty much went downhill and the guy that replaced me sucked and he didn't last four months.
Now, the guy I had been training to do PSAs way back when is in charge and things are starting to look up. And get this... they'd like me to come back. Even if it's just for the weekend show...

Hmm.. quite the interesting turn of events......

Today coach gave the stuff I need to teach the fencing class tomorrow. I'm very excited!! I have to take role, make the beginners review their footwork, and help them with their parries if they need it --then they can free-fence. I have to make sure everyone has their masks and jackets on, and make sure nobody's fencing without tips on their blades!
Luis and I keep joking around. He keeps calling me 'captain' and that he's my 'number 1'.
Then I joke "Number 1, engage in 4."

...little fencing joke, there...

Anywho, today I had one of the bestest lunches with Luis ever. I don't know, it was just fun. We're such nerds! lol

yeah, so I just thought I'd post this little thing here. I'm just all pumped for tomorrow or something. :-)

Oh, and my friend and I just posted a bunch of Halloween stuff on e-bay, so check that out, if you want!

Later!!

So my fencing coach will be in Colorado for a sports seminar this Friday. Guess who he left in charge...


How awesome is that?! He's leaving me with a sheet of drills and stuff for the beginners to do, then after that, I'll allow them to free-fence. Whee! I'm in charge!!
Annnnd, because I will be doing this for him, he bought me and Luis lunch today!  ^__^  Coach is awesome!! And Luis gave me a ride home today! Yay! No walking through the heat for me!!

And some chick on campus was handing out free packs of Stride gum. I got 5 packs yesterday and 3 more today. Yay, free gum!

****
My friend will be coming over today to pick up some stuff that sold on e-bay. Then, afterwards, my mom and I will be going to buy some more Halloween stuff (we've already got a few things). Our theme this year is Dracula's Castle. And, would you believe that I've already got next year's theme ready? Well, I do... and it's gonna blow minds, it's so awesome..
Also, I have to buy her a birthday gift.. Her birthday's on the 2nd, same as a good internet buddy of mine. Crazy!!

I also drew last night! Yay!! And it's fencing related!! http://fictionartwing.deviantart.com/art/After-the-Bout-99389919
I still want/need to write something.. but I haven't really been inspired. But, hey, at least I've done something creative!

And, to make me extra happy today... I'm wearing my Harley Quinn shirt!  ^____^ I love this shirt!!

Tomorrow's my bro's 24th Birthday!

My mama got a new job! :-)

Coach said he may run late tomorrow, and left me in charge of the fencing class!!

I feel kinda bad since I haven't drawn anything this whole month so far.. D-:     Also, I really feel like writing some fanfic, but I feel so uninspired despite the many ideas stuck inside my head. I need to find and catch a muse...

The shoulder strap on my fencing bag broke. Now I have to use the little handles... quack.. :-/

I reinstalled my scanner's software. Yay! I feel all smart.

Um.. 'kay, I think that's it for now!
Later!

So, my birthday was on Monday, but my bestest best friend, jcsarah48 , proved to all just why she's my bestest best friend by holding a Batman party for me on Tuesday!!

Behold the pics of all the nifty and beyond cool stuff!!!

First off, she and her mom had made me a chocolate cake! They tried to make it into the shape of a bat.. how sweet!! ^__^
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmancake1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmancake3.jpg

Time to blow out the candle! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanbirthday2.jpg

These were the plates, napkins and loot bags she used for the party..
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmansupplies.jpg

This was the candle holder that was on the cake:
front: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmancandle1.jpg
back: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmancandle2.jpg

And this bag held all my goodies! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanbag.jpg

Now, on to the bat-goodies!

I got a Batman yoyo --that lights up! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanyoyo.jpg

And Batman socks!! I wore a pair Wednesday..  ^__^ http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmansocks.jpg

This thing is a lollipop that slides.. http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanslider.jpg

Candy rings!! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanrings.jpg

Oh! This is my Batman push puppet! First he's like this: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanpuppet1.jpg
Then, you push down his base, and his arms move: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanpuppet2.jpg
Yeah, I'm having fun with him.. I like making it look like he's flexing.. lol! Yeah..I'm strange..
Also, he comes with a tube of candy bats!! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanpuppet5.jpg

And here's some Batman stickers! Satisfying my love of both Batman and stickers! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanstickers.jpg

Oh, and today, after the beginning fencing class, some of us stayed after to fence. Luis and I also taught a few beginners. Afterwards, we were all going to go out and eat. So, I went into one of the closets to change. I was taking off my chest plate when I heard something small and metal hit the floor. I looked down and saw some round, silver thing. I picked it up.. it was a little pinback button.. but when I flipped it over, this is what I saw...
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/batmanpin.jpg
I was like "OMG!! Where'd this come from?" I had been in the same closet earlier that day, taking out the masks, putting them back in, and I even looked for a few mask straps in there too. I didn't see it then.. and it most certainly wasn't attatched to any of the jackets! So what are the odds that a button would come out of nowhere and that it would be a Batman button... and that I'd find it?

Then I showed it to Luis and he was like "Oh! Treasure!"

Well, now it's earned a special place of epic awesome on my bag. ^__^

Okay, so like I said last time, my mom took me to the Wittie museum on Saturday to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit as an early birthday thing. It was the last weekend for the exhibit, so I had to go!!

It was a very interesting exhibit, featuring working models of about 40 machines/inventions that were created from his sketches... and I just had to bring my camera of course!! ;-)

On to the pics!!

This is a model of a parachute he designed: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/parachute.jpg

This bird --complete with flapping wings-- was designed to be used in theatre productions: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bird.jpg

This thing was called the Flying Bird. It was sort of like a helicopter but the person acted as the engine and controled the thing using a series of ropes:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/flyingbird2.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/flyingbird3.jpg

The museum said that Leonardo was the first person to categorize the elements as wind, water, fire, and earth.. Anyway, here he is experimenting with air again with this large wing. If it had been built as large as Leo intended it to be, it would've been six times bigger than this model... :
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/flappingwing1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/flappingwing2.jpg

Here's a glider he developed. It's just like a hangglider, but this one would've been controlled with strings attatched to the rider's hands/fingers: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/glider3.jpg

Leo messed around and worked with a lot of gears and such. When the lever on this device went back and forth, the paddle wheel went round and round: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/rotarypaddle1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/rotarypaddle2.jpg

More gears... This one's a Worm Gear..: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/wormgear1.jpg

You can still see this kind of thing on trains today!! Turn the wheel and the thing on the pole goes back and forth: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/backforth1.jpg

Kind of like an elevator.. Turn the gear, and the notched bar would go straight up (or down): http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/updown1.jpg

This thing was probably the world's first power saw (or whatever they're called). When a crank was turned, the logs would move forward and the saws would go up and down:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/saw1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/saw2.jpg

Leonardo developed this device to make blacksmiths' jobs easier: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/hammerdrop2.jpg

Sometimes the military would have Leo come up with things for them. He developed these floaty shoes along with some staffs with floaty things on the bottom of them.. the idea was to move soldiers over water without bridges and such: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/waterwalker1.jpg

This was another floaty device. Basically, it's an innertube with webbed gloves that would be used to move the person forward: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/frogman3.jpg

This thing was neat. It's a mobile bridge that could be constructed without ropes, nails, or any other connective item: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bridge2.jpg

This is called a bombard.. it's an early type of cannon. Turning the crank would change it's trajectory:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bombard2.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bombard4.jpg

This was a very popular model in the exhibit.. It was a tank Leo developed. It would be operated by 8 men --4 to load the cannons, 4 to shoot them. There was also a little ladder that led to viewing holes on the top:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/tank1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/tank3.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/tank4.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/tank5.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/tank8.jpg

He also created a machine gun: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/machinegun1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/machinegun3.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/machinegun5.jpg

This was Leo's odometer. It would be lifted like a wheelbarrow. As the big wheel went around, another wheel (the horizontal one) went around and dropped a pebble into a box after every inch/foot/whatever it was set for.. To find out your distance, you counted the number of fallen pebbles and multiplied it by the circumference of the wheel!:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/odometer2.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/odometer3.jpg

A chain drive! Just like on a bicylce!: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/chaindrive2.jpg

This was a crane. It could move the object up and down, and the whole thing could move side to side:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/crane1.jpg

This is a burning mirror. It would've been used to burn the sails of enemy ships among other things..: http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/burningmirror2.jpg

Although sketches of this bicycle were found with some of Leo's other works, experts aren't sure he drew it. It may have been done by an apprentice of his. Whatever the case, it's still amazing:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bike1.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/bike2.jpg

This was cool --Leonardo sort of developed the first robotic humanoid! This model opened his chestplate --showing off the gears inside-- and bowed! Unfortunately, I couldn't capture either on my camera.. The robot moved too fast and my digital camera, at times, insists that blurry pictures are best..:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e361/NickyFA/robot2.jpg


Hope you learned lots! ;-P

Later!

Omg, my birthday's on Monday!! Anywho, I've sorta already started celebrating. Today, well... technically yesterday... I went to the Witte Museum to check out the Genius of Leonardo exhibit. It was a collection of about 40 working machines that were built from Leonardo da Vinci's sketches. It was very cool. I took a buncha pictures.
It's kinda late right now.. I should be sleeping, lol.. So, I'll post the pics later!

'Til next time!

:-)

Woe! My Monkees director's chair tore right up the middle of the seat! WOE! I know it was old and all, but still... it's torn.... WOE!!  D-:

...

Fencing is still the most funnest thing ever. Now, though, we're all doing more hanging out after class. So much fun! We go and eat out with coach and have the bestest time ever! Yay!
Also, my birthday is on Monday! Crazy! I'll be 26! I really want a cookie cake!!  ^__^  With a big sword drawn on it in frosting!!  ^______^!!

I got a new phone today! It's an LG Rumor --and it's blue! *happy dance* The store just got them today and I snagged one! Yeah, my old flip phone was breaking... badly. I was keeping it together with tape, for cryin' out loud! My new phone's so purdy...

Also, it was my grandma's 78th birthday! We went to eat at Outback, then we saw Dark Knight again! Yay!