Happy Tag

given to me by Ellie

Books that make me happy- these are mainly children's books. But that's fine. These are the most comforting.
Junonia by Kevin Henkes

A little girl goes to a beach house with her family, just like every year. It's her very favorite place, fairytaleish to her. But this year, some of her favorite people- other vacationers that arrive around the same time as her family- are missing due to weather and scheduling errors. New people, strangers, are there too. Naturally, this is very uncomfortable and disappointing for a ten year old who expects certain things from a yearly vacation. Some may say that this is a silly thing to be upset about, but I can tell you, this is exactly how I felt

Back And Weirder Than Ever- REJOICE, FRIENDS

You are in a great hall, superbly decorated by someone with a dark and eccentric taste. You walk towards the end, feet padding across the shiny floor. You squint in the darkness, towards the shape at the end of the hall. As you near, you realize that the shape is a desk with a high, leather backed chair behind it. The chair's back is facing you, so the occupant may gaze out the windows at the night. Eight feet away from the desk, you stop. And cough- politely.
The chair moves slowly, the back spinning away and the front spinning towards you. A face slides into the dim light of the hall. You silently accept your fate.
I look over my glasses at you, fingers steepled.
"You have accepted my offer, I see." I say, unnecessarily, because you wouldn't be here if you hadn't accepted. I've always liked drama like that.
"You seemed worthy of my attention." You say, from your place eight feet away from my desk, also unnecessarily. You wouldn't be here if I wasn't worthy of your attention. You've always liked drama like that.
I sigh. "First door on your right," I tell you. You nod and stride away, into the corridor.
A door creaks open.
Green light spills out, along with screams.
A door closes.

Adventures with Tracy the uptight family friend + get to know me tag

G R E E T I N G S,  E A R T H   F R I E N D S
Preview of what's to come:

• Guttural noises
• Interpretive dancing
• Creative uses and misuses for green beans
• Making loud comments on the mundane
• Using telekinesis to tickle Eli's kidneys
• Sliding along the floor on my belly shouting "I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

Copy and paste

Artists and authors and scientists and mathematicians,
eaters of breakfast cereals, watchers of rain, criers of tears and shedders of blood
I welcome you all to Copy And Paste, in which I spew onto the screen the recent goings-on of my mind. Despite the magnificent introduction to this post, it is no where near as fancy or profound as you may have expected. Nay, I reckon it'll be pretty odd. It's just bits and pieces from my Notes app.
But the oddness is is what you're here for, isn't it?
HERE WE GOOOO!

Shout out to the kids who kept nose-picking well into the 4th grade and developed that "if I cover my nose with one hand I can pick freely with the other" technique.
Shout out to the kids who have since discovered that doesn't really work.

Giraffes and unicorns.

And guinea pigs. Did I mention them? They aren't giraffes or unicorns, so I suppose I didn't.

Then again, these guys are neither pigs nor from Guinea, so I suppose I will just have to cuddle Maria while she questions her existence as a guinea pig.

Shall we get down to business?

Awards spread faster than winter colds in elemtary school

Watermelon nominated me for the:

Hand in hand Blogger award

How many dolls do you have?

3. Rylan, Lilly, and Andie. Plus Kaya is boarding with us until I see Barrett again.

What do you want to do on your blog in the future?

Take stunning photos like Shannon and Maddie and dolly dorm diaries and....

What do you have planned for this summer?

We were going to go to Canada, but we forgot to get passports.

The only thing I know for sure is that I will be a Star Guide and engage in astronomical awesomeness.

What are your favorite songs?

This changes week to week. Right now its:

I wish I was the moon (Neko case)

Snow (red got chilli peppers)

Stairway to heaven (cover by Rodrigo y Gabriela, original by Led Zepplin)

Orion (cover by Rodrigo y Gabriela, original by Metallica)

Minority (green day)

Into the west (LOTR soundtrack)

May it be (Lotr soundtrack)

Sorrow (bad religion)

Future days (pearl jam)

Unthought known (pearl jam)

On the radio (Regina Spektor)

Fidelity (Regina Spektor)

Wonderwall (oasis)

Come away with me (Norah jones)

Missy (airborne toxic event)

The trees (rush)

And. So. Many. More.

If a new AG doll came in the mail right now, what would you name her?

She would be #61 and I would name her anzley, or Sarah Wednesday, or Jordan, or Logan, or fern.

And Tenley from The Sunshine Dollies nominated me for:

Great photographer award

Tip

Make sure you have:

• enough light (don't shoot inside or at night. Outside and by a window are your best bet)
• no harsh shadows (shoot on a cloudy day or in the shade, or use a reflector {aluminum foil over cardboard! cheapskate greatness!} pointing up at your doll's face to reduce raccoon eye.
• your dolls in focus (grainy, blurry dolls suck)

Another tip: Gwen should use her own tips

What is your favorite book?

Leviathan (Scott Westerfeild)

Rooftoppers (Katherine Rundell)

The Color Of Magic (Terry Pratchett)

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Tillamook Mudslide.

What profession would you like to peruse when you're over?

Anything sciency. I liked earth science and life science (because "geology" and "biology" seem to be too advanced for middle schoolers. huh.)

And I like space and stars (us smart people like to call that astronomy, don't you know) which is why I'm doing that star guide thing this summer.

Does your handwriting look better in pencil or marker?

Depends on how tired I am.

What does the fox say?

"why do we have a song about me making human nonsense noises? Will you all please be quiet?"

Swimming or sledding?

Swimming. It requires less walking uphill and you just get to lay on your back and float. And you get to pretend you're a mermaid.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

This actually a philosophical question.

Let me refer to my 3rd grade sound unit in science. Sound is just molecules bumping onto eachother, which go all the way to bump into your eardrum, and then your ear does this complicated ear thing.

The answer to this question depends entirely on if you call sound just molecules bumping into eachother, or molecules bumping into your ear...

I say that no, it doesn't, because there are no ears for the air molecules to bump into, and hearing and sound is something unique to animals (who aren't around to hear it).

But this only works in theory, because there is no way that you will get all animals out of earshot of the tree.

Why did you start your blog?

It's time for a history lesson!

I first discovered doll blogs when I looked up american girl crafts (the website you see on the side of AG craft boxes that doesn't seem to exist) and I found American Girl Fan. I read that for a while until the "shout out your doll site" thing came up. Then I read everything. I read a lot of your blogs before getting my own and saw many great bloggers. (does anyone miss the spicys?) I had seen how awesome everyone was and I wanted desperately to be a part of it. After discovering the doll blogoverse I took pictures of all my doll activities in hopes that I would someday have a blog. In November of 2014, I finally got my own! It's so much fun and I love you all!

There are no nominations because I am a lazy butt.

I got this awesome t shirt last week.

 I have some good news! My birthday is in 1 week, and school gets out in 13 days! (school days, that is. Im not counting weekends. Also, I have a photostory that should be up soonish, and an OG review after that.

Good Later!

Gwen

STAHP all these awards. (though you flatter me) + other randomness that doesn't belong.

STAHP you are too sweet for your own good award round 2- give to me by Jana from the dolly district.
Let me get one thing straight. I'm not doing the picture, the rules, or the extra nominations because I am a lazy butt. But I do encourage you to answer the questions down in the comments, if you feel like it.

Jana's questions:
1. Favorite hairstyle?
My hair is extremely short. It is a pixie cut, which makes styling (except for pretend Mohawks) impossible. I hate styling my hair about as much as I hate jewelry (see last post), so most days I rock the bedhead look.

My oddness is showing again. (I seem to have an allergic reaction to awards that make me say strange things.)

Right, then. Emily tagged me with the books and reading book challenge thingamabob:

I'm really feeling the colors. Mmm hmm. Summertime.

For this one you answer all the questions which stay the same no matter who it gets passed to. Then you switch out the last question for one of your own. Got it? Got it.

It's time I started being a good friend.

I should probably stop being snarky and obnoxious on award posts. Even if I don't like them, it seems that everyone else has a grand old time tagging eachother. So when I get nominated for an award I either completely ignore it or I unleash my weirdness. I on the last award post you saw my out of whack sense of humor. Let's hope we never see that again. (I tend to delete posts like that because I usually regret things I say. A few days after the fact, things are no longer clever, but dumb.)
So here I go, endeavoring to be a good friend with my "Good Friend Blogger Award", which was given to me by the sweet Allie D, from Spreading My Joy. Man is she good at spreading that joy of hers. She never fails to leave a nice comment. I should probably follow you, dear. Remind me to do so.

I'm debating weather I should contemplate the above proverb.

Too late here we go!

So I have a lot of acquaintances, but no one true friend who sticks closer than a brother. Man. It's pretty hard to get closer than me and my brother. I find him a LOT easier to get along with than school people. And while my online friends are great, you can't really beat a person you know in real life since you were three. Does mean that I will come to ruin? I mean, I can see how you can come to ruin if you try to please too many people... oh I don't know. The more I think about it the more confuzzling it gets.

Will some biblicaly experienced person explain this to me?

Here are the rules that I am not going to be sarcastic about.

Rules:

1. Choose 3+ bloggers you love and agree that they are amazing bloggers!

2. Ask them 3+ questions

3. Post on your blog

Alrighty now. We are no longer going to call this the interrogation, but the interview. This not being snarky thing is going pretty well so far.

1. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert. I really love being around the people that I like, but no matter how much I like you I still need some time to myself away from people to recharge. People in general irritate me, even if they're trying to be nice. I like you online folks better than real people, though, because I can just close the browser if I don't feel like talking.

2. Do you enjoy board games or card games? If so, what is your favorite?

Apples to apples.

3. Do you look more like your mom or dad? Or are you a mix between both?

I have my mom's thick hair that got curly like dad's when I hit puberty.

I have my dad's nose and get along better with him too.

4. Ice cream or cake?

Iiiiiicccceeeee ccccrrrreeeeaaaammm. Tillamook mudslide.

One time my family and mom's friend's family drove down to Oregon to camp and visit the Tillamook cheese factory. It was pretty cool, and we all got ice cream. On the way back Elijah and I rode in dad's car and we found swim goggles in the back seat. So he put them on and we stuck out heads out the windows. The road was empty and curving through farmland and we were going fairly fast, It was fun having the wind rush through your hair and dry out your gums. Also I got him to sing about belly buttons, which is awesome because Elijah never sings, much less contemplates his belly button. That was the last fun time I had with Eli, because now his parents are divorced and he is a grouch, and since we've gotten older our moms label every interaction as "flirting". So we don't talk much any more.
5. Dogs or cats?

Dogs. Dogs treat you like companions, not slaves. And they poop outside and come when you call and go on hikes with you. and they're big.

6. What do you prefer-hamsters, gerbils, or birds?

Guinea pigs. My cousins have guinea pigs. they smell like hay. mmmm

7. If you could live anywhere...where would you live?

Where I live now, only in the past when my dad was a kid and there were no neighbors on our street and he and Aunt Sara could ride their horses as far as they pleased

8. Pink or purple?

Purple. Royal purple.

9. Photography or music? (you can choose both! :))

I used to take piano lessons, only I got bored, so now I don't. I am graced with mediocre piano, saxophone, and clarinet skills (for I took a year of each before I got bored.) And soon I shall have a bass, because Uncle Travis is making a stand up bass and the bridge is a wooden skull.
I like photography best.

10. Have you or do you have braces?

I have braces. I hate them. I don't see why I need them.  I only had one sideways tooth when I got them on. It (the tooth)didn't bother me. The most ironic thing is that they're always playing that " you're beautiful just the way you are" song in the orthodontist office.

Ok. now I have to nominate people.

and I'm actually gonna list people this time. 'cause I'm a good friend.

Ellie and Emily. Because you are my best online friends.

Seven Little Daisies. You are always commenting on my blog and I should probably follow you too. Remind me. OH MAN I JUST REMEMBERED THAT YOU ARE OCEAN AG! OK! We have talked before and you are pretty cool. Man I am good at keeping track of things, huh?

Maddie. I seem to have it in my head that you are on a much higher level than me and I don't feel worthy leaving comments or nominating you for awards, but that very notion is so completely off. I should talk to you more, even If I feel like you're way up there on the awesomeness scale.

The Sunshine Dollies, Who is known by many names across the galaxy, including AmericanGirlDolls4Ever. Don't worry- you have the exact right number of toes you should have on your left foot. lol

Half of you already got this award, but you can have it again for good measure, you good friendly people.

Queations for you:
1) How much energy does it take to power a time machine?

2) What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen sparrow?

3) Who killed Indigo Montoya's father? Should they prepare to die?

4)What is crewman number 6 used for?

5) Name the movie for each above reference.

And Hey,  just figured out how to get rid of the stupid white highlighting when you copy rules and questions to your blog! you go to HTML where you compose your post and look for where it says 
<span style="background-color: white;"
and you get rid of the "white"
<span style="background-color: ;"
There are a LOT of these, one for every line you type, and you have to get rid of all the "white"s. Leave the rest of it alone and you're good!
(I did not figure that out on my own, I looked it up and got it from a youtube video. So here's the link if you want it, but I did it better, if I do say so myself.)

My, my, my. 
That is a heck of a lot easier when I bite the bullet and don't waste time with shenanigans.

Darling Doll Blog Award!!

Howdy, all! This is my first award and I am sooo pleased! And Excited. X-D

Thank you to Izzy At forever Love Dolls for nominating Me!

Here are the questions:

1) What would you buy with a $500 AG gift card?

OOOOOOOh! Lets seeeee ... I would buy MAG#58 aaaaannd the dreamy daybed, and KANANI!!!!! even though she's not available any more. There are a lot of retired items I like a lot better than their new stuff, before things got pink and frilly. I am fairly new to the World of AG (about 1 year and three months) so I'm not that familiar, but i think I like outfits from the era of Kanani to Saige.

2) Which doll (you don't have to own it) looks most like you?

There is not a doll that looks like me. How about Lindsey without bangs and lighter brown hair and brown eyes and glasses. I could post a picture of me, but I'm bad at selfies. If I find a good one, I may edit this and put it up. Not that Im that interesting.

3) Skittles or M&M's?

M&Ms, please, or orange skittles. 

4) Are you in any sports/clubs? If so, what are they?

I an in video club at school. Its run by my language arts teacher and were supposed to be making videos to teach future 6th graders how to open their lockers, but were all lazy bums at lunch so we wind up just watching old Transformers cartoons. * Im also in girl scouts. All the other Cadettes are a year younger than me and INSANE. Im thinking of quitting. * My P.E. teacher wants me to do track in the spring. I like running, yes, but I prefer to do it by myself in the woods.

5) Who is your idol?

All my fellow doll bloggers! I stalked read A LOT of doll blogs for about a year before making my own. There were quite a few posts that made me smile to myself or think "wow that's awesome". It made me sad that I couldn't comment because I didn't have an account. It was especially sad when i watched blogs die/dissappear. Does anyone know where Doll Delight went? On a happier note: I wrote this in my journal late one night after reading a particularly cool post (I can't find it): "recently (ok for 6 months) I have been reading doll blogs. The doll blogosphere is just a bunch of teenage girls and some grown up ladies writing about how they love dolls. They talk about fashion for dolls, Easy shops, sewing. They take pictures go dolls, attempting new angles, sharper focus, portraying emotion. They write photo stories and sometimes post on how to stand up to bullying. They give compliments and advice. They post crafts and opinions on dolls. They get discouraged sometimes and help each other out of funks. I read the blogs to get ideas and inspiration. I want to make my own someday. They make me laugh. I love it when the blog is written from the point of view of a doll. It makes me so happy in the online world of dolls that women and girls can be so different and write so passionately about the same thing: dolls." 

The post that made me so happy was a photoshoot of a doll put to the song "brighter than the sun" It was a slideshow video sort of thing so I could actually hear the music. It makes me really mad that I can't remember who Posted that. One of the pictures inspired me to take this one:

Ok, now I have to nominate people, which is really hard.

Glowy Zoe.

Ocean AG

Picture Perfect AG

AGDTime

The Dolly District

And some questions

1 Do you ever geek out over anything? Like someone starts talking about Lord of the Rings and you start jumping up and down and state your opinions very loudly and everyone looks at you weird because you're usually so quiet. Give an example!!!

2 What is your favorite kind of music/ favorite band? ( If you say Green Day, Pearl Jam or Airborne Toxic Event then you get an extra gold star.

3 What do you predict the color scheme for GoTY 2015 will be?

4 What is the coolest thing someone ever said to you?

[for me, Its "i love how you are always so quiet and every time you open your mouth something weird comes out"   The person who said this didn't mean it rude, and I took it as a compliment. "Thanks, I like that about me, too" I told her : ) ]

5 When you bake cookies, how many do you eat yourself?

Sorry if you already got this award and now have to do it twice.

Also sorry if I didn't nominate you and won are wondering why the heck your blog isn't darling enough. Don't worry- I keep track, so I will nominate you eventually

Have a fabulous evening, you bloggy people!

Love,

Gwynnefar I really don't like that pseudonym. Its so close to my real name and I was just wondering what it was like.It sounded princess-y. Wich I only sort of liked. I'm Gwen.

Love, Gwen