Bucket List

Most people make a bucket list of things to do before they die. Mine is a little different. I have 80 years before I die. These are things I want to do before I have kids, and settle down. I know that having kids doesn't ruin your life or mean that you can't have fun anymore. But, once you see some of the things on this list, you'll kind of get it. So, here we go!

1. Finish my ear piercings. I currently have three in each lobe. However, I want a lot more. In my left ear, I want seven going up my ear, so it's basically ringed in earrings. In my right ear, I want four going up my lobe, two in my helix, and I want to try to do my industrial. I don't know if the industrial will be possible, though. 
2. I want to try and get as many tattoos in as I can. I don't mind getting tatted with kids, but I still want quite a few before kids. There are other posts of tattoos I want, but I'm going to give a quick gloss-over anyway.
• Notes from my parents
• This one will have to wait until I have kids, because I want their tiny feetprint "walking" up my side
• A Tinkerbell with "To die would be an awfully big adventure" on the back of my neck
• "The crownless again shall be king"
• A frog with a chef's hat and a whisk
• "Be humble for you are made of earth, be noble for you are made of stars."
• "We are such stuff as dreams are made on"
• "And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."
• Portraits of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe on my feet
• The "Eat Me" cookies on the inside of my left heel, and the "Drink Me" vial on the inside of my right heel
3. Go to bartender school. I just think that it would be really, really cool to learn how to be a bartender. And I'd be massively popular at parties. =)
4. Swim with sharks. I would love to walk around on the bottom of the ocean, but cage diving works, too. It's actually really funny. I do not like the beach at all, whatsoever. But I adore marine life. Except eels. They're scary. And barracuda.
5. Try out for a roller derby team. Even if I don't make it, I at least want to try.
6. Tour Europe. This is really one of the biggest things I want to do. I think it would be really fun.
7. Learn more languages. I'm a native English speaker, and I can speak halfway conversational Spanish. But I want to learn to at least speak halfway conversational French, Italian, and maybe German.
8. Get my cosmetology license. If everything goes as planned, I should be able to do this before I finish high school. 
9. Find my dream job. Though cosmetology and being a bartender are fine careers, and I'm not disrespecting anybody that does them, I don't want to do that for the rest of my life. As of right now, I really want to go into sex-and-sexuality education.
10. Take nonsensical college classes. Even if they don't have anything to do with my major, I still want to take fun classes. Even if it means having to go back to college just for a class. Like Human Behavioral Biology, Psychology, Women's Studies, there are so many classes that sound like fun.
11. Learn to play the piano. I actually think that this would be really, really fun. 
12. Take ballet classes long enough so I can dance on pointe. I don't want to be a prima ballerina, but I think dancing on pointe is so gorgeous.
13. Sing opera. This is kind of ridiculous because I can't manage to just sing normally in front of my classmates. 
14. This one is just something I want to do before I die. There's a list of over 100 of the most famous books that most people haven't read. I want to read the majority of them. And, for my age, I've read quite a few. Out of 102 books, I have read 14. There are many more on that list that I have started, but haven't finished. I have a thing about needing to hold books, and most of the ones I started were on Kindle. So I am going to work on those.
15. Go to Mardi Gras. I know this sounds silly, but I think it would be fun. 
16. Go on a road trip with friends. I would love to do this in high school. Just take a group of friends, drive to Atlanta, and spend a night or so there.

I'm sure there are more things that are on my bucket list, but I can't remember them. So, for now, that will have to do. What's on your bucket list? What are things that you wish you would have done? "I figure life's a gift, and I don't intend on wasting it."

Shark Week

Sadly, it's over. However, after reading a post from my friend, Ashley, over at The Interesting Abyss, I decided to write about it. Of course, I'm going to defend sharks.

Well, not really defend them, because I haven't seen anybody attack them. I just love sharks and useless information. So, I shall try to educate people about sharks.
"Sharks are dangerous, bloodthirsty, vicious things that will attack and kill you for no reason." Actually, no. On average, 100 people are bitten by a shark every year. (Keep in mind, the world is filled with seven billion.) Only about five die. However, it's very easy to prevent being bitten. Firstly, surfers/wake boarders should not go out when there is low-light. Steer clear of surfing during sunrise, sunset, or at night. It's darker, and that makes it a bit harder to see. Couple that with the fact that many sharks like to eat seals, and that the outline of a paddling surfer looks a lot like the outline of a seal, it's not the best thing to do.
Second, if you see large groups of seals in the water, use your brain. Sharks like to eat seals, and you look like a seal. Paddling, you look like the underbelly. Treading water, you look like a seal. (When they sit in the water, they sit straight up and down.)
Try to avoid excessively splashing in the water. Sharks are excellent at feeling movement. So, you splashing at the top feels like an injured fish to them. While they might not attack, they'll certainly come investigate.
That's the ends of my Tips for Not Being Bitten By A Shark. Now, it's just fun facts. Bull sharks. Do not mess with them. I mean, don't go messing with any shark, but especially not bull sharks. They're extremely territorial, with testosterone levels of 400+. So, try to steer clear of them.
They are very clever beings. Sharks have been known to figure out mazes very quickly, and then to remember the mazes for a very long time.
Jaws, everybody knows it. Duuun nun, dun nun, dun nun... It's based on the theory of "rogue sharks," or sharks that give up natural prey for humans. However, there's tons of evidence against the theory of rogue sharks, such as the fact that there hasn't been a single case of them. In 2001, a series of shark attacks at a beach led people to believe that there might be rogue sharks. But, after examining the evidence, it was our fault. Divers would go out, feed this one shark, and then reach into a fanny pack for another piece of fish. Essentially, we trained the shark.
Everybody knows that shark teeth are quite sharp, and that there are hundreds. However, did you know that their teeth have been used as weapons for hundreds of years? Oh. You did? Well, how about the reason why their teeth are so strong? They're filled with and produce fluoride. The same stuff in our tooth paste? Yeah, it grows naturally on their teeth.
Fetal sharks will swim around inside their mothers and eat the other fetal sharks. Survival of the fittest begins before birth.
Finally, mating. As Ben has so kindly told me, I know way too much about animal coitus. And I seriously do. However, I'm going to share my knowledge with you. Ever noticed how lots of sharks have scars all over their skin? Yeah, some of those can be from fights. But a lot of them are actually mating scars. It makes sense. I mean, sharks don't have any hands to hold on to each other with, and they have to constantly keep swimming to live. So, to mate, they bite each other.
Despite the fact that sharks are extremely fascinating, beautiful, and amazing creatures that have stuck around for millions of years, many people are hunting them. Sharks take a long time to mature, and have relatively low reproduction rates. So, needlessly killing them for shark-fin soup is incredibly wasteful. Let's save sharks, so that our kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and all future generations can appreciate these fearsome beasts.

Ultrasound

My mama still has videos of one of my ultrasounds, and one-and-a-smidgen of Kyle's ultrasounds. (In mine, she was about four months along. In Kyle's, there's a bit of one when she first found out she was pregnant, and then a full one of a longer-gestated Kyle.) I was recently watching the video of my ultrasound, and it is just so cool.
It's weird to think of myself as I do not know myself. There are very few pictures of my mother's pregnancy, and only one (known) ultrasound of her with me. So it's just strange. There are all sorts of pictures of infant me. In fact, there are tons of pictures of me as a baby. So that isn't weird. But to see myself as a fetus is weird. It's especially weird to hear my parents refer to me as a boy. I've always known that I am a girl, so it's just natural for people to refer to me as a girl. However, my parents chose to keep my gender an unknown until I was born. On the ultrasound, you can hear my mom keep referring to me, her daughter, as he/him/his/etc.
But, the coolest part is hearing my parents. My mom sounds so young, excited, and utterly in love. I know she loves my brother and me very much. But it's just weird hearing that level of absolute adoration directed to a stranger and an unknown. It's just so cool. I actually started tearing up a little bit hearing her excitement. Every time I moved, you could hear her excitedly tell my dad, "Look, he's moving his little arm. Oh! Look at his little lips." At one point, I "waved" at them. It's just awesome.
And then there's my dad. He's never been one for really emotional expression, that's always my mom. We actually tease him because his way of saying that something is really awesome is nodding his head and going, "Cool." But, on the video, he just kept saying, "Wow." I would kick, "wow." The ultrasound technician would pan over to my feet, "wow." The funniest part, for me, was when the tech told them how much I weighed. She told them in grams, the universal measurement. My dad, to better put it into a tangible amount, said, "Wow. That's almost two bowls of cereal. ... Froot Loops." So, at five-months incubated, I weighed as much as two bowls of Froot Loops.
I don't know if any of you will really care, but I thought that it was really cool to see pre-Dylan Dylan, and to hear my mama get all excited over it. Maybe I'm just a wuss like that. Who knows? I cry at the ending of The Little Mermaid.

#HowIMetMyBestFriend

This is currently a trending topic on Twitter, in case you couldn't tell by the hashtag. I felt that it would be a nice story to tell, considering I've been neglecting my blog. (Sorry!) My best friend is Ben, in case you don't follow me on twitter or facebook.
It was the second day of my freshman year. (On my first day, I sat alone for 99% of my lunch period. Go, Dylan!) So, I started out sitting alone. Then, a kid that I had met in English class came up and sat across from me.
Now, I will go off on a tangent onto how I met that kid. His name is Cedric, and he has a mustache. I started off freshman year with navy blue hair. So, I was sitting in English class. I was the first kid there. (On the first day, I actually missed English because I was standing in line to get my ID.) The class starts to fill up, and I'm ignored. (Which suits me just fine. I'd rather be ignored and left to my own devices than tripping over my words in a painfully awkward conversation.) Then, Cedric walks in. He starts walking towards me, which kind of worried me. I was afraid that maybe I was in his spot. But, no. Loudly, he tells me that he likes my hair and asks if I can do the same for his hair. I kind of murmur that, probably not. My navy hair was actually and accident, but I could try.
Back to lunch. So, I'm sitting alone, and Cedric sits down across from me, and asks how I like Chorus class. (It's my second day, and I totally can't remember him being in my Chorus class.) I've only had a quarter of a conversation with this kid, so I'm awkwardly looking around, and generally making things awkward. Enter Ben. He comes, and sits next to Cedric. Then, he asks me how I like Chorus class. I don't know him, either. So I ask if the both of them are stalking me or something. Ben laughs and says that he's in my Chorus class, and pointed me out to Cedric. Again, being the awkward aardvark that I am, I kind of giggle.
Then, Cedric and Ben make the biggest mistake. They ask me why I'm wearing earrings in the shape of a two. I suddenly turn from the girl who can't form a full sentence to the girl that won't shut up. Suddenly, I'm spewing information about how two is the best number, why it is that way, how it relates to the Fibonacci sequence, what the Fibonacci sequence is, and other such mathematical jargon.
Then, as quickly as it started, it ended. Once I had exhausted my mathematical knowledge, I shut up and went back to Awkward Dylan. Of course, the two of them were sitting there in stunned silence. Cedric recovered first with, "Cool! I'm sitting next to her now!"
Either later that night, or the next day, I get a friend request from Ben. I didn't know who he was, so I ignored it. Five minutes later, a little chat message pops up from another Chorus friend, Sidney. She asks if I've friended Ben yet, and tells me that he's in our Chorus class. So, I friend him.
Cue the flirting. I've gone into it before, so I'm not going to rehash it. Turns out that Ben wanted to talk to me before, but couldn't get up the nerve to do so. So, thank you, Cedric. Without you, I might not have my best friend.

Roommates

For a few years now, whenever I think about roommates, I really just want to live with guys. I have little desire to live with other girls, and no desire to live alone. (Everybody tells me that I will "grow out of this," but I am a nervous narwhal and really don't think that living on my own would be right for me.)
Back on track now. Whenever I mention wanting just guy roommates, everybody tries to deter me from it. I don't know why, but I would much prefer to live with three/four guys and my cat than three/four girls and my cat. (My cat is a given in any living situation. I'd be lost without my Zoe-Bowie.) And I don't understand it. I'm not a mind reader, and I certainly do not know everything there is to know. Why is my desire to live with men so taboo?
I've gotten that it's a bad idea because they'd just hit on me and stuff. But, guys don't hit on me now. How is knowing that I sleep with a movie on going to make me any more attractive? That mindset does not make sense to me. Young as I am, I'm pretty sure that not all guys are total sleaze-bags, and I'm pretty sure that I could find nice, non-sleazy roommates.
It's not that I prefer guys to girls or anything like that. I can just see myself living with guys more easily than I can see myself living with girls. But who knows? Not I. I'm not moving out for a few more years. So it's totally up in the air whether or not Zoe and I live alone, or with a girl, or with a guy, or with many girls, or with many guys, or with a mixture.
I guess I just want to know, what's the big deal with co-ed living? Certainly there are older, and wiser people reading. So, what's your take on it? Who would you like to live with? Girls? Guys? Both? Neither? Maybe I'm just an oddball. Maybe I'm just ignorant on the discussion of roommates. Maybe it's my young mind at work. Just let me know what you think? =) Thanks.

We vs. Me

Source

So, I just recently came across this image. And I love the general message it conveys. However, I do have some issues with it.

1) Me vs. We. We're taught that we can never think of ourselves and put ourselves first. That we must always be caring, and giving, and put others first. I'm here to say: No. Stop that. Put yourself first. Not all the time. A 24/7 "me, me, me" attitude isn't healthy. And nobody likes it. I wouldn't want to be friends with somebody that ONLY thought about their selves. However, you do need to put yourself first sometimes. Don't go through life people-pleasing. Because, if you give up everything to make others happy, what happens when they leave? You're just lost and don't know who you are anymore. So, putting ourselves first needs to be taught and people need to know that it's OK to do sometimes.

2) Pride. Pride is not negative. Again, in small enough doses, it's excellent to have. Of course, you can be too prideful. But society is watered down and to think that we're something worth noticing is negative. If people show an inkling of pride, they're conceited, self-loving, and terrible. But that isn't true. There's a difference between thinking that you're pretty, or that you have a nice butt, or that you're really good at something, and thinking that you are just all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips. We need to be proud of ourselves. It's OK to do.

Those are really the only things I have big problems with. Of course, we can't just live for the now. Now, it's easier not to do my homework. But, how is that going to affect my future? Or what's the benefit of eating the avocado as opposed to the pizza? We need to think of the future. And we can't entirely ignore our past. It's what made us who we are today. Power isn't necessarily a bad thing. Too much of it, yes. But to just be powerful? Nah. Susan B. Anthony had power, and she used it properly. Voldemort had power, and he used it improperly. It's all just how you use that power and what you do with it. 

Actually, everything is just about how you use it and what you do with it.

The Dentist

I went to the dentist today. I needed some cavities filled. Needless to say, it entertained me greatly. I'm going to give you a string of events, and they won't form a story, but they will be fun snippets.

I sat down, and the assistant said that there was a new dentist, and he was a man. Except for, her words were, "He's a man now." Like, he wasn't a man last week, but now he is.

He walked in and said, "Yeah. I've seen her before. We go way back. I knew her when her hair wasn't green."

They shot me up with Novocain. First, I got four shots in the right side of my mouth. (By the way, the shots don't hurt at all. I didn't think he was doing it. BUT the needle looks absolutely terrifying. It's this huge metal syringe, and looks way too hardcore to fit into my mouth.) Then, after he had been drilling, I winced and got two more shots on the right, in front. This was at 11:30. It's now 5:30. I still can't feel my mouth. The ones in my cheek have worn off, but the last two are still kicking.

While they were waiting for my shots to work, they X-rayed my mouth. The assistant was having problems, because my mouth was too little. Fun fact: I have very groovy teeth. They have really deep ridges AND extra ridges.

Then, they began working on my face. It was weird. My mouth was full of cotton. Not the normal wad in the jaw, wad by the tongue. No. They gave me a rubber thing to hold my mouth open, so I wouldn't have to keep it open while they did it. So that filled the left half of my mouth. Then, I got two or three wads to keep my tongue out of the way, plus the standard one to hold my cheek out. And, because of my tiny mouth and lack-of-muscle-control, I got a cotton pad on my cheek. (The assistant kept sucking my cheek with the water-sucky device. So they put that there.) It was like a quilt in my mouth.

Dentists work in your mouth. But why does everything taste so nasty? The numbing gel tasted like bubble gum, the Novocain nearly caused me to vomit on the dentist, all the tools tasted icky, and the fluoride foam was disgusting. It doesn't make sense to me!! My saving grace was that they kept a near-constant stream of water in my mouth.

Moving on, they were working and the assistant had the tools angled so they were poking my tongue. It didn't hurt or anything. It was just unpleasant. So I made a face. The dentist asked if it hurt, I shook my head. The assistant asked if it just kind of hurt my gums a little. I nodded. To that, I got a nudge and a, "Well, you could've told me that!" Yes. I could've told you with my mouth full of tools, hands, rubber, and cotton. Thankfully, a sassy reply of, "She's not going to tell you it hurts! You'll give her another shot!" I laughed in my mind. In reality, I probably just wrinkled my nose.

I never knew how much my mouth would stretch until today. There was all sorts of things in my mouth. Every time I thought, "Nothing else can fit. I'm stretched to the breaking point." Something would stretch my mouth even farther. It was pretty cool.

After my fillings, I went to have my teeth cleaned. As the woman was sucking out the fluoride, she kept asking me to close my mouth. I honestly thought I was, but I had no control. Eventually, she would just hold my lips closed for me.

All in all, it was a pretty schnazzy visit to the dentist. I really liked everybody there. They were all really nice and funny. And I thought y'all would enjoy my oral stories. =)