Happy Birthday from Hubba Hubba Henry

Harry Potter 7 was amazing.  My youngest brother, the subject of this post, hasn't read any of the books, and decided to read the series after the movie.  After you finish reading, maybe you'll realize the scope of that decision.  At the premier, my youngest brother, turned around and said, "oh hey, I read your blog.  I liked it, but there wasn't enough about me in it."  So, Henry, I dedicate this post to you.  We get along now, with an unspoken understanding that he can make fun of me almost as much as he wants, as long as I'm not in a bad mood and he doesn't cross the line too much.  He is a lot of things, almost none of which can be adequately described with words.

Henry is witty, funny, and quick.  He's smart, and his mind makes connections that none of us would ever think to make.  He is, in ways, a very typical 15-year-old boy: he knows weird minutiae about almost every sport, he plays one competitively, he eats at least 4500 calories a day, and he constantly cracks jokes about what comes out the other end.  However, though he is many parts childish, he is also mature in many senses.  I often describe him as 15 going on 50, with the 15 year old sense of humor with a 50-year-olds fire, wit, and heart.  Many of my favorite conversations revolve around funny childhood memories of stuff Henry used to do.  Here's a small list to highlight a very select few:

• Henry's 3 imaginary friends, on which he blamed self-administered haircuts (ending in bald patches), going to the bathroom almost everywhere but the bathroom, and stomping on a tube of sunscreen until it exploded all over the rug.  He tried to blame all of those things on his imaginary friends, most of which someone witnessed first hand.
• The time my mom tried to wash his mouth out for soap for saying too many swear words but didn't know how and tried to pump soap in his mouth.
• He got so angry when he was little that he slammed my parents bathroom door, which had a full-sized mirror on it.  When the door closed, it had such force that the mirror continued the momentum of the door by falling off and shattering on the rug.
• One time Henry got bitten in pre-school by a classmate, he came home with a note taped to his shirt that said "Henry received a human bite today."

He was just generally a really funny kid.  Not intentionally, but seriously, if you watch a little kid do the stuff he did, anyone would have laughed... except for my parents sometimes.  But there were countless times that he would get reprimanded at dinner and we would all be bite our tongues and try our hardest not to laugh, and fail miserably.  More recently, with my sister and I at school, my two brothers would get bored.  They got in the habit of sending us funny pictures of each other.  So, if a picture is worth 1000 words, hopefully these few will help describe him.

the front page of the New York Times Magazine with Henry's artistic liberties

He wanted it, he ordered it, he wore it around a local college campus just because he wanted to.  He came, he saw, he conquered.

me and Henry baby.

also, my profile views went from 3 to 9! wahooo partayyy!  Big PR party when I hit the double digits.

AND big congrats to my good friend, dollyrocker, the newest blinge in the world!

Being Blinge

What is a Blinge? Here's a clue: combine blonde and ginger and you get blinger... blinge for short.  It is, literally, a hybrid; furthermore, its a nickname my close friend gave me a few years ago that only a specific few can use.

Next question: What is the point of this blog?

I'll let you know when I figure that out.  The one thing I don't want it to be is a waste of time.  I can't stand people who think that what they have to say is so important, when in reality, no one cares.  So, hopefully, I'll be able to make something of this.  Until it takes shape, I guess this is just my musings.

Here are a few things about me, to get this started:

• When I was little I wanted to be an author, then a doctor.  That stuck until I took organic chemistry, and now I don't know what I want to do... how original.
• I like bright colors, the pool, and sunshine (despite the fact that I'm prone to sunburn with 50 spf on).
• I still watch cartoons sometimes, I will always have a soft spot for boy bands, I like to be lazy but get bored pretty quick, and if my family dinner's were videotaped, I'm pretty sure it would be a top-rated show.  My younger brothers are the wittiest people I know (even if they're annoying sometimes) and my sister makes no apologies.  Mix those qualities with disregard for political correctness and its a pretty lethal combination.  I laugh so hard I can't breath from our dinner-table conversation at least once a week.
• my top 5 obsessions for the week:

1. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
2. Knee Deep by the Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffet (I'm not a country music fan, but its such a good summer song!)
3. Office comedy. I live for when people talk and its clear they have no idea what they're talking about.  My dad says "better to keep your mouth shut and let them think you're a fool than to open your mouth and confirm the fact." but when it comes to other people talking, I disagree.  Keep talking!
4. friendship bracelets... I have 10-year-old tendencies but I love making them and, more importantly, wearing them.
5. The blogosphere.  Hopefully someone important will find this and I can make bank from it or at least get free stuff. books, nail polish, movies... whatever. Hello, internet!

• oh yeah... ESPAÑA! I'm going to Spain in the fall, and this blog will probably end up being noteworthy stories from my semester abroad! ¡A España y más allá! or in English, to Spain and beyond!