Happy New year!

Just want to wish all my readers and anyone who should happen to stop by a Happy New Year. Tonight just at home with my mom, going to open the champagne at midnight (central time) and watch some movies.

I've got a copule of blog posts in mind which I hope to do sometime soon. Right now just enjoying my vacation, but I go back to work at the college next week. (Only Monday-Thursday.. can' only work so many hours anyway, and I still want my three day weekend! :) )

This year I hope to lose weight, get my own place, figure out school for next year whether I go up to McKendree like I'd like to, or wait another year and find more ways to get money for the school, and hope to find love.

Oh, and have more BSC centered posts!

Anyway, happy new years everyone! Make 2009 great! :)

OT Happiness that I just feel like sharing

SEMESTER IS OVER!!!!!!!

I swore I was going to get a C in Music Lit because for some reason I did a Claudia and just DID NOT test well. Well I got an A on my research paper (because unlike Claudia writing has always been one of my strong suits even though I sometimes go too fast and don't proofread, for example...I look back on some of the blogs I've posted and wince because of the grammar and spelling mistakes.)
i got an A on my piano performance final of Chopin's Prelude in E minor. Last time I tried to play it I'm sure Chopin rolled over in his grade when he heard it.
A in Music Theory and Sight Singing and Ear Training.
I probably overall got a B in piano... because most of the performance grades were B's, but that's okay. I got an A on the performance final and for me that's enough. I'm 100% the rest of the grades were A because it was Voice Lessons and choir, and those are very hard to get less than an A in if you do every concert/performance imaginable.

I just feel like sharing this to the world, because I'm just relieved I can breathe for a few weeks!

April Fools joke on Scholastic?

Some of the members on the BSC Proboards (link on the left) have been talking about filling out those forms that are in the back of the books for all those contests that the people from Scholastic had and sending them to the publishers as a big April Fool's Joke. We've pretty much agreed that we want it to be as widespread as possible.

Will send more information along as it becomes more developed :)

*Sighing happily*

Snowbound always made me go "wtf" because the BSC weren't that excited about the prospect of snow, when it obviously meant NO SCHOOL if there was enough.

Right now I'm sitting on my bed in South Texas (on the gulf of Mexico, near in the Galveston area) loking out into a night that's covered in whiteness. Living down here I definitely appreciate snow more, because we NEVER GET IT.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. The last time it snowed was on Christmas Day 2004. The time it snowed before that? At least ten years.

I smelled it in the air this afternoon while waiting to go home from school. There was precipitation that definitely wasn't rain. It was sleet, and my hopes for snow were rising.

Growing up in St. Louis, the kids in my neighborhood and I organized snowball fights when it snowed, running around the neighborhood hiding on the little "islands" and attacking each other with balls of the white stuff. I loved snow then, and loved a day off from school. One year we got so much snow that the school district used up all their snow days that they had set aside and had to add on extra days at the end of the year. We didn't get out until Mid June. (That was also the year that they decided to start school in August, so we got a VERY short summer vacation that year)

It baffled me that at the ripe old age of thirteen that the bsc wasn't interested in snow... they seemed more like adults and the snow was more like a nuisance than something to enjoy. You would think especially Claudia who hated school would be thrilled at the idea of a snow day.

of course this was all before the blizzard actually hit..

Snow is such a rarity down here, that people definitely get excited about it. My boss told me that she regretted not letting her kids play in the snow Christmas morning. Now she'll have the chance to let them play in it a little bit before they go to school the next morning. It's not a blizzard by any means, but there are big white flakes, and the deck is covered with snow. If i can manage to scrounge up my mini crappy camera I'll try and get a picture of it tomorrow morning. It should still be cold enough.


I'm on a roll with blog posts this week. Next one though I'm going to try and stick more to the bsc than not helplessly trying to tie my own life to the books :D

I felt like Kristy today

Seriously. Here I am at school, I'm wearing a nice black top and a white and black skirt, pantyhose, and black dress flats.

It's my only skirt... and I bought the pantyhose two days ago. (along with the top)

I like dressing up every now and then, (and looking cute) but I would rather have had to do the recital (music majors have an opportunity to participate in a recital in December) in a pair of jeans and a nice top. (I do have some cute tops)..but I felt I'd better look presentable and not make a fool out of myself by dressing too shabby.

So now I get to wear this... all day long... and tonight? I get to change into a black dress because we have a choir concert.

At least these shoes are comfortable. There was no way I was going to wear my black heels, no matter how cute they are, all day long.

Oh Kristy how I sympathise with you with not wanting to wear dresses and skirts and all that frou frou stuff. Every now and then is fine, but I'd still rather have worn jeans to school, change into this outfit, and then change back into the jeans... but that's just too much stuff to pack.

Something that I always found odd.

Especially now that I Actually WEAR glasses.

Ms. Colman always put her glasses wearers up from so that they could see the board better. With their glasses shouldn't they have been able to see as well as a person who has 20/20 vision? Or even better in some cases, because I knew my eyesight was dwindling for a long time before I actually knew i needed glasses, and was having to sit up front just so I could see better. I'm thrilled now that I DON'T have to sit up front, because the glasses make everything so clearer, and I can see the board from wayyyyyyy in the back row now.

Seriously... I never really got why she made it a that rule the glasses wearers had to sit up front.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.



anyway, OT, but here's a picture of me with my glasses... the quality sucks, I know...but oh well. I feel about 20 IQ points smarter in them.

How the Heck did the BSC do it?

I was having one of my random thought wanderings... and my mind drifted back to when I was seventeen.

I had to drop out of the musical that year because I was a Claudia and my grades stank, and I couldn't be in the musical... or have anything to do with it. (It was South Pacific). I found a way around that. They had cast 9 elementary school kids in the show (two as the main kids, and 7 other little girls that were done one little in one scene.) They needed some people to keep an eye on all of them during the show.

Well, I talked to the director, and she said she wanted me at the rehearsals. Okay all fine and dandy.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I had some help... mainly another girl that was in the cast...the problem with that? SHE WAS IN THE CAST. She oculd help out when she wasn't onstage, but when she was onstage, it was me and mainly seven kids ranging from the age of a very very hyper 7 year old second grader (she was extremely cute though), to 10 and 11 year old fifth graders. (This is scary thinking that Mallory and Jessi were that age.)

One of the fifth graders, named Mandy, absolutely HATED me. I was usually good with kids... I'd helped out at my niece's 6th birthday party and had a ball with all of them. I kind of liked to think of myself as just a big kid... but at times some of them made me want to rip my hair out. Especially Mandy, and the girl that was the main little girl... they just didn't want to listen to what I said.

Then there was another girl, who seemed just seemed to be off in her own little world and took playing cards up onstage with her during their scene. (I totally missed that). She wasn't snooty as some of the other ones...just... weird.
She was one of the fifth graders.

There were some perks, though. Most of the kids were good. The little boy was shy, but well behaved. Megan (the seven year old) was just absolutely adorable, though at times you wanted to smack her so she would calm down... but she was just hyper, not a bad kid, and two fourth grade girls, and one of the fifth graders actually managed to keep me from going completely insane, and I think even sympathized with me on the way some of the others were acting.

Looking back on it now, I really wish I'd had some mega BSC help. When the other cast members stepped in to help, they listened to them and calmed down leaving me thinking "well geez." It shouldn't have been too bad... keeping an eye on them, making sure they were in their places, helping get them ready to get onstage... but Mary Anne had way more control over the kids in Peter Pan (and there were MORE of them!) than I had over the 9 kids in South Pacific.

In the end it was worth it, but they wore me out... but Jasmine (one of the fourth graders) told me she loved me...which really sweet.

I can't believe it's been almost eight years. They're all teenagers now. Yikes. Some of them have graduated from high school.

I'm getting way too old.

Somewhat OT, but I'm going to tie it into the BSC anyway

Today I went to the mall, I wanted to witness "Black Friday" In action, and while I was there I got my eyes checked for the first time in YEARS. I couldn't remember when the last time I had seen an eye doctor, but I guessed at about ten years.

I've known I needed glasses for awhile...but I wasn't blind, so I never got around to actually going to get my eyes checked, but today I finally went to the walk-in dr.

Turns out I have near sightedness (duh, I knew that when I had to walk up to read the preview channel on the tv) with an astigmatism. Same thing my mother has. My mom was 26 when she got her first pair of glasses... I'm 25... it all ties in. I also have floaters.... (I learned that term from DHC)... but they don't really bother me, and most of the time I don't even really notice them.

I don't have my first pair of glasses yet, going to try and find someplace cheap to get them... and after reading the Baby-Sitters club for years... when I was younger I always wanted a pair of glasses, but my eyesight was too good! I was like Mary Anne in a sense, but I never failed an eye exam on purpose. I'd always wondered what I would like in glasses... and the only pairs I've ever really tried on were way too blurry for me to actually see anything. Soon I'll find out.

And with my reddish dyed hair, I'll look more like Mallory than ever. But hey, I like Mal! I'm most like her and Mary Anne anyway. :)

Yay! Gadgets!!

I just discovered some of the "newer" gadgets... after wondering how people got the blog updates on the side of their page (I told you I've been very busy lately).
So on the left you can see some of the blogs I try and read on a semi regular basis... and if you comment I usually check to see if you have a blog yourself.

Also added the followers... because I like to know who reads this. I've been pleasantly surprised. I know I haven't been able to be on much, but I LOVE seeing names come up under the comments and thinking "Oh, this person is new!" :) If I know people are checking back regularly or whatever, I'll try and post more often when I have time (and try and think of something to say. :) )


Thanks to all my readers! Whether you comment or not, you guys are awesome.

Rereading Stacey's Mistake...

And just have one thing to say.

Dawn went "wow" at a 40 MINUTE WAIT ON THE WEEKEND FOR HARD ROCK CAFE.

A. Stace? Seriously? This is New York City. And Hard Rock Cafe. I'm sure the wait is much longer than 40 minutes on a weekend.
The wait can be forty minutes at the Olive Garden and Gringo's at the mall on the weekend. Texas City has around 20,000 people.
You do the math.

B. Dawn? You're from the LA area dear. I might be living in the Houston area, but where I'm at is fairly rural. (this is texas).
I've been to Disneyland and all that so I know what the area is like. (Never mind the fact that I was TEN, but come on...Disneyland)
I'm sure a 40 minute wait is nothing on a weekend in your area. Maybe Palo City, but I know you've eaten outside of "that little community"
Heck I'm sure some of the restaurants in Stoneybrook have 40 minute waits on weekends. What else is there to do? :)



By the way. Got my new laptop. I hope to be updating more frequently... if I have ideas of what to post... or just want to say something.
Like I did tonight.


That's all for now.


Edited to fix grammar mistakes because I was going way too fast. Will change if catch anything else.

Update (OT)

Life has been turned upside down for awhile so I haven't been able to get on here nearly as much as I would like. With the hurricane, getting kicked out of where I was living, having to move in temporarily with my mother until I can find a roommate or a very cheap apartment, having my computer crash on me, and having school on top of that... just been crazy.

Hoping for a new laptop... there's one I like that's really cheap... and I have the money for it...but ... mother still thinks I can get my laptop fixed for less... but this one is better than the laptop I have now, and ... the guy that fixes laptops computers at a reasonable price (and is good at it)... is not back in business yet as his business got flooded by Hurricane Ike.
I like need a computer ASAP. I have a research paper coming up for Music Literature (yay for music major classes... boo for research papers).. and I just don't have enough time to do it at school... with having to take public transportation...which is unreliable at best... the thing i've been taking is called Connect transit, and you have to schedule a week ahead, and they just screw up. I've been riding them a WEEK, and they've fudged up my schedule THREE TIMES. (and they only run MOnday-Friday from 8-4:30)
They're starting a bus route in Texas City...but I'm not IN texas city right now. In San Leon which is out in the boonies... and way too far for a cab. (26 miles round trip.. ugh).

One thing I can say about connect transit is that they're cheap. That's about it. $1 each way....anywhere in Galveston County. $2.50 for Harris County which is where Houston is.

Ugh.

Anyway, hope to have a computer back soon.

My birthday is on Monday, so gifts are welcome. :)... and hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Karen's Hurricane wtf's?

I've been reading a LOT of LIttle Sister books lately. They're fast and easy to get through, and just pretty enjoyable. .. and they're getting spit out on the BSC Ebook community fairly regularly.

Since I've just myself been through Hurricane Ike, I was looking forward to reading this one. I liked it, trust me, I did. But there were just some major wtf moments going on in my brain while reading it.

#1. Hurricane Karen is a Category Three that keeps shifting north. Surely Stoneybrook would've been in the warning zone... It's a good sized storm ..keeps going North... they said between Jersey Coast and Long Island. I don't have a map out in front of me, but this was said a couple of days ahead of landfall. Connecticut's a small state, small coastline, so I'm sure it was well within that "cone of uncertainty" in the longrun. (Don't I just sound up on my hurricane knowledge).

What I don't get is that they called a hurricane warning JUST HOURS BEFORE THE HURRICANE HIT. Everyone was already stocking up on supplies "just in case". Karen's school WAS STILL OPEN THE DAY IT HIT. They call a warning. Everyone goes home, except for Pamela whose parents had the sense to get out if the hurricane should hit. (of course they left after school let out, which really doesn't make any sense. If this were IRL, the roads would be packed, and they'd be stranded in the middle of the road when the hurricane made landfall.)

They started ordering mandatory evacuations on a day and a half before Ike hit... voluntary were going up two and a half days beforehand... What morons let school out when the leading edge of the hurricane is already upon them?? Seriously?
They state that this is a CATEGORY THREE. Sustained winds of at least 111 mph It hadn't hit land yet to slow it down. Stoneybrook officials are morons. Or the ghostwriter.

Another wtf moment for me.

Okay. Storm is in full swing by that evening. Power goes out around 10pm.
Why in tarnation does it take until 3 THE NEXT AFTERNOON FOR THE EYE TO HIT?
Perspective... Ike was 600 miles across. We were getting slammed (45 minutesish from the Gulf...but by GAlveston Bay) by nightfall. Our power went out around 11. When did the eye hit? We got it around 3 in the morning. What hurricane (one that's moving at 17 mph mind you... Ike was moving about 12.) takes over 24 hours from the leading bands for the eye to make landfall? Especially when they were getting whalloped the night before.

Oh yeah... it's not until the next morning that everything is okay and calm again. (Streets flooded).

Okay I haven't been through many hurricanes... Ike was my first major one (we're all okay. My mother lives in a heavily devastated area, but her house was one of the lucky ones). But considering the size and enormity of Ike which might as well have been a Cat 3 (110 mph with huge wind gusts... I'd call that a Cat 3 even though it's not "technically")...the storm surge was so big because the size of the hurricane was huge.

If Hurricane Karen was as big as how long it took for the eye to make landfall suggests... they'd have been long gone ... or should've been long gone.... but I doubt it was.

I'm just making random ramblings becasue right now I'm wating for class to begin... I'm bored... we just got power back last wednesday (12 days after the storm hit)+
but are still without internet at the house. I hope half of what I said made some kind of sense.

On a side note. We have magic fish! Seriously!
Who knew that fishies could go 12 days without a filter running to give them oxygen? and Over a week without food?
Our 25 cent goldfish apparently can.

Bored... Karen's Grandad subplot

Right now I'm sitting in a hotel room in Austin Texas having evacuated from Hurricane Ike. (We're fine. the community where my mom and stepfather live,(san leon) that i lived in for three years is a warzone...but their properties are still fine.... one of the few lucky ones)

Anyway. For some reason I was thinking about Karen's Grandad. I have no idea why I started thinking about this... but ... the subplot timeline in the book about Hootie (Ms. Colman's class's pet guinea pig) is just so ridiculous I have to say it.

note: semi spoilers ahead to explain and verify timeline.




Friday: Grandad's funeral
Monday: Class gets another Guinea Pig for Hootie because he's lonely. They think he's a "boy". Hootie's Happy! Very Happy!

wait for it.....


Ut oh.
New friend's starting to get fat.
Wednesday: Oh noes! They discover "he" is a "she" and "she's" Pregnant!! (Sorry been awhile since I've read the book. I can't remember the name. I told you I started thinking about this for no reason...)
Friday: BABIES!!

How am I sure?
Karen mentions that day it's been A WEEK since Grandad's funeral.

Ms Colman's class had a crash course in where babies came from

I had to look up a post I put on a message board to get the timeline straight. I couldn't even remember the name of the book. I know that before I posted it on the message board I looked up the gestation period of the guinea pig. I don't remember how long it was, but I do know that it was long enough that the guinea pig wouldn't have changed that drastically in four days before they're about to give birth. It's heavily implied that Hootie and friend got it on.


I needed something to post.

Yay!

School started on the 25th, so I've been really busy, and with internet not always up at the house, I haven't been able to get online much...even at school where I'm there five days a week... and when not in class, working fourteen hours. (not much, but max you can work in workstudy is 15). I haven't even finished my dang short_takes story on LJ, and it's a week late. I feel horrible, but the one thing that's making me feel a TAD bit better is that the person I'm writing for didn't get her one in either. I'm not signing up for the next round. I'm determined to get this one in.

But anyway, last night like the moron I was, I stepped on my phone charger...and totally broke it. I decided to try and get one at dollar general which was where I got the one I broke anyway...walked up there, but decided to go to the library first which was right next to it. I was in there an hour and read about half of AMM's The Doll People. (It's really cute. I recommend it, and there's one other book in the series, and one that's supposed to come out in October)

anyway, getting off track. I had looked on the shelves for any BSC book that I didn't have on my computer and didn't find any. As I was coming out, I noticed two boxes with a ton of YA books... including the BSC books and LS and SVT and SVK that i had seen the one and only time I had been in there. Each book for 10 cents.

Unfortunately, I don't carry ANY cash on me at all... hardly ever. But I dug up a dime and went and paid for Claudia Gets Her Guy. I asked how long hte books were going to be there, and the woman behind the desk asked when i could come back... and I said Wednesday (they're not open on Mondays, and I don't get out until 9:30 on Tuesdays). I picked out 17 books... all BSC and SVK... I think. I don't remember putting any SVT or BSLS up there... and I'll get them all for $1.70

I feel like I won the lottery.

Now I just have to figure out a way to carry them home and figure out where in tarnation I'm going to put them all.

I Think I now know Where the "Logan is Gay" Theories came from

Yikes

I found a great site today, when I was bored and looking around. It has a bunch of covers...including UK ones that I haven't seen on another site that I'm just now realizing isn't linked on the left side of the page.

Some of the covers with Mary Anne and her short hair are just frightening... Actually the earlier was are just as bad...but it's the ones with her post makeover haircut that got me going "yikes."

Now, for your viewing pleasure...




Mary anne and Camp BSC. Sorry for the blurryness, the UK covers were either hit or miss. Can Mary Anne look any more like a guy? And some creepy kid is hanging off of her.



Mary Anne and Miss Priss.



Mary Anne and the Memory Garden
On What PLANET would a 13 year old boy WANT To go out with a girl who looked like THAT? That's not a bob... That's a boy haircut on a BOY'S face. The face isn't even cute. Maybe he/she would look better with longer hair, but then maybe she'd just look like a drag queen.
No wonder people think Logan's gay


In case your eyes are burning, here's one that's much better.







Covers found at: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/ann-m-martin/



Note: Does anyone know how to hyperlink? one word with link behind it?

BSC Friends Forever Special: Graduation Day

Oh dear.

I just finished reading this book for the first time in YEARS. I bought it when I first came out, and now I'm having a Mary Anne moment. Where's that box of tissues when I need it.

Even the dedication at the beginning had me a bit weepy: For all the readers—past, present, and future—of the baby-sitters Club...with thanks.

Seriously.

It's nice to know that after being on hiatus for well over 100 books that AMM finally came back and wrote the grand finale.

The book definitely has a "final" feel to it... and yet, as a reader, I myself am dying to know what became of the Baby-Sitters. I know many people are against a reunion book, but if there ever were to be one, I'd probably be one of the first in line to read it, just because I WANT to know... I NEED to know what happened. It's a hunger that doesn't seem to want to go away... but for now I will have to make do with fanfiction.

Couple of things I noticed in the book:
There doesn't seem to be a "definitive" timeline when things happened earlier in the series... other than the BSC was formed "almost two years ago". It doesn't say when Mary Anne's house burned down,, when Claudia was sent back to the seventh grade, etc. Only thing it makes mention of is that Abby said she moved to Stoneybrook "less than a year ago."
I guess this was the way of dodging the whole issue of them repeating the same year over...and over... and over again.

Another thing I noticed, and since I don't have an actual COPY of the book, this one was just an ebook, so it could be an error on the typer, but Charlotte goes from 8 to 9 in the same book. Her birthday is supposed to be in JUne which is when this book takes place... and I follow my own timeline in my head during the FF series, so that by this book, Stacey and Dawn are 14... and Mallory would be 12... even if they don't actually say so in the book. They have to age at some point. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The eighth grade graduation thing I think... is a bit unrealistic...especially since they went to a 6-8 school. I had friends that went to a k-8 school, and I can see hwo that might be a big deal, but seriously? Middle school graduation? On the last day of my eighth grade we had a breakfast brunch thing, and everyone on our "side" was given some sort of "award." (our middle school was divided into three "sides" per grade, where the core classes would be held). I was given the "Over the Rainbow" award, because I was obsessed with Judy Garland. And still am. In FIFTH Grade we had a "graduation" type thing...which was really an over exaggerated recital where they handed out certificates one by one at the end... and we still had another few weeks of school left.

I also found it a little bit unrealistic about Claudia not being able to go to high school because of one test. I was a Claudia in school, bone lazy, and didn't do the work, however I was smart. I was definitely worried about not going onto high school, but we didn't have "finals" persay in middle school... and even if our grades were horrible (ahem) we were still able to go to the high school ... I tested well and I understood the concepts, so that wasn't really an issue... although i wonder what would have happened HAD I been held back. I defintely don't think I would be where I am today... maybe I would have actually graduated and not gotten my GED? Oh well, things are the way they are and I musn't dwell on them... and I'm getting off track.

This book is screaming for fanfictions to be made as a follow up to it. There are three plot devices that are in this book that are practically begging for it.. and yet, there hasn't been one single fanfiction that has actually been completed or even STARTED that I have read that cover these bases.
1.
The time capsule. The BSC members, old and current, and several of the kids put things in a time capsule to be unearthed in seven years when the oldest kids (the Pike Triplets) are about to graduate from high school. Some of the items include: An old BSC flier (Kristy), a softball (Jackie), a page full of ads (Dawn), Info on Stoneybrook's 250th Birthday (Claudia), piece of burnt wood, (Mary Anne), SES newspaper with an article on STacey (Charlotte), etc.

2.
The letters the eighth graders wrote to their future 12th grade selves. Mind you, when I was seventeen and I saw this, I thought it was a FANTASTIC idea. I wrote myself my own letter and tucked it away in a drawer. Two and a half years later I found it.
I have no idea what happened to it.

I think it would make an interesting to have a 12th grade graduation fic that centered around the letters... I just don't think I'm talented enough to come up with it.

3.
The pact.
The girls all sign a pact that in 12 years they would all come back together for a reunion, no matter where they are in the country. I think this has been attempted but I'm not sure if it's actually been completed.


Okay I'm tired, but I'll close with this last line in the book... from Kristy...

Am fairly certain that even though our friendships may change as we get older, we will always remain friends, the eight of us.
Friends forever.


The End


Now i can go back to reading the series from beginning to end as much as I can.

Kristy's Great Idea - French Canadian Version

Also known as Christine A Une Idée Géniale

Just started reading this book last night... I'm not fluent in French by any means, but I know enough to get by, and since I've read the first books so many times, it's really not THAT difficult.

Some interesting Changes in the book that I've noticed:

Kristy- is Christine, her last name is still Thomas, though I'm thinking it might be pronounced Tohmah

David Michael is just David (dahveed)

Charlie is Charles (well he doesnt have a nickname)

Sam has turned into Sebastian

Mary Anne Spier is Anne-Marie Lapierre

Claudia is still Claudia. I can't find a last name, but she's still Japanese so I'm assuming it's still Kishi.

Stacey has turned into Sophie Menard

Janine is Josée

Jamie Newton has turned into Jonathon Mainville. Also gone is his "hi hi!". I'm thinking "Bonjour Bonjour" was a bit much. Probably Salut Salut was a bit much also for a three year old.

The Pike's are the Picard's... and Margo is spelled with a t on the end. I also noted that 'Anne-Marie' and Margot and Claire don't go to the Newton's house when "Christine" is baby-sitting "Jonathon" and "David". They just agree to meet up at Claudia's later.

Sophie is also from Toronto, and they're all in Canada (obviously since it's French Canadian translation)

Now I KNOW the city where this takes place is mentioned somewhere in what i've read so far, but I can't find it. I should've taken notes while I was reading this last night.

More later.

Edit:

Forgot to mention that WAtson is Guilliaume (Have to double check that spelling!) and Karen and Andrew are Karen and Andre

Name Meanings.

Ever wonder what the girl's names actually mean?

Well I decided to look them up for the heck of it, and see if any of them match their poersonality

Kristin (Kristy) means Consecrated to God. Greek (in other words to make sacred to God, at least according to Dictinoary.com)... most of the meanings anyway. (Yeah I had to look it up so I didn't do a Claudia

Claudia: Lame in Latin

Mary Anne = Mary is Hebrew for Bitter Anne is Gracious in Hebrew. (that's a bit contradictory)

Anastasia (Stacey) means Resurrection in Greek

Dawn (or Diana) means Sunrise (obviously) Greek

Mallory is Ill-Omened. French. (For some reason I find this one hilarious)

Jessica is wealthy in Hebrew

Abigail is God is Joy in Hebrew

Logan is small cove in celtic/gaelic. Also unisex

Shannon is Little Wise Owl also in Celtic/Gaelic and also unisex


found at http://www.name-meanings.com/search.php if you have any beefs with the meanings, take it up with that site...

Also, my name wasn't on there. I've only ever found it on one site anyway... and in one baby book.
Figures.

Need Members for a new Baby-Sitters Club RPG

There is a new RPG going on at LiveJournal. The site is Http://community.livejournal.com/stoneybrook_rpg
Only members taken are:
Kristy
Mary Anne
Stacey
Dawn (me)
Mallory
Shannon
Cokie Mason
Claudia
Cary Retlin
Jessi
Byron Pike
Abby
Anna Stevenson
Logan
Alan Gray
Erica Blumberg
Grace Blume
Pete Black
Shawna Riverson


We still need any other character that someone wants to create from the series. The older members are 17 and Seniors and the Younger are 15 and Sophomores.

Create a free account at livejournal relating to your character. and sign up. Also, it's a good idea to have a celebrity or an actual person to have as your picture. (Ex: The girl who I am using to portray as Dawn is Blake Lively from Gossip Girl and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.)bscgirl10 is in charge of it, and just let her know. She's also looking for someone who has some experience in RPG to be a mod.

Edited to change names taken.
Also might add some of the charges to the RPG too if we get enough.

Karen Brewer committed a misdemeanor in Chicago!!

a little OT... but my friend and i were discussing dumb laws, and she stated that in Chicago it's against the law to fly a kite.
Someone didn't do their research when they had Karen Lisa and Andrew go kite flying in Karen's Big Move.


Here are some from the great state of Connecticut..did the BSC break any laws?

Pedestrians crossing the highway at night are prohibited from wearing tail lights. (cause you know you want them to be hit by a car and everything)

You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour.
In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce

.It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades. (did Kristy use a disposable razor in SS# 7? )

You cannot buy any alcohol after 9pm or on Sundays after noon on Sunday.
It is illegal to discharge a firearm from a public highway.

Silly string is banned (southington)

No one may use a white cane, unless they are blind.

Edited to add:
Also somewhere in CT (I forget where and too tired right now to look it up) it's illegal to have any kind of advertising on balloons.
For the BSC's sake, we'll just pretend that it's also illegal in Stoneybrook and have the Baby-Sitters Agency arrested.
All in favor?

BSC TV Show.. Where Are They Now?

I've always loved the Little "Where Are they Now" clip thingies... and while I'm not sure where some of them are... here are some updates on the ones I've been able to find :)



Avriel Hillman as Kristy Thomas

http://avrielhillman.exploretalent.com/model_page.php?talentnum=462684

the pictures are secure, so can't save them. She's done a tone of theater and directing... not so much on screen though. BA in Theater Speech and Dance from Brown University.


Meghan Lahey as Mary Anne Spier




now...(actuallpy I think this picture is a few years old, it's been up there awhile, but you get the general idea)



She's now a counselor at Mamaronck high school. (how... Mary Anne)

Jessica Prunell as Stacey McGill



She's now a laywer at Emmet, Marvin and Martin in New York City. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania 1999, and then went on to the Benjamin Cardoza School of Law in 2002. Practices Commercial and General Litigation
(how come I can see Stacey really doing something like that?)




Meghan Andrews as Mallory Pike



She is now a singer/musician and has been in a couple of things on tv, with stints on Law and Order and Guiding Light. She will be in Sweet Flame this year as Anne.



picture taken from her myspace music page www.myspace.com/meghanandrewsmusic

...and guess who is on her myspace friends??

Nicole Leach as Jessi Ramsey



She's done a ton of stuff onstage. She was in Fame on 42nd street off Broadway in 2003, and lots of other plays/musicals.



Picture is a little old, but she basically looks the same.


Jeni Winslow (Claudia) and Melissa Chasse (Dawn) seem to have dropped off the face of the planet. There's a couple of sites about a Melissa Chasse, but I really don't think it's the same person... and no pictures, so can't tell if it is or not. She'd be about 31 or so now, as would Jeni. (in 1990 all the girls were relatively close to the ages they portrayed, at least the ones I've seen.)
Jeni and Melissa, if you're out there somewhere, please come out! Fans are wondering!!

and a couple of extra bonuses

Danny Tamberelli as Jackie Rodowsky




As most people know he did a ton of stuff on Nickelodeon in the 1990's.
Adventure of Pete and Pete, All that, This picture was taken from his facebook page, added by a fan.




Graduated from Hampshire (?) in 2004, and is now living in New York.


Gina Gallagher as Charlotte Johanssen



She's another one that seems to have disappeared. She was in All My Children from 1993-1997, and then quit acting to continue schooling. She appeared as Theresa Vitti in Analyze This (which I've never seen and can't find any pictures of either) in 1999...but since then, I haven't found anything. I found a picture on facebook that MIGHT be her, but I can't tell, so not going to say anything. (Only reason might is because kind of looks similar and girl is from East Coast...though not sure where Gina is actually from on the east coast).




Picture of her and Susan Lucci from 1997... she was about 15.


Also posted at http://community.livejournal.com/howtheylooknow/446100.html?#cutid1
added a picture of Karen Brewer and zOMG he's Really Gorgeous isn't he??? Jamie Anderson ...which I'm too lazy to post right now

French BSC books

So I was bored and looking around on Greer's old Stoneybrookite site, and found a link to another site that was about the French books, complete with some book covers. The covers are drastically diferent from the US and UK covers, and some of the translations are interesting.

L'idée géniale de Kristy or L' idea brilliant the Kristy



Stacey (Lucy in the French Books) is saying Super, idea of Kristy. Quickly come to join us
I think Mary Anne is in braids and jeans... and Kristy is in a skirt and headband...while that correlates with her on the first BSC cover for the US... Mary Anne in jeans? Only reason i'm 100% sure it's her is because of her on the cover of the 4th book...


#4 Pas de Panique Mary-Anne! = Don't Panic, Mary-Anne!



Mary Anne is saying: One will remain always friendly. same s' it us arrie to annoy us!

#7 Claudia a des ennuis = Claudia Has Troubles



Claudia : I m' in want really d' to have been so malicious…
(sorry about some of the translations, i'm not able to do all the accents on my keyboard, and not able to copy and paste the writing on the cover).

#8 Lucy est amoureuse = Lucy is in love



Actually the literal translation of Stacey/Lucy didn't come out so good, something about she would never have hopes of encountering another boy as cute... I think

That's all the patience i have for right now. Will do more later maybe :)

Pets

I'm a big fan of The L Word on showtime, and I managed to find the Season 1 DVD set for $16 a few months ago. Last night I was watching the last couple of episodes that have the death of Dana's cat Mr. Piddles.


I love my cats, but Dana took her love of Mr. Piddles to the extreme...but I can't reallly fault her. When I had pets that died I was absolutely devastated.

I got to thinking of Mary Anne and Tigger, and I can just see her having an actual funeral when he dies, complete with a coffin to put him in.

I think the BSC books were very realistic on how they portrayed the loss of the dear pets. (those that we actually experienced that is.) Kristy and the Snobs is particularly heartwrenching and brings me back to when our dog Belle was poisoned with antifreeze a few years ago. I can never get through that book without crying. In Karen's goldfish I can also understand how Karen is so upset when Crystal Light dies... It's easy to get attached to a pet, even one as small as a goldfish.

Quick Comment before I sign out

I haven't been able to find a place where I can link other sites on blogspot yet. If anyone is interested, I've been thinking that every once in awhile I could do a "spotlight" on a different blog site or fan site. Mainly Baby-Sitters Club centered, (or other YA books) but I know that a bunch of fans are setting up blogs.

If you have a site or blog, just comment this or email me at Blossom114@aol.com. Just an idea, because I know some of the other sites I read have my link on theirs already (thanks!) and would like to somehow return the favor. I won't do it unless I hear from the blogger or whomever themself.

Note: this doesn't include community sites like the BSC Live Journal and BSC Probards where anyone can sign up and post messages. Just for those that are exclusively run by one person. :)


Also, I'm open for suggestions on changing the site name. Do you think the name should stay? To be honest, it was the only thing I could think of, and I'm terribly uncreative at things like this. Also didn't want to have a similar name. SMS cafeteria will stay for now, but if anyone has an idea of a better name BSC centered, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks!

Edit:
Okay thanks to Cheryl (Karen Brewer) I got links up on the side... however I'll still do the spotlight or whatever if anyone wants. :)

It all began with....

I dont really feel like summarizing the book, because... I just dont have the patience to pull up the ebook and go through it. (not to mention I don't think I could do as good of a job as others...either in being snarky, or being nice)

However, for this first "book" blog, let's take a look at the two different covers.

Let's take a look at the original cover.


Kristy's Great Idea.


Clockwise from top left we have Stacey, looking ever so chic in a sweater and black and white plaid leggings. I swear I had a pair of stirrup pants that looked exactly like that. Her hair is about the closest we'll ever see of her sporting a perm on a cover (that and the original cover of the third book). She also looks freakishly like I did at age 10. (which i think in part was me totally channeling her)



Next we have Mary Anne. I actually think she looks rather cute... if not about age 7. However, since she's supposed to be short and dressing like a little kid, that's acceptable. I think that attire is cute...not something I would wear, or ever would have worn, but cute nonetheless.

Next, looking right at Stacey, we have Kristy, who is *gasp* wearing a jumper. (that's a dress for you UK folks). And a headband. Is it just me or does it seem odd that Kristy wears a DRESS on the cover of her first two books? (original cover mind you) Her uniform became part of her character later on. Theese are supposed to be her school clothes, however, 8th grade Kristy wouldn't have been caught dead in that ensemble.

On the floor we've got Claudia Her suspender pants match the floor. Is it the artist in her arranging herself so that she blends in with the carpet? Along with those shoes? and Socks? I dont really see Claudia matching like that. She likes lots of colora and flare. The only Asian thing about her that i can see is also the color of her hair.

The room itself also looks really plain. Where are all the paintings? mess? junk? There is just a notebook pen and phone on the floor. (That is the phone that I always envisioned whne I thought of Claudia's private phone... there will never be another phone in my mind).

Despite all the nitpickiness... I love this cover. It's plain and simple, but in a good way. It brings back the nostalgia factor of the books... the 80's... my childhood... and brings a little tear to my eye. Seriously. I'm way too emotional.

The updated cover lost any nostalgia that the original cover had.





The only thing similar to the original cover is that Claudia's outfit matches the floor...again. And Stacey and Kristy are looking at each other...again.
The girls look about as old as I am, (24) where the girls on the original cover actually look closer to 12.

Somehow I dont see Claudia being pink frilly type. I see that more as Stacey's style. Claudia seems more of a red yellow black blue...well... a rainbow of colors.
Mary Anne's skirt is freakishly short making you wonder what her father was thinking when he let her out of the house. I wouldn't wear a skirt that short even if I had the body.

Kristy is back in her uniform...which in the book there is absolutely no mention of. In the book we're given the idea that Kristy is a tomboy... who wears jumpers to school.

I'm loving Stacey's outfit... that would totally be something I would like to wear... if I had the imagination to pick it out, which sadly I dont.. but I still love it. (I'm probably in the minority that i like most of Claudia's and Stacey's outfits... even though the jumpsuit was a bit much to handle in book #24 after I saw what one actually looked like)

Claudia's room is more artistically decorated. A bit more messy, a bit more clutter... but you can still see the floor. Is that a bowl of popcorn on the floor? it's making me hungry even though it's fake.

I much prefer the orignal cover. I guess mainly because it's the cover I grew up with... and when the new covers came out I wasn't crazy about them. The only one i preferred to the original was The Truth about Stacey. (of the first few books anyway). The girls look their age... and again, it's mainly the nostalgia factor.

Stoneybrook... where kids of every age play together.

Hello to first "official" post.
Anyway, late at night my mind kind of wanders, and I'll ponder about things that some people might find odd. Hey, I'm an odd kind of gal. Anyway, there has been some discussion here and there on the BSC proboards and elsewhere that it's odd that all the kids of Stoneybrook seemed to play together nicely regardless of age. For me, that never came across as strange... and last night, in my mind, I kind of compared the neighborhood where I grew up as kind of a Mini Stoneybrook.
We had the kids that went to public elementary school about mile up the road(myself included), the kids that went to the private school across the street from the subdivision (k-8 catholic school, though the kindergarden was added when I was about in sixth grade), In my little part of the street, where there were about 12 kids, most of the kids went to the catholic school.
For the most part we all got along and played together with everyone in the subdivision. I often played with kids taht were as much as four years younger than me, however they were mostly the younger siblings of some of those that were closer in age. We'd play hide and seek on the "islands" that were at various points in the subdivision (which consisted of 2 main streets and one small court), play capture the flag, have snowball fights, and play in the woods that were on the outer edges.
Our subdivision was even equipped with two very doting baby-sitters that had DAY CAMPS for the kids that baby-sat for. Looking back now I wonder if they had read the BSC, this was in the early 90's. What two teenagers were really that doting on their charges unless they read the BSC or are Ann M. Martin? They were awesome though.

For me, it was never an issue with all the kids playing together. That's how it was in my neighborhood. Reading the BSC nowadawys kind of brings back that nostalgia factor of when I was growing up. Can anyone else identify with this?

Welcome!

Hi everyone, a brief introduction. My name is Donica, and I'm a 24 year old living in Texas at the moment. I am a music major (emphasis vocal performance) at College of the Mainland in Texas City. Whether or not I have my Associate of Arts Degree at the end of Spring Semester 09' or not, I plan on transferring the following fall to larger college/university. I haven't decided where yet, but i would like it to be kind of close to St. Louis, Missouri, where I was born and raised.





The purpose of this blog? To follow in the footsteps of those in the Baby-Sitters club fandom before me. I haven't decided what this blog will be about yet. I might do summaries of books like some of my fellow members on the BSC probards, or talk about how the books have influenced me, or connections I see in pop culture. This will be nothing noone hasn't already seen before, but I can't get enough of reading BSC blogs, no matter what the content, I enjoy them all, so I hope to add my own flavor. What that will be, I don't know yet.

I hope that once this gets underway, people will enjoy reading this. The only blogging I've ever done is on my myspace, so this should be interesting.

Enjoy! :-)