Modern Banana

RELAUNCHED!

2011-08-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

That's right, party-people. I am re-launching my youtube channel with bigger and better things. I really want to start making real films... short films. but films. Screw vlogging. that's stupid.
So I am writing a short video and plan to execute it shortly.
For now I leave my dear youtube audience with this.

Check it out, yo: My Youtube Channel!

Y'all gonna make me lose my mind

2011-07-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Waddup party people!?

It's been a while, has it not? Much has happened. Much has happened that nobody in their right mind wuld really care about except for the person it happened to so I shall spare you all.
I now live in NoVa. yeah, man. Northern Virginia is where it's at, yo.

My brother got married in Mexico since we last met. All the sibs and close friends and such all went down to mexico and stayed in an all inclusive resort. WOOOO!!! super awesome. Mexico is a really sweet vacation spot... at least an expensive resort full of rich white people on the beach is. :)
We went and saw the Mayan ruins while we were down there. It was pretty sweet to see all the old building and how they were so resourceful and were able to make sophisticated constructs out of stone and natural elements. it would have been better if we had more time to wander around and really explore. We got on bike wagons being driven by kids my age or younger and were pedaled to the main attraction. A giant pyrimid of steps to climb.

that shit is crazy. we made it to the top though and you could see for MILES. Like... its SO high up its amazing that they built it without the aid of machines. It is truly a remarkable piece of architecture... and a good work out :)

Thats all for now, maybe ill keep blogging.. mayhaps not.

Car Trouble... sigh

2011-02-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

With the freedom of having your own car comes many problems. Aside from the ridiculous price of gas, radiators like to over heat.
Alright. So here's the story.
This past Friday I was headed up to my friend's house in Telford, PA to hang out with my camp friends. This trip was destined to be about 3 hours because of holiday traffic. So I'm just minding my own business inching along in awful traffic on I95 in Delaware when smoke starts spewing from the hood of my car. I got terrified that the car was going to explode, of course, so I pulled off and got out. As a stepped away from the car I noticed greed fluid leaking out of the bottom as well. Well, that's no good. So I called my dad and explained what happened. After a short conversation he told me I had simply overheated, it was not smoke but steam and that the fluid was anti-freeze. He told me I should walk over to a building that I was very fortunate to have pulled over near and get some water. He told me to let the engine cool and then add water to the radiator to cool it down and I should be fine. I did so with the help of a very nice attendant and went on my way. I glanced at the gauge and it said "normal". Alrighty! Small delay but I should get there in time. Mind you, this was intended to be a pizza potluck and I had sauce, spinach, and onions in my car.
So I'm driving along, traffic seems to have started moving and everything is going great. Then about 20 minutes later as traffic has started to crawl again, I notice the gauge is moving slowly towards hot and there is a small amount of steam seeping out the front of the car. *Groan!* I pull over and figure I'll let it cool down and since the attendant didn't fill up the radiator, I would add more water. As I'm sitting by the side of the road with the hood open letting it cool a trucker stops and has recognized what is wrong with the car by the steam. I gives me a gallon of water and goes on his way. After about 20 or so minutes I add the water and head out again.
Not even five minutes later I realize that this isn't working as I see more steam and the gauge is already at hot. I pull over yet again, and figure I was too impatient. I'll let it cool longer and if I can add more water because I had still not been able to fill it. Another trucker stops and gives me another gallon of water, and after letting it cool for a little more than 30 minutes I add half of that gallon which fills it up. Off I go.
About five minutes later I pull over again, there's no steam yet but the gauge says hot. At this point I call my father back and tell him that it keeps over heating. I explained that it was full of water and there was nothing more I could do. He goes off to look into roadside assistance and I sit. and sit. I text my friend and tell her I might be a little late. I sit some more. My aunt who lives in Philly calls me and said my dad called her. Where was I? About 10 feet form the "welcome to Pennsylvania" sign. It was Friday night and they don't drive on the Sabbath, so they couldn't really help me. After about and hour and a half staring at the state line and many phone conversations with many people (and an update text saying I was gonna be super late) my dad has located some options of places to get towed to. One is in the city about 10 miles behind me. There are some in Philly but he doesn't know if I could get towed that far. I told him it was bumper to bumper traffic, a tow truck would take hours to get to me. We were both pretty frustrated at this point and figuring this out with him was not being productive. While talking to my aunt and uncle (who is good with cars) we figure out that cars over heat faster in bumper to bumper traffic not moving. At highway speeds the air flows through the radiator cooling it.
So we decide I should wait for Traffic to break up then try to get to their house which is closer than my friend's. I do. I wait. and wait. and wait. Till about 8pm traffic is moving normally and off I go. My car has has about 3 hours to cool down so it's fine. I probably averaged 80 on my way to my aunt's house to make sure it didn't over heat. Whenever I had to slow down or there was a small period of construction, the needle would ince towards hot on the gauge but I managed to keep it at normal until I got to my aunt's.
I finally arrive exhausted and frazzled and 3 hours late for my get together at my aunt's. 7 hours after my departure from MD. She very nicely fed me dinner and let me take her car to my friend's house where I arrived 4 hours late. At least I got there. The whole experience was rather traumatic and I wont even go into how I got lost the next morning coming from my friends to my aunt's and turned what should have been a 1/2 hour drive into a 3 hour one. Ugh.
So my car went into the shop. The fan that cools the radiator had rusted off. I wait for it. But I'm leaving for Poland on Sunday so finally today when the shop said my poor car wouldn't be ready today, I had to take the bus home to get ready.
Now I'm here and I'm never driving again. Kill me.

I mean it only hold the most powerful pokemon ever!

2011-01-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Dearest Blog-Readers,

I do apologize for the lack of content, but alas I finish High School in 4 days and there has been much to do in the meantime. Now I know what you are thinking, you're thinking, "Robyn, you don't care about school!" and indeed I do not. For High School matters not, but all the same I would like to be done with it and to do so I must not fail any classes right before I graduate. I have done more work in that past 3 weeks than I have done my entire High School career, and I am not ashamed.

Guess what! This happened:

It's a Poké Ball, no big deal or anything...
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Robyn

2010-12-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

I feel that everyone should know these exist. You're welcome.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Day 8!

2010-12-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

And finally... Happy 8th and final day of Chanukah!
*click to open last gift*

Day 7

2010-12-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 7th night of Chanukah!
*click to open gift*

Day 6

2010-12-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

And on the 6th day god said "let there be presents". And it was so.
*click to open gift*

Day 5

2010-12-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

Happy 5th night of Chanukah!
*click to open gift*

Day 4

2010-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm late, but Happy 4th night (last night)!
"click to open gift*

Day 3

2010-12-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Second day of Chanukah!
*click to open gift*

Day 2

2010-12-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Second Night of Channukah!
*click to open second gift*

(my favorite daily webcomic)

Day 1

2010-12-01T16:13:00.001-08:00

Happy Chanukah my dear blog-readers!
'Tis the first night of Chanukah and here is your gift!
*Click to open gift*

2010-11-29T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving! Mine was pretty sweet. I wasn't too excited before hand but it turned out to be sweeeet!
My father rented an RV to drive down to Northern Virginia (a good 4 hour ride) and away we drove.
Brendan, Miles, Kelly, Lizzy, David, Pops, Susan, and I. And Cocoa, the tiniest dog in the world.
It was actually really awesome and RVs are the shit. I want to buy one and live in it full time. How sweet would THAT be?
Anyways, I made a little video with some footage I got of our vacation.
enjoy.
Thanksgiving Video

What up HURR!

2010-11-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

I dyed my hair pink and purple. yeh. So I was getting out of my car (hehe I can say that!!!) and some guy walking to his car did a double take at my hair and was like "are you an artist?" I was like "sorta..." and he told me all about an art gallery he's starting up with his fiance. He's an artist and he remembers that when he was a young artist (about my age) that he was working real hard to make ends meet so he's trying to help young artists. He gave me his business card and asked me to spread the word.

His name is Kevin Salmeron.

Cell: 240-464-6281

e-mail: salmeron.kevin@gmail.com

I know there are a couple artists who read this blog so you should look into this. He also would appreciate graphic art or animation for his website.

And all because of my "my little pony" hair.

You're welcome.

Shabbaton and CAR

2010-11-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went on this crazy Jew excursion into the woods called a shabbaton. Really a shabbaton is just a gathering over shabbat (the holy seventh day) but at my school we wander into the woods at the coldest time of the year. Clever, no?
Anyways. We went. It was aiight I suppose. Some bonding happened and some good napping in the sun.

Bigger News: I have a car!
This is exciting. I've been driving for a long time but just got my own car. It's a lender from my dad's girlfriend. It's a rather shitty '92 Ford Taurus. Still. It drives and I'm in high school so I'm happy :D
Now, if I went to a public school, it would fit it a whole lot better but because I go to fucking rich white Jewish kid land, the parking lot is full of volvos, nice hondas and even a few mustangs or really sick cars. But whatever.
Yay!
I'll post a picture of it later

Modern Banana - The web comic?!

2010-11-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

Yes! You heard correctly! I shall be adding a web comic to my blog!
I don't draw. I don't claim to be some awesome artist. But I enjoy making comics.
What better way than to add a web comic to my blog.
It shant be everyday. It'll be thrown in there randomly unless I decide to set myself some dates.
This is the first one. More of an introduction to the two main characters.

Other than them, there will just be random people peeking in every once in a while.
What do you think? Yay? Nay?

Things We Regret When We're Older. But not really.

2010-11-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

This happened a while ago but I never blogged about it. I got my first tattoos. My sister gave them to me.
One on my ankle and one of my wrist. You dig?
Tyler is not a person. "Tyler Pell" is our "family" name. Each sibling has that in their name. For example: John Smith Tyler Pell. Except I don't have a brother named John Smith... although that would be sweet.

Fer realz though. Don't get tattoos without thinking about it. They are permanent and you really don't want to be stuck with something stupid for the rest of your life. You can get it covered up but still. Both these tattoos have meaning to me, meaning that won't disappear with age. I don't think I'll ever regret these. But my future tattoos are to be thought out (I thought about these for months before I got them). Be sure you really want it before you get it.

And no, it really didn't hurt all that much.

Oh, interwebs.. you are so amusing

2010-11-09T11:34:00.001-08:00

Watch This.

You're Welcome.

2010-11-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

So. Currently in my house the internet is not working. No wait. The internet is working for the PC laptops in the house... but not for the macs. Which means Brendan, Christine and I cannot get online at home. It sucks. Luckily I go to a school with a wireless internet connection. That's where I am right now. So. Yeah. At school.
SCHOOL! Today is the last day of the first quarter which means... (drum roll please)..

I am halfway done with my senior year!
Which means I am just 2 months away from being done with High School forever.
YESS!
High school sucks.
Kay. Awesome. Peace.
Watch my youtube video. here.
You should also subscribe to my youtube channel. Thanks.

Hallow's Eve

2010-11-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

Yo so.
I went trick or treating with Brendan on Halloween. Yeah I'm 18, don't judge me!
Free candy man! While out we came to realize why older trick or treaters have a bad rep. Besides the fact that they may actually be a bit too old to trick or treat, of course. They don't dress up! It hadn't even occurred to me not to dress up. Brendan and I were zombies (and I still have red stains on my arm!). I was thinking "free candy and I get to dress up". It's fun AND delicious!
We passed a couple of groups of kids around our age and they were just dressed regular. Jeans, t-shirt and a jacket. I even said to them "why not dress up? It's fun AND you get free candy!" they were just obnoxious back but I don't get it. Why NOT dress up? Doesn't even have to be big. Black clothing and a black shirt on your head and BAM! You're a ninja! It's that easy. People were much nicer to us because we were dressed up and really into the "modern spirit" of Halloween and we didn't take two fistfuls of candy when someone help their bowl out to us.
Anyways. All the candy is now gone because we brought it to school. One day in school and an entire pillow case is gone. Fucking High School man.

To-Do List

2010-10-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I was supposed to go to a party. The party was canceled at the last minute so a friend and I just hung out and watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre and some other horror movies. When I got home around 2 for some reason I was feeling ambitious and did a few things I had been putting off. This happens to me. When there's something I should be doing (like sleeping) I suddenly have the desire to do everything else I need to do (like homework or cleaning my room). So I addressed a few envelopes, did a little bit of homework and did a tiny bit of organizing in my room. Then it was 3am and I decided I should probably go to bed especially because I needed to get up early this morning.
So I made a to-do list. This is big. I have NEVER made a to-do list because I'm a procrastinator and seeing the things I need to do makes it easier to procrastinate. Trust me, it makes sense. There were 11 items on my to-do list. It looked like this:

-Letter to santa
-Statistics HW
-Mr. Blank HW
-Address envelopes
-English Practice test
-Deposit $$
-Write to Shawnee
-Science?
-Hebrew PP
-Mail envelopes (address them first)
-Mail check

I have NO idea why I wrote "letter to santa". I am not planning on writing a letter to santa nor do I plan on helping anyone write a letter to santa so I have absolutely no idea why that's on there. As for the rest, well they were pretty accurate. I do enjoy that my 3am self had to specify that I had to address the envelopes before I mail them. I have so far done 4 things on this list and determined that science was unnecessary. I put the question mark because I wasn't sure if I had homework and I checked... I don't.
The strange thing is that because I made this when I was feeling productive, it seems to be helping. This has been the most productive day I've had in a while and I'm rather enjoying it...

2010-10-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of blogging. It's been mad busy in my life. I'm in the school play which had opening night yesterday so this past week was tech week. Crazy shit. It went well I think. Then, since I missed a week of school I have a shit ton of work to make up which I've barely made a dent in. Mostly because of the play. On the plus side, Tina (I've given up on numbers, it's too confusing) is coming to the play on Sunday! She's been on the road so I'm excited to see her :)
Well, I should really go do some work so... till next time

2010-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

SO.
Today I went back to school after a week out. A week is like a fucking eternity at my school and I'm super far behind now. I would say that doesn't matter because I'm a senior and all senior classes in my school are pretty much jokes but... I was behind when the school year started because I had unfinished left over credits from last year.
It was exhausting because I'm not 100% not sick yet and I haven't woken up before 10 for a while. My body get's into habits quickly.
I'm also in the play. We are doing a dinner theater this year and there are four short comedy plays that are being shown. I am in one of them and today we had our first rehearsal with all four plays together. So it was long and annoying. It was funny, but still.
1.5 made an awesome beef stew for dinner and I ate so much I swear I was going to explode. Then 1.5 and I sat down at the table and did statistics. Now I am really enjoying this class and for the most part really understand what's happening but in general I am no good with homework. I have dutifully done the last two problem sets and assumed this one would be easy, too.
Let me set the stage.
Problem number one. Parts "a" through "g". Granted "a" through "e" took less than a minute each, but still. We got to a point in problem one where the method/formula was in dispute between 1.5 and myself. Time was spent while she tried to figure out what it was and I sat on the floor whining about how I didn't want to do it anymore... and something about how my legs were going to explode. She did some calculations, then a few minutes later we deciphered my notes and did the problem two different ways, getting two answers that were not the same. At which point I just wrote an answer down and whined that we should move on. Question two. Like a bajillion numbers and they were big numbers and I had to put them in order. That took a full 3 minutes or maybe 5 and at that point my brain was fried. There are just some times when you can't focus anymore. It was the combination of the whole say and I just couldn't do anymore. Really. I don't want to fail this class and I don't think I will.
It's just tonight. I was done. It was only 10:15 but I was exhausted and yes, I know I'm not going to bed but I'm also not doing homework. This takes no effort. I will get my homework done tomorrow in between school and play practice. I'm sorry for causing you whatever I caused you 1.5 but... There are just times when you can't focus anymore.

Haunted Forest

2010-10-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

I went with #1 and #6 to Markoff's Haunted Forest last night and it was awesome! There's not only a terrifying trail through the pitch black woods but bonfires, food, zip lines, and other activities to do. It's a whole Halloween event every weekend in October. It was so much fun and very thrilling. It's not the type of scary that gives you nightmares or has you looking over your shoulder on the way home. You are scared while walking the trail and then it's over and you're left with a thrill and an accelerated heart rate for a few moments afterward.

One of the things to do while waiting to go down the trail is the haunted bus, which is actually what the original event was. When this even first started about 18 years ago, it was just this haunted bus. Over the years it has grown bigger until it is the full event it is today. This haunted bus is a long bus full of tight, pitch black hallways with the occasional strobe light and black light. As you navigate through people jump out at your or maybe just groan from the darkness. Hands reach through walls and grab at you as you stumble through the mist. The end is the killer, though. You get to the door and someone jumps out of the driver's seat and grabs at you. If you are like little mister #6, you run screaming from the bus and fall on the ground outside, only to have the "bus driver" come out of the bus and tower over you.

After the bus, it was our turn to go on the trail. There are two trails, number two being the new one. It didn't matter to us because we had never been there before. We went down trail number one and... whew. They have candles placed along the trail at a height that makes it impossible to see the woods around you so you don't see the man with knives until he's chasing you up a hill while #6 screams "those sound real! go go!" or the guys with chainsaws that corner #6 while me and #1 move on. I looked behind me listening to the sounds of screams and chainsaws and don't see #6. "we lost him!" I yelled but #1 said we had to go without him. When he caught up with us, he said that the chainsaw man had him cowering on the ground and he "almost killed me!"

Overall it was a great experience and I definitely want to go back next year and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Way way back in the 1980s...

2010-10-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

I watched Clone High yesterday. It only ran for one season and I am not too pleased with the way it ended. I really thought it would have a happy, complete ending... but alas it did not.
That's been happening to me a lot recently...

SPOILERS BELOW (if you plan on reading My Sister's Keeper or Handle With Care, don't read)

For example, after I read the Tenth Circle I went on to read Handle With Care, also by Jodi Picoult. The way it was written led me to believe that the girl was going to die at the end but then I was literally two pages away form the end and nothing happened. So I assumed everything turned out fine. nope. On the last page the little girl falls into a frozen pond and drowns. the last page! My Sister's Keeper was like that. For those of you who saw the movie, it has a different ending than the book. At least that's what I've been told; I've never seen the movie. At the end of the book, the healthy sister get's in a horrific accident and is going to die, so they end up giving the kidney to the sick sister because they might as well, if she's going to die anyways. It was a crazy, sudden, tragic turn of events. Jodi Picoult does that I suppose but it's still hard to handle.

2010-10-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Turns out I actually have strep. woot woot again!
Unfortunately this means I have to stay out of school for an extended period of time. AND IM GOING NUTS
Honestly, there's only so much you can find to do when you are used to over 7 hours of your day being used up by school. There is only so much internet surfing I can do before my head starts to hurt. So while school is a drag because of the expectations they force on young adults... what would we do otherwise?
I can hang out with friends because a. I'm sick and b. they are all in school!
I can't go out because I don't have a car, and I'm sick.
Everything I do must be found in the house and again there are only so many movies I can watch before my brain explodes. I have caught up on my homework even!
Any suggestions on how to pass the time?

2010-10-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

I went to the Doctor today and was told I have a sinus infection. woot woot!
This means antibiotics and no school for 72 hours. I would be thrilled about this but at my school missing three days is like missing a fucking semester. I am a senior so it doesn't matter as much as it would have last year but it's still irritating. It's ridiculous that school can literally do This to teenagers.
After every test is given back you can be sure you will find girls in the bathroom crying their eyes out because they got an 85 on it. Kids commit suicide and cut themselves over the stress that high school causes.
I don't care about school. To a fault. You should care enough to do it but not so much that it rules your goddam life.

NyQuil

2010-10-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

I love NyQuil. That shit is powerful. Let me tell you. It really is the best sleep you ever got with a cold medicine. Be warned, however, that you should be able to get at least 8 hours of sleep after you take it because YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET YOURSELF OUT OF BED only 6 hours later. I literally could not make my body get out of bed. It wasn't the normal morning "ughs" either. This was intense lack of movement. It quite literally makes you like this.

Unless of course you dont go to bed... and then it does this. But actually. That shit messes you up. I can't believe stuff this powerful is sold at CVS.

The Tenth Circle

2010-10-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've been reading this book by Jodi Picoult (Author of My Sister's Keeper) titled The Tenth Circle. That's in reference to the circles of hell. It's a great book but I have a few issues with it.

One thing I've always enjoyed about Jodi Picoult's books are that her characters act real. There's drama but the characters react like a real person would. There's no ridiculous over emotion like there is in other books and in movies. But this book is different. The main character's daughter has been through a shit ton of stuff so it's to be expected that she be distraught. The main character has a hidden past and so it's expected that he be a bit strange. Yet, both of them (especially together) seem ridiculously over "acting" and so drama queen ish.
It's just bothering me because that was one of my favorite parts of books like "Keeping Faith" and "My Sister's Keeper", both of which I highly recommend.

Any books you enjoy enough to recommend to me?

Welcome, Young Sashquan

2010-10-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

I shall teach you well in the ways of the mastering of the very difficult art of taking control of yourself in order to complete the training for... Uhm... Well, you get the picture.

OR DO YOU!?

Well, now you do.

Anyhoozle, Welcome to the Modern Banana! It's the lastest in blog technology in which I put poetry, pictures, ceramics, and anything else that special brain of yours can think up.
Till Next time,
Robyn

PS: Click on that ad right down there. It's awesome I swear.