"Feathered Serpant," by Xu Xiaobin

"After that she vanished from the Qin residence, but not from the earth as we might have imagined. Meihua was a smart and beautiful woman. All such women posses a great vitality. They can be crushed by fate, but they can also revive and be reborn. In this sense they are like some plants—hardy and capable of regenerating themselves, even though they seem fragile." —p.106

"An air-dried flower is sometimes more fragrant than a fresh one." —p.106, describing Meihua

"Outside the delivery room, three people were waiting anxiously. A life is about to be born. It has thousands of ways to grow; it can be as simple as a tiny seed growing in the dark." p.136, describing the birth of Yun'er

"One often wonders why those who are noisy are not heard, while those who have bee...

• Hang out
• Sit on couch
• Be held
• Play with cats
• Watch House/Bones/World Cup
• Play board games
  • Beat in Monopoly
  • Be beaten in Scrabble
• Take walk
• Hold hands
• Creeeep
• Dinner?
• Make vague references
  • To Nerdfighting
  • To Latin
  • To quotes we both know
• Play soccer
• Escort home
• Hug

::Stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat/ stupid/baby/stupid/loser/stupid/lost::

I inscribe three lines, hush hush hush , into my skin. Ghosts trickle out. (p.61)

-

Why? You want to know why? Step into a tanning booth and fry yourself for two or three days. After your skin bubbles and peels off, roll in coarse salt, then pull on long underwear woven from spun glass and razor wire. Over that goes your regular clothes, as long as they are tight. Smoke gunpowder and go to school to jump through the hoops, sit up and beg, and roll over on command. Listen to the whispers that curl into your head at night, calling you ugly and fat and stupid and bitch and whore and the worst of all: “a disappointment.” Puke and starve and cut and drink because you need an anesthetic and it works. For a while. But then the anesthetic turns into poison and by then it...

• Leggings or something spandex from Amer Appar
• Flats
• Converse
• An Amer Apar hoodie
• Boots
• Oversized sweater
• Cute hat for winter
• LWD
• LBD
• One Juicy sweatshirt [Nota bene: MUST be worn sparingly to avoid being labeled as a Juicy-whore like one of those Upper East Side, faux-blonde, Juicy-clad trophy wives you see in Central Park going out for a morning run.]

Based off of the content of "The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies," by Lizabeth Zindel

• Never wear everything perfectly. It will look like you tried too hard. For instance, don't tuck something in all the way. Keep one sleeve pushed up higher than the other.
• Your hair should ALWAYS look perfect when you leave the house.
• Own two kick-ass accessories. That's all you need. Then you can just throw on jeans and your two kick-ass accessories and everyone will assume you're rich but just don't want to flaunt it. (e.g. Prada sunglasses and a nice Tiffany bracelet)
• Walk with your head slightly tilted up, shoulders back, confident walk. Look straight ahead. Give the impression that you have somewhere to be right now, and nobody better get in your way. Don't make eye c...

• Music guru
• BFF
• Confessional buddy ("Chamber of Secrets")
• Smart friend
• B.A.
• Popular/Slutty Asian
• Smart Asian
• African-American
• Super white
• Popular
• People person
• One that can read your mind
• Fashionista (+ make up and hair pro)
• Rich friend
• Current events center
• World traveller
• Bookworm
• Gay bgf
• Gay bff [caveat...]
• Friend that has connections

• Legos must be 3 x 2
• Order of Legos: (Top to bottom)
  • Red
  • Yellow
  • Blue?
  • White?
  • Black?
• Optional: two 1 x 1 Legos (yellow and black) to make little horns/antennae on the top (red) one.