Grandma: I would like to go, but di lowrd will not take me. Dat would be a gipt prom di lowrd.
Me: (under my breath) That's a gift I'm willing to give.

I'm quickly losing patience with my grandma. Currently contemplating using my veggie-julieting skills (read: fast and exact chopping) on said person... or come out to her. I'm thinking that the latter will do far more damage; she'll be alive to enjoy it for a long time.

At least she's stopped calling me a "good" boy. And my dad agrees that grandma gets far too annoying for her own good.

On another note, I hate it when people don't understand what I mean by the actions I take. What's worse is not being able to explain to someone that what I do is for their own good.

Yesterday sister was being self-depreciative (ex. "Naw, that boy would never go for me!", "I didn't have time to practice my cello. I'm not good enough anyways.") so I figured that it's time to teach her something or two about being strong. Behind the nice-girl facade she so loves to hide behind, my sister is one of the emotionally weakest people I know. Evidence? I was able to make her cry during dinner (at the buffet no less) by making one or two slight comments.

My dad and I worry about her dependence on others. At this stage she's 16 going on 17 and still too lazy or reticent to do stuff for herself. Recently she's been getting better about it... but not by much. I may come off as being mean, but the only way I know that sis'll learn to be strong is to more or less bully her into building defenses. That was my entire mission in the 7th grade, and why all her friends hated me.

I guess you could pass it off as sibling interaction, but keep in mind that we're normally docile to eachother. My parents still refuse to allow her to go to a psychiatrist/psychologist for some sort of diagnosis and possibly professional help. It helped me be stronger, to the point of being emotionally stoic at times when extremely stressed.

In other, more pleasant news, I'm regaining my ability to cook decent food. For the past month or so each dish I tried to cook became too flavorful. Today, however, I was able to make a decent spagetti in parmesan-mushroom sauce with sauteed potatoes (a bit on the salty side, but balanced out with some sour cream). Right now I'm in the middle of freezing a batch of mango sorbet.

Still, I really need to get started on my paintings.