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Winter Break and the Second Anniversary of Raucous Endeavors

1/7/2016

5 Comments

 
Merry  Christmas and Happy New Year! Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but I was in Florida all last week. But before we get to that, let's talk about Christmas!
This year, what with my newfound access to multiple 3D printers, I decided to 3D-print presents for everyone except my immediate family. It made it all really fun, because I really enjoy 3D-printing things, and people seemed to like the stuff I made. Also on the 3D printing front, I found a cool place where I could get 3D models directly from video games, and another website that turns images into 3D models. So that's really fun to use.
On Christmas, I got the parts necessary to fix my drone, so now I've got a FRIGGIN' QUADRICOPTER.
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There's this new FAA rule that you have to register your drone, so I went ahead and did that, and it felt kind of cool to have a federal legal document verifying that I have a FRIGGIN' QUADRICOPTER.
I'm still trying to decide on a name for it, though, so if any of you guys have any ideas, suggestions are welcome in the comments! I'm going for, say, a "fighter jet" kind of name, like "The Crimson Blur" or something.
Later that day, we went over to my Uncle Rome's and Aunt Amy's for Christmas dinner, and what was there but a FRIGGIN' QUADRICOPTER.
No, sorry, it was a little black lab puppy, named Cameron. I kind of adore dogs, so I was around her for a lot of the evening. She has the dog mindset of "the world is my chew toy," but I was all right with her gnawing on my hand as long as she didn't bite. I found I could call her by wiggling my fingers near the ground, and she would scamper towards them with her quirky little skip-walk.
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The next morning, my family and I got up at the ungodly hour of two o'clock to go catch a plane to Miami, where we planned to stay for the remainder of the holidays. My mother's friend let us use her beach house there for our stay. On the first day we were there, despite the fact that I'm not much of an outdoorsy person, my mother convinced me to go out and walk around town with the rest of the family.
I was told there would be pizza.
What really happened was that after walking around, we ended up eating at some place that served really cruddy burgers. Then, instead of immediately returning to the safety and comfort of our friend's beach house, my mom decided we should see more of the city. I was already drained from all of this excursioning, but my mother would not be appeased. So we walked. We ended up at some old mansion on the shore, and thankfully, soon after we went back to our abode.
The next day, my family went to the famed "King Mango Strut," which is a Florida parade held in parody of the year's politics. After how miserable I had been yesterday, my parents let me stay in while they went. Predictably, there were a lot of Donald Trump impersonators this year, and everyone had a good laugh, according to my sister Claire.
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After they got back though, we got ready to go see... (wait for it...)
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Yes, the new STAR WARS movie! And yes, it lives up to the hype. It surpasses the hype, it's amazing! Admittedly, I'm a rather large fan of Star Wars, as is my mother, so we were both geeking out over the movie. It was nostalgic and brand-new at the same time, and all-around awesome. 
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​One thing I'd like to clear up for everyone: Kylo Ren's lightsaber looks weird because its lightsaber crystal is unstable.
The next day, we went to this neat little bookstore called Books & Books. This is a place where I'm really in my element, when I'm surrounded by books and quiet. It has a really nice environment, with these walls of books, and this cafe in the middle, where we had dinner.
I ordered one of their sandwiches, but I get really serious about my sandwiches. By the time I had finished customizing it, it was a completely different sandwich. Nevertheless, it was really good. Afterwards, I had this crazy awesome cupcake. I know, I didn't think it was possible for cupcakes to be crazy awesome either, until I tried this one. It was a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting...
With OREOS.
IN THE FROSTING.
Tell me that isn't the craziest awesomest cupcake you've ever heard of.
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After we finished eating, we browsed a bit, my browsing mainly concentrated in the humor section. I got a Dave Barry book, Dave Barry Slept Here. I'm a big Dave Barry fan, and his books are among the funniest I've ever read. I recommend them to anybody, whether you read frequently or not that much.
The next morning, we went to South Beach, one of the few places in the world that my dad hasn't been to. After we got breakfast, Claire and our parents went off to the beach while I sat and read, after a fruitless search for a green apple slushie. Later that day, my mother and I went on to the Miami Metro Mover just to ride and look around, which was fun.
Late the next day on New Year's Eve, we decided to get dinner at a popular outdoor park part of town called Bayside, which really did not sound like my cup of tea.
We were going to take the train, but we saw a trolley at the station going where we were headed. It seemed much nicer, plus it was free. So we hopped on, not knowing that the trolley went at a constant speed of about 7.5 miles per hour. We went 50 minutes on the trolley before we got on the train. When we finally got to Bayside, the park was very crowded, and there seemed to be some sort of event going on.
As it turned out, this rapper called Pitbull was having this big New Year's Eve concert with a bunch of other artists, including Claire's favorite singer, Shawn Mendes. Claire freaked out, and wanted to stay for this concert, which was the opposite of what I wanted to do. I just wanted to go home and lie down with a good book, but we had gone there to get dinner. We ended up at a noisy, grimy restaurant that I didn't like at all. Eventually, my dad went with me back home, and my mom stayed with Claire to see the concert. When Mom and Claire got back from the concert, we went out and watched a hotel's New Year fireworks, drinking some sparkling apple cider. 
Two years ago, I started this blog. And the resolution that started it all, the idea I had, all happened right there in that house in Florida. I didn't tell you guys back in the beginning because I thought it would be a lot to explain in the first post. Well, now you know.
I'd like to thank you guys, my readers, for reading the stuff I've written these past two years. Without your loyalty and support, none of this would be possible. So, thank you!!!
I know my posting has been a bit spotty this past year, so this year I resolve to post more! So, stay tuned, and have a happy new year!
5 Comments
Mrs Lieber
1/7/2016 11:21:57 pm

I really enjoyed reading your blog. It sounds to me that you had a really fun and diverse week with your family. I miss seeing all of you and it is so nice to read your writing and to see your illustrations. Happy New Year, Colin, to you and your family! All my best, Mrs Lieber

Reply
Claire
1/12/2016 06:04:25 am

Happy New Year bro!! I love your blog!

Reply
Terry Hartman
1/13/2016 01:13:50 am

It was interesting to hear about your family's adventures in Miami, and I love your illustrations! Happy New Year to you and your family.

Reply
Jason
1/13/2016 09:51:36 pm

DUDE SAME! I found this blog by accident but I saw you mention you got a quadcopter and I did, too! Tho I live in DC which is a no-fly zone smh....So i gotta drive up north to fly it. Which quad did you get? I got a DJI one.

Reply
Colin
1/14/2016 06:54:43 am

I got a Parrot A.R. Drone 2.0, wanted it since I was like 12. Though partly because of the tilt controls (and partly because I'm relatively new), I keep crashing it into walls, and one of the propeller shafts has a tendency to bend :/
As for zoning, I'm not sure I can take it out of my own backyard. Not because of laws or anything, but my parents are mistrustful of new stuff. What can you do, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    Colin O'Donnell, an awesome, inventing, gaming Aspergers kid on his various exploits.

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