Spring Break

I'm having spring break next week! It's awesome, but however, my sisters only have 3 days of Spring Break, whereas I have the full week off. My mom is a counselor in a high school, but she doesn't have a single day off the same week as I do. That was why I wanted to go to Liberty Park. So I could do something fun this Spring Break, but because my parents have to work and my sisters have school during most or all of my spring break, I had to do it this last Saturday. But so far, it was fun!

Haircut and Liberty Park

Yesterday, I did a lot of fun stuff! First, I got a haircut (As shown in the pictures below.)

Then, My Mom, my sister Emily and I went to Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.We fed the geese and ducks and some seagulls snatched the bread out of the pond. That made me laugh!We attempted to go on the rides, but they were still closed for the season. So instead, we went to the playground. I went on the swings and chatted with people. I tried to play "50 Nifty United States" on the xylophone, but it wouldn't do so. I saw lot's of kids and cute babies. I love to make babies smile and laugh! After that we went to 7-Eleven to get some food and then we went home, listening to the music from Into the Woods along the way.

Piano Accompaniment Ideas of "50 Nifty"

Here are some of the accompaniments I heard on Youtube that I really like:

50 Nifty States- Piano Accompaniment

One thing I REALLY want to do is sing "50 Nifty United States" while someone accompanies me on the piano. On Youtube, there were 4 classes that sang that song and sang "Utah is the best", but none of which were while someone played the piano in the background. Bummer. Most of the states where they did so were in the Northeastern United States. And the only 4 Western states in the contiguous USA that did so were Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona. I take piano lessons,but I forget to practice. Worse, my piano teacher is going to move to Pennsylvania, this summer. That's far away from here! But there's hope. One, I saw a video of an elementary school patriotic program that I can tell is from Utah because of the flag. They didn't sing 50 Nifty, but they DID sing with piano accompaniment. And two, my Uncle Gary can play the piano. Maybe he can accompany me on the piano. The 4th of July would be a PERFECT time to sing that! As a bonus, I could sing Wakko's state capitals song from Animaniacs in the same way! Well, I hope I'll do this before I outgrow my interest in states. Fingers crossed! Oh, and that video of me singing "50 Nifty United States" from earlier? That was just from a video of the song instrumental (shown below).

How to pronounce "Nevada"

I know it's a Spanish word, but it's not pronounced "Nev-AH-dah". Locally, it's pronounced, "Nev-ADD-ah" No offense, really, but ask yourself this question: Is Nebraska pronounced "Neb-RAH-ska"? No? Then remember to pronounce Nevada similarly as Nebraska. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. I'm just giving you advice in case you are (supposedly) going to Las Vegas for the weekend. I love my Scrambled States DVD (The Scrambled States of America and more stories by Laurie Keller), but I was disappointed on how they pronounced "Nevada". They said "Nev-AH-dah and Mississippi fell in love", whereas they should have said "Nev-ADD-ah and Mississippi fell in love". I'm not really from Nevada, but I'm just saying. Well, at least lots of people said it right on Youtube. They said "Nev-ADD-ah and Mississippi fell in love!" Also, in the CD read-along, there was one - just one- line where they said Nevada correctly. It was when North Carolina said to South Carolina, "Nevada and Mississippi fell in love!". I'm glad there are people who say it right!

Videos

It's really fun to listen to music that I'd use to put into a video. Yep. I make videos. These videos shown here were both made by me on Mom's computer. I used to have to wait for my mom to get home so I could use her computer, but now I have my own. I got it for Christmas in 2014. As I was saying, The videos showing happy music usually have a watermark to prevent theft. I really wish I could use their music for my videos, but their music costs about $18! YIKES! I can't pay for all that! Oh, well. I guess I could just listen to their music, instead. I also want to start making videos about something different. Something besides states. I would like some ideas for videos. Anything but lyrics videos. I would love to make a video about all 50 state songs, but they get on my nerves. No offense. Are there any ideas for videos? If so, give me some. Thanks!

Happy Spring and Happy (almost) Birthday!

Spring is officially here!
I like spring because:

• The weather gets warmer.
• I get to see pretty flowers (It's fun unless you're allergic.)
• My birthday will come.
• It gets closer to summer (No school!)

I hope you enjoy spring as much as I do. I'm going to turn 16 years old this April. (Boy, how time flies!) I'm making plans for my Sweet 16 birthday party. I want it to be something unique, compared to all my other birthdays. I'd better keep my fingers crossed that there will be NO EVENTS AT SCHOOL during my birthday party. Last year, even though it went well, there was an event at school that happened the same day as my birthday party. I also want it to have a LOT of guests. The only problem is I don't recognize people by name. Instead, I recognize them by face. But I'll probably have the best birthday in a lifetime! Hopefully. 

All about me!

Hi, everyone! I'm Eleanor Swan.

 This blog is about a lot of my creative ideas. But before we get started, I'd like to tell you about myself. I was born on April 28th, 1999 in a Salt Lake City hospital. I have high-functioning ASD (autism-spectrum disorder). I live in Tooele (Pronounced "too-WILL-ah"), Utah, USA, with my mom and dad, my older sister, Emily, and my younger sister, Rebecca (She goes by "Becca"). I love my family, so I have empathy toward people whose parents are very strict. I feel like their parents are abusing them. Especially when their parents are spanking them. Ouch!

I love learning about the 50 U.S. states. I've been to Hawaii, California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Utah (of course.), Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado (I pronounce it "col-uh-RADD-oh".), New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida (I went there by accident. We were originally going to my grandma's house in Alabama, but we took a wrong turn and ended up in the Florida panhandle.), Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. I've also been to Washington, DC.

Laurie Keller (author of books like "The Scrambled States of America" and "Arnie the Doughnut") and I know each other on the Internet. I like to give her neat ideas on Facebook. We've known each other ever since I e-mailed her an idea of the Scrambled States. It was about a Scrambled States Christmas book. I also wanted Utah to be the main character. Fortunately, she responded! Laurie Keller said that she LOVED the idea! She also asked if I lived in Utah. She was right. Also, on my 15th birthday, she gave me cool stuff. One of them was a picture of Utah saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELEANOR! Thanks for living on me!". I just couldn't stop smiling. It was one of the best birthdays ever! I also have empathy toward people who are being bullied. I hate it when people tell me to ignore them and/or walk away. It make things worse when people say they are doing it because they know they are getting a reaction. That makes me mad! Sometimes, I'd rather hurt the bully, but others say it won't work. The best way in which I'd rather do is tell a trusted adult. That way, the bully will get in trouble. Another way I'd do it is to crack a joke. He/she would be so disappointed on how I responded,so they'll leave me alone. I love this song called "50 Nifty United States". My favorite part of the song is "North, South, East,West, in our calm, objective opinion, Utah is the best of the..." (But this is MY opinion. You can sing your state as the best.) On Youtube, I have found all the states sang as the best except Vermont. So if you live in Vermont and know the song, feel free to sing it, as long as you know that part and know how it EXACTLY goes. Don't forget to post it on Youtube. Thanks! This is the inception of a blog about a creative, autistic girl. Enjoy!