ANTONIA’S GUIDE TO SPLIT PERSONALITIES 2

ANTONIA’S GUIDE TO SPLIT PERSONALITIES

We have something special, have grown up in mutual adoration. He might deny that love is what he feels for me, but Antony could never say that he doesn’t feel something, something profound. This is playground love at its finest.

It’s like the myth of Hedwig; we belong together, we were once one and the same, until some ancient god split us apart. And all we need is to be together, and we’re whole again. You understand this right? You complete me!

Whatever.

For those of you out there who might be looking for a happiness and love as fine as mine, here’s what you need to know.

1st: Get a mirror.
It is important that this mirror be intact, as searching for your other half in shattered glass can be a harrowing experience indeed. Which of those beautiful faces peering back from the shards do you pick? How do you know he’s right for you, and you for him? It’s like visiting the dog pound. You want to bring them all home, but you can’t…..so you walk away empty-handed. I always wanted a dog.

2nd: Look past your reflection.
While it may be tempting to date yourself, this is a really bad idea. All of your good traits are magnified, and all of your faults are squared. I’ve always been too chicken to make any moves, and have never been the one to ask someone out, or break up with anyone.

One time, when Antony and I were on the outs, I developed a bit of a crush on myself. The problem was, neither me nor I had the nerve to ask myself out. Finally, Jet did it for us. But…..after a while, I got sick of me, but neither me nor I was going to be the one to break my heart. So we drifted apart, and I guess I’m not dating me anymore, but technically, we never managed to break up. You see how messy this gets?

…..Somewhere, behind that glass, you will find your other half. This may take work. You may be forced to wait a long time, sitting, without food, or drink, or sleep, until they finally appear. Think of it as a sitting sojourn, a bedroom vision quest. I should warn you not to be looking for Antony. Your other half will look different from mine; unfortunately then, you will miss out on the devastating good looks I have been blessed to possess.

3rd: Do not touch the glass.
You will not manage in this fashion to hold the hand of your one true love. You will only smear the glass between you, making it more difficult to see your love.

Likewise, do not break the glass. While it may be tempting to punch through the barrier between you, you will only end up hurting your love, accidentally slamming your fist through the core of them, tearing a hole through their body with surprising strength. This is very difficult to repair, and may scar you both for life.

4th: Absolutely no sharing!
I made the mistake of inviting Antony through the looking glass, and he’s so excited to explore this new world, that he is quite aloof to me. He has known me his whole life, and is more keen to see new things, meet new people.

It’s quite distressing. I thought that when he came through he’d stay by my side, but of course I was being silly, and confusing this with that time when I dated myself. He’s independent, aloof. So much so that we’re never seen together. And that hurts.

It really hurts.

Still, I know that deep down, he really loves me, and he will come back to me. How can he not?
Love is staying patient while you wait alone by the mirror.

Well, gotta split! Seeya!

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ANTONIA’S GUIDE TO SPLIT PERSONALITIES 1

ANTONIA’S GUIDE TO SPLIT PERSONALITIES

“Hello, my name is Antonia, and I am addicted to my opposite.

 

 

When I was a girl, I, like many small children with nothing better to do, was addicted to “Alice and Wonderland.”

I found myself in many a timeout after innocently enacting my favourite moments, for example giving my pet rabbit an old stopwatch, which was apparently a family heirloom, whatever that means.

Then there was the time when I stole my mothers red nail-polish and painted our neighbors’ rose-bush. I think my parents were less upset about what the neighbors might come to think than they were about the sinister looking handprints I left on our walls and carpet when I came inside.

I think my father was ready to draw the line after I brought a herd of baby ducks into the living room and ran around trying to honk them like horns—but my mother intervened. She told my father that the disarray in our household would not be settled by sending his 6-year-old to Scandinavian military school, but that the problem was with the cartoons I was watching.

I just did not have a realistic understanding of the world because, in the cartoons I loved so deeply, anything was possible.

But I strongly refused to give up my Alice. After all, she was the love of my young life.

My mother tried to solve the problem by buying “Alice,” a Czech live-action version of ‘Alice and Wonderland.’ However, after an embarrassing incident involving a taxidermist, a chainsaw, and three armed policemen, my mother pushed that tape down the in-sink garbage disposal.

It seemed that we had reached an empass, until a new movie came out, one that was live action, but didn’t involve freaky puppetry and excessive use of sawdust. This was “Alice through the Looking Glass.” And it was marvelous.

After that, my parents found me much easier to handle, as I would sit for hours staring into the mirror. They could use the mirror as a babysitter, in the same way that many parents could use the TV, and they were able to leave me alone with my mirror for days, nearly a week at a time, at which point someone would have to tear me away to feed me and bathe me.

Inside that gorgeous piece of glass, I found my other half.

Look, I don’t know what she’s talking about. I certainly never lived in no mirror. And those hand-prints she’s talking about? They ain’t nail-polish. They’re stains from when I got in a fist-fight with Antonia’s dog. I don’t have a dog, Antony. Whatever. Look, the point is, all of this other half, destiny stuff, it ain’t true. You’re cute, babe. We’ve had some good times, that’s all. The thing about Antony is that he has a hard time expressing his feelings. He needs to be macho, needs to feel tough, doesn’t like to say he’s in love, but he is.

We’ve watched each other from the day we first laid eyes on each other. It’s a quiet sort of love, nearly unspoken; we’ve never even touched each other, not so much as a brush as we moved past each other. But there’s a special sort of push-pull between us, a certain balance of dark and light, menace and affection, male and female, yin and yang.

It hurts sometimes to hear him say he doesn’t love me, but I have to support his choice; if he acted just like me all the time, I might as well fall in love with myself, right?

Still, I can feel it. We were made to be together. I like the way she does her hair.

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OCTAVIA’S GUIDE TO SPY NOVELS 2

OCTAVIA’S GUIDE TO SPY NOVELS

This is what he told me from his vast and amazing knowledge of spies…

Spies are normal people who are not normal. They know how to think differently and they know how to speak several languages. They are usually tall and handsome and wear tuxedoes but sometimes they can be tall and handsome and wear ski suits. They like to run a lot and they are good at driving fast cars. They are good at finding out things about people and they can keep a secret if they want to.

Mr Bond didn’t get to tell me anything about actual spy novels because he was jumped on and dragged away at that stage by several men in black balaclavas. That I’m afraid, is one of the downsides of being a spy – you can rarely get to finish a conversation.

Spy novels are fantastic and very helpful. I learned to speak Spy Talk from them and also how to drink a martini. I recommend that you start reading soon and maybe you too can begin to talk the language of spies.

And on that note, I will leave you with this – The quick brown mole jumped in the hole.

TOP TEN SPY NOVELS TIPS

1. All good spy books must have a cover that tells you something. A title is really helpful or you won’t know what it is you’re reading. I find ones that have a picture on are really good as well.

2. The name of the spy is really important. Anything with James or Bond in it is usually a good sign.

3. Read the book from front to back and you will enjoy the story.

4. Use a magnifying glass to read the story and you will enjoy the story even more.

5. Wear a black suit and a microphone headset and you will enjoy the story even more.

6. Reading in the dark is a good thing because it makes you feel like a spy, particularly if you are wearing night vision goggles at the time.

7. Teach yourself to read between the lines and you might just discover a real spy secret – The Eagle Has Put The Easter Egg In the Nest is not just a phrase that spies use, it actually means something.

8. Turn the page so that you can get to the next one.

9. When you have finished the book, it’s the end.

10. If you are reading a book where they tell you to mix one cup of sugar with a cup of flour then you are probably not reading a spy book – unless it’s a very clever one…

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OCTAVIA’S GUIDE TO SPY NOVELS Part 1

OCTAVIA’S GUIDE TO SPY NOVELS

“I grew up in a military household and believe I am the product of DNA testing at a secret base in the mountains behind Sunset Cove. I am not exactly the Bionic Woman – but I am pretty close…”

 


I am a genius and everyone knows it. I was born believing in myself and I could understand everything that people said – apart from that silly baby talk that people feel they have to do. Although I knew how to speak back I had an instinct to keep this talent to myself and practised my language skills when I was alone in my crib.

When I was old enough to walk I would creep out of the nursery and raid my father’s bookshelves. I would sit up for hours reading and taking in all the facts, figures and statistics that were encrypted in the words and lines of his novels.

My mother was always telling my father off for leaving his books in my room. He was baffled and thought maybe he had been sleepwalking. But there was no other explanation as to how a 6 month old baby could get out of her crib, walk downstairs and bring an adult armful of books back with her … was there?!

When I was 5 I became slightly bored of learning languages and military codes and came across a spy novel that my mother had bought for my Grandma. I pounced on it as the cover looked so intriguing. The guy on the cover looked like the man that had been following my father for as long as I could remember.

Mom had to let me have the book for fear that I would throw a huge tantrum and give her a headache and I gleefully carried it away to my room and read it all in one go, not even stopping to watch New News or Politics Today Tonight Tomorrow.

After that first novel I was unstoppable and couldn’t get my hands on enough of these books. It all made sense to me and it felt as if I was reading about myself.

The books taught me some new skills but mostly they took me away from my thoughts and to a place in my head that I liked to be. I think I was designed to be a spy, that it was a calling for me, my destiny. And of course, I am one now. And I write my own books about my experiences.

In my search for the best of the best of spy novels I went to our local second hand store for spies and talked to Bond, Michael Bond. At the age of 107, Michael is the ultimate spymaster and knows everything there is to know about spies.

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VITA’S GUIDE TO TYPING 2

VITA’S GUIDE TO TYPING

That is another annoying thing about these machines but Mr.Scrimpy would attack the electric typewriter Don got me so we had to get rid of it.

I can type very very fast and I don’t even count the words I can do in a minute because I am so very fast. But I do know that I can type up a report card faster than a printer can print it out. So you see that I am well trained to be able to teach the students how to do this typing thing.

I like to teach the kids sometimes but it has to be when I am ready because those stupid kids can make me feel like going home. One of them didn’t know that you had to hit the keys to make the letters and just stared at the machine thinking he could make it work with his brain.

One kid thought the machine was a dating agency and tried to get it to find him a girlfriend.

Vita’s Top Ten Tips for choosing a typing teacher

1. Make sure that they are not dead
2. Make sure that they have fingers
3. Make sure that they can type
4. Make sure they know the alphabet
5. Make sure you have a typewriter
6. A good teacher can teach you to type with your toes
7. Look at the teachers nails – if they are not clean then do not choose them, they are not hygienic
8. Latino typists are the best because they like to dance and rhythm is important for typing
9. A good teacher will like to eat apples
10. If a teacher can balance a paper airplane on their nose and type faster than a concert pianist then you have found me

And one kid thought that it was a time traveller and she tried to go back to Ancient Greece in it to see if Atlantis was there.

But some of the kids are okay and know what to do and one of them even managed to type a letter of complaint to Violet. This kid complained that I had no teaching skills and that her poltergeist could do a better job but I didn’t mine. At least she knew what the machine was for.

So, computers are okay and they have their uses but I do not like to touch a mouse whether it is dead or alive or plastic so I use my typewriter.

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