I just read a book called Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones. In the book, the main character had said that if there had been only a few seconds of difference, the driver of a car wouldn't have collided with her mom's car and caused an accident. And then they probably wouldn't have gone back to her mom's old home of Maine. And if she hadn't gone to Maine a lot of things wouldn't have happened. It's like the butterfly/dead grasshopper effect.

For some people, "every penny counts" is not something they believe in. When they drop a few coins on the ground, they don't bother to pick it up because they feel it's not worth the effort. (I pick up money when I see it, though. I like coins since they're all...metallic.)

I was a few seconds away from trauma and possibly death myself on Thursday. I was standing on the sidewalk waiting for the light to change so I could cross the street. Right as I was stepping out on the street a car to my left was trying to turn right...It almost crashed into the three people walking a bit ahead of me. The driver stopped quite suddenly to avoid rolling over us. If the driver had seen us pedestrians a little bit later, I might have witnessed a car accident. And I'd be standing in front of a gruesome scene, calling 911 in a panicked fashion. Or perhaps if I had walked forward a bit more I would've been in the accident too. Imagine, just a few seconds can make so big a difference...

Sometimes I don't know what to think. At times, life moves too quickly, but at other times it seems painstakingly slow. I think time, like what happens to you, depends on how you interpret it... I guess time is really just a concept, though we may "measure" it with clocks.

And then there is this theory that perhaps life is just a dream. That we've been dreaming a long time and we simply haven't woken up yet. The line between dreams and reality can easily be blurred. I was thinking of Yosemite one night before I slept and then I had a dream where I was there, except things were weird there (dreams, after all, can be rather unrealistic, as they don't make sense at all...). I can't remember the dream anymore. I wish that I could. But it's like water - it flows right out of your hand...

Labels: book, butterfly effect, car accident, coins, concept, dreams, every penny counts, life, reality, sand dollar summer, seconds, speed, time, truth, yosemite

That is French for "Circus of the Sun". It's really a lovely name. And I think the performances are lovely too.

While I was in Las Vegas, my family saw a show, the KÀ. It's a wild and exciting show, but at times also peaceful or comical. KÀ can be seen in the hotel/casino MGM Grand.

This is the second performing arts show that I've seen in Las Vegas that cost money to see. The first one I saw was Le Rêve, which is not part of the Cirque du Soleil (Cirque du Soleil has several shows, such as the O, Mystère, The Beatles Love, and I heard there's a new one, Viva Elvis). I think Le Rêve was a good show too. But it's a pretty different experience from KÀ. For one thing, Le Rêve has water, while KÀ has fire.

I don't want to spoil much of the KÀ for you, so I'll only talk about one part of it. There is this one scene where a prince and another guy are making shadows. It's pretty cool. They formed various animals with their hands. I'm talking about something like this (click here!). I'd like to try doing that sometime. I'm not really great with any kind of puppets, not to mention doing shadow puppets. (But I probably haven't tried enough to find out anyways.)

It seems performing in the shows is pretty dangerous. True, mostly people have lines attached to themselves, so they aren't going to fall and break their necks, but there are a few performers who don't have these safety lines, and they do rather risky-looking things. I've never seen someone mess up in the two shows I've seen, but you never know, accidents do happen...

...like car accidents. There seem to have been several in this area. I've never been involved in one, thank goodness, besides getting scratches on cars (and that's no big deal, since no one was hurt). But there really is death happening, even if you haven't been seeing it, people are dying all the time - and it's so hard for me to realize because none of my relatives or friends have ever died. That's why I have trouble sometimes feeling sorry for people who are starving in other countries. Since I haven't experienced it, I can't really understand it (I'm a seeing is believing sort of person). I might be starting to understand, but I don't know if I'd really get it. (There is, after all, a difference between just feeling sorry for someone and actually understanding their situation.)

I've been realizing lately how time is also passing, though subtly. I was taking pictures outside, and even though two pictures (of the same place) were only less than a minute apart in time, the background (the sky and clouds) was different. That's how fast clouds are really moving on a windy day. On some days, you don't think the clouds are moving, especially since they are far away and it is hard to see their movement, but they really are...

And I'm always stuck with mostly the same people as I move up through the grades. Sure, there are people from other elementary schools added once you're in middle school, but eventually you know those people too, and it's just the same old faces. I sometimes feel people act rather immature and really aren't any different, except maybe being taller, but really, they are changing. And the schools are different as you move up. Some middle school classrooms look like elementary school classrooms, but there are different desks (the kinds with the chair attached to the desk; at first I wasn't used to it and I tried to scoot back, but the whole desk moved). And although I wasn't too excited about having to go to high school next school year because it's only across the street and I will still be with mostly the same people (though I will see more of the older students), there are some changes there, too. We'll get to use lockers (we do have lockers at my school but most people don't get to use them nowadays), and we'll actually get to sit in chairs when we have assemblies. This is a major change. In elementary and middle school, we've had to sit on the ground for the sake of space.

And there is one change that I hadn't thought about for a long time. In elementary school, during recess, mostly the students spent their time on the playground, though some people played on the grass, walked around, or spent time in areas they weren't supposed to me (like me...hehe...I used to make mud things in plastic containers). But once you get to middle school, there's no more time on the playground. Instead, you spend time talking with your friends or studying. I guess you just get used to it. One of my friends has a younger sister who is still in elementary school. Her sister asked, "What do you do during brunch (what recess is now called)?" My friend said, "We just talk..." And her sister said, "That's boring." (Probably seems that way...I mean, back in sixth grade I just read books instead of socializing anyhow.) But I guess she'll adjust to it too when she moves up to middle school. It seems mostly everyone does sooner or later. People just accept the way things are.

Labels: car accident, change, circus, cirque du soleil, clouds, desk, different, KA, KÀ, las vegas, le rêve, people, playground, recess, school, shadow, show, sky, time, understanding

I have a different PE teacher now because of the trimester change. I had him last year, in the third trimester, so I am familiar with him. I thought I would be fine again, but last year, when I first started off, I was really tired from his class, and the same thing is happening this year. I'm started to get used to it, but it'll probably take a while before I'm completely accustomed to the hard work again (this teacher isn't mean or anything, it's just that we do more extreme stuff in his class than the teacher I had the trimester before).

When we run a regular, four-lap mile around the track, it's called a Smile Mile in his class. Since we do regular exercises before running the mile, I'm always tired out when it's time to run the mile. So my times have become slow again - I got 8:28, when my recent times last trimester were nearly 30 seconds faster. So I am not too pleased with that, because even when I try to run fast it still isn't enough, what with shoulder and gut cramps...

But then there are times when I am angry at myself for having a weak-minded attitude. I should definitely try my best. You can never say you're already good enough, you have to keep trying. I have to continue to do my best until I run this whole mile smiling. It's not like I dislike running. This year I have discovered that I like to run, as long as there is not a huge amount of pressure on me.

After all, I was able to help someone else just a little bit last trimester. If you want to improve your time or keep a steady pace, then look for someone who runs faster than you, but not too much faster. You could just follow them the whole time, and it might make your time better. One of the students in my class last trimester ran with me to improve her time (with my permission :p ). My strategy for running is to start out with a slow pace, then speed up gradually or maintain the pace, and in the last lap, I try to spend all my energy and sprint to the finish. It's just what works for me. Some folks prefer to sprint on the first lap instead.

My classmate said her time got a bit better this trimester, and it's kind of nice to feel like you've done something. "A good deed is a reward in itself" or whatever the saying was...Not that I built a house for low income people or something. (My dad did, but then he got sick, probably because he was sweating and he wasn't dressed for the cold, or something, and then my whole family got sick.)

Speaking of the cold weather, the squirrels are making their preparations. I think squirrels are hibernating animals, so they have been eating like crazy to prepare for sleeping until springtime. They robbed my backyard of fruits, like the figs and the persimmons. And now the squirrels that live near me are chubby as can be.

I wonder if that added weight means they can't run as fast. Some time ago, I saw a squirrel on the road. It was pretty gruesome, as the squirrel was actually sort of flattened, it smelled a bit funny, and there was some blood. The squirrel must've been hit by a car. Ouch, what a painful way to die.

It seems squirrels elsewhere don't have as much to eat. The squirrels at my piano teacher's apartment were more normal-looking. Probably they have to work hard for their food, instead of having fruit practically at their doorstep, waiting to be picked.

Oh yes, and I just heard recently that my cousins will both be taking piano class. Originally my younger cousin wanted to learn piano, but then her brother decided he wanted to learn too. So now they have a piano and will be taking lessons. They're already having lessons that are an hour long...My mom said to my aunt that it's not good to do that, as young folks have a short attention span. I mean, when I started out piano, I only had half-hour lessons with the teacher, and my lessons are still only forty-five minutes long.

Labels: car accident, cousins, death, exercise, fruit, hibernation, house, improvement, low income, overweight, PE class, piano, running, smile mile, squirrels

I've seen so many animal deaths by roadkill lately. Just today I saw something strange on the road. It looked like squirrel guts...Scary. So that makes three squirrels and one deer run over on the road recently. Do you know what my mom had to say about seeing a dead deer? First she said, "Why aren't people more careful? Probably the deer was killed at night when people have to rely on the headlights, but there's even a yellow sign that shows a picture of a deer crossing." Then she added, "It's worse to kill a deer than a squirrel. It could damage the car." This really surprised me, because I thought she was going to say something like how there are more squirrels than deer in the area anyways, but she talked about cars getting damaged. Never mind the car! Cars aren't even alive! Think about the animal that died. That animal was someone's sister or brother, someone's mother or father, someone's child. And now that life is gone. That's why in the anime/manga XXXHolic, Yuuko says there is no way you can ever pay for taking a life. It is a very heavy burden. (Pssh, though, some people hunt ducks for fun. Seriously.)

I have realized recently that I don't know much about celebrities, because my dad was watching a movie called Wanted. He watches tons of movies, I probably couldn't name them all. He's watched some James Bond movies, and Ocean 11/12/13 movies, and mostly foreign movies particularly from France. Wanted is a movie that features Angelina Jolie and some other dude who I don't know about.

Me: Hey, isn't that Lara Croft?
Dad: No, it's not. This movie is called Wanted.
Me: Oh. I thought it was Lara Croft.
Dad: It's Angelina Jolie. She plays Lara Croft.
Me: *has a D: face* I didn't know that.

Speaking of celebrities, there's been two deaths recently. The less noted one was Farrah Fawcett, who is an actress. Her kind of hairstyle is named after her. I heard that she'd been fighting cancer for years and finally succumbed. So people who were close to her had realized it was only a matter of time...Sad to die from such a sickness, caused by your own body, no less! And the other death is much more well-known: MICHAEL JACKSON.

He was 50 years old when he died. He's a male African American singer who had multiple brothers and a sister, but he's the most famous of them. (He's had plastic surgery, so that's why some say he looks...well...odd.) But you know, even my dad had listened to his music a long time ago, back when he was young and lived in China. He would listen to a radio station called The Voice of America and that's how he heard Michael Jackson's music. I guess it's true when my painting teacher said Michael's music had reached farther than just the USA. It had touched the world. (I know, that sounds cheesy) Apparently, Michael died of cardiac arrest. My father says that he was not healthy, but it's possible there was some foul play (meaning someone caused or contributed to Michael's death. Suspicious! So police are trying to talk to Michael's personal doctor, the only one present when Michael had collapsed). Anyhow, rest in peace for both of them. What an unlucky day yesterday was.

I don't want to be depressing you all too much. Instead, I'd like to share with you a really awesome game! It's called "Who Wants to Live a Million Years" and it's fairly simple. You pick three animals to start with and you hope they live as long as possible in a changing environment. (You can use life preservers if you think you're doomed) Here's the link to it. Who Wants to Live a Million Years?

Labels: angelina jolie, animals, car accident, celebrities, death, farrah fawcett, games, health, lara croft, michael jackson, movie, music, roadkill, who wants to live a million years, xxxholic

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