Two nights ago, I found myself in the world of dreams. This hasn't happened for quite a while. In fact, I can't recall having any dreams since I got out of school.

I was at school and we were going on a field trip. We got onto a bus - but it was no ordinary bus. The interior was more spacious than your ordinary school bus, and the seats, instead of being lined up in two columns, were against the walls. We had chosen where we would sit beforehand by marking places on a chart. I had gotten the direction mixed up and sat at the right edge of a black bench at the back of the bus. I was supposed to sit on the left side, where two friends were. But since the bus was moving and I thought it would be troublesome to ask everyone to scoot over a bit so I could take my rightful place, I decided to remain where I was.

Then I noticed one of my friends was taking a picture of me using a device. I'm not sure how I knew, but I knew it was a camera. It looked very strange, with yellowish-orange and black colors.

Eventually we got off the bus and arrived at a place that seemed to be a recreational center. We all went to a room that looked very much like my language arts classroom. The teacher said to get our sleeping bags ready for later. I realized with a jolt that I had seen "sleeping bag" on the recommended items for the trip, but I had deemed it unnecessary and forgotten about it. I hadn't expected us to actually have naptime on the trip.

Then I left the classroom and began walking around. I recall walking on a grassy hill, and I think there were some fenceposts here and there. I eventually decided to go the bathroom. I saw someone I knew there. When I was exiting the bathroom, I went out the wrong door and found myself facing a swimming pool. There was a banner of some sort put up near it. The girl that I knew came out that way too. I was going to go back into the bathroom and exit through the correct door, but she said, "You can just walk around to the front." So that's what I did.

I don't remember much else of the dream. I think I had woken up from it by then. But I do recall having seen one other person in that dream - probably while I had been walking around the grassy hill. I've seen that person in another dream, too. It's been a long time since I've been able to talk to that person. I wish we could be friends again. Like we used to be.

Labels: bathroom, bus, camera, classroom, door, dream, field trip, friends, past, people, recreational center, school, sleeping bag, summer, swimming pool

Today, something of interest happened. The most interesting thing was that it was practically right under my nose, and I didn't notice at all.

The event in particular occurred around 10:09 am, Pacific Time. It was something caused by the Earth. By the tectonic plates beneath the Earth. The friction between two of them, which happened to be CONVENIENTLY located in California, must have built up again, because the event I am speaking of is an earthquake. Find more information about it here.

I didn't feel the earthquake, so I didn't hear about it until the afternoon, when I called my mother.
Mom: Did you feel the earthquake?
Me: No, when was it?
Mom: Around 10:09.
Me: Hmm...I didn't feel anything.
Mom: Really? But it was pretty close by. We had to evacuate the building.

When my parents came home, I double-checked with my dad. For him it was even worse since his company building is even closer to the earthquake's epicenter. My mother found it surprising that I didn't feel a thing. Someone she knows who lives in the neighboring town felt the earthquake (then again, that town is a bit closer to the epicenter than mine).

I guess we were safe from the earthquakes. Either we were far enough away, or the design of the classrooms is quite sturdy. At the time, I was in one of the "portable" classrooms (although I believe it can be moved around, and it looks kind of boxlike and the ceiling isn't as high nor are the windows as large as a "built into the ground" classroom) and I heard once that portables are more earthquake safe.

But then, if the other students had felt the earthquake, wouldn't they have mentioned it when talking at brunch or lunch? Perhaps it wasn't felt at all? Maybe it's not too bad to live where I do. (Though it is still certainly within the danger zone if an earthquake is in a different place. I mean, I was in an earthquake in late October - the day before Halloween or something close like that - a few years ago, and I definitely felt that one. But it had a slightly higher magnitude) But I still always feel like it's dangerous living in California, since in the movie 2012, the first place to go was California.

Some places are worse off when it comes to natural disasters, though. I keep email correspondence with an old friend of mine who moved to Taiwan years back. She said that not all that long ago they had a huge earthquake, but their building was fine, as buildings are designed to be earthquake-proof, even apartment buildings, which can reach high heights. There are also typhoons in Taiwan. Sounds like a pretty wild place; I guess the Earth's pretty excitable over there. I don't really understand why one of my friends says I should visit Taiwan sometime if it's so dangerous and it's pretty polluted. I don't even know where I would go there, besides Taipei 101, which was the tallest building in the world (is it still?). But if you know someplace cool to visit in Taiwan, let me know.

I've also wondered whether I should visit Korea. What I mean by Korea is South Korea, since I'm not sure whether North Korea is an ideal place to visit. Anyhow, though, I only know of one place in Korea, and that's the capital, Seoul. I'm afraid I'm not as well-versed in the world as I had previously thought.

Luckily, I had some good loot this year from Christmas. XD Although I am Santa, I have elves who give me gifts. One of the things was a world atlas, which is something I wanted (I already had one, but it was a thin one with not much information that I ordered through the "book orders"). If I were retired already, then I could spend more time looking at it...Sigh...

Ah, before I end this post, I wonder if you have noticed the new blog layout, which I put up just yesterday. (If you are new to visiting this blog, then you might not have known). I've made a few changes to the coding, because the original text size was rather small, which bothered me... And the layout is aligned to the right, so if you expand your screen it will still stick to the right of the Internet window. I hope that doesn't trouble you. I thought I'd try a different color this time.

Labels: 2012, atlas, black, blog, building, california, catalog, classroom, earthquake, font size, layout, location, natural disaster, portable, taipei 101, taiwan, typhoon, world

This is apparently a phrase from the famous story The Three Little Pigs. (I may not have gotten it down exactly right.) I had a similar experience to this recently.

On Tuesday, where I live, there was some surprisingly stormy weather. It rained and poured until nighttime. I hadn't brought my umbrella, nor had I brought my raincoat, and so my not-so-waterproof jacket was my only protection. The rain started to become a hassle because my shoes weren't so waterproof either, and so my socks became soaked. It's a good thing that a teacher had her classroom open and I went indoors to eat my lunch.

Come fifth period, multiple kids were drenched from having to go through the rain to get to the classroom. The math classroom is a "portable", I think, since it has a ramp and the ceiling is not so high and such. And whenever someone stomps you can feel the room shake a little bit because it's not as steady as the "actual classrooms". (But schools still insist on having these "portable classrooms" for some reason) We were being punished for talking too much - for some reason, my math class has a lot of people, and so it is even louder - and we were not allowed to speak to each other. It was eerily quiet in the classroom, except for one sound...The sound of the wind. The wind was beating very hard on the classroom and it sounded like we would be blown in, like the Three Little Pigs' houses, but nope, it didn't happen. In fact, the teacher never even looked up. I guess not much can faze him.

PE was canceled that day because it was far too rainy. We were all hustled into the gym, which was muddy too (it being the last period of the day, and many shoes having already been in and out). We watched some Comcast Sportsnet videos, which were showing the "science behind sports". Apparently a golf ball can go farther if it is warm than if it is cold. So, couldn't you become better at hitting long distance by simply incubating your golf ball and then hitting it? (Though why you would incubate golf balls, instead of incubating chicken eggs like you should, is beyond me)

Does good handwriting matter a lot in life? My math teacher always stresses that we need to work at having neat handwriting. He said that sloppy handwriting is NOT a "style" of handwriting, and that teachers grade less harshly when you have good handwriting. "And don't go running to your parents saying how unfair it is! That's life! That's HUMAN NATURE!" he'd say. "If you have messy handwriting, then I have the urge to pick it apart for mistakes. I might overlook a mistake or be more lenient if you have good handwriting." I am going to try and work on mine. I think it is legible, but someone said I didn't "write like a girl". That's so sexist. Not all people write the same. I even hold my pencil differently. D: I started holding my pencil that way when I was young and I don't think someone corrected me, so now I'm stuck that way since I feel awkward if I hold pens and pencils the way almost everyone does.

Nowadays I sometimes draw things with pencil, then scan it, and color it in with the most basic of GIMP brushes (in other words, plain old circle brushes which come with GIMP when you download it). It's always so messy, though. In fact, I think my drawings might look better in black and white... o_O;; I've heard of something called Copic markers and I've been curious to see what they are. Does anyone have them, by any chance?

Labels: art, classroom, colors, copic, drawing, fantasy golf, gimp, handwriting, human nature, incubate, life, markers, pencil, portable, rain, storm, story, three little pigs, weather, windy

The woodshop room often does have such scents. When I first came into the classroom on the first day of the third trimester, I had been slightly repelled. I was not used to such smells because before then I had been in art and cooking. The art room doesn't have much smell (or maybe it's too neutral to identify) but the cooking room smells like spices and warmth, which is quite pleasant. So it was a big difference. But nowadays I have become accustomed to the woodshop room and it is okay now. I actually like the scent of a piece of wood after it has been oiled. The smell is strange but not bad. (I don't blame you if you think I have a problem from all the smelling. XD I assure you, this is nothing compared to the next paragraph).

For some reason my history class is fascinated by...HAND SANITIZER. (Yes, I realize I do mention my history class a lot but that is usually where the odd happenings occur.) Mr. Blair brought in a bottle of bluish green hand sanitizer and left it on the back counter. When STAR testing was over with on Monday the kids started crowded around to get some of it on their hands. A lot of them started sniffing it. Seeing this I became curious and put some on myself but I thought the smell was not nice. It smelled like alcohol or medicine or something mixed with something else. In my days I have come across better hand sanitizer than that. Anyhow, soon afterward Mr. Blair brought in more bottles since the kids were so happy when they had it. He thought it was like drugs to them but at least it pleased them and it wasn't bad for your health (supposedly hand sanitizer kills germs?).

Which reminds me, I have managed to finish my pen in woodshop. I had to ask the teacher how to drill a hole in the pen since I am never able to see when he is doing demonstrations of projects (because I am short and so many kids are blocking the way) and I tend to forget quickly in the first place. Well, I drilled a hole, but there isn't a way to drill all the way through, so when I take apart real pens to get the ink thing and try to put it in my wooden pen, it never fits. I got really annoyed and worried since I was planning to give my mom a real, functional pen for her "special day". Unfortunately it's not working so my dad says I should give up and just give her the pen. It's not like she would use it.

Some time ago it was my grandma and grandpa's anniversary (their 50th, in fact, so I guess it's the Golden Anniversary, and I mean the grandparents on my mom's side). We couldn't decide what to get them as a gift. If we bought them something expensive they wouldn't know what to do with it and they'd think that we wasted our money and shouldn't have bought it. So eventually my mom just paid a company to deliver a basket full of food and stuff to my grandparents' apartment (I mean the newer one they live in, they have two of them because one of them is their old one, which my grandpa rides the bus to so he can take a nap XD). My grandparents took pictures and sent it to us. I think we should've got my grandparents a bowl made of glass but I know it's unlikely they would accept or use such a thing. And it's too weird to get them a laptop (my grandma wants another computer, but it's not a suitable gift for an anniversary, is it?) or rings (neither my parents nor my grandparents have wedding rings).

Which reminds me...Today we saw Jerry the Sock on the announcements. It was time for Dialing for Dollars (note: If you don't know what this is, just ask in the Cbox or refer to previous posts...Good luck finding it XD). Usually the vice principal and one of the counselors runs it but this time the vice principal wasn't there so instead "Jerry" was the stand-in. But it's pretty clear that Jerry is attached to someone's arm or leg or something like that. And I saw the head of the person owning Jerry by accident. It's actually the other counselor, Ms. Williams (I don't know if she's married. By the way, Ms. Crowe is now married, but I don't know if she's planning to change her last name. I saw Mr. Brown with a new ring on his hand). I wonder if Ms. Williams was from Kentucky, then, since they always say that Jerry the Sock came from there or something.

Labels: addiction, anniversary, announcements, basket, classroom, dialing for dollars, drugs, gift, hand sanitizer, hole, jerry, pen, smells, socks, woodshop

That's what I thought when I peered inside the science classroom yesterday. It was almost the end of lunch, so I wanted to see if the classroom was open yet. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, and I saw not only my own teacher in there, but also the next-door teacher. Both had their laptops and the TV was on. They were watching SOCCER of all things! I didn't know you were allowed to do that at school. (But who knows. Mr. Brown has his own Internet server just in his room, apparently. And he makes food in his beakers.) I backed out quickly and hoped they hadn't noticed.

Mr. Brown shut off the TV once class was getting under way, but later he said he would turn it back on so we could watch the game if we did our work. The game was between Manchester United and Portugal. (Note: Manchester is in England.) There were some guys in the background announcing what was going on. I don't remember their names exactly but their voices are familiar. I know that because of my dad.

My father always used to play this Fifa Soccer 2002 game on the Gamecube until he got a newer version. He always has a Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 game. It's been a long time since he's played them, though, because now he has a Wii and can play Wii Sports or Wii Fit instead. I guess he thinks it will help him exercise. And he can't play a lot of games because he gets motion sickness easily. (I don't, which is weird, but maybe it's because I first played a video game at my parent's friend's house back when I was in kindergarten, so...)

Nowadays my insomnia is getting worse. I usually turn off the lights between 10 and 11 pm, which is pretty late, I know. It wouldn't be a problem if I didn't keep waking up early in the morning. Even though today is late start and I have enough time to sleep in, I still woke up at 7:45 and had to use the bathroom. I couldn't get back to sleep since it was sunny outside. So I wish it was winter again so I could actually get enough sleep. (The problem is, it would be really cold and miserable weather.)

My PE teacher was absent today yet again, so we got a substitute, an intimidating-looking guy who barked at us. He didn't even say what his name was. We had to do this skittles thing (You run to one end of the blacktop, then gallop sideways to the other end, then do karaokes to the opposite end, then skip back to the other end, then run to your PE number). Then we ran a mile, which was no fun because it was kind of raining. But at least it wasn't extremely hot like the weather has been a lot lately. Afterwards we had free time so I joined up with my friends in Mr. Blair's PE class and we played paddle ball, which is like tennis, but we just lower the nets on the volleyball courts to play. One of my friends used her PE notebook to hit the ball, which actually worked somewhat. Anyhow, the substitute turned out not to be scary. He complained about having wet clothes and socks because of standing outside all day in the rain. One of my friends suggested we get him some dry clothes from the Lost and Found, but he said it would be hard to find something his size. And no offense to him, that's true.

My most recent anime is Kamichama Karin. It was depressing in the beginning and I didn't like the theme song that much so I was considering quitting. But after a while it got to be more amusing, especially because the main character is always calling another guy "Something Glasses Guy"! For instance, she's called him "Shopping Glasses Guy", "Crossdressing Glasses Guy", and so on. He always got mad and yelled that he was Karasuma Kirio.

Labels: anime, classroom, glasses guy, kamichama karin, manchester united, motion sickness, paddle ball, portugal, science, sleep, soccer, television, video games

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