I can assure you that the President Abraham Lincoln and his story was much more melancholy than Haruhi Suzumiya could ever be. (Anyone recognize the name of that series? I think the anime was pretty known at one point.)

I didn't know much about Abraham Lincoln before I watched a film created by the History Channel in my history class at school. I could recognize him when I saw a picture, and I knew his nickname was Honest Abe, but besides that I had no idea at all...About what kind of life he had lived.

Abraham Lincoln lost many of the people dear to him when he was still young. I believe he lost two sisters (one of them to childbirth) and his mother. His father didn't treat him too well, seeing as he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a man who used his strength to work, but Lincoln wanted to go and get educated and live the city life.

Abraham Lincoln also fell in love with a woman, but she may have already been engaged to someone else, probably making him feel guilty about the relationship. And then she died during a wave of sickness that swept through the town they were in. Lincoln was very depressed, thinking thoughts of suicide, and his friends tried to keep watch on him to make sure he wouldn't really kill himself.

What was especially unusual was that in the movie, it was mentioned that Lincoln could have had a happy life with a family if the woman he loved hadn't died, and thus might never have become the President. It's pretty bad for him seeing as if he hadn't been unhappy he wouldn't have been a great President there.

I thought it was awfully rude since they said he was ugly (my mom said that too). At least he's recognizable. I probably couldn't tell apart most of the Presidents. I can only recognize the more recent ones and George Washington. I don't have much idea about how the rest of them looked...

And what was also strange was that Abraham Lincoln dreamed of seeing his dead body before he was assassinated. Talk about a creepy premonition.

Whenever I feel down, I think about Lincoln's life and then I can say to myself, "I don't have it that bad." (Sorry, Lincoln, to be using your misfortune, but it does help to have something worse to compare myself to sometimes. I try to avoid it for the most part. I used to care more about my grades in comparison to other people but I don't want to be someone who is always asking others "What did you get?" or someone who keeps on panicking when a test comes. I don't even check my grades online anymore, so when people ask me what my score was, I can only say I don't know. XD)

I've kind of been thinking that I really don't know much about most famous people. I can't say I think about them much except for if I'm studying them in school. (For instance, I don't think I know who most of the musicians I listen to look like.) I've never been someone with celebrity crushes since I feel like they live in too different a world. Little to no hope of meeting them. Being as distant and far from my mind as they usually are (except for maybe voice actors/actresses for animes, but that's a different story), I know very little about their personalities, and so it is hard to picture them as people like who I see in my daily life. And I suppose perhaps as a celebrity it might be hard to really get to know people. How do you know that someone doesn't want to get close to you for your fame or money? (Unless, of course, it was someone you had been friends with before you climbed to the top of the pyramid.)

Labels: abraham lincoln, care, change, comparison, depression, dream, fame, famous, friendship, glory, grades, guilt, haruhi suzumiya, money, people, personality, president, recognize, score, suicide

It seems uncanny that they play the music my dad knows and sometimes even likes. In PE class, I have heard Cold Play's music and Abba's music being played through the speakers that can be moved around. (I like them both, I suppose, but Abba was popular before I was even born, so they're not even together anymore) And my science teacher, as he has his own stereo and a guitar, was once imitating Johnny Cash, who was a singer/actor/musician who died in 2003. My dad put on Johnny Cash's music at my house once. I hope this doesn't mean we will be hearing John Denver songs like "Sunshine on my Shoulders", "Take Me Home, Country Roads", and "You Fill Up My Senses", or strange Chinese songs which my dad likes. But maybe some mysterious forces are at work here, and it can't be helped.

In PE, we have tried a variety of odd activities - for instance, scrugby, which is a soccer, rugby, football, basketball, combination or something like that. We've also played bocceball (not sure about the spelling, Mr. Robinson wrote something different on his whiteboard), which is basically bowling but not in a bowling alley. There is a small ball called the pallino which someone throws out. Then several players take turns throwing bigger balls, I think it's called bocce balls (hence the name of the sport/game/whatever you call it). They can only throw underhand so the ball will roll instead of bouncing or something. You try to get your ball as close as possible to the pallino. Other people can knock your ball out of the way or hit the pallino with their bocce ball(s) if they so desire.

Another thing we have done in PE is Quidditch. I just looked up more information on Google and it seems there is really an activity meant for PE teachers to use. If you have read the Harry Potter books you may have an idea of what I mean. Quidditch is basically a nonexistent sport in which two teams of wizards riding brooms face off. There are several balls like the bludgers (you don't want to get hit by them), quaffles (just regular balls you try to score with) and a Golden Snitch (if you can grab it, you get points). The players are Seekers (only one per team, these people concentrate on getting the Golden Snitch), Chasers (just run about trying to score with the Quaffle. I didn't do much), and Beaters (they have bats to hit people and they can throw Bludgers at people. Luckily Mr. Robinson didn't give anyone bats x_x). Anyhow, that's about it. We don't get any brooms, which is a big disappointment to me. I guess such a thing as "flying brooms" will not be invented for some time yet, though.

I had to take two tests in school today (a math test about quadratic equations and stuff like that, and a history test about vocab words). They were both in the beginning of the day, two in a row. My brain almost turned to mush from it, but I think I did well (at least on the history test, because Mr. Blair read out the scores to the people who said they wanted to hear. I got a 50 out of 50, so that's a relief). I'm not so sure on the math test. I tend to make silly mistakes on them, so all I can do is hope for the best. I wonder if I should check my scores online or just wait until the end of this year to see how my final grades are. (Long as they are A's, I am in good shape, I think.)

Lesson of the day! It's a random fact I found. "Apples are more effective at keeping people awake in the morning than caffeine." That's funny. But then again, maybe that's why my mom likes apples. (I think she likes them because they are cute, though, and not because they taste good...)

Labels: apple, bocceball, coincidence, fact, games, grades, harry potter, music, mysterious, PE class, quidditch, random, school, sports, test

Besides occasionally accepting a chip if someone offers them to me, I don't really eat chips unless it's a last resort. But recently my parents bought a box full of Sun Chips. I was curious and tried eating some of the Cheddar Cheese flavor. It reminds me of Cheetos since it leaves orange dust on your hands and it tastes...well...Cheeto-ish. Chips taste so-so but by now I prefer to have a cup of yogurt or a granola bar (I eat the Quaker brand Chewy bars, and my favorite flavor is Chocolate Chip). Even eating salad or grapes or carrots is acceptable since eating it for more than a year got me used to it.

My dad is watching a weird movie. It's kind of scary. A weird guy with glasses is slapping an unhappy-looking lady and yelling at her to "talk" (probably meaning he wants her to reveal a secret) while another guy is swimming in the ocean, trying to escape from Russia, but a ship with guns and a searchlight is looking for him. I don't really like this kind of movie since it's so serious and filled with negative emotions. Also, the people in the movie speak Russian and sometimes French (and seeing as I can understand neither, it just sounds like a jumble of random noises to me, no offense if you are from either country).

It seems like I'm on a crazy streak when it comes to tests. The last two tests, science and history, have both gotten me 100% scores. This is weird behavior for me, so what if the teachers get suspicious of me and accuse me of cheating? Or I might become overconfident, and then get bad test scores again, and be depressed. (That's the natural "valleys and mountains" pattern of my life, I guess) It seems like I have to pay the price of my physical ability for my academic ability, though. At my fastest (back in the 1st trimester of this year) I could run up to 7:50. Now it's all the way back to 8:50. This is just pitiful. I feel like I wasted all that time. Maybe I should go back to my "weekend training" where I run a mile on the track. I don't feel like it, though, since I'm already so tired from PE classes. However, I have the free time...Guess it's a choice I'll have to make.

Right now I'm writing up my WEB application, since my mom wants me to try and get in. Probably she wants me to learn responsibility and leadership, and maybe help me get into a so-called "good college". I would like to be a WEB leader but I'm not sure if I would be good at dealing with so many kids. I mean, I myself didn't absorb everything at my own orientation (you visit the school in August and are given a tour, and play some games with your WEB leaders, which are 8th graders selected to give you a hand in the school year) so I wonder if I would be able to handle it. Well, I'll just hope for the best.

My essay for the application was just plain weird. I hope it doesn't confuse the Beanstalk (Jack and the Beanstalk? You know? My new nickname for my language arts teacher, who is my favorite and I don't want to insult her, but I also want to protect people's privacy from now on), the Camper (My math teacher), the Good One (A 6th grade teacher, whose last name is a Chinese word that roughly stands for things that are "good" such as the sun, men, etc.), or the Ray (A PE teacher who is considered to be tough). Those four are the WEB advisers this year and will be reviewing the applications. I had no idea the Ray was on the WEB team, actually, so that was news to me.

Labels: cheddar cheese, cheetos, chips, consequences, exams, fitness, freaky, grades, language, movie, nickname, privacy, sun chips, WEB

So, I was checking my grades this afternoon, because I was afraid that I wouldn't have a 4.0 GPA this trimester. (Not that it really matters, since GPA is kind of like STAR testing scores and only for parents' bragging rights, but I still like to have good scores if possible.) Anyhow, it turns out I did have all A's, and even a 100% in language arts. People said that I probably had a 100% in language arts, though I never expected such a thing to be true. Well, that's a great relief to me, at least. A lot of people like to put pressure on me. x_x

Right now I'm watching the anime Gakuen Alice. It seems rather childish, but still entertaining nonetheless. One of the characters started talking about Special Ability, which is shorted to SA...And that reminded me of an anime called Special A I heard about it, which is also a school-centered anime...Hmm. Wonder if there's any hidden connection or not.

Like how we were reading a short story called The Lady or the Tiger? in language arts class. It's about a king who is kind of barbaric and kind of civilized, and he has an arena kind of like the Gladiator arena. Anyhow, he uses it a little differently...People who are accused of crimes interesting enough to interest the king are put in the arena. There are two doors that look exactly the same. One has a tiger behind it, the other has a lady of about the same social rank and age of the criminal, and the lady is supposedly very pretty. If you open the lion door, you'll be eaten, but if you open the lady's door, you have to marry her (no matter what).

There was a special case. The king's daughter had a boyfriend who was good-looking and stuff, but he was a lower social class, so the king did not approve of the match. He had the man put into the arena. The king's daughter had bribed someone so she would know which door held the tiger, and which door had the lady. Her boyfriend was counting on her to let him know the door to open. The girl can't decide whether she'd have him die a quick and bloody death, or have him married to the lady behind the door. (This is hard because the king's daughter is jealous of the lady behind the door. She suspected her boyfriend of exchanging sly looks with that lady in the past.) In the end of the story, the ending is not told, so it's up to the reader to think whether it's the lady or the tiger...Thus the name of the story.

Mr. Blair has the beginnings of a beard right now. Apparently it's his tradition not to shave during the Yosemite trip so he looks "grizzled" when he comes back. I thought it was scary since I'm freaked out by facial hair in general. D: And of course, since he came back from Yosemite, he had to tell some funny but inappropriate stories.

Labels: anime, facial hair, gakuen alice, grades, mystery, story, the lady or the tiger, yosemite

For those at my school who have Art as their elective, or Ceramics, then tonight was Portfolio Night. You go to the classroom, eat cookies, and make your family look at your failed artwork. Then you bring back what you no longer need to use in class.

I finished Sola and I'm still waiting for Shugo Chara Doki! episodes to be released (it takes time for people to make subtitles for the episodes, especially since they do it for free, apparently). I was bored, so I decided to watch Lucky Star. Wow, it has so many views on Youtube, it's scary. It seems amusing, I guess, but rather weird so far.

I can hear my mom, grandma, and some man I probably don't know laughing somewhere. It's really kind of freaky to hear the Sun family folks laughing. Even my dad is rather disturbing at times. Especially when I hear him laughing through a phone. (I can only contact him with low-quality phones since he's all the way across the Pacific. I wish he'd come back, because I'll probably forget to feed the fish.)

I'm rather concerned about my grades. They aren't all very good. (I'm mostly concerned about my science, PE, and art grades.) They're still A's, but you never know what could happen between now and the end of the trimester. :o

Labels: anime, classes, family, grades

Today in PE class we were told the policies regarding absences, makeups, jewelry, the PE uniform, etc. Apparently, illness isn't a good excuse because you shouldn't be in school if you're sick. (Does that apply to getting sick because you went to school, since people who are sick still attend school?) Anyhow, I was told that if I want to earn back the points I missed, I have to attend a makeup in the morning on Wednesday. I really don't want to go, but my mom says I should, to try and earn back the points. But I don't want to wake up earlier on the only day I get to sleep in...

So I've decided that if I wake up early enough, I'll go to the makeup, but if I sleep in, then I won't worry about it. My grade is an A- (But only barely!) so I could use the points, but I am pretty sure I could make some it back up with the next project, anyhow. (Haha, I'm trying to make myself feel more confident, but I don't know if it's working.)

Labels: absence, confidence, grades, mile, PE class, running, sickness, sleep

Okay, I've updated it with a new layout and put in a few new features. I guess it is looking so-so right now. I will keep working on it. Maybe if I can I will try to add some music or other features. Right now I will just have to see.

Today I had a ton of homework. Took a while to get through it. I hope I'll be able to up my scores. They are not that great right now... At least, I think the science and PE grades are probably rather shabby right now. But I'll keep trying.

Hmm, maybe I should put up my school schedule, just so you can see what day I have at school.

Labels: blog, grades, homework, layout, music, plans, schedule, school

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