Lately I have been seeing just how bad people are at the ABCs and at counting. I was doing my piano theory homework. I try to do a little every week (but sometimes I forget or my teacher doesn't assign any. She's a bit on the lax side when it comes to teaching the theory. I think that's why we do "auditions" with a national association instead of a California one, since the California one requires you to take tests on piano theory). I took a close look at one of the pages and realized it was incorrectly labeled.

a.
b.
c.
e.

Where did D go? I know it's a small mistake that anyone would make, since we are all human, and probably no one would notice because it doesn't really stand out. But I still think it's rather silly to not know your alphabet.

And the situation with counting is even worse nowadays. One student said, "Is this really all the homework? It's just seven problems." Another student told him, "There are eight problems. "Well...I just didn't add one," said the first student.

In fact, students are so careless about their counting that the teacher must cover up the number line so students won't use it to help themselves on the STAR testing (California's standard tests that we have every year from 2nd-8th grade, if you're in another state). I was really amazed. I mean, is it really so bad that students can't even count to 50? Really. I can understand covering up maps and stuff like that since it can be pretty helpful sometimes. But a number line...

I always hear it's important to have a good foundation. Being able to count and knowing the 26 letters of the alphabet is something very basic and fundamental. If we pay so little attention to our simplest skills, I fear that we are on the road to disaster...

So I encourage you to spend your free time reciting your ABC's. And when you need to get to sleep, count sheep.

Labels: 123, ABCs, alphabet, attention, basic, count, cover, foundation, fundamental, map, number line, numbers, practice, problem, skills, sleep, STAR testing

I have no idea whether I have translated that right, but it should be something along the lines of "The Beauty and the Beast". I just noticed something about The Beauty and the Beast. In the Disney movie, the girl is called Belle, isn't she? And the feminine French word for beauty is belle...Perhaps they did that on purpose and it wasn't just a coincidence. I have heard of secret goings-on with movies kind of like people comparing the villains Scar (from Aladdin) and Jafar (from The Lion King).

The weather seems to be changing all of a sudden. It's still sunny as usual, but now the temperature has cooled down. It's a nice change, but it's hard to get used to needing more blankets again...I was always annoyed by the summer heat but I'm pretty sure as soon as it's the thick of winter I will be pining for the warmth. The grass is always greener on the other side (well, not necessarily, if you have seen how dead some people's lawns are).

Speaking of lawns, I once heard that in certain places it's a law to keep your yard in good condition. Grass shouldn't be growing too wild, there shouldn't be too much weeds and you should prune your bushes, that kind of thing. Apparently you can even get fined for it. Wow... Well, we have nothing like that in my town, though, as far as I know.

I think the library is just really going downhill. Today I went to the library and there were strangely long lines for returning books and checking them out. I thought nothing of it until I tried returning the books and media that I had finished or that was due. It took a while for the system to make a connection, apparently. And then later I had to wait in line a long time just to check out what I wanted because the system is so slow. According to my dad it would take six months and a bunch of money to bring the library up to speed. Probably it's because so many people use the library (in fact, sometimes the recession is blamed for it since more people use the library during recessions) and also because the library hasn't got the cash. I suggested selling their fish tank (I'd buy it in a wink if I had the $$$) but my dad insists it's not easy to sell something like that, and it would be far from enough to pay for the system upgrade anyhow.

In French class we had a project where you color in a picture of a girl (or a boy, if you're male) and write a "paragraph" about yourself using words you've learned in class. I was trying to make my person have a ponytail since I almost always have my ponytail (in fact, the only time I took it down was for picture day). It was not going well, it always looked very awkward or in the wrong place or some other thing. I just gave up eventually and settled for something that looked so-so. The picture looks a little like me, but not much, because the hair has bangs (and I don't).

This is really out of the blue, but while working on some homework I stumbled upon a picture of a puzzle I remember doing when I was young. Click here to see it. I find Oklahoma's nickname really strange. What's "Sooner State" supposed to mean? Does that mean things happen sooner there?

Labels: belle, disney, drawing, fix, french, grass, lawns, library, map, movie, oklahoma, picture, ponytail, problem, puzzle, sooner state, system, temperature, the beauty and the beast, villains

You might've heard of the book. I'm just using the title as a post title, though. Here I am talking about a balloon.

Yes, a balloon. It is a blue color, I guess you could call it sky blue even if it is not quite that shade. On it are various crooked lines which are supposed to represent the International Date Light, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Prime Meridian, and Equator. All lines and drawings were drawn on the balloon with a black Sharpie marker. The continents can be seen on the balloon, and they are labeled, along with some deserts and countries and islands, and of course the oceans.

Right now, the balloon in question hangs from a ceiling fan. This ceiling fan has two chains hanging from it. One you pull to turn on the lights, the other you pull to turn on the fan. The balloon has a white cord tied around its end, and the other end of the cord is tied to one of the chains of the ceiling fan.

The balloon has been residing in my house since quite a while ago, when I first brought it home. In my history class, we were doing an activity where we blew up balloons and drew the world on them. Neither of my "teammates" wished to bring it home, so I just held on to it all day. It was a problem walking home with it, so I attached it to one of my keychains. Ha! Having so many of them came in handy. I kept looking back as I walked to make sure the balloon was still there. It kept bobbing and swaying, but at least it stayed, until I came home, and found the white cord, which is its leash.

In a way, this is kind of sad. As I can't have a cat or dog, because of my mom's lack of love for animals, I end up leading a balloon of all things on a leash. Probably I should name it, if it's already my pal. I can't tell what gender it is. They call the earth Mother Earth, but the balloon just seems rather male to me. Maybe I should give it a unisex name, like my name...

Now for a switch of topics. Sometimes I read a magazine called Reader's Digest. Mostly I read the jokes, Ask Laskas (it's an advice column, I guess you would call it), and perhaps an article or two. This time an article about baby naming caught my eye. Apparently it is a very exciting thing. Some people just name their kids trendy names and others name them all sorts of things, like Lexus (a car!), Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards), and so on. I found out that my name was the 41st most popular girl name in 1996. I didn't know I was that common. D: And oddly enough, one of my friends, her name was 40st. So close together it's scary.

Labels: baby naming, balloon, ceiling fan, earth, gender, keychain, label, leash, magazine, map, name, readers digest, sydney

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