All goods things must come to an end. I just finished the Durarara anime yesterday, and was briefly at a loss for what to watch next, before remembering that I'd meant to watch Spice and Wolf, so I'm watching that now. I really hope it gets more exciting; I've only seen two episodes, but right now I don't feel that interested in it.

I always get a little disheartened after finishing a good series. I was really excited while I was watching Eureka Seven, Code Geass, and Boys Over Flowers in the first semester, but once I got close to the end of those shows, I always seemed to enter a gloomy period (might just be coincidental, but I like to think that there's cause and effect going on here). Well, I guess I could easily remedy that by watching and reading nothing but "good" anime and manga. But if I were to always spend my time dabbling in the best of the best, wouldn't I become unable to appreciate how good it was? After all, I just read somewhere earlier today that there has to be dark to see the light.

But anyways, I thought Durarara really came into its own in the second half of the anime (I can only speak in these terms because I haven't read the manga...I would like to read more manga in the future, but it's sometimes hard to find a good one that's already finished and doesn't have a ridiculous amount of chapters.) I liked a lot of the characters, and at first I wasn't sure what I thought of Shizuo because he smoked and seemed to become violent for no reason, though I have as of late become quite fond of him. I'm a big fan of Celty ♥

Though I wouldn't really say that Kida is one of my favorite characters in Durarara, I feel like I have the most connection to him. There were, in the past things he did - or didn't do, and he tries and tries and tries to move on, and yet he's still his own prisoner. It's one thing to forgive someone else, but it's another to forgive yourself...For failing to act at an important moment. What would you rather do? Regret what you've done, or regret what you didn't do?

When I get depressed, which is unfortunately pretty often, all the things I messed up in the past come back to me. It's like I keep opening my wounds all over again even after they healed, just like what I always did with the part on the other side of my knee - you know, on the back of your leg, the place where your leg bends? It often got itchy and I couldn't help but scratch it, and sometimes it turned red and pretty nasty. At least the pain kept me from scratching it, but while it was healing it would be itchy again, and so the wounds never really closed (well, until the weather changed, that usually made it less itchy so I'd finally stop scratching it). The body does have important messages to tell the mind, and I'm not just referring to problems dealing with your past, but also to health problems not having to do with the brain... These days I've seen many people coming down with illnesses and having to be hospitalized...I'm not able to discuss anything more than that, but it has been a very misfortunate time indeed.

Labels: anime, appreciation, celty, characters, depression, durarara, fear, good, health, itchy, kida, past, problem, questions, regret, shizuo

I would have titled this post "London Bridge is Falling Down", but that bridge is still fine, as far as I know. (I prefer the Tower Bridge in London to the London Bridge anyways. I personally consider the Tower Bridge to be prettier.)

The bridge I'm referring to is the Internet. What other thing connects people from all over the world better than this does, in our modern age? But lately I've been having trouble with it, because certain sites that I frequent have been misbehaving.

The first of the sites to go down was Tumblr. One day I decided I wanted to do some posting and reblogging, but Tumblr apparently had other ideas. I kept getting errors, and sometimes pages wouldn't even load. Eventually I became frustrated with it and gave up. There was also a time when it was down for maintenance, which was also quite annoying. I know it really can't be helped, but all the same, I want to blog while I still can. (Summer vacation is nearly over, and who knows how much free time I'll have when the school year gets under way.)

DeviantArt was next to go down with errors. And I made some mistakes of my own on the site. There's a badge that you can give people called a Llama badge. It started out at the beginning of April. There are now a lot of people who give and receive llamas, myself included. The problem is, I have a tendency to act before I think, so sometimes I give a llama before reading a person's journal. I've already messed up by giving llamas to two people who didn't want to receive llamas. I wonder why I didn't learn from my mistakes the first time. I would think that after messing up many times I would learn to be careful, but it never seems to happen.

Well, anyhow, the third site that had problems was Beauty in Everything, a website with many beautiful photos (the photos come from Flickr users). I was trying to access it so I could perhaps look for some nice pictures. However, the site would not load, even when I came back to try again later on. It seems to be back up today, though, and I'm glad. I guess I've gotten attached to things all over again, even though I've been trying not to. But maybe it's something a person can't help doing.

Imagine, though, if the Internet really broke down, if all the sites crashed and no one could get on the web anymore. I figure it would really cause panic all over the place. People have become so reliant on the Internet, and it's become a part of life...I wonder if people would ever be able to adjust to not having Internet, like in the days before it was invented. (Then again, there are also many people who don't use the Internet, which can be bad in some ways, although at the same time I figure if I had never gotten onto the Internet, I wouldn't have wasted so much of my youth.)

Labels: adjust, attached, badge, beauty in everything, bridge, deviantart, error, internet, learning, llama, meltdown, mistakes, photography, problem, tumblr, waste, website, what if

You would think that, since video games are supposed to entertain you, they would relieve stress, rather than causing more of it. But I've certainly had my share of worries due to the games that I've played.

Every day, I check up on my Animal Crossing: Wild World to see if it has rained in the game. (If you've been keeping track, there is a previous post of mine which speaks of this, so bear with me if you've already heard of it.) Over the years I have cultivated a grand garden of flowers in my town, which I am very proud of it. And as I always tend to get too attached to things, even those that may seem trivial, I can't part with it, not after I've spent so much time and effort keeping the flowers alive. I've grown tired of having to take care of them, day in and day out (the ones that are brown and dying must be watered, so that the next day they will be healthy again).

I have already let go of Nintendogs. That was a bit easier because the worst that could happen would be the dog running away (they don't die, nor do they ever mature. Rather unrealistic). The dog would surely come back after a while. In this case I would not lose my house or anything like that, so I wasn't particularly concerned.

Eventually I expect I'll abandon Animal Crossing completely, either because it falls off my list of priorities or I finally come to terms with loss. But even though I already know what will happen, I can't help but be saddened by the future.

During my 6th grade year, I went to a makeshift YMCA daycare after school, located in a place called the Multi-Use room where school announcements and assemblies take place, since I wasn't trusted to walk home by myself and my parents wouldn't be able to pick me up until 5 pm, sometimes 6, in most cases. I would finish whatever homework I could (we could use the school library if we needed textbooks). At first, in the beginning of the year, I might sometimes run around backstage and play hide and seek, but after a while we were told not to go backstage anymore, so that put an end to it. We also played some games, like Apples to Apples. It can be quite fun if you have enough people. (Unfortunately you need four people to play it properly, and in my family there are only three if my mom would actually agree to play. So I never get the chance to play it.) But as the year wore on, one of the two people in charge of this YMCA would bring in his Nintendo Gamecube more frequently, and we would play Mario Kart Double Dash or Super Smash Bros. Melee or this X-Men game. I did have a good time playing the video games, although it meant I was that much more impatient for them when I wasn't playing.

I did hear some exciting news recently. There's a new kind of Nintendo DS coming out - it's called the 3DS, and so the graphics will be quite nice. There are games on the way, too, like Nintendogs + Cats. Because of the camera built into the 3DS, the dog will actually be able to recognize your face. And there's also a new Animal Crossing that looks nice. The characters you can make are now taller and thinner (I was never too fond of the chibi-ish, short people). I'd really like to try these games out, so I guess I'm going to have to get a 3DS. But this also makes me wonder if I'll even have the time to play them.

What really spurred me on to write this post was the problems I was having with my Sims 3 today. I was notified that there was a game update available for the Sims 3 World Adventures (an expansion pack I had purchased), so I decided to update it. After that I figured I should try to play the game. But then I was told that my expansion was not compatible with my base game. I waited for it to update, but it didn't do anything. Eventually I started rooting around online to see what I could find. It seems that other people were having the same problem, too. I finally figured out that I ought to download a patch to my Sims 3 game, which fixed the game launcher, so I should be able to play now (it has finally stopped telling me my game is incompatible and everything is showing up as usual). I was really worried there thinking I might have to uninstall everything (although I was prepared for this, and backed up my files on my external hard drive). I'm so glad that it's been fixed now.

Labels: 3ds, animal crossing, apples to apples, backstage, games, garden, memories, nintendo ds, nintendogs, patch, pride, problem, routine, sims 3, stress, wild world, YMCA

One day, at lunchtime, I noticed that a few of my friends seemed to be writing on something. It was a piece of binder paper, and a girl was writing on it in cursive. Upon listening and watching, I realized that she was practicing signatures over and over again.

She was not just practicing her own signature. She also imitated the signature of one of her friends, and I think she got pretty good at it, because the person whose signature she was practicing writing said, "Now you write my signature better than I do."

It kind of made me think of how risky it can be to let someone get a good look at your signature. With practice, a person could probably replicate your signature pretty well. You either have to have a really wacky one or you have to keep it hidden from other people in case they feel the urge to forge it. Imagine all the things they could sign without your permission! And even if the person was caught trying to use your signature, it'd still be a big hassle.

Speaking of other kinds of signatures, I recently started submitting some of mine to some groups on DeviantArt. They're all pretty old by now seeing as I don't make graphics that often anymore (and when I do I am reluctant to post them on DeviantArt, because something I read suggested that perhaps it could be interpreted as art thievery if the artists making images used in graphics did not wish to have their art used in graphics). Well, I know that I have a long way to go (I've seen some people who make amazing graphics, and I applaud them) but it does tick me off a bit to be given criticism about older graphics, but I suppose it is better that I just swallow my pride. After all, I am sure no one is purposely trying to bring down my self-confidence, they only am trying to offer tips, so I figure it's just another challenge that I have to overcome. I would like to get back to making graphics more actively. Perhaps I should take a look at some tutorials. (The only thing is, I feel bad if I rely on a tutorial heavily since I feel like I'm doing nothing more than imitating someone else's graphics. But then again, imitation is one way of learning...After all, once you've improved you can then focus on developing your own unique style.)

Well, I guess it all goes back to that whole "small fish in a big pond" kind of feeling. At times I can be quite overwhelmed by how many amazing people there are in the world - or, on the other side of the coin, how many really harsh people there are (and I'm not talking about what I mentioned in the previous paragraph in this case). But seeing a lot of talent can inspire me to try harder too, so it doesn't always have to be something harmful. And perhaps by having to deal with unpleasant people will help me to harden myself and get "thick skin". I only hope that things can turn out well in the end.

Labels: art, challenge, criticism, danger, deviantart, feelings, graphics, harsh, old, people, problem, pros and cons, safety, signature, style, thick skin, tutorial, unexpected, world, writing

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

When I was younger, I would always sleep without socks on. It felt too uncomfortable to me, wearing socks to bed. On hot days, I even stuck my bare feet out of the side of the blanket just to keep them feeling cool. This went on for many years, even in the winter, when my feet became all cold and numb. I didn't like the alien feeling I got from wearing socks.

But that has changed this past winter. My blood circulation has not been good. (At least, that is the theory that my mom and I have; if you have a better idea, you should let me know.) My body temperature isn't always as it should be. When the weather is cold I cannot seem to keep my body heat unless I am wearing a thick jacket (and even then sometimes it's not enough). My hands would be icy cold while my parents' hands would be quite warm. One of my classmates was surprised that I was wearing a jacket since she thought it was pretty warm. I myself am shocked to see students wearing t-shirts and shorts even on chilly days. (In fact, in elementary school, we would joke that one kid never wore anything besides t-shirts and shorts, winter or summer.)

My feet were really feeling too cold, so I decided it was better that I wear socks to bed. At first it felt all wrong, but after a while I got used to the feeling, and so it became a habit of mine. In fact, it feels a little odd not wearing socks. But since the weather is really warm, I figure it's better to sleep with socks off again for the time being.

I kept realizing right after I turned off the lights that I had forgotten to put on socks before bed. But it's such a hassle turning the lights on again and getting up to get socks. My mom says that I should just keep socks under my pillow. She said that she did that when she was young. I've been thinking to myself that maybe she didn't have teeth to give the tooth fairy, so she left socks instead. That makes it the Sock Fairy instead.

Recently I've been feeling some discomfort in my feet. The bottom of my left foot (specifically, the area known as the "ball" of the foot) pained me slightly during the day. I was still able to walk and run, but it sure made things uncomfortable. I looked at it at night and saw there was something like a blister on it. A dry, hard part of skin...Yikes. And then my other foot, the right foot is a bit odd around the ankle area (the side that is facing inward, facing to the left). It hurt me to bend it in a certain position, but only sometimes. At other times it is just fine. I keep wondering if perhaps I have injured myself without knowing it. Maybe I was sleeping in a really weird position. (I recall waking up some days with a stiff back or with pulled muscles from sleeping in a bad position.) Or maybe it's just one of those unexplainable aches that goes away after a while.

I've been stressed lately as well, due to a group project we have to do for language arts class (it's just so hard to meet up with my group members, so it's really bothering me). And I've also had to take quite a few tests. The STAR tests aren't really that big of a concern to me. But I have been taking awards tests. Since eighth grade is the last year of middle school, if you can show your excellence in a subject (essay writing, speech, poetry, mathematics, science, social studies, or art) you will be given an award. I was a bit reluctant to take a test for some of the subjects since I felt there was no way I would get the award (unless by some stroke of luck I managed to bubble in all the right answers, and it would be unfair for me to win the award when I didn't know what I was doing), but my mom urged me to, saying it would be a good experience and I might as well give it a try.

Well, the history was okay (though I didn't remember a lot, or didn't even know if I'd learned it), the science was tolerable, the essay writing was not too bad (just a bit of a time constraint)... But the geometry was something else. I could only understand how to do a few problems. Many of the things were either forgotten (like the formula for the volume of a cone or something along those lines) or I hadn't ever seen such a problem. These problems were beyond my abilities, so I ended up having to bubble in randomly at the end of class. (I should have taken Mr. Kulla's advice to just skip what I didn't understand immediately. I actually heard the problems at the end of the test were a bit easier...) Anyways, I am a little upset because I feel I had wasted a perfectly good hour of my time on taking a test that just ended up confusing me, but I suppose there's no use crying over spilled milk.

Labels: academic, awards, blood, circulation, discomfort, eighth grade, feet, geometry, health, luck, pain, pillow, problem, school, sleep, socks, STAR testing, temperature, test, tooth fairy

The title of this post may confuse you. What I'm trying to do here is play on the phrase, "Like father, like son" or "Like mother, like daughter".

On Saturday, I had two piano recitals to attend. My piano teacher has a lot of students, so she has two recitals. Most students only perform in one recital, except for a few exceptions. In the afternoon, I was number 18 in the lineup and played the song Nocturne in F Minor, Op 55 No 1. I left for home after my performance so I could relax a bit and eat dinner before returning for the second recital. When I arrived back at the church (we always have our recitals at a certain church, I suppose you can rent it for performances, seeing as it has a piano), I saw some people coming out of the church and standing in the parking lot.

I saw two girls, and I think they were probably sisters. They were both wearing a jacket sort of thing and dresses. Also, both of them seemed to like swinging their legs around. One girl swung one of her legs back and forth, while the other girl did some movements that looked like kicks. o_o;; I suppose sisters behave alike. I think my mom and aunt are similar in ways too.

Sometimes I wonder what my sibling(s) would be like if I had any. Would my sibling, like me, favor my father's genes, or my mother's? Would my sibling be a mix of my parents? Or would he/she look like neither? What kind of interests and personality would he/she have? Would we get along? Would we fight all the time? Would we barely talk to each other?

As an only child, I think of how things could have different if I hadn't been an only child. People who do have siblings oftentimes think that it must be nice to be an only child. You don't have to share your toys, or if you're a younger child, you won't have to deal with getting hand-me-downs (well, unless they're from other relatives or something). And your parents' attention is focused on you, you, you. You are, however, your parents' only posterity, and their expectations rest on you solely (though I hear sometimes oldest siblings still feel the burden of being expected to do great things, at least in the case of someone I know). I'm just fortunate that my parents are not as driven as some parents. One of my classmates said her father threatened to disown her if she didn't get an A in math.

But sometimes, even if you're an only child, you might still feel like you're being compared to someone. And in that case it's even harder than being compared to a sibling. If you're compared to your siblings, at least you know what you're up against, but if you're being compared to an imaginary, perfect child, or to all other successful people in general, it's a lot harder.

I used to feel like I was being forced to be someone, to be "smart" and earn a lot of money, but after a while I began to realize the pressure mostly didn't come from my parents. Some of the pressure came from seeing other students and their ambitions, but in fact, I believe I have created some of the stress upon myself, too. I often seem to have an angel and demon on my shoulders - the angel says that I must stop getting distracted, and focus very seriously on my work - while the demon says, "Oh, just a few more minutes won't hurt. You have to have some fun." And then I end up in anguish for having cheated myself by not listening to the angel and not achieving my potential. When I am upset over a test score, it's not exactly the grade that really bothers me, but the feeling of having failed, and not done as much as I could have and should have.

Well, back to the topic of being an only child...This may vary from person to person, depending on personality and a person's experiences, but I think only children are probably more likely to get lonely. I personally feel like I might be closer to or more reliant on my parents, as they are the only real family I have (I do have grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, but I don't see them much), and so I feel the absence of their presence more deeply. (Sometimes I even thought I wanted to die at the same time as my parents or before them so that I wouldn't need to feel the pain from their deaths.) I wonder if this is just one of life's many hurdles. After all, no one ever said life was easy (or did someone?).

Labels: absence, ambition, comparison, failure, family, life, like father like son, only child, perfection, piano, pressure, problem, recital, relatives, siblings, similar, sister, stress, theory

For several years now, I've felt like I have obligations to things that I have started (and later regretted doing so). Mostly it has been websites. I would join a website, perhaps out of curiosity or because of a friend's recommendation, and for a while I might be enjoying myself on the site, but after some time I would grow bored. In some cases the site was not important to me, so it was easy for me to quit going on it. But in other cases, I had spent a long time building up things on my account that I had become proud of, and I didn't want to leave because I was afraid all that hard work would go to waste. And I ended up weaving a kind of spiderweb around myself, trapping me in an endless routine of visiting websites, making it feel like a chore and not something done for fun.

It happened to me with video games as well. I used to brush my dogs in the game Nintendogs every day. I kept them in good condition - they were always in the hygiene state of Beautiful, they were always fed and given water, I took them on walks every few days (to go to the discounted shop to buy dog food, water, and collars), and I trained them until they could easily win the Agility contests (which allowed me to make lots of money). In fact, I earned enough money to be able to remodel my house all the way to the most expensive kind, which gives you a view from Outer Space.

I really didn't want to abandon my dogs because I feared they would run away (they run away if you neglect them too long, and I prided myself on never having a dog run away) and because I thought all the work I had done, every day, for years, would become meaningless. It was only when I had to prioritize my activities (and Nintendogs was one of the ones I decided to sacrifice) that I stopped playing the game. (And anyways, my DS screen was ruined from all the brushing.)

Indeed, I am still playing Animal Crossing: Wild World to this day because of my annoying sense of obligation. I turn on the game once a day in order to water my plants. I have cultivated a vast garden of flowers. I also used to spend much time in making money, which really did pay off, because I was able to expand my house to its utmost capacity. (It has three floors - there is one big room and three smaller rooms on the first floor, one small room on the second floor, and the third is a basement type of thing where my "people" sleep) Always, always, always, I feel like I can't possibly part with these things, however material and shallow they may be, because of all the time and energy I devoted to them.

But I know, with a sinking feeling, that these things must eventually be put aside... The older you get, the less time you seem to have (or at least, you have to spend your time on other matters). And I fear eventually I will not have the time to even water those flowers, that they will all turn brown, and wither up and die, and weeds will take over my town. I am sure this has already happened for other gamers, who have grown bored or simply cannot find the opportunity to play anymore. And I am unwilling to buy Animal Crossing: City Folk, the newest of the Animal Crossing games, because I don't want to become interested and motivated, and then have to give it up - it would sit, collecting dust, like many of my Gamecube and some of my Wii games. I feel terrible now for having wanted video games, when I really don't use them much and they do cost a big chunk of cash. That money could have gone to worthy causes, or even to my retirement, which I moan and sigh over so much.

Eventually, I know I must disentangle myself from the trap I have laid around me. I need to learn the lesson of being able to give up certain things, without worrying so much over them the way I am wont to do. I wonder if it's just a part of my nature and I won't ever be able to overcome it. I really hope that is not the case. It unsettles me to think that things are impossible and that the sky really is the limit.

Labels: accomplishments, age, animal crossing, fun, future, hard work, human nature, letting go, money, nintendo ds, nintendogs, obligation, problem, sacrifice, time, trapped, video games, waste, website

The title is inspired by a song by the Carpenters. Ever heard of that band? It's made up of two people, two siblings. The brother is still alive, but sadly, the sister died.

Rain doesn't normally upset me, and though I dislike Mondays, usually that won't depress me too much either. But last Monday wasn't an easy day, and it was a rainy day, so I thought it would make sense to use this title.

This past week, I've been gone on a school trip to Yosemite National Park, so I haven't been able to write anything. On Sunday morning, I boarded a bus headed to Yosemite. It's a pretty long drive there, probably four hours or more. I took a carsick pill called Dramamine to help me out with the carsickness.

I wonder if medicine really does work or not. Sometimes it's just people believe something will help them, and because of the positive feeling, their health seems to improve. I'm not sure whether medicine does any good or if it's only the "placebo effect". Perhaps the world may never know (like that thing about "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?).

Once I was at Yosemite, I had to adjust to a lot of things that I wasn't used to. For instance, dinner for me was at 5:05 pm, and breakfast at 7:05 am. I usually have breakfast not long from 8 am and I have dinner at around 7 pm. And I had to sleep with a sleeping bag, which I wasn't accustomed to, because I have never been camping. (Which is good - I don't think I could put up with going to the bathroom in the Great Outdoors for long XD) But the sleeping bag wasn't too bad, it was actually kind of cozy. It got too hot, though, when the heater was on in my cabin.

I kind of expected it to be like science camp. At science camp, you didn't need an alarm clock because someone would wake you up if you didn't get up on your own. There was a bathroom that was fairly clean and it was conveniently located, so you wouldn't have to get up in the night, wake someone up, and walk through the snow or melting puddles. You wouldn't hike so much that you'd be really tired and you'd always have your time managed well for you. And you didn't need to get a lot of gear, not even hiking boots were required.

Yosemite is sort of similar, but sort of not. The food is in buffet form (that's nice, since I can just a get a little to try something and see if I like it first). You're expected to meet up with people at a certain time (though there's almost always someone missing or late). You have to manage your own time to be able to complete a journal, take showers, and get enough sleep. And there is a lot of hiking and climbing and other physical activity.

Monday was a hard day for me. I am a special case since my cabin mates are in a different rotation than I am (meaning that they had different meal times and different evening programs). I was really stressed waiting for them in my cabin, and I kept thinking that something horrible must've happened to them (I didn't realize back then that their evening program was later than mine). I was also annoyed about the cold showers and stinky bathroom. And it was really noisy at nighttime, making it hard to sleep. I got really homesick, thinking of my parents and comfort and having a dependable routine. And this homesickness didn't really go away. During science camp I was having such a blast that I didn't think of my home much.

On Monday, there were many kinds of weather. We had rain, then hail, and then even snow. The snow is beautiful, that's for sure. But it was hard to appreciate when I was so worried and stressed. I wasn't able to relax until maybe about Wednesday or Thursday. By then I realized that I would be going home soon, and so I was in a much better mood. (Kind of funny how sometimes you have to be waiting for something to enjoy yourself.)

There were a lot of things I didn't like about the trip, but there were things that made it better, too. Things that made me dry my tears and smile and put my best foot forward. Being outdoors was great. I didn't really hike much or even go outside that much before. I thought I'd be tired easily from hiking. It's true that I was usually pretty worn out from lugging around a heavy backpack (too used to the roller backpack by now) but I wasn't lagging too horribly behind, either. And seeing the mountains and waterfalls and getting the occasionally opportunity to sit by myself and think was calming for me. I also got to try so many new things, like eating hummus (never tried it before, but it wasn't bad), eating celery (also wasn't as bad as I thought), eating sunbutter (yes, I'm eating lots of new things. Sunbutter is like peanut butter but made from sunflower seeds), and going cross-country skiing... I'm really starting to realize that I don't need to have limits, boundaries, things holding me back. I can do my best and achieve so much more. I just have to be openminded and live life to the fullest. After all, even if you have more than one life, you'll never remember the past ones, so of course you have to do everything that you can.

Oh, and going on the trip makes you appreciate home. Many of us longed for warm showers. I also heard some students saying they missed eating rice (they had rice at the buffet, but it was like fried rice and things like that. No sushi, dumplings, or miso soup, that's for sure). I believe that going to Yosemite was a good experience for me, even if I still feel there would've have been a lot of room for improvement. (I heard there was a bathroom with ants in it.) It's something you'll remember forever, after all.

Labels: backpack, effort, food, hiking, home, homesick, life, monday, new experience, placebo, problem, rain, rainy days and mondays, sleeping bag, song, the carpenters, tootsie, trip, weather, yosemite

This is sort of a follow-up to my previous post, "The Pealing of Bells". Well, just to bring you up to speed, I visited Sather Tower (the Campanile) of UC Berkeley.

While I was up there, I was snapping photos, as is my hobby nowadays. Other people were doing the same thing. A few people asked my dad to take a picture of them. I looked at their camera, and alas! It was a Panasonic Lumix, blue like mine. In fact, the two cameras were exactly the same.

Whenever I hear bells mentioned, I end up thinking of the song Viva la Vida, from Coldplay. Part of the song mentions bells.

In language arts class, part of our homework was to find some song lyrics where slant rhyming is used. (A slant rhyme is when two or more words sound similar but still different, like dark and heart, or me and harmony) I was sitting there thinking of songs that I knew (besides the Japanese ones XD) and I started remembering the lyrics of Viva la Vida. Well, then I noticed the two other people sitting at my table group were also trying to recall lyrics. Upon listening closely, I realized it was from the very same song.

I've been hearing Coldplay music in other places too. It's golf season again, so my dad has been watching golf on TV. In the background, the Coldplay song Clocks was playing (without any voices, though).

A while back, in language arts class, we spent the whole period writing an in-class essay. We had been given the prompt options before. The purpose of this was to practice writing within a time limit and also to practice writing the kind of essay that would score well based on the grading guidelines that are used for writing tests. One of the things you need to do to get a high score is to come up with a unique interpretation of the prompt.

That's a pretty tough thing to do, isn't it? What if you came up with something and you thought it was unique, but fourteen of your classmates also thought that? How would you be able to know whether you had a rare interpretation or not unless you were able to compare yourself to other people?

What really makes someone unique? It is commonly said that everyone is different. At the same time, we are more similar than we think. (In fact, humans have a lot of genes in common with corn, or so I heard... D: ) There are those that seek to make us be the same. And there are those who seek to make us be different. Which is really better? For to be different means we could end up apart from each other. Separated by the things we don't have in common. But to be the same means that you could lose your identity.

There are times that I feel separated from my peers. True, I may spend my day with them, but hearing their problems, sometimes I end up thinking, "Why is that a problem when there is so much else in the world?" or "I've already gone through that years ago." Perhaps that is was led to my belief that I am old. For the older you are, the more experiences you are likely to have gone through, and so you will end up with much wisdom (or in some cases, bitterness at the injustice).

On a side note, I discovered one possible origin of Santa Claus. It appeared in the book Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris.

"Now, the last thing we have to do is find a name for our business. Since it's all Mr. Lucasa's idea, I think it should be named for him. I've been fiddling around making anagrams out of his name. And I think I've come up with something. It just needs a little tinkering."
She put a piece of paper in front of them. Written across the top was STAN LUCASA, and underneath were all the combinations of letters she'd been able to think of, none of which made any sense at all, including:
ASA CALNUTS
SAL NATSUCA
SALSA CATUN
LASSA TUNAC
LUTS SAANAC
At the very bottom of the page was a name with a circle around it. "This is the one I think we should use," Susan said. "I can't explain why - it just seems right. What do you think?"
"Santa Claus," Mr. Lucasa said slowly, trying it out.

Labels: bells, clocks, coldplay, deja vu, different, interpretation, jean ferris, language arts, problem, same, santa claus, sather tower, slant rhyme, songs, twice upon a marigold, unique, viva la vida

Goldfish crackers. The wonderful, smiling cheesy snacks. One time I saw a package of Goldfish and the part with the ingredients even said "Made with Smiles". As crackers go, I think Goldfish are really cute.

It seems like they don't always have smiles, though, despite their claim. If I can't get enough to eat from the rest of the salad bar, which is one of the lunch lines at my school, then I add in some Goldfish. I was studying them and I realized some of them seem to be faceless! What a shame. Those Goldfish must have a rough time in life, having nothing but a blank expression.

But then again, smiles aren't always heartfelt, are they? I remember having read in books how characters would smile, but the smile wouldn't "reach their eyes". It was only a smile of the mouth. Not a true smile. It kind of reminds me of smiling for photographs. If I don't really feel like smiling, but I still have to, my face looks awkward in the picture. It would look right if a person was caught while really laughing or smiling, though. I don't really like to take pictures on purpose because of it. I think it's better to take photos of life in the moment.

Sometimes it can be hard, going through each day. I still have to be strong. Most of the time I feel like I need to keep my troubles to myself and pretend everything is okay, when really inside of me it's all turmoil. And there are times when I feel like I have to let someone know, or I'm going to explode, and I try to let it show through my emotions, body language, and such visual signs, but I don't know if anyone is able to pick up on it. Most of the time it's okay. I can still make it through each day, one after another. And I can even enjoy myself. But I wonder how long it will be before my vase, filling up with all my worries and doubts, will start to spill the water in it.

Then again, this could be just another challenge of life. Perhaps it's something I'll grow out of. Just as some people who are allergic to peanuts lose the allergy when they age, I suppose there are some problems that will cease to be problems when you experience more things, different things, significant things. I wonder if how someone acts is influenced by nature or nurture. Are you born a certain way? Can you change it? Or are things just not meant to be changed? Is it a mix of both? It's still a mystery.

Since I just mentioned allergies, I thought of something strange. I just went to my mom's friend's house yesterday. The last time I visited them was a few years ago. Back then my mom's friend's daughter hadn't gone to college yet, and their cat was in the house. Now they have a different house, and the cat is in the garage. Apparently, my mother's friend's wife and her daughter became allergic to cats. Did they change cats? Or did they develop new allergies? I think that's really strange. I thought that once you got used to something, you would be less likely to be allergic to it, not more likely.

I'm going on to some other news now. On Friday, the musical electives at my school - choir, orchestra, and band - performed. The schedule was very wacky in order to make room for the three assemblies (since there are a lot of students, it's better to have three different performances, and one third of the non-performers attend each one). I attended the first assembly, where the choir, beginning strings (orchestra), beginning band, advanced orchestra, and advanced band performed.

The advanced orchestra performed the music to the film Spirited Away, which made me really happy because I really like that music. I think two years ago I heard it performed by the advanced orchestra at that time. And I'm a fan of the Studio Ghibli films. The other music played by the advanced orchestra was Palladio, which is apparently the music to a De Beers diamond commercial. Even when I heard it, I wasn't able to think of the commercial...Was the commercial really old? Like from 1993 or something? Or do I just not watch much television? D:

Labels: allergies, cat, change, crackers, de beers, diamond, emotions, expression, goldfish, mask, music, orchestra, palladio, photography, problem, school, smile, snacks, spirited way, strength

Uh, no, I haven't been trying to mix blood and water together in a glass or something like that, don't worry. I'm not one of those people who does things at home when they were told "don't try this at home".

What I mean by blood is heritage. Genes. Posterity. The person or people that will carry your torch when you no longer can. For several years, I have thought that if I decide to raise children, I want one of them to be an adopted child. I once said so to my grandmother, and she reacted in a way that I found strange. She seemed repelled by the idea, even a bit angry. Back then, I didn't know why. But earlier today, my mom gave me some information.

My mom said she didn't understand why I wanted an adopted child. "If you want children, couldn't you have some of your own?" she asked. (She thinks it's reasonable for people to adopt children if they are unable to get pregnant.) Personally, I think adopting children is good because...

1. I read somewhere that siblings that aren't related by blood get along better. (That means I could have one child of my own, and adopt one child.) I think that's good, if it's true, because kids often feel unhappy or underappreciated if they are compared to their siblings. One of my friends says she feels her mother is easier on her sister. I don't want my children to treat each other badly and resent each other.

2. It is helpful in reducing world population. If I had a child, I'd be adding to it, but if I adopted one, the population wouldn't change because that child is "already there". I'm really upset about overpopulation. In fact, I sometimes think of drastic schemes to reduce it. (Like researching diseases and creating or finding one that could just infect people I don't like, and not hurt others. This way criminals and people with irksome personalities could be removed. But I guess then someone would say, "You have to give them a second chance! They can change!")

3. Orphans seem more exciting. Probably actual orphans would find this offensive since it is not a good thing to lose your parents (unless they were really terrible ones). But still, you see orphans in books and movies and all, and that is because they're more interesting. Imagine, if I had an adopted child who was orphaned, they could write something dramatic for their college application.

Then I asked my mom what my grandma found wrong with adoption. My mother responded that it was simply the old beliefs of China. Bloodline is very important (such as having sons to pass on your last name) and so having an adopted child isn't good since they have, really, no relation in genetics (unless you were to adopt a relative, or something?). Also, my mom said that sometimes adopted children lead troubled lives. She knows someone who adopted a child who sometimes gets very angry and needs to be taken to the hospital to be calmed down.

The problems started with acne. The boy reached the age where he was going through puberty. His mother figured it was okay to let it be since his father had acne when he was that age and had grown out of it. However, although his parents didn't mind his face because he was, after all, their son, the boy feared that his classmates would keep away from him because of the acne on his face. He grew very sensitive about it and resented his parents for not taking him to a doctor (I mean, then he could've gotten some medicine. I heard his acne was pretty bad, worse than average) and even struck his mother. Sometimes he would get into a real frenzy and he'd be taken to the hospital to be electrocuted or some other cruel and unusual thing to calm him down. But such effects are only temporary, after all, and so he also grew to hate the hospital because of what was done to him there.

This did make me a bit more wary, but I still will not change my mind about wanting to adopt a child. I think this kind of situation can be prevented if you are very aware of what your child is thinking. I know probably even if a mother asked her child what he or she did at school, he or she might still respond, "Oh, nothin'," or "the usual". Even if it makes you appear bossy and annoying, you should try to worm it out of your child. You should keep everything out in the open in your family. But don't tell your child's problems to other people. Otherwise, I bet anyone would feel like they have to keep things to themselves if they don't want the whole world, or at least the people whose opinions they care about, to know.

Hmm, I haven't decided where to adopt a child, though. Maybe I'll go to China and adopt one of the young girls there. (There are more girls in orphanages and stuff than boys, because you can only have one child in China unless you pay the fine or something, and people prefer to have a son. Especially in the countryside, because sons will stay and work, but girls will marry off) I mean, I might even be able to find someone who looked like me. (But then it would be harder to explain to them that they are adopted since they'd be saying, "What? But I look like Mommy" or "I don't remember any other parents")

Labels: acne, adoption, blood, children, china, daughter, disease, family, lineage, orphan, parents, population, pregnancy, problem, relationship, relatives, rivalry, secret, siblings, water

This is a valuable lesson that I learned today from my teacher. It ought to be the new Golden Rule. (Well, not really. I'm not all that fond of cars because I get carsick. But that's besides the point.)

More than ten years ago, a young man (my teacher) was going to a place called Jake's to meet up with his friends. He was sitting on the roof of his car when a Ferrari came into the parking lot. Back then, a Ferrari was quite expensive (and still is), $150,000 or something. My teacher and his friends stared at the car, drooling. It was red and sleek, and was shiny, like it was polished often (which is quite a feat, since it's harder for things to look shiny in the nighttime than in the daytime). They couldn't decide whether to go inside Jake's or not. They were hungry, but if they went inside, they wouldn't be able to see the Ferrari anymore. After a few minutes, an old lady stepped out of the car.

"Hello, boys," said the lady.
"........Uh, hello," said my teacher and his friends.
"My husband died recently. I'm getting ready to sell it," remarked the old lady (regarding the Ferrari).
"Oh, what, really?!" At this point, my teacher is rummaging in his pockets for money (though he wouldn't be able to afford the Ferrari anyways).

Later, the old lady gets back into the car. She accelerates a little.
"Awww..." go the boys/young men/whatever you call them. (Just like a kitten's purr, so says my teacher)
Accelerated again. "Ohhhh...."
Went in reverse. "Ooohhh..."
My teacher offers, "Will you be alright? I'll drive you home." (Doesn't matter to him that he'd have to walk home after all, he just wants to be in a Ferrari, something he probably never got to do before)
"Nah, I'll be fine." The old lady drove off...Out of my teacher's life forever.

My teacher then said to us, "Don't let widows wreck nice cars. And treat your car nicely."

Anyways, speaking of cars, I was given some advice about how to skimp on car insurance. You have to pay more for car insurance if you get into lots of accidents. I was told that you should get your license when you're sixteen, and then wait two years or something until you actually get a car. Then when you get car insurance it'll look like you're a safe driver because you didn't get into any accidents for two years. (Obviously, if the folks who work for insurance companies figure this out, they might get suspicious, but oh well. Thought I'd let you know.)

I've always complained about not having life insurance to my parents, but in reality, it's probably better that I don't have it. For one thing, I'm young, so the chances of my dying are lower than those for an older person. And also, some people can't use money that results of a death. (Though there are quite a few people who say, "Well, money is money!" and there are even those who kill people on purpose to get ahold of inheritance money) I wonder if my parents would be willing to spend money they received if I was insured and I died. Would it pain them too much to use money which my life had been the price for? And if you had a dog, for instance, and it died, and you got money as compensation, would you be too pained by the loss of your dog to touch the money? Or would you move on, and put the money to good use?

While I'm on the topic of cash, my school district often doesn't have enough money. One of my teachers complained, "They want us to teach differently, in the 21st century, but they don't give us the money to do it. In fact, they take away money." I know it can't really be helped, because California is a state in debt (as is the whole US of A), but it's annoying. Most of the people who make decisions are not students anymore themselves, so it doesn't really matter to them if they take away the money for schools, even if children are the future. (Yeah, I know, school is mostly based on memorization anyways, but still. It's worthwhile to go to school.) If only, if only, there was something that could be done about it. Money is what makes the world go round but it is also what stops it from going round. D:

Labels: california, car, death, debt, ferrari, future, inheritance, insurance, jake's, life, money, problem, school, story, united states of america, world

My mother has revealed her uncanny knack for making things. (Well, she was always better with her hands than I was, but never mind that) Why, just today, she was helping me out with a project about buoyancy we're doing in school.

The project is a partner project. I have a partner who I work with in science class. The point of the project was to build a boat which weighs less than 15 pennies and for the boat to float for 10 seconds in water with a load of 60 pennies, 2 quarters, 3 dimes, and a nickel. You can't get a premade boat or use a boat-building kit, and the boat needs to be small enough so it won't hit the sides of Lake Hembry. (Lake Hembry is not an actual landmark, it's a big tub filled with water. It got polluted by the coins)

My partner and I worked on it on Monday and Tuesday. Our first stage of the boat, which was simply a box made of aluminum foil with toothpicks in the corners and yellow masking tape to make the walls higher, worked fine, and was able to hold the load quite well when we performed a test run. However, some problems did occur later on. For one thing, my partner had some ideas, like added another structure made out of carton and putting it in the boat (which I denied him, because it would add to the mass without really adding to the volume, thus making the boat more likely to sink). We ended up putting paper on top of the foil, and putting another layer of foil on. Then we added another layer of tape. It still floated, but now it was leaking, which is very dangerous. And so I brought it home, planning to patch the leaks (I tried to do that with Scotch transparent tape, but the transparent tape soaked up too much water).

And so here came my mother to the rescue. She said we should simply build a new, better boat, so we did. We got some aluminum foil and recreated the boxlike shape. (I know a box isn't necessarily as good, because that means it has more mass and less volume than just an almost completely horizontal boat, but we have to make sure water doesn't flow over the sides and into the boat) We put plastic wrap on the inside of the box so that even if there were holes in the aluminum foil, the water would not leak into the part of the boat where we put the coins. And then my mom suggested we line the base of the inside of the boat with four straws so the walls would stay straight. And now we are just waiting for my dad to bring masking tape since he probably can find that at his office (he insists he is much more valuable to the company than masking tape, so no one minds if he takes supplies as long as he's not abusing them).

My mom is much more resourceful than my partner and I combined. I feel the need to bow down to her. I never really thought my parents had great knowledge of science despite the fact that they have Master's Degrees (my mother in Physics, my father in Electrical Engineering). So I guess it's like a wake-up call for me. You can never judge a book by its cover; you can't underestimate people, either.

Let me give you an example...There's a book called The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson. (I can't recall whether I've talked about it, so please tell me if I already have) I had been seeing this book in the library quite a few times. (This was some time ago, when the Calabazas branch of the San Jose library was not yet planning to close) I always debated whether to check it out. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. Finally I did check it out, and it turned out to be one of my favorite books. This isn't a risk, but it reminds me of what my math teacher has been talking about...

He said that some students have parents who are successful in their fields. And if the parents would be asked by their fellow workers "What can I do to get ahead?" (regarding work) the people would say, "Do what everyone else is doing" or something like that. And they want their kids to do that too. "Get all A's. "Take as many AP classes as possible." And my teacher said that colleges are not going to be interested in you if you do the same as everyone else. True, having good grades is definitely helpful. But you need to make yourself look different. The colleges are interested in people who have dreams and plans for the future, who are going to do great things (to make the colleges famous! XD). So my teacher said, "Why do all of you not want to take a job at Starbucks? Go join the Peace Corps? You have to take risks sometimes in life." And I heard someone say (not to the teacher, "I only care about getting rich." So my previous post, about the selfish people, is proven... People really are selfish after all.

Labels: aluminum foil, boat, buoyancy, college, different, eva ibbotson, knowledge, lake hembry, leak, library, master's degree, physics, problem, risk, science, selfish, success, the star of kazan

In my math class, a conflict arose over the single tissue box that is open in the classroom. There are more of them, since we turned them in for extra credit (along with the measurements of the tissue box and its volume on the bottom) at the beginning of the school year. But only one was open, and it was on the left side of the room. A guy walking over there to get a tissue said he wished there was one on the other side so he wouldn't have to walk so far. The teacher suggested we simply move the tissue box over, but that wouldn't work because then the people on the left side would have to walk far for tissues. It would have been best to put it in the middle. Or even better, open more tissue boxes and place them at strategic points in the room.

Tissues have been brought up in another class, too - history class. My teacher showed us a tissue box that he kept and doesn't plan to use because he received it from a student and it said some interesting things on it, like "Please don't leave me in your pocket in the laundry" (not specifically quoted since I can't quite recall), "I'm there when you need to pick up icky things", "I'm there when you're sad", and whatnot. What a talkative tissue box. (Though other tissue boxes do have words on them. Once I turned over a tissue box and there was a poem on the bottom)

By the way, when searching for the image of the tissue box (which I still haven't found) I noticed some other cool ones, like watermelon slice-shaped tissue boxes, and cat tissue boxes, and whatnot. (Probably it's just a cover put on a tissue box, but it's still nice.) CLICK HERE for an example of one that sort of matches my blog's layout, hehe.

Anyways, back to my history teacher. He apparently had a dream where he went to school as normal, but then his tissue box tower was a lot shorter. He has a tower of tissue boxes next to his desk which he collected from the students. The teacher seemed kind of emotional, since he said he had worked so hard to get the tissue boxes and it was saddening to see many of them gone suddenly.

I kind of understand the gist of it, I suppose. I had a similar experience recently except that I wasn't sad at all, like I had expected to be. I always used to visit a website called Nutrinopets, because of the forums, but it had gone down some time ago. I expected it to come back online, but it never did. I've always wondered how I was going to quit, and it looks like the work has been done for me. I guess I'm kind of sad because I won't get to really say goodbye to it, but I'm also pleased because I have somewhat more free time now.

Do you recall me complaining about the weirdness of the labels on Blogger? Well, it seems to be fixed now! And now I can put lots of labels at my will. Plus, the drop down/up menu shows up again when I start typing a label I have already used. I'm so glad it got changed back to normal. It's like there was someone listening to me.

That reminds me of Pita-Ten, a manga I finished recently. It's not that new, so the whole series was already out. The author is Koge-Donbo. (I always thought it was a two person team, like Peach-Pit, but it turned out it was one person) Pita-Ten is about a boy who meets a clueless, hyper angel, and also a demon. The story turns out differently in the manga and the anime. I'd say the manga is more serious. (Oh yeah, and Koge-Donbo also is the author of the mangas Kamichama Karin and Digi-Charat) Basically, I was thinking it was almost like I had an angel watching me and they found a way to fix my problem.

Labels: angel, blogger, box, designs, dream, guardian, koge-donbo, label, location, manga, miracle, nutrinopets, pita-ten, problem, reliable, solution, tissues, website, words

In French class, we asked what nationality the teacher was. She said that according to a student, "She was a vampire who grew fangs and sucked blood at nighttime". And ironically, the teacher grew up in Romania. Romania is the country where the famed Vlad the Impaler once resided (the guy who impaled people and decorated roadsides with them? Yup, that's the one. Sort of reminds me of how they used to put executed people's heads on the London Bridge). And Vlad was the inspiration for the stories of "Dracula".

Then we have my science teacher. We have an activity called Current Events, where the students present a newspaper or magazine article related to science (in my class we can't use the Internet since apparently that would make it too easy, or the source might have false information, or something like that). A few students present each week on Monday, or Tuesday if we weren't in school on Monday. Well, whenever the presentations are over, the teacher reads off the names of students presenting on the next week. Twice, she said "On the menu..." which made me think that she planned to eat the students, like Hansel and Gretel. And this week she said "victims". I don't mean to be offensive, but sometimes she does look sort of like a witch since she is old and has long, silver hair. I think she ought to dress up as a witch for Halloween.

I was trying to do my language arts homework, writing a memoir, today. We were using Google Docs to write our essays. I was able to use it in class, but now that I'm at home I seem unable to find the page where I logged into it. I don't want to use my Gmail for the Google Docs since the saved file is on a different account...Apparently, we logged into a specific CUSD place on Google Docs, but I can't work on the homework if I can't even get to it. I am just going to have to ask the teacher tomorrow, since it's not due yet.

A while back, I found some of my old drawings, I think I talked about it and how I used to be trying to make a calendar, hmm? I decided to assess my art style by comparing the two of them. It's a good idea to keep your old writing or drawing so you can look at it again in the future. Mostly I tend to laugh at it or smile at the fond memories they bring up. I tried to keep this images alike, but I did make a few changes for convenience. (Haha, the foot in the earlier one - which was draw around May 2007 - is weird)

Labels: art, comparison, current events, dracula, drawing, fairy tale, google docs, halloween, homework, memories, menu, problem, romania, vampire, victim, vlad the impaler, witch

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

I haven't posted in a while on this blog. I guess I've been busier this school year than I ever expected it to be. I was told eighth grade was a harder year by far but seeing as seventh grade was such a lax year for me, this is really a change. I have to get used to it again or I will lose all semblance of free time except for on weekends.

I'm already beginning to worry because I had some pretty unfortunate luck in science class. I was assigned the very first of the presentation days for my Current Events this trimester. Basically, Current Events is where you pick a newspaper article or something, and then you write about it and give a speech. Except in this case it has to be science related. I have a pretty good idea what article I'm going to use, but seeing as I have only until September 8th to get everything together, it's stressful. Also, I'm not very good at public speaking so I'm afraid my lack of charisma will result in a worse grade. I mean, in the past I have rocked on my feet from nervousness or missed some crucial part of the presentation or something along those lines.

As for the blog title, what I mean is that if you don't touch something for a while, dust collects on it. Like corners of my piano. The little parts at the very left and right sides of your piano keys, well, you never really put your hand there so there's dust on it. I had better make sure mold and dust and such doesn't grow on my blog.

I'd appreciate if you all let me know if the blog's layout is working out right for you. Sometimes the header and background image don't show up so the layout looks all weird and you can't see things like the navigation. And when you view certain pages, since I wrote too much, the scrollbar looks like it's cutting off the text. I'm going to try and fix it if I get the chance. Anyhow, if you can't see the navigation, try highlighting the page with your cursor (the arrow or whatever thing you have on the computer screen that you use to click on things) until you can see the stars. (I will see about changing them to text, maybe it'll be easier to navigate that way as well.)

Today my language arts teacher and class were supposed to sing the birthday song to me and another classmate of mine. Our birthdays are in August (more specifically the 5th) but since we have summer birthdays we have to celebrate during the school year instead. However, we didn't have enough time in class and so I didn't receive my head of the line pass or get sung to. I don't really care about that but I worry that maybe the teacher has trouble managing time or something. (Or perhaps it's just because it's Wednesday, a short day.) It's a good thing I have brunch right after language arts class.

Labels: birthday, busy, current events, dust, eighth grade, language arts, layout, middle school, navigation, problem, public speaking, science, speech, summer, time management

(NOTE: DON'T TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY. I HAVE CHANGED THE NAMES FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR PRIVACY)

Once upon a time, in a far away land called Australia, lived a man named Peter Pan, and a lady named...uh...Untitled. (Because I don't know her name) They lived in a grand house called Versailles. (Okay, so I haven't been there and I wouldn't know what it looks like. But bear with me.) It was glorious, with statues of angels, a maze made entirely out of rectangular green shrubs, many balconies, and even the occasional rubber chicken.

But Peter Pan had a dastardly, devilish, selfish, wicked, oh-so-horrible secret: He had more than one wife. In fact, in another faraway land called China (otherwise known as "Cathay") he had other wives. (Well, he's either divorced from them or was not "officially" married) And he had children that contained genes from the other wives. Untitled had no idea about this, so she skipping along, making daisy chains and singing American Idol karaoke.

And then a most dreadful event happened to Peter Pan and Untitled. Peter Pan did business for a living, and when he had profited he had made enough cash to purchase a house such as Versailles. Now, though, his business had failed and he had lost so much money he was forced to sell his precious Versailles. Untitled still stuck with Peter Pan despite the fact that they would now be moving to a more ordinary apartment.

I believe Peter Pan to be a weak-minded sort of person. Because of this misfortune, Peter Pan was sinking into depression, and he had thoughts of committing suicide. If he had done so, what would have happened to his wives and his children? Terribly unthoughtful of him to just think of himself and not his family. (Well, maybe he did think of his family but I don't know how to read minds, so...) And thus ends the tale of Peter Pan, Untitled, and the house called Versailles.

Actually, there is someone who lived in a neighborhood called Doublebay in Sydney, Australia, but I really shouldn't say any more than that for privacy's sake. I mean I've already probably destroyed people's relationships just by putting this up. So just consider my story of Peter Pan and Untitled as fiction, like it's meant to be. Hehehehe.

I was meaning to post this a lot earlier but recently my Internet is not reliable. It might last for, say, fifteen minutes before it gets ruined and then I have to unplug my router and wait a few minutes, then plug it back in and hopefully it'll work then. It's a real hassle so we might have to get a new router...We took out of one of our old routers so now it's working smoothly, and I was able to post this.

Labels: australia, bad news, business, children, china, depression, house, internet, money, peter pan, polygamy, problem, responsibility, rich, secret, story, suicide, untitled, versailles, wife

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