"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison

True indeed, because nowadays it seems like everything looks like something else. I was browsing images on Zerochan today and noticed a picture of Ruko, a character from a game called Tartaros Online. She looks remarkably like Gumi, a Vocaloid.

RUKO


GUMI


Also, there are three characters, but male instead, who look alike: the Vocaloid Gakupo, Kanda Yu (from D Grayman), and Alto Saotome (from Macross Frontier).

KAMUI GAKUPO


KANDA YU


ALTO SAOTOME


And Scout from the game Pangya looks like Ciel Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji...

SCOUT


CIEL PHANTOMHIVE


I'm sure I could find more if I just thought about it. I don't know if it's just a wacky coincidence, but it does seem that there are plenty of characters existing out there that look like each other. It's been annoying for me because I'm trying to develop some characters of my own. I created them a lot earlier, more than half a year ago, but now I'm really honing in to determine their appearances, personalities, and such. Problem is, I don't want them to resemble characters that already exist, which is a much more difficult task than I bargained for.

For one thing, there's naming: I'd originally picked the names Hinako and Raymond for the main characters of the sort-of-story I was coming up with. I wasn't sure what to put as Hinako's last name and spent quite a while looking for one, finally settling on Sakaguchi. It was while I was Googling (to see if there are actual people with the names that I've come up with) that I found out that there's actually a yaoi mangaka called Hinako Takanaga... o_o;;

Anyways, though, about the character Hinako that I am coming up with. Her name, and that of her father (which I haven't come up with yet), are the oddball names in the "story". Those two are the only Japanese names. The rest of them sound European or American. (I would've renamed Hinako to fit the rest of the names, but I've gotten so used to calling her that...)

As for Raymond's name, I really like the name Raymond and it just felt like it fit. But then I saw that there's a DeviantArt user who has a character called Raymond, and I didn't want the names to get confused. I can't come up with another name that feels right, so I think I will just spell it differently - Reymond instead.

Well, it's been quite a long time indeed, but at last the characters are coming into their own and I am quite pleased. I just have to figure out how I am going to draw them...I'm not good enough at drawing to make them look the way they ought to, in various aspects, like hair, eyes, and outfits; it only comes out well once in a blue moon. I've really got to practice drawing more. -_-;;

Labels: alto saotome, characters, ciel phantomhive, design, drawing, gakupo, genius, gumi, hinako, kanda yu, name, OC, original character, originality, quote, raymond, reymond, ruko, scout, vocaloid

On Monday, almost the entire eighth grade of my school hopped on buses and headed to Great America, an amusement park in California.

I hadn't been sure whether to go or not. I thought that it would be wasted on me because I cannot go on rides much scarier than the carousel...Since I have gotten carsick, airsick, and seasick in the past, I was sure that riding on a rapidly-spinning ride or a roller coaster would cause me to pass out, throw up, or some other atrocity.

But I didn't want to stay at school, either. For one thing, I had no idea what we would be doing all day, seeing as all our textbooks had been returned and there was nothing academic left to be done.

Also, I had hoped to gather up my courage to try a roller coaster for the first time. (I vaguely remember having ridden one and having been very upset by the experience, but then again, it could be my imagination and not an actual memory, so I instead consider it to be that I had never been on a roller coaster) Since so many young people seemed to enjoy thrill rides, I figured that it would not kill me to at least try it before dismissing it as undesirable.

I traversed the park with two friends. The first place we headed was the Kidzville. (Supposedly, the rides intended for younger children would be milder than the rest of the ones in the park.)

We rode one of those swings that go around in a circle first. I cannot describe how terrifying it was at the beginning... My head felt unsteady and so did my intestines. It was all I could do to not scream and cry and thrash until someone stopped the ride to let me down. I tried closing my eyes. Then I realized that the ride was really just a pattern. As you went around in a circle, you would swing upwards and then drop a little downwards, and that would repeat. It was easier to deal with the nausea if I closed my eyes right before the highest point and opened them once I started to move upwards again. Towards the end of the ride it was bearable and I could look around with some degree of calmness. But then the ride slowed down and we got out of the seats.

hen we went to the roller coaster in Kidzville, but the man working there compared our heights to a pole and said we were too tall. (Maybe he didn't feel like working, so he figured he'd reject people until he felt like taking customers. I mean, it is kind of waste to run a ride for only three people, but it was still annoying since we were only an inch or two too tall. And we were able to go on the swing ride, even though the same height restrictions are used there) Isn't it ironic? I've been considered too short before. So it's unexpected that I'd be told I was too tall for a change.

I thought I wouldn't be able to try a roller coaster because I figured there were no other small roller coasters in the park, but it turned out there was one, the Woodstock Express, in Snoopy Land. I thought we were going to die several times. (There was a point where the ride seemed to stop and then jerked...) And when it was rushing up and down I thought we were going to crash into something or run off the track... And then when it was going around the bend I thought we were going to fall out of the seats... I was so surprised that I was still alive after the ride. (I must have been crazy because later that day I rode the Woodstock Express a second time.)

Nevertheless, I declined offers to go on certain rides such as Berserker and Centrifuge because they seemed far too dizzying for me to handle. But since I wasn't going on as many rides, one of my friends urged me to go on a ride called Whitewater Falls. I thought I was going to die again when we were going down the slope...I didn't pay attention to where I was going and started walking off but then the people working on the ride told me the exit was the other way. Whoopsy-daisy.

I wonder if someday I'll have enough courage to go on one of the really thrilling rides, like Drop Zone or Invertigo. Or perhaps I never will. Maybe I won't ever do it and it'd turn out I would have been fine even if I had gone on those rides. Perhaps I've been afraid unnecessarily. And that fear may have prevented me from doing a lot of things, from taking risks that would have turned out well for me. But at the same time I wouldn't want to be too reckless. Still, I wish I could be a little braver...

Labels: amusement park, children, courage, danger, death, dizzy, fear, great america, height, irony, nausea, pattern, quote, reckless, rides, risk, roller coaster, school, thrill, trip

Remember, if you will, the post Money Can Make or Break You. (Or read it for the first time.) My teacher called us students germ factories. I am really and truly getting to see how this is true. Lately, the weather has been rainy and cold, and sickness has been spreading like wildfire. Unfortunately, those few who got sick originally did not stay home like they should have, and thus spread germs further and further. I have been fine up until now, and actually in relatively good health considering my lack of sleep and deteriorating eating habits, but now I'm starting to feel a lot of discomfort in my throat. Although I haven't lost my voice or started coughing yet, it might be only a matter of time. I am as steamed as can be. Unless this is a late punishment for something I did, I feel as if I am being hurt for something when I didn't deserve it, if you catch my drift. I mean, I as well as the healthy students were just attending school like good children until we were cursed by those who insisted on not staying home.

I know there are many reasons for students not staying home from school. This became clear during French class, when my teacher even said, "You should be at home, not here." The kids cried out, "It's our Asian parents!" (Very stereotypical, but I guess it makes sense to them.) The teacher said, "You must make your...Asian parents understand that by going to school, you spread sickness to other perfectly fine people. We are all stuck in a small, confined space with the windows and door closed. There is nowhere for your germs to go."

Then a classmate presented a different argument. "Both my parents work," he said, "so I can't stay home." The teacher didn't find this to be a problem. "You are old enough to stay home by yourself." I think this is true. I just saw a young boy (I am guessing maybe somewhere from five to seven years old) riding his bike, by himself. He seemed fine. What a nice independent young man. XD

And then there is another category of people, such as myself, where it is the student who really didn't want to stay home. One of my friends fits in this category since she went to school despite her mother saying she could stay home if she wanted. But she, unlike me, is more dedicated, which is admirable. For me, it would be nice to stay home, but I think it is too much of a hassle. You have to make up tests and PE and other junk, and it's just not worth it unless I'm very sick.

It's bad enough that there's a bug going around (two of my teachers are ill and one is recovering). But it's even worse that there was a CHICKEN POX warning. My teacher asked a student to run to the office to get some papers to pass out to us. When the papers arrived, he asked us to raise our hands if we had ever had chicken pox. There were only a handful of students who did (perhaps five? Six?) and they were all male. My teacher seemed surprised. "More of you should've gotten it." (Hey, is he suggesting that we're bad for NOT getting it?! Nah, that can't be :p) When I told my mom later, she said, "Of course we wouldn't, there's a such thing as vaccination." (But if that's the case, did those victims of chicken pox not get properly vaccinated? Or did the vaccination fail to work?)

Then the message came in saying that four students in my grade at my school had gotten chicken pox and that we may have been exposed to the disease. Within 2-3 weeks, infected people would start to show symptoms. I was immediately scared because one of my worst fears is disease (particularly something like chicken pox that would really, really force me to stay home from school, and it would cause trouble for my parents since they would have to stay home from work to take care of me). Then again, if I did actually get chicken pox, then it would protect me from getting it again. (Apparently, if you have chicken pox once, you're safe from it, because your body can recognize it and exterminate the virus quickly)

I guess now is the time to quote Thomas Paine's work called "The Crisis"... "These are the times that try men's souls." (And women's, and children's.)

Labels: asian, chicken pox, danger, disease, germ factory, immune, infection, make-up, parents, quote, school, sick, sickness, sore, the crisis, thomas paine, throat, vaccination

Recently, part of my science homework was to find where the real direction of North was and to mark it on a map of the sky. The North I had originally labeled was not "true North" because I had kind of guessed where North was. (I didn't really know, since I lost my magnetic compass, and my parents only gave me a vague idea of where North was.) So I searched for the constellation of the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, whatever you like to call it, because you can use it to find the North Star, which is always North or at least very close to it. To find it, look for the shorter side of the Big Dipper and go up (and diagonally?) five times the length of the shorter side, and you should find the North Star. (To confirm it is the North Star, look for the constellation the Little Dipper, or Ursa Minor. The North Star is part of the Little Dipper)

I was unable to find the Big Dipper, since I haven't really gone stargazing for a long time and I've never actually located a constellation before. (Sad, but true. According to the Everybody Votes channel on my Wii, the majority of voters could locate more than one constellation) I had my dad give me a hand finding the constellation. He saw something which he thought might be Big Dipper and showed me. I couldn't figure it out at first, but eventually I realized it was indeed the Big Dipper. And there, shining quite brightly, was the North Star, Polaris.

I think I have underestimated my dad for a long time. He has his uses, even if they're not exactly...the most useful or obvious things. For instance, he sometimes says the phrase, "It's not over until the fat lady sings." (This is not meant to be an insult to overweight people. It's a reference to opera, since there is a woman singing at the end, and supposedly bigger people have stronger voices?) I heard this quote at school, on the announcements. One of the girls' sports teams was not faring too well. I think they lost 7-0 in a game or something. The announcer was saying that they shouldn't give up, and then said the very quote I had heard from my dad not long ago.

Recently I obtained a video game from the library. My library has Nintendo Wii games. I came up with a scheme...I can check out all the games I want and play them on the Wii, and so I won't ever have to buy them, I can just keep requesting them from the library, over and over again. It'll save a lot of money and that will benefit me, as well as the environment (though it means less profit for the game makers, sorry!). The video game was Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. Actually, it was my mom's idea to get that, so kudos to her. Or brownie points. Or whatever you want.

If you haven't played the Harvest Moon games, I'll explain a little bit... Here you can play a boy (or a girl, depends on what game; some let you be both and others only have one). You're a farmer, but you can do other things like fish and mine. And there are other characters you can interact with...You can get married and have a child eventually, too. o_o;; Some of the games sort of have a story, which usually has something or other to do with the Harvest Goddess.

I noticed that there were a lot of similarities when I compared Harvest Moon to Animal Crossing games, such as...
- Being able to befriend villagers and give them gifts
- Fishing
- Receiving mail (you can get mail in Tree of Tranquility, not sure about other games)
- Putting furniture in your house, and remodeling your house
- Using an axe
- The triangle thing (when you're talking to someone, there's a little triangle sometime which shows they have more to say)
- Saving at your house (but in Animal Crossing: Wild World and Harvest Moon handheld games you can save anywhere, not just the house)
- Having a phone (you can't call anyone in Animal Crossing, though. It's just for changing your settings. And it's Wild World only, I'm not sure about City Folk)
- Seasonal changes (the difference is that Animal Crossing follows "real world time", so it's based on what the time of your console is set to)

Unfortunately, I kind of spent too much time playing Harvest Moon and wasted a lot of my weekend. This is one of my problems. You see, I'm afraid to make accounts on websites or buy new video games because I know what will happen...I will probably be addicted at first because I want to explore the whole thing, and then I'll reach a difficult part or I'll lose interest, and then it'll go to waste. D:

Labels: animal crossing, big dipper, constellation, fat lady, father, harvest moon, library, north star, opera, polaris, quote, sky map, stars, tree of tranquility, true north, ursa major, video games, wii

Lately my teachers have changed their tune (no, I don't mean that they have a theme song) - in other words, they've started talking about the importance of making yourself appear different from other people.

Both my history and math teachers told us that just doing the same thing everyone is doing will not get the colleges interested in us. My history teacher described 85% of the high school I'll probably be going to as "Brown eyes, brown or black hair, between 5'3" and 5'8", 4.0 GPA, not doing any sports - oh, and playing an instrument" (in other words, a lot of Asians D: ) and he said that the colleges don't care if you are identical to everyone else. You'd have to display your uniqueness or they wouldn't want to have you in their school. And my math teacher said that colleges want people who will do great things after they go to college, because then the colleges will become famous. (So I think probably in your application essay, you ought to tell the colleges what you are planning to do in your life, not just what you've already done)

In fact, even my language arts teacher seemed to be aware of this "Don't be like everyone else" movement, because of the quote of the day she picked. The quote was, "The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is." This quote was said by Charles M. Schwab, apparently. Well, I'm pretty sure the teachers must be in cahoots. I mean, I've sometimes seen all three seventh grade math teachers in the same room together, doing who knows what (planning the math? The 7th grade math teachers all teach at the same rate, and give the exact same homework).

Well, anyway, I've been studying the holiday spirit lately since it is almost Christmastime. It seems to me that people start setting up their decorations after Thanksgiving, sometimes even earlier. I saw that the classrooms of my history teacher and language arts teacher from last year are already starting to be decorated by Christmas lights. However, some people have rather...strange holiday spirit. My history teacher is a prime example.

Some students (certainly not all) give their teachers presents before winter break starts, as I don't know if we have an official week or day for giving teachers gifts. It's supposedly a way of showing appreciation, or it's out of "obligation", or maybe people think they can bribe the teachers into giving them good grades... But my history teacher says he doesn't want anything. He says that whatever he wants is not something that us students could give him anyway. So he'd rather have us work hard in his class or show him our "charming smiles". He told us to tell that to our parents, even if they don't believe us - and then he said we should say, "So you think my smile isn't charming?!" and the parents will say, "No, no, that's not what I meant at all, dear."

It's the thought that counts, but he said that it doesn't show thought at all if you give him a Starbucks giftcard because he doesn't usually drink coffee (he does eat the breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks, though). I think that my math teacher last year also didn't want Starbucks coffee, but it was a completely different reason - she had some kind of problem with caffeine, maybe an allergy (dunno how to describe it), and she couldn't eat chocolate, otherwise she'd get a migraine headache.

I still have to think about what I should get for the other teachers, though. I think it might be nice to give them something, but I'm not exactly sure what I should buy. Getting them a Target giftcard would be way too typical. But I don't want to get them something that they don't like. And it would be too obvious just to ask them...

Labels: asian, caffeine, charles schwab, charming smiles, chocolate, christmas, christmas lights, coffee, college, different, gift, giftcard, plotting, quote, starbucks, teacher, unique

It seems to me that handheld electronics still hold their popularity. A lot of people would like to have a DSi, the newest version of the Nintendo DS. The DSi comes with a camera, and you can edit people's pictures (like distorting them or drawing on them). It also has a shorter charging time. However, I think I heard that it doesn't have a Game Boy Advance game slot. So that automatically crossed it off the list for me. I have a Game Boy Advance, but the screen is very dim and hard to see because it is not the Game Boy Advance SP kind (those ones have brighter screens). I use my DS to play Game Boy Advance games. That is more convenient since you can carry a DS game and a Game Boy Advance game with you just by having your DS, and you can play either depending on what you're in the mood for. Besides, you can take photos with a camera or a cell phone and you could play around with the pictures on the computer.

However, not everyone has the luxury of using the Internet, so a handheld console such as the DSi could provide great entertainment. In fact, even an electronic dictionary would be a novelty. I realized this when my mom mentioned her coworker. Her coworker has a daughter, who has an electronic dictionary. (Actually, it used to be mine, but I never used it anyways, so it has passed hands) Apparently it was a great help to her. I just look up things on the Internet if I need them, but my mom's coworker's daughter isn't allowed to go on the Internet, so she can't just look up things the way I do.

And of course, there are plenty of people who aren't simply forbidden from going on the Internet, but really don't have access. For instance, in Africa, only a small amount of people has access to the Internet. I wonder what it would be like not to use the Internet. I have been using it for years, so I am reliant on it, and it would probably seem slow and inconvenient having to research using actual books (le gasp!), plus I would probably have to actually go outside to entertain myself (another gasp! I am largely an indoor person). The Internet has some good parts, but it also has a dark side - people can get scammed, have their identities stolen, and they can addicted, ruining their eyes and probably making them overweight.

It reminds me of this funny quote I saw on the wall of my math classroom. "Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together." I'm not sure exactly who said the quote, but when I searched it up, apparently Oprah Winfrey did... o_O;;

I was, and kind of still am, a video gamer in my youth. My DS has been my "best friend", and my camera is currently, but especially for me, stuffed animals were my best friends. (I mean inanimate objects, I'm not counting people here) I liked stuffed animals better than dolls - dolls are so hard and stiff and pointy, but stuffed animals are squishy and soft and don't have creepy eyes - and I used to bring them to school quite often, back when I was in elementary school. I could play with them after school in the YMCA daycare on the school campus. Those were good times, even if the stuffed animals were dropped on the ground, and thus became rather dirty. I don't think I could bring them to school anymore, because my backpack is so crowded (it's pretty heavy, so I'm lucky that I use a roller backpack in this case), and I don't know what I would do with them anymore... It's always more fun to play with your stuffed animals if you're playing with other people, but I doubt I could easily find someone who didn't think it was silly, and if the stuffed animal was too "distracting", it would probably be confiscated.

The reason why I brought up stuffed animals was because we had an opportunity to win them in science class. We were reviewing our vocabulary words and my teacher decided to have us play Bingo (except we call it Newton). She would say the definition of a word and players would look for the word on their game board. (It's important to know your definitions well so you won't be confused about where to put your bingo markers) The prize for getting 5 in a row was a stuffed animal. She had a few out at a time to choose from. I got a polar bear, though it wasn't my ideal choice of animal, since I didn't really like the other animals at the time. (Sorry! No offense intended) Apparently, the stuffed animals used to belong to the teacher's daughter. I think it's sad to give away your stuffed animals, but maybe my opinion would change when I'm older...I mean, if you don't use your stuffed animals, they're not getting the love I deserve...I really don't know.

Labels: africa, best friend, bingo, camera, convenient, dictionary, duct tape, electronics, game boy advance, handheld, internet, newton, nintendo dsi, polar bear, prizes, quote, stuffed animal, video games

Yes, you heard me right. Magic is based on math! So says my math teacher.

I know this is the third post in a row mentioning him, but there's always something or other happening in his class. xD Today we were having short class periods at school because we had an assembly. There's been a lot of anti-bullying activities going on at my school these days, and so we had an assembly. I believe I have been to them in the previous two years I've been at this school, too. This year the theme was Balance of Power. It was talking about how people pushed others down so they would tip the balance to their side, but in this way, the other person loses... And stuff like that.

I'd say the most meaningful part of that assembly (which was basically two woman coming and playing a premade video on a huge screen formed by three separate screens) was near the end, when a man who had no legs and arms was in the video. Even though he has no limbs, he can still do things like surf and play golf and he travels around and speaks to people. I thought it was amazing that you can do so much with yourself even with such difficulties as that. And there was something that he said...Not sure exactly, but I think it was something like this. "There's no point in being complete on the outside if you're broken on the inside." (I really wish I had clearly remembered his name so I could attribute it to him...All I remember is that it was Nick something... o_O;; )

Anyways, though, let me get back to the whole point of this post. Since the classes were so short, we didn't learn the next lesson in geometry today, but instead the teacher showed us a card trick which he was practicing for his next class. He would pick a card from his deck. Let me explain...If he got an 8, he would put two more cards on top of it. Then he'd make a second pile. Maybe if he picked a 3, he would put seven more on top. (If he picked a King, Jack, or Queen, then he'd just put it back or put it aside) He'd make, say, eight piles like that. Then he would take away five of the piles. And he would flip over the top card of two of the three remaining piles. If he got a 4 and a 9, then he would take 13 cards from the five piles that he'd take away. And then... Ack! I forget the rest! Now all I remember is that he flips over the the first card of the only pile he has not turned over the first card of, and he would get a number that he had already expected to get.

My teacher says that this works because of algebra, so if we want to figure it out, we can give it a try at home. He showed the trick twice, so it's not luck, anyhow.

Before I forget, I heard some good news on the announcements at school today. One of the counselors, Mrs. Brown, said that they had decided to make an exception and allow us to wear masks. (See previous post, about the guardian angel and such, for more info) Just so as long as I don't wear it in class - it might creep the teacher out - it's fine to bring it. Mrs. Brown also talked about some events going on tomorrow in celebration of Halloween. (In fact, the long run that was planned in PE class was moved to Monday so we can wear our costumes. They want to encourage school spirit, and all) She said to watch out for her husband, Mr. Brown, because he was good at bobbing for apples. Hmm. I've never actually bobbed for apples. I've only read about it in kids' books and stuff.

Labels: assembly, balance of power, bobbing for apples, bullying, card, classes, complete, good news, halloween, handicap, magic, mask, quote, school events, trick, useful, video, week

This is meant to be a play on the song "Leave the Kids Alone" by Pink Floyd. In this case it applies to a fly instead, as la mouche is French for "the fly". I know I talk too much about French class nowadays, but the class has been having problems with mouches.

We usually have at least one fly in our class. The students, including myself, become distracted when the fly is near us. The teacher eventually said that we should leave it alone and not be distracted by it, and she brought out her mouche assassin (apparently one of the words for killer is the same in French as in English, scary!), in other words, a fly swatter. I think she has a total of three fly swatters. We once used two of them to play a game in class to use our vocab. The teacher wrote some French words on the board and two people would stand up there at a time, facing away from the board. The teacher would then call out a word or phrase in English. The two contenders would then try to swat the correct word first. I actually played a similar game in Japanese class in the summertime. I guess this is a universal way to learn languages or something.

Sometimes I have some panic when I forget something in a certain language. It seems like it is important to me and so I get stressed even though it's not a big deal. For instance, I was going over Japanese in my head because I am worried I am losing it. I can't speak it at home since no one understands, I can't write or read it so I can't practice by reading manga, and I haven't been watching much anime lately (except for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which I already watched - and this is the original season, not the new Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu) and so I have started to forget here and there. I was trying to remember the word for "You're welcome" and I couldn't get it and I was getting mad because I kept thinking of the wrong thing. Eventually I remembered by accident. I was really relieved.

Learning a language such as French, which has relations to English, is easy but at the same time confusing, because sometimes words that mean one thing in English mean something else in French. Examples:
1) In French, collège is high school.
2) Crayon is pencil. (So "crayons de golf" is golf pencils. It's weird since we used golf pencils in cooking last year.)
3) Chat is the word for cat.
4) Singe is the word for monkey. (And singe is an English word that means burn... o_O;; Maybe...it's because monkeys are troublemakers! And they can be found in train stations in India? So I hear)
5) This I found out using Google Translate (I know, not reliable, but oh well)... Apparently "chic type" could be used to describe a prince. XD Though chic type really means more "nice guy" than prince necessarily, as not all princes are nice.

But anyways, the point is, I am wondering, does anyone have those times when they forget the specific word they were trying to think of? This could be in your native tongue (which is English, for me at least). It happens to me often and it's really annoying. I suppose I ought to be glad that I even have enough brains to think, though. My dad said he once heard, "You complain about wanting new shoes? Some people don't even have feet!" It's the kind of phrase that sounds like the reason for Thanksgiving.

Something has been bothering me lately about Blogger. Earlier you could only put ten labels on your posts, I think, instead of the previous twenty? And not only that, but when I start typing a label in, it doesn't automatically come up with a small...window? (dunno what to call it) that shows some possible options based on what you have already used as labels. It's really bugging me and I hope Blogger will return to what it used to be. I am not fond of change in general.

Labels: blogger, chic type, crayons, english, flyswatter, forgetful, french, games, grateful, haruhi suzumiya, insects, japanese, la mouche, label, language, monkeys, prince, quote, school

Recently, my father was telling me about a lady. He has never met her, but she is famous. The lady was pretty much an unknown person, up until she got plastic surgery. (She said she only got a nose job, but people seemed to think she'd had more surgery than that done to her face, when comparing before and after pictures) Then she started getting noticed and she was even able to become the host of the show Big Brother. So, it seems to me that if you have enough money, then you can go places. (Of course, there are things that can't always be obtained with money, but that's a different story.)

There's always the flip side, though. Do you recall the post ◆ from riches to rags? (It's in the August 2009 archive, if you don't remember it) About how Peter Pan was rich but then because of business problems he quickly lost his money? As the saying goes, "Money comes and goes."

Even in history class, we talked about money. England had colonies because land = power, and also you can tax the people in the colonies. So the king of England, back during the times when the USA was still colonies and not a country, let the colonies do what they liked (to an extent) as long as he got his taxes. My teacher says the king had dollar signs in his eyes. Click for a "visual representation"

Anyhow, as I am writing this, I am not feeling too comfortable. Once my language arts teacher said that us kids were germ factories! I was kind of offended since I wasn't sick at that time. But then apparently one of the people who really is a "germ factory" tried to expand its business, because I somehow or other caught a cold. I have been suffering from a sore throat and either a runny nose or sneezing (depends on where I am and what time of day). I hope it will be over soon (today is the second day of symptoms). Luckily I don't think it is swine flu since if it was, I would have trouble breathing and also have a fever.

The weather nowadays is annoying. In the morning it's foggy and cold, and it's kind like San Francisco (since the fog moves in and out of San Francisco all the time). But then the fog goes away and it gets really hot outside. I wish the weather would either decide to be hot or cold. Seems to me the weather is "wishy-washy".

I remember that one year (I think it was in seventh grade, in the first trimester?) the weather suddenly changed. It became cold when previously it had been warm. I felt kind of woozy in second period, and had trouble concentrating on my math test. The discomfort grew in third and fourth period and eventually I felt so terrible I went to the nurse's office during lunchtime, so I could call a parent to pick me up and take me home. I hope it doesn't happen again this year. I guess I am too sensitive to my surroundings. (Like all those allergies I have)

Labels: allergies, america, big brother, cold, colonies, dizzy, dollar signs, england, eyes, germ factory, headache, king, land, money, plastic surgery, quote, sickness, swine flu, taxes, weather

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