Yet again, I'm doing things in a roundabout way. Or at least, planning to do things. At several points over my life I have gotten the notion that I ought to start learning some Chinese characters so I can at least read the signs if I somehow get shanghai'd (Ha! Get it?) and am stranded in China. Well at least if somehow I ended up in Shanghai, I'd be okay because I can sort of speak the dialect...But anywhere else, it'd be hopeless.)

I do remember that back when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I went to a sort of day care place (it was called Little Genius Learning Center, if I remember correctly. Pretty arrogant-sounding name, if you ask me), and there was a nice lady who would go over a beginner's Chinese book with me. She'd point to a line and I was supposed to recite it to her, and at the end of the day she'd give me an apple as a present. Actually, I didn't really know what the words said, I'd just memorize what she'd said when she read it earlier, and then I'd just repeat what I remembered. But it sure looked like I was learning Chinese. Now that I think of it, I was good at fooling people when I was a kid. My grandma made me take a nap every afternoon, so if I didn't fall asleep I'd just fake it when she came in to check on me. Eventually, when enough time had passed, I would get up and she'd give me some ice cream. So actually I never got anything near as much sleep as my parents thought I had, especially in preschool, when I never slept during naptime. (But then again, they know that I'm an insomniac, because when I was a baby it took a really, really long time for me to fall asleep. It's still pretty bad now.)

Now that I'm interested in learning Japanese now, though, I'm starting to regret the fact that I never went to Chinese school or at least made my parents teach me. In fact, I was just the opposite for most of my life - I was adamant that I'd focus on English. I really believed that if I tried to learn Chinese, I'd forget English, because I actually learned to speak Chinese before I learned to speak English. Soon as I went to school and was forced to learn English, though, I pretty much forgot all the Chinese I'd learned and now I almost always speak English at home. And on another note, I actually look a weird, irrational pride in the fact that I was Chinese but did not learn my own language. I guess that was an early sign that I would later try to go against the tide in most aspects of my life, if only just to be different from "everyone else", whom I would refer to with slight contempt. I used to want to just blend into the background, but now I kind of think that fitting in means being boring. (That's not necessarily true, though; I probably just don't get to know people well enough to make an accurate judgment.)

Well, although I tried to memorize Katakana and Hiragana with the help of Quizlet, I am still a very long way from reading Japanese because I don't know enough kanji. Guess what kanji is? Yup, it's Chinese characters. The one thing I insisted on not learning turns out to be really important. So I have to start from scratch now if I ever hope to learn Japanese. I was actually planning to work on that this summer, but now that I have the homework from my classes to do...Well, I let myself get too stressed again and now I'm really not in the mood for the things I was doing earlier this summer. Looks like it's going to be a wasted summer and I'll probably be cursing myself for the rest of high school because I won't get to relax again.

Still, I probably should talk to my parents about it sometime. I know that they're going to be busy, what with work, remodeling, and health problems on both sides of the family (grandma on mother's side had back issues and had to go the hospital; dad and his mother were both very ill not long ago. And I should not neglect to mention that my mom is still limping around, although her toe is recovering considerably). But I guess if I'm going to learn a new language, starting late's better than never. I've gotta get crackin'.

Labels: china, chinese, dialect, different, english, family, foreign language, health, japanese, kanji, languages, late, mandarin, nap, pretend, problems, quizlet, sleep

These days, I'm always living on the edge; I get distracted by something, usually because of the Internet, and then I realize that it's late at night and I still haven't done my homework. Then I have to make a mad scramble to finish it, which is annoying not only to myself but to my parents, who feel that I go to bed too late (compared to my classmates, I actually sleep pretty early...still, I do think I'd feel a lot better if I slept more), and particularly my dad, who insists on staring at me angrily until I'm inside the bedroom. (He actually goes to bed earlier than I do on most nights, though. He gets tired early because he wakes up too early. But I don't think he's become healthy, wealthy, and wise from it...)

I used to live by the motto of "Work hard, play hard", but I seem to have lost the "work hard" part...My efforts nowadays are concentrated on things that are not urgent, such as Tumblr. I really do enjoy looking for high-quality pictures to share on my Tumblogs, though. (I do fear yet that some artist will storm in yelling at me for putting up their pics without permission, although it has not happened yet)

So I suppose there isn't much difference between how I spend my time on school days and how I'm spending it now, on my week off. I'm still on the computer much of the time. I visited Crunchyroll the other day (though I meant to quit, somehow I'm still hanging on by my fingernails...Now I'm thinking that I could just make a new account instead, and have waaaaay less buddies on it) and spent a lot of time looking at the groups (it's like a club or guild). I figured I'd request a new avatar if I found a group that didn't charge for graphics. There's technically no currency on CR except for CR points, which you can't give or receive anyways, but some groups say that you must invite all your buddies, upload X number of photos, post X number of comments on the group wall, etc. So it is refreshing when you are able to find a group that makes graphics quickly and for no charge.

Seeing all those graphics has made me long for the old days when I made graphics more actively. I think I've made a total of two graphics this school year so far and haven't taken many photos compared to last year - but at least since it's springtime I have more photo opportunities again. Anyways, though, the last graphic I made was an avatar for my Crunchyroll account, around December...



At the time when I first made it, I thought it was really great, but now I think it doesn't have quite the right amount of pizazz toward it. Maybe less of the sparkles and some other kind of brushes or textures would've been nice. (Not that I would ever go back to fix it. In my book, once something's done, it's done. That doesn't sit too well in Writing for Publication class since we have to make many drafts of almost everything we write.)

I really feel like making some graphics right now, because I want to practice and improve so that I can keep up with the times - lots of amazing graphics-makers these days, after all, and the number will keep growing - but I'm using my dad's laptop, so it's a no-can-do. Not sure if his company would appreciate me overloading their computers with programs and brushes. Guess it's time to brainstorm. I'll see if I have the chance to make some graphics once I'm back home again.

Labels: account, avatar, break, crunchyroll, distraction, father, free time, graphics, group, internet, motto, payment, pictures, plans, price, share, sleep, time, tumblr

I've recently been learning about logarithms in my math class, and it has not been going well. So far this semester, math had not been as challenging as I'd expected, up until I got to logs. They seemed simple enough, and I thought that I understood them...But I found out during the most recent math quiz that I really don't understand them at all. I couldn't even finish the quiz in time. It was really a slap in the face. I knew I'd been getting overconfident about tests; I studied less and less as the year went on.

It's tempting for me to just blame it on the fact that there weren't the kind of problems on the test in the textbook - nothing to study with. But if I'd actually been trying hard enough to study, maybe I would've realized that. Maybe I would've gone looking for problems, made up my own, just done something. Anything.

I started to write this post before, but I completely forgot about it; my memory hasn't been good for quite a long time, and I haven't been sleeping too well lately. I wake up in the middle of the night, and then I can't get back to sleep again for a long time, if at all. I've been pretty tired during the day, and one of my friends even asked me if I was okay, saying that I seemed out of it. But I guess being sleep-deprived hasn't been as bad I as I expected. I thought I would pass out in the middle of class or something.

People do pass out, though. The reasons are unclear; could be dehydration. A couple of weeks ago, I was minding my own business in science class when I heard a loud thump. One of my classmates had just fallen out of her stool. The teacher called the office, and a woman came into the classroom with a wheelchair to take away my classmate. Thankfully she wasn't badly injured after all and was back to class the next day. Crazy enough for one person to faint, but the teacher said she'd seen it happen before. There was even a student who practically did a backflip when she fell out of the stool.

But even such things are a part of normal life, are they not? I don't know anymore if there is a such thing as normal anymore. You'll see that idea in Durarara!! and in Inception, both of which were (perhaps still are) quite popular, and not without reason. Inception is one of those movies where you have to pay attention - if you're multitasking the way I tend to, then you might look back at the screen and realize you don't know what the people are doing or where they are. Still, it was a riveting movie, and one of the few movies with lots of explosions and guns that I actually liked, seeing as am I'm generally more of a fan of comedies. If you haven't watched it, I definitely recommend Inception.

Labels: algebra, anime, durarara, faint, health, inception, life, logarithm, logs, math, movie, normal, quiz, sleep

I've been having lots of dreams over this past holiday season. Not really dreams that make me happy, though - I seem to have more and more nightmares these days. When I was younger, I was a major worrywart, though now I slack off a lot more and have a "whatever happens, happens" mentality. Can't say it's a good thing, because even if I might have a blast during the day, my sleep will be haunted by the fears that I've buried. My winter break's coming to an end, and it's rather depressing thinking that I have to go back to the tiresome daily grind again. One of the earlier dreams was about going back to school...except it was far stranger than I'd imagined it would be.

I assume that I returned to my high school, considering that in the dream I "knew" that I had 7 periods. But I had science first thing in the morning, even though it's my last class of the day, and there was a strict lady with short hair and glasses instead of my teacher. And one of my friends, who is not in my science class, was sitting near me, and her cell phone rang in class (which is impossible! She doesn't have one). I didn't have a locker, so instead I put down my backpack on the ground and was rifling through it when another friend of mine came along and told me, "I heard there's a great dessert menu!" (Since when would school lunches include such things?) I said that it sounded great, but I wasn't sure if I should eat it (I'm bound to overeat if I have too much tasty food around). She insisted, "What is food for besides eating?"

The strangest thing by far was PE. There was no locker room to change clothes, so we went into a building that looked alarmingly like a supermarket. Boys and girls all changed in that room, no privacy at all. And in the swimming pool, some guys were just fooling around, and then they must've challenged the dessert friend from earlier, because she got really fired up, saying "OH YEAH?!" and swam at a demonic speed.

I had another, shorter dream, where I was at my elementary school campus, walking with a friend I met in middle school and one who moved away when I was in 5th grade. We passed by a huge pile of brown stuff, which was apparently camel poop.

Last night's dream was weird, too, and it involved the friend who was in my dream's science class. Some of our friends had gone off during the school lunchtime to go to a nearby 7-11 and buy some food, so we decided to go too, after they'd left. But I was having difficulty getting out of the school, and could not find a way out except for trying to crawl under the barbed wire fence (luckily, there was a driveway that we walked down instead). But we didn't go to the 7-11; somehow we ended up at some other stores, one of which was a GameStop, and my friend went in and started admiring the TV screen, which was playing some Japanese commercials for video games. I don't remember what happened next, but somehow we ended up at my house, and I started to panic when I realized we were running out of time and had to get back to school. I suggested that we go out the front door and just walk back to school, but my friend, oddly enough, became very angry with me and insisted we go back the way we came. Problem is, I had no idea how we'd gotten to my house in the first place, so I followed my friend, and there were two men in the house. They went over to a wall, and one of them reached his hand into it like it wasn't solid. And he must've found a doorknob, because a door formed, and he opened it. We ended up in the outdoors, in a place full of plants (which I now suspect might've been a different version of my backyard). I don't remember anything else, as I woke up right then.

Dreaming's pretty hard work, even if it sounds like such a lazy activity... I wake up tired every time I've been having dreams. I guess it's because in a way you've been awake all night long - running around, talking to people, living an entire other life.

Labels: 7-11, camel poop, cell phone, changing clothes, dessert, dream, fantasy, friends, lazy, life, new year, night, PE class, school, slacker, sleep, strange, stress, time, worry

I've heard the saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." I'm not sure if the man here refers to humans in general or just men, but I have certainly been quite fond of food lately.

Ever since we got home from the cruise ship, I seem to be hungry at the oddest times of day. I would wake up, at, say, 1 or 2 in the morning, and would feel the urge to eat something. Last night it took me a while to get to sleep (in fact, I'm not quite certain that I slept), and woke up at around 5 in the morning. I was rather drowsy at first, but I actually don't feel that tired from waking up early. Perhaps I should make this a habit. (It's funny how after taking a nap you often feel more tired than you did before napping, for instance.)

Once it was around 11, I paid a visit to the library I usually visit before going to another town to visit the San Jose Library, West Valley branch. I've only been here once before (at least in my memory) but I liked it a lot, although I have trouble navigating it. It seems to be quite the bustling place. There were a bunch of kids, and I noticed that they had Nintendo DS. (What's the plural form for DS? Is it just DS or is it DSes, or is it DSs?) I discovered that there's this room called the Teen Space, and on the wall there's a poster of Haruhi Suzumiya, as well as some drawings from people who are apparently part of a manga and anime club. I thought to myself, "Hey, it might be interesting to join, and I can get my drawings put up on the wall..."

But anyways, since there were apparently ramen shops nearby, we went searching for one which an acquaintance of my dad had mentioned. We found that it was inside a Japanese supermarket. That ramen shop is part of a chain of stores, so we've actually eaten there before (in Japan). But instead of being a restaurant, here you place your order and wait for your number to be called so you can pick up trays with your food on them and find a seat amongst the various tables.

It was the supermarket which interested me in particular. There was an Andersen Bakery inside the supermarket. My mom used to buy me this bread that has custard on it. It's quite delicious. When I was looking around, I saw that there was melon-pan (melon bread) being sold! (It's a bit different from usual, it doesn't look like the usual melon bread. Instead it apparently has cookie dough on the top. But it's quite delicious nevertheless.

I was very excited getting to hear people speaking Japanese. (I should get used to it already, but I can't seem to help it.) I could hear people saying "Irrashaimase!", which means "Welcome", and "Okage desu ka?" (I think that's what I heard, but I don't remember clearly. I forget what it means.) And there was a girl sitting at a table eating her lunch, and she kept saying, "Okashi daiyo" which I believe means something like, "It's strange." But I have no idea what exactly was strange.

I sampled some dango and looked at the sushi and rice balls. It's really quite thrilling to see the foods that you've seen in anime or manga in real life. It's like confirmation that fiction really is based off actual things and happenings. I was on the cruise ship watching a comedy juggler perform and he pulled the tablecloth off a table in one swift motion. The plates and utensils on the table didn't fall off of it. I saw this same thing executed in the anime Kuroshitsuji. I'd like to try it too (although I don't want to risk breaking my plates).

Labels: andersen bakery, anime, bread, cruise ship, food, japanese, kuroshitsuji, library, manga, melon, pan, ramen, show, sleep, supermarket, trick

Not that long ago, I learned that there was a Municipal Rose Garden in San Jose, and that there was no tickets needed to get in - it's free! I decided that I had to pay it a visit, and so on Memorial Day, after visiting my mom's friends, we drove on over to the garden.

This garden must've been around for quite a while. There are little signs on the ground that tell you when a certain kind of rose was planted. There are roses that have been around since 1980, for instance. And there are also new ones planted in this very year, 2010.

The way the garden is designed is like a circle, with a fountain in the middle of the garden. There are roses of all sorts, small ones that don't look that much like roses, and a kind of rose where many red ones grow together. And there's a funny kind - I think it was called Oranges and Lemons? - Click here for a picture.

After we left the garden, I felt rather sleepy. Somehow the fragrance of the roses made me feel tired. Or maybe it's something else. I've been sleeping oddly lately. We got some blinds installed to help keep the room dark in the mornings so that my brain would not realize that it was daytime and that would help me sleep in on the weekends. Over the weekend I would stay awake thinking during the night, then eventually fall asleep, only to wake up early in the morning, and then fall asleep again for a while. I don't think I was getting very much sleep. Or I was just sleeping fitfully. I really have no idea.

Speaking of sleep, I recently watched a movie called Paprika. It's about dreams and how someone has stolen a DC Mini, a device which allows you to see people's dreams and even enter them. It was a rather disturbing movie, but the ideas of it are interesting. I wonder what it would be like to see into people's dreams. I think such things are under development already.

My dad says that you can see roses several times a year because they "get confused and end up blooming in the winter". But I don't think that the roses are confused. I believe that it is their gift to us. To give us a little beauty in a world that is often ugly.

Labels: age, beauty, blinds, confusing, dreams, flowers, free, garden, memorial day, mistakes, movie, oranges and lemons, paprika, rose, san jose municipal rose garden, sleep, variety

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 mention of Saturday school would normally bring a different sort of image to my mind. Saturday school is sometimes given as a punishment to students. Some teacher will be supervising the students attending on a Saturday and you can do homework or read a book or something like that. I have no idea what it's really like, nor do I have much knowledge of detention, but although it doesn't sound too bad, I think it would be a pain to have to go to school on a weekend, and it'd also be a blemish on your record (supposing that you had committed a offense to have gotten into Saturday class, right?).

Well, this was sort of a voluntary Saturday school. It had been mentioned briefly on the school announcements that there were flyers in the office regarding a language arts workshop. At first I had not been particularly interested, because my language arts teacher attended a workshop for teachers, but the info taught didn't really apply to her teaching because it was a little too basic (better for elementary school than the upper grades, anyhow), and this gave me some distrust in the ability of a workshop to actually be a help to me. But at urging from my mother, I dropped by the school office to look for a flyer, and found that there were none.

My mother took it upon herself to look up the workshop, presumably on the Internet, and so she registered me for the workshop. As I have said, I was rather reluctant, but I think my mom has inherited my grandmother's stubbornness, and there is no point arguing with her. She insisted that it would be a good experience, and I had decided to try new things in my life (I am not much of a risk taker, but I thought I would miss a lot of good things out there if I didn't...) so I ended up being won over.

This morning I was still groggy. Waking up around seven or eight o'clock in the morning is not unusual for me, but since I was sleeping poorly lately (due to me being sick with a cold) I would wake up and then go back to sleep until about nine. I have never been one for sleeping in that much. My brain always seems to think it is a school day so I often wake up around eight or so, since my mind must be unconsciously saying, "AHHHHH!!! We're late for school!!!" and forcibly getting me up. And sometimes I have to use the bathroom in the morning. If it is late enough in the morning I will not be able to fall asleep again. (But I can't just not drink water. I get dehydrated easily and if I don't drink water I will wake up with bad breath and an icky feeling in my throat.) I can't wait until we go on vacation this summer. Once I get home I plan to not adjust back to Pacific Time so that I can do what I did last summer after my vacation. I would wake up in the afternoon, and go to bed at midnight or some other late time. In this way I got more sleep than I could ever have gotten if my body was following Pacific Time. I hope I can do this again this summer. I have a small chance of growing taller if I can get a ton of sleep.

For the workshop, you could choose two out of three classes offered in the morning, and everyone attended the same class in the afternoon. I picked blogging and oral storytelling for my morning classes. The afternoon class featured comedy. I suppose I should not reveal too much of what I had heard or else anyone reading this right now would not have much reason to attend such a workshop.

I will, however, say that the instructor of the blogging class, who is a professional blogger himself, says that it's easier to get the attention of people with a shorter post and having the text in the beginning be related to the title of the post, whereas having a longer post is to the benefit of people who are already readers of your blog.

He also said that there are different kinds of bloggers - people who write for the sake of writing (who just have to write, it is their passion) and people who write to get read (because, let's face it, it's kind of rough if you're writing and no one ever cares. It's like shouting at a wall or something.). But there are also a few who are a mixture of the two, who write both for writing's sake and for people to read it. I guess I would be the mixture type of blogger.

The instructor seemed to be much more supportive of Wordpress as a place to blog as compared to Blogger. He said that as Blogger is part of Google, even if you asked them a question you wouldn't get a response, but if you need to know something about blogging, you can just drive over to San Francisco and ask the Wordpress folks. Although I have thought about making a Wordpress blog, I am not sure if I want to switch over because I have kept this blog for such a long time...It would be such a pain to make a change.

Labels: blog, blogger, brain, classes, dehydration, help, insomnia, language arts, plan, punishment, saturday, school, sleep, summer, time zone, vacation, water, wordpress, workshop, writing

Due to an astronomy lab we've been doing in my science class, I go outside at night to look at the moon and record the phase and location. In the beginning, the skies were clear, and it was easy to see the moon. But then clouds moved in and I couldn't see it for a while. When the sky cleared up again, I still couldn't find the moon. It was a strange experience. The stars were still there, but the moon was nowhere to be seen. I thought perhaps it was blocked by a building or a tree, but no matter where I walked I couldn't see it.

In the morning, though, I saw the moon. It's just so strange, seeing it up there in that vast expanse of blue sky, instead of in the mist of a black blanket dotted with stars, the way it is at nighttime. I was rather annoyed at the moon, because I am only supposed to record when I see it at a certain time (the teacher wants us to try to view the moon at the same time each night that we go out). It showed up in the morning but refused to come out at nighttime.

In class today, one of my fellow students told the teacher that she had gone out at night and was also unable to see the moon. My teacher then got the attention of the class to explain this phenomenon.

My teacher said, "I have told the moon to go away for a while. Us science teachers are very powerful, so I have made it disappear. Look carefully every night and eventually I might let it come back out again." Another one of my classmates remarked, "I looked in the morning and I saw the moon." My teacher's reply was, "Ah! You cheated! Well, the moon is naughty and it tries to come out before it's supposed to."

So there you have it. A highly scientific explanation for why the moon is not visible sometimes, even without any clouds covering it. (If you want to know the real reason, you had better look it up since I only have a theory about it and it would be unwise to take that as fact.)

I was just looking at a picture of an exploding alarm clock on a magazine cover (Discover magazine March 2010 issue, if you want to know) and I was reminded of what of my "experiences" at Yosemite. It was difficult to get to sleep on the first night. Some kids had not gone to bed and were making a racket outside, or were giggling in their cabins. The heater in our cabin kept making some sort of rattling and banging noises. I kept sweating from the heater since I wasn't used to having it that warm. And then there were the two alarm clocks I had brought. They kept on ticking...My clock at home ticks too, but I never really noticed it. At Yosemite it seemed they were quite loud. One of my cabinmates said she wasn't used to it since she has a digital clock, which doesn't tick. After the first night, though, we become more accustomed to the loud nights and were able to get to sleep more easily. (And anyways, we were tired out from the strenuous daily hikes, or something.)

I have been rather concerned about my ability to remember to do my homework recently, especially the French homework. I forgot to do my French homework and remembered it during the night once, so I got up earlier in the morning to do it. And then today I was supposed to bring sunglasses because we were discussing summer/seaside activities in French class, but I forgot to bring those as well. (Then again, I'm not exactly sure where the sunglasses are, I will have to find them. I don't like to wear sunglasses. Although I like the cool way that they look, they always seem to slip down my face or otherwise get in my way. And I don't like how everything seems so dark or is tinted a weird color.) I wonder if my memory is getting bad or if I'm getting too careless. Both options are rather unpleasant.

Labels: astronomy, careless, clock, digital, distraction, forgetful, french, homework, magazine, magic, moon, powers, science, sky, sleep, sounds, teacher, ticking, trip, yosemite

It seems to me that time makes all the difference sometimes in the mood of a person. A prime example is my history teacher. Last trimester, I had him for the first period of the day, but now I have him for second period. It's only about an hour difference, but it matters quite a bit. In first period, he tended to be more bad-tempered, though occasionally he did seem in a good mood. In second period he is more talkative and generally more pleasant to be around. Well, they say teenagers' brains don't truly wake up until around 9 or 10 am. Maybe it applies to adults too.

I was pretty annoyed at the homework I received recently. For two of the questions, we are directed to look at page 222 in the textbook. We are studying the Constitution, but page 222 talks about Mormons. (I tried checking the section of the textbook that is about the Constitution. There's not much info) I guess it's referring to the old textbook. It annoys me that we have to use this thinner, lamer textbook. But there's not much can we do. (I heard that California uses a different science textbook than the rest of the USA, and my teacher last year said the national textbook was awesome, and I am upset by this)

I am displeased with the education system in the USA. It is true that some of the best colleges in the world are here. I mean, one of my friends moved to China many, many years ago, and her sister got into Harvard. Clearly, they'd rather come to the USA for college than stay in China. D:

So, to rectify this problem (I am practicing using my vocab words this week, that's why I used such a strange word), I have decided I am going to attempt to move to another country. Preferably, one in Europe, because there are generally higher life expectancys, average incomes, and living conditions overall over there. I have also considered Japan because the Japanese live the longest on average despite the fact that there are smokers (French live pretty long too, though). A woman could live to be 86 on average whereas in the USA, women on average only live to be 80. I tell you, you can do many things in 6 years of your life! So I could be saving myself if I moved. The problem is that the USA does make a hefty sum of money. Liechtenstein, Qatar, and Luxembourg have a much higher GDP, though. (I've been to Luxembourg, personally, I thought it was nice, but there are apparently many pessimistic people there, though Japan seems to have many pessimists according to the Wii Everybody Votes poll)

I was thinking of perhaps San Marino. People speak Italian there, which means I might have trouble getting along at first, but at least French and Italian have some similarities. (One time I was reading a description of some brushes, but it was in another language. I tried to use Google Translate "French to English" - didn't work. Tried "Spanish to English" and didn't work either. I was confused, so I did "Detect language to English" so it would do the work for me. Turns out it was Italian...)

The money is not too bad and the HDI is fairly high. The USA's HDI is .950, I believe. Norway has the highest...And Australia is second highest! Maybe I should move to Australia! They have cool accents there, and they speak English, and besides they make a good sum of money. Also, there are lots of beaches because most people live along the coast anyway - probably too dry and desolate in the middle of the continent - and I love the beach. I want to live near there. The sound helps me go to sleep quickly. That's why I fell asleep quickly the time I slept near the ocean in Japan, even though I was on a futon on the tatami mat. (My mom couldn't fall asleep as fast, apparently she expected it to be painful, or she had back pain or whatever)

I also slept well in Australia despite the dramatic time change. That's surprising. When I went to China the second most recent time (the most recent time I went to China was last winter), I got sick from lack of sleep. I fell asleep during the day and woke up at night. But I wasn't supposed to sleep during the day, so my grandma woke me up on purpose by using an annoying talking stuffed animal. You know, the kind where you press the belly and it talks... -_-;;

Labels: australia, college, education, europe, gdp, hdi, italian, language, lifespan, misinformed, mood, ocean, san marino, sleep, time, time zone

For a while I've been looking for my old paintings from last year's summer class - in particular a small oil painting of the coastline. So I was bored and went upstairs (there's only one room which we basically stuff things into, everything is downstairs...) and walked around. I thought I saw some papers in a box and looked inside it. I discovered some of my old artwork...And especially that one that I really liked. I wonder if it's okay to scan paintings. (If so, I'll try and get my dad to scan the smallest one)

Also, I found the Ippon Demo Ninjin video! I talked about it in an earlier post. So here's the link to the video.
Ippon demo ninjin (いっぽんでもにんじん) The whales are especially funny. Once they finish counting the first time, watch the whale. He seems to be dancing on his tail and he turns from side to side, though the other objects/creatures always face towards you.

My playlist had been getting way too full, so I started clearing out songs a little bit and now I just have 194. Oftentimes we listen to music and talk about it in my painting class. (I suppose it's more relaxing than having to work in utter silence...) One of my classmates made a CD or two for the teacher and we listen to her CDs as well (I think she buys songs from iTunes? Using her brother's money XD). Anyhow, some of the artists include Jack Johnson, Cold Play, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, The Cars, John Lennon, and various others whose names I have forgotten.

Which reminds me, there's a guy in the Beetles called Ringo Starr. I always wonder why he took the name Ringo as his first name for his stage name (Richard Starkey is his real name, and he is still alive...). I mean, I thought "ringo" mean apple in Japanese...(But I don't blame him, because apples are very cute fruits.)

The weather around here has turned hot again and it's really bothering me. I end up sweating a lot but I don't want to turn on the air conditioning or the fan because I am wary of the environment...But I suppose eventually I'm going to be so frustrated I will turn on the fan. D: It used to be nice weather only a few days ago, too...But now it's really, really hot outside and I bet I'm going to start losing sleep again. :( And right when I was starting to feel "healthy"...What a shame.

Recently I went to Jamba Juice. I rode there on my bike with my dad and we used a coupon so we could get two smoothies for the price of one. There were some suspicious young people near the store. One of the guys seemed to be trying to show off muscles (if he actually had any XD) and also there was a girl who sometimes ran into the parking lot and was chased by a guy in glasses. Anyhow, I thought they were creepy (even if people near the 7-11 probably act like that) and I was pretty relieved when they left.

Labels: apple, discovery, ippon demo ninjin, jamba juice, japanese, lost and found, music, oddity, painting, people, playlist, ringo starr, sleep, smoothie, song, stage name, suspicious, weather, whale

That's a phrase which basically means "sleeping". Lately I've been able to sleep more since the weather is mild - not too hot and not too cold. Though I fall asleep around 11 pm, I wake up around 9 am (I have to get up then anyhow because of my summer classes) so I'm getting more sleep than during the regular school year (when I have to wake up before 8 am). It's made me feel a little more energetic, even if not too big a difference, and I'm glad of it. Maybe I could actually grow taller, something that has not been happening to me for a while...

...though one of my friends seems to have no problem growing. She's now increased her lead over me (Wow, when I talk like this, it sounds like swimming in the Olympics or something) and besides that my parents say they think she has lost some weight to boot. Her sister just looks kind of the same as always. It's probably because she has taller parents whereas my parents are kind of on the short side. My dad insists it's my mom's fault and my mom retorts that he's not exactly very tall himself...

I think my mom has way too many co-workers, classmates, and other assortments of acquaintances. She often goes a-visiting with them, and apparently she knows someone in Sydney, Australia who offered to take us around the city for a day. Even my dad seems to know a few people in Australia. (I guess it's because he used to live there and he was the only one who moved away? And that was because my mom "dragged "him) I wonder how my parents keep track of them all, but then again, it's not like they know my classmates, just like I don't really know their fellow people at work (unless I hear about them enough times).

I heard that my grandfather used to learn Japanese in school, which came as a surprise to me. I think it was because of something to do with Japanese were taking over China... He still knows a little bit, but it's kind of like my dad - my dad claims he knows German, but he really can only count from 1-10 by now.

We've had another death at my house recently. My blue balloon, which had the Earth drawn on it with Sharpie marker and which was hanging from a cord of the ceiling fan, popped all of a sudden, though it seemed like nothing was wrong with it. My mom says the over time the balloon's "skin" grew thinner until at last it couldn't handle it anymore. Something like that. I don't know very much of these matters, so if you understand it, let me know. Anyhow, it's a shame not to see that balloon hanging in my room anymore...It lived for a month.

When I went to the supermarket with my parents just the other day, I saw some chocolate milk buns - the kind that come six to a package which you can steam at home - and I was enraptured. It had such a beautiful brown swirly pattern. So my parents said we should buy them - though I tried to say "I'll use my allowance" (I barely keep track of it anymore. Ha, ha) - and when we were checking out, the cashier said "$1.99!" emphatically. My parents say that the cashier must've thought that was expensive. I thought, "Oh no! Maybe it is a bad deal to get only six buns for that price!" But still, there is nothing as cute as that among the buns at the supermarket.

Labels: acquaintance, balloon, bun, change, connection, death, food, german, growing, height, japanese, language, popped, relatives, rest, sleep, spending money, supermarket, temperature

I saw something on a book cover that I found very strange. The book is The Treasures of Weatherby, written by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Near the author's name there were the words, "Loathed by LEMONY SNICKET*". (Don't ask what the asterisk is for since I really have no idea. It doesn't have any small text anywhere explaining it, like on promotional offers) I wonder if anyone has an idea about how come you'd put your enemy's name on your book's cover. I mean, it's kind of like when people say, "That book is really horrible!" or "That website is really boring!" Then it makes you curious about it. Maybe in truth, Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Lemony Snicket are friends, or it's a plot to get more money for one another?

Sometimes the strangest things happen in anime. I was watching one and then a chicken started fighting a guy. The chicken flew all over the place, pecking and squawking, and then started doing things that looked like magic or something. Seriously, I've always thought of chicken as something to eat that can sometimes give you sickness from salmonella. (No offense intended if you are a vegetarian, or raise chickens yourself.)

I took a nap yesterday for the first time in a long while. Usually I can't nap at all. I must've been really exhausted or something. I'd just walked to Whole Foods since my parents wanted to buy two things. For some reason we usually only buy a few items at a time when we go to the grocery store. I figure it would save gas and all to buy a lot of things at the time (but then again, there are reasons for not buying many things at a time. For instance, food expires, and you may not be able to eat or drink it all). Anyhow, I ate a sample of some vintage cheese. It had a strong flavor. My mom wrinkled her nose and said cheese was stinky. I didn't smell anything but I suppose it's because my breathing is not too good.

Once I walked home I was feeling very sluggish, though my mom and dad always think I'm being dramatic. Well, it is true that being an actress is one of my "back-up jobs" but I really felt kind of tired. Maybe it was just lack of sleep every night building up. I slept for an hour, maybe more. I don't understand why taking naps makes you tired all over again. My dad insists that taking naps will make you refreshed and happy. It took a few hours of being awake for me to stop feeling dizzy and dehydrated. (But I suppose overall it was worthwhile.)

Speaking of back-up jobs, I haven't quite decided what my actual career goal is. I've wanted to be a fiction novelist, but ever heard of "starving artists"? I heard, for instance, J.K. Rowling was very poor before Harry Potter made a big splash. And many authors will never be so famous they can sit down to dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and the Obamas. So I keep wondering what I should do for a living. Of course there are some years to go before I even need to work but it's good to plan ahead. I want to do something I like to do (which hopefully shouldn't be hard to pull off, I have many interests) but which also has many jobs available or at least a steady income. Otherwise I will have to fall on the suggestion to marry a rich guy. That would be very shallow and also there isn't a huge supply of "rich guys".

Labels: books, career, cheese, enemy, groceries, interests, job, lemony snicket, marry, mysterious, nap, novelist, rich, shopping, sleep, the treasures of weatherby, writer, zilpha keatley snyder

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've noticed that Mr. Moustakas, the woodshop teacher, has a slightly rough-sounding voice. Also, he tends to cough sometimes during the class. I wonder if all those years of teaching woodshop wore away at his health. Apparently swallowing sawdust is not good for your health. (Or so I believe, because I heard miners die early from being down there inhaling coal.)

I remember one of my friends said that after she watched the Kaleido Star anime, circuses didn't seem so impressive to her anymore. I just thought of this since I'm watching an anime called Gakuen Alice and right now there is a circus going on. It made me remember how I'd watched a Ringling Brother Circus performance back when I was young. I can't remember anything except for acrobats and elephants now...And maybe clowns. But that was probably my mom's company family day, not a circus, hehe.

I recently had my cell phone number changed to a 408 number. It had been a 650 number for a long time because I got my phone through my mom's friend, who happens to work at Sprint (so he can get discounts, and even a free phone, depending). And they live in the 650 area. I remember that I first heard about the Everybody Votes Channel on the Wii from my mom's friend's son. He didn't tell me, but I saw him casting votes on his Wii. So then later I connected my Wii to the Internet and downloaded the Everybody Votes Channel. (I heard you can actually surf the Internet on the Wii, but you need to pay hard cash to download that "channel". The Wii has various channels which contain different features, such as the Nintendo Channel, where you can watch promotional videos or trailers, and the Mii Channel, where you can make or edit people-characters called Miis)

I woke up sometime in the morning, probably pretty early, since it was still dark outside. I was too restless and my throat was too dry, so I couldn't get back to sleep. I wonder if I have strep throat or something. (Well, at least this is the first time I got sick all winter)

Labels: area code, channels, circus, health, internet, kaleido star, phone, sleep, wii, woodshop

All folks living in the USA should set their clocks an hour forward, as in 9 am would become 10 am. You could set it tonight, or tomorrow, whatever you prefer to do. I wouldn't have remembered, except I read a forum post about it...Apparently people in other parts of the world don't really know the reasons for Daylight Savings. D: I'd heard it was something to do with energy saving, or whatever. I don't really care too much, hehe, though it would be easier not to have it.

This morning I woke up really early, so I tried to go back to sleep again. I don't actually know if I did sleep, since I'm constantly thinking when I'm conscious. Well, oh well. By the time I truly got up it was around 9 am.

I finally got to go to the Valley Fair mall again. It was quite a while since I was last there. It turns out they opened a new Ann Taylor Loft where the Sharper Image (an electronic store place) used to be. It seems like a lot of clothing isn't cheap even though it's supposed to be a bad time for the economy what with lay-offs. I guess the stores still charge a lot since people still want to shop, judging by how crowded the reduced price racks at Nordstrom are. xD

Anyhow, my mom and I were planning to buy a pair of shoes (or, more like just my mom, since her feet are smaller so the shoes are better for her) but then it turns out my mom's feet are different in size, so one shoe was tight and the other fit?! I guess that must be true, as my mom's legs are different lengths, even. o_O;;

I just heard that my grandparents have been reading the blog yet again...I guess they always do because they have time. This time they said my playlist was too loud. Perhaps I should change Morning Grace back to the first song because that was quieter, at least in the beginning of the song.

If you have a Wii, and the game Wii Fit, you'll eventually unlock Plank, Push-up, and Jackknife Challenges. (All strength exercises you may have done in PE class. Jackknife is similar to a sit-up, except when you come up, you make what's supposed to look like a V shape) What's really funny is how the Wii Fit trainer always gets beaten (that is, if you can keep doing more exercises every time) and how she collapses, then mutters about underestimating your strength or whatever. I am endlessly entertained as every time I do one of the Challenges again, she insists she'll "try her very best this time".

For dinner, we did some shabu-shabu again. It's basically you have some soup being cooked on a burner, at a high heat. So you can practically cook while you eat. You dip various items such as meet, noodles, or even flavorless mochi into the soup until it's cooked all the way through. I first tried this in a Japanese restaurant. (By the way, they gave us vanilla-flavored popsicles for desert. They're small but tasty.)

Labels: blog, daylight savings, food, nordstrom, playlist, relatives, shabu shabu, shoes, sleep, song, trainer, valley fair, wii fit

Since we've been studying the Aztecs in class, I've had to listen to a lot about sacrifices, and sometimes had to look at some unpleasant pictures. I was told that the priests would take the skin of sacrificial victims and wear it on top of their own skin, or even eat it! That sounds pretty nasty. But I heard the Donner party (a group of people traveling west over the US to try and get to California) got stuck in a pass during the middle of winter. They got so desperate for food that they ate each other. So that's today's inspiration for the blog title. I am quite disturbed by cannibalism myself, even if I used to bite people back in the day. (If you want to scare people off, tell them that you bite)

Right now my dad has the TV turned on to BBc World News. A protester threw an egg at a man (probably some politician or other famous person) and the man got really mad and tried to punch the protester. It turned into a fight and other people had to drag them apart. I've heard of people throwing eggs at houses on Halloween as a mean prank, but I've never seen it being thrown at people. o_O

I've been attempting to go to bed earlier these days. There is no major improvement, but at least this morning my headache wasn't as bad as usual, so maybe it's a good thing. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep in on Saturday. Unfortunately I suffer from insomnia which I've inherited from my dad's side of the family and always wake up around the same time each morning unless I'm really exhausted. My mom, on the other hand, can fall asleep more easily than I can. She says the back of her hair is a bit flat because she slept a lot when she was a baby. (Her parents were busy and couldn't take care of her all the time. She just slept away the hours and didn't cry much. That might be dangerous, though...What if she was hungry or sick and cried too quietly for anyone to hear?)

Lately the school's macaroni and cheese makes me feel bad. Whenever I eat it I feel a little sickened. I wonder what it's made out of. I wish they would buy ravioli instead since that is tastier than mac and cheese (at least, the ravioli tastes less sick). Or even the Pizza or Taco pockets and calzones. I like almost anything with bread in it. Noodles and granola bars (without peanuts) are tasty too since they're similar to bread.

As I continue to watch BBC World News, I get pretty freaked out. Some passengers were disembarking a cruise ship in Europe and due to high wind speeds, the ramp/staircase thing collapsed and fell into the ocean. Four people were dunked into the ocean. One suffers from a head injury and the others are being treated for hypothermia. (You know, that's the sickness you get when you're in really cold water) I've never thought of cruise ships like that before. >_<

By the way, sorry it's late, but here is the cooking schedule of the previous week.
Monday - Prepare Cherry Cheesecake
Tuesday - STAR Writing Test & Eat Cheesecake
Wednesday - Utensil Test (Kitchen tools are strewn about the classroom. Identify each one using a word bank)
Thursday - Marinara Sauce and Garlic Bread
Friday - Finish Cooking Spaghetti and Garlic Bread & Time to Chow!

Labels: aztecs, bbc, cannibal, cooking, cruise ship, donner party, egg, family, flat hair, hypothermia, macaroni, sleep

One of the sites which I visit, Nutrinopets, seems to have a problem. Whenever I go there it says there is a problem with the database. I've gone away and come back, refreshed the page, etc. But all in vain. I guess I will wait until tomorrow to try again. Or maybe my IP address was banned? (Because someone was kicked off the website recently. If they got IP banned, if my IP is similar, I could've accidentally been banned? I have no idea at all.)

Anyhow...Today was a gloomy day. I woke up early in the morning (I don't know what time) and tried to get to sleep, but my thoughts and headache kept me awake, until at last I dragged myself out of bed around 9 am. I'm still tired even now.

At least I had a good lunch. We went to the Maru Ichi Ramen in Mountain View. I, as usual, ordered shoyu ramen, whereas my dad and mom ordered kuro ramen. (Kuro meaning black, so the soup is a color that leans towards black) And then I got some vanilla ice cream in a little paper cup, since my parents ordered the kids meal. (Which is fine, I guess, seeing as the ramen is still the same, just a smaller portion.) There was a room where a guy who worked there was supervising a machine which was churning out the noodle stuff. (It didn't look like noodles. Just a big sheet of...like dough?)

Later on my mom insisted on bringing me to a seminar. It was one of those that is meant to help you get into an Ivy League college. (I've been to two of these before, and they were kind of boring.) The guy who was talking is the Founder/CEO of something called the Ivy Review. (Is that what the suspicious building I saw in Cupertino was? It had an Ivy Review banner on it, but I thought it was just an advertisement.) Sometimes he spoke in Korean because some of the audience didn't know English.

Mr. Hull often asked people to raise their hands. For instance, he'd ask if you were in such-and-such grade, or if you took Algebra in 7th grade and Geometry in 8th grade, and so on. And he would tell some disturbing things. (Like he said it matters whether you sound optimistic or pessimistic in your application. If you sound too pessimistic they believe you are a "risk kid", one who might pour gasoline on themselves and light it up, or start a school shooting, if they get depressed by poor grades. I laughed, but he said to take him seriously, because it does happen.)

And he also said not to procrastinate on your personal statement (I'm not quite sure what that is. Is that the essay for your college app?). He said to start when you're a freshman, not four days away from the deadline. For instance, he was skiing over the vacation, and he got called by a frantic mother who said her son was having trouble with his personal statement. So Mr. Hull had to stop his vacation and try and improve the kid's college app. Mr. Hull says that kid had good grades, SAT score, # A-G lineup, and so forth (If you don't understand what I'm talking about...It's confusing) but he could've ruined it all by not starting his personal statement earlier.

By the way, you're supposed to write something compelling in your personal statement. Except nothing particularly extraordinary ever happened in my life...yet.

Labels: bad news, college, danger, error, lecture, lunch, personal statement, ramen, sleep

Nowadays I've been pegging a bunch of different labels onto my posts...So much that they won't fit in the bar you type them into, and you would have to highlight from left to right if you wanted to see how many there were. Or just click your mouse there and keep hitting the left arrow on your keyboard. (If I'm confusing you, just forget it. XD)

Today has been a pretty boring day so far. I woke up, delirious, around 8 am. I was woken up by a need to go to the bathroom which is a sad way to wake up since you won't be able to get back to sleep if it's late enough in the morning. I just read National Geographic Magazine for a while before dragging myself out of bed. I decided to make french toast so I could finish one of my cooking projects. (It's a big hassle having to do homework for my elective. Luckily I only need one more HCP and I'll be done with them for the rest of my life...Unless I join Advanced Applied Arts next year.) It tastes rather eggy instead of sweet, but it's good if you put syrup and sugar on it. (If you use syrup, or even honey, it will be messy, so watch out.) I really hate getting my mouth and hands sticky. It feels like it's hard to clean.

Afterwards I played Animal Crossing on my Gamecube. I just play for some time every week instead of every day on the Gamecube since I really don't have enough leisure time for it otherwise. Lately I've been playing my newest person, Radcliff, like crazy, and since I made him in December I've already fully expanded my house (except for the basement). If you have both games you will notice it is considerably easier to pay off your debt on the Gamecube...Or maybe it feels that way because I have two memory cards and can make money by visiting both. (And I play the DS version every day so I guess it makes me feel like it takes a long time.)

Then we hopped in the car and headed to Saratoga. Sometimes I insist on going there so we can see the farmer's market. I tried some samples of salmon spread and it was pretty yummy. (But my dad says food always tastes better when it's a free sample.) I also bought some apple cider. I usually get my apple cider from a stand called Rainbow Orchards. And I get my strawberries from whatever random places there are. We always sample the strawberries first to see if they're sweet, then look at the price. If it's reasonable and the strawberries were tasty, then we buy it. And of course, since there are cage free brown eggs, we get those. They're cheaper at the farmer's market than at Whole Foods anyhow.

So right now my dad is probably napping and I can't practice piano. I figure I'll go do some Wii Fit to pass the time. I should exercise anyhow, since it's the weekend and I don't have PE. D: I suggest you all do the same, as you are reading this.

Labels: blog, cooking, egg, exercise, farmers market, food, fruit, homework, label, moaning, nap, sleep, video games, waking up

Top ↑