Life goes on....

Countless hours of studying, swimming, and a little less of sleep, have kept me from you. This life I am living, is honestly way too busy. Many things randomly pop up, pushing my desires to write on this Blog away. There's so much I could tell, so much that has happened in the last few months that would interest you. But I shouldn't bore you by writing the longest blog post you have ever seen.
Since I don't have school right now, life has been rather on the relaxing side. Except in the mornings when I have to get up and drag myself to the Natatorium for a two hour long swim practice that has been killing me and everyone else on the team for the last six days. But on the bright side, afterward, getting in burning hot water, then sitting in bed and killing time on Facebook and texting is a LOT more relaxing. Today, I got bored and started playing game after game of Solitaire which, of course, eventually got boring. So I started playing Minesweeper, which also got boring. And Freecell also got boring and so did computer chess, and pinball, and all those games that are for free on the computer. And then I remembered that I could be doing something way more interesting that Solitaire to kill my time. So I started typing in this little box and look! I'm already making the scrolly thing on the side go down!
At the beginning of winter break, I went to my best friend's birthday party. She turned fifteen. All set to get her permit, she sat down and we talked and danced the night away with our other friends. The reason I mention this party is because... we got chocolate!!!! No, just kidding. We had such a philosophical conversation as we slid across the tile in our knee-high socks and listened to Usher sing DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again, I was surprised. I had no idea that our minds were capable were reaching into thoughts above and beyond normal, attempting to unstitch the secrets of life, and maybe, of god him or herself. We knew we'd had too much of mind stretching for a night when my friends started saying, "What if chocolate was juice and juice was chocolate?!" You might think we are crazy but it makes perfect sense in our heads......... maybe.
Christmas was some day! I woke up at 9 (way too early for a Saturday) and the next thing I know my gifts are all open, I'm hugging a huge bag of M&Ms and my mom's telling me to make some breakfast because she's hungry. But that's not ALL the fun I had. I went to a huge party that night and watched other people have fun because Abby left before me and I had 5 hours to kill.
Before that, my life was a little drab, and I see no need to bore anybody reading this so I see no need to recount those fun memories of school. And after Christmas, all I've done is sit around all day. But as more exciting events fly by, I'll try to keep the memories fresh and intact.
Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year!!

It's Not Just School

Definition of Blog form www.dictionary.com: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog or Web log.  Do you write in your diary every day? (assuming that you have a diary) I'm guessing the answer to be no. So, I know that I haven't posted anything in a while... since August, actually (time flies). And I have a reason. Maybe you don't care, but if you didn't, you wouldn't be reading my blog. Logical? Yes. 

If you read my previous posts, or if you just know me that well (stalker), I just got into High School. I expected the homework load, I expected the zero-free-time guarantee that comes along for FREE with your wonderful High School experience which only costs you all of your time, I expected the course work to be hard, for athletics to be hard. But at the same time, I was completely clueless to what was about to happen, and everything hit me. It's like (to use a metaphor): you are standing in the middle of the road, you see a car coming toward you and it's not slowing down. You know it's going to hit you, you know it is going to hurt, you know you are probably going to die, and, if not, suffer intense pain. But even thought you know all of that you still aren't ready for the crash. And no matter how much you prepare in advance, you will never be prepared for the crash. Long story short: It's overwhelming. Very  overwhelming. Homework, athletics, waking up at 5 in the morning, sleeping at midnight or later (if you are lucky 11:30), being confused, not understanding things, bad teachers who can't teach. But it's fun. It's also a LOT of fun. Athletics, art, writing, thinking, reading, talking, understanding something complex, and the excitement of seeing your friends everyday and talking about your lives and how much there is to talk about now! Exciting - fun. 


If that explains my absence, I hope it is excused. And if that explains my title, can I go now? I know what your thinking: "NO! Don't leave me to the boringness of MY homework!" or "Yes, when is this going to end? It's torture!" Obviously the former because if it were the latter, you wouldn't be reading this. Logical? Yes.  Well, just for you, I guess I'll talk a little more about my oh-so-exciting High School life. 


Let's start of with the whole Athletics part of it. Of course, I joined the swim team because I love to swim. I love to swim competitively. Many people, when I say that I am on the swim team, think that all we do is splash around. NO. We swim, it's like track in the water... the Michael Phelps type of swimming. (OOOH!! Ring a bell?). It leaves me dead tired by the end of the day. And by end of the day, I mean 4:00 PM. It leaves me dead tired for my homework and dead tired for my studying-for-tests time. But during school I'm fine. It leaves me sore. In the legs, in the butt, in the biceps, triceps, and abdomen (or abs). I'm not complaining don't worry, all I'm saying is, I love it!!! It's the best feeling ever to be able to say, "I'm sore" because you are becoming stronger and in the long-run, a better athlete. 


Let's move on to all those subjects I don't really want to spend too much time on like, Biology, Journalism, Geometry, AP Human Geo, and Spanish II. Okay, done. 


Moving on to Art. My way of expressing my feelings, relaxing myself, relaxing my mind, concentrating, sharpening my mind, having fun, and showing of my not so fantastic skills! 


Saving the best for last: Phoenix. For those of you dummies (jk!) out there who don't know what Phoenix is, it is the Gifted and Talented program at my school. And that's the pensive part of my day. Deep thinking, analyzing, original ideas. It keeps getting better. 
Don't say it! I'm a nerd, I know, but what can we do about it? Nothing.


That's not all, but I don't want even the avid readers of my blog to pray to God and ask that this post please be over out of boredom. So, next time I manage to dig out some free time from under my homework, I'll update my life to you. 
Meanwhile, you should make the best of your life. Life is too short to regret being alive. Have fun, live your life the way you want. Read books. Stay in school. And... uh oh, I'm out of cheesy, we-hear-it-every-day statements, if you want to hear some more, just talk to your mom. 

:) Check back soon

FISH Camp

I spent the last few months worrying. Worrying, wondering, thinking, pondering about what High School is going to be like. It was agonizing. I hated the little butterflies that would flutter into my stomach whenever I thought of this big jump in my life. I realize that years later, maybe months, I'll look back and think that I had no reason to be scared or nervous. I'll look back and not be able to understand why I had those feelings at all. But then again, I don't know why I am having those feelings now. Of course, I want to go back to school, meet all my friends again, and see them everyday, and miss them if we don't have any classes together. I want to be able to complain about my schedule, about my homework load, about how boring my teachers are, about how I don't understand what the heck we're learning in class. But the feeling won't reside, it won't go away, it's this dull, swirly feeling that comes every time I think of going back to school.

A month, or so, ago, sometime in July, I received a package from my school with fliers and informational pamphlets about upcoming orientations. Of course, I jumped at the jam-packed envelope and tore it open as fast as I could, not waiting for my mom to get a letter opener. It had information about two orientations we were having in August. August?! That was too long of a wait. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it.

August comes and I go to the second orientation: FISH Camp. If you are a freshman or if you ever were a freshman, you know that we are called 'Fish', and so we go to 'Fish Camp' to learn the ways of 'Fish' and get familiar to the 'Fish' School.

The minute I walk into the school, I see no face that I can recognize. I am horrified. I push through the crowd, I swerve through the crowd, and I see familiar faces but none lucky enough to get my first 'hello'. I finally find someone I know and grab her, hugging her tight and close. From then on, everything runs smoothly. Friends keep coming, I keep hugging. Then finally, we get to go into the cafeteria and get our ID's. Of course, all the pictures are terrible. And, of course, everyone tells everyone, "What are you saying? Your picture looks great!" Then we get to grab our new cool agendas. Cool = Dark brown cover with bright green block letters that say "do", and inside the letters are words like "Stand" "Plan" "Decide" etc. And inside of the front cover there is our bell schedule, then there's a monthly calendar planner, AND a weekly one. At the end there is a world map, a place to keep our schedule, a hall pass, and on the back cover there is a calendar or the whole school year.

After agendas, we get our shirts and turn in lunch money. Then we head to the north gym and I later find out that it is for a "Practice Pep Rally". Practice pep rally? I really don't think we need to practice yelling. After that we get into groups and go on a 'tour' our tour guides being 10th and 11th graders who have no idea where they are going. Result? We roam around the school until it's time to go to our first session, where we learn we shouldn't lose our phones because this place is full of phone thieves. Right after that session, my friend manages to lose her phone. Hahahaha... not a laughing matter after you realize you can't call her anymore. Then we have one more session before we head to the North Gym... again. Where they tell us, (long story short), "Okay, we're done. Go home now."

Dream Catcher

I still remember the day we went to Wal-Mart in Alaska. It was cloudy and everyone was hungry when we spotted the one and only Wal-Mart there is in Alaska. And to our luck it has the one and only Subway in it! After eating our foot-long sandwiches, we go and look around. I need to get myself some souvenirs and my friends are expecting a little Postcard or something. So we go to the souvenir section. I get a Alaskan Rubic's Cube, a stuffed Alaskan Huskie, a key chain, 3 book marks, 2 bears, 1 turtle, (all statues of course), and a dream catcher.

When we get back from Alaska, I immediately go and put the dream catcher above my bed. Of course, I still want to see dreams. I love having dreams. But I really didn't believe that dream catchers worked. Boy, was I wrong.

I woke up the next day and I couldn't remember dreaming at all. Same with the next day. Same with the next day. And so on. I got frustrated. SO frustrated, because, I can't remember my dreams. I run to my room, jump on my bed, and take down the dream catcher. But I can't keep it in my room! Where am I going to put it? I go outside and spot an idle nail sticking out of the wall above our office door. I grab a chair and step up on it and hang the dream catcher there. From then on I have remembered my dreams, and lived in peace.

What's the lesson: Dream Catchers work! Be aware.

How to Annotate a Book

I started reading my book for English I Great American Short Stories and it turned out not to be that bad. The stories are actually pretty interesting and I'm already almost done reading it! I just have 8 - 10 pages left. But, there's a problem. The assignment isn't just to read the book, I have to annotate it. I remember doing a little bit during school last year, but I lost all my notes and surprisingly, so did ALL my friends.

I stared blankly into the page and thought really hard. I remember, you have to highlight something, underline, circle, make notes in the margins. But what? What do you highlight? What do you make notes about? I don't know. It bothered me for a long time. Then it hit me: Look it up on the internet. So, I did. And I found all my answers on 8 pages. If you need help annotating a book, here's the link to How to Annotate in your English class: http://www.lex5.k12.sc.us/files/39696/How%20to%20Annotate%20in%20Your%20English%20Class.pdf

I hope I helped :)

Over-Summer Assignements

Next year is my first year of High School. I'll be a Freshman, or as the rest of the High School likes to call us: Fish. At the end of my eighth grade school year, my Spanish I teacher gave me a packet with two papers stapled together and said, "This is due on the first day of school, good luck." I read the packet and for Spanish II Pre-AP/IB, you have to make a video/powerpoint/poster about yourself. The highest grade you can get is 100/93/100. There's about 40 days left till school, and I have just written out what I am going to say to the camera.

Then, I got a piece of paper in 6th Period English. Next year for, GT/Phoenix English I, I have to read and annotate 6 stories from Great American Short Stories by Wallace and Mary Stegner. There's only about 40 days of summer left and I've read the first 3 pages of the book.

I don't know what to do. It's summer and I'm in no mood to talk in Spanish or read about Rip Van Winkle. There's so much more to do! But I still have to do the assignments. I keep pushing it off saying "I'll do it tomorrow." or "I'll start it tomorrow." and tomorrow just never comes. There's always something better to do. And not enough time to do everything. Maybe if I start getting up earlier and I have more time to do things then I can do the assignments. Maybe.

Right after I post this, I'm going to go and start reading Great American Short Stories by Wallace and Mary Stegner. But it's already 3:37 which gives me 1 hour until I have to get ready for swimming. Again, I'll have no choice but to push it off until later.

10 Days is WAY too much

So all last week I was up in Michigan and Ohio. Way up north where it's barely above 90 degrees in summer. That's pretty cold for a girl from Texas. On the trip, we went up to Upper-Penninsula Michigan and saw Soo Locks (gates that even the water levels of Lake Superior and lake Huron so that ships can transport materials between the two lakes). We were actually lucky enough to see two HUGE ships go through. And two tourist ships. We also went to a little town called Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced soo-saint-marie). It was actually a really boring place, I just liked the name. Other than that all we did was stay home and spend time with family. Except my dad, my cousin, and I watched Despicable Me in theatres. It was hilarious.

After we got back, I had to go back to swimming, of course. I had missed ten days of practice! That would make it super hard for me to start again. Luckily, on my first day (yesterday: Monday, July 12, 2010) my coach had written up a relatively easy workout. And thanks to that, I lived long enough to write this post. Since, I'm still not used to swimming again (I only had one day of practice), if the work out today is hard this just might be... my last post. Naw not really, I'll live, but I'll endure a lot of pain. So let's see how today goes. Wish me luck.

Hurricane

In my previous post Power Out, I told you about a power outage that occured here in Texas. Well, I volunteer at a Library for NJHS hours and I'm working in a Poetry Workshop and so I am required to write a poem as an example for all the students. I wrote about a Hurricane getting the ideas from the storm that raged through our town a few days ago.

Hurricane

The dark night,
It sways the trees.
Your mind in fright,
The harshness of the breeze.

It kills the light,
It darkens your mind.
You are afraid tonight,
For your eyes are blind.

You see nothing but the rain,
The storm raging through your town.
You see nothing but the vein,
On your forehead throbbing about.

You sit in the corner,
Alone by yourself.
The storm is a dancer,
It dances around you and itself.

- I can fly

Eclipse: One of the Books RUINED by this generation's Directors

Yesterday(Thursday, July 1st, 2010)I went to Eclipse with one of my friends Stephanie. We met there and watched the movie. The point is: many people have been saying that "Eclipse is Hilarious!" "It's the best of the three." etcetera etcetera. But I strongly disagree. I don't see how they like it so much when it's barely anything like the book. All the books that are made into movies are horribly terribly mixed up, jacked up, ruined! I just don't understand how people can like them. I admit, it had humor in it here and there but read the book and you'll find nothing except for the plot alike. It is certainly NOT the best of the three... new moon is. Taylor Lautner didn't even look that hot in this movie. (There's a shocker for some girls out there.)
Some other movies that I got really mad at are all the Harry Potters so far and the lightning thief. The directors are taking the books and twisting them around makeing different things happen making the plot worse. In the lightning thief, not even ONE scene was from the book. (I would know, I've read the book about 5 times)That made me and my friends mad. I hope you get my point.
Note to Directors: Please stop ruining all the good books out there

Power Out

Rain. It tumbles out of the pregnant clouds that hover calmly over our lands and each drop hits the ground, the cement, the grass, the roof with a singular thud that sends waves through the air and reaches my ears as I sit in my room reading Rebel Angels by Libba Bray, a story about a witch who is trying to bind the magic that she has set loose. I look up and out the window to see a my neighborhood as if it is a bath tub and someone has just turned on the shower. Water poors down the sky and tumbles down the streets in a raging stream. I mark my book and run to the study room where my mom sits at the edge of a black leather chair, staring at the computer screen typing words into the keyboard swiftly.

"It's raining!" I say, stating the obvious with excitment in my eyes. Here in Texas, rain does not come in a surplus. My eyes glow as I run to open the front door and look through the frame. The smell of the rain tumbles into the house, the humidity of the air follows it. I close the door in a few seconds and run to the living room.

A few minutes of this excitement seems to be enough for me because I am soon bored and in the office room not listening while my parents talk about... something. I mumble, "I'm gonna watch TV." and walk out of the room and to the living room. I get in about an hour of television.

Suddenly, I hear a spark and the power goes out. Another spark. The power is back on. Another spark. No power. Spark. Power. Spark. No power. Spark? No. No more sparks reach my ears and the power stays off. I run to get the flashlight and unplug the television, our computer, and our two laptops to make sure none of them are hit by lightning. Mom is in the kitchen getting the candles. I help her light them but it isn't enough. We have to eat dinner in the dark. But nobody except for me is hungry. So correction: I have to eat dinner in the dark. I take a candle and put it a few inches from my plate and eat dinner, barely being able to see the food that I am putting into my mouth. Afterwards, my father gets on the phone with his sister (my aunt) and talks away. I sit and listen. I say "I'm bored" a few times but that doesn't bring the power back.

I have an idea! I run to get the flashlight. "I'm going to read a book!" I say, proud that I had thought of such a simple thing. But, of course, mother contradicts me.
"No. Your eyes will go bad, you can't read in the dark." She explains.
"But, I have a flashlight!" I say holding the small blue source of light up in the air.
"No." She says and I know I can't go against what she says.
"Fine..." I grumble and go back to the couch and say: "I'm bored."

Soon, (well not really soon, but later) my dad finished his conversation and asks me what I read today about Probability and what did I learn. We talk about this as my mom eats dinner. And by the time that conversation is done, the power is back on, so my dad eats dinner. I run to my room and read Rebel Angels for another one and a half hours or so and fall asleep at 2 AM.

What a life.