We Need To Read, Dammit!

One thing that I have always done ever since I first began to read as a child was to read about video games. Not necessarily news about games (and I still don't as I just found out a few days ago that Super Mario Galaxy was out for the Wii and my mouth dropped, and also that I found out that Sonic was in Super Smash Brothers Brawl a week after it was announced) or even general info about the game, but I would actually sit and read walkthroughs of the game on the internet or in strategy guides. I would either sit on my bed as a child and read every article in Nintendo Power even if it didn't interest me or I would read through a whole strategy guide of a game, studying the pictures, tactics, bosses, etc. The funny thing is that I really never read to beat the game, but just to read about it. In general, you have a tendency to reads things more that you're interested in, and I guess I was extremely interested in video games and fictional stories. I specifically remember finding a great interest in a Harvest Moon 64 guide on the internet that I would read multiple times. Each time seemed fresh, and the guide seemed to never end; and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Some may find this to be unusual as one may only read a guide when they're stuck in a game or want to know what's going to happen in the near future of the game's plot. I just read everything for the hell of it, I guess.

I thought of this childhood behavior while reading some World of Warcraft lore today on WoWWiki. I started reading about the history of World of Warcraft gathered from in-game books scattered about the game today when I realized that I never lost that behavioral trait of reading about games. Not only am I reading about the game, but I'm reading about the events that once took place in the time period of the Warcraft series, and even before. How wonder a lot of my friends pass me way off in level on the game, as I'm mostly offline on the game reading about the game. And it's not only lore that I read, but everything -- including instance guides, information on classes and races, zones, professions, etc. And yet again as my history has shown, reading about the game doesn't mean I'm good at the game. For example, back in the good ol' days, I read strategy guides on Pokemon, Luigi's Mansion, Digimon World, etc. but did I ever come close to beating those games? Hell no. I may suck at playing games, as I still do especially when I have to fight against another player on World of Warcraft, but at least I'm a good reader. I guess that can be reflected by my good grades at school (i.e. my 104.00 for the first quarter on my report card). Anyway, WoW lore is just extremely interesting and as I stated earlier, you'll read things that you are curious about and want to learn about. I'm just amazed that the Warcraft series has so much depth to it and one thing links to another in a very smooth transition. For example, this guy killed this guy in the battle of this and so-and-so fought in the battle of this who was known to be the father of this tribe which resulted in . . . you get the point. It's good stuff. Even if you don't play any games from the Warcraft series, you should check out some of the lore. For the link to WoWWiki's lore page, click here.

One thing that really bothers me is that I think this country of America is decreasing in intelligence. Woah, don't start throwing bricks and stones at me just yet. I'm not saying I'm the smartest guy in the world and I believe that I'm not smart in a lot of different fields of study, but when you have statistics such that 25% of Americans didn't read a single book last year, you can clearly see that something wrong is happening. In the days before television and computers were at their prime, the main form of entertainment when one wanted to do something inside was to read. The newspaper would be scanned over and articles of interest were read, and thick and juicy novels were placed at a person's bed stand and read a bit every night before bed. Nowadays, however, people would rather watch the movie of a book or play video games on their consoles or computers than read a book. I think Americans need to start shifting their gears and get into a better mental state and educate themselves better. I could go on a rant right now talking about how my high school, for example, barely educates us enough for the real world and would rather teach us how to take tests, but I'm going to avoid that and save it for my valedictorian or salutatorian speech when I graduate. Now, I wasn't an avid reader myself and just recently started getting back into reading thanks to Carol letting me borrow some of her fantasy books, like Eragon and Eldest. However, I do believe that the reading I did online too contributed to helping my English skills overall. Many people don't even read online though. To the average teenager, the only thing online nowadays is MySpace and Facebook, and did you ever have an AIM conversation like this:

Person 1: hello
Person 2: hey
Person 1: wats up
Person 2: nm u?
Person 1: nm
Person 2: kk

Very intellectual, isn't it? I honestly dislike the use of improper grammar in AIM conversations and abbreviations. Now, I will use 'brb', 'bbl', 'k', etc. sometimes, but when you have that person whenever you say something and they respond with 'lol' or 'cool' and nothing else, you want to jump off a frecking cliff into freezing cold water. Like why don't you give me a little more of a comment or input? And the AIM conversation type like the one depicted above is what I like to call the "awkward stub", a short conversation that to me just feels highly awkward. I won't talk to somebody unless I have something to say. If somebody messages me, I expect them to have a meaning in messenging me, whether it be for a conversation, help on homework, etc. And when somebody asks me "wats up?", I say something like, "Nothing much really. I was just playing WoW when I decided to get off to write a blog entry. You?" And when I said that I dislike proper grammar, I'm not being a hypocrite of any type. I don't have the best grammar ability, but at least I make an attempt at it. Somebody can be horrible at math, for example, but they'll try as hard as possible to attempt it and try to understand it. The last time I ever learned grammar was in seventh grade, and because I never really saw it since, it sort of slipped away from my reachable knowledge bank. And that's another point for my graduation speech. Grammar needs to be reinforced every single school year in every grade and there should be a grammar elective for the upperclassmen. But no, my school wants to do literature, literature, literature. What's more practical in the real world -- being able to write properly or knowing the theme of a poem written by Emily Dickinson? It's ridiculous! I'm not sure how the curriculum in other schools around the country or even the glove are set up, but Lakeland High School is the complete opposite of excellent -- it's freaking horrible. And let me add in there quickly that it's the most disorganized school in the country. The officials of my school do not know how to run it properly. The students are as confused as the facility most of the time. Okay, I need to end this rant before I get myself executed, but damn did it feel good.

As my AP chemistry teacher says, "We want moles, dammit!", I respond saying, "We want readers, dammit!".

Anyway, a bit off the track of this reading topic that you have read if you're this far in (and this blog will enhance your reading skills so stay tuned regularly or read older entries as far back as July 2005 . . . unless it causes you to become stupid, have the IQ level of a seven-year old, and twitch a lot, then . . . read it anyways). I want to talk about World of Warcraft a little bit. I know a few people who would squirm at the sight of that name and would avoid the rest of this paragraph, but I need to just spit some things out quickly to ease my mind of tensions. As I said very briefly in my previous blog entry, my WoW addiction as been renewed. Why? It's because I now have a main on a PvE server, meaning I can finally enjoy questing, instances, etc. in peace without fear of being ganked constantly. And also my toon is on the Horde. I had a few Alliance toons on various servers, such as my level 47 dwarf hunter on Azgalor, my level 13 gnome mage on Whisperwind, etc., and also a few Horde toons, but I never really got into being a Horde and liked to side with the Alliance. However, I realized that the Alliance was a bit immature, behaving with some manners that turned me off from Runescape when I used to play it. I decided to try a Horde after I found out that I disliked dying all the time on my mage (they're so squishy), so I created a troll hunter. Why did I choose a hunter if I already had one on the Alliance? For two reasons: 1) I tried a few other classes and decided that hunter is my ultimate favorite, and 2) on my level 47 hunter, I finally learned how to teach my pet new abilities when I was 40 using the pet training menu, so I was deprived of having those needed advantages from 10-40 that would've helped me a lot, so I wanted to see how much easier it was using them from 10-40 this time around. And let me tell you, I never had so much fun on WoW than I am now. Imagine being a hunter and not having growl on your pet from 10-40. Yes, I died a lot on my dwarf. But now I barely die on my troll, and my pet barely dies too. My talent tree on my troll is different too -- it's beast mastery. So my tiger has a lot of health and a lot of armor. We can take on three enemies at once around the same level as us without coming close to dying. My strategy is that if an enemy is attacking me while another is fighting my tiger, I have the tiger attack the one that was attacking me so that my tiger uses growl and it stops attacking me, I kill off the one my tiger was attacking, and then we tag team on the one still alive. I'm really questioning myself on how I lived without growl on my dwarf hunter. Anyway, the Horde is an awesome faction. They're a lot more mature, helpful, and friendly, and I believe the average of the players on the Horde side are older than the Alliance. However, the downfall is that I happened to find a server where the Horde isn't the best at battlegrounds. Now I was only level 19 when I tried Warsong, but out of the two battleground rounds that I went into, we lost twice and I died like crazy. The Horde always dominated on my old server, Azgalor. I'll have to find out how we really are when I try the battlegrounds again at 28-29, as I'm currently level 20 and would be destroyed if I went into a battleground now.

That's enough Warcraft talk. Now to general rambling. I have to go shooting my .243 rifle tomorrow morning, so I need to rap this up, read some WoW lore (very nice!), and then go to bed. But some bulleted items of note:

• My kitten, Zoey, that I mentioned in my last blog entry is doing good. She's now a true member of the family. She runs around like she was always living in this house, and is one of the cutest and friendliest cats that I ever laid eyes on. She's fearless too. When we first got her last week, my dog was terrified of her as the kitten would threaten the dog with hisses and would bat at it. Now they're a bit friendlier, but I beg to differ when it comes to the other three cats we had before we got Zoey. They're still getting used to her, and I'm not sure if they made up their minds whether they like her or not. I'll be sure to get up pictures of her soon, but first I must take pictures. I need to hurry before she grows up, so we can always remember how small and cute she was.
• Lakeland's football season is over after we lost to the Dunmore Bucks on Friday with the score being 27-22. Lakeland's final season score is 7-4. This season wasn't our best, but in general it was an interesting season. Actually, our only losses were to Abington Heights who destroys us every year as they're quad A and we're barely double A (and we're moving down to single A next year), Dunmore who beat us twice (once in the regular season and once in the playoffs), and Riverside who just destroyed us in a game that I sat in the car during because it was freaking pouring out, windy, and freezing. Otherwise we had a successful season, destroying pretty much every team that came in our way. Well, there's still hope with next year's team that we'll go far enough that the state game may become a reality, but the scary factor is that next year is the last football season that I'll be in high school during. Hm . . . I hope the new coach does something amazing. It would be a dream to win our first ever state championship in my senior year.
  

That's it. Time to watch a Knox video and head off to do my own thing. Have a good one, and if I don't write anymore before the holiday, then have a happy Thanksgiving!

Pretty Kitty

Thursday night blog entries are extremely rare from me. xD The thing was, I just have no homework tonight and figured since I had an exciting weekend last and never posted an entry, I may as well take some time to do so tonight. :] By the way, having a free school night every so often is very enjoyable. :]

Well, I have hugeee news! I got a kitten. An adorable kitten. The kind of kitten I wanted all my life. A precious kitten. A playful kitten, a curious one, not a scared one. :D :D :D :D Last week was tough with so much school work and other things going on, but then we got report cards and I found out I won Student of the Month which incredibly cheered me up. =D I was so consumed with school at the time though that when my father mentioned he was bringing home a kitten from this farm where he goes hunting, I didn't give it much thought. I mean, I think I comprehended what he told me, and may have even got a little excited, but then was just so distracted. I was told beforehand that it was a boy and had orange hair. :) Last Saturday I resumed volunteering at the library again, which was a ton of fun. I was surprised at how smoothly I got back into running things, and within a few hours I was working the front desk and computer, scanning books in and out for patrons. I love doing that too. It's so exciting, I feel like I have a real job, and it sort of is, minus the pay. Which I don't have no need for now anyway. xD I spent all day Saturday at the library, up until closing. I got a beautiful 6 hours in too. ;) Plus I have a friend or two to always talk to there which makes my time more exciting. :] I think I may go in again this Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. ;]

Got off topic there though! The point is, I wasn't home when the kitten first arrived. I was jumping to see it though the moment I got in. And boyyyyy, did it immediately steal my heart! ♥ He was such a little fella', 8 weeks old according to prior sources. And his fur! My gosh. He has light orange hair all over, a white chest, and four white paws, along with big, blue, beautiful eyes. :] The picture perfect kitten of my dreams. :P I remember being 5 years old, 8 years old, 10 years old, 14 even. I always thought the orange haired kittens were the cutest and my perfect match because then we'd have the same hair, y'know? :P I was never able to have a kitten though because of the two large dogs that roamed my property. I wasn't expecting to have one anytime soon now either. I am soo happy and in love with the little kitten though. :] I have to take care of him and have started to develop a small routine. It's interesting having a litter box around and stuff. Very new and exciting in itself. The kitten is very well behaved as well. He's used the litter box everytime thus far, except today was his first accident. :P I believe the kitten is going to a vet soon because I think my parents want to make sure it's good and healthy, and we need to be 100% sure that it is a boy, because that would be sad if I keep referring to it as a boy, and it turns out it's a girl. :P I've spent most of my extra time just playing around with him. He has so much energy, he wears me out! :P Tomorrow night I invited my animal-loving friend Heather to come over, see my new kitten, and then we'll play with him so that should be fun. :] I'll probably also gain even more scratches all over my hand. :P The other night there was this new game we were playing with the kitten, and he reaaally was enjoying it. He can act so fierce, haha it's funny. :P He'll stand up literally on his hind legs, like he wants to say "rawr!" and then if you move your hand rapidly on the couch, he'll chase it around and jump on it while clawing and biting at it playfully. :] Hehe. It's so cool how Steve got a new kitty like two days before I did too. :P I bet his is uber cute too, gotta see some pics!=)

Oh! I also forgot a main part. You're probably wondering "well, what didja name him!!??" I named him Cyber, because I am always on the computer, I needed a "C" name to fit in with the fam, and it sounds geeky and original, sorta. xD =) However, if I suddenly find out all this time "he" is a "she", then her name will be Chloe, hands down. I love that name lately, not sure why. :P

I'm going to share a few pictures of this new kitty of mine since that's always fun to look at. :] Hopefully I'll write again this weekend! :]

Radically Random...

My New Kitten :)

Trojan Man-ia

Screw an introduction. I need to start off this entry ASAP with all of the happenings that occurred in the past few weeks. But first, my excuse for not posting here for a while: um...school and my fresh addiction to World of Warcraft once again, however there's more to it as you shall find out in the next few paragraphs.

One of the biggest reasons why I didn't post in a while is because my three-year old laptop got a few trojans on it last Friday. It was late at night and I was trying to find this file before I went to bed as I had to wake up to go turkey hunting the next morning. It was already after eleven, so I was rushing to find this file so I could go to bed, otherwise I would be up all night looking for it and be a zombie in the morning. I was deep into the Google search at this point, where you have websites with ads covering the whole site, descriptions that seem convincing but the site is nothing useful, etc. At this point, I just wanted to get the file, see if it would help me at all (I was working on a new forum that would function as a homework help site for my class at Lakeland), and then go to bed. Well, I finally found a file, yet the name of it disturbed me and I knew it was fake, yet something drove me to download and open the .exe file. Turns out that this file was fake, and infected with spyware, viruses, trojans, etc. galore. I knew something was wrong when these unknown programs were popping up as icons on my desktop and my computer was running slower than a snail that ran into a road block. The next day, after hunting, I come home after running a scan all day and night to find that no viruses were found, however the problem still remained, and was intensifying by the second. By the next day, the computer literally died. Upon turning the laptop on, it would load up normally and then the user log-in screen came up. As soon as that happened I knew something was wrong, as in the three years that I had my laptop, I never once enabled that feature. Thankfully my password was blank, so I logged in without any difficulty. So I log in and I'm sitting there waiting for the desktop to load. The wallpaper in the background loaded (which I thought was also weird as when the viruses first started to invade my computer, my default wallpaper disappeared) but after waiting for about ten minutes, nothing else loaded besides a few pop ups from virus programs that I never installed telling me that I have about six trojans infecting my laptop. At this point and after my father trying a variety of methods to solve this problem, we pretty much gave up. Then one day I was fooling around in safe mood when my father called telling me that his friend's friend was a former computer programmer and wanted to take a look at the laptop to see if he can fix it. Unfortunately, after having it for a day, he gave up and I had my good ol' shitty laptop sitting on my kitchen table once again. A few days after we got it back, my father found a professional from the state (as he works for PennDOT) to look into the issue. And that is where we are at in present time, as there was no word from him yet. I just hope that something could be done to remove these viruses, however I know there's a 99.5% chance that I will never be able to use that laptop again with the files that I have on it now. And that's depressing -- three years of files, documents, pictures, movies, etc. are on there and they will no longer exist. I'm kicking myself for two reasons: one reason is never creating back-up discs, and the second reason is if I went to bed early or just didn't look for that file in the first place, that I would still have my laptop. And I'm typing this at Craig's house right now as I'm staying over for the night (I hate my desktop's keyboard at home so I'm thankful that he let me use his) and it stinks being over here without my laptop -- just because it feels different. Actually, it may be better -- his laptop runs smoother than my 2005 piece of junk. Hmm, maybe this incident will mean that I'll have a HP Pavilion TX1327CL under my Christmas tree this year.

And now for just a brief paragraph about a new member to my family. Craig.

Nah, it's not a human but rather a fluffy little thing. My new kitten -- Zoey. I received her from my friend Ashley this previous Thursday. She's extremely cute: black with white paws, the white on the back paws extending further up the leg than the front, and some white on the underside. And her eyes are like shining diamonds -- even richer than Kyle's whole family's yearly income. And that is all the information on today's episode of Chalk Talk with Mr. Soltus. I need to go level up my newly created troll hunter (however the desolate Horde territories are so...unusual compared to the happy-go-getting Alliance areas) and watch Craig get attuned to Karazhan.

Have a good one.

Weirdness

Well hello. :] I haven't been on the computer much this weekend, -gasp- I am in a real blogging mood right now so figured I should write something since there hasn't been too much activity in these here parts. ;P

I realized yesterday, when looking intensely at a calendar, that Thanksgiving will be here in like two weeks. I have a three-day weekend coming up next, and I don't have a clue what I want for Christmas. :P I actually spent some time thinking "intensely" if there is anything I want for Christmas this year, and I came up blank. I'm a weird child, I don't ask for much, and when I do ask for things, I am incredibly shy about it. :P However, having my laptop and iPod were the two greatest things I wanted and I love both dearly, so what more could I want? Then I was thinking, "is there anything I neeed?" The answer kept being no. :P I don't "need" a new coat, I have three of them, I just don't like the way they "look." Sure, my iHome is broken, but I can "live" without it. xD I was thinking way too deeply into this kind of thing and I am unsure as to why. Then sometimes I think how grateful I am to have the things I do have, and then on top of those things that some people in the world would be dying to have, I am asked to make a list of pointless materialistic things I want, just to have around me for leisure, even though I could live perfectly happy without them? :P See my point? So..I'm not sure what to do. I guess you could say I'm not really "greedy", and the things deep down that I really want to happen to me or come true, cannot be bought with money. :)

Anywho, that paragraph was a bit too deep than intended. :P I went to the library yesterday and ran into the two people I wanted to see most. I'm looking to volunteer there again next weekend (and anytime after that), which is exciting because I have so much fun there and made some friends. :]

While I was there, this is going to sound incredibly nerdy but that's who and what I am [lol], I checked out the book "Tooth and Nail." I couldn't help myself, I knew that library had about five copies. It's a "novel approach to the SAT", as the book cover itself states. We read some of it in an SAT prep class at school last year, but we didn't finish it. I liked the story, I liked how the character's name was Caitlin, and I liked that it had big vocabulary words in it so being the avid reader I am, why let a good book go unfinished? Plus, it will help in my pursuit of SAT practice throughout the year. :P Yep.

Last night I watched "Legally Blonde: The Musical" on MTV. It was a little weird at times, super funny at moments, and really cute at others. I never saw the movie Legally Blonde, but the musical was good. It was filmed right from Broadway, so I was really getting to see a treat because it's rare broadway musicals make average television. It was really good. A lot of singing though. Musicals always make me laugh sometimes, because the characters will just be speaking to one another when BAM the next second their sentence flows into song and they burst a lung. xD hehe. I enjoyed it though. :] It made me miss having Drama Club this year at school though. I had a stronger appreciation for this musical, knowing what goes on behind the scenes and makings of a play. For example, the props and scene changes, the costume switches, the stage pieces being moved. I know how all of that works and what it entails, thanks to Drama. It was pretty cool actually, to realize how much I have learned about theatre from being involved in drama just that one year. :)

I have to admit, I am excited the clocks got turned back an hour today. :] It makes such a difference in my day. :P I had trouble sleeping this weekend though, which was a little unusual. :P Maybe it was this new comfy thing put on mine, who knows. Anyway, I think both Saturday and Sunday mornings I woke up at the time I'd awake for school, and then sort of wonder "omg do I have school today?", but then I'd think "psh no.." and back to sleep I went. But after that happened, I had really weird dreams, a number of them. Saturday morning I remember one in particular I had. I was given a dog, it was one of those long- haired daschunds, but the hair was that of an irish setter. The dog was really small and it's belly low to the ground, and all I kept thinking was "Steve's dog has a belly low to the ground and short legs tooooo." Then as the day went on, in my dream, the dog didn't really like me and it was incredibly sluggish. I wanted to go running through the fields with it (haha don't ask), and it would just stand there looking at me. Then that was all I think. I don't remember the other dreams anymore. :P

This morning I had a set of another weird dreams. -thinks hard- I can't even remember them now...aww. Actually wait! I remember the main one I had. It was raining really hard. I remember that. Oh! And I was on the schoolbus. But instead of the bus dropping everyone off at the high school, it took us to my elementary school right next to it. All the buses were doing that. (I think about how I miss my elementary school a lot sometimes, so that's probably why I dream of it. :P) Anyway, it dropped everyone off by the doors we only ever left through in the afternoon, not the morning. I remember climbing the staircase, wearing guess what, my 5th grade coat and backpack. I was the age I was now though. So I'm climbing up the curvy staircase we had, and everybody is there from my grade. Not just the kids that went to my elementary school, but the other Mayfield kids too. But of course the Mayfield kids were confused because they didn't go there. All I remember was seeing Steve and Corey standing on the top of the staircase waiting for me, to see where I was going to go. The lights were really dimmed in that stairway too. I go up to my friends, but I just stopped and started to watch the younger kids, like the 7th and 8th graders from my bus, go downstairs into the first and second grade classrooms. Then this thought hits me "Oh! It's go back day. When I was in 5th grade, those 7th&8th grade kids were in 1st and 2nd! Wow I am so much older than them..how did they catch up to the high school level soo fast? I go to 5th grade today then."

Haha, like, why would I have such a weird thought?! It makes me laugh reading it back. :P Anyways, I walk upstairs to Steve, Corey, and I think Abby and Nicole found me then too. I'm wet from the rain, because my bus was late coming there. That's why the stairway was so packed already. (Weird..because in elem. school my bus was sometimes reaaally late.) Then I wake up...

Really strange. It was so vivid though. When I woke up I was so unsure if I had even slept, or if I had lay awake thinking of elementary school.

Hmm..I don't know. Now that I wrote about it, things that happened during the day on Saturday and such probably led to some of these dreams. For example, my mom asked me something about Steve and him going to Mayfield (lol btw hi steve, I know you'll read this. xD), and then we talked about the coats I had for this winter, and thats when I remember my 5th/6th grade one. The dog dream came out of nowhere though. Unless it had to do with me looking to get a cat, but that's barely related? xD

I won't weird anyone else out with my weird blog entry for now. :P hehe. I liked this entry though. Sometimes I can't stand the stinky blog entries I turn up with, but other days I have some decent ones with cool stories to tell. :] Have a good one then!

I'm Sleepy

I was originally working on some of my AP chemistry formal lab report, but I figured I'd take a break and write a well-needed blog entry! I also figured since today is a special boy's birthday, I'd write an entry on that day for him. :]

Well, I loved my last blog entry. I guess I felt it was good enough to withstand more than a week without any following entries for a while. ;P However, a lot has happened since then in a way, so I suppose I can summarize a bit in this entry. Maybe tell a few stories, wish a few happy birthdays, y'know the drill. ;)

Last weekend I took the PSAT test offered at my high school. I had to wake up early like a school morning, which is always a little rough when you like to sleep in. xD Then I believe I did some shopping which was fun. I can't really remember what else I did...hmm. :P

Anywho, school has been going very well, although very busy. I'm in for a long hard school year, but that's alright. As long as I have some close friends to make me smile everyday than everything will be alright. ;)

I was up all night yesterday at a campout sort of party with roughly sixteen teenagers, probably some of the best teenagers in the entire school for that matter. ;] I tried to count everybody, but I may have missed a head or two. :P I thought it was pretty fun and really interesting. (: I have to say I love the group of people I associate myself with at school. Such good people in every way. :]

It was really crowded, but I think that makes things more fun when everybody is squished in a room. :P The night was spent just fooling around, talking, laughing, and doing random stuff. Sometime after 1 or 2 in the morning we kept calling up the guy on the radio station where everybody was sort of yelling/asking random stuff. That was actually probably one of the funniest things that happened, since the guy actually spoke back until he couldn't take it anymore around the 16th call. xD

A little later on there was definately what I'm calling "The Shaving Cream" fight. A few people were sleeping, and I'll never know how they could have been. xD Of course my friends Abby and Nicole were the suppliers. They brought all sorts of random items and the shaving cream was the most popular. xD It started off with a few random squirts at a select few people, but then those people got mad and just attacked and before I knew it shaving cream was alllll over the walls of the room and furniture, and my friends were covered in shaving cream. In their hair and face, in their mouths, like, woah. xD My friend Abby literally had to try to take a shower, she just soaked herself. :P It was really fun though. :P I maybe slept for a half hour, but I figured there'd be no point so I wanted to wait until I got home to sleep. Abby, Nicole, me and the foreign exchange girl who came (who also by the way is so awesome) were the only ones up around 6-7ish, and we just layed around and watched everyone else sleep. :P I'm tired now so probably right after this entry I'm going to go sleep again. xD

I just took a moment and found that last year on Steve's birthday I wrote a blog entry toooo! How especially cool. :) In that entry I also wrote about taking the PSATs, haha wow. As well as drama, which unfortunately is on like "hiatus" until future notice this year. :P I like looking at my old entries.. Anyways, today is Buddy Foote's 17th birthdaaaay! And he deserves the best, because he's such a great kid. :]

Radically Random...

Her Name Was Thumbelina: a Gripping Tale of the Inner Workings of a Sinner’s Heart

Her Name Was Thumbelina: a Gripping Tale of the Inner Workings of a Sinner’s Heart

…and this was found in the ventilation shaft. Evidence seems to point to the landlord hiding it there wanting to avoid an investigation on the suicide of one nobody and the coinciding murder of another nobody. It shall be known that while these people, and dare I say, souls, were lost at the time, any one of us could have seen the signs and prevented the tragedy from taking hold and forcing innocence to submit to the immoral impulses of lust, substance abuse, and the most counter of cultures. The diary reads as follows.

December 1^st, 2005

My name is Chester. I have decided earlier today to purchase a blank book on which to spill my soul. It will be my dieing wish that this book be burned when I am through with it. My life would make even Poe ask for a tissue. I was born at Mercy, though I was never shown any my whole life. The hospital must have been upon a slope. Because I’ve been downhill destined since I emerged from the womb.

My mom was never there. That’s because she tried to bite the bullet as it entered her skull. You see, my mom killed herself when I was 7. I remember because it was my birthday. The last gift my mom gave me had a pulse. It was a dog. I gave him the name Buddy. We never got along. Later that day my mom went up to the attic, after a prolonged fight with my ever-intoxicated father, it was there that she took the gun, and took her life. I made that dog pay for as long as the memory hurt. That is around when I felt my soul falling into an abyss and it was no turning back.

After dropping into the sewer of society upon dropping out of high school and dropping my father’s cold casket into its grave, I needed something. My new father was not a man at all, but a syringe filled with the tears of a generation. My addiction grew more and more each day. I’d quiver if I went more than a day without seeing my dad. My apartment was nothing special, it suited me well. My job was mediocre, so I usually had little problem supporting my habit.

I see the sun peeking now. This apartment complex is so dead; I wish I could join it, but for now I’ll pretend. I will hit the needle like a vinyl to be played. It is then that I will sleep, only to wake to tomorrow’s pain. Goodnight, I know it won’t be a good morning.

…when we walked in we found another book, this one with a woman’s writing. A few feet across the room was a woman, fairly pretty, but scared. Not scared physically, but you saw pain, even in her cold, dead grimace.

July 18^th 2005

My name is Thumbelina. I found my old unused diary from when I was 13. I think I’ll begin to fill it up again. Well things have been going slowly down hill for me since I was 13. I had to drop out of med school; I just couldn’t keep my grades up. I decided to stay out of my parent’s home though. I found an unimpressive apartment but it’s the best I can afford. My job at the bar can’t cover much. I think I’m gonna wrap it up for now, but don’t worry, I’ll write more tomorrow!

...it seems like there might have been a struggle, I heard Bill say the boy had scratches on his neck. You hate to see them die so young…

August 23^rd 2005

Sorry Diary! It’s been way more than a month. A lot has happened! I went out last night and met this guy Peter. He is the most handsome man I have ever seen. Dimples, powder blue eyes, wavy blonde hair, what more could I have asked for? I don’t want to rush this though. I think he might be the one. I vow not to write again until him and I make love for the first time.

August 24^th 2005

I didn’t want to, Peter made me. I told him no but he wouldn’t stop. I feel weak, less than human. This isn’t how I wanted it to happen. I can’t believe I let my guard down. I know how to get over this. I’m gonna go out tonight. I will rule these streets. I will show that I have to power to initiate this kind of act, and to top it off I’ll get paid for it. I’m going to put on my white dress, and tonight it is going to get dirty.

October 7^th 2005

It’s been awhile, but I still feel weak. I have some spare money now though, for the first time. I haven’t seen Peter since that night, except for when I close my eyes. It is then that I see his portrait upon my eyelids. I saw a boy named Anthony tonight, he left and in his place he seemed to have forgotten a needle. I know I shouldn’t, but I so badly want to. My body has seen much, but this, no this is more. This might make it all go away…

…this poor girl, she might have avoided this if she stayed in college, or if she stayed away from that boy. Speaking of which, I find myself curious as to what Ted is finding out in the boy’s room…

“It’s a shame. He’s my daughter’s age.” said Ted. “Look at what he wrote on the 5^th.

December 5^th 2005

They say when you meet the love of your life, time goes slow. They also say that when you see a train wreck, time goes slow. My love is a train wreck. If only she hadn’t left my heart so mangled, the heroine should heal that anytime soon though. I was driving my rusted chariot downtown when I saw her. Her hair, her eyes, her black dress, her shoes, that girl was on fire, and the smoke filled my lungs. I told her how I longed to find myself looking down at her while my mattress filled as a background. She helped herself into my car and we drove to my house. Then we loved. We loved everywhere. I felt like I never needed to be with another. I saw her scarred smile, and I smiled. We stuck needles in each other’s, and then loved some more. Her sandpaper skin cut me deeper and deeper than any needle could, I felt like I could stop how my life was going and start it all over with her. It was as though we loved all over creation.

Now she is sleeping, I believe I will join her. This thought seems to foreshadow our futures oddly. I’m not sure how…

December 5^th 2005

I decided to bring my book with me tonight. This very odd person picked me up tonight. He seemed desperate for love, like a hurt child. He was the most focused lover I had ever had before though, it was mediocre to me. Then he tried talking to me, it was so boring I fell asleep. I just woke up and I’m not leaving until he pays me. I suppose I will just drift back to sleep now, he isn’t showing any signs of waking.

“What a shame” I said to Bill

“Maybe if they had different circumstances, they might have known real love” Bill said back. “Ted, I’ve read enough.”

But I had to read more…

December 6^th 2005

I have woken up to the sundown. I have extinguished the light of my world. Thumbelina was not pure, she wanted money. It was as if someone took my heart, and sacrificed it to her, the goddess of lust. I told her that I could give her anything she wanted, she said all she wanted was money. She raised her arm to strike me, but I grabbed her at the wrist. I would make her mine again. It was after I did that, I realized the terrible thing I had done. She was crying and just demanded money. It was like the money made her feel powerful, like the spoils for the actions her body committed. She tried to run, so I followed her. I needed one last kiss. We arrived at her apartment, incidentally, in the same complex! She tried to fight me off and scratched my neck. I shook her so hard that her head went back, and she was no more. I laid her down and got my kiss. I returned to my room. I have done too much. I cannot be allowed to live. If I am caught, they will kill me. I don’t know what to do. My mind is racing now. I’m sweating. I smell of death. I shoot myself full with a needle and begin to contemplate shooting myself. I picked up the gun, and now it is held to my head. I’m going to join you in your sleep. Her name was Thumbelina, and I loved her to death.

…it was then that the writing stopped and I knew the truth. To honor the dead, I took the book and burned it.

You know how I do

Hello! It has been an awefully long time since I’ve posted and I’m gonna start posting more and more now. I’m working on getting an avatar too, for now Caitlin will make one.


Anyways my next entry is going to be a story I wrote for English class but was turned down for being “mildly inappropriate”, I think she said mildly, im pretty sure she didn’t say wildly. Well just to let you know im in know way supporting anything in the story. On that note, bye!


So sick so sick of being tired

And oh so tired of being sick!



Sincerely with love,

Joey

Slacking?

Besides slacking highly on writing here at the blog (this is my first blog entry in October -- hurray!), I sense that I may also be slacking in school. My grades are not dropping (yet), but my motivation toward school seems to be altering slightly toward a more carefree perspective. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, as I seem to feel quite uncomfortable when I'm not sitting around stressing over exams and homework like I did in the past, but God does it feel good to just sit around, relax, or possibly hang out with friends online or through phone conversations. I feel like I can do normal teenager events while sustaining my grades at school, yet something doesn't seem right. I think the fact that I dropped anatomy in school greatly contributed to this new way of life. Not only do I not have to stress out over the homework, tests, and challenging material such as dissecting that the class presents, but I have a study hall now everyday where I can get homework and studying done. The thing that doesn't feel right is that, lately, in this study hall I haven't been taking advantage of it other than progressing further in the book that I'm reading -- Eragon. Maybe it's because of the sudden lack of work that has fallen upon me, but I'm sure that a big boom (saying such was inspired by one of Jonathan Coulton's songs) will be occurring soon enough. This week I have a history quiz, psychology test, history test, a Spanish skit to perform, and a math quiz and I just feel very carefree right now. If you were to rewind a few weeks back, I would be studying for 3/4 of those tests right now.

And really, I think I should still be that way. I'm running into exams blind, rushing through homework almost carelessly for no reason, and I study a lot less, and so far I seem to be doing okay with grades. However I guess I'll see the ultimate consequences of this system after I receive the grades of the exams that I will be taking later on this week. Even if they're in the lower 90's, which would be an amazing grade for many individuals, I would probably force myself to get back into gear. Maybe you can call me a perfectionist when it comes to getting grades (however I'm far from it in many other departments of life), but I really feel down in the dumps when I got about an 88 or lower. Thankfully it rarely happens, and I'm able to "hammer" out the answers on most tests and receive grades of 97+. But like I was saying, with this carefree attitude, it's hard to hammer answers on a test. Well, not hard, but it takes more thinking than usual. Normally, if I prepared well for a test, I see the question and it translates to me, "What are the first three letters of the alphabet?" and as easily and fast as you may answer that, I have the question on the test answered and moving on to the next one. But lately I see the question for how it is, and it involves headaches to go through a whole set of them.

Don't even get me started on AP Chemistry. That class is stress, stress, stress. Thankfully he wasn't here yesterday and we got no homework today, so I really had nothing to worry about at home revolving around that subject. However I feel this big boom coming, fast. Things are going to start piling up starting tomorrow -- I feel it in my blood. We're starting something new in chem so we'll get homework on top of an already started lab, we just finished going over the history of the medieval ages in English so we'll probably have to start reading passages and answering questions, and math and Spanish will resume throwing homework at us, and add the exams I already know about as well as ones that'll sneak into the schedule and this carefree attitude will go out the window. I just hope I have an easy time adjusting to the sudden change.

Well, I have to actually go now and review for that history quiz, but I expect to actually write more during the week regardless of homework and tests, even if it's a teeny little passage. I just need to post more! And if you're wondering about the lack of pictures/captions, it's just to conserve time in the writing of my blog and mostly you may only see pictures during the weekend when I have more time to blow off.

Have a good one.

Anne Frank

This lovely care-free week that just ended alotted for plenty of free time after school where I had some moments to think and most importantly, pick back up on some leisure reading. I haven't made it to the library recently, therefore I resorted to choosing a random novel off my bookshelf. I chose one called "The Secret Garden." I've read it before, years ago, during the 4th grade. My teacher [whom I completely admired] let me have it, and I remember reading it shortly thereafter. Today I barely remember anything about it aside from a young girl and a key. Well, it was an advanced novel for a 4th grader, including difficult vocabulary. I had a hard time following the story at that age, so decided I'd give it a chance and reread it today at the level I am now, if that makes any sense. :P That way I could enjoy the story in a different way. I was able to start it this week and plan on finishing it soon. :]

However, that's not my point. I suppose thinking back to 4th grade revived some of my precious memories as to when we spent half the year learning in detail about World War II [which to this day still stands as my favorite topic to learn about]. If you have never heard of Miss Anne Frank, then you are missing out on one of the most touching stories to ever be heard. I first heard her story in elementary school, probably 4th grade, and it has been with me ever since. The impact of her story is unbelievable. As you should know, her precious diary was found after the war and today is the second most popular piece of non-fiction, second only to the Bible.

I tried to read her diary during 4th grade, but much like "The Secret Garden" which I mentioned earlier, it was different and even a bit difficult for me read. Having that extra time this week and remembering books and the like from 4th grade reminded me instantly of "The Diary of Anne Frank", that deep burgundy cover with her smiling picture on the cover. I intend to read her diary again by purchasing my own copy, and reading it in much more detail than those years ago. The thought touches me, and also reminds me of my own words. It was after learning about her in 4th grade that I started writing more than I had before. I had empty diaries which became filled with my ramblings, which have now progressed here at this blog. I think that not only is writing one of the most powerful forms of expression out there, it can be permanent. It can live on after you..

Near the start of this blog last night, I took a few hours of my empty evening to watch the movie of Anne Frank via YouTube which held the entire film. The first and last time I saw this movie was during 4th grade, when oddly enough amidst our learning of the topic her movie was shown on ABC, split into two nights. I watched the entire movie back then. I even cried and had nightmares after visually seeing her life played out. Watching it tonight was no different. I found tears rolling down my cheeks during the last part. It's one of those movies where you can't help but cry, and me being so attatched to the story only increases that as it just breaks my heart over again each time.

I guess what I want to say is how much I admire Anne Frank, who she was, and who she aspired to be. Her story is sure one that will be in my heart forever. In the movie, the actress whom plays Anne [portrayed to the left] starts with some of the most hopeful lines that watching it this second time stuck with me. She says: "I want to be a champion skater and a writer, my picture in all the magazines...I want to be different from all the other girls...I want to travel, study languages, and history. I want to do everything.."

Simply hearing these words right in the beginning is enough to make my eyes tear. Anne Frank was a girl with so many dreams and so many goals. She didn't want to blend in. She wanted to be known for who she was, not who everyone else was. This particularly inspires me because I've always wanted to have that same mind-set with life. I also found it so very ironic that a girl who had such a passion for history, is now herself permanately a huge part of history herself. She was so brave and can stand for what it means not to give up. In watching the movie, certain parts stood out where those around her would falter with negative thoughts, and Anne would reply saying things like "hope can't be lost." Plus, she'd always be dreaming of the things she couldn't wait to do once the war was over. On top of this I feel she sets a good example of not ever taking things for granted, which is something we all do everyday. While she was secretly hiding with her family, she'd speak of how hearing the church bells ring down the street made her smile, and staring out the small attic window to watch the birds reminded her that life still exists outside those four walls. I like those parts of her story as it acts as a reality check, in a way, of how precious simple things in life are and how grateful people should be for them.

The movie really does an excellent job at portraying Anne and her typical girlish thoughts. She didn't always get along with her parents, she was in a rush to look more like a woman, she dreamed what her first kiss would feel like. She wanted to experience all those things, yet her dreams were given no time to turn true..

The whole Holocaust itself sends shivers down my spine. I know horrible things happen everyday and have always been so in the past, but some hit me personally harder than others, this being one of them. We took a field trip to Washington DC in 4th grade and one of the places we visited was the Holocaust Museum. We saw the ever-burning candle, lit in memory of so many that were innocently killed. It was so sad to see then, and even more sad to remember now. It's upsetting how so many innocent people, like this beautiful young girl, my own age, suffered in a way that no human ever deserves. To imagine onself in such a position is utterly unbearable.

If this story can not become more sad, it does. By the time Americans reached the concentration camp at which Anne was located, she had died only two weeks before. She was soo close, so close, to making it. Only her father and some of her friends survived. The story of Anne Frank constantly arises "what if?" and "why?" questions in my mind. However that part of the past can't be changed now, but it really makes me think. I used to wonder to myself that if Anne Frank were alive today I'd go meet her, or if she had been my age now I'd be her best friend. I guess you can truly say she's inspired me beyond words and I admire who she was. I'm sure she'd be ecstatic to know how she's as famous as her favorite stars were that she had pictures of on her bedroom wall. I'm sure she'd be pleased to know how her words have touched the hearts of others.

Well, I guess that is all I have to write for now. I'm glad when certain topics arise like this that allow me to write a blog over, as opposed to my typical weekly chatter. :P Until next time, adios.

-Rest in Peace Anne Frank. Your story is tragically beautiful. ♥

Stick-It

Hah, I like my blog title. :P I have a little story related to it actually. I was outside earlier, around when the sun was going down, just sitting on my swinging bench, when I look down at my feet and see this moving stick! I knew immediately it was one of those bugs that look like their surroundings. I'm not sure of the "true" name though. :P Anyway, it was really neat looking, and I could only remember ever seeing the leaf-looking ones before, and this one was a stick which made it even cooler to see. xD I then proceeded to let it climb onto my hand, but I screamed a little suddenly because it squirmed and it being so "stick-like" felt weird at the time, haha. It was fun to hold though and I went around carrying it to show everyone. :P I'm just that kind of girl where I like touching bugs I guess. ;)

Moving oooon. Sadly, it's been yet another week since my last entry. Since anybody's entry, for that matter. ;P I miss summertime when I had the chance to write every other day if I really wanted to. I wish I could help update the blog more often, but school and other things absorb my every moment. I had a nice week of school though, just filled with the typical heavy 11th-grade workload I suppose. :P I've been looking forward to Friday's most as it seems thats when I get to go out and do things the past few weeks since school began. :] I went to the home football game Friday night with my friends and we had a hilarious time doing outrageous things to keep us occupied. xD We wanted to "spice things up" so instead of walking around the entire night we tried sitting in the stands for a little, which held a new and exciting view, yet when that wore off we goofed around the rest of the time. Haha. :P

Saturday my school's National Honor Society was participating in an American Lung Association Walk which I attended with them. It started early in the morning though, so I didn't enjoy my usual sleeping in, but that worked out okay. xD The walk was held at my favorite park and the day was beautiful. I had to watch a refreshment stand with Steve which turned out to be a simple task and then do some other various things. I thought it was a very fun day nonetheless. =)

For some reason I seem to be summarizing my week vaguely without much detail, which is rare for me as I seem to be a wordy person in these things. :P Maybe I'm tired..eh, I don't know.

Yesterday I changed my web layout on Starry Bliss. I like the colors, very traditional for fall, and I tried to make it smaller. I really like that little website. I've had it for awhile. :] I used to want it to become really popular like the ones I "idolized", per say, but nowadays I like that it is so very petite and personal. I enjoy making&changing website layouts, as well as creating it to be and hold whatever I want it to have, and Starry Bliss lets me to do just that. :] If you want to see the layout and haven't yet, just click here. (:

I was watching Family Force 5's new Really Real Show right before I started to write this entry. It's the first one they made since the one I was in during the summer. =] The new one is funny [as they all are] and of course pictures baby Ca$h often. ;]

Thanks commentors for the messages left on my last entry about the cat and such. =] Well, that little kitten is definately officially gone because we haven't seen it anywhere at all. The good news is that I may get a true kitten to keep as a pet! :] I'm pretty excited even just over the thought. I always always wanted to have a cat, but it could never happen for multiple reasons. Now after having that little stray hang around for a week it showed everyone I guess how it wouldn't be a problem anymore if we got our own cat to care for. :]

I have 29 unread email I need to go check out right now so I guess this is where I will end. x) Take care. =]

Radically Random...

Family Force 5 Really Real Show 18 - Check it out!