Gadzooks! OR I can't think of a better title!

Nothing much new to report today, except I haz da Sherlock Holmez CD nao!

And the lack of Fringe disturbed and saddened me.

AND I finished the English paper.

I'm beginning to realize the fatal flaw in this plan: it means I have to figure out something interesting to write everyday. Ho-boy.

A new idea

So yes. I stole this idea from Ms. Malika Dale, who is off gallivanting around France right now.¹

It's a simple concept: a picture a day.
Today's picture was brought to you by Premium Soup & Oyster Crackers.

¹Gah, so jealous.

Oh hey look, I think maybe the blog's gone moldy...

...*pokes*
So...how've you all been? Any New Year's resolutions?
Does anyone else think resolutions are a bit silly? I mean, how many of them do you remember by the end of the year? I never remember mine. And they're always the same too, aren't they? I will exercise, read, practice, study, sleep more. I will procrastinate, pig out, be annoying less.
So this year, I'll make mine easier to remember and keep: my one and only resolution will be to be happy more.
And maybe to clean more too.

Statistics for 2009:
Books read: 100
Music on iPod: 3656
Weird faces made: Over 20,000
Most grapes put in mouth: 13
Cookies consumed: Classified information
Dogs adopted: 1
Number of visits to the doctor: 5
Days spent at camp: 13
Days spent wishing I were back at camp: not as many as last year
Episodes of Fringe watched: All of them
Episodes of Lost watched: Up to Season Three

Halloween over...

...and it's November y'all. And some will know what this means: NaNoWriMo.
For those that don't, we have a quick sumary:
NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month. Happens in November. Every year. You write a novel. More info/sign up/I'm actually not sure what's going on here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/.
Now, the only reason I know about NaNoWriMo is because I read blogs and stuff of writers, not because I have ever done it, or actually researched it. I mean, why would I research it? It's a pretty easy concept. Of course, that means I actually have no idea what I'm doing, or what I'm talking about. Let's keep that in mind for the next month, shall we?

So, I'm gonna try this sucker. We'll see if it actually gets posted up here; probably not, because, in the words of the Wonderful Maureen Johnson, "...if you are in high school or otherwise just starting out, MUCH OF WHAT YOU WRITE IS GOING TO SUCK. This is because you learn to write while writing. So for a while, you have to embrace the Suckmonster. Hug it close to you. Love your Suckmonster. Because your Suckmonster is going to help you get where you want to go. He is your friend and traveling companion. He is friendly and furry and Muppet-like."
And while I'm all for peer-editing and sharing your feelings and crap, I don't really want people I know actually reading this stuff. Sorry, but no thanks.

And now I must go, for the hamsters of sleep cometh.¹ Goodnight.

¹ I need to stop reading Maureen Johnson blogs right before I post here, because I then start to mimic her...and while she's funny and everything, it makes me feel really artificial.

Halloween's around the corner everyone, and you know what that means...

A blog post!

When I was little, I think Halloween was my favorite holiday. I mean, Christmas was a close second, and so were birthdays...but really, it wasn't til I got older that it really became less fun. And I think that's probably due to our move. And growing up of course.
When I lived in Evanston, from 2nd grade on, I went trick-or-treating at another friends' house. This friend was fortunate to live right on the border between Wilmette and Evanston, Wilmette being another suburb of Chicago, but a lot richer. It's true that if we were to take all the suburbs of Chicago and rank them based on "niceness" (i.e., wealth), Wilmette would come in second-to-last¹ - right in front of Evanston - but still. Wilmette was nice.
So me and some other friends would go over, and we'd trick-or-treat with her and her siblings (there were three). And it was dark and the houses were all lit up and decorated, and they actually gave out pretty good candy. And then we'd go back to her house and sort our candy (that was, and still is, my favorite part of Halloween) and trade. That was the only time having an allergy came in handy - if I've never had a Reese's and the smell of them is actually kind of repulsive to me, then I have no problem get rid of it. You have no idea how many candy bars I couldn't eat², with the result that I had got an enormous amount of normal Hershey's chocolate bars, which I can eat.
And then we moved here, and you know, I don't think it's so bad now, but it did mean that that first year I had no one to trick-or-treat with. And in the years after, it was cold, or I went with someone not-so-great, and then I was too old, and suddenly Christmas was more exciting.
This year's my last year trick-or-treating. I know a lot of people have probably already stopped going - I'm sure a lot stopped by 8th grade. But I love this holiday, and I want this one last time to say goodbye.

(Of course, it's not a forever goodbye - as soon as I have kids they're trick-or-treating. And when I'm old, my house is going to be amazing. And of course, til then there's Halloween parties.)




¹ Actually, it might be third-to-last, because of Skokie...I don't know, I don't know all the suburbs that well.
² No, seriously, guess how many. Try and list them all - not just candy bars, but candy in general.
Done?

Reese's
Payday
100 Grand
Twix
3 Musketeers
KitKat
Snickers
Hershey's with almonds
Almond Joy
Heath bar
Mr. Goodbar
Baby Ruth (Am I the only one who didn't know that's what they're really named? I always thought they were Babe Ruths.)
Butterfingers
Milky Way
Crunch
Mars bar
M & M's - both kinds
How'd you do?

Banned Book Week

I know I'm a week late for this, but it's only been recently that I've been reading the posts and discussion regarding banned books...
It's interesting (and aggravating) to read the comments especially, because that's where the real arguing comes in. Two main points seemed to come up a lot:
1. That parents should have control over what their children read.
2. That these people paid taxes for the library, and therefore should have an input in what books were there.
Can anyone already see the flaws in these arguments?
1. It's often repeated by those who are opposed to banning: yes, you have a right to limit what your child reads. But when you ban books, you're putting a limit on what other children can read; the library is not specifically your child's. And to those who say, well the child can get the book from a bookstore or Amazon, well, what happens when the child can't afford to buy the book?
2. There was one person in particular who was toting this argument; what he didn't seem to understand from all the various rebuttals was that he wasn't the only tax-payer; that everyone else who paid taxes also had an input, and why should his opinion be the most important?

I don't know; maybe right now I'm preaching to the choir. But it's worth it to talk about right? That was another point brought up: that many times censorship just goes unnoticed...that a complaint is lodged, and the book is just taken off the shelves, with no one the wiser. And what else is Banned Books Week for than raising awareness?

You can see what books have been challenged in our area here (they are four in Minnesota I believe).

Books read this school year: 4
Books currently reading: 9
Times I've been called Tavi by the dive coach: 9

What I Want to Write in my LRJs.

Sometimes on days when I've had little sleep, and we have to write and analyze in class, I go a little crazy. I always end up having to redo the work, or at least change it a quite a bit because what I've written is just...not something I'd ever turn in.

So for today, the LRJ questions were: What are the strengths of Odysseus? What are his weaknesses? How are his trials improving his character?
I start out normal. "Odysseus is smart; he managed to think of a way to get them out of the cave, and in a short amount of time...He has too much pride however..." And then, I started to run out of things to say, and this appears: "Also, he seems to have some issues with the ladies - they all want a piece of the O-Dog! I mean, Circe AND Calypso? A sorceress and a goddess? Both beautiful? I present to you, the world's first Mary Sue!


His trials are teaching him his weaknesses - he now knows that shouting "Nah-na nah-na boo boo, I tricked you! I'm amazing! I'm Odysseus and I'm awesome SUCKER!" is not a good idea (in fact, it's a HORRIBLE idea. Where's your amazing ability to come up with good plans gone Odysseus? I mean, you came up with the Trojan horse for crying out loud - I know everyone has their off days, but come ON.)
Also: Odysseus has problems with listening.

And then I drew a flamingo.

Books read since school started: ...does it only count if I've read the whole book in the school year? Yes? Then 2.
Books currently reading: 10
Episode of Lost I'm on: 2.22

ps. A note: Anyone in my class may remember when I compared Agamemnon to a child. Well you know what? I think they're all children. Agamemnon is all spiteful, going, "Well, if I can't have the truck, you can't have it either!" and Achilles is also spiteful, saying, "Mommy, make the other boys cry because they took my toy!" and Odysseus is sitting there taunting the giant, like, "Ha ha, you can't get me! Ha ha you're stuuuuuupid!" He might as well be thumbing his nose at the cyclops!