High School?

Ughh, I am now forced to face the beautiful and harsh reality that Junior High is almost over! I've been thinking about High School since, well, I don't really know when, but it's been a really long time. I saw my sister go through the whole ordeal/experience, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. There was times when everything was great and there wasn't a care in the world and then of course, with every rise there comes a fall; A.P courses, jerks, backstabbing friends, annoying teachers and nights of never ending homework. I'm not sure if everyone has the same experience, but I am kind of hoping that I do.

No, this doesn’t mean that I’m looking forward to crying into my pillow at night and feeling lost and without a place, but I have to get use to the reality that everything isn't butterflies and rainbows. The hard times, which I will inevitably go through, are going to shape me into whoever I'm going to be when I'm older. If that means that I'm going to have nights where I feel lonely and without a cause, then come at me bro. I'll probably forget what I just typed somewhere along the way, but I think the good that comes with High School will eventually overcome all the other not so fun times. I'll have nights where I'll dance away the night like a princess in my beautiful ball gown and days where it's sweat pants and t-shirts for this gal. Maybe when I’m just being me and not trying to impress anyone I’ll “find my place in the world”, I know very cliché. 

I've never really fit into one specific group, and I mean NEVER! Not in any place I’ve ever been: school, church, dance, and just about every other extracurricular activities, other than home of course (I know not an extracurricular) , it’s easy to fit in there. I've been titled as a nerd, I'm into theater, I've been a jerk, at one time a prep, a drama queen, and well, I've been placed into almost every group, except for popular, but I'm okay with that. I think that we all want to… no; I KNOW that all we ever want is to be accepted. Sometimes we do find that “perfect place” and at other times it seems so far away that it's nearly impossible to imagine. Maybe I’ll find out where I belong, and maybe I won’t, and that’s A-Okay with me, if I don’t find it, then I’ll just meet a heck load of people along the way. With “finding where I belong,” I’m sure to have a ton of weird stories to tell when I’m an old geezer!

I've been told that it seems like I have it all figured out, but honestly half of the time I just wing it, and that probably what I'm going to do in High School. I want to try new things, excluding drugs, alcohol and anything that goes against my moral code of course. I have to figure out what I want from life, how I'm going to get it and what I'm going to do once I've got it. 

 I know High School is known as a step towards adulthood, a place where we become independent and go through hard trials. I hope that the things that I'm expecting will come and that they will shape me into who I want to be. Maybe by the end I'll find my place in the crowd, or maybe I won't, but either way, I plan on enjoying the ride.

Drop of Water

Princess Academy book review

“Princess Academy,” really telling people that I read this book and that I ENJOYED it makes me sound like a ten year old, but the truth is the truth, and that would be that I loved it. The book is meant for children, but with that aside it still was interesting enough for me to keep reading it and the writing style really helped keep me interested. The book is easily relatable to my life, even if I don’t know a prince of any sort. To make my experience with this book even better, I really enjoyed the theme in the book, and how Shannon Hale’s writing style complemented the story line.

 When I think of children’s books I usually think of “The Magic Tree House”, but this one was far above the caliber of children’s books; it was intriguing. It was one that seemed to be a bit magical and yet somewhat realistic. The town its self is one that’s magical, or more what it’s built on; the stone can be used to message someone else from the village and only those from the village. There are of course problems that must be dealt with, but the way they’re managed is rather funny. From outsmarting the merchants, running from “headmistress,” not fitting into dresses, a tangle of goat; whatever the problem was it wasn’t dealt with in that “serious” tone that most writing in young adults is, that one that makes me want to roll around the ground laughing. The situations were things that could happen even now, and they’re not some weird supernatural stuff, but something that a real fourteen-year-old girl would deal with.

 The story was one that was still magical, but it wasn’t all fairies and pixy dust, our main character, Miri, had to figure things out on her own and do her best with what she had. Because of her small size she always felt a little bit like an outsider, even if it was in her own village. “Throwing herself into learning helped Miri ignore the painful chill of solitude around her,” is how it’s described in the book as Miri has no friends of her own, but just faces that are familiar. She tries to block her pain with something, in attempts to forget what is around her, but it never works; while deep in her studies she still feels empty, and remembers why she’s trying so hard to forget. Miri is basically just like any other teenage girl, she feels alone, and has that one boy that she’s always been crushing on, she says it as, "What should I say? That I like him so much it hurts?" This makes sense because I think that almost every teenage girl has felt that way at one point or another. The writing style is just phenomenal that it still feels like a children’s book without all the serious drama, but it’s enough to make me forget that it’s a child’s book.

 Miri was a character I could really relate to and so with that having been said, I loved the theme that came along with her story and the writing. Throughout her whole experience at the academy she thought of her family, and I think that shows a lot about her character. She values family, friends, loyalty and this built upon the theme that showed that home is where the heart is. It wasn’t just her family unit that she thought of, but the whole village was her family. She thought of how losing some of the girls would affect the rest of her “family.” I felt like I knew Miri by the end of the book, she was someone I would get along with and someone that I had to figure out. The whole storyline wasn’t laid out in front of me, but it was easy enough to follow.

 The book was overall one that I would like to shout about to the tree tops, it was such a good book that I don’t mind admitting that it’s a kid’s book. I kept getting reeled back in with something new that was going on, it was funny and enjoyable; it was more than I expected and I never once got bothered by the voice used. Nor was I bothered by the fictional aspect because there honestly wasn’t much of one, it was very relatable which only made me love Miri even more. The theme reflected what I think is important and I was pleased to see it shown in this book. This was most defiantly a book that I would read again and one that I will probably be talking about for sometime

Drop of Water

Stardust.... the musical

Sounds pretty lame, huh? Well you can't really say that because I spent three hours coming up with the whole thing for my theater class (which I'm not sure why I took, because I'm not into musical theater). It took me so long because of all the research I had to do for it, since I don't really go see musicals on Broadway (the rest of the class does), but I think I did pretty dang good for my first time writing a musical based on something (in this case a movie) that I love, so be nice.

Synopsis:

Tristan Thorn is the son of Dunstan Thorn and a captive princess by the name of Una. The couple met only one night and fell in love instantly. Unfortunately, when Tristan was born, she was not allowed to keep him and instead sent him to live with his father. She put in his basket a "Babylon candle" and a letter to Tristan explaining everything.

After this beginning scene (introduction) our story moves forward eighteen years to the not so baby Tristan who is now a young man, in love with the “prettiest” girl in town, Victoria in a small English town (Wall Village). He is desperate to bring her a newly fallen star by her birthday because if he can get it by then, she has agreed to marry him. He uses the candle, given to him by his mother, to fly to where the star landed, which is not in England but in a magical land called Stormhold. Tristan soon discovers that the star is not what he expected. The star is actually a beautiful, immortal and spirited woman named Yvaine. Even after he discovers this, Tristan is determined to marry Victoria, and that means he has to bring Yvaine, back. Tristan uses a silver chain that his father obtained while trying to free the princess to take Yvaine to England, promising to use the last of the magic candle to take her back to the sky afterwards.

However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. Yvaine is in terrible danger because the surviving sons, they kill each other in hopes of raising their chances of becoming king, of the King are looking for her because only the jewel that she wears can secure the throne for one of them. Septimus, one of the princes, later finds out that a star's heart grants immortality. Septimus wants to devour her heart so that he can rule the kingdom forever. On top of that, the three witches known as "The Lilim" Mormo, Empusa and the eldest and the most powerful, Lamia want the star’s heart because they can recover their beauty and eternal youth by devouring the star's heart.

As Tristan sets out to protect Yvaine and bring her back to Victoria at the other side of the wall his journey brings incredible encounters with the pirate Captain Shakespeare and a shady trader among others. Yvaine and Tristan fall in love - Yvaine confesses her feelings to Tristan after the witch, Ditchwater Sal, turns him into a mouse, Yvaine not realizing that he can still understand her.

After being changed back Tristan is too ditsy, and confused to continue the journey, and the two stop at an inn. Tristan tells Yvaine that he returns her love. While Yvaine sleeps, Tristan cuts a piece of her hair and goes back to England to tell Victoria that he no longer loves her. However when he tries to give Victoria the hair he finds that it has turned into stardust. He realizes that Yvaine cannot enter England and stay in human form and hurries back to the other side of the wall to find her. But he gets back too late, Una (Tristan’s mother) having seen Yvaine head towards the wall, races to warn her, that she will turn to dust once she passes the wall. Lamia, also heads towards the wall, and Una stops Yvaine just in time, but Ditchwater Sal, who's been keeping the princess captive, attacks her and drags her back to the cart. Lamia confronts Sal and kills her, which sets Una free. Yvaine and the Princess Una are both captured by Lamia and taken back to her castle, Yvaine is to be killed and the princess to be a servant.

Tristan meets Septimus at the castle, and they decide to attack the witches together. Septimus is about to attack Una when he sees that she is his sister, daughter of the King of Stormhold (the ghosts of the other six brothers are delighted to see her). Tristan, with the help of Septimus, manages to defeat Empusa, but Lamia kills Septimus.

Tristan is forced to fight the prince's animated corpse and the remaining witches alone. Tristan defeats Mormo and the animated corpse of Septimus, and then confronts Lamia in a battle. During the battle, Lamia nearly kills Tristan, but Yvaine, now knowing that Tristan really loves her, is able to unleash a powerful wave of light that disintegrates Lamia.

Tristan picks up the jewel that Yvaine has been wearing, the whole time. And it is restored to ruby red, Tristan becomes the next king of the land of Stormhold, with Yvaine at his side as queen. Una, Tristan's mother, was the king's daughter, making Tristan the last male heir. It is stated that the two will live forever since Yvaine "gave" him her heart when she fell in love with him. After several generations pass, the two lovers use another Babylon candle, a wedding gift from Una, to return to the sky, where they become twin stars. And they still live happily ever after.

Cast:

Yvaine: Bernadette Peters (Annie Get Your Gun) - Her facial features are soft and her voice can be very soft, as I imagine Yvaine’s would sound most of the time. 

Tristan: Darren Criss (Very Potter Musical, Glee)- I love him, he is of course attractive and he would, in my mind make a great Tristan because of his lovely voice and he can be really funny

Lamia: Sherie Rene Scott (Aida)- She looks the part, and can be lively and her voice is beautiful.

Septimus: Brain d’Arcy James (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)- His voice is gruff and powerful, and his demeanor is one that I could see fitting with a villain.

Una- Eden Espinosa (Wicked)- Her voice is soft and light, as I think Una’s would be humbled after years of working as a slave.

Guard: Donald O’Conner- He would be good at the fight scene, and I can see him as a crazy old man.

Stage:

            In this I would want the audience to be able to see the difference between the two worlds. Stormhold would be brighter and well, have a magical feel to it. While the city of wall would be very dull. Since there is a lot of magic, I would want something like in the “Lord of the Rings”, lots of Pyrotechnics and changing stages to show what is what; for example when they’re in the ship up in the air. I would want the levels to be seen, lightning, thunder, rain, the whole thing. For them to travel with the Babylon candle the stages would be extremely helpful. I would also like a scene similar to that of the one in “Tarzan”, where his parents are swirling around in the ocean; I want that to be in Septimus’s death scene (he drowns). There is a lot of animals in this one, so I would love real animals, if there was real Unicorns I would have one, but for now a horse with a fake horn will have to do.

Dance:

Choreographers- Jerome Robbins: in his time he did a lot of ballet, and I think that would be beautiful for the time in which Tristan and Yvaine finally light the Babylon candle and become stars. He also did contemporary dance, so that would be worked into Septimus’s death along with those of his brother’s. Some contemporary dance when the witches have flash backs to the deaths of past fallen stars. Also at the time of Una’s kidnapping, I think that would make for a good add in, along with her putting Tristan into the basket and making her way to the wall, so that he can live with his father.

Bob Fosse: He had an unmistakable jazz style and when I picture the witches I think of their songs as a bit more blues (sorry couldn’t think of a better word), and I think that with this they could work that in and also when they have flash backs to the past that could work.

Songs:

1.         Tristan’s Father sneaking into Stormhold, and meeting Una. Kind of upbeat because he’s being rebellious for the first time, and then he spots Una.

2.         Una giving Tristan up, and that of course would be a slow, sad song.

3.         Number one reprise, but slower, He’s remembering what it was like to meet Una.

4.         Tristan now is grown up, and is not fitting in, and has lost his job. He is singing about never being good enough for Victoria, and being a shop boy, so he is coming up with a plan to win her over.

5.         The king explains that he’s dying and the challenge for his children to become king.

6.         Tristan and Victoria at a picnic and they see the shooting star, Tristan vows to bring it back for her, and sings about all the other things he would do for her.

7.         Tristan finds Yvaine, and the witches are making a plan.

8.         Tristan and Yvaine are in the woods and Tristan goes off. Yvaine sings of home and Tristan is awakened by the stars telling him to save Yvaine.

9.         The witch has figured out where Yvaine is and has set up a trap. Yvaine gets reeled in and is just happy to be safe, and completely oblivious. One of the brothers comes for a room.

10.       Tristan and Yvaine are now in the sky and are mad at each other and are found by Captain Shakespeare, so are scared at the end.

11.       Lamia is Angry and is losing her beauty and is just withering away.

12.       Yvaine is falling in love with Tristan and is literally glowing. She sings to Captain about what to do.

13.       Tristan turned into a mouse and Yvaine sings to him about her love for him.

14.       Tristan makes is way to Victoria with the hair in hand, and finds in complete dismay that if Yvaine crosses she too will become dust. Yvaine sings about losing Tristan, she thinks he left her, and Una chases after her to warn her. The witches fight and taken as slaves and prisoners.

15.       Tristan has saved Yvaine and now they are safe together, so they go on their merry way.

16.       The two return to the sky with the help of the Babylon candle. 

Sorry for how long it is,

Drop of Water

Nerdy time

Itseems that I always have some Nerd Convention coming around the corner, ha but not anymore because yesterday wasmy very last one (of this year)! It was our state “competition” and took placeat an undisclosed location (which is my favorite university); unfortunately toget there on time I had to get up at about 5 in the morning. As with most ofthese nerd convention there was a part that I really loved and enjoyed, theportion that I’m undecided about and don’t forget the always prevalentdownside.
I“competed” in the Anatomy, Crime Busters (forensics) and Food Science events,which I loved. *Morbid Alert* In our Anatomy event there was parts of acadaver! I was kind of excited and disappointed because it wasn’t a wholecadaver, like last year, but a girl’s got to work with what she’s got! It wasreally funny though, when I finished my section of the test I just lookedaround and a lot of girls looked green, some were covering their noses and a fewrefused to look! Just so you don’t think I’m a complete weirdo the first time Isaw a cadaver I didn’t like the smell (of course, no one likes the smell ofdead people) and nor did I like the idea of having to poke around in someone’sbody. Of course that wasn’t my favorite event or part of the day, but it was prettyhigh up there on my list of highlights. 

Afterspending most of my day running around the locationI got to just chill, and get free stuff! We were given nine dollar vouchers tospend on food, and at first the line seemed way to long so Moogle Kid and Iwent around and got random stuff from colleges and universities that were “recruiting”kids that were interested in them. That meant grabbing pens, candy, and otherrandom trinkets from some schools we didn’t care about and then spending about10 minutes at the ones we were interested in. Finally when we had decided thatthe line was probably shorter we realized that it had actually gotten LONGERand WIDER! Kids kept cutting in line and some were caught by a mom that was onthe lookout for cutter, but most went by unnoticed. Finally after 53 minutes 59seconds and 4 milliseconds we received our food. Which I might add was 36dollars, not 38. Then we were urged to sit down with our then for medaling,which was where my day/night went downhill.

Aswould be expected I don’t like cocky, mean, ignorant kids, so that means I don’tlike our whole team. I sat there through the whole ceremony and applauded foreveryone and made some shout outs for teachers and kids I knew from otherschools while the kids next to me booed, groaned and yelled at me for “ (somemean words) with the enemy”. Really, really they wanted to play it that waywith me! I know that our school really didn’t have any competition for thestate title, after having won for the past few years, but that doesn’t give usthe right to be jerks. Those kids tried just as hard as we did, they probablywent to practice when asked, studied at home, worked their butts off into thenight to get there notes done, and made a real effort to make their coachesproud, and all those kids could do was be mean? I wouldn’t, no couldn’t standfor it not even after we got our trophy.

Therewas a junior varsity boy asking if he could just hold the trophy, and somevarsity boy was telling him that he couldn’t, simply because he hadn’t “earnedit”. People like this honestly make it too easy for me to dislike them; I ofcourse had to say something. It went along the lines of “Shut up and give it tohim”, and some more stuff about how ironic it was that he was the head coach’sson and that our coach was always talking about how we’re supposed to be ateam. So that got him to shut his trap, and hand over the trophy, but pleasedon’t think of me as a mean person.  Ijust don’t think that people that are supposedly in a higher state of power areentitled to treat those “below” them as less. We’re all human, we’re not all asgood as we would like to be, and “ranking” shouldn’t determine how you treatsomeone; it’s simple ethics. We’re all here on earth to learn and sometimesthat means that we’re not as good as we want to be, but we shouldn’t blame ourshort coming on others and we should most defiantly not tear one another down.

Sorryabout my ramble on life, but to leave on a lighter note the team did win, they hadtheir celebratory ice cream and will be going to another undisclosed location at an undisclosedtime.

See you,
Dropof Water

Spring Break, how a werido like me spends it

A week (plus a weekend) to do whatever the heck I felt like doing, and I end up spending it like a socially awkward teenager, with some strange obsessions! AHHH, I have no life… You’re probably wondering what this strange obsession of mine is, so in an effort to not keep you in the dark I will now list a few of my obsessions.
*Weirdo alert commencing now*

DROP OF WATER’S OBSESSION LIST:

1. The smell of cleaning supplies: I can’t really explain that one, it’s just always been.
2. Spanish Soap Operas: Always very dramatic, someone’s death is always being plotted, people’s lives are getting screwed up (making me feel better about my life), and the people who screw up other’s lives always get caught (contrary to real life).
3. Doing the dishes: I like the smell of the soap my mom buys and I love the feel of water, but I pretend I don’t like doing them so I don’t get stuck with that job all the time, I like doing other chores too. (shoot, my sister will probably read this)
4. Watching The X-files: THE BEST SHOW EVER MADE.
5. Buying school supplies: Not sure why, but I just do.
6. Science Olympiad: I know I sound like I hate it, but it makes me feel smart and makes other people think that I'm smart.
7. Stalking people on Social Networks: Let’s be honest, even if we all claim that we don’t do this, we still do.
8. Looking up random stuff on YouTube: Not really a strange one, but still I always do it.
9. Baking and Decorating Cakes: I took a class on the decorating thing (baked goods), and it was me and a bunch of women over 40, but I still loved ever second of it
10. Coloring coloring book pages: I know it’s supposed to be for little kids, but still at 14 I can’t kick my love/obsession for it.
11. Watching *Announcer Voice* Dancing with the Stars and judging the people, who have no sense of rhythm, can’t shake their hips, or shimmy: I think I explained it all.
12.Reminiscing over my childhood: Thinking about when life was easier than now, and looking back at what I once thought was cool. Examples: I watch episodes of That’s so Raven, Drake and Josh, Spy Kids, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens and I watch the Cheetah Girls movies just so I can sing the songs to myself.
13. Learning self-defense: I have an extreme phobia that one day I’ll be jumped, someone will break into my home, or some other messed up crap and I won’t know what to do. Thus I go running and do some kick boxes because I’m a scardy cat, who doesn’t trust the human race.

I think that’s more than enough for today, and I will soon live to regret this. I pretty much did all of the above over my break, and a few other miscellaneous things, but in the end I didn’t really do much more. I still ended up putting off my homework till the last minute, even with all the time I had and now I’m kind of messed up in the head. I just have a feeling that this coming week will for sure be an adventure.

Oops, and to further state my point there goes the timer on my cupcakes for tomorrow (Easter), so until some other time.

Drop of Water

ANOTHER NERD CONVENTION? Did it go well this time?

Yes another one! And do they ever go well? That would be an absolute ye… NO! What do you think, that being with a bunch of nerds is a happy time? Never, because each and every time something weird happens and something bad that then makes me sad happens!  It just so happens that today, was by far on of the worst ones of all time, and that’s saying something.

Today our school’s nerd crew(s) all made their willy nilly way down to (a top secret location), and “competed”, doesn’t quite fit because it’s not a sport (but I’ll go with it anyway), in a “battle of knowledge” (seems fitting enough). We’d all (everyone except my anatomy partner) studied really hard, made our notes, gone to practice, listened and done our research. Most of the events went easily for (said school), and we all felt pretty confident about our scores, and so after our events most of us just chilled out in our homeroom. My events were both the first two hours, so I had a lot of time on my hands, thus leading to me chilling. I just sat there listening to music, searching Pinetrest, studying my anatomy, and laughing at the nerds outside playing, and failing miserably, at ultimate frisbee. It was all going fine and dandy, and I was actually expecting this year to be kind of normal, but then some creep had to go and ruin it for me!

One of the girls on our team is obsessed with moose, and so she brought a giant 5’5 stuffed moose, as a team mascot; not really fitting, but hey, she’s obsessed.  At the “battle of knowledge/completion”, there was of course other people there, and one of them, the creeper he’ll be “Stanley” for now, decided that he was infatuated with the gigantic moose. Stanley left his team’s homeroom, and came to ours to see the moose, but he did a lot more than just “see” the moose. This Stanley kid started kissing the moose, hugging the moose, and doing a ton of other creepy stuff to it. I ended up having to leave my bystander position, and having to take action, thus also leaving my hipster state, as the cool nerd. I had to use my grown-up voice, the one that earned me the title of “mother”, and tell him to leave the room and not come back, he being greatly intimidated, didn’t leave. That’s when I got really mad, I don’t like it when people ignore me, so I got up and pushed Stanley off the moose, grabbed his arm(with great force), and pushed him out of the room. He made me so mad, because I don’t like losing my cool and having to be mean, but the owner of the moose just looked so sad, I had to do something. Still we laughed it off a bit, and then just waited for a little more until the awards ceremony.

I was feeling really good about the whole day, and at first I thought I rocked it. When we were called up to get our awards, the announcer said that I’d gotten 1^st in both my events, so I was beaming; I’d never done so well before. This was unfortunately short lived, because afterwards our “coach”, gathered us around and told us there’d been a mix up; apparently I didn’t get 1^st place on both, but instead 2^nd and our other team had gotten 1^st. Come on I knew there was something wrong when I placed before Moogle Kid, and I am okay with that, but what came next is what really set me off.  Said coach’s son, the one in partnership with Moogle Kid, looked over at me and said “Eat that, (insert my name here)!”, and to my partner he said “(her name here), give it to me!” he was talking about the medal around her neck. And.The. Coach. Didn’t. Even. Say. Anything. And it was all said right in front of him. Yet our “coach” is always talking about team unity, team unity my right eye (that eye means a lot to me, because it’s the one with the best eye sight)! If he even cared about team unity then he’d probably enforce it on his kids, but no his kids are just jerks. The other one said something similar to one of my other friends, Pretty Pony, it went along the lines of “In your face!” yup they’re major jerks if they can set me off.

I’m used to taking people’s crap, but when people are cocky, rude, arrogant, and hypocrites, I just can’t take it. I was just so mad, but I’m good at not getting mad at people in public, thus not making a scene, so I held it in. I killed em’ with kindness, I said all the right things like “Good job”, “congratulations to you too”, and what not, but in my head I’d already killed them a hundred times over. The way I see it they’re already suffering enough with their personality, and attitude. So I just made my way through the good byes and made my way to my parents car, and then I broke out, not with anger, but with tears. I just felt so bad about myself, until my dad told me something.

“(insert my name here), they just couldn’t stand the thought that you are better than them It’s not a might, but you are better, and he knows it too, in life there are just people that will want to tear you down, but you did well, by what you did, you held together, and didn’t give them the satisfaction of letting their words get to you. Because actions speak louder than words, and no matter what I’m always going to be proud of you.”

Drop of Water.

Here's something, (not) fun for you to read!

Terrible writer's block, so here is a review on a book that we've all heard about.

It’s one of the most talked about books of the current time, after Harry Potter of course, and I was one of the last to read it! I took me a while to get around the fact that I really needed to read it, and for a few reasons. Everyone had already told me about it; what it’s about, the characters, the general story line, if they liked Peeta or Gale and basically everything else there was to know about the book. I have to admit, I thought that I was above reading it, and I couldn’t have been more incredibly wrong. I had thought that it was just one of those books with a flimsy story line, that we’ve all heard of a million times before. A book with terrible character development; characters that have nothing relatable about them, and that I continually find myself wondering if the author asked a five-year-old to describe their imaginary friend.  Even worse, wondering if a five year old is the one who wrote the book, because of the terrible wording, and dialogues. Despite what I was expecting, none of these were the case in my experience of reading The Hunger Games.

                This story is actually one of the most original ones I’ve read, the setting, the plot, everything. It’s set in the ruins of what was once North America, now called Panem, with twelve districts surrounding the Capitol; a cruel dictator over the twelve districts. The Capitol has its annual televised Hunger Games, in which each district has to send two children, one boy one girl, as tributes to fight to the death in an arena, the prize for winning; fame, and fortune. Our story follows Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl, who’s use to having to fight to survive, after the death of her father, her distant mother, and the poverty she lives in. It begins on Reaping day, the day when the tributes are chosen. Her little sister’s name, Prim, is drawn she steps up to take her place, which is an anomaly. Katniss now has to survive in the arena after she makes a promise to her sister that she will do everything in her power to win. The way Suzanne Collins sets up her plot line leaves a perfect place for her characters to develop.

                Her characters are set in an interesting place, but she still manages to keep it pretty really, characters with flaws, that they have to overcome, and that make me hate them at times, like normal people. Katniss is a stubborn, independent, survivalist girl, but after Petta confesses his love for her, on national T.V. none the less, is she made “an object of love”. It’s makes it quite clear that Katniss doesn’t really know how she feels, she has to fight against him, and she feels that it has made her look vulnerable. In the arena we she a bit of her as a more compassionate figure, after she makes an alliance with a young girl from district 11, Rue; she tickles her, shares a sleeping bag, and confides in her, treating her as she would her own little sister. Katniss is a strong character, who honestly is lost, and doesn’t quite know what she’s wants, but she does know that she wants to leave the arena. The other characters we follow are Peeta, Haymitch, and a few people from the Capitol. Peeta, “lover boy”, knows what he wants, and that would be Katniss, and showing the Capitol that he’s not just a piece of their game. He is open, caring, and an all-around good guy, he develops by holding his ground, he doesn’t change one bit because of the games, he stays compassionate, and unchanging. Haymitch is a usually drunken character who is Katniss’s and Peeta’s coach through the Hunger Games. He’s kind of the epitome of alcoholism; he’s almost always drunk, and does the stupidest things when he is drunk, like falling of the stage on T.V. He has to overcome his drinking problem to help Katniss and Peeta survive in the games, which are watched by the Capitol people. These people are those that are used to having the easy life; on with ignorance, and never having to need for anything. They’re shielded from what goes on around them, they are like little children lost, and not really trying to be found. Their world is one that they don’t want to leave, because that’s all they’ve ever know. This is made really clear through the writing, which of course is essential in a book.

                Words are of course what make up a book, and what make it a good one. This book is one of general seriousness, but I liked how there were just some bright parts in it, so we weren’t drowned in a serious mood the whole time. "You have as much charm as a dead slug", says Haymitch to describe Katniss. The wording doesn’t just lightening the mood, but the get thoughts across clearly, but with desire and meaning behind the words.” 'I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face. I notice her blouse has pulled out of her shirt in the back again and force myself to stay calm. "Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say, smoothing the blouse back in place. Prim giggles and gives me a small "Quack." This kind of just did everything it lightened the seriousness, and showed us that Katniss has feelings, and does care about someone.

                This book was just straight up, amazing for a great number of reasons. The story was unique, not just some clone of every other book written in the last 10 years, it had a different setting and general plot. The characters had problems to overcome, and weren’t some perfect stereotypical hopeless damsel in distress, or a tough boy that has super human good looks, and is incredibly strong, but they’re believable.  The words went along with what they character was feeling, and not awkward in the slightest, they made sense, and were meaningful, and served their purpose of letting us understand. This book was one that meets everything I look for in a book, and the only thing I regret is that I didn’t read it sooner.

               

           

Summer Time

 

Well, I’m super sorry for not blogging last week, I was sick and basically what I did all day was sleep. Although I am better now so no worries, I guess it’s now time for me to blog about something that’s probably not so interesting…

*read the following in a dramatic narrator voice*

                                                       

Now, in the mid of third term, comes a thought, developed after one girl looked at her Facebook news feed for inspiration, and that thought is… SUMMERTIME. *end reading in narrator voice (optional)* Yes, it’s sad that I, a self-proclaimed nerd, am looking forward to summer, but there is so much in it to look forward to; sunshine, sleeping in, hanging out, tanning (pathetic, but right now I’m looking very pasty), summer clothes, camping trips, other trips, chilling, and overall NO SCHOOL (at least for a little while, more on that later).

Summer is a time to make up for everything I didn’t do during the school year. That’s usually because I spend so much of my time during school obsessing about my grades, and don’t really leave my office too often. I get go out and hang out with my friends and family, and pretty much live it up like tomorrow is the beginning of school. The sad truth of it is that, my summer is not completely school free.

As I have said before I try to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way, and the opportunity that I have this coming summer is none other than, summer school biology. Don’t get too worked up about it, I didn’t fail my class of anything, but this will just help me get another credit so, that I can have more opportunities later on. I could, if I really wanted to, graduate early, or take some college classes later on. It’s not even that much, just a 7 week course and I’ve got a full years credit! I can still enjoy my summer, because it’s just from 8-3, and I still have the rest of the day to enjoy, so I think I’ll be okay. I did it last year too, and I didn’t hate it too much! Aside from summer school I have other fun things to look forward to.

I have many trips that I’m planning on going on for the summer, and not just with my family this time. My church group is going on a 14 mile walk to the temple, which will probably prove to be more challenging than it sounds, but I’m up for it! My Young Women group is going camping, which is always and adventure. Last year one of leaders had a wheel barrel dropped on her, and she lost her big toe nail, not too fun. I of course am going to have fun with my friends, I obviously don’t have an idea of what we’re going to do yet, but it’s bound to be a party, as long as I’m there, right?

Well this probably hasn’t been the funnest post, but, well what can I say, next time will be it!

Drop of Water :)

Get ready for me, love, 'cause I'm a commer...

*read in the best singing voice you can think of, and may be you’ll come close to what I sound like* I simply gotta march, My heart's a drummer. Nobody, no, nobody Is gonna rain on my parade! *psych, I can’t sing*

                                        

I’m currently walking on air; I have a long break, no homework other than reading, fully feed, and got my High School classes figured out. Yup who’s your daddy, that’s right, me. I figured out what I want to do with, what seems like, the REST of my life! I took me awhile of debating with myself, and with my sister to pick the few classes I could pick.

“Counselors, don’t know what they’re talking about,” that’s what my sister told me after I basically repeated everything I was told on Thursday; by a very scary women I might add. I had always thought that when I was older I could do whatever I wanted. FALSE, there are more options but once I pick one there’s no turning back, which scares the crap out of me. I know that I for sure want to be a pediatrician, because of the following reasons. 1. I love kids, 2. I love anatomy; I’m intrigued by how things in the body work, and how to fix them if they don’t, 3. I can have a job anywhere; people get sick, and they need help, everywhere. And four, the sappiest reason of them all, I can do good this way; go jet off to Somalia and help little children or set up a clinic for children whose parents can’t afford proper medical care. So, I know what I want to do so I just centered everything on that, which turned out easy enough, after I ignored everything the counselors told me not to do.

I actually had a good time reading the descriptions of stupid classes, that I didn’t think anyone would want to take. After I got a few giggles out of my system I became… serious. I got my big girl pencil out, and chose me classes. I wanted some A.P. classes, but having those would just narrow my choices out for Junior, and Senior year, so all of them are Honors, which sounds good, remember none of these are set in stone. I had my core classes of course, Honors English, Pre -Calculus Honors, Science (haven’t figured that one out yet), World Civ. Honors. Electives: Intro to Health Science (super excited), French, Seminary, Computer Technology, and the one I’m looking forward to, drum roll please. History of Ancient Greek/ Rome! Now I can have a conversation starter, when I’m an adult. I love history so this is going to be a party! That’s the one elective that I thought was going to be hard to decide on. After that I just went on an adventure of the packets that were given to me, and had some serious thoughts.

I had fun thinking about what will come once I’m in high school. Dances, which means getting to wear the beautiful dresses my sister got to wear, and (don’t get weirder out, and think that I’m an air head)feeling like a princess when I’m wearing it. Clubs I want to join, and clubs I want to just go to once, and then just laugh about it with my friends later *cough* Realms Club *cough, cough*. I look forward to nights spent studying. *Air Head Alert*I look forward to guys, and going on date, and I guess just figuring myself out.  

So, in final… I did it, I did it I really really did it. If you don’t know the reference then... you’re dead to me.

Cheery to have life figured out, and looking forward to stuff

Drop of Water

This is the Good life

I’ve been having some problems as of late, life is just coming at me full speed, and I want to do everything I can, but it’s just really hard to keep up with it. I normally don’t have moments were I get so stressed out I start crying but this week I had about three! I hovered over my planner, and just started crying, looking at what I had to do, and then I thought of all the other things that weren’t even written down yet; Science Olympiad practice, babysitting, memorizing plays, young women’s, family time, exercise/yoga/running time, and a hundred other things a girl has to get done. I just felt/feel like I was in a total pit of despair. Then I remembered something that is so important, but I guess I had forgotten about it in the heat of the moment/moments.

My parents have always told me to look on the bright side of things, and you know what, it really helps. I was in geography class, and we were talking about the Jews and Palestinians in Israel, places in the Middle East, and in Africa. Just then I had an epiphany, I’ve got it real good here in (insert place I live in). I don’t have to search the desert for an aquifer so I can have water, and then have to make a long day’s journey back to my home in the scorching desert. No all I have to do is get off my lazy butt, grab a glass, and turn on the faucet. I don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s safe to drink, because our country is fortunately a developed country, and has laws that make a difference in my life/health and overall well-being. Not only that, but everything I have here is better than it could be.

I can have an education here, all my big long list is actually a HUGE blessing. My school has programs that I can join, and get an education in what I enjoy. I’m not discriminated against because I’m a girl, or (normally) because of my heritage. I have opportunities to make money, and I’m blessed enough to be healthy and not have any mental illnesses that would prevent me from functioning/thinking the way I do. I can practice the religion I wish because of our declaration in this country because church and state is separate. I have a loving family that wants to spend time with a goof ball like me. I am not injured in any manner, and am physically fit so I can run without worrying if I’ll hurt myself further. I am blessed to have SCHOOL, didn’t think I would every utter/type those words. I have classes I want to take, and classes I have to take, I have friends there, and teacher I look up to (that would be you Mr. Thompson). I get homework from these classes to help me learn something, I get full credit for the things I do, I want to succeed, and school helps me learn a good work ethic.

Now that I look at it life isn’t that bad, and I’m hugely blessed.

Drop of Water.

Mini Nerd Fest

Definition of…

Mini Nerd Fest: a place/time in which a small congregation of intelligent children meet to show off.

This is exactly what I spend most of my “life”, more like the lack thereof, doing/ going to. I will now give “interesting details and examples” in order to further explain how I feel, and to give you a glimpse into what I’m talking about.

I am on my school’s Science Olympiad team, and am shamefully proud of this fact. My sister talked me into it in 7^th grade and I have participated in it from there on.  I have had the same partner *cough cough*  Moogle Kid *cough* until this year, when in what I call a brief lack of judgment a certain science teacher and team coordinator didn’t put us together.  Moving on now, I’ve always done Crime Busters, which is basically just learning forensics and seeing which suspect committed the crime; most crimes lame such as stealing a doughnut or beany baby, but still it makes me feel like a detective examining finger prints, and hair samples. I’ve also done Anatomy, which I don’t think has to be explained, but here it goes anyways, you’d be surprised how often I had to explain this. We get to look at cadavers (dead bodies), and explain how systems work in the body. This year I have taken on a new event, Food Science, in this event I( I’ll soon explain why I don’t say “we”) have to learn about food, what makes it work, and the properties food have, carbohydrates, proteins, and how to identify food by testing it; Benedict test, iodine etc. And this event, Food Science, was what I had to compete in on Saturday, but before the competition came lots and lots of hours of baking.

On Friday I stayed at the school for an extra what was it, three hours BAKING MUFFINS! We made about eight dozen muffins each muffin a different recipe, which took FOREVER. And why, you may ask, did we make so many? Well, let me tell you, it was for you to take the densities and viscosities of each one, and that took even longer. And in the end where did these muffins go? They ended up in the ungrateful stomachs of musical kids, theater teachers, choir teacher, wrestler, and children that have no life and stay after school to roam the halls and eat my muffins! I finally got to go home, and do what did I do?  Have fun with friends? Nope. Read Charles Dickens? No. Do important school work? Absolutely not. So what did I do?

  

Study because my new partner hovers over me and chews loudly, a huge pet peeve of mine, all while managing not to do any work!  I kind of expected/hoped/prayed that he would pull it together by Saturday, but that never happened.  We ended up in 5^th place because this boy is incompetent, lazy, and cocky (another pet peeve).  Through the whole completion I told him to do something, but he just gave me a lost look, and mumbled and muttered things at me under his breath.

After this post you may think that I’ve given up on New Year’s resolution number 7, be more accepting of others, but I will continue on, and find something about this punk that will make him more likeable or at least bearable, but until then… 

Moving Forward, and Trying Harder

Drop of Water

Ninja project

My week has been somewhat of an eye-opener; lately I’ve been trying to keeping my trap shut, and just listen to and watch how people around me act. At first I didn’t really notice much, it was just junior high kids being idiots and what not, but after a little consideration on my first day at this attempt, I decided to see what good old Dr. Phil had to say, I get a lot of knowledge from this man.

 On this specific day he was talking about eating disorders, and how they can start with just one little misplaced comment and he touched a bit on how we human beings have hiding our feelings down to a science. Someone could be feeling like crap inside, and just paste on a fake smile and no one would ever think anything was wrong. So on the next day I yet again didn’t say much, and just watched. I kind of felt like a secret agent/ninja because I was kinda just there, but people didn’t really know what I was up to. I kept watch some more, and noticed that some of the people I thought were really funny were honestly just straight up jerks. I noticed that others that I had never really thought much of are now what I consider the sweetest people ever! I took mental note on the things I saw, and I will now let you in on some of them.

1. P eople are not what they seem: As previously stated, what someone looks like on the outside isn’t exactly what’s on the inside. A beautiful person on the inside isn’t necessarily going to be beautiful on the inside also.

2.     2.“Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”: FALSE, this is a complete and TOTAL LIE, yes you heard/read me right! That’s right 2^nd grade I have figured out the real truth! Words hurt beyond anything else; you say a nice thing once and it feels good for a little, but you say something mean and it never goes away, EVER. 

3.      

3. (continuation on number 2)  “The eyes are the porthole to the soul”: Now this one is 100%... FACT! Every time I was around when someone was called a “Fag” and/or “Gay” I almost started crying. The person may have been kidding, but sometimes it was meant to hurt, and to be straight up mean. When someone was called this they would just kind of laugh it off, but you can’t really hide the hurt in your eyes; it’s hard to catch it because it is there one second and the next it’s gone, but it’s there, play close attention an you’ll see it.

4. 

4. Not everyone is who people say they are: Just STOP listening to what people tell you about someone, go get to know them yourself. Because that person probably didn’t even bother to get to know that someone, it’s just gossip that makes its way down the grapevine. You’ll be surprised how different people are when you don’t judge them on a premeditated basis.

Now I’m sure you’re bored of my analysis and I’m probably just preaching to the choir, but if you (Mr. Thompson, it’s not like anyone else reads this) want to try this Ninja Project of mine, just keep quiet, slithy and observant and you’ll probably see a lot of things you never really noticed.

Later Gator,

Drop of Water!