T1B36

I was just (re)reading The Blood of Olympus, and I came upon this quote, which is now officially my favourite book quote:

“Correct." Kekrops sounded bitter, like he regretted his decision. "My people were the original Athenians--the gemini."
"Like your zodiac sign?" Percy asked. "I'm a Leo.""No, stupid," Leo said. "I'm a Leo. You're a Percy.” 

And then Hazel tells them to stop goofing off, but I like this part of Percy and Leo. :)

T1B35

OMG Mr. Hauck threw a HUGE bomb today--he had us read our stories aloud in front of everyone! That was so totally unexpected, it was like WHOOOOOOOAAAAA.

I think that was really good though, because everyone knew his/her story best and reading it aloud allowed us to put the feeling we really wanted to convey into it, I think it helped bring out our story more.

It was pretty awesome (I went today :) ).

T1B34

It feels like all my tests landed at the SAME TIME.

Last Wednesday I had a Spanish test, which I got back today (49.5 out of 50! 49.5!!!!!), Thursday was our English test, Friday was a pro-d, and first day back on Monday we had a Socials test.

Crazy? Yes. Welcome to my life. But I studied hard for all of them and hopefully I did well on them.

This postcard story is seriously freaking me out, but since I've picked my second story to hand in, I've printed it out, made the drawing and everything, if it's done it's done and no regrets.

Just wait till I get a bad mark then I'll start screaming at myself wondering why I didn't submit the other one. :P No, just kidding. I won't do that. But I will mentally kick myself for not doing better. *sigh* I was never really good at these stories. Ms. Greskiw entered us in a short story contest last year and I didn't make it :( mostly because I switched stories 2 times from the original, but yeah... :P

Hopefully, this year's better. It's a story with a surprise ending.

Here it is, if you want to read it:

It's called: the dream. Yes, no caps. For drama. *cue suspense music here*



She snapped awake from her dream, feeling as though she were falling.

It was still dark out. Ivy glanced at the clock: 7:00am. Her alarm clock would ring soon. She sighed. Might as well get up, she thought. Stretching, she slowly stood up and stumbled to the bathroom.
As she brushed her teeth, Ivy pondered her dream.
It wasn't the first time she'd had this dream. In fact, it had been haunting her for a few weeks now. She wasn't sure why, though. For the past few nights, she'd been dreaming of a man, a mysterious, darkly clothed man, following her as she tread her familiar path home from school. She would walk faster and faster until sweat beaded on her brow, even running, but he would always catch her, and push her straight into what seemed to be empty space. She really ought to tell someone. Repeated dreams were never good.Ivy walked back to her room, scrubbing at her eyebags. Was she perhaps too stressed? Was she hallucinating? And why, she thought, why was she falling?
She doubted the dreams represented her school. Ivy was a model student, never smart-mouthed, always studious. She was an extrovert, too, and friendly with everyone. Did the dark man represent an enemy? It seemed unlikely. Also, she played sports—it should have been easy for her to outrun him. But she couldn’t. Of course, in a dream, nothing can be trusted.
Ivy sighed. She was only torturing herself with these thoughts. It wasn’t like her to keep this to herself, though. Recently, Ivy had noticed an increasing concern with her mother. She seemed to make an extra effort these days to talk with her.
After a fast paced day at school, she meandered home on her usual route. Ivy reflected: It had been a normal day. Nothing scary or out of the ordinary. But despite the warm spring day, she shivered. Deja vu overtook her. This was the same path in her dreams, the same walkway. The same sights. The same feelings. Even the same sounds. ...Wait. Sounds?She glanced behind her, feeling like she was being followed. And her heart nearly stopped.
Behind Ivy was a darkly clothed man.
She sped up.
He didn’t seem to be doing much. Maybe he wasn’t even really following her. But she decided to be cautious, just in case. She slowly swung her backpack around without stopping, to reach for her phone, before she realized that it was still on her desk at home, charging.
No help. Heavy breathing. Heart racing.
As she turned the corner, she sneaked another look back. He was still there, getting no closer, and no further.
Ivy’s heart pounded. She broke into a run.
The growing footsteps behind her panicked her more. She flung her backpack behind her, hoping to trip up her pursuer. Then she sprinted.
She felt hands on her back, and she plunged into empty space.
She snapped awake from her dream, feeling as though she were falling.

T1B33

WE ARE GETTING OUR ENGLISH TESTS BACK NEXT CLASS

AAAAAHHHH THE SUSPENSE

Mr. Hauck had us mark most of the test in class (mark someone else's test) and then he's going to mark the essays and give it back to us next class.

I can't wait to get it back. :D

T1B32

OMG I'M SO HAPPY

The HUGE (okay, big) socials test we had today is finally over! OVER!!!!

I spent basically all of Saturday and Sunday studying like crazy for it! It was a Canadian Regional Geography test or something like that, I don't really know how to say it but it involves Canadian regional geography.

So, at first Mr. Chau scared us all because the stations activities were hard(ish), but then he told us what he expected and everyone was like, "Oh my goodness that's awesome." (because we didn't need to know as much as we thought we needed to know--we're Synergy, after all :P). But Mr. Chau posted the answers to the stations on Saturday morning, so I was kind of freaked out because I was scared 2 days wouldn't be enough. Plus, the stations went by so quickly that I needed more time to absorb the information, so I was going to spend more time understanding the concepts.

We also had like a sample test that Mr. Chau said he'd post the answers to as well. When he posted the test answers, that one essay question had me going "WHAAAAAAAAT?" because there were so many things we were supposed to say based on a "Describe the regional geography" question. And I got freaked out all over again, because my answer wasn't enough.

t also kind of, so to say, "took a gamble" with studying this time, because we had 2 parts of each station we were studying, and that was the concept related to the region, and the topography-climate-vegetation of the region. I knew the general idea about the topography-climate-vegetation (for example, continental vs. maritime climate, rolling hills vs. jagged peaks, small shrubs, lichens, and mosses vs. deciduous trees) but I didn't memorize every tree or the exact elevation of every place. I figured that the more important things were the concepts, so I focused on those and the vocabulary. That actually really paid off because I learned the concepts well (like not just for this test, but for general knowledge) and still knew the general topography-climate-vegetation which helped me to understand the concepts better. Also, the concepts give you clues about the topography-climate-vegetation of a place. I understood the main ones, for example, the Arctic has a 10 month winter and short, not very warm summers, because of permafrost, trees are stunted and the vegetation is mostly small shrubs, lichens, and mosses, and also, for example, the St. Lawrence Lowlands has a continental climate, whereas the southern part of the Coastal plains has a subtropical climate, the Western Cordillera has a maritime climate.

I noticed that a lot of my classmates had the same problem I did, which was that we got confused sometimes. For example, my friends said that they could identify (draw) which region on a map had wetlands, but it would be harder to name it. Personally, I knew that the Coastal Plains had 2 concepts related with it, but I for the life of me could NOT remember what else it was besides wetlands (after a LOT of studying, I can now very confidently tell you that it's sinkholes. :P) Also, I kind of got mixed up with hurricanes and tornadoes, but I got that straightened out.

Overall, I'm really happy with the way this test turned out. The actual test wasn't as hard as the sample test (in my opinion--Erica disagrees) but maybe that's just because I know the concepts better. Also, one of the most important things is that I also know the concepts really well, and that's very important too, besides the test, because knowledge and skills are what keep with you your entire life, not a test score.

(And I feel kind of blunt saying this, but I'M SO HAPPY THAT IT'S OVER, NO MORE STUDYING MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I'M SO HAPPY :D :D :D)

T1B31

On Nov. 6 we have a science fair proposal due. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

I mean, there're so many options! I want to do something involving energy this year, and possibly making sustainable energy from something like waste. I don't want to do compost, because that's so cliché, but I think it's a good place to start. I partnered with Amy this year, and I think we could take this really far. I feel like we could do something related to compost or energy, but it has to be something original and unique so it will be interesting. And actually beneficial. But I really like this energy idea, I think knowing more about it will be helpful for me to reduce my environmental footprint personally.

T1B30

So, the answer to the riddle I posted last last blog is:

**SPOILER ALERT**

0 cubic feet.

If you dig a hole that's 6ft by 6ft by 6ft, and you ask how many cubic feet of dirt are in it, well obviously there is no dirt in it. It's a hole! I remember doing this on an app called "The Impossible Test" and screwing up on this question at least 16 times before finally getting the answer. I answered "216" so many times, before it finally "clicked" that there is NO DIRT IN A HOLE! I got fooled so many times in that app, I'm now hyperalert with wording for riddles and brainteasers and things like that.

T1B29

So, I'll post the answer to that one in a few days. Anyway, yesterday on Thursday we had the English test, right? Remember how I posted that it seemed really hard and impossible to do? Well I have good news.

IT WASN'T THAT HARD!! :D

The definitions were a piece of cake, because I'd studied (like REALLY REALLY HARD). The quotes were okay too, because you always get hints in the story as to which one it is, but the more difficult part were the questions about the stories. I ran out of time at the end to do one of them, so I'm pretty sure I got that one wrong.

Also, the thing about English is that it's very subjective, so as long as you can provide a reason for an answer, it's technically right. But then, with multiple choice questions, it gets very iffy as to what exactly the theme of something is, or what the initial incident of a short story is, or something like that. Which was the next section. Which means I'll have FAILED it, because I think too much sometimes and I end up getting things wrong because I thought about the most minuscule possibilities and went with a technicality, which usually means it's wrong. :(

For example, you know how in grade 4 and 7 you have to do an FSA test? I remember (very, very vividly, because I felt totally wronged) that there was this one question (the last question) on the Math section. It asked you how many different pens you could draw with 24 gates. (like sheep pens, and sections of gate) It never stated how many gates you had to use. Did you have to use all 24 or just 3? So I went to ask my teacher, and she said, "Just do the best you can." So then I thought, to be on the safe side, I should draw all the possible pens you can with 24 gates including the ones that don't use all 24 gates. I ran out of room at the end and got 2/4 on that question because I didn't draw all the gates that could be made using ALL 24 gates!

Classic example of how much I think.

Anyway, the last question was a structured essay question, but it was easier than I thought. There were 3 topics to choose from, topic A being the easiest, topic C being the most difficult.

Naturally, I chose Topic C. Because I'm just that kind of person. Actually, I'm joking. I AM that kind of person, but that's not the only reason I picked it.

The other two essay topics were narrative and compare and contrast essays (Erica told me after the test). I didn't know how to do EITHER of them, because I'd never learned it. Topic C, however, was a persuasive essay, and we did those in MACC from grade 5-7 for me, so I was like, YAY! I CAN DO THIS! I'd also practiced History essays over the summer because of my History exam in August (those are basically you practice writing the essay topics so much you're basically rewriting it on the day, but the point is that you are VERY CLEAR about the 3 points in each of your paragraphs, because the marking people only scan your essay and it helps to have concise and clear points). Therefore, when I did the essay (explain the importance of indirect characterization with examples from any of the stories read in class) I used short, simple points (because Mr. Hauck said he didn't expect as much from Topic C as Topic A) that weren't rambling or long or required complicated explanations, as my essays usually are. I also applied the debate philosophy, in having a Statement, Explanation, and Example, which helped me to organize my thoughts and (hopefully) drive the point home.

Overall, it was a very good test. :) I'm sorry for writing such a rambling and long post, with absolutely NO sentence structure whatsoever, but... oh well. It's not an English test. :P

T1B28

This is like a general riddle that is... pretty popular, I guess, but got me the first time I saw it.

If you dig a hole that's 6 feet by 6 feet by 6 feet, how many cubic feet of dirt is in it?

T1B27

OMG. WE HAD MATH TODAY AND I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD IT. LIKE, FULLY, COMPLETELY, TOTALLY, COULD PROVE IT UNDERSTOOD IT. :D :D :D

But right now my highest priority is English. We have a short story test tomorrow and I'm sooooo nervous. We had a substitute teacher and she told us that our test had an essay question in it. An ESSAY! In a TEST! About SHORT STORIES! AAAAAHHHH!

But I feel like my group (character) got the hardest terms or at least most confusing ones, the ones most liable to be mixed up (round vs. developing character, flat vs. static). This is GOOD, because I know those terms like the back of my hand because we had to define them, not just copy them. (These last sentences didn't make any sense whatsoever grammatically.) But anyway, what I mean is, that I know the hardest terms really well therefore the other terms are easier to study. Yay! The test is apparently 10 definitions (not too hard), 4 quotes (that we have to identify and answer questions on--AAAIIII, NOT COOL), section 3 is reading a (new) story and answering questions, and section 4 is the essay. (AAAAIII, EVEN MORE NOT COOL). But besides that we need to know the plot diagram, characters (yay for being the character group! hip-hip-hooray!) and different types of POV, which I should get if I study at all (which I will--very hard and very diligently) because those aren't super new material.

I really only need to work on my identifying skills, for the quotes, the new story, and essay. Okay, so that's a large chunk of the test, but I feel like I'll do well. If you asked my classmates, they'd all say if I don't get perfect no one will, but that doesn't mean I don't study hard.

Okay. Okay. Deep breath. *PAAAANNNIIIIICCC* wait, mentally stops self.

Deep breath.

I'm going to start studying.

T1B26

My math homework is killing me.

It's blowing my mind up. Sometimes I just look at two equations that are the same thing and I'm just like how on EARTH did point a get to point b????? Like how is 

a^-n = 1/a^n

??? (I can't type in superscript here so I have to use those carots. Are they called carots?)

*I just did a search on them. I spelled it wrong, they're called "carets". Or circumflex accents like in french.

Anyway, I kind of stare at it and do what my math teacher did in class and then it makes more sense, but sometimes I don't really get why something is converted. Like, I understand the actually process of doing it, but after I do it, it just looks totally different. Most people are just satisfied with how to do it or just memorizing it, but I feel like I have to really and truly deeply understand this topic or else I end up forgetting it really easily. *sigh* I guess it's good to understand things though.

T1B25

No. Just--no.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428189/the-hardest-logic-puzzle-ever-made-even-harder/

Can we not, please? Next thing you're going to make this new logic puzzle even more harder. (is that grammatically correct? or is it just harder?)

T1B24

The solution to the hardest logic puzzle ever is SOOOOO long I'm just going to give the link to the Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Logic_Puzzle_Ever

I'll find some better sources next blog, but apparently it was made even harder. Not cool. This just makes life so much harder for the rest of us non-amazingly-logical-smart-and-brilliant people. But I like that someone decided to make it harder, because it's like introducing a whole new level of challenging. :D Although I can't even solve the original.

T1B24

Presenting...

the NEW AND IMPROVED House/Photography analogy!

Photography = House

The heat/air conditions/those gas valve thingies? is the BATTERY of the camera.

The fridge (or garage or attic) is the MEMORY.

The entire house (or outside of house, or roof) is the CAMERA.

The garden/houses around the house is the FRAME.

The windows in the house (the various places where you view the things around the house)/bedrooms (the variety of the people living in them) is the POINT OF VIEW.

The electronics/wires/complicated techno heat/lighting/gas stuff is the TECHNIQUE.

The things around the house that you choose to photograph or not is the COMPOSITION.

Yeah, I'm happy with this one. It makes more sense. :D

T1B23

I can't really come up with a decent analogy that actually makes sense at the moment, so I'll post that tomorrow. I was thinking of this one, though, but it doesn't really fit perfectly...

Photography = House

The heat/air conditions/those gas valve thingies? is the BATTERY of the camera.

The fridge (or garage or attic) is the MEMORY.

The entire house (or outside of house, or roof) is the CAMERA.

The living room (I just think this kind of makes sense, because the living room's supposed to be pretty, and welcoming, and is fairly important to a home) is the FRAME.

The bedrooms (the variety of the people living in them) is the POINT OF VIEW.

The kitchen (where you cook with technical skill, haha okay bad pun) (Or I suppose the designer of the house) is the TECHNIQUE.

The layout (or floor plan) of the house is the COMPOSITION.

I sort of treat the house as the camera and the subject... so I have to figure that out.

T1B22

According to Wikipedia (okay, not the best source) this is the hardest logic puzzle ever:

Three gods A, B, and C are called, in no particular order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a completely random matter. Your task is to determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes-no questions; each question must be put to exactly one god. The gods understand English, but will answer all questions in their own language, in which the words for yes and no are da and ja, in some order. You do not know which word means which.

I don't know. I would think it might be Einstein's Nationality/Pet puzzle, but I'll post that some other time.

T1B21

We had Langara Run today. :'(

It was raining, not super hard but just a little bit more than a drizzle, and we all thought we'd run it next class, but we did do it today. My fingers were literally so frozen I could barely flex them, but it got better by the time I got to Applied Skills. I basically got a shower-and-laundry session all in one in PE today, I was so wet. Literally, if I hadn't been wearing a rain jacket I would have gotten soaked. Which was awesome insight on my part, if I do say so myself. B-) :P

I also brought an iPod, earphones, and tissues. BUT, I do need to remember to bring extra socks next time, because my runners and socks were pretty soaked.

*Funny story: My runners were actually really muddy and dirty before (like on the sole/bottom), because we'd played football on the Oval the past few classes, and I'd been meaning to clean them (but I didn't). After school today, I was showing Tania my runners (because I thought they'd get even more dirty after Langara) and I was like, "Look at my dirty runners, they're so--WHOA THEY'RE SO SHINY!" I think I might have accidentally run in some rain puddles or something, but they were seriously clean and white, and some of the grass had even worked its way out of the cracks. So grateful, it makes cleaning so much easier. :)

T1B20

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, I missed out on this whole weekend to do homework and I constantly have this feeling like I'm forgetting something. You know how sometimes, for me it's usually in the classroom at the end of the day (like during elementary school where all your classes are with one teacher) I would be packing at the end of the day, and I would feel like there's something missing. I'd be like, "I think I'm forgetting something, but I don't know what." And then I'd stand there for like 10 minutes, just thinking, and sometimes I'd remember, but mostly not. And then, as soon as I leave the building, or enter the car, or step into home, I'd be like, "*FACEPALM* so THAT'S what I forgot!"

And if I'm really unlucky, it's due the next day. 

*facepalm* I can't count how many times I did that in Grade 6/7.

Anyway, I found this to-do list ages ago, but it was never really useful for me until now, when I just thought, OMG, this is like the perfect thing! Usually this to-do list is too small for me, but I'm using it right now to track commitments, clubs, extracurriculars, responsibilities, etc.

This is the blog post linked to it (from Botanical Paperworks): http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/blog/read,article/426/free-printable-chalkboard-style-to-do-list

And this is the actual list: http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/uploads/ck/files/Reverse_Chalkboard_ToDo_List(1).pdf

(trying to give credit by not linking only directly to the pdf)

Anyway, I'll try this out and see how it works. I'm thinking of also maybe getting a smaller copy to fit in my agenda, or to cut it, or whatever. As you can see, I'm a huge fan of organizing things. :D

T1B19

The answer to the riddle was:







*SPOILER ALERT*


















4100. Did you get 5000? I did too. Apparently 96% of the population gets 5000n when doing this math in their heads. :P If you don't believe me (and I didn't when I saw it at first) check it with a calculator. It will blow your mind. Then you go back and do it on paper and that's when everything makes sense.

T1B18

I'll wait a few days to post the answer to that brain teaser.

I just finished the Blood of Olympus. At first, it was kind of confusing, because I wasn't really sure where the story was going. I felt like the writing style, for Leo especially, was similar to Jennifer A. Nielsen's The False Prince Trilogy for Jaron. It was more mysterious and secretive, where Rick Riordan hints at things we find out about later, and he doesn't explain anything until near the end. There was more foreshadowing than in previous books. Also...

*SPOILER ALERT*

Leo find Calypso! Yaaaaaaaayyyy! This end is tied up! We all think Leo is going to die (Well, I didn't because I totally can't imagine Rick Riordan killing off Leo, he's a. funny, b. my favourite character, and c. just plain awesome. He's also unique. But on the other hand, the whole storm and fire thing is kinda, well... iffy. Also, Leo doesn't die when Clytius meets him in House of Hades, so...) but at the end, we realize he'd been assembling Festus in the hull and Festus injects him with the physicians cure (which I still don't get by the way) and he lives again and finds Ogygia and Calypso packs and was waiting for him and everything's happily ever after! Yaaaaaayyyyy! We actually end in a cliffhanger-ish situation, because Leo's about to go off with Calypso and we never find out where they go. Still. YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Okay, I'm done fangirling.

T1B17

I don't know if I've posted this before, but I ran across it again today, so here:

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

The most important thing is to NOT use a calculator, or paper or pencil. USE MENTAL MATH.

T1B16

I went to a debate workshop yesterday. It was for beginning debaters. I was in the junior category, which means we learned about the Canadian National Debate Format or something like that.

I just realized I'm writing like I'm in Kindergarten.

OKAY, sorry, let's not be kindergarteners.

Anyway, we were supposed to just learn CNDF, but I think there were a lot less juniors than they thought, so we kind of covered Cross-Ex (which is novice debaters) more. I actually knew most of the format, but I thought it would be good to get a sort of refresher and also, the teacher in charge, Ms. Spencer (I think that's how you spell her name?) had a lot of really good tips. I stayed for the practice rounds after, but I was working with someone I basically had met that day, and our communication wasn't very good, so the practice round wasn't very... well, effective... I mean, we certainly got practice, but not practice winning debates. Yes, I said "winning", because technically, you do have to "win" debates. Anyway, that day, I learned, first of all, that communication is VERY IMPORTANT (which I really should know by now, considering some of the experiences I've had... :P) and also, that it's really important to know good strategies for debating because, contrary to popular belief, it is NOT just arguing and is actually kind of complicated. Maybe one day I'll suddenly find the urge to explain it, but it's honestly so hard to do it that I just won't do it today. Because seriously, I know some terms and stuff, but it's really hard to learn at first. I should know.

And therefore, as a result, I have a pile of yesterday's homework awaiting me, because it went from basically 3 o'clock ('o clock? 'o'clock?) to about 8 pm. *sigh* But I had a lot of fun, and I learned a lot, so I therefore deem these 5 hours Not Wasted. :)

T1B15

I'm seeing triangles everywhere.

I got my mom into it too, because I was constantly going, "Hey look, there's a triangle... well it's vaguely shaped like a triangle... does that count as a triangle? Not really... wait but look if you do this to it..." My mom wash kinda like, "What on EARTH are you talking about???" so then I explained and now SHE'S looking for triangles everywhere too!

Hm, I should get my dad to do that too... }:) MWAHAHAHA--I mean, yes, that would be nice. *innocent smile*

T1B14

OMG I saw this today on a google plus post.

I died laughing.

It's a reference to The Last Olympian, where Percy tells his mom he'll ask Zeus to light up Mount Olympus (the Empire State Building) if he's okay and survives the final battle with the Titans.

T1B13

OMG THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally forgot! The Heroes of Olympus always come out on a Tuesday, but I thought today was October 6th! I know it comes out on October 7th, but AAAARRRGGGHHH I wanted to get it as soon as it came out. :( But I successfully pressured *COUGH COUGH* asked nicely my parents into going to get it for me tomorrow. :D I'm seriously so excited, I have been waiting for this for an entire YEAR since I finished the House of Hades, and I'm seriously excited. I was reminded by the Percy Jackson fandom Google + page, and I was like, NOOOO I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT!!!

But then I realized, that this is the last PJ book! :'( We won't have any more of Leo's jokes, or Percy's sarcastic comments, or Annabeth's battle strategies. We won't have any more Percabeth or Piper and Jason or Hazel and Frank or Leo and Calypso. I wonder if Rick Riordan's going to close up ties with Leo and Calypso. We won't have any more of Coach Hedge's military obsession or Mellie or Frank's "endearing clumsiness" or Hazel's wicked magic powers. WAAAHHH :'( :'( :'( so sad. *OBTW, I heard rumours of Reyna's POV this time. So excited, I've always admired Reyna. So powerful.

OMG I CAN'T WAIT I'M IN LIKE FULL SPASM MODE

T1B12

Oddly, I don't feel like I'm being swamped in homework.

We have a lot of things due this week--a Socials response due tomorrow, a science analogy due tomorrow, English presentation on Wednesday, the photos on Wednesday, Math quiz on Thursday, Spanish map on Thursday, plus I have a bunch of club commitments. But I finished my socials thing ahead of time, the science analogy and English presentation as well, I've caught up on Math and done a good part of my Spanish map, organized and noted down extracurricular commitments, and... yeah. I don't feel like there's a huge amount of things to do. And that is the first time I haven't in a week packed with "big assignments".

Oh also! We ran 6-laps in PE today, and I felt SO PROUD of myself. :D I improved from my time last year by 54 seconds--I got 17:46 last year, and 16:50 this year. My friend's just like, I GOT LIKE HALF A MINUTE WORSE, I GOT LIKE 12:40 and my reaction is just like GO AWAY YOU'RE MAKING THE REST OF US FEEL BAD, but for once, I didn't feel total dread after hearing my time. Granted, I was hoping to get something like 16:00 or 15:30 because I did run faster today than before, but I suppose a 2 1/2 minute difference is a wee bit too much. Catelyn did get faster by almost 2 1/2 minutes though, we were all shocked to the core. I borrowed Catelyn's iPod today while running, and I actually found that it took my mind off the running, because it gave me some background noise to focus on, instead of the usual silence and pounding of feet. Thus, I didn't think as much about the time or speed or how much my stomach hurts, I was more focused on going forward. I ran the first lap and it didn't feel long, and I'd done 3 before I knew it. And then, of course, by the end of the 4th lap I was like dying, but whatever. Yay me!

Okay, sorry, super long post/rant. But I really feel on top of things today. :D

T1B11

This got me so bad.

This will get you, too.

from http://mommyculture.com/?p=1552

T1B10

I'm feeling pretty awesome right now. :)

I just finished my Spanish worksheet, and a good way into my map. My group has also mainly finished our cell analogy for science. My other group's English short story project is mostly done, requiring only fine-tuning and practice. I've now only got... *counts to-do list* 4 things left to do.

:D

T1B9

I have a bajillion things to do, and I feel like I really need to get organized. Sometimes I procrastinate on some assignments and then every day after that I have to finish everything a day late, so to say, and I really like to use the weekends to get back on track if I need to. Like, for example, I'll have, say, a socials question sheet and a science worksheet, and maybe some Spanish workbook questions and a load of math. Maybe I'll finish the socials and science today, but then push Spanish and math tomorrow, and then I have to finish those first tomorrow and thus don't have as much time for tomorrow's homework. So then sometimes that get pushed back a day, and so on and so forth, until I get to Friday, when then I have to weekend to catch up. I really need that sometimes.

I'm trying to finish all my homework in like a specified order, because sometimes I forget, and that throws me off. I've found ∞ + 1 to-do lists, daily schedules, etc. but sometimes they don't work, then I have to go look for maybe a different one. Some work better for me than others, and sometimes, the best of them all is the all mighty yet so simple, agenda. For weekends, though, I prefer this one: http://getbuttonedup.com/tools2/free_printable_daily_schedule_form_template.pdf (props to ButtonedUp) because the agenda space is too small.

I've also noticed that I really like colour coding things. Like, for my agenda I'll use a different colour per subject, one for clubs, one for lunchtime/before- or after-school work, and sometimes one for lessons or extra events or whatever. I find that this really helps identify at a glance for me, reminders that need to happen as soon as I look at it, not 5 minutes later when I've realized that I need to do at least 3 other things during the same lunchtime and I've already missed the timeframe for one of them.

I just realized that this post turned into a huge, rambling article about... well, to be honest, I'm not too sure what anymore. Let's just go with "organizing". :)

T1B8

Okay, here's the answer to the day before yesterday's awesome riddle:

Twelve (12).

Noon and midnight are both 12 o’clock and the Twelve Days of Christmas is a popular Christmas carol.

There are twelve face cards in a standard 52-card deck and twelve is the largest number with one syllable.

There are twelve steps in Alcoholics Anonymous, a troy pound is 12 ounces, there were 12 tribes of Israel and a popular movie was called, “Twelve Angry Men” (12 members of the jury). There are twelve function keys on your keyboard. F1 often shows a help screen and F5 reloads pages in your browser.

Many recipes measure items by the dozen, adding one more for a baker’s dozen. There are twelve months in a year.

It’s surprising how many times the number twelve shows up in our culture.

Oh really. I should adopt it as my lucky number. :P

T1B7

This morning I learned the value of sleeping early. (Actually, it's something I should've learned about six years ago, but whatever.)

I slept at like 12 last night, and got up at 7:00 today because I had to take a shower, but I overslept and got up at 7:30. And by the time I got to the bridge, it was already 8:16. Not a good time. I entered the school at 8:35 so I was almost late. I'd meant to clean up my locker this morning, which I then didn't have time to do, so I did it at lunch. And that meant I ate way less than usual and was starving by the time I got home. :(

I have to sleep earlier, because my mom read an article that says if you don't sleep before 11pm your body and organs can't function correctly. For youth AND adults. So now we're all really paranoid about sleeping early :P which is good. I'm aiming to sleep at about 10:30 because that's when I sleep best, sometimes if I sleep earlier I lie in bed for a while, and usually after about 11 I can't sleep well at all--like it takes me at least 15 minutes to fall asleep after that. But if I sleep between 10:30 and 11:00, I usually fall asleep with in 5-10 minutes.

T1B6

OMG I came upon this awesome riddle from this riddle site I haven't visited in ages:

You’ll see me when the sun is high and also late at night,
I’m in the songs of holidays, when the snow is white,

Kings and Queens and royalty, are all found in me,
I’m the largest of them all, with just one you see,

Step by step with pounding feet, I’m tribes of angry men,
I’m above your hands right now, for help or to go again,

You’ll use me in the kitchen, or add a little more,
I’ll be in the years to come, and the days of yore.

What am I?

And it's... pretty misleading. As all riddles are. But I really like this one because it rhymes really well :)