I need Practise.

Well, today wasn't all that bad, I guess. While my mom and Adam went to the library, my sister and I were dropped off at the local skate-park, just like I'd wanted. It seems like an interesting place to be around. Loads of guys practicing their skills there. And they are reeeeally good! I feel like I'll never get to their level. Needless to say, Annette and I were about the only girls there... we were definitely the only ones with Ripsticks instead of skateboards.

So imagine this. This 13 year old kid sees that we're beginners and shows us how he can easily go down a 3-something foot ramp. Just my guesstimation. So then, I follow his lead and go down, but I had to have done something wrong, because next thing I know, I'm on my butt and in paaaaaain! I don't know what happened. I think I leaned backward instead of forward, something technical. I must have been scared.

Now don't get excited. I didn't break anything. (Thank god!) The worst I endured was red hands and an aching posterior region. ^,^ (I can't help smiling. That sounds funny, even though it didn't feel funny at the time.) After several minutes of sitting down, I was up and ready to go again. My fall didn't affect my "ripping" skills in the slightest.

But the damage had been done. I am now traumatized by that cursed ramp. I cannot look down that ramp without thinking about me falling on my butt again. I mastered the much less steep ramps fine, to my great pleasure, but I didn't have the nerve to conquer my fear. No matter how many times Annette showed me how easy it was for her. (After my fall, she quickly learned mastered the technique required for such a stunt. Lucky.) Every time I'd decide to give it another try, I'd look down and I'd feel a tingling in my rear end, reminding me of what could happen if I wasn't careful. It's funny. My butt made my decision for me instead of my brain.

You get the idea. But I promise you: the next time I get to that skate-park, that ramp is going down! My butt will undoubtedly be healed by then.

This was a good story for me to tell. To me, anyway. It was fun to tell, and I'm able to laugh and joke about it afterwards. How about that? On another subject... I'm reading Eclipse! It came for me in the library, at long last! I'm so happy. I'm already on chapter 4. The story's awesome. I don't care what anyone else says about the Twilight Saga. I love it. I can't wait to see what happens next. In fact, maybe I'll read some more right now! Bye!

I got a new toy!

This is so incredible! Me so happy! Yesterday I decided that I wanted to own a Ripstick, you know, one of those wave-board things? I've wanted one for quite awhile, like since the SATs I've fantasized of getting "rewarded" with something fun.

So my dad drove us to Sports Authority, Annette and I used our own money to buy 2 boards (they cost about $80 each) and we walked out of the store happy. And no, I did not get a pink board, like pictured here. I got a blue one, just like Annette. If I did get a pink one, though, that would be awesome. ^,^

I've been having so much fun with this! I mastered the board in, what, 5 minutes? I'm like a pro! Well, maybe not a real pro. We got a free how-to-ride dvd with the Ripstick and it showed these professional riders doing all kinds of stunts. I'm definitely not there yet. But I know how to ride off of a sidewalk onto a street and not fall off. I think there should be a skatepark somewhere near us. I'd like to test it out there.

Today I woke up early so my sister and I could "rip" to the supermarket, which is normally our walking route. We are getting soo good. This could be like a new hobby of mine. Hey, does anyone else out there know how to ride a board or something?

KCA, L&K, and SNL

I don't know if I'm too old to actually watch Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, but I do know that this show is a whole lot better than the Oscar Awards. That's because it gives awards to people that kids really care about, and kids get to vote, not just people behind the scenes who only think they know who deserves awards. Plus I see a load more famous people that I love and recognize. I think kids know movies a lot better than adults. Here are some things that I enjoyed about the show:

• iCarly won for Best T.V. show. I'm glad it did. That show is so randomly funny.
• The cast of HSM 3 came up to accept the award for favorite all-time movie. It was really cool. Corbin Bleu got to yell his "What Team!" chant one last time. That was cool.
• The Jonas Brothers won best Music Group. No surprise there. The other nominees were no competition.
• The Twilight Saga won for Best Book Series. The guy who plays Jacob (Taylor Lautner. I think he's pretty cute!) accepted it for Stephenie Meyer and said that New Moon will show up in November! I think that is so exciting!
• Leonardo DiCaprio, one of my favorite male actors (even if he's now 34) accepted a Big Green Help award. That's for being a great environmentalist. That's really awesome. I had no idea that he actually drove a hybrid car and has solar panels on his roof.
• Dwane Johnson, who was hosting the KCA, said he would either pretend to be an opera singer, knit a pair of legwarmers, or dress up as Miley Cyrus. He asked everyone to vote which they'd rather have him do. We decided, "what the heck?" and voted for him to dress as Miley. I was glad and thought it was funny when "the Rock" walked out in a red Miley Cyrus dress. This allows me to believe that our vote truly mattered in this show. Again, a big reason why I like this better than the Oscars.

Now there were also some things that I thought were funny and a little wrong:

• The group that played before the Jonas Brothers, a group I'd never heard of before, The Pussy Cat Dolls, weren't all that good, in my opinion. I have no idea why kids would want to listen to these girls' songs. None, other than the fact that these woman look really sexy and wear tight pants and have big... you know. They probably appeal to young boys. I don't like it, though. For one thing, their songs aren't hummable, unlike the ones the Jo Bros' play. For another, these "Pussy Cats" don't look like a real group. Only the lead singer woman in front stood out among the five members. I didn't get an impression from anyone else. But the Jonas Brothers? Their fans have a reason to love all three of them. They are their own personalities, they're young and they're all good looking. But that's just me.
• Wall-E failed again to get an award for best Animated Movie. The one that did win was Madagascar 2. I find that strange, since it was up against Bolt and Kung-Fu Panda. Madagascar, to me, seemed the least likely to win. I really didn't like that film, especially when compared to the other films. I was so sad for Wall-E. It doesn't seem like the kids appreciated it as much as Annette, Adam and I did.
• The burping competition was a little weird. I don't know what the point of that was.
• When Will Ferrel (I don't think this guy's funny anymore) went for the record of sliding down a slime luge, or a sluge. I wasn't impressed. And another thing. Why is Nickelodeon all about slime? I do not get kids who want to be splashed in green gook. It gets all in your face and your hair and your clothes...Ughhhh. What is it made of, anyway?

Okay. I'm done. Now I can tell you that we've almost shot the entire April Fools episode of Leslie and Kyle. I think it's really funny. I'd say it's about three quarters finished. Sorry. I thought I'd have a lot more to say on this subject. But I'm pretty tired from writing all about the KCA.

Also, tonight's SNL episode is a rerun. The one with Alec Baldwin and the Jonas Brothers. I didn't really know that. So I'm kind of disappointed. Well, at least next week will be a new episode. Seth Rogen will host. And I hear that the week after that, Zac Efron will. That's exciting.

Alright, I'm out.

Long time, no see (er, blog)

Hey, really sorry that I haven't been blogging in a while. It's not that I placed another "no blogging for a week" restriction on myself again. I've just had a lot on my mind lately. I'm basically trying to figure out what I should do with my life now. Go to college, get a job... how do other teens do it?

BTW, I think my sister and I have some sort of job oppurtunity, because there's this small restaurant called "Salad Creations," (sounds like us, huh?) so all we have to do is decide whether we actually want the job.

As you guys can see from my count-down, April Fool's Day will soon be upon us. Oh my god! That means that March is going to be over! NOOOO!!! Not another month down! The year is now a quarter over! I feel cheated. On the plus side, though, that takes us a little closer to the month of May and all of it's excitements. Pendragon #10, Jacoby's 100 clue hunt...

Hey, didja know that on T.V. I saw that the Jonas Brothers are going to play in Florida some time in August? I was so thrilled for an instant, but bummed when I realized how long we had to wait. Yeah. You boys reading this probably aren't that excited at this news. Doesn't matter.

I'm feeling really random today. No surprise, since I haven't blogged in a week, I guess. Yesterday I went to Borders again (I loooove going there!) and, since I finished the Bone series (see my book blog for clarification), I decided to start in reading the first chapters of books I simply can't wait for:

Eclipse (Funny, in the beginning Bella is applying for different colleges herself. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to do)

Pendragon: Before the War #3 (I couldn't believe it was in the store already! I read 3 chapters into that one. All about Loor. She's pretty on the cover)

The Fire Eternal, (This is from a great series, by Chris D'Lacey. I haven't been able to reserve it in forever)

And One False Note, the second 39 clues book (to tide me over until Jacoby's 100 clue hunt begins ^,^. I also cracked the code in the middle of the book).

Yeah. Big whoop. You know what I'm reading. I can't believe I don't have anything else to read while at home! It's so frustrating!

I've looked back through James Dashner's blog, looking for all those Dashnog words that were suggested, but which the inventor neglected to attach a meaning to them. There's at least 20 of them. They're listed at the bottom. Look here. I hope someone can make suggestions for these lonely words. It's for a good cause. Furthering the great, funny language of Dashnog for all the Dude's loyal, psychotic fans. Of course, besides these lost words, my dictionary has over 90 words, so it's really getting there.

I must admit, with all these distractions, I haven't been paying a load of attention to working on my own book writing project. You know, Imazia? I'm not sure what it is. But I'm willing to bet that a little online encouragement will do me wonders.

Everyone better beware on April Fools day. I'm plotting something really tricky for you guys. You might even call it an evil prank. MUAH-ha-HA-ha-HA-ha! It's the perfect joke. Genuis, I say! You'll see...

Also, today Annette and I are going to work on filming a new Leslie and Kyle sock puppet show to commemorate April 1st. We've already got some of it done, but we need to shoot some more. It should be up on YouTube come Fools Day. It should be a big hit. Really funny. About time, too. We haven't made an episode since Valentines. Huh.

Well, I guess that's enough out of me. Better get on with my day!

A Historical post ^,^

This post is very special to me for a number of reasons.

• It's the 50th post in my blog, which is halfway to 100. ^,^
• I've calculated that today is the 100th day in which I've been blogging, so that's pretty darn cool.
• Even though my calendar says that yesterday was the first day of Spring, I believe Spring always comes on the 21. Which is today. ^,^ I love Spring.

Besides the technicalities, yesterday's events can only be described as historical in my book.

For one thing, my good friend, Jacoby, (aka, J.N. Future Author) at long last came through with his promise to send me some of his writing. No one knows how happy this made me when I checked my inbox to see it waiting for me to be read, except for my loving twin sister, Annette. I read it completely and gave it lots of corrective notes in a thorough fashion. I imagined that Q would give it similar treatment. Still, it's a fine piece of work. Jacoby, you should be proud of it, no matter what I say. ^,^

I also discovered that J.N. finally decided to contribute to my book blog. Check it out! I liked it. The only thing is, Jacoby, you forgot to mention the page length. I consider that important info. I found out the publication date on Wiki, though.

For futhur excitement, I went to the book store Borders yesterday, where two special things happened. 1: I finished the Bone series. To tell you the truth, the ending was a bit anticlimactic, but I still loved it. 2: I at last spotted James Dashner's Hunt for Dark Infinity on the shelf! I read the prologue, which was only a couple pages long. It doesn't make any sense, but then again, how many prologues make sense? I wanted to have it so much!!! But it costs almost $20. I think I'd rather wait for it to come in the library.

The last thing that happened was later that night, I started chatting with Q and, out of the goodness of her heart, she decided to let me read one of her short stories. Now that is a brilliant work of literature. (Not to take anything away from you, Jacoby ^,^.) It was lots of fun talking to her besides.

Anyway, it's really thrilling for me how much history this post cotains. You may not exactly share my sympathies, since you're not me, but hopefully you understand.

Continuing

And so we go. I appreciate everyone's reactions to my new background. This one is definitely a keeper. Well, not that I'll keep it forever, but it's really cool, so I think I'll have it for a good while. The following text are all random thoughts of mine that deserve airing out.

Things are fine down here. Spring will soon be upon us. In several hours, in fact. I have another improv class later tonight. I think it'll be our... 5th one so far (sorry, had to check for a moment there). Still a few more to go. I hope it goes well.

I am impatient with the library system. I've reserved both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn and only the latter has come in. I remember once getting Eclipse, but in Spanish. Guess I didn't notice what I was reserving. I returned that, reserved the right copy, and have been waiting ever since.

It's not right that I should have the monstrous Breaking Dawn sitting on my shelf of library- borrowed materials, but not Eclipse. I am also in eager anticipation of seeing Twilight on DVD, which I am also forced to wait for. It'll be so cool watching it at home for the second time, with subtitles on.

I seem to be unable to find the time to work on my Imazia story. Since after the *** test (I don't even want to refer to it), it looks like we're back on with updating that old language program of ours. You know, the one that teaches you to write the letters and says their names? It sure has been a while since we worked on that last.

We now have 14 languages on board, though still with some problems. The newest sound files, of South African English and German, were hastily recorded on the beach. Remember, this is only a placeholder. This program will be polished up, probably by other experts, at a much later time. We've been animating Russian letters today as well as improving a certain perl script. To see the result of our work so far, visit this link, or try the link on my sidebar. You know, the one advertising the ABCs and 123s?

This annoys me that I can't really think about my novel. I really want to. In fact, my mom keeps reminding me to work on it, or at least make a plan to. I just don't know what to do. I keep distracting myself with books, movies, and things online (of course). Recently, with Dashner's newest post, I got to be the first to comment, and in honor of this I invented a couple Dashnog words.

For those who don't know, Dashnog (made up of the words "Dashner" and "blog") is a funny language that commenting fans spontaneously add to by seeing the verification word given and inventing a wildly random meaning to go with it. You may not believe this, but I have single-handedly gone back through all of Dashner's most recent posts, read through the tons and tons of comments in search of the Dashnog words and their definitions, and compiled them into one document. I have them in a very neat dictionary format that credits each inventor.

Random Dashnog facts you should know:

• I have 70 words included in the entire document. I did not include any anonymous words or those words which didn't provide a meaning with them.
• Each word, definition and usage (if any) were copied straight from the comments with very little editing.
• The Dashner fan known as Donna seems to be the one who started the concept of Dashnog. She came up with the first word on March 3, 2009. She invented the most Dashnog words of anyone. 22 of them. Good for you, Donna!
• It took me a couple days to search through all the comments. It was an educational experience. Did you know that this Dude gets at least 20 or something comments every single post? The most he got was around 80. I find that unbelievable. I wish I got that many comments. Like him, I'd read every one.
• I learned how to publish a Google Document, so any of you guys can see it online. Here's the link. As more people invent words, I will continue to post them. Someone tell Donna about this. She'd like to know about it. Note that I do not plan to do anything with these words, I just want them viewable in one place. I understand she wants to use them in her book or whatever, so I won't touch them. I hope you guys don't either. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get to know her, because she only allows invited people. Too bad. Next time Dashner posts, maybe I'll advertise myself.

I think that's enough out of me for now. (By the way, how do you like these words?)

Some Changes

For a couple days I've been taking it super easy-like. Going to the beach, watching lots of movies, just chill-axing and trying to get over a slight sniffle. I think I've pretty much deserved my leisure, after all my work studying for the SATs. But now that that's over and done with, and the weekend is out, I feel like I've got to get back to work on my life. I really think change is what I need.

I decided to go ahead and change my background. Here's the old one and the new one together. How about that. I wait for three months to change it. What do you think of the improvement?

Recently I've been looking through my archives and giving them more appropriate labels. It's really funny, looking through one's old posts. It makes you think how silly and different you were from when you first started out blogging to now. Yeah, sure, I should talk. I've only been on for 3 months and change.

The thing is, I'm worrying about how the year 2009 is practically a quarter over. I should be doing so much more with myself. It's just this restless, impatient, unshakable feeling I've got. I wish the changes I want would happen instantly, but I know that I can only get them if I work for them.

I don't know what I'm trying to say here. Maybe I need to think some more. I'll get back to you when I don't feel so morbid and pensive. Ha. Funny I should feel that way with my new background, but I do. I'm just gonna do something else now.

Mission soooo Accomplished!

Well, you know what this means, don't you? Yep, that's right. I am totally done with the Scholastic Aptitude Test. I am so utterly relieved, not to mention proud of myself. I don't think I did too bad a job. (Thanks a bunch to those who commented last post and wished me luck! ^,^)

Turns out I had little to worry about. My essay topic wasn't very difficult. Something about ethics, or the lack thereof. In preparation the previous day, I'd read some advice online that it's a good idea to sprinkle fancy words here and there, so that's what I did. Words like "antagonist" and "mendacity" (something to do with lying) and "jettison" (to abandon or get rid of, like throwing out those bags of sand in a hot-air balloon). As soon as I'm able (and if I'm allowed), I'll copy the essay when it gets on the internet and make sure you guys get to read it.

One down side is that I missed 15 math questions. I made sure I counted them. According to the same online source, each question is worth about 10 points, so I'm surely 150 points down right now. 2400 is the top score, in case you didn't know. So I know I'm not going to get a perfect score, but I'm hoping for something above 2000. I'm quite positive that I hardly messed up on the rest of the questions, though. I didn't leave a single reading or writing question in the section blank.

But it was really awesome, because the confidence my acceptable (at least to me) essay gave me kept me floating happily, but diligently, for the entire test. I was also pretty grateful for those breaks. I think we might have taken too much cereal for snacks, though. Oh well. All in the past.

So after the test was over (thank goodness!), Annette and I took 3 buses and walked a couple miles to get home. Turns out we didn't make that cool stop I talked about earlier. Well, we did, but not for as long as I'd fantasized. Sawgrass Mall. Not that I'd wanted to shop much, but just to hang out, maybe eat something to celebrate. But all we decided to get was a slice of pizza to share and then we caught the next bus.

My book, Scat, was a very good book to read, especially on the long bus rides. I finished it at home just a while ago. You can expect my report on it on my other blog shortly. Anyway, it was great to come home again. Adam and our parents had gone to the beach, so us twins were on our own for the day. I made myself a bowl of "zasta" in under 10 minutes, with the help of our newly acquired vegetable garnish machine thingy, something called a Spiral-Slicer. It produces thinner, even better strands of zucchini pasta than a person ever could. Alright, I think I should stop sounding like a commercial now.

Basically, we both relaxed and chilled the rest of the day. We saw a movie. But you know, I also think I detected a bit of itchiness somewhere in my throat. I hope I don't get sick. Oh, before you go all crazy and start pointing fingers at the college board, blaming them for my sickness, I want you to chill. I think I may have picked it up from my brother. Adam said his throat was a little scratchy too. But with good luck, I'm sure this will pass over quickly.

Ah, I just want to say again how glad I am that I don't have to care about stupid tests anymore! Such a relief! Now I can get back to my old life again. I can devote much more time to writing more in my Imazia story and not have to worry about using the time to study instead. I'm gonna have so much fun, writing full-time again!... Well, maybe not full-time, but as full as I can manage. I should also concentrate on thinking about my future, where I should go now from here.

BTW, I didn't take a load of pictures at the testing center like I thought I would. Just a couple. And I don't think they're really worth posting on Picture Perfect.

In the meantime, Saturday Night Live is on in several minutes. (SNL. What a much more pleasant sounding three letter acronym than SAT, don't you think?) G'night everybody!

It's Go Time, baby!

You guys probably don't know this about me, but even when I've had a long run of sleeping in late, if I have to get up early in the morning for something real important, say, my SAT TEST!!!! then I am able to wake up whenever I have to. Sometimes without the alarm, even.

For example, at my end it's a little before 5:30, and we're supposed to leave the house at 7:15, because the testing center is about a half hour's drive from here. For some reason, they ask you to show up early instead of on time. :~P

I'm not exactly supposed to be up this early. Not that I'm not allowed to, but every one else is sleeping at this time. So shhhhhhh! I don't want to wake anyone! Our alarm is set more for 6:15. I simply wanted to prove myself that if I had to make myself get up early, I could. And I did. I always do, it seems. Also, I wanted to make sure I had the time to keep you guys posted. ^,^

So here's the plan. Already, Annette and I've got all these supplies set up and ready to go:

• Four sharpened #2 pencils with good erasers (2 for me, 2 for Annette. They say we need to be prepared)
• A couple reliable but uncomplicated calculators
• Our SAT entrance ticket thingies that we had to print out
• Cereal in baggies to eat on the breaks between sections, plus two apples.
• Photo ID (in the form of our Florida driver's permits, which I hope will soon turn into full-blown driver's licences)
• A couple good wrist-watches, to keep better track of time than the ol' clock on the wall (borrowed from parents)
• A couple good books to read whenever bored. I have the book Scat, by Carl Hiaason (which I'll talk about later in my book blog), and Annette is going to read Join Me, on my recommendation.
• Our digital camera, just in case we want to take some historical pictures or something, like Annette and I in front of the school or soemthing. Any photos of this kind you'll see in several hours on Picture Perfect.
• Some "cheat sheets" with a bunch of fancy SAT words to read over before the test, so we get them inside our heads, like when we're waiting outside the building.
• We are also set with some money, because after the test is finally over we're going to be taking the bus home. And maybe stop somewhere on the way. I'll tell you about it later.

Yep. I think my sister and I are quite well-prepared for this test, don't you? Then again, despite all our preparation, I still feel a tiny prick of nervousness somewhere. But that's natural, I'll bet. To feel just a bit nervous right before you go out there, like in a play. The show must go on, as they say in theater.

You know, I was just remembering the last time I took the SAT test, a few months ago, before I even began blogging. We took it on Nov. 1 of '08, which was a kind of funky time, being the day right after Halloween. I recall being extremely nervous at that time. I had no idea what to expect at that time. But now I do. Well, some idea. This test is going to be at a different school, so I don't know if there'll be a difference. Most likely not, though.

So I think I'd better stop now. Already it's just past 6:00. I don't think I'll be able to sneak off back to sleep again, but I can try. I think I hear someone lurking, up and about now, though I can't be sure. I just want to say something, maybe a little goofy, but relevant to this time. "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!" *say it like Spongebob Squarepants.* Yeah, told you it was goofy. But that's kind of how I feel. So good night... er, morning! Wish me good luck! I'll tell you all about it when I get home later! 'Bye! ^,^

Monthiversary #3

Sorry guys. I didn't really make time to post last night, even though I'd really wanted to. I had another improv class. Wasn't all that good. I also watched a movie really late with my brother and sister. By then I was really tired.

But now I'm fresh in the morning, up earlier than I've done in recent times. Adam's just put on the High School Musical 3 soundtrack, so forgive me if I seem a little distracted. (Awesome music. I liked this movie the best of the HSM series.)

But the reason I'm posting now is solely because it's my 3rd month using Blogger. I'm so amazed at how far I've come in my blog writing "adventure". 45 posts in 3 months. Pretty amazing, huh? I notice that J. N. didn't post #45 until into his 5th month. Ha ha. (Just teasing. ^,~) I doubt I'll have a big plan for my readers by the time I'm at my 100th post, like Jacoby does, but I do look forward to when I reach that point. I don't know why, but I do.

I just want to thank all my bestest friends for giving me at least one comment for every post I put up. (All except for 4. Don't worry though. The first three all come from the beginning, and the fourth is my valentine post. I can understand why no one wanted to comment then. ;P)

Plus, as Q just pointed out, it's Friday the 13th today. Watch out for black cats and stuff like that! Just kidding. I'm not superstitious about that day. On the contrary, I treat it like a good luck day, not a bad one. There's not really any proof in my belief, since I don't remember anything lucky happening to me on such a day, but I've never been unlucky then, so... Have a great day!

BTW, I'm debating whether I should replace my background. Suggestions?

Time

At the moment, I do not think time is my friend. It is very disobediant (as if time could obey anyone!) and tricky. It doesn't do what I would want it to do. Like, my SAT test is three days away now. I am so nervous, anxious for test day to arrive, I just wish it would come already. Put me out of my misery, have done with it already. Then I wouldn't be so worried anymore.

But no, I have to wade through the many hours that still seperate me from the SAT test. It's as if time is tired. Or spiteful, maybe. It wants me to suffer. To live out each hour as fully as I can before the day jumps on me.

We have to return the big SAT book we're using to study to the library today. I'm so worried. I don't think I've spent enough time working on my essay skills. Oh sure, I feel a lot more confident about my math skills, but the essay is the first thing they hit you with! It should have been the first thing on my mind. The day is only three days away! I've said that already, right? And what will I do without my big study book? Another example of time being a meany. I don't feel as if I worked long enough, and time decided to take it away from me. All the time I could have spent productively. Gone.

I am wishing, begging, willing for time to listen to me, but it is deaf to all reasoning. It is not my friend at all. I don't know what I did wrong for it to treat me like this. I'll just have to grin and bear it until test day. Well, at least bear it. And then I know what will happen. After test day, I'll feel as if the world has been lifted off my shoulders, like Atlas. I will get back to my life and everything will be back to the way it was before I began getting completely stressed about the SATs. Oh, how I wish for that day to come quickly.

Just now I was practising writing with Annette. We wanted to be meticulous about it and we used a timer. We'd take 2 minutes to understand our essay prompt, about 5 minutes to plan out our examples and how we want the essay to go, 15 minutes to actually write everything out, and the last couple minutes to quickly check our work for mistakes or correction. Annette went first and I kept the time. As I watched the time pass, I realized that it went even slower for me than usual. Each minute felt five times as long. After the twenty-five minutes were over, I honestly felt I'd been sitting for over a couple hours. Think about it. 25 x 5 is 125 minutes. 2 hours and five minutes, by my personal perception.

And then, when it was my turn, it felt completely the opposite. It seemed I had so little time in which to plan and write a good piece when in truth I knew it was the same amount of time as Annette. Okay, I think my essay was okay, but certainly nothing to brag about. Who can produce a good piece of literature in 25 minutes? It is so unfair, the restraints the college board sets on teenagers.

I believe that George Carlin says it best when it comes to time.

Watch this. I think you'll like it.

A couple special days

Hey, you know I forgot to mention a couple posts ago that March 3rd was a semi-holiday. Square Root Day, the brainiacs of the world call it. 3-3-09. Pretty rare day. The only Square Root Days we've had in the recent past occurred on 1-1-01 and 2-2-04. The next time I'll get to see a Square Root Day will be April 4 in 2016! I'll be twenty-five or something then! Just something to think about...

And as we all know, it's Day Light Savings today, so I hope you've changed your clocks. *frown* Why do we need a Day Light Savings Day anyway? It's so bothersome and confusing to me! :~P

I hope everyone's had a great weekend. I did. Chatted with a friend. ;~) Who saw SNL last night?

Alas, the weekend has to end sometime. Tomorrow it'll be back to the grind for me. Practicing math problems and working my essay muscles. Man, I can hardly wait until the SAT turns into an old memory for me. I'll have 6 to 8 weeks to forget all about it then.

I should think about what I'll do after I take the test. Look into different colleges or something, I guess. Since I'm home-schooled, I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to go about this. You guys going to school probably already know what you want to do and have plans before you take the SAT. Not me. I have my lofty Harvard dreams, to be sure. But I don't do anything about them.

Maybe I don't need to go all the way up to Massachusetts, though, even if they do have the best colleges there. Online courses sound interesting, but I want to meet people. Not just virtually, but physically. I want to see the world. I don't know what I want to do, though. Writing is the only thing that comes to mind for me. But what school do you go to for that, when there are so many good books on writing? I like theater too, I guess. Acting, singing, dancing. I also enjoy nature a lot. Caring for animals, exploring a mountain trail.

I wish I camped more. Wish I could see all the stars in one place; the lights are too bright here. Wish I could stand under a famous landmark, like the Eiffel Tower, or Big Ben. Wish I could row a boat or canoe up a calm stream. Even a rough stream, with rapids. Have an adventure. Wish I could learn to snowboard, or parachute, or hang-glide. Wish I could get together with friends and take a long, fun road-trip somewhere. Wish I could meet friends I know, but do not know.
Wsih ym fnreid wulod kepe ihs psoimers mroe otefn nad hrury ti pu wtih ihs pgoluroe. ~,~

Sorry. It's ultra late now. I should stop. I didn't mean to write so much, anyway. 'Bye.

Today's my half birthday.

Yep. It's March 7th today. The day I turn 17 and a half. It's been 6 months since I got a year older. Do you keep track of when your half-birthday is? I normally don't, but it's something I noticed. I've gotten pretty used to the idea of being 17 by now. Kind of like after 2 months and a week, I've gotten used to the idea of the year being 2009. Whoa, isn't that scary? 2 months and a week? Thinking like that makes me feel like I've accomplished so little!

Lately I've been doing a lot of SAT studying. Another frightening fact that involves time is that it's now exactly a week from my official test. *scared squeak* 7 days from now I'm going to be stuck in some classroom, working my brain and bubbling answers for 3, nearly 4 hours. Now, I'm not quite so frightened or worried as that. I'm a smart person, a good test taker. I've been working my math muscles and I feel pretty confident about my chances. Ironically enough, the part of the SAT I'm most worried about is...

the essay.

Isn't that funny? I love writing, but I'm scared of the thought of writing an essay. Especially in the conditions they give you to write in, right? It's the first thing they make you do in the test. You're in a classroom, surrounded by other test-takers, forced to write on a specific topic. You have to form some sort of opinion or argument and make your stand on the subject with solid examples. Ideally the essay should have good organization and reveal a good flow of thought with few grammar mistakes. All this you must accomplish in about 25 minutes.

Okay, I'm going to move to a different subject, because all this talk of SATs makes me worried. Um, my improv class on Thursday was pretty fun. Yeah. I know everyone's names and we play lots of good games. The games are all completely different every session, it seems. I don't know what to expect. Like in one game, a person sings a couple lines from a song he knows, then another person taps him and takes his place singing another song that has something to do with the first song. Here's an example of how this can go:

"The sun will come out, tomorrow! Bet your bottom doll..." *tap*
"Here comes the sun, dootin doo doo. Here comes the sun, and I say it's alright. Little darlin..." *tap*
"It's alright, it's okay, we can beat them anyway. Goooo team!" *tap*
"2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?!"*tap*
"2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 4 are 8, 8 and 8 are 16..." *tap*
"I am 16 going on 17..."

You get the idea by now, right? Totally fun game. You don't know what's going to happen next. Of course, it only works best when you've got at least 10 people playing.

I've made a breakthrough in the 39 clues website. Before there was this game that wouldn't work for me, not even on a library computer, so I couldn't really get the clue. So I left it for a couple days and then tried again. Now I've completed 2 whole missions. This means nothing to you unless you've signed on 39 clues. Which you probably haven't. Not that I blame you. I recommend the book, not the game. I think I'll reserve the 2nd book.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I wrote that Imazia girl back. This is what I said:

Dear Imazia,

Thanks a lot for the email. I would never have guessed that a name I randomly invented would actually exist as someone else's name.

I basically came up with the name 3 years ago, when I had the idea for my book. I started playing with the word "Imagine," toying with the letters. Imagic, Imazine, Imazi, imaginazia... that sort of thing. I was trying to come up with something that had a Fantasia sounding ring, like Narnia or Terebithia or something. Imazia was my final decision. It had just that touch I wanted.

I am curious myself how you got to have the name Imazia. Does it mean anything? Are you named after someone else? Did your mom or dad come up with it or did neither?

I'm glad to make your acquaintance over the internet.

Sincerely, Bettina.

I sent the email a couple days ago. She hasn't answered yet.

I guess that's all I have to report. So... see ya later.

*Goes off to a corner, singing to self* Happy half-birthday to me, happy half-birthday to me........

I'm Baaaaaack! Miss me?

Surprise! Finally my self-imposed week is up! Now I can blog all I want!

Man, what a vacation. Of course, I haven't kept a lot of my promises so rigidly. I've managed to read quite a few books (pretty good ones too) and I have not been able to fully resist checking my dashboard for new posters. I'm still caught up with all my blogger friends, reading and commenting their new stuff. And I've posted on my book blog a few times, but I told myself it doesn't really count, because it's just about the books I read.

If you haven't seen by now, Jacoby, I also posted on your Picture Perfect blog. I hope you like it. We should post more on that one.

I am very excited about J. N. writing his hundredth post. I can not imagine what he has in store for us with this riddle game of his. 100 clues all over the Internet. That will be a constant head-scratcher for me until he releases it. Then I'll have to scratch my head some more, no doubt.

You know, it's a little bit of a coincidence that he's announced this clue thingy when I've just started reading The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan. I think I like it a bit better than his Olympian series. Well, 39 seems tough enough, but J.N.'s going for 100. I wish you the best of luck on you project, Future Author.

In other news, I haven't exactly been writing in my Imazian story a lot, but I have been writing a lot of other stuff. I've picked up this writing book by Gail Carson Levine (ever heard of her? Ella Enchanted?) called Writing Magic. I think it's really good. I talked a bit about it in my book blog. It's got all these neat creative exercises that I'm actually trying out. I don't often do that. It's as if a cork has popped out of me and has unleashed these new story ideas that I believe show some potential. See, Gail's first exercise, right from the first chapter, says to pick at least one of the 10 following random story beginning lines:

1 ~ I have one green eye and one brown eye. The green eye sees truth, but the brown eye sees much, much more.
2 ~ The ghost was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
3 ~ "Be nice," my father said. "After all, he's your brother."
4 ~ I am the most famous twelve-year-old in the United States.
5 ~ Jason had never felt so foolish before, and he hoped he'd never feel so foolish again.
6 ~ If somebody didn't do something soon, they were going to have a catastrophe on their hands.
7 ~ Alison was the runt of the family, born small and ill-favored, and by the time she was thirteen, she was still small and ill-favored.
8 ~ It was a witchy house: the low-slung roof; that quiet gray paint; those squinting, shuttered windows; and the empty porch rocker that rocked, rocked, rocked day and night.
9 ~ The first time I saw Stephen, he painted a hex sign on my right arm, and I couldn't move my fingers for 3 hours.
10 ~ Ms. Fleming's wig had gone missing.

And then you write a story from it. You're supposed to write for at least 20 minutes. I want to write all 10, and I've done the top 6 so far. I'd like very much to show you what I've written, but that would be much too long. Just know that my favorite works start with the lines from #4 and #6. If you're interested in them, tell me. But before you do, I urge you to try out one of the starting lines. Then maybe we could trade off.

Now, speaking of Imazia, you wouldn't believe this. Just the other day, I get an email that reads:
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Dear Ms. Bettina Levy:

I recently googled my name and noticed your blog. I am a recording artist in the US and the UK and I just HAVE TO ask where you got the name, (My name), "IMAZIA" ? I've never seen or heard my name anywhere else, nor seen it spelled that way. I have a DBA under my name, so I am just curious :) . Hope you have a wonderful day. Good luck with your book!!

Sincerely, Imazia

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Can you guys believe this? Somewhere out in the world, there is a person with the same exact spelling of a name I invented 3 years ago as the name for my magical setting! Well, I simply couldn't believe it. I haven't replied this person yet. I don't think I'd know what to say. Should I say something back?

Anyway, I hope you guys are pleased to hear from me again. I look forward to writing here more often. Oh, and BTW, I would very much appreciate it if someone commented on a few of my book posts. I don't think anyone has for half a dozen posts. I don't mean to make any of you feel guilty, but I'd be very cheered up if you took some time for them.

Also, I hate bringing this up, but J.N.? Remember the prologue? I hope your project doesn't make you too busy to keep an old promise.