Random School Day #4: eReaders

Well, I'm in school. Again. And I'm done with my work before everyone else. Again. One day, teachers won't get surprised that I actually do my work. It still bewilders me how people don't get their stuff done when they're given the time and resources to finish it in class. Whatever. That's their problem.

The thing I want to discuss today is eReaders. I understand the convenience and all of that, but I just don't understand why you'd want them for all of your books. Personally, I take pride in looking at my bookshelf and seeing it chock full of books. If I just had an eReader, I'd most likely just have a little tiny piece of flatscreen technology that took up no space and had no meaning to me.

Let me make it clear that I do want an eReader. And after looking at all the different types out there, I want a NOOKcolor. (From Barnes and Noble, of course.) There's a lot of nice features about it that I really like including the idea of going into a book store and being able to sample books and read them for up to an hour. I think that's a really good idea. As well as being able to do things like check email. Also, it allows Pandora. Which, to me, is a huge bonus because I love Pandora.

But, here are some of the things about eReaders that I would just like to say:

Maybe I'm just a sentimental fool and take my books to seriously and personally. I probably am. Some books mean a lot to me. I write in them. Which is something I can't do with an eReader. Also, the feel and smell of an eReader is no comparison to the feel and smell of a book. And it may sound stupid, but think about it for a moment.

Also, I take pride in walking around with some big book that I'm enjoying reading. People look and think, "Wow, they are such a nerd. Look at that huge book they're reading." Or they'll even ask you what book it is, and you can get someone to read a huge book. If you're reading on an eReader, people will think, "Look at that rich person reading on their technological book." Or something similar. I like being noticed as a nerd. Again, that's probably just me.

I do understand the point of having an eReader. I'm not saying their bad. I want one myself, but I don't think they'll take over printed books. I want an eReader so I can take it on vacation with me instead of taking lots of books, and for books that I kind of like, but really don't want taking up space on my bookshelf. There are books that I will probably have a copy of in print and on an eReader. And there are some books that I will just have on print because I feel like they deserve that status.

Can you imagine, in 50 years, that there will be no libraries? Only buildings that have eBooks you can borrow. You wouldn't even have to leave your house. You could just download them for a short period of time to read it and then it'll disappear off of your eReader. Library buildings won't even exist anymore.

Secretariat Movie Review

I can remember going to horse races and watching the Triple Crown races ever since I was a little kid. Hearing about all these great race horses, like Secretariat, was always just a fantasy to me. Even when Big Brown almost won the Triple Crown in 2008, winning the Triple Crown was something I could never actually see happening.

Well, Disney finally brought Secretariat to life. The biggest part that made it good was great camera angles. However, the writing and acting wasn't as great as I hoped it would be.

By some insane miracle, five different horses were found to play the horse Secretariat. Four thoroughbreds and one quarter horse. They did a great job finding beautiful horses that looked like the real Secretariat.

The movie didn't really have much of an interesting plot. The best part of the movie was watching the races. The plot and characters were not very deep or interesting. I wish the plot was more in depth and interesting.

The only two characters that really drove the movie were Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) and Eddie Sweat (Nelsan Ellis). They both were funny and serious enough to make them seem real. I reallly liked Ellis as Eddie. A particular highlight was when he ran out onto the track the morning of the Derby and shouted, "Big Red ate his breakfast this morning...!" That was a great line that I absolutely loved. Malkovich also did a great job of portraying Lucien Laurin.

The one thing that truly made the movie was the camera angles and shots used during the races. The way they portrayed the horses and the points of view they showed put a whole new direction on how I look at horse racing.

If you haven't gone to see it already, I would say wait until it comes out on video, but still watch it. It's worth seeing. Especially if you don't know the ending of the last race.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Random School Day #3/ Rant #1: Procrastination

I'm at school. Again. And I'm done with my stuff before everyone else. Again.

Well, I figured since I'm sitting here waiting for class to end because I have nothing to do because all my homework is done, I'd start a series of rants. Today's rant will be on procrastination. Because over the past years of my life, I have procrastinated, but lately I've found the benefits of not procrastinating.

I've never actually understood procrastination. Even when I procrastinated. I never understood it. Why do people procrastinate in the first place? It just all piles up and you have to do it later. Why make things harder on yourself when they're easy if you don't procrastinate?

I think, in my mind, I equate it to getting drunk to drink away problems. Ignoring your problems will never make them go away. If anything, it makes them worse. So why do that to yourself?

Honestly, procrastinating is just a short-term enjoyment that results in long-term stress. What do you do when you procrastinate? Watch TV? You could watch it later, or do math homework while you watch it. Hang out with friends? Well, they probably have homework or things to do as well. If they choose to procrastinate, that's their choice. That shouldn't influence how you do things. If they don't want you to succeed. Why are you friends with them?

Procrastination is bad. Don't do it. It's like a drug. Addictive and it will ruin your life. Get out now while you can.

Note: I'm actually posting this really late at night because class ended right before I posted it.

Until next time!

All I Need is Crafts, Food, and a Car

No, seriously. I could live like that. The title really has no relation to what I'm talking about today, but I can deal with that.

So, there's this amazing Prom scholarship from JoAnn Fabrics that I'm going to do along with a friend of mine. You make you're own dress and they give you lots of money if you win. Or get the top 10. I am so excited and I'm starting it really soon just because it's amazing. I want to make my prom dress anyways because it'll be fun. I'm also going to make my halloween costume this year I think. I bought both the patterns today.
This is the prom dress pattern I shall be making on the right:
I'm super duper excited for it. It's going to be a huge challenge but I have all the resources to learn how to make it and actually do it. So, hopefully that'll work out.
This is my halloween costume I'll be making really really fast. (Link to picture HERE, the picture won't work on the blog... It's the pink one.) Maybe. Or I'll make it next year. I don't know. Depends on the time I get to do stuff. I hope I have the chance to make it this year. I don't know though.

On another more random note:
I want a model car. To make and to build. All that stuff. I don't know why but I've wanted to since about the middle of August. I don't even know what kind of car I would make, but if anyone out there loves me, they'll come kidnap me and take me to some hobby store and buy me the stuff. (hint hint wink wink to people out there that love me ;) )

I've been super busy with school and the play and stuff. I put a link to my school's theater page on the right. Go to Sideways Stories if you want more information for dates and everything. If you want to go the days I am performing, I am in gold cast. (You would know that if you read the cast lists, but in case you're really too lazy.) Hope you all can come! And instead of buying tickets online, you should all contact me to buy tickets directly from me. That way you have an awesome ticket for a souvenir and I fulfill my requirement of tickets to sell.

That's pretty much it for now. I have homework I have to do. Like reading Ishmael and writing a 2-college-comparison-isearch-essay-rough-draft thing. Yeah. That sounds like fun. Hopefully I'll get some more scholarship stuff worked out. I want to get at least 1 scholarship done a week this year. As long as I can keep finding them.

Oh, and I had the most amazing weekend ever. Thank you, Byron. You are the most wonderful person in the world.

Geez. That was a really long post.

Until next time!

3 for 1: A Series of Random Duct Tape

So... through the past couple of days there were 2 posts that I was going to post, but I didn't have time to finish or just plain fell asleep before I posted it.

Post #1 (10.12.10): A Series of Unfortunate Events
Basically, this day completely and totally sucked because my internet was down only on my computer. And all my stuff was on my computer. I was up until about 2am because my internet wasn't back on until about 11pm.

Lots of conversations about life with Byron. Uh... yeah... that's about it for that day. There was more to post at the time, but I don't really remember it all.

Post #2 (10.13.10): Random School Day #2
Well, I've finished what I have to do in my math lab so I'm just sitting here doing nothing now.
We learned to use Maple today, which is basically a fairly-beastly-calculator-slash-document program. It's has all you really wished you could do on a calculator during Algebra and Pre-Calculus. It solves for variables for you and finds all the answers. You just have to be able to type it in right. Kind of like computer programming.

Rehearsals are going quite well for Sideways Stories. We only have a few days left. --

It was at this point the fire alarm went off and the school stood outside for about 20 minutes. Most of the students are under the belief there was actually a fire because that's an unusually long time to be outside for a fire drill. Our lunch was cut by 15 minutes. So we had a 15 minute lunch. That kind of sucked.

Post #3: Duct Tape! (Today)

I've discovered the art of duct tape crafts. If you go to my deviantArt page there is a wallet I made and an iPod case. I have also made a bag and a wallet for myself. The wallet I first made for myself has pink and black checkered flags and stripes (in honor of Byron's car). The bag worked out pretty well but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'm unsure as to where I'll be trying it out.

Thank god tomorrow is Friday. I am so tired. So little sleep this week. It's killing me. Probably quite literally.

Oh, and I'm starting to look into scholarships and stuff like that for college. Yay real life!

Until I have time to post again!

A Little Bit of Everything

Well, I've really done it now. Seriously. I have become an organized person.
I just spent about half an hour cleaning my room just so I could do my homework. You ask how that makes any sense at all? Well, I couldn't concentrate on my homework because my room was messy. I am totally not joking here. I do have an awesome car collection building in one of my boxes though. It makes my room feel much more awesome.

I had an awesome weekend. Saw Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole for the second time. I suppose I should review that. I'll get to that later tonight or tomorrow. Sometime soon. I read the books as a child and they took up a large part of my childhood.

My cat ate my homework two nights ago. This has happened to me more than once now. You'd think I would learn to put my homework in my backpack after I finish it. Or kick my cats out. One of the two. Maybe one day I'll remember.

I'm still kind of down that car shows are over for the year. I seriously need some picture ops for my deviantArt account. (Link to the right) However, scarf season is back! Which is good, because I have about 20 scarves just sitting in my closet waiting to be worn.

Rehearsals for Sidways Stories from Westside School start tomorrow. And it feels so good to be getting back into my normal rehearsal schedule. We open in early November. We have 15 school days of rehearsal or something around that. It's going to be insane; but there isn't really any other way, is there? I'm really excited for my role as the voice of a pigtail. We're going to be completely dressed in black, on stage, using really long pigtails as puppets basically. It's going to be great. I am going to beast those 5 lines right out of the water.

Oh, and NaNoWriMo is a no go. I'm just too busy with everything. But I'm going to still be frequenting the forums and offering my brain as a writer's block remedy. I just can't completely stay away. This will be my first time not doing NaNo in 4 years.

Well, until next time!

Homework, Homework, Homework

So, I have this tagged with a bunch of labels because it just relates to so many topics. School, goals, and a little NaNoWriMo even. And some extra special news.

Today, homework is the bane of my existence. I have a lot of it. Why am I on here do you ask? Because I did homework from 3:30 to 6:30 and I'm finishing up a little break. Then right back to work. I have a lovely little book called Ishmael to finish up and write stuff on. Thank goodness that's not due until October 20th. But we have to have it read by tomorrow. I have about 50 pages to go. The real big one is finishing up my IB Environmental Systems and Societies lab. I already know I won't be getting that good of a grade, but because he won't accept anything late on this assignment I can't take more time to make it even better.

Also, I have the second half of a Jekyll and Hyde test tomorrow and an IB Calculus test. Can't you just feel my excitement overflowing? No? Didn't think so.

So, my goal is to get a 4.0 this year. Which, with all my IB classes, shouldn't be as hard. But if I can, I'll get straight A's, which is the equivalent of a 4.4 GPA. Which is amazing. Especially for me. So far, I'm well on my way to this.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up in less than a month and the hype is starting to build online as well as offline. For those who are unsure as to what this particular event is, there is a link under writing links in the sidebar. (It should be to the right of this post and down a little.) And I'm debating whether I a) have the capability of doing this this year and b) if I should even try it. I'm still thinking through what I'm going to do. But I think I'm just going to be support and help for all those NaNo-ers out there.

And the extra special news is that we have our new exchange student! She is from Ukraine and her name is Stephania. (I know it's not spelled right, I'll be correcting myself later.) I've already accomplished learning squirrel in Russian. So that brings my squirrel language count up to 6 languages.

Anyways, back to homework. This has taken way too much of my time as is.

Until next time!

New Years Resolutions

Well, I found them. My 2010 New Years Resolutions that is. And there are 10 of them.
I have 88 days left and I have completed 7, failed 1, and I have 2 more that I could potentially finish. One is to finish The Burning Castle. The other is to regain the flexibility I once had.

I think 7 out of 10 is already not that bad. It's a passing grade in school. However, unacceptable in my mind. I can at least get an 8 out of 10 by regaining my flexibility. Completing The Burning Castle will be difficult to complete for many reasons.

For one, when I started the novel, my life was very different. I was much younger and I knew so much less. Now I feel that if I were to write a novel, I would want more substance in my novel than what it has the potential to be right now. I'm not sure if this is a goal I even want to complete anymore. Is it worth it to complete a goal you no longer want?

Well, for now, I'll go for an 8 out of 10. Maybe I can waive that one goal, because I don't feel like that goal is something I want to complete anymore. So 8 out of 9. That's pretty good right? Not as good as I could have done, but I can't change the past. So, I'll just learn from my mistakes and do better next time I guess.

On another random note, there's only 88 days left in the year! I feel like it was only a couple months ago that I sat down and wrote these goals.

Well, enough of that. I'm going to bed now.

Random School Day #1

Yup. I'm bored. In a computer lab. At school.
No, I'm not goofing off and procrastinating. Believe it or not, I'm already done with my classwork and now I'm just bored, looking for places I can be online without getting in trouble. This is, surprisingly, one of them.

Random Fact of the Day: "I want lobster with butter." in Spanish is "Yo quiero langosta con mantequilla." In case you ever go to Spain and want lobster with butter.

The topic of the day: Atlas Shrugged

I'm still reading it. After about... 3 months or so, I almost know who John Galt is. Do you? Well, I think you should. Don't tell me if you do. I'll come back and tell you about it.
Let me say, Atlas Shrugged is rightfully placed as the second most influential book in the world. It has so many good thoughts and quotes and stuff.

And let me make one thing clear, just in case some of you people do read this. I don't agree with every single point in this book. And I doubt anyone will except for Ayn Rand herself. Atlas Shrugged is a very black and white book, but it's that way for a reason. If she wrote this book with grays and shadows that were unclear, this book wouldn't have done anything for the world.

I'll come back and write a lot about it later, when I finish it. (350 pages to go!) For now, I'll just suggest that everyone else read it. And update the quote page with a bunch of Atlas Shrugged quotes.

Well, 'till next time!