Christmas Day 2008

Hey everybody,  I got some interesting gifts this year.  I got some Mitch Albom books, some shirts from Target, and a CD case.  To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really happy with the gifts this year.  The only thing that I really loved was a DVD.  It was the final season (season 8) of That 70's show.

Christmas Eve!

I have no idea what I'm going to get, but I hope that I'll like it!  I'll get back to you all tomorrow.

Winter Break 2008

FINALLY.  IT'S WINTER BREAK!!!!!  I'M SO EXCITED!!  :)  I'll keep you all updated on what's going on.

Big Party

Today my parents are throwing a big party for everyone that has a boat on the same dock that we do.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  I'll talk more later.

End of Thanksgiving Break

I cannot believe that today is the last day of Thanksgiving break.  It just went by so fast!!!  Tomorrow I'm back to the old grindstone!  I can't really say that I'm too excited about it.  Oh well, that's life

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Today we have two meats on the table.  A ham and a turkey.  I have a feeling that we'll be eating these for a while.

Hey Birthday in two

Hey guys.  I turn 18 in two days, so I'm super excited about that.  I've been super-busy, so I haven't really been able to talk much, but I hope to be a little free this comng weekend.  I've been working a lot, and I'm hoping to get an article into the paper for this Thursday.  You should see it in this week's paper.

Another Weekend Gone by

Hey guys. Another weekend gone by right? Well tomorrow is the official start of 2nd quarter. I hope it goes as well or even better than first quarter. This post is going to just be one long paragraph, so you've been warned. I really haven't done anything this weekend. I hung out with Pete on Saturday. We went to Somerset with Emily and her friend. I haven't been to a mall in a while, so it was interesting. I didn't buy anything, but I got some great ideas for Christmas gifts. I've been working on rewriting a huge assignment for coop. I didn't understand the directions for the assignment, and consequently did it all wrong. I was shocked when I saw my grade for the class, so I went and talked with my teacher. She said that I could redo the assignment as long as I turned it in by Monday. THANK GOD FOR THAT!!! It dropped my grade a huge amount. I had an A+ in the class, and I'm hoping that when I turn in the redone assignment tomorrow, it will go back up to that A+. That's where it belongs. Other than that, my weekend has been very uneventful. I told myself that I was absolutely going to write something over the weekend, and I waited until the last possible minute to do it. It's not like I was cogitating all weekend. I watched most of the episodes of the first season of That 70's Show, so that was fun. I also watched a couple of movies. I'm still annoyed that "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" is not available on DVD yet. I saw a sweet Blu-ray disk player at Somerset. I'd get it in a minute if I had the money. Well, I might not, come to think of it. I've been on saving a lot recently. I'm not sure exactly why, but I guess I shouldn't question it. It's a good fiscal habit to get into. I also went into the Lacoste store in Somerset. They had some sweet stuff. They had these leather sneakers which were pretty cool. They were also pretty expensive, like $130. There was a pair that was on sale for $65 though. That's more in my price range. I'm thinking that I want to start writing a lot more in this thing. It's fun, and kind of therapeutic. I heard some cool new songs that I liked on the radio the other day.

A BRIEF INTERRUPTION
I'm sure that some of you are wondering, why I put such random stuff into my posts. I have the answer right here: Whatever pops into my head as I'm writing this will get recorded. Some people think that self-expression through a medium such as this blog is "uncool" or "weird". I just want to clarify my position about that. I just don't care if you think that this is weird. If you don't like it, you can stop reading it right now, and close out the window. It won't offend me. This is fun for me to write, and if you don't want to read it, don't read it, but don't waste your time and my time giving me your opinion about what a better use of my time would be. THANK YOU

BACK TO THE POST

Sorry. That just kind of came out. It's kind of interesting to read actually. So, looking ahead... I'm not exactly sure how busy this week is going to be, but I'm hoping that it isn't too bad. Cross your fingers about the stock market. Let's hope that next week is a good one. This year has certainly been one for the books.

Haven't Posted in a while, so this'll be long

I'm sorry guys.  I've been extremely busy with everything.  I've been working like a dog at the Grosse Pointe News, and wouldn't ya know it, my first article was scrapped. Oh well.  Anyway, I wanted to tell you all that I'm pretty excited to hopefully get back to writing on this darn thing pretty soon.  I'm loving most of my classes, although the grades that I'm getting aren't what I hoped they would be.  I'm a little nervous about the end of first quarter.  It's tomorrow.  I will try to write this weekend, because I don't think that I have a lot going on.  My parents had a party last weekend, so I was totally unable to write then.  Thuis week has just flown by, and I apologize for now writing.  I'm perticularly worried about my co-op grade.  It was a 100%, but it just dropped.  I honestly have no idea why.  I turned in all of my time sheets on time, and I turned in the written evaluation.  OK it was one day late, but that still doesn't explain my HUGE grade drop.  I'm nervous about applying to colleges.  I heard some people talking about getting their acceptence letters back from colleges.  I'm not proud to say that I haven't even applied anywhere yet.  AAAAH.  I hope to start this weekend.  So halloween is tomorrow, and that'll be interesting.  I'll have to watch the house tonight.  I have a feeling that someone will try to egg it or something.  It's Devil's Night tonight.  On another note, have you been following the crazy financial crisis.  This is definately going to go down into the history books right next to the Great Depression.  It's a little odd that this would happen right next to election time, but what are you going to do, right?  God, I hope Barack doesn't win.  I don't like McCain, but I absolutely hate Barack.  I wish that he'd just go back to Kenya, and leave us Americans alone.So for people who have written college essays, I want to ask you all something: How long did each essay take you?  I'm not sure if the colleges that I plan to apply to require essays for admission, but I'm curious about how much time people are spending.  Feel free to leave a comment about how much time you have spent.  I'd be interested to know.  This so far has just been one long ramble.  I don't really think that I'm going to even bother putting this into paragraphs, because it works better as a free thought sort of thing.  I'm really liking these long posts.  I'd better get back to work though.  I have calendar stuff that I have to do, and then I have to go to bed.  I'll talk more tomorrow.

My First Article

I know that it's been a super long time since I last wrote, but I just have to talk about this.  Next week I should have an article published in the Grosse Pointe News.  I've been working there for three weeks now, and I'm loving every minute of it.  I'll put a link to the article on the website when it officially comes out.

My New Job

Hi guys.  I'm sorry it's been 2 weeks, but these past 2 weeks have been totally insane!  I'm working at the Grosse Pointe News, so that's my co-op.  On an average day, I get home at like 5:30 pm now.  I used to get home at like 3:30.  I love my new job, but I won't get into detail about it here, because some deets are confidential.

2nd Week of School

So I just got a co-op job at the Grosse Pointe News.  I'm so excited!  I start Thursday.  It's the second week of school so i had to have a job by Friday of this week.  This was a total god-send!  Did I ever mention that in co-op, I get to leave an our early?  I do! ;)

haven't posted in a while

Hey guys.  I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to say that school started three days ago.  It's going well.  More to come.

The Visitor Count on the Blog

The visitor count on the blog is pretty high.  I don't know if anyone besides me actually checks it, but at this point, it's hovering above 4225!  I can barely believe it.  I guess that I can when you consider that number is over the course of years.  Oh well.  It would be pretty cool if I could get that many hits in a period of days.

The '08-'09 Signup Packet

The '08-'09 sign-up packet just came into the mailbox. It marks the end to a care-free summer and the beginning of the end of freedom. I'm going to go and fill it out as soon as I write this post.

The End of Summer School

Frankly, these are the words that I've been dying to write since summer school started, but here it is: Today was my last day in summer school.  There.  :)  That was pretty fun to write actually.  I just have a few more weeks until school begins. I'm not too excited.

Only a few more weeks.

Today was the second to last day of summer school.  I have to say that the second semester of summer school has been super tough.  I am a little worried that I have not improved my grade enough to make it worth my while.  I guess that we'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.  I wanted this post to focus on my thoughts about senior year, so I'll start talking about that now.  I would like to have a very productive senior year.  I would like to improve my GPA as much as possible.  I would like to find a few good looking colleges and apply there.  I will have a list of colleges that I am interested in on the blog in a few weeks to stay tuned right here for more.

The Start of the last week

Today will mark the start of the last week of summer school.  I'm pretty excited to get this over with, however when I do we'll only have a few more weeks left before the regular school year starts again.  :(  In a way, I can't wait to be a senior, but I'm also somewhat apprehensive about my senior year.  Will I keep up with the goals that I have set for myself?  Will I keep up with the goals that others have set for me?  I guess that I'll just have to wait and find out.  I'll keep you updated!

Venetian 2008: In summary

Well our dock won the decorating contest and as a reward we got to eat a continental breakfast with the commodore this morning.  It was pretty fun.  We also took down all of the decorations and things that we had put up for the day.  Overall, this year's venetian festival was a lot of fun.

Dressing the Docks: A Venetian Tradition

Today is the day that I will join my fellow DYC members in the old tradition of 'dressing up the docks' for venetian weekend.  Our theme this year is the boardwalk.  We will be putting up reeds and will be serving crab and other seafood to the passerby.  It will be lots of fun.  I'm thinking of inviting Peter to the festivities.  I think that he'd enjoy it.

Jr. Venetian Night Dinner/Dance

Tonight is the night for the annual DYC Jr. Venetian night dinner dance.  My sister is going but I'm not.  I feel that I'm a little old for that particular dance.  It's for 10-17 year olds, and though I'm 17, there are not many other 17 year olds going.  The majority of the people at the dance will be somewhere between 13 and 15.  Tomorrow night is the big celebration of venetian weekend.  I'll keep you all updated.

End of the fifth week

Today marks the end of the fifth week of summer school.  I'm glad that it's finally the weekend again but it won't be long until it's Monday again.  By the way, can you believe that a whole week of August has flown by already!  It's not long until school starts again.

Magazine Review: Complex

I chose to write this fill-in post about an interesting magazine that I subscribe to called Complex.  While Complex is targeted towards the 20 something African-American male, I find some of their takes on popular culture to be somewhat fascinating.  Their website can be viewed by clicking here.  I have to warn readers that Complex is not very "pure" in the language department, so you've been warned.

Company in the Spotlight: Yahoo!

Have you been by the Yahoo! homepage recently???  You may not notice much of a change, but if you drop by Yahoo! Mail, you'll notice that they have some big things going on.  They are in the process of creating a brand new UI(User Interface).  It promises to have more features like dragging and dropping of email messages and the ability to IM your friends inside the email.  Personally, I don't like the new UI.  I tried it, and decided to go back to the old one because it runs faster on my machine.  I will be happy to 'upgrade' when they get the new UI streamlined, but I don't see that happening for at least a few months.
As of today August 5th at 12:00 PM, their stock price is $19.62

Beginning of the 5th Week

Well today marked the beginning of the fifth week of summer school and the second week of the second semester.  I'm not too excited to start a new week.  I miss the weekend already.  Before I know, it'll be the weekend again though.

Fleet Review 2008

Today was the Fleet Review day.  On this day the boats in the DYC harbor all go out and are saluted by the commodores.  My mom brought a guest and it was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Product Review: Suave Men Body Wash

I decided to write this product review as a filler because I couldn't really think of anything more interesting to write about.  Suave men is an inexpensive alternative to pricey name brand body wash.  Though both Axe and Suave are brands of Unilever, you may notice that Suave is half the price.  I have noticed that they work just as well as the expensive stuff, so I figured I'd let you all know.

Bill's Food: Super-Sweet Lemonade/Limeade

I discovered this recipe in a cookbook, and over the years, I'm sure that I've changed it a little bit but here it is.  I have to warn you, it is extremely sweet, and somewhat tart.  BEWARE!  ;)

1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Lemon or lime juice

First take the water and sugar and put it in a pan on the stove over medium heat.  Dissolve the sugar into the water completely, until the liquid becomes clear like water.  Then add the lemon/lime juice.  Pour into a container and put into the fridge for 2 hours.  Take it out and sip carefully.  If you find that you want to add water, do so, but do so slowly.  Enjoy!

End of 4th Week

Today marks the end of the fourth week.  I am so excited for the weekend.  It's the end of the first week of the second semester.  The kids are better than expected, but I am noticing that I seem to be 'left out' of the jokes this semester, where as last semester, I was like the first one to hear them.  Whatever, I guess I'm just being overly-sensitive.  I just kind of noticed that.  I'll keep you all posted on the events in summer school as they happen.

Cool Service: GOOG 411

This post is going to talk about GOOG 411, a cool service from our friends at Google.  GOOG 411 is like the regular directory that you get if you dial information from your home phone.  There are however, two major differences.  The first difference is the price.  GOOG 411 is free, while information generally costs somewhere around $1.25  The other aspect of GOOG 411 that separates it from your telephone provider's standard information directory service is that it's automated.  When you dial 0 to get to the operator to transfer you to the info directory, you are speaking with a living person.  When you use GOOG 411, you are talking to a computer.  The computer is a very intelligent one though.  Admittedly, it will butcher a pronunciation here and there, but overall, I'd have to say that it's just as easy to use as the "real thing".  So next time you are in need of a business listing, call 1-800-GOOG 411.  Because it's a 1800 number you can do it from a pay phone without having to put money in.

Going to the Gym Yesterday

Yesterday I went to the gym, and I have to say that I'm still pretty sore from that experience.  While I enjoyed the workout, I didn't enjoy the sweat that I was working up.  It was an intense workout, and I'm still sore from it.  I skipped the normal fill-in for today to put this up because I figured that you all would find this more interesting.  I ran one mile forwards, jogged 3/4s of a mile backwards, and did a mile on the bike.  I'm still sore!

The Start of the Second Semester and the Fourth Week

Today marked the start of the second semester of summer school and the 4th week.  I have to admit that this morning I was pretty nervous about the new people in class.  I was pretty afraid that they would mess up the chemistry that the first semester kids had going.  First semester went by really fast because we had such a great group of kids.  I am optimistic about the second semester and I promise to keep you all posted on the happenings.

The Lousy Sunday

Well it's almost gone.  Another lousy Sunday.  A few more hours and then I will be back in summer school wishing that I wasn't in summer school.  I'd better go.  I think I hear father time calling.  He's telling me to watch a movie before it's too late.

Book Review: Private

Recently I started reading a book called Private.  It's about a girl that joins the elite Easton Academy in an attempt to break away from her life at home in rural Pennsylvania which is unsatisfying to her.  She expects to find a perfect school with many wonderful classmates, knowledgeable teachers and a friendly enviornment.  She soon finds that her expectations are far from reality.  The seemingly perfect girls in the Billings dorm have many secrets and they will do anything to guard them.  I recommend this book to someone that enjoys reading fiction about modern day aristocracy.

CyberGuys

I would like to use this post to talk a little about a cool service that I discovered.  It's called CyberGuys.  I'm not sure if I should call it a service exactly.  At their website, you can find lots of quality, inexpensive technology products.  You can order their catalogue which lists many hard-to-find products at rock bottom prices.  I have to admit that I haven't ordered from them personally, yet.  I in the process of getting 100 blank DVD disks from them.  The DVDs are 22¢ each and I'm pretty excited to get them because I have a small 60 gig hard drive and I have to burn the movies that I get offline to disks because I cannot save them due to lack of space.

Extra Day

Today is an extra day.  I would normally be in summer school today, but because we took our semester one exam yesterday we get today off.  This is a staff only records day when the staff enter our grades.

The End of the 3rd week and the 1st semester

Today marks the official end of the third week and the first semester of summer school.  I am very excited for the long weekend.  I have five days of nothing but peace and quiet.  Of course I will keep you all updated on all of the relaxation that is happening right here on the blog, so check back everyday for my frequent updates.

Continuous Posting

I am trying something new.  I am going to be writing everyday from now on and we'll see how it works out.  You should notice a new post up here everyday.  I have more than twenty fill-in posts ready if I am unable to write something specifically for that day.  Some of the fill-ins I will post will be: book reviews, movie reviews, magazine reviews, company profiles, recipes, services that I find interesting and more.  Make sure that you bookmark this page so that you can return to it and see updates every day!

Book Review: The Real Thing

Recently I have been reading a book called The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company.  I would like to write a review on it because I find it to be very interesting.  It's all about the history of the Coca-Cola Company.  If you're not a huge coke fan, you won't find it very interesting.  I'm not a coke fanatic but I did enjoy many of the interesting factoids that were sprinkled throughout the book.

Movie Review: Never Back Down

Never Back Down is a movie about a high school boy that lost his father in a drunk driving accident.  He moves to a new town in Florida and he gets beaten up by a jock that runs an underground fight club.  He joins a gym and trains and eventually beats the kid.  WARNING: This movie contains multiple scenes of graphic violence, and I do not recommend this movie to anyone who is sensitive to violence as one of the main themes is fighting.  I give the movie a 3/5

Timing For the Friday Swim Meet

Well today I was supposed to time for the DYC mini-meet, but I am just way too tired to do it.  I'm just staying at home and lounging.  More to come, read the archives.

Done With the Second Week

Well.  It's official.  I'm now done with the second week and it feels great!!

Yesterday's Swim Team Thing

So yesterday I get home exhausted from summer school and all I want to do is take a nice long nap.  Unfortunately, I remember that I had previously agreed to time for the swim meet that day so I went down to the club to do that.  When I get there however, I find that I didn't have to time that one at all.  I had to time the meet on Friday of this week.  I was so ticked off about the whole thing.  Oh well I guess it got me out of the house right?  :)

Second week of summer school

Today marked the beginning of the second week of summer school.  It wasn't to bad today in the weather department, however it's impossible to truthfully say that I am enjoying doing algebra from eight o'clock to two. Did I mention that there is either a test or a quiz everyday???  Well there is.  I'll keep you updated on the happenings in that class.

Up north for the last time

Well I'm going to get on the road and head up north with my family any minute now, so I thought that I'd scribble this post down and type it when I got time.  This will likely be the last time that I'll ever see my dad's mother's vacation home in Harbor Springs.  I'm so depressed about it.  It will probably be a stressful trip since we're taking home a lot of the stuff in the home.  I cherish many good memories there.  I'll talk more later Got to go.  Read the archives!!!!

Done with the first week

I'm finally done with the first week of summer school.  I have to admit that it was something to do, and I'm very happy that my GPA is benefitting from this grade improvement.  I'm not excited however, about the fact that I am spending time at school during the summer months.  Let's just hope that the next week whizzes by!

1st Day of Summer School

Today was the first day of summer school.  The kids are pretty cool and my teacher is great.  I'm not looking forward to coming there everyday though.  I am going to miss my sleep.

Happy Birthday USA

Happy Birthday USA!!!  Enjoy this day fellow Americans.  July 4th of 1776 is one of the most important days in history.

5th Day of Summer Vaca

Well, it's the fifth day of summer vacation and I'm not really excited.   I'll try to keep you all updated on my life throughout the summer.

Nana

I would like to dedicate this post to my grandmother, Ruth S. Rodger.
I went to her home today. It's amazing how doing simple chores around the house can bring back happy memories that have since turned painful. Doing the dishes. I made dinner for myself and washed the dishes afterwards. I also washed the dishes that my sister dirtied. As I stood there washing my late grandmother's Martha Stewart Everyday dish, I started to reminisce. I thought about the times that my Nana would make us dinner. She would labor over our dinner and after we were finished, she would take the dishes into the kitchen and wash them ever so carefully.
I looked over to my left and saw the bread box. I remember when she first bought that bread box. She opened it and showed me that one puts bread in there and it would keep for longer periods of time than if it was just on the counter. I looked farther left still and noticed the absence of my grandmother's table. It is now at my home a mere three blocks away, however at the moment it seems as though the distance from Nana's kitchen and that table might as well be a million miles. One of my favorite memories of my grandmother and myself is when we were waiting for my mom to pick me up one night. I begged my grandmother to play war with me. We had so much fun playing cards on her table that night. I just didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, as with all good things, there must be an end.
I only have a few dishes to go, but I take my time as I try to wash each dish with the care that my grandmother did when she did the dishes. She very well may have been my closest living relative. She was funny and sweet, and I like to think that I have inherited my good qualities from her. As I turn back towards the sink, I notice that there is a plant next to the bread box. It's drooping, but it appears to be alive.
After I finish with the dishes in the sink, I go to the adjacent living room where I spent many an afternoon watching television and eating Pepperidge Farm cookies. I sit on the green and blue couch as my mother drives up the driveway in her mini-van. It reminds me of all of the times that she picked me up after a visit to Nana's. I never wanted to leave, but I always did.
My mother gets out of the car, and notices the weeds in bags on the front stoop. She comes into the house, and immediately inquires where I weeded.
"Out back", I say without looking up to meet her gaze.
I clearly have more important things on my mind. Of course she cannot notice, and continues to barrage me with seemingly meaningless and obvious questions.
"What's with the fan?" She asks
"I was using it to cool off," I reply still without meeting her gaze. My mom leaves the room and begins her inspection of the house. She finds many minor impurites in the cleanliness of the house, and makes sure that I take care of them. I notice that though she found many faults, she didn't notice the starving plant next to the bread box. Once my mother is done with her inspection and certain areas are cleaned up to her satisfaction, she heads into her mother's TV room. My mother turns on the television, and after a few minutes of standing in the kitchen rehashing fond memories of my grandmother, I ask my mom if she's ready to go. She immediately turns off the television and heads into the living room and sits down at the chair next to the front door. I am still standing in the kitchen when she says, "Well, aren't you coming?"
I respond with a promise that I'll be there in a minute. I look at the plant and I think of how my grandmother must have taken meticulous care of it. I imagine how my grandmother watered it everyday and made sure that it had enough sun. Though she passed on last October, the plant seems to have survived. I decide to water the plant. I quickly get some water in a juice glass and pour it into the plant's pot. I pour a second glass in the pot and make a note to come back soon and continue watering it.
My mother and I close up the house, and lock the door. She stands outside while I pick up the two bags of weeds that I pulled from my Nana's backyard earlier that day. I put the weeds behind the driver's seat of her van and close the door. We get in the van. Before we pull out of the driveway I make sure to remind my mother that we have to come back soon to water the plant. Her only reply is "Hm" which suggests that watering a plant in her mother's house is at the bottom of her to-do list.
After we arrive at home, I notice that despite it being dark out, my mother taking great care to water every one of her plants. I continue to sit in the car until long after she has gone inside. I sit and ponder why my mother doesn't even notice Nana's plant, yet takes such good care of her own. The world is funny like that.

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school and I am really excited for sumer vacation! I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but whatever it is, I'd like it to include some time for relaxation. I'll keep you all updated on whatever it is that I decide to do this summer. I don't plan to waste it. If any of you guys have any ideas on what I should do this summer, leave a comment. I love to hear from you!

National Geographic: Stonehenge

I thought that the cover article talking about Stonehenge was worth commenting on. If you read the article, you would notice that they talk about the history of Stonehenge that dates back thousands of years! The title on the cover of NG says “Secrets of Stonehenge”. One thing that I didn’t know was that there is another smaller structure near Stonehenge. It’s called Woodhenge. Another thing that I didn’t know was that until the early 20th century, the land that Stonehenge is on was owned by a private citizen. The citizen willed the land to the British government who turned it into a national park of sorts.

American Dad

Hey guys. I've been watching American Dad recently. It's a pretty good show. I have to give you fair warning. If you are easily offended by potentially questionable content, I have to tell you that you should probably avoid it. Otherwise, I would recommend it to people looking for a show that makes fun of many aspects of American culture.

Almost the end

Well, I'm counting down the days. School ends on June 12th this year. I am in Sports and Entertainment Marketing right now and I am done with what I need to do today. I am not including my gigantic mythology project that is due tomorrow. I'm a little afraid of presenting this project because it's so gigantic, but I'm sure that I'll pass. The question is then, what will my grade be? Whatever it will be, I'll be happy as long as it is a C+ or above.

Lizzie's 16th

I just wanted to wish my sister a happy 16th birthday!

The Day of Tests

Tomorrow is going to be a horrible day. I have a test in Mythology that I'm fairly worried about, and I have a test in US History that I'm not at all worried about. Though the latter may not be difficult, it probably will be tiring.

Mia

Today I saw my old nanny, Mia for the first time in years!!! I was so excited to see her and catch up. We went to the DYC and had a fun dinner. I'm sorry that I have not been writing enough. I have been really busy. Anyway Mia and I caught up, but Lizzie didn't get to spend much time with her, so we're going to see her again in a few weeks.

Les Mis Update

I went to see Les Mis on Saturday night as opposed to Thursday night, so disregard the previous post. It was pretty good, although it certainly could have been a little shorter.

Les Mis

This week is the second and last week of the Grosse Pointe South spring musical Les Miserables. I'm going to go and see it with Peter tonight, so I'll have to let you all know how it is. I know half of the cast, so it should be interesting.

Juno

Hey guys. I just have to talk about the movie that I just saw. It's called Juno. If you've been living in a cave for the last year, you've noticed the latest cinematic craze called Juno. It's about a sixteen year old girl that gets pregnant. The movie deals with teen pregnancy, inter-marital affairs, and other controversial issues that affect society right now. The movie has been very well-recieved by the critics. For example, Roger Ebert claims that Juno is "The Best Picture of the Year." He also says that it is "A Fresh, Unusually Intelligent Comedy." The Motion Picture Association of America has given Juno a PG-13 rating for "Mature, Thematic Material, Sexual Content and Language". The film stars Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff(the pregnant teen), Jennefer Garner as the adoptive mom-to-be, and a few other minor people. You can find this movie whereever DVD's are sold. As usual, read the archives!

This terrible COLD

I have had the worst cold recently. It started on Wednesday, and it's just been getting worse and worse with time. In my opinion, this is the worst time to catch a cold because when it's spring or summertime, and the weather is warm, one is most unconfortable. I'll try to recover, but in the meantime, enjoy your cold-free life.

Earth Day 2008

Well everyone, I just wanted to say Happy Earth Day 2008.

iTunes Movie Rentals

I don't know if you have noticed some of the cool new features that iTunes has. One of the cool new features that I will be talking about in this post is iTunes Movie Rentals. For a low price, one can rent a movie for one month. I would suggest that you try it out or at least go on iTunes and check it out.

My Sister's Birthday

Well, I'm planning to get my sister a birthday gift for her 16th birthday this coming May. We're planning a big 16th birthday bash at the DYC. I'm excited for her. For my 16th, I literally didn't do anything. We didn't even go out. The family offered, but I didn't want to. I didn't have a good day at school that day, and I just wanted to be alone. I hope that her 16th will be a great one. I know that the gifts that I got her will be ones that she'll enjoy.

My ACT Score

Well I didn't do so amazingly on my ACT. I could have done better, but my score was above average.

Another Lousy Sunday

Well it's Sunday night again. It comes too quickly. I don't know if you have noticed it, but Sundays are just horrible days because in the back of your mind you know that you will have to go to school/work/whatever the next day. The preoccupying notion of a break about to end erodes at your mind until it completely takes over any preexisting optimistic thoughts. One may find that putting the next day in the back of one's mind assists them in the enjoyment of the day. Of course, the fallacy in that concept is that the next day one may find himself completely unprepared for the happenings of that day. I had better get to bed, but it was fun writing this post

Selling My iBook G4

Yes. You've been reading through the archives and you saw when I was desperately seeking money to get an iBook G4. I was so excited about it. Well, I've had it for a few years and I'm ready to sell it. I've bundled it with some useful software, and I'm planning to sell it on eBay.

Blogger.

Blogger has been a little slow, and I apologize for that. You may have noticed that it hasn't been posting some of my posts. I have had to repost them today because sometimes Blogger just quits and sometimes it doesn't want to do post it. Whatever the case is, the problem has been resolved and you will see my posts appear on a regular basis.

The Black Donnellys

I just have to write about this awesome series that I discovered called The Black Donnellys. It was on NBC before it was cancelled. The entire series lasted for only 13 episodes! It's too bad because it's a great show. It's about four brothers that are involved in the Irish mob. The Irish are fighting against the Italians for territory, money etc. Anyway, I have to issue this warning: DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH. It's a great show, but it's filled with killing, and blood. Once you look aside from that, you'll see that it's truly a great show. This perticular show probably didn't last for very long because it was not really a great fit for TV land. It was hard to follow all of the storylines unless you saw all of the episodes back-to-back. That's what I did, except I saw the pilot episode a few weeks before. Admittedly, it was still kind of hard to follow everything.

Update on Spring Break 2008

Hey everybody. It's Monday of Spring Break week, and I'm so excited to be on break. I have the rest of the week to just relax and unwind. I'm just sleeping. I ordered the Black Donnellys on DVD, so that should come soon. I can't wait to see it!

Spring Break 2008

Hey guys. As of today I'm officially on Spring Break!!! I'm just going to relax, watch TV, some DVDs and sleep. I'll hang out with Pete and Rach a lot too.

你好。我的名字是Bill 。您是好的? 我上午是优良。真正地冷静, 我能写在汉语。这是全部由于一个美妙的功能在我的Mac 。我认为, 我写整个过帐在汉语。实际上相当冷静能写象这样。我爱Mac 。那部分是因为这是简单和复杂被混合入一个。用户能查找对Mac 最基本的功能象文字处理的初学者, 高级用户的用途能查找对Mac 的用途被编译在工具里。高级用户大概获得多数乐趣虽则。他或她能查找各种各样的冷静文丐和修改适用于用户接口。看起来好象没有中国词为Macintosh 计算机。我打赌, 您不知道有超过二十六千个字符在汉语语言! 那是相当疯狂的! 它必须是极端难为中国人记住他们全部。当前时间是二三十下午二点。我能谈话和几个小时谈话用中文。我会打赌, 汉语是一个坚硬语言学会。我从未私有尝试了它, 因此我无法从经验实际上说。什么

I translated today's post to Chinese. I thought that it would be an interesting twist.

Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard

I'm hoping to get a new computer. When I get the new computer, it will come with Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard. Leopard is Apple’s brand new operating system, and it’s jam packed with some awesome new features. Among those new features are Spaces, a program integrated into Finder that allows you to have multiple desktops. Cover Flow has been integrated into Finder allowing one to browse previews of PDF’s and more just by scrolling through them in the Finder. Time machine is just a new backup system allowing your system to revert back to an earlier version if necessary. Parental controls have been expanded, allowing parents to set time limits for the kids. If I were to buy the upgrade for my current computer, it would cost $129! That’s just one of the many reasons that I have to get a whole new computer.

I would like to take a few minutes to talk about bullying. It occurs everywhere; in schools, in public places like parks, at work and more. I have been one of many victims of bullying. A very small amount of bullying is something that I consider to be normal. I don’t mind a little. It just shows that the bullies are insecure about one or more flaws in their character. It doesn’t bother me if bullying happens only a little bit because I can just brush it off. The problem is that recently it has happened in larger amounts. The worst part: The teacher did absolutely nothing about it. If it does continue, I will be forced to take action. I am still writing my speech to the school board. I might just incorporate bullying into it. The administration would be another place to turn if the school board does nothing. That is HIGHLY unlikely though. The board would most definitely take action against bullying.

More Computer Trouble

I am having more trouble. Now the computer charger just gave out. I’m out of a computer for like a week. That’s bad because I completely lose touch with the world! News, weather, stocks; everything is on the computer. The good part of this catastrophe is that I’ll have plenty of time to write posts. I’m going to be writing a big list of things that I plan to write about. Anyway, I went to the Apple store at Partridge Creek. They told me that it was the LogicBoard. That’s Applespeak for the motherboard. When I asked how much it would be to fix, they told me that it would be $560. Then I asked how much it would probably sell for on eBay, she said it would probably fetch around $500. What I plan to do, is spend the $80 to get a new charger, and then sell it on eBay. It should fetch a lot of money. I’m hoping for at least $700 because I’m bundling Microsoft Office and some Adobe programs with it. The whole package(bundled software plus the computer) is probably worth somewhere between $900 and $1000. That plus some of my savings will allow me to purchase a MacBook or even a Macbook Pro! I would be able to get a fully loaded MacBook or a well equipped MacBook Pro for that price. I think what I plan to do is certainly sell my laptop, and purchase a new 15” MacBook Pro. I don’t think that I can afford the 17”, but I would absolutely love to have one. I was also thinking about getting a job to help replenish my savings.

Late Night Posting

Though I am absolutely aware that it is 1:30 at night, I want to type a post about vacation. In two days, I'll be back at school, and I'll continue to do all of the mindless busywork that my teachers assign to me. I have to say that it's hard to even think at this hour let alone type correctly. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors that may occur in this post because of the late hour at which I am working. I could have gone to bed much earlier, but I have chosen to go to bed now because I want to be able to write this post. I want to talk about some personal troubles that I am currently undergoing, but I don't want everyone to know about them, so I am simply not going to speak of them in this outlet.

Update

OK, so as you know, by now my parents are back. I'm not going anywhere for spring break. Just staying at home. RELAXATION. I can just feel it pulsing through me and it feels great! I'm really sorry that I haven't written in a while. I have been sooooo busy. I got to see Charlie Bartlett a week and a half before it comes out. It comes out tomorrow, but I got to see it last Wednesday. It was really good, I recommend it! 4/5 I can't believe that it's been 9 days since I last wrote. I also got to see Jumper. It is really good, I recommend it. I'd give it a 3/5. It has some... not really scary moments, but more surprising moments, that keep you on your feet. That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on my life. By the way, I've gotten a lot of sleep on this vacation, so I'm super excited about that.

Just Got home At 10:40

Hey everybody. They just drove in the driveway. Naturally, Mrs. Robinson forgot the pecans.

Mrs. Robinson 2008

OK guys, here's the scoop. It's 10 o'clock at night, and I am home alone. As you know, my parents are in the Bahamas but my sister and I are staying at home with a family friend watching us. Somehow my sister Mrs. Robinson(the family friend), that they should go to Big Boy's restaurant at 10 PM!!! So they were supposed to get home at 8:30 when Mrs. Robinson got back from her meeting. Instead here it is 10 PM and they are going to Big Boy's. Then I asked Mrs. Robinson if she could swing by and pick up some pecans at the grocery store. She replied, "Oh Lizzie told me that all of the grocery stores were closed." I wanted to laugh at her gullibility. It's nothing against Mrs. Robinson personally, because I love her to death, but I have to ask; what the hell is going through her head?!?

Update

Hey everybody. My parents are gone for this week. That means that my sister and I are stuck with my mom's family friend Mrs. Robinson, who let's just say is not my favorite person. She's great to visit, but I hate it when my parents stick us with her for a full week. It's monday, and I already miss my parents. I don't know what I'll do when I go to college. :) Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I was super lucky because I didn't have homework today, so I could go home immediately and check Facebook, email and update the blog. I desperately need to write more, but grades come first. Lots and lots of people continue to ask me about the now defunct podcast, and I have decided to just ask the people to instead frequent the blog. I am having a fun time tonight because I have some free time, and I am definitely going to make good use of it. I plan to write some new posts and make comments on current events and society as a whole. Stay tuned!

Suprisingly lewd and reprobate comments made by administration

Hey. I want to write about an article that was found in today's Tower. As you may know the Tower is our high school's newspaper. This week there was a new look. They got a new printer, and their picture quality has gone down. I'm not complaining because they have more space for articles but this really isn't what I want this post to be about. This post is about some statements that were made by a member of the GP South administration that I personally consider to be extremely offensive and discriminatory. On the front page of today's Tower there is an article entitled, "GONE: GSA dissolves at South". The Gay-Straight Alliance was a group that helped the gay community by providing a forum for people the GLBTQ community to voice their views, and educate the public on gay rights and the gay movement. Unfortunately, not everyone was supportive of this club. Assistant Principal Michele Yankee's blatant comment, "Nobody cared about the GSA" will certainly get her into trouble. It's lewd and inflammatory comments such as this that inspired the gay community to create these types of programs in the first place. I have a very close friend who happens to be lesbian, and the fact that she cannot be represented is very disappointing. I find it disgusting that a member of a school administration thinks that she has the right to make comments like these. I certainly hope that next week, she writes into the Tower apologizing for the comments that she has made. Otherwise, I will certainly present this to the school board because of the nature of her comments. I consider them to be very close minded and bigoted. Towards the end of the article she says, "I don't think anybody realizes that it's not running." She also says, "You can't be focused on such a small issue that only pertains to a few people or else no one will support it." Is she saying that just because the GSA only focuses on GLBTQ issues, no one will or perhaps should support it?? If you are reading this Ms. Yankee, I certainly hope that you take these comments seriously because when one makes peremptory and bullheaded comments, you just lead people to believe that you are an obdurate person, and no one wants that kind of person in a position of power. I will try to keep you all updated on any further developments.

Movies on my must see list

These are the movies that I am dying to see. As of the day that this post was written, none of the movies are currently out except for Juno.

1. Charlie Bartlett
2. Wall-E
3. Juno
4. Persepolis
5. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
6. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
7. Baby Mama
8. College
   

My Review of Meet The Spartans

I went to go see Meet The Spartans last Friday, and I thought that it would be fun to write a post reviewing it. I have to be perfectly honest, I didn't have high expectations going into the movie. Pete actually talked me into seeing the movie. Do you remember Epic Movie? It came out in 2007 and basically parodied all of the major movies of 2006. Meet The Spartans is by the same people, and it's a parody of all of the major movies of 2007. A lot of Hollywood considers that type of movie to be trashy, but the rest of the country doesn't seeing as Epic Movie did well in the box office, and so far Meet The Spartans has been doing well. Meet The Spartans is mostly a parody of the movie 300, but they also make fun of the new Grand Theft Auto video-game, NBC's Deal or No Deal TV show, Borat and others. I have to say that I recommend it to people that have a relatively open mind. It has a lot of vulgarities. I would also recommend it to people that love comedy. It was definitely very funny! The only thing that I didn't like was the theatre experience. When I usually go to the theatre, I am able to watch the movie, because the other patrons are usually respectful and quiet, but unfortunately this wasn't the case at Meet The Spartans.

Geometry and Spanish 1 Final Exams

Geometry was a tough final. There were some surprises that Mrs. Perrault threw in there. I'm not too worried about it though. I was really worried about Spanish. Going into the exam I was very worried, but as I was taking it, I was pleasantly surprised about it. The verb conjugation was much easier than I expected and the noun recall was good as well. I'm hoping for a C- in Spanish. Fingers crossed.

Geo and World Affairs Final

I have to say that in all honesty, I don't think that I have ever taken a final exam as easy as this one. I literally finished all 100 multiple choice questions in 15 short minutes. After that I spent ten minutes on the essay. I got an A.

US History Exam

The US history exam wasn't as easy as I expected it to be, but there were no problems with it. I haven't seen my grade yet, but I'm expecting a B.

A checkup, and a fresh start.

Hey everyone out there in bloggerland. I just wanted to check in and touch base, so to speak, regarding my surgery. I have made an almost full recovery, and I am very optimistic about being able to eat crackers without thinking about possible consequences. Right now, I'd say that I've made a 90% recovery. I'm not all the eay there, but I'm getting close. I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that starting tomorrow, the second semester of Junior year is in full swing. I want to get a great start on it, so I will be bidding adieu momentarily, however I would first like to thank my family for putting up with me through thick and thin, and especially my mom who has been nothing if not the most supportive person in my life right now. I love you all goodnight.

Update on my teeth

Well I had my surgery today. I hated it. I had to be spoon-fed my dinner because the entire lower half of my mouth is numb. It's a very odd feeling. Want to hear something really gross. I HAVE BEEN SWALLOWING MY OWN BLOOD. IT'S SO DISCUSTING! I just hope that it stops bleeding sometime soon.

American Lit and Debate Final Exams

Well I took my American Literature semester 1 exam yesterday. Sorry for not commenting on it earlier, but I have been busy on the computer. It seems like there is always something that has to be done. Emails to be checked, documents to be typed etc. The American Lit exam was pretty easy. It was mostly nultiple choice with two essay questions. The essays were very easy as well. All we had to do for the "essay" was write one paragraph. It could not have been easier. The next final exam that I had to take after that was in Debate class. It wasn't exactly a cakewalk but I did the best that I could, and that's all that one can really expect of a person. The debate final exam was about a movie called Inherit The Wind. We watched it in class and then had to analyze it from a debater's perspective. It wasn't very easy because the "debate" issues were hard to pick out of the movie. The movie itself was pretty interesting though. It was filmed in 1960, and had some pretty iconic Hollywood stars in it. I guess I'm getting pretty off-topic. Though it was a good movie, I found it difficult to pick out the issues. My essay turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

The Bucket List

If you've noticed, I've been seeing a lot of movies lately. I just went out and saw The Bucket List last weekend, and I would like to comment on this inspiring movie. First of all, the movie is about a wealthy CEO of a healthcare company. The CEO gets cancer and has to share a hospital room with a mechanic who also has cancer. The mechanic creates "The Bucket List" which is a list of things that he wants to do before he kicks the bucket(dies). The wealthy CEO ends up discovering this list and they go on an around-the-world trip visiting lots of interesting places. I highly recommend this movie because it makes you think, but it doesn't make you think too hard.

Juno

Hi. Me again. I wanted to talk about the extremely controversial new teen film called Juno. It's about a girl that gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby. I have not personally seen the film, but I would like to go see it. It's a comedy, and I have heard nothing but good things about the movie. The teen actress who stars in the movie is even up for a Golden Globe. I might be going to the theatre with Peter tomorrow, so if I go, and if we decide to see it, I will have high expectations.

American Pie 5: Beta House

Hi guys. I just finished watching the new American Pie. It's called American Pie Presents Beta House. If you liked American Pie, American Pie 2, and American Wedding, you will be sorely disappointed, as I was by this poorly done spin-off. I felt that the acting was absolutely sub-par and I wanted to comment about the storyline as well. I believe that the storyline too closely resembles that of American Pie 4. There were the first three movies, and then they spun it off where Stifler's cousin goes to college. I loved the first three, but numbers 4 and 5 have just tarnished the name of this comedic series. If Fox plans to release a sixth American Pie, I cannot say that I will have high expectations.

The Weekend Before Midterms

I'm so excited for this weekend. I'm definately going to have a great time this weekend because I want to be totally rested and happy when I start taking exams. This weekend I'm guessing that Peter and Rachel are going to want to hang out. I don't know what I want to do tonight. Saturday, I think that I'm going to hang out with Peter. We might go see a movie. I'm not really sure about my plans for Sunday, but I'm guessing that I'll be spending Sunday at home. I want a little bit of R&R. Monday is a regular school day and Tuesday through Friday is "exam week" so that means half days. On Friday of next week, I get out at 9:30 AM! Then comes another weekend.

Internet Soon to be Fixed

The Internet is going to be fixed at home very soon. I'm excited because I will be able to post stuff without waiting for the family computer to become available. The loss of wireless internet has greatly affected our family. Conflicts have arisen and problems have occured because of it. I also can't wait to get online in my room. Facebook will be so much fun because I have only been able to use it for a few minutes each day. I have been able to type the posts on my laptop while I'm offline of course, but I can't put it online for everyone else to see. My email has probably been building up and I'm almost scared to check it.

My Wisdom Teeth

Hey guys. Me again. I'm on a roll right now. I'm writing posts left and right. Unfortunately, I am getting my molars pulled out sometime in the next few weeks. I'm not very happy about it but I have to get it done because if I don't, it could cause my other teeth to grind together and get cavities.

6th Hour Stink Bomb

Today in Sixth hour, I think someone must have thrown a stink bomb or something because as I was going to sixth hour the hall started to smell extremely bad. It was so bad that some of us were leaning out the window just to breathe well. It was so terrible. It smelled as though a sewer had been opened right into the hallway. Because it happened in Geography and World Affairs, my teacher naturally tried to turn it into a lesson. She talked about how poor people in third world countries live in unsanitary conditions and have to deal with this kind of thing everyday. Eventually by 7th hour the stink dissipated.

Hi guys. I wanted to keep writing despite problems with my internet connection. There are some neat things that I would certainly like to comment about. Principal Diver has just started his own blog. I don't want to take credit I don't deserve, but I thought that it might have something to do with the article about my blog in the school paper. I also wanted to write a small rant about something in school. In our school, there are a lot of fundraisers that help to generate money for school activities. I like to support these fundraisers, and I bought a GPS towel in a fundraiser for the girls' tennis team. I paid $3 so I'm not saying that I expect a big beach towel, however, I do expect a quality product. With that being said, I would like to explain my complaint. The towel that i got was a very flimsy washcloth-like towel that began to unravel in my hands. I didn't complain because the point of this was to raise money for a school sport, but I was also disappointed because the South logo seemed to be PAINED on! When I ran my fingers across the towel, the texture changed when I got the painted area. I don't mean to offend anyone, and I haven't complained to the people because it's not that big of a deal but I just wanted to get my feelings out.
Here's something funny: The school blocked Principal Diver's blog. It seems pretty funny that it's blocked, and I'm sure that Mr. Diver is working to get that issue resolved. I'm hoping that they unblock all of blogger.com so that people can see my blog from school and I can post during my lunch hour.
On an unrelated note, I have midterms next week. I'm pretty ready for them. Both math teachers are allowing me to use a two sided notecard. I anticipate the toughest exam to be Spanish 1. Sentence composition can be very difficult for me sometimes. I also need to get a new Algebra 2 notebook for second semester because my first semester notebook has been completely filled up. I also need to clear out my Spanish binder so that I can get plenty of room for the next semester. My other exams should be much easier that Spanish because in American Literature, we are taking a multiple choice test, which cannot possibly be too difficult. In second hour I have debate. We are watching a movie and analyzing it. Third hour I have Algebra 2 and we have a multiple choice test. The best part is that I get to use a 2 sided notecard for the exam in that class. For fourth hour, I have Geometry and I will get to use a notecard for that as well. Fifth hour is Spanish and I told you how that's going to go. Sixth hour I have Geography and World Affairs which should not be a challenge at all. US History is 7th hour and that couldn't be any easier. He is letting us use a notecard, but I don't really see why. I haven't really learned anything in that class. Mr. Hepner has gone over a lot of information, but generally I know all of the information that he covers.
Today in school something funny happened in Spanish class. There is this dumb jock in my class. Well we were doing a practice test to prepare for the final exam. Well this kid obviously isn't exactly the smartest kid in the world. I saw him copying off of a freshman's work. It was actually kind of amusing.
I definitely think this post is the longest post that I have written to date, and I want it to end here.

Happy New Year 2008

I just want to take this opportunity to announce the New Year. Yes I am aware that I am forty-five hours late in the announcement, but whatever. Let's hope that 2008 is a great year. Some of my New Year's Resolutions include:

• Raising my grades to look more favorable in college apps.
• Saving more money and spending less money.
• OK, that's all I have for now, but let's face it; I'm not about to single-handedly find world peace OK?

Jeez.

Clarification about fate of podcast.

I have been getting some questions from readers wanting to know where my podcast has gone. I regret to inform you that it has been taken down. There are many reasons for this, one being that it was getting extremely difficult to upload new clips due to the increased demand. I feel that it has taken away from this blog which I feel is the most important aspect of my self expression. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the listeners for their support. Hopefully the blog can be a good alternative.