Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Lots Of Tests This Week

This post is going to be somewhat of an outlet for me to bitch about the three tests that I have had this week.  The first one was yesterday.  It was a Brit Lit test on the Romantic Period of English Literature.  It was multiple choice, so it wasn't that bad, it was just really annoying to have to do.  Today I took a math test and an AP Macro test.  The AP Macro went pretty well.  I was happy about it.  I was less thrilled about the math however.  There was some stuff on the math that I just didn't get.  You win some, you lose some I guess.

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Global Economic Situation: Tough Times!

So.  Tough times!  People are say that this is the worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1930's.  I wanted to write about it because it affects everyone's lives, no matter what your economic situation is.  Some estimates have put the US unemployment rate at 10%.  I've heard statistics that put Michigan's unemployment rate at 17% and Detroit's unemployment rate at 22%!!!  Note: this is not metro Detroit, just the inner-city.  The same article said that the median sale price for a home in Detroit is less than the price of a new Chevy Aveo.  For those of you who don't know, the Chevy Aveo is the least expensive car on the US market today, selling at around $12000.  That's depressing.  So let's get out there and BUY, BUY, BUY!!!  I can't right now because I'm saving up for college, but those with lots of money certainly should stimulate the economy in any way that they can.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

My Sister's Sadies Party

I thought that I'd write about a little party that my sister had at my house with some of her friends for the Sadie Hawkins dance yesterday night.  She had like twenty kids over to the house.  They all had pizza and pop, and took a zillion pictures which naturally found their way onto Facebook.  Before the kids left for the dance, some of the parents came over and took pictures of the kids.  It was a good time for everyone.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

AIG Bonuses: My Thoughts

I'm aware that this is old news, but this is the only time I could squeeze it in.  I wanted to use this post to just rant about the ridiculous bonuses that AIG executives gave themselves this January.  In case you didn't know, AIG is an insurance company that has been hit hard by the recent economic downturn.  They were bailed out by the Federal Government who now owns 80% of the company. Well anyway, the CEO gave himself a multimillion dollar "retention bonus".  He also gave several other employees multimillion dollar bonuses.  Meanwhile, he is insisting that layoffs are absolutely necessary.  This is absolutely wrong, but to make matters worse, the money he gave himself came from the US taxpayer funded bailout of the company!  Naturally, after public outcry, he gave most of the money back and urged that his co-executives do the same.  My opinion: He should be fired from AIG immediately.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Bernie Madoff's Sentencing

Hey.  So before you comment on how this is old news, I wanted to take a minute and talk a little about Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme that scammed billions of dollars out of people around the world.  It seems like every time that the economy crashes, something like this comes to light.  The last one was the Enron fiasco with everybody's favorite corporate villain, Ken Lay.  It is pretty reasonable to say that Bernie Madoff will be in jail for the rest of his life.  The question is: What's next?  Who is the next scam artist that will be found hiding in the bureaucratic woodwork?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Fight At School

I just have to write about this!  There was a fight at school today.  Two black kids just went at it!  I heard like 10 accounts of the story from different sources and they were almost exactly the same.  The guy was harassing the girl, and she just blew up at him and started punching him.  The guy has a history of harassing girls, and to be honest, a lot of people were saying that it's about time that someone put the guy in his place.  I'm glad that I wasn't there because I'm not a fan of fights, but hopefully this will teach the guy a lesson.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Pride And Prejudice: The Movie

I thought that I would take a quick minute and talk a little about a movie that my class recently finished watching in Brit Lit.  It's called Pride and Prejudice, and is a movie version of the critically acclaimed book by Jane Austen.  We saw the British version.  I thought that I would let everyone know in case you were looking for an interesting movie to watch.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Senior Prom

Hey guys.  For this post, I chose to talk a little about Senior Prom.  As you may know, I'm not a fan of school dances.  At this time, I have no plans to attend.  First off, I don't really like to dance.  I'm not going to lie.  I can't dance some of the quick steps without stepping on peoples' feet.  :)

Monday, March 23, 2009

College Admissions Update

Hey guys.  I'm writing this post to update you all on some exciting new developements.  I recieved an email in response to an inquiry that I made to Baker College.  The lady at Baker informed me that they actually accept anyone with a high school diploma.  This is pretty good news, since I don't look great in the GPA department right now.  I'm thinking Baker might just be the college for me.  I'll have to tour their campus, and talk with an admissions advisor about all of their options, but because they have so many campuses here in Michigan, I'll be able to be independent while staying relatively close to the family.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

College Admissions

So for this post, I'll talk about the grueling process of applying to colleges.  I am thinking about Wayne State and Baker.  The problem is that the 2009 graduating class is the largest graduating class in history.  That naturally makes it very difficult to get into college.  I am thinking about retaking my ACT to get an improved score.  I also need to send my grades and my current ACT scores to the colleges.  They simply cannot accept or deny me without first seeing my grades(obviously).  I am pretty nervous about this.  I'll keep you all posted about my progress in this matter.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

AP Testing

Hey guys.  I need to tall you all about AP testing.  As you know by now, I'm taking Advanced Placement Macroeconomics.  Last semester I took AP Microeconomics. When one takes an AP class in high school, they can take a test that gives them college credit for the high school class.  Since I am taking the two AP classes, I am going to take the AP tests.  My grade on the tests will determine the grade that I will get on the college transcript.  The AP tests are national exams, one for every subject.  The tests cost $88 each, so since I'm taking two, that will cost me $176.  That's still a major savings over what it would cost had I taken those classes in college.  I'll keep you posted on things as they progress.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Brit Lit Outside Reading Book

Hey guys.  Today I thought that I would take some time to talk about a book that I'm reading right now.  Three times a year, my Brit Lit class chooses a book to read.  This time we can choose any book by a contemporary British author.  Naturally, half of the kids chose Harry Potter, but because I have read all of the books, I chose "A Darkling Plain" by Philip Reeve.
The Book is the fourth in a series called The Hungry City Chronicles.  I have read the first three books before this, so this book was a natural choice.  The first book entitled "Mortal Engines" follows Tom Natsworthy as he adventures through a somewhat dystopian wold in the year 3500.  In the first book, he meets Hester, a troubled young lady with a sketchy past.
By the fourth book, Tom and Hester have fallen in love, settled down in Alaska and had a daughter named Wren.  After they had Wren, Hester ran off to join a revolutionary militant organization.  Tom and Wren have left Alaska to go on a trading ship.  Keep in mind that I'm on page 30 of 559, so I have lots left to read.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Movies In Michigan

The movie industry in Michigan seems to be booming right now.  There is a new studio in Pontiac that projects it will employ 3,500 people.  I thought that I should comment on this because I'm excited about it.  Crain's Detroit Business is already reporting that a Hollywood business bureau sent a cease and desist order to the new studio because of an alleged trademark violation.  Hopefully in the future, Michigan will be synonymous with quality filmmaking.  As you may know, I have always been fascinated by the magic of movies.  I have been in one film so far, but will all of this new industry, I should start trying out for bigger projects.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Update on my Co-op Job

Hey guys.  I'm writing because I want to give you all an update on my job at the Grosse Pointe News.  I'm having so much fun working there.  I am surrounded by fun, engaging and interesting people.  Everyone is totally professional, which is a welcome change from daily life in high school.  It's just wonderful to have a drama free spot where I can just chill out and work peacefully.  As Spring rolls around, I am enjoying the Grosse Pointe News more and more because of the ease of getting here from school.  I really enjoy walking here from 6th Hour.  It's really very quiet and peaceful.  The walk is also somewhat brief, so I don't have to be out for too long if the weather gets chilly.  I did not enjoy the walk during the winter because it was VERY chilly, and the wind just exacerbated the problem.
When I get to work there is always something to be done.  For example today I have updated the calendar with most of the events happening in the Shores park through 2010.  Tomorrow, I will complete the task which, at first, seemed to be a quite daunting task.  Also today, I gave a list of addresses and telephone numbers for local municipalities to my boss, thinking that he might want them for an easy reference guide.  I need to access that information everyday, so I took the initiative to compile it into a list.  My boss loved it and asked me to expand on it.  He asked me to get web addresses, and telephone numbers of specific people within the city governments.  He said that the list would then be distributed to employees as a handy reference guide.  There's always something to do, and I just love it.  I'll have to catch you later!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard Gossip

I thought that I would share some rumors about the next Mac OS.  The official statement about Snow Leopard that Apple gave the public states that Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard will arrive in the first half of 2009.  In a presentation to suppliers, an executive at Apple said that 10.6 should ship sometime in the first quarter.  Another rumor that people are floating around is the complete lack of support for all PowerPC systems.  Because I have an iBook G4 that runs an IBM PowerPC architecture, I wouldn't be able to upgrade to 10.6  It is commonly known that Apple will not be adding any new features to mac OS 10.6  Instead, all of the changes will be to core components.  It will be purely optimization.  I hope that it runs just as well, if not better than Mac OS 10.5, which at this time is the  most recent OS that Apple has released for their Macintosh line.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Backing Up Blogger

So, since I have posted so many posts, I thought that it would be best if I backed them up.  I had been thinking about doing that for a while, but I didn't know how.  Luckily, I now know how, and I have backed up the entire blog.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Done with the Wacky Week

Last week, we had a wacky schedule at school, so I had to adjust my work schedule around it.  Monday and Friday were normal, but Tuesday I didn't have school at all.  Wednesday and Thursday were the strangest.  On Wednesday we came in at 12:15 and I left at 3:05.  On Thursday I came in at 12:15 and left at 2:30.  The Juniors are doing their state required MME testing, so we are all working around that.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Twitter

I just wanted to talk to everyone about a growing online trend called Twitter.  People post little status messages on twitter.com from their computers or cell phones, and their friends can see what they say.  One might say 'Jill is at work.' or 'Bob is going to go to the grocery store.'  I personally think that Twitter may be too time consuming, and that's one reason why I don't use it.  I thought that I should comment on it because it's catching on so fast and becoming quite common.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

AP Macro

So for this post, I'm going to tell you all about my second hour.  It's called Advanced Placement Macroeconomics.  It is probably my toughtest class yet my favorite.  The teacher keeps the kids in check, yet manages to keep a relaxed atmosphere present. The subject is challenging yet not impossible.  I just thought that I'd mention it.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Book Review: Mating Rituals

Hey guys.  I just read an interesting book.  It's called Mating Rituals of the North American WASP.  I'll just call it Mating Rituals for short.  It's about a woman who marries a man in Vegas and then has to try to get a divorce, but then they decide to stay together for complicated reasons.  I found the book to be a witty commentary on contemporary society's views on marriage.  It was certainly entertaining, and when it comes to bookstores in late May, you should pick up a copy.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Brit Lit Class

I have British Literature in fourth hour.  Lately, I have seemed swamped with various assignments.  I have two major assignments that I have to do.  One is due this Friday, the other is due on April 6th.  The one due on Friday deals with the poems of the British Romantic Period while the assignment that is due on April 6th is essentially a book report about a novel by a contemporary British author.  I chose the latest book from the Hungry City Chronicles.  Since I enjoyed the previous books, I'm pretty sure that I will enjoy this one.  I'm hoping to get the poem assignment(the one that is due Friday) don't today.  My goal for the outside reading assignment is Sunday.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Last Weekend

I really didn't enjoy last weekend.  I just couldn't leave the house.  The weather was so bad that the streets were totally flooded.  There was a curb that I saw that was completely submerged in water.  I didn't really do anything except download Family Guy.  I'm getting every episode that has ever been produced.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Another Weekend Gone

Hey guys. Well another weekend has gone by and I have accomplished seemingly nothing. I'm already thinking about next weekend. I should probably head down to the DYC. I will probably need the refresher after next week. I know that Monday through Thursday are half days, but something tells me that I will be working during the mornings. I definitely don't want to work after school and have the mornings free, I'd rather work before school and have the afternoons free. I'll try to keep you updated on the wacky schedule as it progresses. I should probably head to bed about now because I am pretty tired and I have school tomorrow. Later.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Another Weekend is here!

Well another weekend has arrived.  I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing with it though.  I don't have much to do right now, so I'll probably be hanging around the house or maybe chilling with friends.  I may just write a few posts.  I feel as though I have gotten behind and kind of lagged on the post writing this year.  I guess I'll have to try to improve that.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Not Much Work...

Hey guys.  I'm at work right now.  I don't really have much to do because I have finished all of my work.  My boss doesn't have time to start me on my new project today, so I'm just hanging out doing homework and writing this.  I have another hour until it's time to leave, so I'm going to busy myself with work.  Just thought that I should put this in.