Flickr, people!

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but here it goes anyway.

There's this website called Flickr, which is kind of like an online photo gallery that you can see and make. I have an account, linkage at end, and my pictures are mostly decent (: If you're really interested in photography and would like to show other people your work, create an account! It's easy, especially if you have a Yahoo! ID, which it uses. You don't even have to use pictures. It can be random sketches, drawings, messes, what have you. Anything that can be scanned/taken a picture of is elligible for uploading on Flickr. So check it out sometime.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tokomexd

Maya Angelou's "Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now"

A quote from said book, that I found:

"...Life is an ongoing adventure...The truth is we know nothing...in fact, we ourselves will arrive whole and alive at the end of our journey. Life is pure adventure..."
-Maya Angelou

I found this to be a fitting quote, for what, I'm not really sure. I like the quote and it kind of relates to my "Explorer of the World" book because both have you looking at the world more differently. You take things and turn them in to art, or you take the world and turn it into your own little kind of adventure story. Take a drive to work for example, sure you find it boring, especially when you hit traffic. But if you turn up the tunes, rock out, and wait for it to subside, you could say you had somewhat of a good time. An adventure which you took an obstacle and turned it into something good. If you really want an adventure though, take a different route, and don't be afraid to get lost. Unless you really have to be somewhere and you have to be there on time, otherwise try to get there on time. I don't want anyone blaming this blog for saying that it's okay to get lost, which it is on some cases, but still I don't want to leave you readers with something misleading.

Anyways, life really is an adventure, whether you see it like it or not, it's your say. You don't need imagination because you don't have to pretend. It's already there, ready, waiting for you to take it and mold it into something worth your while. Have a good life.

MOAR Reading Journal...

Sorry for the lack of personal, non-school related posts, but these days, there's a lot going on at school. And I kind of forget about posting on my blog when I'm on because my tabs from the last session keep me preoccupied. Anyways, enough babbling (but isn't that why I have this blog? ^^;;).

For the RJ today, I found two news articles online. Well, one of them was found in the newspaper that my dad showed me. Both have to do with Japan.

Japan's online social scene isn't so social

This article's about how in Japan, nobody opens up on the internet. And I don't blame them. I mean, sometimes I use a fake name, age, location, etc. on some of the sites that I go to. The article mentions a couple websites, like YouTube, MySpace, Match.com, mixi (kind of like a Japanese MySpace). Oh! And 2ch(annel). But in my opinion, they didn't include Nico Nico Douga (kind of like a Japanese YouTube, mentioned in a past post). So yeah, I think it's normal for one to have privacy because of what someone said, "If I say too much, the wrong people will read it – it could get ugly." I think that it's interesting that only 40% of Japanese women are willing to put up their picture online.

Then the one that I found in the paper:

'Virtual murder' in online game lands Japanese woman in jail

I was cracking up! Now, zi've played MapleStory before, and I found it just a bit dull. But it was a great RPG, like many others. Now the story goes that a Japanese woman had her in-game avatar "married" to someone else's avatar. But when she suddenly found out that they had become "divorced" without any warning, she grew angry and went on the man's account. And killed the man's avatar. I'm not sure whether it was through monster or a PvP (Player vs. Player, I'm not sure if MS has PvP, but I'm too lazy to do research). And so she gets arrested for some violation of some sort. (I read the article a couple days ago, but I can't remember what the offense was) There were mentions of people who have been arrested through some sort of involvement on a game. Like how some lady from Denmark was arrested for plotting the kidnapping of her Second Life boyfriend. Freaky much! I mean that's a bit far, couldn't you just meet them at a local coffee shop (Denise, Anja, Monica, and anyone else. DO NOT LAUGH!) ?

And so ends my reading journal for tonight. I'll try to post some more life-related stuff next time!

Reading Journal Again!

For my reading journal, I decided to do another manga series. I kept reading it at an on/off rate, only because I have like two volumes. Anyways, it's called Konjiki no Gash Bell (judging from the kanji I would roughly translate the title to Gold-colored Gash Bell, but it's known as Zatch Bell here in America.) and it's about a genius boy named Kiyo(-maro in the Japanese version) who gets a gift from his dad. The gift is a kid. Wierd, right? What's wierder is that the kid can shoot lightning from his mouth, and he came with a mysterious red book. It's really interesting. See, his dad found the kid, Gash (or Zatch) in a forest and he sent the kid to Kiyo to help him make more friends, since Kiyo being a genius and all, is kind of a sociopath. The lightning that comes out of his mouth is triggered by a spell from the red book. Later on in the series, the two learn that Gash is really a demon boy from another world, or dimension, or what have you, out of 100 kids. The kids are sent to the human world to fight one another with their colored spellbooks that only their masters can read. The only one left out of the 100 kids will be crowned king of the spirit world. It's a little bit sad because there are some kids that Gash made friends with and they were demons too. The girl was really sweet and lived with a girl who was kind of like a big sister to her. But when her spells were read, she became a monster with sharp knife-like claws that would hurt anything in her path. Another kid was found by this one dude and the guy used the kids for robbery and hurting people and stuff. That was Gash's and Kiyomaro's first real demon battle. In the end, the enemy's book always gets burned by Gash's attack. When a demon's book is burned, the child is then disqualified and then sent back into the demon world.
A running gag, I guess it would be called that, would be one of Kiyomaro's classmates, Mizuno Suzume (Suzy in the English version), always somehow gets involved in some of the little side stories that Kiyomaro and Gash have. Like when Kiyomaro was hospitalized after a demon attack (the owner, Sherry, decided to leave them and come back another day) and a kid in the hospital hid the red book. Suzume was sent by Kiyomaro to go find the red book, which I think is a stupid decision because A) she had to ask the nurse three times on how to get to Kiyomaro's room, B) She got easily distracted by getting a balloon from a tree for a patient, and C) When she was young she tried helping a younger child get home, she got distracted when she found a cat in a box floating down the river, completely forgetting about the other child and then ending up in the police officer's station at 8 at night 20 kilometers from where they started. But of course it's okay since she's always so happy. she kind of reminds me of me, happy, and (somewhat) energetic, getting distracted easily, and being a ditzy airhead most of the time. xD
And so ends my journal entry. Check it out, if you're interested in the supernatural shonen series. Please buy the books if you can to support them, but if not, check out onemanga.com and look under Zatch Bell. (:

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Right now, from my living room, I see a huge plume of smoke. The sky has spots of brown from all of it, and helicopters, ambulances, and fire trucks are going off in the distance. Morse High School has been evacuated, and Fulton Elementary kids have day-care centers that were moved to the front of the school. Boone Elementary is still in session, which means no early release for my brother, they are deemed safe where they are. O'Farrel Charter School is okay, school police there checking things out. From what I saw on TV, one side of the canyon has been put out, and the smoke is turning white, meaning that the fires will die out soon. I took some pictures from my backyard, though they are very very amateur-ish. It looks safe, so I'm not worried.

Homework

Here is something that really isn't like our school. Vocabulary. Funny word ain't it. But here's something that is. Homework on our blog. And so, I will post 3 pictures about 3 words from our vocabulary from the play "Our Town" by Thorton Wilder.

Number 1: epitaph
"An inscription of a dead person (usually on tombstones)"









Number 2: muse
"To ponder"








Number 3: languid
"Slow, sluggish, listless, or weak"














I hope you've enjoyed this presentation of three word.

In other news, I received my cousin's iPod today!!! Yay!!! THANK YOU NATE!!! I'm installing iTunes right now, but since I have my computer regional settings on Japanese, it's all in guess what...Japanese. But, I could understand the katakana, and there wasn't a lot of Kanji (the ToA I didn't even look through) so everything was alright. Yay! THANKS AGAIN NATE!

Reading Journal!

Today's entry is about How To Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith, the same person who did Wreck This Journal, which I just bought today. It's kind of like one of those prompt books that gets you writing, but only different. It's one of those books that make you listen and look and use all of the other senses in the world to "explorer the world." Each prompt is listed as an "Exploration", followed by a prompt, an alternate prompt, a picture, and a quote from someone that relates to the prompt. There are 59 prompts in total and an extra spot to record and document whatever the prompt requires. I, however, bought a journal along with this book, and I will be using that. It will also be alternately used as a public journal, one for random lists, notes, and doodles that I make. I already wrote in it, describing our "first encounter" at the book store. I like the design and I think it fits me so I bought it. 

Anyways, I look forward to doing some of the interesting prompts of this book, which means all of them (:, and I look forward to jotting down my writings in my new journal. I think a journal's a precious thing to have, because it serves many purposes, and maybe I'll collect journals and fill them out on my own. That is, if my life ever has anything more interesting to write about that is blog material or the I have no access to the internet, be it grounding, or the death of the internet (both of which is very impossible, since I am a good child with computer access in many places :D) an there ends my book journal/journal tangent. I hope you enjoy (:

WAAAAAHH! I'm swamped!

This is too much! A Spanish presentation about me, which makes it seem like I'm conceded, but I'm not, a haunted house exhibit for Math/Physics, where I am kind of at a loss at what we're to do, and the life and death project for Humanities, where I have to read a big-butt packet on the death customs of China. All has got me up to my neck in work and I can barely keep my head above everything. The presentation in Spanish is tomorrow, and I barely have what I'm supposed to say. I'll practice later. 

Meanwhile, I have discovered NoiseBot.Com. A cool place to get cool shirts. I think most shirst are under $20 without tax and shipping and handling. If you see me with a sheet of paper, scribbling away at something, it probably means that I am thinking of a new slogan for a t-shirt, which they pay $50 for a design used on a shirt. (:

Small update for now, but I might have more stuff next time. 

Reading journal: Queste

(I've already read this book before but only once so I'm rereading it.)
Queste is the fourth book of the Septimus Heap series. The series itself is about a young boy, Septimus Heap, who is the seventh son of a seventh son, believed to have great magical power. His adventures range from trying to protect Princess Jenna (who is his step sister. Septimus's dad found Jenna on his way back from the forest the day Septimus was pronounced "dead" in order to take him and Apprentice him to DomDaniel, the evilest Darke Wizard.)

In Queste, he has just come back from the past as being sent back in time through a looking glass, plotted by the ghost of Queen Etheldredda to make her the eternal ruler of the Castle. Jenna, Nicko (his brother), and Snorri Snorrelssen (a young Northern Trader girl who came to find the ghost of her father and become a trader herself) go back in time to find Septimus and save him but when it's time to return, Nicko and Snorri are left behind and the glass from which they came shattered from the pressure of Time.

So far, as I've only read the first 6 1/2 chapters, Merrin, a boy thought to be Septimus Heap (the Matron Midwife who took Septimus accidentally had her baby taken away from her, instead of Septimus, where he would become part of the Young Army for the first ten years of his life), has just left The Observatory, the hideout up in the Badlands that Simon Heap, Septimus's eldest brother turned bad because he wanted the ExtraOrdinary Wizard Apprenticeship and it was given to Septimus not him, so he turned to the Darke side, now owns. Merrin takes the Two-Faced Ring, a ring that belonged to DomDaniel, in order to "Darken the Destiny of AnOther", i.e. Septimus, for "stealing his name".

It was funny to read about him putting on the ring because it got so tight that his thumb became blue and purple. Serves him right, that does. Then he goes off and eventually he reaches the Castle. But it's night and the drawbridge is up. So he stays at the Grateful Turbot, an inn filled with ghosts who either have perished from the yearly Big Freeze, had an accident on the river or the One Way Bridge, or anything else. He goes in and meets Olaf Snorrelssen, Snorri's father, who has Appeared, as a ghost to the Living for the first time, and offers him accompanyment to the Castle. It's funny of Angie Sage, the author, described Olaf's preparation for his first Appearance. His head was gone, he had a hole where his stomach was, and on the way back to the Grateful Turbot, he half-Appeared, like showing some stuff but not others, making him look like some demented victim of a massacre or torture session.

Now, Merrin is at Number Thirteen, Wizard Way, Magykal Manusciptorium and Spell Checkers, which is like the human printing press/copy machine of the Castle, applying for a job as a Scribe, a copier. Beetle, the boy who is in charge of the place until Jillie Djinn, the Cheif Scribe, returns. I haven't read past the starting of the application, aka Stating his Name, but I bet it's going to be good, him trying to be dark and all.

Look what I found!

(For those who don't know)



"Everywhere, like such as , and..." XDDDDD

A Blue Ribbon

Today at school, we had an assembly. Our first ever, and it was great. You know it starts off happy, but then it sort of went into a melancholy kind of state, you know? We had 2 guests who were part of the Blue Ribbon Difference Makers Organization, a group who help kids achieve their goal and make them feel welcome. We all got a blue ribbon ourselves that said "Who I am makes a difference." and it made me feel good. I didn't wear it yet though, and I still haven't worn the one that's given to me. We all talked about our dreams and the troubles we've been through and what really shocked me was how everyone had stories to tell, and they were comfortable saying that in front of a huge crowd. I'm glad I came to this school actually. I was going to speak but we ran out of time.

I want to acknowledge all my friends that I've made in the past, whether I'm still friends with you or not. Leila, Rachael, Marc, Mico, Chalisa, Lauren, Anja, Luke, Miranda, Denise, Gina, Monica, Michael. All of you guys and all the others are what keeps me going. I want to give you all a blue ribbon and that you guys keep going for your dream and know that me and every wearer of the blue ribbon are rooting for you, cheering you on for your dream. You do make a difference in people's lives, like me.

To my readers, thank you for visiting this humble blog. Whether you are a veteran reader, or just cruising this blog for the first time, you guys also make a difference. Just knowing that somewhere out there, someone's reading my blog and it makes me happy to know if someone cares for me or my stories.

Everone has a story to tell, listen to them. It helps both you and the person. Make someone feel better about themselves.