Study Hall

Why so ironic? I needed a study hall on Friday, not today. I had so much homework over the weekend, and here I have a study hall with nothing to do. Oh well. I still love it! Yay study hall. The freshie equiv of a free class perioid. Goooooood times...!

insignion

sarcasmic sarcazium

As what, in meant?

I wanted to be nice, for a chance.

hah.

Fillmore!

For those of you who have never seen Cars, you are poor deprived children. Fillmore is amazing!

http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/cars/main.html

He's the 8th one over. Yay! He's so funny.

Drama's Done

I'm so depressed. I can't believe the fall play is over. It has been such a part of my life now for two months and now it's done. I feel so empty. Perkins wasn't even scary at all. I had so much fun! We put salt and ice on our arms (voluntarily, like the stupid people we are), shot straw covers at one another (oh so maturely), ate, tipped well, got inducted, and played games. Induction wasn't 1/100 as bad as I thought it would be but I can't tell you what it is or the seniors will hunt me down and make it 1000x worse. XD

Drama

Monday... and practice until 7:00 pm. So begins "hell week": the days of preparation for opening night on Thursday. Shouldn't the lead be the most worried? But somehow I am having the time of my life. I LOVE DRAMA! L-O-V-E. I-T. I think I should sue the devil for false advertising.

What I am worried about is the class party at Perkins after the last play. Well, not really. I'm actually really stoked for it, and I know it'll be amazing. Except maybe induction. All the upperclassmen in drama get to torture us or something. Just kidding. No but seriously. Just kidding. Well, I have seen the people who have been induced into volleyball and stuff. Coming to school dressed as pink bunnies and such. At least I won't have to wear it to school. Or will I? Or maybe I'll get TP'd. But I think it's all happening at Perkins, so however bad it gets at least I won't be more than humiliated in front of anyone who happens to be in Perkins at midnight. Nobody besides drama people. Hopefully. And maybe a 90-year-old insomniac.

Hopefully I did not just jinx myself. Even though I probably did.

More Candidate Comparisons

Funny Funny!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/10/post/

Trains

This is a good one:

Finally!

The moment you hav all been waiting for!

And the kid is...

either! I'm serious! Look:

A student:

Go to school! I'd rather not stay at home. Yes, learning is important. According to my mom, I need some relaxaton time. I can wait for that! English, math, social studies, and science, stuff has priority. Like video games, lame! Is the word that describes school awesome? Man, today's Saturday.

C student:

Go to school? I'd rather not. Stay at home? Yes! Learning is important, according to my mom. I need some relaxaton time! I can wait for that English, math, social studies, and science. Stuff has priority like video games! Lame is the word that describes school. Awesome man, today's Saturday!

Tada!

Sports Camp

The week of July 14-18 I attended an "All-Sports Camp" at Alexander Dawson School, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We did soccer, basketball, football, softball, swimming, frisbee, running, hockey, and tennis. We also did excercises to improve our athleticism (strength, agility, balance, reaction). On Thursday we stayed late and had a cookout, and on Friday we had a giant water fight in the afternoon. I went home at the end of the week tan... and sopping wet! :)

Kitties!

Uhjyh QAYYYYYYYYYYY;ytrfNM’[
N ymtlt[jhn;

This week, we got two cats. One is a dxdddd (okay, apparently that’s kitty speak for “Siamese mix”). She is two looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (years old), and her name is Mocha. The other is an orange tabby, and he is about three months old. We have not named him yet. By the way, he is the one who keeps walking across the keyboard. At the moment he is on my lap, half chasing/biting his tail, half cleaning/licking it.

water

WALL-E

This movie is so amazing and cute! It's sci-fi, adventure, and romance all in one!

Temp is Relative

The thermometer says it's 90 degrees out, but it doesn't even feel hot! Makes me wonder how hot it was in Israel... where nobody has thermometers. You just say it's hot, warm, cool, or cold there. ("Cool" was only heard at night, "cold" not at all.)

What is this kid thinking?

I have taken all of the conventions (punctuation, capitalization, etc.) out of the following passage. It's up to you to decide whether the child who wrote this is an A student (likes school) or a C student (dislikes school) based on what he says in the paragraph. Then vote for your choice in the poll on the right. Once I have enough feedback, I'll give the answer.

go to school i'd rather not stay at home yes learning is important according to my mom i need some relaxaton time i can wait for that english math social studies and science stuff has priority like video games lame is the word that describes school awesome man today's saturday

Stumped? And you thought grammar wasn't important...!

Better than E=mc^2

If picures are worth a thousand words, does that mean:
m=1000f+w
if
m=word worth of a movie,
f=number of frames in movie,
and
w=number of words in movie?

Israel!

Hey everyone! Here we are in Israel and we've been here for a week already! WOW! If you want current Israel updates check on http://www.stutzmast.blogspot.com/ which is our Israel Trek blog. I'm still working on those D.C. Chapters, though; don't worry!

Hoo Boy.

I REALLY need to keep up with this thing better... I just got back from D.C. with my (former 8th grade) class. I will back-date some posts to tell you about that more in depth. Tomorrow we are off to Israel! Woo Hoo!

D.C. Trip Chapter VI

I woke up and we were back at Westview. We got our bags out of the belly of the bus, then Tyler's mom took me home. Mom and dad were waiting and I hugged them a lot. I found out they'd moved rooms while I was gone so now the basement is mine! I went to sleep down there, then woke up at 11 to watch Hillary's support for Obama speech on TV in the National Building Museum! I told Dad, "Hey, I was just in there!"

After dinner I showed my family all of the almost 500 pictures I took.

The End! Sorry I took so long! This is the quote page I created over the course of the week.

D.C. Trip Chapter V

I woke up at 5:45, went to breakfast, and packed up. Then we went to George Washington's former residence, Mt. Vernon. I slept on the bus on the way there. We took a tour of the mansion and saw their actual room! We also went down to his tomb/grave thing, and since we were there at 10 AM, our group was chosen for a special honor, so two of my classmates got to place the wreath in there! Then we went to the learning center and saw the museum-ish thing there, then we saw the store.

After that, we drove back to D.C. and saw the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the Capitol Building on Capitol Hill. For our final stop, we visited the Air and Space Museum.

Too soon it was time to go to Reagan National Airport and flew to Dallas, where we had dinner. Then we flew to Denver. We took the train to go get our bags, then caught our bus back to school. I listened to music and slept.

D.C Trip Chapter IV

This morning we got up at 6:30, had breakfast, and got on the bus. We went to the FDR Memorial, which I LOVE, the George Mason Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Ford's Theater, the Petersen House where Lincoln died (a dinky little place; the line was longer than the house itself!), the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (for cops who have died; kind of like the Vietnam Memorial only in unpolished white stone and not as big), and the National Building Museum (we only went in the front atrium Where they hold the inaugural dances). Then we went to the Old Post Office for lunch. I had orange chicken and got an "I <3 D.C" shirt.

After lunch we went to the National Archives. It was really dark to preserve the documents: the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They're all really faded, but I got a restored copy of the Declaration in the gift shop. We saw the United States Navy Memorial, then we went to the Natural History Museum. I liked the gems and minerals, such as the Hope Diamond, and the evolution tree of homo sapiens sapiens. Then we went to the National Gallery of Art; there was a lot of pretty stuff there.

Then we saw the White House! It was really guarded, even though the president wasn't there; on our way over we'd seen a motorcade with the President and the Prime Minister of Israel (what a coincedence)! After the White House we saw the Blake (?) House where foreign dignitaries stay. They'd already changed the decor back to the U.S. colors and flag from the Israeli, even though he'd just left!

Then we went to the United States Air Force Memorial. After that we went to the Pentagon City Mall for dinner. I had a salad and Sun Chips, then called Dad. We headed back to the hotel where we swam for a while. Then I called Mom and went to bed.

D.C. Trip Chapter III

We woke up at 6:00 and got dressed. Then we had breakfast in the Chesapeake Room on the 2nd floor. Then we got on the bus and drove to Arlington National Cemetary where we saw JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknowns. Then we saw the Iwo Jima Memorial.

After that we went to the Reagan International Trade Center food court for lunch. Outside, there was an entire family of ducks in the fountain. Then we went to the National Cathedral, which was really pretty. The Holocaust Museum was next; it had some really disgusting pictures and videos, especially of the Nazis' "medical experiments" on the Jews. The experience was really sad, sobering, and eye opening.

Then it was time for dinner at Chipotle. I had a very yummy chicken burrito with guacamole. Then we went back to the hotel. We were going to go swimming, but the pool was closed because of lightning, so I finished Bend it Like Beckham in my room on my iPod. Before I went to bed, I called Dad.

D.C. Trip Chapter II

I woke up at about 3 this morning; everyone was asleep, but the TV was still on. It was some creepy murder case so I turned it off and went back to sleep after taking some Ibuprofen to soothe my aching rib which I think I cracked coughing.

We woke up at 6:30, got dressed, and went to breakfast. Then we went back up to our room, finished packing, watched Arthur, and then it was time to check out.
We got on the tour bus and drove to Yorktown. We saw a replication midland farm and army encampment.

After Yorktown, we went to colonial Williamsburg. It was really fun. I walked around and took a ton of pictures and bought a caramel apple. At 1:00 we had lunch at Shield Tavern.

Then we went to Busch Gardens. I went on every single roller coaster there! I spent the afternoon with a group of 10 girls, including me, except at the end I went on the Roman Rapids with only Tyler because we were the only two out of the group who wanted to go. Then we had dinner at the Squire’s Grille.

All too soon, we had to get back on the bus and begin our journey back to the D.C. area; our hotel was in Silver Springs, Maryland. On the way, we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks on the bus screens. When that was over, I began Bend it like Beckham on my iPod. When we got to the hotel (a nice Hilton), Maddie and I (Margaret switched rooms) went to our room and saw it was really nice, like a honeymoon suite (big flatscreen TV, king bed, big bathroom, etc.)!

D.C. Trip Chapter I

These "D.C. Trip Chapters" are all back-dated posts copied (with a few edits) from the notebook I took along. There will be six chapters, so stay tuned. Sorry, it's kind of a play-by-play...

Today I woke up at 2:10 and made sure I had all my stuff together. Then mom took Tyler C. (girl) and me to school where we were given luggage tags before boarding a charter bus. As we drive to DIA I listened to Enya and dozed against my neck pillow against the window.

When we arrived, we got our bags, went inside, checked them, went through concourse A security, and took the train to concourse C. Some people bought breakfast or drinks, but I just ate a banana I'd brought. Then we got on the plane. I sat with my two roommates Maddie and Margaret. I slept for most of the flight. We landed in Dallas where I got an Auntie Anne's pretzel while I waited for our plane to Dulles. On that plane, we has the same seating arrangement. They showed Enchanted, which took up most of the flight. I worked on this comic for a while, and when it was time to get off, we went on the driving shuttle thingy to the baggage claim.

Then we went on our tour bus to D.C. where we picked up our tour guide. Then we went to the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Albert Einstein Statue, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. I learned today that I love polished black granite and fountains.

We got on our tour bus again and went to Ballston Common, a mall food court in Arlington, for dinner. That is where Dad fed me rice when I was still breast feeding. Nice. I had sushi and crab. Then we rode around on the elevator and escalators until we had to go outside to wait for the tour bus to take us on the 2-3 hour trip to Williamsburg, on which I slept. When we got there I took my last pneumonia pill and went to bed while Maddie and Margaret watched TV.

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

This week has been just PACKED. On Monday night we went to the movie theater to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It was really good.
On Tuesday, Amy, Hannah, Sam, and I put on our mock Democratic Convention. State Senator Brandon Shaffer and Delegate Eldon Mast (haha) spoke. It was really cool and went well.

Wednesday was chock full of stuff. At 5:30 we went to a family picnic at my school for the 8th graders. At 6:45 we went into the gym and watched the end of the year slideshow. Then we had the 8th grade dance. It was fun except for the bad music (except for the Macarena, Electric Slide, and Cha Cha Slide, it was all rap).

Yesterday, I went on a field trip to Elitches. I went on the ferris wheel, a yo-yo type ride called "Turn of the Century", a spinny ride thing, and two roller coasters: Twister II and Mind Eraser. Too bad we had to go home early due to tornado warnings or I would've gone on more than five rides.

Today was the last day of school! We basically hung out all of today except for a kickball tounament. Some people cried, but not me. I didn't really like middle school. But I will miss my teachers Ms. Jones and Ms. Decker a lot. I cannot believe I am a high schooler already!

Backpacking Trip

Over this past weekend (the 16th - 18th), 30 8th graders (including me and my friend Delanie) trekked up the mountain with huge backpacks to Camp Dick (name sound familiar to any seestor campers?) for a weekend-long backpacking trip. Everyone was a lot nicer up there than they are at school. The nights were super cold, but we went rock climbing and rapelling which were really fun. We rappelled down an almost vertical 50 foot cliff, which was really fun. The climb was really hard but I'm glad I completed it. Now I'm just glad to be home and eat real food after eating dehydrated freeze dried food (just add water! :) ) all weekend.

EPIC and POL

On Monday my 8th grade silver team went to the Edora Pool Ice Center (EPIC) in Fort Collins for the day. We had fun swimming and skating. For about the first hour we skated, which was fun except I got a blister on my foot. When we went swimming there was a 3m high diving board which was fun. There was also this therapy pool thingy like a giant hot tub with bars in the middle. When we sat on them the lifeguard yelled at us, "Get off the...!" then he waved his hand at the therapy bars really spasticy. Once we got of "the", he yelled at some other kids in our group to stop dunking one another because "there's no oxygen in water!" I told my friends, "Oh, I forgot. H2O doesn't stand for 2 hydrogen + 1 oxygen. It's H2Oxymoron!"

Today I presented my POL. It went rather well except I looked at my cards a lot, and everyone liked my theme of: "middle school was like a three layer cake", mostly because I gave them pieces of the cake when my presentatation was over.

Ow!!!

My right arm and shoulder blade hurt! On Thursday, I went to Ev's house and played Wii sports: bowling, tennis, boxing and baseball. Then today I helped Becky and Katie from church move (lifting boxes, etc) then went real bowling with my youth group. It doesn't help things that I experimented with the 14 lb. ball. Being hunched over the computer probably isn't doing much good either. I need a massage...

Paper Route Woes

My days as a paper carrier are numbered. The 31st will be my last day as an independent contractor for the Daily Times-Call. 21 days! But only 19 times of getting up at 3:30 a.m. are left! (On the two nights of the backpacking trip, Dad is subbing for me.) Wow, I am so glad to finally be quitting! I'm glad I did it though, because by the time this month is over, I will have made around $3,000, most of which I am saving for college.
But all is not as fine and dandy as it seems. There are still several strange things that I must work out before I quit. In March, I was charged for two boxes of bags at $20 + $1.54 tax each, but only received one. My district manager said she'd get me the $21.54 that I was owed, but that hasn't happened yet.

Another recent mishap was that I ordered 4 reams of Sunday bags at $2.50 + $0.19 each, only to discover they come in pairs, so now I have 8. I need to somehow return 2 pairs to get my $5.38 back for that.

The most recent calamity was that these people who ordered a driveway paper completely tore out their driveway! I put it on the sidewalk in front of the driveway: easy enough to find. The next day, I thought I'd make it even easier for my customers; they wouldn't even need to bend down to pick it up. I stuck it on top of the cone. At 6:30ish a.m., I was snoozing peacefully, enjoying the late start day and the chance to sleep in. Suddenly Nina shook me awake.
"Lily! Lily!" she said urgently. "I know you said not to bother you until 9:30, but this is an emergency!" I groaned and took the phone from her outstretched hand.

It was the Times-Call: "A customer at 1519 Denison can't find their paper." Brilliant. I biked over there and OH! Whaddya know! THE PAPER WAS RIGHT SMACK DAB IN PLAIN SIGHT, RIGHT ON THE CONE WHERE I PUT IT!!! So I took both papers up to the door and rung the doorbell.

When the guy came to the door, I asked him, "Which one do you want?" He took the one that had been on the cone all along. I told him, "Sir, I got here and the paper was right on the cone where I left it. I was trying to make it easier for you."

"On top of the cone?" he mused. "Oh, well then it must have been late, because I went out there and looked around for it about five times."

"No, sir, it was on time. I was here around 5," I said, wishing I could add It was right in front of your face the whole time!

"Oh, okay. Thank you," he said, and shut the door. Nice.

I went home and told mom, "Now I know how you feel when you say 'Lily, it's right in front of your face!'"

The next morning, I opened my daily bundle mail. This is what it said. "COMPLAINT ANNIBAL, GARY 1519 DENISON CIR, LONG - MISSED DELIVER COMMENTS: CALLED CA @6:54AM/CA TO DELIVER/NO CHARGE * * CHARGED * *" What?!? Number one, I did not miss the delivery and that's $2 down the toilet for nothing! Number two, isn't that an oxymoron to say "NO CHARGE * * CHARGED * *"? I called the home delivery department which wasn't helpful at all, then left a message on my boss's phone. I haven't heard back about that yet, either.

So, the Times-Call owes me $28.92 and has 21 days to get it to me. This should be interesting.

Wried saepicl wrdos!

I wdneor why pploee can raed tihs suftf.

This time of year...

... is so busy! POLs, Mock Conventions, cast parties for Doo-Wop, picnics, backpacking trips, BBQs, and the dance! Field trips to the police station, EPIC, and Elitches! Only good thing is everything is SUPER FUN, and the homework's lightening up... oops I just jinxed myself... I BET WE'LL GET OVERLOADED WITH HOMEWORK THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. There. Unjinxed. Oh no! Not again... I BET I JUST JINXED MYSELF AGAIN.

I am at school right now!

My friends Amy, Hannah, Sam, and I are working on our independent study right now. We are working on a mock Democratic Convention for our Social Studies class. Brandon Shaffer is coming! I hate Macs. Next school year (this fall) they're getting all new computers, and they're going to have two PC labs and one Mac lab! Of course as soon as my class leaves. That's just my luck... :(

Lily's Lilies

"Ever close your eyes, ever stop and listen, ever feel alive and you've nothing missing? You don't need a reason, let the day go on and on. Let the rain fall down everywhere around you give into it now let the day surround you. You don't need a reason let the rain go on and on..." Enya, Wild Child

Hi! Welcome to my blog. I hope you take a break from the busyness of life and stop to listen. Listen to the rain, listen to the breeze, find a meadow and listen to the lilies. Or just listen to me by reading this blog. :)