31.1.08

Veni, Vidi, Vici(1)

Estoy2: Braces-less for the first time in 2.5 years!!
Currently Reading: The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathon Stroud. YA Fantasy, 5/5.
The Golem’s Eye, by Jonathon Stroud. YA Fantasy, 5/5.
Green Rider, by Kristen Britain. YA/A Fantasy, 5/5.

I am glad to inform you that everything in my speck of the world is going fairly well right now. I would have written sooner, only there was really nothing for me to right about! It’s been awhile since finals, and I am pleased to announce that I made it through every class with an A! In fact, I think my lowest finals grade was a 93. So there you go. Hence the title; I felt I was entitled to a small brag. Okay, I’m over it. Unfortunately, every teacher has taken the opportunity the new semester presents to load us up with homework! I suspect it wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t all assign it on the same nights, but I swear they plan it so they do. Plus my English teacher3 decided to be incredibly cool in that way he so often is4 and assign us a whole packet of work for Of Mice and Men rather than just bits like the other English teachers did. Ergo5, I have been rather busy for the last few nights. Actually, I like to do all of the work at my dad’s when I can, to waste time. But that doesn’t make it any more fun.
On a good note, I did get my braces off today. If you read my estoy6 note above, you already knew that. Though it was slightly painful at some times (I doubt my gums will ever be the same again) and a bit boring (what, it only took almost two hours…) I am soo glad. I love my teeth now. All my friends did the normal squealy “ohmigod, you got your braces off,”7 provided they even noticed that I got them off8, and my mom told my band teacher so he felt the need to make a big deal out of it as well. At least he didn’t do it in front of the class, though. Not that I really minded the attention, but it does get old next time. I swear, then next person who says, “Did you get your braces off?” rather than just stating that I did is going to get the answer, “No, I just turned them invisible.”9
That’s all from my end for now. Hope everyone else is having a great time. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

1 Well, first of all, I want to point out that I think this is the first time I’ve ever used a footnote in a title. I just thought that was kind of cool. But anyhow, I believe what I just said (wrote, typed, whatever) is Latin for “I came, I saw, I conquered.” I mean, dear Bartimaeus mentioned it in passing, and I figured out the gist from the context. But I do humbly apologize if either my figuring skills are off of if Bartimaeus was just messing with us.
2 For those of you who missed this the first time, estoy is a Spanish word meaning I am. Actually, it’s one of two…soy also means I am (and no, it has nothing to do with sauce), but it’s infinitive, the verb ser has more permanent meanings than the verb estar from which we get estoy. There are actually some phrases where the uses of ser and estar are opposite from what you’d think they’d be, but I suggest that if you just learned that here, you don’t attempt to speak Spanish without quite a bit of instruction.
3 For more one why I don’t like him, look a few posts down for my famous rant re: book talks.
4 That was sarcasm, for those of you who didn’t catch it…
5 Therefore, in Latin. My, you are getting an education today!
6 I am not going through this again. See 2.
7 Well, okay, my friends aren’t usually squealy, but there are people who are.
8 There were two guys, one of them my friend’s boyfriend and one of them my band friend, who insisted that I’d never had braces.
9 I’ve actually already used this one once, but I think it’s good enough for another usage, don’t you agree?

15.1.08

Study Session Two

Estoy: Lethargic
Currently Reading: Pagan’s Crusade, by Catherine Jinks. YA adventure. 5/5 for the witty narrator!

Well, finals week is half over, and I only have one final left to take. Sadly, though, I have two days left of school. Sort of. As you may recall from my previous post *coughcoughhinthint, * tomorrow we have 4th period finals (which for me is Spanish II), then 1st period finals1 and then make-ups. My only final starts at 8:30 and ends at 10:10, so I have the rest of the day off. Which means I get to come home and just chill out and laze around for the rest of the day! Then, on Thursday, we have 25-minute classes. That means early release. And then, of course, Friday we have off. Geez, I wish you’d remember these things2!
Thankfully, all of my hard finals3 are over. Or, well, I think they are. On Monday, we started out with the Health final, and that was fun. The owner of a dance studio in town came in and taught us hip-hop4. And although I felt like I was just stomping around the gym, (hey, it was part of the dance….) I apparently did it in style and looked like I was dancing. And I didn’t think I could dance! The only downside to that one is that I’m still sore. After that, science. I’d heard from the upperclassmen that the teacher I have5 didn’t really prepare you for the final, but I did fine. See, another teacher in the department writes it, and that teacher does everything from the books. In contrast, my class doesn’t have books6. But we had a review sheet, and I think that helped. And I’m sure I passed. I needed like, a 9% on that final to maintain an A, anyhow. Last on Monday was band…and boy, was that fun. Most of the time, we just rehearsed, but every final has to have a written part, too. So we were quizzed. The questions ranged from music terminology to whom it was exactly that Rocky fought in movies three and four7. Thankfully, it was graded on effort. Otherwise, I might have failed. I mean, Rocky? C’mon. That is so a boy thing! Then today, I started off the day with Global Studies. My teacher had told us that this was gonna be a reeeaaally hard test…in fact, I almost studied for this one…but it wasn’t. I finished it with like, an hour to spare. In fact, everyone finished it early, and we started watching Shrek. Good times…. I’m gonna miss that class! Second was geometry. I think I did okay on that one, too. I even double-checked my work! Plus, we were allowed a note card. In geometry, if our semester final grade is higher than one of our test grades for the semester, that test will be brought up to equal our final grade. If that makes sense. See, I find that sort of funny, since my lowest semester test grade in that class was a 93. So I’m just hoping I did that well on the final, too. Last was English. I thought this test was gonna be really hard—our teacher is notorious for being extremely picky8 and picking trivial questions—but it was fine. We had an easy reading/writing assessment, and then the rest was just a compilation of all the tests we’ve taken before. I mean, lazy much? The least he could do would be to pick different questions. Not that I’m complaining. Easy tests are always good.
Well, that brings you up to speed on my finals week. I hope all of you with other, normal schedules are surviving as well. This is the part of the year I like to call the “doldrums9.” It just seems to fit! Until next time…
xxx
Caryn


1 Aka those good ol’ 7:30 classes that I don’t have.
2 Kudos to you if you did! Oh, and in classic Caryn style…2 points.
3 Hard being a relative term, of course.
4 Which I’ve always wanted to learn, coincidentally.
5 Whose name shall remain strictly confidential,
6 What with our school being the poor dump it is and all…
7 We had for some reason discussed that earlier in the period….
8 If you remember the book talk fiasco and all,
9 A bit of weather terminology for you there…it just means “slow” in the context I’m using it in.

11.1.08

Study Session One

Estoy: Stressed/Glad it’s finally Friday
Currently Reading: Nothing new, so I’ll review um, I know! Maximum Ride, by James Patterson. YA Science Fiction. 5/5. I would go 6/5 if I could. Love these books! For those smartasses1 out there who are saying “Which one? There’s three, O Your Brilliance,” read all of them. But read The Angel Experiment first.

Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but this week has been so incredibly slow for me. It somehow feels like it’s been ages since we came back after Christmas. In reality, this is the first full week (we had Thursday and Friday of last week, too). I can’t believe it! So I hope you all had a better week than I did.
Part of the reason this week dragged on so badly is, I think, because pretty much all we did in classes was review2. Why would you be doing this, I hear you asking. Well, my friends, it is because semester tests are all next week. Hence the name “finals week.” I guess it could be worse…apparently the tests were not so spread out at one time. Well, here’s how we do it, for those of you who don’t know3. Each final is 100 minutes long, and we have to be in the class for that whole period4. So, instead of a normal schedule with classes that are 50 minutes long5, we get to stay in one place with one teacher for 100 minutes! Yay! But I’m sort of rambling here. Anyhow, on Monday, we have 2nd period finals (for me, health) from 8:30 until 10:10; 6th period finals (my science) from 10:20 until 12:00; lunch from 12:00 to 1:006; and 7th period (Band! Yay!) from 1:05 until 2:45. And then we can go home. Tuesday and Wednesday are also structured in much the same way. On Tuesday, we have 3rd period (Global Studies), 5th period (Geometry), and 8th period (English I). On Wednesday, we have 4th period (Spanish II), 1st period (nonexistent7), and then make ups. So on Wednesday, I get to go home at 10:10! That has me excited. Thursday is early release, hand in books for semester classes, etc., and then Friday is no school! So all in all, I think we’re pretty well off. Minus the tests, of course. I should be studying all weekend. But the key word there is should. I probably won’t be. I may do a bit of vocab review for Spanish and maybe some stuff for Global Studies because it’s gonna be a hard test, but that’s probably it. Oh, and I’ll make my note card for geometry. But I don’t study. It’s against my morals8. For anyone else who has tests soon, good luck. For those of you who have already taken them, hope you did well. And for those of you who don’t have them at all, I hate you9. Haha.
One last note: for those of you who have been keeping up with the Caryn-Gets-Marked-Way-Down-On-Her-Book-Report-That-She-Should-Have-Done-Really-Well-On saga, I have gained back two points. I managed to convince my teacher after he watched the tape that I had in fact, told him the genre of the book and described a main character. However, I still have a lower grade than I would have liked because I didn’t inform him that I was telling him about the conflict and climax, preferring instead to launch right into it with an (in my opinion, excellent) transition. Well, excuse me for trying to make my book report sound a bit more natural and less like just a speech. As one of my friends said, “I was trying to not treat him like the dumbass he is.10” Well said. Whatever, I’m sure I’ll still pass the class. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

1 Be a big boy…you can handle all of the swear words. And good job if you got that quote, though I’m rather mystified as to why you would be reading that section, still. Ah well.
2 Okay, not all. But it seemed like it!!
3 For those of you who do, feel free to skip that part.
4 Why exactly this is, I’m not sure, but all I know is that we have to be. Leave it at that.
5 I think…I’ve never really done the math, and I have no idea what time we get out of classes. At least, not without thinking about it.
6 For those of you smart enough to figure out that the little 6 there wasn’t part of the time…good job. As I was going to say, I’m really excited about this because we all have lunch together! Usually, I have a different lunch from some of my friends, but not next week! Yay!
7 A first period class starts at 7:30, and I’m not quite that motivated, at least not my freshman year. And even if I was, my dad wouldn’t let me take a class that early. I forget why, something about not pushing myself too hard. Ha! As if.
8 Okay, not really, but I have never really studied that much out of class. I guess I study in other classes when I’m done with work for that class, but that’s it. I haven’t failed yet.
9 Umm, not really, that’s just jealousy speaking. But on the plus side, I do get Friday off! Ha!
10 The same thing happened to her. For the record (and I’m not meaning to sound full of myself or anything), the two of us are two of the smartest kids in the class.

9.1.08

The Joys of School

Estoy: Psyched/mad
Currently reading: Every Crooked Pot, by Renee Rosen—YA realistic fiction—4/5
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak—YA adventure—5/5
Well, I’m getting back into the swing of things at school. Yesterday, I gave my book report, and it didn’t go too bad…I just had to cut a bit out to get it under five minutes. When I first got it written, I was really excited…I was sure everyone was going to want to read my book. Unfortunately, it clocked in at 13 minutes—8 minutes too long. Therefore, I had to cut out all of the fun parts as well as some essentials. Eventually, I couldn’t take anything else out, so I had to hope that I talked fast. Well, it worked a bit, but I did have to cut short my “Why I liked (and adored, revered and reread [] multiple times) this book” section. So I knew I’d be marked down for that. I thought I had pulled it off though, I really did. But apparently, my teacher is REALLY DEAF because I know I explained in a lot of detail the main character, and you’d think that saying “this book is the first in the FANTASY/ADVENTURE series…” would count as telling him the genre. And yet, he marked me down for “not doing” those things. In addition, he randomly took 4 points off my conflict and climax portions of the report (all you perverted people out there who are chuckling, knock it off) for no apparent reason. So tomorrow after class…yeah, we’re gonna have a bit of discussion about that. Because I don’t get bad grades, and I’m gonna be so mad if he messes up my GPA. Ugh! Well, that rant has pretty much expired now…(or should I say, “retired?” Haha.) What’s that? You want to know what grade I got? Uh-uh, I am sooo not telling.
Hey, guess what? We’re now dancing in gym class. I know, fun fun, eh? And for those of you who think I should like dancing…yeah, you come visit my class someday and see how you like it. Very few boys in my class can actually dance. Actually, there’s only about two: One of them is Crew (no surprises there, though) and the other one is Sam. That one actually did surprise me a bit. Those of you who know him, you probably know what I mean. Those of you who don’t…well, it’s not like he’s a horrible person, but he just doesn’t seem like the dancing type. I’ll just leave it at that. Some of the guys, however, are really fun to talk to…while they walk around in a close approximation of the dance pattern. But there is this guy in my class who, y’know, wants to know me a bit better than I want to know him. So I kinda dislike dancing with him (I didn’t have to today!), if you know what I mean. Not that I dislike him…but I just don’t like him “like that.”
Oh, and here’s a note to any guys who may be reading this: You all need to learn where a girl’s waist is! Some of you put your hands way too high, which is a bit too close to the boobs for comfort. And sometimes either gravity or hormones drags your hand down to the butt area. Waist, men, WAIST! That’s where it goes in around our stomachs! All of you girls probably know what I’m saying. You guys need to get it, now! Well, on that pleasant note, I’ll be leaving you again, so, until next time…
xxx
Caryn

7.1.08

Guidelines for the Holidays, Part II (on reasons to NOT take the train)

Estoy: The same as I was last time.
Currently reading: See above. Okay, I don’t read that fast, especially when I’m typing.

Due to the extremely long nature of this list, I decided to split it up. So here’s the next segment.

Number One1: Whatever you do, whomever you’re visiting, and wherever you’re going, DO NOT take the train. Let me repeat this for those you less intelligent readers2: DO NOT take the train. Get it? Got it? Good. My family has been taking it to Minnesota each Christmas for three years now3, and not one of those years has it actually been on time. Also, we’re not exactly close to the train—the nearest depot is a good five hours away. At least, it is with my dad driving. He drives slowly. Anyhow, back to the train: It may be slightly faster than regular travel since it goes 79 miles per hour4 and only stops about once an hour for 15 minutes5, but it gets old very fast. Sure, the seats are a lot bigger than airplane ones and yeah, they have more foot room, but after five hours of sitting, your butt gets reeeeaaaally sore. The bathrooms on the train are insanely small6, the water has issues7, and the food is way too overpriced8. I had to deal with this for about 18 hours…and if you can do math, then you know that it is fairly impossible for a person to go 18 hours without sleep9. Well, not unless you’re a Meth addict, drink way too many energy drinks, or are having a sleepover. But the first two, I don’t do, and the latter is next to impossible on the train. If, by some misfortune10, you have to take the train, make sure you bring your own pillow. I had mine, but many people on the train were left pillow-less after the attendants at Chicago forgot to give us pillow covers. Secondly, if you’re spending a night on the train, try to be next to someone you now. I was next to a random lady on the way there11, and it’s hard to try to not do embarrassing things when you’re asleep. I think I did okay on that one, though. As I mentioned earlier, our train has been late for the past three years. Third time’s the charm? Not so much. Unless you want to count the fact that it wasn’t as late this year—only 2 or 3 hours—but that’d be stretching it. You know, there’s only so many ways you can amuse yourself if you’re in a small town that you’ve had plenty of time to explore in the past two years. Make that too much time to explore. One year, I think it was last year actually, there was some accident further up the route were an engine braked so hard to avoid hitting a car that it flattened one of its wheels12. A new engine had to be brought in, which delayed the train. Unfortunately, all they could get was a freight engine, which apparently can’t go as fast as an Amtrak one. The time they got to our station, they were somewhere between 5 and 7 hours behind. By the time we got to our destination, 11 hours. When you get off schedule, you have to yield to everything that’s on schedule and that sets you back even more. And that, my readers, is why, even though flying may be an expensive hassle, it is still better than the train. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

1 First, just to get this out of the way, no this was not there to help you with your number skills. Two points if you knew that and are therefore down here wasting your time by reading that last sentence. But, as I was going to say, it is there simply because I felt like pointing out that, since I’m feeling a bit Max-like right now, this is also numero uno! Two points as well if you know who Max is. And if you haven’t gotten many points so far…brush up, my reader. Brush up.
2 Which of course we don’t have any of. Right?
3 Ever since flying got to be such an expensive hassle…
4 Which is faster at least than my dad drives.
79 Okay, now this is a freebie: two points if you noticed this only cause it’s in between 4 and 5 and not because you looked down here after reading the number 79.
5 Okay, so maybe for normal people, driving is faster now that I look at it…
6 they always make me hope that no fat people are aboard; they might get stuck…that’s how small they are.
7 Of course it does, it’s stored in a tank under the train.
8 We’re talking like, 22 dollar meals here. And they’re not even gourmet!
9 Another two points if you came to the same conclusion.
10 i.e., your parents make you
11 Because for some odd reason, my dad wouldn’t let Diana (my sister) and I sit together.
12 I’m afraid the same thing happened to the car…life lesson number 1: do not try to cross the track when a train is coming really fast.

Guidelines for the Holidays, Part I (on proper gift giving)

Estoy1: Thoughtful
Currently Reading: Click, by Linda Sue Park et al. 4/5. All royalties go to Amnesty International!

Okay, everyone, I am back! I’m extremely sorry for the long lapse between posts, but you know how hectic things get at the holidays! Especially if you happen to be traveling with a sadistic dad and a slightly annoying sister who can be bossy and a nag. But enough about that. I hope everyone had a great holiday bread and is rejuvenated and ready to go back to school. I am! Not. Well, just for your sake (and partly to keep me from going crazy2), I have compiled the list of holiday guidelines: A list of everything3 you should and should not do during the holiday season. Enjoy!

Number One: DO have presents wrapped for everyone you’re giving them to at least two days before the deadline of gift exchange. You should have the presents bought as soon as you can, and no less than a week before they are to be given. While this may sound like a hard thing to do for my fellow procrastinators out there, it will also save you from the last-minute rush before Christmas. It will also prevent you from staying up late the night before wrapping everyone’s presents. Due to my extreme amount of stress during the holidays, I will be doing this one next year.
Number Two: DO figure out who all is giving you presents, if possible. Obviously, you will know if your besties are giving you presents4, I’m talking about the people whom you are only good friends with and are probably not on your list5. If someone else asks you what you want for Christmas, take the hint and ask them as well. On another note, make sure everyone who will be receiving a present from you knows. I like to do this with the obvious, “Hey, [insert name here], what do you want for Christmas?” I like it. Simple, easy to remember6. Or maybe that would be ‘to the point.’ Ah, well. You can’t have everything. Back on topic, another way to insure that no one gets embarrassed by not having a present for you is to bring them a bit early. I did this this year, and I think I saved a friend from feeling bad7. This way, they can do the whole “I’m bringing presents on Friday, so you’ll get yours then” deal, leaving the giver (aka you) completely unsuspecting that a present is not prepared for them yet8.
Number Three: DO start making your Christmas list early so you have time to think of everything you want. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than thinking of something after all of your presents have been bought. While this method does not guaranteed that you’ll remember everything, it usually helps you think of more things. And we all know that less is not more, more is more. Elementary grammar there, people. It is also a good idea to make multiple copies of your list in case someone loses it9; otherwise, you could be having the problem of having to make your list quickly again. And trust me, you do not want that. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

1 A Spanish word meaning, “I am.” Two points if you already knew this.
2 Or at least crazy-er. And yes, I know that’s spelled wrong. I was just trying to make a point.
3 Okay, not everything. But at least some things.
4 And I sincerely hope that they are…
5 Because you probably have about 50 friends like this, if you’re anything like me.
6 Two points if you caught that quote! Are you keeping track of your points, by the way?
7 No, I won’t tell you who it was. This is supposed to make sure they don’t get embarrassed. That would count as embarrassing.
8 Disclaimer: This will only work if they’re fairly good at lying. If they’re a bad liar, it ain’t gonna fly.
9 *coughMOMcough*