Good Vs. Evil

Currently Reading:  The Hollow People, by Brian Keaney.  Young adult fantasy/science fiction.  8/10¹.

                           Son of a Witch, by Gregory Maguire. Adult        fiction.  9/10.

                            Spud, by John van de Ruit.  Young Adult fiction.  7/10.

Estoy:  Getting tired of school and the weather…

 

Okay.  I am back.  After a fantastic month-long² hiatus, which I do apologize for.  I wish I had a really good excuse for such a long break, but I don't.  Yes, I'm in track now, but I still do have free time.  Just not as much.  So I haven't posted partly because I'm lazy.  Sorry.  I'll try to be more faithful about posting from now on.

 

"Danger is the price of freedom, and without the possibility of doing evil, you can never do good."

Excerpted from The Hollow People³

 

I found this quote to be absolutely beautiful and so, so true.  It's sort of how radicalism seems to me:  in order to make a big change in society, you're going to have to act differently and break a few social norms.  I know, that's sort of the meaning of radicalism, isn't it?  Ah well, I thought it was deep. 

I think, though, that there are a lot of people who don't appreciate things like this.  Perhaps that's the reason for society being the way it is today.  People don't question things enough and push the social boundaries.  That's why change is so slow to come. 

I'm in no way saying that this quote excuses the behavior of some of the more radical people out there, like Hitler, for example.  I believe he took change a bit too far.  On the other hand, though, is it right for us to blindly call him evil?  Yes, he did some bad things.  A lot of them, in fact.  And on the badness scale⁴, they rated pretty high.  But how do you define evil⁵?  Is someone evil because they've done something bad, or because they've sinned, as religion puts it?  Everyone is a sinner, if you choose to see life that way.  Does that mean that people are inherently evil?  I can't say that we are.  I still believe in humankind too much to say that.

But what about people like Hitler, who killed masses of people "for the greater good?"  As I said before, perhaps he is not actually evil.  I mean, he may have been seriously deluded, but can we call him evil?  It's an interesting question.

"For the greater good…" That reminds me of Harry Potter.  So let's take a moment to dissect the much-used literary theme of good vs. evil, especially as it pertains to those books⁶.  As Rita Skeeter uncovered in Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore was, for a time at least, a friend of Grindelwald.  The two had planned to rule the Muggles "for the greater good."  I'm not sure if this was considering the good of the Muggles or themselves, but the question is: does this feeling of superiority and actions that might follow because of it make the pair evil?  I think we can all agree that Dumbledore wasn't evil⁷, but what about Grindelwald?  And for that matter, what about Voldemort?  Both killed Muggles and were regarded by many in terror⁸.  This can clearly be established as a "bad thing."  But, were the two evil?  Even I'm not sure how to answer this.  Maybe evil is simply a concept that is different for each person and therefore can never be widely defined.  Perhaps evil is not marked by bad deeds done, but instead by when you lose touch with your heart and soul through greed.  Or it could be that Gregory Maguire gets the last laugh—

"It's the ones who think they're better than everyone else that you have to watch out for."

Excerpted from Wicked.

 

            If you ask me, that could apply to Hitler, Grindelwald, and Voldemort.  And even those "popular" girls at your school.

            Either way, I hope I gave you some brain food for the day and inspired you to challenge other people's ideas.  It's about as radical as I have the courage to get right now.  Until next time…

xxx

Caryn

 

 

¹ I have changed my system of book ratings to be out of ten, in case you actually noticed and were wondering about that.  Not that you were.  They were out of five before, but I don't feel that allowed for as much depth.

² Or thereabouts.  I didn't keep track, exactly.

³ Two points if you noted that I'm reading this right now.

⁴ Of my invention, that is.

⁵ I've been questioning the concept of evil a lot since I read Wicked. 

⁶ Because who doesn't love discussing Harry Potter and relating it to everything in life?

⁷ If you think he was, tell me; that'll make for an interesting discussion.

⁸ Or "Teror," if you're extremely special like that.  Two points to those of you who get it.

---

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Take Five, People, That’s a Wrap

Estoy: Okay, but suffering from a bad case of "the Fridays¹"
Currently Reading: Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. Adult Fiction. 5/5, but there's a definite reason that it's adult.

Imagine if you will…poor schoolchildren being forced by their slightly insane and not even cool teacher to do a stupid assignment. Especially at the very end of the day on a Friday when the week feels like it's been forever though in reality it only lasted for four days. I'm sure that most of you don't have to imagine that; it has probably been a sad reality for you at sometime or other in your life. For those of you who have figured out that I'm not just into hypotheticals right now and that I'm actually maybe talking about my day, that is what I call talent.
So, you may be asking, what is said stupid assignment that us poor school children are being forced to do²? Well, today we were being forced to write a "commercial" persuading people to join the Greek army. Okay, we are studying Greek Mythology in English, and we are reading The Iliad (or a very cheap and not nearly as eloquent copy³), but explain to me how this translates into making a commercial so nonexistent people can join a nonexistent army in order to fight a nonexistent war? It doesn't, as close as I can figure. But if anyone has a good reason for it, drop me a line, kay? Anyhow, it was…well, quite a disaster if you ask me. Our group is slightly grouply impaired, i.e., we can't seem to do anything without arguing. Needless to say, I ended up writing the whole script. While I thought it sucked, my partners were quite pleased. Recording it didn't go too badly, and when we listened to all of the others, we discovered that everyone else's sucked as well. I guess there's really not much you can do with an assignment like that. Also on the subject of exciting English assignments would be our hero essay. Our hero has to be "a realistic person" who can "solve a [world] problem or improve the situation greatly." Again, I'm not quite sure how this relates to English and our subject right now (yes, I realize the Greeks had heroes, but they were hardly realistic. Half of them were deities), but I just chalk it up to the fact that our teacher is slightly insane. I believe I may have said that before. Anyhow, for those of you who either know me personally or at least have been keeping up with the books I'm reading, you know that, while I read a bit of pretty much everything, I love, love, love Science Fiction and Fantasy. So writing about a "realistic person" may not be too easy for me. I mean, no uber technology, no magic, no superhuman powers? Knowing my teacher, super smarts probably wouldn't go over to well, either. Obviously, this is going to be a bit of a problemo for Caryn. I don't know that I'll be able to make it interesting. Creative writing project? Hah. English has a way of sucking all the creativity right out of me.
On the plus side, I do have a band concert in 4 days! On the downside, we have one and a half rehearsals left. And oh yeah, people are still making way too many mistakes with the music. I mean, yesterday, a certain trombonist was say, a note sharp. Let me tell you, that is quite a bit of discord. I don't get it, I really don't. We've been playing for 4 and a half years now. We tune every day at the beginning of band. And we've had the music for probably around 2 months now. Practicing is not that hard! I think our band director is pretty nervous as well, but maybe everyone will practice this weekend! And maybe the sky is not really blue. Ah well, we can still hope, right? Well, wish us luck…we'll probably need it. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

¹ Thanks to my State Studies teacher for that one!
² And if you weren't asking it…well, sorry, but I'm answering it anyways.
³ But somehow, it's still just as sexist. And worse, it's illustrated. Tell me, is there a reason why the Greek Goddesses couldn't seem to keep their boobs in their shirt/dress/toga/whatever it is they wore?

V For Valium

Estoy: Sugared out, becoming pink-o-phobic, and fulfilling my position as your resident cynic.
Currently Reading¹: Airman, by Eoin Colfer. YA Adventure. 5/5
Pagan’s Vows and Pagan’s Scribe, by Catherine Jinks. YA historical fiction.
Books 3 and 4 in the Pagan Chronicles. 5/5.

Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate it, and happy sugar fest to all who don’t really feel compelled but are surrounded by lovestruck ones. I fall in to the second category, personally, but don’t hold it against me. That's the reason behind the title—I almost needed Valium to make it through the day. My school decided to tell all girls to wear pink today and all guys to wear red. I felt surrounded and slightly scared. Needless to say, I wore black. Back on topic, though. In my opinion, Valentine’s Day is nothing more than another time for marketers to make a lot of money. Not that I’m against the idea of it—I do think that love is a good thing, despite the fact that it hasn’t found me yet². However, Valentine’s Day as a day for lovers has no historic significance. And for all of the people I love, I don’t feel I need a day to remember them. I tell them I love them often. After all, they deserve more than one day. I know that for some of you, Valentine’s Day can be painful—Scott likes to call it “Singles Awareness Day”—but there’s no reason you can’t have fun today as well. Instead of focusing on the fact that you don’t have a significant other, take time to realize that you are loved by your friends and your parents. If nothing else, get on a huge sugar high.
I think I did I bit too much sugar-highing today, which is quite surprising. I didn’t really get that much candy…just a box of hearts from one of my closest friends, a bag of goodies and a sucker from other close friends, and candy in Spanish class. However, I’ve already eaten it all and am therefore a bit hyper. And it’s taking me awhile to type this, because my fingers are even more dyslexic than usual³. But I have laughed hard and often today, so that’s something.
DataMatch—ah, DataMatch⁴. I must tell you how this turned out. I’m not sure, but I think I did mention this in a previous entry. If not, go back, read the footnote, and then try to keep up as much as possible, kay? And if I didn’t mention it, I do apologize. Anyhow, I’m sure you’re just dying to know who was on my list. Well, the first one happened to be the boyfriend of one of my friends—Wiley⁵. Well, I wasn’t going to tell him, but as Katie (his girlfriend) was reading my list, he saw. Everyone else in the band found this to be hilarious, but Wiley and I were kind of…not so thrilled. Not that we hate eachother, but we seem to be in a perpetual argument. I mean, of all the people on my list, he is probably the one that I like the most. Not that I would date him, really, even if he wasn’t going out with Katie. My list seems to be filled with nerds, which I guess is fitting. I’m a pretty big nerd myself. My top match in the whole school was sophomore Connor. According to Katie (who is on swim team), he’s a good swimmer and also pretty cute. Not that I’m going to go seek out any person off of the printout.
I suppose I should be off now to do some valentine-y things, so I hope you all have a good rest of the day. Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

¹ And Currently Read, since I don’t blog nearly as much as I read. Just so you know that I really don’t read 3 books at once.
² Ah, how tragic, right? No, not really. I am still young and face it, everyone gets their share of heartbreak.
³ Believe me, fingers can be dyslexic. It’s a special talent that mine have.
⁴ For Datamatch, everyone interested in participating fills out a questionnaire. You are then matched with people who have similar interests and given the percentage of things you have in common. Just for the record, my highest was 57%.
⁵ Wiley was the guy, for the record. Not the friend.

In Sickness And In Health

Estoy: Enferma¹
Currently Reading: Ptolemy’s Gate, by Jonathon Stroud. YA Fantasy. 5/5²

Take it from one who knows (which would be all of us, in most likelihood): it is no fun being sick. Somehow, I managed to get myself sick, again! I was just sick over Christmas break! Actually, it’s really no mystery how I got myself sick, seeing as how half of the people in school are currently sick³ as well. But still, all those germs floating around don’t make it any easier to get better, either.
Honestly, it’s not like I’ve done that much physically or mentally strenuous stuff while I’ve been sick. I only read one book this weekend. Okay, it was a bit long, but hey, what else was I supposed to do? I had already been kicked off the computer for spending too much time on there and before that I had been watching DVD’s⁴. I didn’t do any homework that I didn’t need to, and I didn’t practice. Heck, on Sunday at my dad’s, I got bored enough to take a nap⁵! And did that help? Erm, no, not really. I’m even wondering at my reasons for doing it.
While I did do a lot of things to get better this weekend, I suppose going to the party on Friday wasn’t one of them. The party—Lara’s birthday celebration, to be precise—was pretty dang fun, though. And don’t get me wrong: it wasn’t one of those wild parties that you all hear about high-schoolers having⁶. I mean, for one thing, this was Lara! I guess some of you may not know her, but Lara follows pretty much every rule there is. Not really to the extreme, but she’s a smart girl and she likes to keep her nose clean. And to tell you the truth, even if I was invited to a party that I knew would be like that, I wouldn’t go. I have a future, people. I don’t want to be pinned with an MIP or some other stupid thing like that. For me, a party is just me and some close friends, food, board games, movies (especially those with yummy guys in them), and some good quality time together⁷! Call me stupid if you want, but I think that must be much more fun than getting drunk and high at the same time⁸! Lara’s party was my kind of party, though. We just hung out, played the chocolate game (no, I won’t explain it here), sang karaoke (I sat this one out), watched Stardust (pretty good movie!), ate pizza (of course), opened presents (it was her birthday), and talked. So pretty low stress, I’d think? Apparently not enough so, though. Either way, I enjoyed it immensely. It was pretty much worth being sick.
That’s all I have for now, so wish me well! Until next time…
xxx
Caryn

¹ Enferma is Spanish for sick. It logically follows that saying, “Estoy enferma,” means I am sick. Remember that whole ser/estar thing I was telling you about, though? If you say “Soy enferma,” it means that you are mentally sick, and you don’t want people thinking that. The lesson is, watch your verb choice. Oh, and also with subject-adjective agreement, boys would say “Estoy enfermo” so it is made clear that they’re not a girl. Quite confusing, don’t you think?
² Doubtless, some of you have already noticed that I have read two books by Jonathon Stroud recently. Yes, they’re a series. And this is the third one. So read the other two first. One quick thing I love about these books: Bartimaeus uses footnotes!
³ I kid you not. It’s pretty hard to have a silent time in class these days, because even when no one is talking, you can still hear sounds of sniffling, nose blowing, coughing, and sneezing. On the plus side, at least I’m not the only one.
⁴ Only one DVD, actually, and it was Jeff Dunham. Nothing like a good laugh to make you feel better, right?
⁵ It also was a good strategy to get me away from my dad, though it was perhaps slightly wasted at the time. He was out shopping.
⁶ You know the type—no parents, loud music, alcohol, drugs, who-knows-what going on in the bedrooms/basements/bathrooms/couches.
⁷ Shannon and I were actually compiling this list at lunch—I forget why.
⁸ I refuse to say “crunk…” it does mean something like that, no? And that right there shows how innocent I am.

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?

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 4^th period finals (which for me is Spanish II), then 1^st 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.

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 2^nd period finals (for me, health) from 8:30 until 10:10; 6^th period finals (my science) from 10:20 until 12:00; lunch from 12:00 to 1:00⁶; and 7^th 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 3^rd period (Global Studies), 5^th period (Geometry), and 8^th period (English I). On Wednesday, we have 4^th period (Spanish II), 1^st 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.

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

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*