Vespa? Yes-pa.

Driver's Ed might be one of my easiest classes. It seems like most of the questions are common sense. The goal of the class is to complete driver's education, so that one could get their C class permit. That's not my goal.
My dream is to have a Vespa (cue twinkly lights and happy music)
I really want a Vespa. Sometimes it can be a little unreliable, a little goofy, it goes only 60 mph tops, and it's outlandishly fashionable. Sort of like me.
For those who don't know what a Vespa is, it's a (very) Italian scooter. Very European and adorable in my opinion. So far, everyone who I've talked to about my love does not agree with me. I've been told "It's unreliable", "It looks sort of stupid", "Um, don't you want a car?" That hasn't deterred me from my goal at all!
In fact, I have a deal with the 5th Grader next door. His parents have told him that he will be getting a Vespa instead of a car when he grows older. I found him scowling about that and jumped on my chance. "I'll buy your Vespa once you get it!" We pinky-promised and everything, so I'm considering it equal to an official court document. I've even chosen a name, and a color, and everything.
I'm going to name him Benji, after Benjamin Franklin!
In less than 4 months I will be able to get my driver's permit and learn to drive a car. By then, I might have lost interest in the Vespa, although I doubt it. And by then I may want to actually drive something that will go faster than 60 mph. But I don't think so, and that's all that matters.

USA Tramples Angola

Monday morning, while everyone was tucked tight into their beds, the United States Senior National Team played their knockout round game at the World Basketball Festival in Istanbul, Turkey against the Angolan National Team. The US, seen as a heavy favorite came into the game with a good amount of confidence after going  5-0 in pool play and beating world #4 Brazil, but no one expected the onslaught to come.

The US scored early and often in a 121-66 route of Angola's best to offer. Players who played well included:

• Eric Gordon- 17 Points in 21 minutes of play time
• Chauncy Billups- 19 Points, 2 Rebounds, 4 Assists in 19 minutes of play time
• Kevin Durant- 17 Points, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist in 19 minutes of play time
• Rudy Gay- 17 Points, 4 Rebounds, 3 Steals in 17 minutes of play time

The United States team now moves on to the Quarterfinals of the World Basketball Championship where they are again favorites against the Russian National Team. The game is September 9th at 8 am.

Goodwill had a labor day sale

Yesterday was labor day, and instead of spending the day boating, or having a barbeque, or at least sleeping in, me and three of my friends set our alarms for 7:00 AM and hit up the Goodwill. No no no, we hit up three different goodwills. The thrift store chain had a 50% off (of already dirt cheap prices) sale. I walked away with over 25 vinyl records to add to my collection and lots of cool clothes including my new favorite pair of tribal print parachute pants. Score.

Journalism 2010-2011

I'm so excited for this year's journalism staff! Our team of Flash writers has all the potential needed to make an awesome paper.

I haven't had time to read the Flash or the blog in such a long time. So this morning I finally got the chance to read it, and I'm so impressed!! The Flash has come such a long way, and being able to report through Facebook and Twitter doesn't just limit us to being a "newspaper" staff anymore.

Anyway, just wanted to say congratulations Amanda and Staff Writers on your great work so far. Keep it up, and this is for sure going to be the best year of journalism ever!

Looking forward to working with all of you:)

A Tribute To All The Ladies

Girls are very fickle creatures. This blog may well serve as a warning to all of the gents, and as a truth to all of the lasses. Girls expect men to know everything…but the truth is we are ignorant brutes who do nothing but grunt all day and bang our clubs on the rock wall. Not literally, but you get the picture. Guys are clueless when it comes to girls. I’m sure that at this point in the blog the males are thinking either, "This guy is rubbish, I know everything when it comes to girls," while others yet are thinking, "Hmm…this could be useful." Females at this point are probably thinking, "This will be entertaining," or a myriad of other things simply because females are complicated. Whichever the case may be for you, here are a few things I have learned in my limited time wading into the vastly bemusing world of women.
First thing about girls is that they are very observatory, even though you would not think that is the case. They are very good at not being noticed, noticing what is going on around them and I feel that they use this hidden talent to give them the upper hand when dealing with us simpletons. In less than a minute they will have fully scrutinized you and the situation surrounding them without you even having a clue. They will take in what clothes you are wearing, how tall you are, your posture, your shoes, your smile, your voice, how you smell, whether you seem to be neat and tidy or messy, how tan you are, your build, what they think your personality is like, and basically everything that can be seen by the naked eye (or not). Girls often scoff at people who are judgmental, which can be seen as the ultimate form of hypocrisy because by nature girls are very judgmental themselves!
Girls hold grudges. This is a well known fact but it is all too true. Everything may seem perfectly fine, but during the first argument you have with them, you will know everything you have done wrong for the past 5 years (or however long you have been dating them). This could also be seen as a tactic, as it will most likely confuse you once again, throw you off so to speak, lessen your manly being and power to know you are right and somehow be lured into thinking that they may actually be right and you are an insensitive being. You’ll be thinking about when this occurred or when you said that and when you finally remember (or just give up), you’ll wake up to the fact that you are now being accused of not being serious.
Girls are very, very emotional beings. You can almost picture a girl as being a bundle of emotions wrapped up in a human body. Anything you say can push the wrong button and immediately send a torrent of emotions flooding through them. Immediately they might become angry, striking fear into you while you are sitting there wondering what you could have possibly done wrong. While you are being barraged by insults and comments that you have never even heard before, you will continue wondering what you did, and then get in even more trouble for not listening to their berating! On the flipside, when a girl is crying you could say just the right thing with the right action and she could be laughing within seconds.
Girls seem to be very possessive. You can picture them as if they are a little kid who gets that new toy, or as if they are a bird who finds that shiny object. Once it, whatever it may be, is theirs, they will hold onto it like Scrat holds onto his acorn in Ice Age. It is almost as if they are an animal who has marked their territory, and the slightest breach of that territory means all out war. Nukes, hydrogen bombs…nothing is left out of the arsenal. Quite a fearsome site to behold.
Girls have a comfort zone. When a girl truly becomes comfortable with you, she will be totally different. You will finally see her true humor, how she really eats, and understand how she really feels at this time. It may be shocking at first, but you will get used to it. Don’t be alarmed. This is normal with girls.
This is just a peek into the confusing world of girls. They will never fully make sense to males, but all we can do is try and aspire to understand them as well as anyone can. With girls it is trial and error. You will know when you did something right and you will most certainly know when you did something wrong, but that is the nature of things and what makes the world go round!

Back to Football

It's that time again were we are back at school. Finally getting back into the swing of things, including football. Since last year we have come along way. We played in the playoffs and won all of our games. Then we went to state and lost by a field goal. But in our town's eyes we were still champions. This Friday we are getting ready for our first home game of the season on our new Field! Which means no more sand pit in the middle of the Field, luckily! Football is getting ready and cheer is practicing because we are the game of the week vs Oakridge. Last night Varsity Cheer had News 10 interviewing them about the game and the state game last year. Frosh football was practicing on the new field. Varsity and JV football were working on their usual stuff. Along with the preparations for the first game we are readily anticipating next weeks game vs Whitney. ASB is working on seating, tickets, shirts, and various other preparations. JV and Varsity cheer are putting together a routine that they will perform together and football is working even harder. Football is in full swing and the Quarry bowl has been born.

Kitties!

The past few years has been filled with a number of experiences with cats (the most adorable creatures in the world) for my family. In December of 2008, we adopted a kitten from the SPCA for my sister's 18th birthday. At just 10 weeks old, Cleo was an adorable ball of fluff. She is a medium length hair tabby, and basically the softest kitty in the world. Her hobbies include napping in unusual places, staring out windows, napping, mewing for food, napping, chasing beads on the tile floor, napping, opening kitchen cabinets, and napping. Cleo will turn 2 on October 4th. She is the first cat my family has ever had and now I can't imagine what it was like not having a kitty.

Last September, a small gray cat whom we named Button started visiting our backyard. She looked skinny so we would feed her whenever she would come by. One day she was in the backyard and I set out some food and left to do something else. My mom called me to come quick and look at Button. Beside her were four tiny kittens (3 black and white and one gray and white) who were probably about six-eight weeks old! Button was a mother who had gained enough trust in us to introduce us to her adorable babies. They were so adventurous, scampering around the backyard, fighting each other, and competing for their mother's attention. We set out a box with some blankets for them where they all curled up. They continued to visit regularly for a few days, and since they were all tiny from undernourishment, it was clear that they had no real home. So, we took Button and her babies to the SPCA, where they were adopted into loving homes. :)

Some more cats have recently found our backyard to be a suitable hangout. A skinny, mostly black calico started visiting and we would feed him too. He seemed nice enough, purring and rubbing against everyone's legs. After a few weeks though, we saw that he has a temper. Whenever he spots Cleo in the window (she's always fascinated by other cats since she is a strictly indoor cat), he hisses aggressively at her. He will also occasionally bite if he's not in the mood to be pet. About a week ago a new cat, a beautiful orange tabby with white socks, came to our backyard. We named him Roger and he is so sweet. He comes every morning and evening to be fed and for some attention. He can purr so loudly and loves belly rubs. Cleo and him enjoy staring at each other through the window. Roger is definitely the perfect pet for anyone.

This summer, we decided to foster some kittens. We took in four adorable kittens for a week. Their names were Ben (gray), Mindy (black), Mary (black and white), and Barbie (tabby). Ben, the only boy, was quite a sweetheart always wanting to be with people. Mindy was somewhat shy but loved playing with string. Mary was the most adventurous and the leader of the group always looking for new places to explore. Barbie was the most petite baby of the group but was definitely quite mischievous. We thought Cleo would be aggressive towards them but she would just stare at them as they batted at her. It was a great experience caring for them for a while. Our house has thus been dubbed the 'Cat Haven'. As you can see, cats are my favorite animals and I love talking/writing about them :)