Frozen in time

I was watching TLC the other day and there was a special on of a girl, Brooke, who is 16, but stopped growing and aging as a baby. "Her mental age is estimated to be 9-12 months old, and her physical size is that of a six month old." I feel sad for the family, but at the same time I think it's a miracle.
Scientists are trying to find the gene that made her stop aging because they believe it can help unlock the secret of eternal youth and how to put an end to alheizmers. Brooke also had a brain tumor that disappeared on its own. I don't know if the tumor had anything to do with her not aging, or if it is just another miracle. But, I mean, if science could uncover the secrets in her genes, countless people's lives could be saved. Especially with alzheimers. The scientists actually did track down the correct chromosome, but they still haven't found the exact mutated gene. I hope science will be advanced enough one day to unlock the mystery.
Anyway, watch this video on her:
http://www.mahalo.com/child-frozen-in-time

Elementary Halloween

Go read my webstory about the fall play "Ghostlight"! It was really good and I watched both casts and enjoyed both performances! Three days left to watch next week...
On another note, YAY for Halloween! I miss the days when we used to have class parties with food and movies and art...but thankfully I get to experience some of that with my elementary TA class today :) I go to Cobblestone every seventh period and help with the kids in a second grade class, and it is by far one of the best classes I've taken. I love going to it-thankfully, since I would otherwise hate having a seventh period- and it is amazing to see kids who still love learning and get so excited when you walk into the room. More about it later, but I'm so pumped to see them in their cute little costumes today, as well as at Kids Junction! Happy Halloween :)

Snowstorm

I just heard about the huge snow storm in Colorado and Wyoming and I have to admit I am kind of jealous. There are over three feet of snow in some places and school was cancelled. Snow is one of the best parts of winter and we almost never get it here in Rocklin. Obviously the snow storm isn't all good, roads were closed down and flights were cancelled. Some of the roads were major highways and I am sure a few of the flights were important.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_western_storm

Jon & Kate Plus Hate

Why are Jon and Kate everywhere in the news these days?? I can't understand why everyone is so fascinated with two random people who have reproduced eight times too many. The divorcing couple is everywhere from E news to people magazine to my yahoo homepage. If you google 'Jon and Kate' there are almost 38 million hits! It is ridiculous. I just wish everybody would stop obsessing over them. Their children are probably going to grow up to be annoying attention-loving reality TV stars too. But, really, I feel extremely bad for their children. It is not their fault that their parents are crazy. The Gosselins need to step out of the public eye and settle their problems more maturely.

World Series

The most exciting time in baseball has finally arrived. After postseason series, it has finally come to the World Series. This year, it is between the Yankees and the Phillies. So far, the series is tied with Philadelphia winning the first game, 6-1, and the Yankees taking last night's game, 3-1.

There is some conflict left over from last night's game, as Phillies Manager, Charlie Manuel, is unhappy with a specific call. He says that Chase Utley was safe at first, but he was called out. This was a double play, and ended the inning for the Phillies. Manuel is upset, because one of the best power hitters, Ryan Howard, would have been up to bat, and the Phillies could have scored or won.

I don't really know who I want to win the world series, as all of my favorite teams have already lost. The Phillies won last year, but the Yankees have not won since 2000. The next game in the series is tomorrow night, and at this point, anyone could take the title.

Yeah, Halloween..

Yeah, tomorrow is Halloween. I'm not super-excited like most people, just based on the fact that I'm not a huge fan of this holiday. I guess it's just that I'm going to be home alone (refusing to pass out candy, muahahaha), but I'll probably go out with some friends or something...

I always get nervous because there are usually a group of some pretty weird people out on halloween, and they can be very superstitious, so I keep my black cat (who is always outside and probably the most awesome cat you can have) inside. Those people creep me out and are one of the reasons why I'm not too fond of that day. But Halloween knocks out another day until Christmas, and thats a day I can wait for. :D

Huntington Beach.

So, this weekend im going to Huntington Beach for a softball tournament. I'm kind of upset that i wont be in rocklin for Halloween, because i really wanted to go trick or treating with my little sister and hang out with my best friend Alicea and my Mother. But, im still excited because i get to go trick or treating in LA with all of my teammates. Our last game gets done around five, so were all excited to go out to dinner before, and then dress up in our costumes and go out and get candy :D Hopefully we dont get jumped while trick or treating in the neighborhoods, because LA can get kind of scary and theres a lot of weird people down there.

Nothing to Blog About

There's nothing to blog about... unless I ramble about how school work is taking control of my life and health. But I think I blogged about that last time...
I'm not fully aware of things that are going on anymore. I'm not in the know of anything really exciting that has been happening or have come across anything that has sparked my interest. The days have been going by so fast and I feel as if I'm living the same day over and over again: School, sports, stay up doing homework, sleep, wake up early to finish homework, school... but I guess it's just one of those long, flat, monotonous roads we all find ourselves traveling on every once in a while. However, the rest of the school year gives me a lot to look forward to, so hopefully the next time I have to blog there will be something to blog about.

The Freedom Writer's Diary

The Freedom Writer's Diary is a book about a group of teenagers that live in Long Beach, a place filled with gang violence. A new teacher comes to their high school and turn their world upside down. The book has since been turned into a movie. I first saw the movie a couple years ago and found it extremely touching. It profiles their lives and the struggles the face everyday and makes it feel like you know the characters. Now, I have read the book twice and is by far the best non-fiction book I have ever read. The book goes into a lot more detail than the movie and shows how one teacher changed the lives of these teens. It covers topics such as gang violence, drugs, and rape. The teacher, Mrs. Gruwell, teaches her kids about people like Anne Frank, who gives them inspiration to change their lives around. This book has led me to start reading the Diary of Anne Frank to learn more about this girl who has inspired so many. Both the book and the movie are moving and informational on how some people can overcome their struggles.

Pep Band Has No Pep

I've been in band for four years. Yes, I am a band geek but I've been okay with that until this year. We never play good songs. Sure they're "classical" and moving. But no one cares about that anymore. And the fact that pep band is a required outside of school activity this year is sucking the fun out of band. Pep band used to be voluntary and I also used to have fun with it. I would go to hang out with friends and occasionally play music. But now, this year, we have to play at four of the six home games. And to add to it, the Granite Oak Honor Band is joining us today against Woodcreek. We already don't have enough room for our two bands and now adding 40 more kids? That sounds exactly like something I want to do on my Friday night. I am just holding out for my brick at the end of the year. The hallway behind the theatre is made of cinder blocks painted white and every year after graduation, the four year VAPA students get their own bricks. They can decorate it however they choose. It's like a Rocklin High School VAPA Hall of Fame. Band's requirements are unreasonable and it is making all of the dedicated musician's think twice about their enrollment in the class. I'm just glad that it's my last year of high school band. Soon, I can play with people who actually care and just play for the fun of it. Because I want to play for fun. Not because it is required. If there are such heavy requirements this year, how will that contribute to getting more students to join band in the years to come?

Underated Undefeated's

The Rocklin Thunder Varsity Football Team is undefeated and has gotten no real exposure. Finally we broke into the top 5 this week! We have played against top teams like Napa Nevada Union and Granite Bay. We crushed two of them and outplayed Granite Bay. All the talk is about How many games Del Oro and Grant will win and when will Rocklin lose. We are not good enough to be undefeated says everyone outside the community of Rocklin. We shut them up after beating Granite Bay! Finally starting to earn some respect from all schools. In the Same boat as the is the Denver Broncos. Also undefeated and also the lowest ranked unbeaten team. on ESPN and NFL Network all they say is this will be the week that they lose. They continue to shock the football world every week. Great seasons by both teams. You have my respect.

Halloween

So Halloween is tomorrow and I am so excited. I love dressing up and going around a different neighborhood with my friends and getting candy. It seems like there are so many articles saying what are the best costumes and what are the new ones for this year. Most of the articles include being Lady Gaga or Balloon Boy. One article said that a couple should go as Kayne West and Taylor Swift which was probably one of the more original ideas. This weekend is going to be fun, after celebrating Halloween, I get to go to a friend's birthday party. And its almost November which is my favorite month because of my birthday and because I love the winter. I can't wait to go shopping for a winter wardrobe

New Moon!

Only three weeks until the New Moon premiere!! I am so excited for it! I bought my ticket a few weeks ago, and I know a bunch of different groups that are going. I hope that this movie is as good as the book. I did not like the movie of Twilight, as much as I liked the book, but hopefully, New Moon will be better! I was not very surprised that the 12:01 showing sold out a few days after it opened, but the 12:02, 12:03, and 12:04 are also sold out! They added a 3am, that is going to be played digitally, rather than traditionally.

Since I found out about the 3am showing, I became curious about what it exactly was supposed to be. It is done in digital projection, which has the equal clarity of traditional film, but does not get scratched or ruined over time.

I am so excited to go to this premiere! I went to the Twilight midnight showing last year and it was really fun! Hopefully, this year will be as good as last year! I have seen the New Moon trailer and it looks great. Since there is a new director and a larger budget, I am have high hopes for this movie! Just a little while longer until November 19th...

San Jose.

So, this past weekend i went to San Jose for a softball tournament. It was really exciting because i got to see my best friend that moved away three years ago. Her names kadi and she moved to Washington, her freshmen year. While we were there my best friend Alicea and I talked to her and her family, and we watched her games, and she watched ours. It was really cool to see her because i havent seen her in two years, and Alicea and I have really missed her. Ive always kept in touch with her through myspace, and texting but it was just really good to her in person. While we were there we all decided that Alicea and I are going to go Washinton during Christmas Break and spend four days with Kadi. Were really excited because it snows up there, and Alicea has only been to the snow a couple times. So.... im just waiting for Christmas break to be here, which seems like 20 years away but oh well. Guess me and leasha will just have to wait :D

So i am loving this fall season. The weather is great and i love the rain and sitting inside drinking hot chocolate and watching it. I have been working like crazy these weeks so i can save up money to go on fun trips for thanksgiving and christmas break. I have never worked this much but im managing to finish my homework so im not up all night doing it. Im hoping my parents will let me go down with a few of my friends to Disneyland over Christmas break because i have been wanting to go for soo long and I don't want parents there following us everywhere! I have also been wanting to go down around southern California area because i want to see some of the colleges like UCSB and others around it because i am planning on moving down there and attending college there. Hopefully my plans follow through!

Spirited Away for Halloween

Halloween. Time for everyone to get their costumes, plan their trick or treating routes, figure out which party to go to, and whatever everyone does for Halloween. I don't really know, because the only thing that I've done before is dress up in a costume, and that was when I was really little. I've never gone to any parties or gone trick or treating. Usually I just sit near the door and hand out candy. This year won't be much different, except I'm going to Reno to do it, at a friend's house. I'm just kind of curious if anyone else does that. Just stay home and hand out candy. Anyone else out there do thats

Time

Today in English we started watching a movie on Quantum Physics. It posed a lot of questions about why we live the way we do, the perspective we have on life, and essentially what is life in the first place? It was a bit far fetched and confusing, but none the less got me thinking. Lately I have been dealing with time management, as most seniors are. How do we work, do our high school stuff, our college stuff, scholarship stuff, friend stuff? But then there is the question what exactly is time? Is it simply a measurement that limits how productive we can be? Often I find myself wishing I had more time. Does our mentality about time affect how much we can in fact get done? I want to be the person in this busy season of my life that takes advantage of time to its fullest potential.

DEXTER!

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic for me, since I was out for an entire week and I had a ton of make-up work to do, with the print story on top of that. I'm glad I was able to finish it all on time, thankfully. But, there was a major road block for me because while I was sick, my sister told me to watch the show Dexter to pass the time. So I did, and it's probably one of the greatest shows that I've seen. For those of you who haven't seen or heard of the show, it's about a guy named Dexter who works for the Miama Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst in forensics, who is also a serial killer. I can't really describe in detail why he does what he does, but he only goes after murderers to save innocent lives. It's just a really good show, and I'm glad that my sister showed it to me.

AND IM GLAD THE PRINT ISSUE IS DONE! :D

October 31st!

Since Halloween is coming so soon, i want to make sure i do a lot of things fun for it. I really want to go to fright fest at six flags because i have never been and it sounds like a lof of fun walking around at night and getting freak out by having people in costumes follow you around. I also really want to see Paranormal Activity because i hear it talked all around school saying how people were so scared and how many couldn't even sleep alone at night. I heard that the movie was not going to be playing anymore after this week because too many people were commiting suicide after seeing it, but that was all rumors and they will be still show the show for awhile. Well hopefully Halloween will be a blast this year for me and i am really looking forward to it!

The Gathering Inn

This Saturday, I'm going on a five mile run to raise money for the Gathering Inn, which is a nonprofit organization that supports homeless people in Placer County. The nonprofit is made up of 60 churches in Placer County. Every night, one of the churches opens up their building, providing homeless people with hot meals, showers, clothes, a place to spend the night, and many different self enhancement services designed to help them get back on their feet again. Their website has some statistics about homelessness in Placer County:

41% are adult males
32% are adult females
23% are children
20% self report a substance abuse illness
17% increase in foster age youth
80% have been unemployed within the last 12 months
40% self report a mental illness

October Craziness

This month has been crazy busy! With tons of school assignments, The Flash Print issue, extracurriculars and college applications and other preparations. I can't wait until it is the end of November and I get to spend time with my family for Thanksgiving. I just need a break from all this work and I am very anxious. Luckily, Halloween is next weekend, and hopefully I will be able to do something fun and take a breather. I still have much fine-tuning to do for my UC Personal Statements and I have to do all the essays for my Stanford application. Deadlines are quickly approaching and it is just so much to deal with. But once it is all over, I am confident that the stress and hard work I have put into everything will pay off.

Creepy Concert!!!

Hey all! Well, I 've got some scary but exciting news! The annual Creepy Concert is showing this Saturday! There will be band, choir, dance, and other performers, like me, performing in the Creepy Concert. I've been to the last two CC's and they have been so much fun and awesome to watch. They had great MC's, which were hilarious in my opinion, and also, there will be refreshments!!! Yeah, you still have to pay for it but at least you'll have the chance to get food! YAY! Also, the performers that got picked to be apart of the creepy concert are all awesome. There are going to be a couple of actors, a couple of singers, and a dance group from the Hip-Hop Club. I can't wait to perform my song and my skit with my freind Robyn Kramer. You know, its going to be my last here doing the creepy concert so, WHY NOT!? So, again, the Creepy Concert is this Saturday and starts at 7pm! Don't miss out!

Down Again

Well, I dropped 10 spots in the Stocks today as the DOW plummeted 100 points, and that's only last time I checked. It sucks for me, but it got me wondering what's going on in the financial industry. It shot up above 10000 points a few days ago, which is amazing considering how recent the crash was. But then today it shot back down into the 9000's, hurting me in my little game and a lot of other people who were playing with real money.
The people in charge are too fond of speculation. Obviously it's necessary for stocks to even exist, but every financial crash in American history has been caused by overspecualtion in something, and only a year after the meltdown, it looks like we're already headed that way. We're rising too far too fast with nothing to back up the speculation. Until the economy gets on its feet, this seems especially risky.

2nd Chance

This year at Homecoming, I did not have all that great of a time at the dance for many reasons, the main reason being that my date more or less "ditched me," allthough I did have a good time before and after the dance. I was kinda bummed because we haven't really spoken about it yet, but I still feeled that the night was, in a way, wasted. I was down that I wouldn't have a chance at another Homecoming this year.
This was until my friend invited me to go to the Whitney Homecoming. I'm hoping that this will be a fun and exciting event and hopefully it will be better then the Homecoming RHS had.

Go Green with Your Health

Since last winter, I've become enamored with green tea. I used to not like it, but somehow I started liking it and now I drink it almost every day when I do homework. It's so healthy, too! Here's what I discovered about the drink:

1. Kills Leukemia Cells
2. Boosts memeory function
3. Increases metabolism and fat loss capabilities
4. Reverses the Aging effects of sun damage and fights skin cancer
5. Therapy for poepl with rhematoid arthritis
6. Helps Ward off Alzheimer's Disease
7. Lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
8. Prevents tooth decay and kills plaque-causing bacteria and prevents bad breath
9. Lowers stress hormones
10. Rich in vitamins like A, B, C, folic acid, potassium, fluoride, and manganese.

The list goes on and on...if you haven't tried green tea, I reccomend it. My mom likes to put honey in her's to sweeten it.

Halloween Project!

With the troubled economy and increase in homelessness, we knew for a CSF semester project, that we needed to do something to help out those truly in need. Our first plan was to work with an organization that helps families dealing with abusive relationships. Our plans did not work with this particular organization's schedule, so we basically scrapped our previous plans and started new. We brainstormed alternate projects, and decided to have a meeting in order to involve our club members more and get some of their ideas. We had the ideas of maybe working with Shriner's hospital or a homeless shelter, and everyone decided that it would be a great idea to throw a Halloween Party for a homeless shelter; and that is what we are doing.

Next Friday, we are hosting a Halloween Party for needy children. I know it will be a success. It is such a good feeling to know that we were able to come together in CSF and create this. I am so excited for next Friday and cannot wait to put a smile on the children' s faces.

This has really made me realize how important it is to think of others and the tough times, especially as the holiday season approaches. It is easy to forget, if you are not strongly affected by the poor economy, about those who are. So, I think that everyone should give a bit of their time during the next few months to go out of their way, to help someone who is less fortunate than themself.

Blood Drive

Yesterday I donated blood for the first time! I was so excited because I love first aid, nutrition, CPR/AED, etc. As I was leaving French, Madame told me that she couldn't donate because she passed out. Funny she should say that because it nearly happened to me.

I was fine until the very end. The pricks and pokes didn't bother me. Seeing my own blood while I sat in the chair didn't bother me, either. I felt calm and relaxed. My favorite song, "Mr. Brightside" by the Killers was even playing at the time. Discomfort didn't arrive until the nurse took the needle out of my arm. I felt like I had ran three miles then swam a whole (vigorous) workout! My face was sweating and my body temperature was really warm. I wanted to close my eyes but the nurse told me I had to keep them open (STRUGGLE). I got sick afterwards, so the nurse had to come down. I ended up going home at lunch.

The resonable reason I almost passed out was because I didn't eat or drink enough, even though I had a really high iron level in my blood. Next time I'm going to drink more fluids, for sure. The sick feeling was definitely worth saving 2-3 lives :)

ohhh joy

So i have been looking for a job for a while, i turned in many applications and had no call backs. I really needed a job for a little extra cash. Well finally i got a seasonal job because i kept bothering them and they finally told me i have it. I was so happy and i started working there, but now it is crazy and very stressing. I have been working none stop each day. The work is not bad but it is tiring staying on your feet and walking around for hours. I have not been able to attend my soccer practice due to work and i have been staying up very late each day finishing my school work. So i have been living off coffee each day. So this saturday i have a soccer game, work and PSAT all at the same time! so i have no idea what im going to do! I have not been able to hang out with my friends very much. Now i know why nobody wants to work! Its stressful but its good for the money. Hopefully i will be able to catch up on everything. Now the one thing im excited for is my check and that means..... shopping!

College, of course...

So I heard the other day that CSUs won't be accepting the writing portion of the SAT or ACT? I'm not sure if this is true but I certainly hope not, I mean why on earth would they do that? Do they want this application process to be totally objective now, no personal thoughts or feelings involved in between those test scores? It sounds ridiculous. My SAT writing score was so good, and I think really reflects what my writing style is like and shows that I enjoy writing and am reletively good at it, which goes to show why I should be in the liberal arts major. Taking out writing is taking out what should be a major part of the application process. CSUs don't get personal statements like UCs do, and so they need to compensate somewhere besides the little other writing about ourselves that we need to do. They need to know our school writing and how we adapt to timed situations like that. I really hope this information is wrong, because CSUs are making a mistake taking the writing portions out. So what if it narrows down some of the harder decisions in the applications; they could be narrowing down in the wrong direction.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this beautiful school (not in our state of course...:( )

Lovefest 2009

Some people will be heading down to San Francisco this weekend for the LovEvolution parade on Saturday. As I will be working, I don't get the pleasure of attending the massive orgy of dancing, fun, and "love." It's ok. The problem with things like these is that they sound good in theory, but you know what, in reality they aren't. You're not going to get tons of people who are really down for love, peace, respect, tolerance, etc. What you're going to get is a bunch of people seeing an oppurtunity to get drunk and act ridiculous in the "name" of the event. Hopefully in coming years and decades our generation can find something new in culture, philosophy, or just life in general to actually believe and celebrate, rather than pathetically repeat cliches from the past.

Bedridden Bummer

This past week, I missed three days of school for being sick. I've also missed my last period classes (French and Chem) I don't come home until eight some nights and then I still have to eat dinner and then I start homework.

This is only sophomore year. I'm in only one AP class. I can't even imagine how juniors and seniors taking multiple AP classes and with a job can manage. My goal was to have an impressive transcript, a job, play varsity golf and more, but I can barely handle one AP class. I feel as if I'm gradually lowering my expectations, just so I can meet a few of them. I'm used to doing really well in school, and now I'm just doing ok. And truthfully I could be happy with "ok", but my parents don't find that acceptable.

I don't get any sleep anymore. Especially during homecoming week, I would be finished with half my homework by eleven or twelve at night, and then have to wake up at five in the morning to finish the rest. This continued every day during homecoming week, and along with the added stress of sports and homecoming events, took its toll on my health. My immune system must have become weak and I easily caught the bug that was going around. Sunday, I had a 102.5 fever and a horrible feeling in my chest that made it hard to breath, and didn't go back to school until Thrusday. I felt so sick, I didn't have the energy to work on any of the homework that kept piling up from the school I missed. Since I'm never really sick much, I don't really know teachers expectations on when homework should be turned in. Some teachers think you should know the homework and have gotten it done while you were sick, while others cut you a little slack. I didn't know what I should do, so I pulled an all-nighter again to finish all the homework I missed, plus homework I didn't finish over homecoming weekend... And I just got over being sick for that reason. I never would have thought that school could have a negative effect on a person's health, but it can. I've been trying to get assignments done ahead of time, but it's really difficult to do when involved with sports. I need to think of new work ethics that can help me make my high set goals and still get enough sleep... I miss the days when we had bedtimes...

Something New

Today I noticed something new when I pulled up the Google page. The logo was different. Today it happened to have Ghandi's face for the "G" and I thought it was pretty interesting because of the design and I didn't know it was his birthday. Also, you can click on the logo to view other information about it. I learned that he was commonly known around the world as Mahatma, which means "Great Soul". Also, over the summer, I remembered seeing the Google logo written as a sand castle, which a little kid was building. I thought, "Oh how cute." So it is kinda neat to learn something new from seeing a different logo once in a while or just to admire a creative design.

2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be hosting the 2016 olympic games!!
Tokyo, Midrid and Chicago were also in the running but were said to not be chosen because they were from places that had recently held the olympic games.
South America has never hosted the games in the total 54 ceremonies, which is just wrong if you consider that 42 of them have been hosted by either Europe or the United States. And, that London already has the 2012 games. It is supposed to be a cultural event that unifies the world and I think this really broaden the spectrum out of the usual U.S., Europe and Asia. (Despite that, however, I will be rooting for San Fran if they decide to place a bid in for 2020.)

I was watching the news this morning, and there is a 12 year old kid from Rocklin who is training to go to the 2016 games for gymnastics. I hope they make it! : D I didn't stick around for the story but it will probably be on Monday too because they are very repetitive in the 6am news.