How come it seems that everytime I plan on doing my homework, something more important seems to come up? Like this weekend for example: I was totally going to spend a majority of Saturday working on my homework and practicing my instrument. But then I noticed my mom bought this Matthew McConaughey 3 movie set, and I just had to watch one. And then I had to watch this show I'd recorded before my mom got a hold of the DVR and deleted it because she really hates it. And then, well, my room was a mess so I had to clean it before I got into some major trouble. After that, my computer looked really lonely, and I couldn't be mean and leave it by itself, so I picked it up and checked Facebook, email, Twitter, and every other online account that I have, which took so much more time than I thought. Then it was too dark to see to do my homework, so I watched some more TV and then BANG! it was time to go to sleep.
See! I had a really good plan in the morning and it kinda crumbled as the day went on. I didn't mean not to do my homework, (and now as I'm writing this final blog I wish I'd done it) but it just happens that way. Like, now that it's 6 30 at night, it feels too late to go practice my cello, study for my biology test, and read my history homework. But in all actuality it's not; I have plenty of time. But I was just wondering if that happened to anyone else. Like seriously, I had this amazing plan to get everything done, and then at the end of the day, I hadn't even started. Maybe as I get better at this planning thing, I can progress to the time management thing.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
My Buddy v. My Baby
Well, this may sound awkward at first, but once you know what I'm talking about it won't sound so bad. When I was in middle school, I started playing the violin. My teaher taught us to hold it carefully like a baby so that we wouldn't break it. Therefore, I creatively dubbed my violin, my baby. For two years, I played my instrument and loved it like a little child. But then, I switched over to cello m
y eighth grade year. Since it's pretty much as big as I am, I named it my buddy. So everytime we went to concerts, I would walk in with my buddy, and had fun in the concerts.
As every good orchestral student knows, there is always some good natured teasing between the instruments. Because I've played both instruments, I truly enjoy joining in on the fun. Some people say that violinists have really big heads because they think that they are the most important part of the orchestra. I have to say that that is so totally true. They know that they always have the melody, and that if they weren't there it would sound pretty bad. But they also have that horrible E string. It's so high, and if they can't play really well, then it sounds AWFUL! Like make your ears bleed awful. But I love those guys, they're like my best friends, even if they do get on my nerves. :)
Now cellos, they also have a couple of digs against them. The biggest joke is that cellos always play the loudest, even if it's not necessary. My response to this is that because the violins get the melody
, cellos have to play louder to be heard. Another bummer is that they are so big that they're kind of hard to carry and bring places; it's almost like having another person with you. And, if you have small hands it's hard to play and shift right because you have to stretch so far. But I like the cello because it produces a much richer sound. A nice plus is that the cello part is usually not that difficult because it's the base part. So easier AND prettier= the best of both worlds!
y eighth grade year. Since it's pretty much as big as I am, I named it my buddy. So everytime we went to concerts, I would walk in with my buddy, and had fun in the concerts.As every good orchestral student knows, there is always some good natured teasing between the instruments. Because I've played both instruments, I truly enjoy joining in on the fun. Some people say that violinists have really big heads because they think that they are the most important part of the orchestra. I have to say that that is so totally true. They know that they always have the melody, and that if they weren't there it would sound pretty bad. But they also have that horrible E string. It's so high, and if they can't play really well, then it sounds AWFUL! Like make your ears bleed awful. But I love those guys, they're like my best friends, even if they do get on my nerves. :)
Now cellos, they also have a couple of digs against them. The biggest joke is that cellos always play the loudest, even if it's not necessary. My response to this is that because the violins get the melody
, cellos have to play louder to be heard. Another bummer is that they are so big that they're kind of hard to carry and bring places; it's almost like having another person with you. And, if you have small hands it's hard to play and shift right because you have to stretch so far. But I like the cello because it produces a much richer sound. A nice plus is that the cello part is usually not that difficult because it's the base part. So easier AND prettier= the best of both worlds!The Greatest Tennis Player
As many people know, I am one of Roger Federer's biggest fans. For those who don't, let me tell you about this awesome guy. He is currently the number one tennis player in the world and just won the Australian Open. He's won 16 Grand Slam titles, and is just plain amazing. If you need more detailed information, Google him or something.
But every time I watch him, my jaw just keeps hitting the floor. The man makes the sport look so easy and graceful, even though I know it's not. Almost every time you think someone's going to beat him....BANG!....he brings the awesome shot and hits a winner. I just love it. If I could play half as well as him I'd be the number one Junior tennis player. But I just finished watching the Men's Singles Final of the Australian Open and I'm just in awe. He was playing the British Andy Murray and was up 2 sets to none at the start of the third set. Somehow, Murray breaks his serve and gets up 5 games to 2. [Now, for those who don't understand the scoring in tennis, the professional men play best 3 of 5 sets. A set is won when one of the players wins six games by at least two (so the score could be 6-0, 6-1....6-4). However, if the score is 6-5, the players must play another, and it can end at 7-5, or if it ends up at 6-6 they play a tiebreaker to seven points.] Anyways, in the third set, he is down 2-5, which means that Murray only had to win one more game to win the set. So basically Federer's beat. But somehow, he comes back to win not one, not two, but three games! Later, in this set, the men are tied at 6-6 and they go to the tie breaker. Now, a long tiebreaker is anything past 7 points, and the longest ever was 19-17, but Federer and Murray went to 13-11! It was crazy, every time I thought for sure Federer would lose, he pulled out this amazing shot and I was just like OH MY GOSH! If you didn't see this m
atch, I highly recommend going online and watching just the third set. It's crazy.
atch, I highly recommend going online and watching just the third set. It's crazy. But what I like about him, besides his amazing athletic talent, is his focus under pressure.
It didn't matter that the entire stadium was rooting for his opponent for the entirety of the match. He didn't care that he was down 5-2 in the third set. All that mattered to him was keeping his head on straight, not letting the pressure get to him, and playing some good tennis. Sometimes I can get to a state of mind like that, but I have to tell myself to stop thinking and play the game. If I don't I get caught up in all the pressure and all of the expectations instead of putting all of my attention on what's most important. Another cool thing about him is that he's very humble when he wins. In his acceptance speech, he told Murray that he was "too good of a player not to win a grand slam. Don't worry about it." Come on. How many people can say that to their opponent and actually mean it? He's just great. So for anyone who thinks he's stuck up, 1) he's not and 2)if he was, he'd have a pretty good right to be so for being ranked number one in the world for 237 consecutive weeks!.
Yay Rodger Federer!
Fun Fact About Roger Federer #136
- He speaks 4 languages (Swiss German, German, French, and English) fluently, which is what I want to be able to do someday. Just another reason why he's so cool :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Winter Wonderland
When winter comes rolling along, I'm usually quite happy. Wherefore, you might ask? Well, you see, winter begins the season of Christmas and all of the fun things associated with that holiday. Welcoming the the new holiday season brigns joy to everyone in my family. Whenever I see lights hanging bright on houses and trees, I get this happy feeling inside. Warm hot chocolate sits in my hands as I savor the amazing goodness in my mouth. When comes to an end, as, unfortunately, all good things must do, I try to settle in to the routine of regular winter, which entails fluctuating temperatures, and false hopes of spring as early as January. What sorrow there is in the long cold months of winter! Wherever Ilook, people are bundled against the cold waiting for the warmer temperatures in April. While I am waiting for the ice to melt, I get up to enjoy to awesome goodness of breakfast. Waffles are on the menu, and I cannot believe how excited I am. Wafflehouse makes some pretty good ones, though I do prefer my mother's to anyone's. Which you would choose, I cannot say, but I do know that my mother's are unique. Watermelon is the secret ingredient, and though it sounds gross at first, believe me it's delicious. Wally the Walrus agrees with me so you can just ask him. Well, this is about as many "w" words as I can think of for one day: have fun!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sisters
There is a certain, unmistakable bond between sisters. I'm not quite sure what it is, but sisters have this innate sense to stick together and create a bond that's almost impossible to break. 
Well, of course there are some sets of sisters that defy this rule and flat out hate each other. They despise sharing a room or clothes with their sister, and cannot wait for the day when they will finally go their separate ways.
Well, my sister and I aren't like that. She's always been my hero. Being four years older, she was always mature, cool, and stylish, and my only goal was to be just like her. Since we didn't have any neighbors during our younger years, we became each other's playmates when the boys became too rough for us. She didn't care that I was four whole years younger than her, she knew that I was her sister and wanted to help me. When we were in elementary school, I used to get her hand-me-downs and couldn't wait until I got big enough to wear her cool clothes. But soon, I realized that the hand-me-downs were even too small for me, so my mom said that we should start sharing clothes. Now, there are several sets of siblings who absolutely hate this arragement, but not Alissa. She saw it as a chance to double her closet and introduce me to the world of fashion. No matter how many times I refused to stop wearing high waters to school, she perservered (thankfully) until I agreed.
We also shared a room for about the first 15 years of my life. Although we occasionally had fights about who left the room a mess, it was a pretty happy arrangement. There was one time though, she asked me to turn out the lights. And me, being the obliging little sister, agreed. So I got out of bed, hit the switch by the door, and wandered back to my bed in the dark. This would have been fine except for the fact that she had a switch right above her bedside table. When I mentioned this fact to me she said, "Well, I'm already situated in the covers." That response worked for me until after a while I realized that it wasn't fair. So we argued for a little bit, but I eventually won :).
I know you probably don't care about how cool I think my sister is, but I just wanted to commend her for it. Granted, I made it easy being a cool little sister and not one of those evil ones who looks cute and then stabs you in the back, but she did a pretty great job. I mean, how many people can actually say that they would love to hang out with their little sister when they're four years younger than you, wear your clothes, and you share a room. Kudos to you big sissy!
Well, of course there are some sets of sisters that defy this rule and flat out hate each other. They despise sharing a room or clothes with their sister, and cannot wait for the day when they will finally go their separate ways. Well, my sister and I aren't like that. She's always been my hero. Being four years older, she was always mature, cool, and stylish, and my only goal was to be just like her. Since we didn't have any neighbors during our younger years, we became each other's playmates when the boys became too rough for us. She didn't care that I was four whole years younger than her, she knew that I was her sister and wanted to help me. When we were in elementary school, I used to get her hand-me-downs and couldn't wait until I got big enough to wear her cool clothes. But soon, I realized that the hand-me-downs were even too small for me, so my mom said that we should start sharing clothes. Now, there are several sets of siblings who absolutely hate this arragement, but not Alissa. She saw it as a chance to double her closet and introduce me to the world of fashion. No matter how many times I refused to stop wearing high waters to school, she perservered (thankfully) until I agreed.
We also shared a room for about the first 15 years of my life. Although we occasionally had fights about who left the room a mess, it was a pretty happy arrangement. There was one time though, she asked me to turn out the lights. And me, being the obliging little sister, agreed. So I got out of bed, hit the switch by the door, and wandered back to my bed in the dark. This would have been fine except for the fact that she had a switch right above her bedside table. When I mentioned this fact to me she said, "Well, I'm already situated in the covers." That response worked for me until after a while I realized that it wasn't fair. So we argued for a little bit, but I eventually won :).
I know you probably don't care about how cool I think my sister is, but I just wanted to commend her for it. Granted, I made it easy being a cool little sister and not one of those evil ones who looks cute and then stabs you in the back, but she did a pretty great job. I mean, how many people can actually say that they would love to hang out with their little sister when they're four years younger than you, wear your clothes, and you share a room. Kudos to you big sissy!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Advice from a Dog
I think that there is some good advice to be heeded from a dog I never met: "Learn the difference between can and can't. See, my uncle had a dog named Jasper at his house in Lexington. Every so often, my dad would go visit his brother and he loved to tease the dog. So my dad would get Jasper all ralled up and then say, "Nope, you can't go," and that dog would go ballistic. He would race up and down their hallways and in every room in the house. Now, my dog does the same thing when we get to playing with her except there's one major difference: my dog is a 10 pound Bichon Frise, and Jasper was a standard poodle. He didn't care what was in his way, he would knock it off and sometimes break it or completely push over furniture. After a minute or so of my uncle screaming, "SCOTT! Make it stop!" my dad would finally concede and tell the dog, "Okay you can go." To a human mind, that would make perfect sense, but this dog didn't get it. So that would start him on his rampage again running through the house. Of course, my uncle still blames my father for driving the dog crazy, and my dad happily takes all of the credit.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Some bad ideas
Okay so at first I didn't that I would have enough to blog about, but then I got to reading everyone else's so I decided to give it a shot.
Top 15 Worst Ideas
- Running along side a moving golf cart, trying to force your sister to give you a turn. My little brother got ran over and had to get staples in his head.
- Putting ketchup in the microwave for 99:99. Same little brother by the way.
- Allowing your brother to stay at your birthday party because one of two things happens: a) he annoys them and you so badly it's miserable, or b) he steals your friends :(.
- Not telling your mom that you have a boyfriend, and then having her find out from someone else's mom. Not too fun.
- Joke about being short and using the word "midget".....in front of one.
- Talking back to your mom. It doesn't matter if you're right because you're never right.
- Bouncing checks not one, not two, but three times. For some reason, daddy gets very angry (for the record, I didn't do this).
- Putting lotion on your feet and then walking on hardwood floor.
- Dusting the hardwood floor with Pledge and then walking over that place with socks.
- White carpet. 100% a bad idea.
- Pulling something off a shelf that isn't screwed in. It all comes crashing down on top of you and the wood shelf could scrap your body.
- When you are eight years old, playing jump seesaw with boys that are thirteen. When they jump on the board, you are flung into the air and break your arm.
- Wearing a white t-shirt on a rainy day.
- Trying to freak out your friends by skating towards them really fast and then realizing that you don't know how to stop on ice.
- Presenting a poster that promotes the Constitution to your class, and saying that "all people are equal, except for black people because no one cares about them anyways." This moment is made even better when your African American principal is sitting in on the class.
These ideas, as previously mentioned, are not the best in the world. Note to self, don't do them. :)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Just a Pet Peeve
So I'm not sure if this bothers anyone else, but I absolutely hate it when people don't know how to use apostrophes. So here's a quick little lesson. Apostrophes are used to either show possession or to take the place of a letter or letters. For instance, the words "do not" are combined to make the contraction "don't". As you can see, the apostrophe takes the place of the letter "o" in "not".
Now let's continue from there to my actual pet peeve. Many people like to abbreviate the year to the final two digits in the number. First off, there is nothing wrong with that, not if it's done correctly. If I was to say, "I'm so excited for the year 10'!" then I would be like almost every person out there who doesn't know how to use these correctly. In this position, what is the apostrophe taking the place of? Nothing. Because, see, it's SUPPOSED TO BE the 20 that's in FRONT of the 10 in the year 2010. But for some reason, people put it behind and mess it all up. I just want to walk over to the computer or take a pen if it's on paper, and cross out the old one, and put it where it's supposed to go.
I know that like nobody cares about this but me, but I just saw it and wanted to vent somewhere. So thanks Blogger for allowing me vent my feelings in a constructive manner. lol
Now let's continue from there to my actual pet peeve. Many people like to abbreviate the year to the final two digits in the number. First off, there is nothing wrong with that, not if it's done correctly. If I was to say, "I'm so excited for the year 10'!" then I would be like almost every person out there who doesn't know how to use these correctly. In this position, what is the apostrophe taking the place of? Nothing. Because, see, it's SUPPOSED TO BE the 20 that's in FRONT of the 10 in the year 2010. But for some reason, people put it behind and mess it all up. I just want to walk over to the computer or take a pen if it's on paper, and cross out the old one, and put it where it's supposed to go.
I know that like nobody cares about this but me, but I just saw it and wanted to vent somewhere. So thanks Blogger for allowing me vent my feelings in a constructive manner. lol
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
One of those days
Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the ones that feel like you're on an emotional rollercoaster all day? Well, today was just that. I got in the shower at 6:15 this morning and proceeded to get myself ready for school. My parents have this rule that I need to leave the house by 7:30 in order to get everyone to school on time and not speed. Despite this, I usually leave my house around 7:40 because it just takes a while for my brain to comprehend that time. At 7:15 my younger brother storms in my room demanding that I hurry and get in the car in a mere five minutes. Well that was nigh impossible since I hadn't put my make-up on or chosen the clothes for the day. Five minutes later he storms into my bathroom and yells at me to hurry and get ready; to this I simply replied, "If you don't get out of this room right now, I'm going to go slower and force you to be late." Of course he got mad. When we were a few miles from school he starts the conversation up again in this really irritated voice. I argue for a few minutes until we're both too annoyed to speak.
After that dreadful episode, I walked into biology, where I once again realized that I wasn't allowed to use my backpack and continue my 5 month long tradition. Though slightly aggravated, I tried to learn the topic for the day. It was at this point that I discovered that I actually understood what he was talking about and could follow along and interject intelligent comments along the way as well. Pretty good experience.
On to APUSH, one of the world's worst classes. I love history, but the teacher loves to lecture and that makes it difficult for a visual student. Our quiz was not too difficult and I only missed one so I was pretty proud of myself. Overall, it was an okay period.
Next was orchestra, one of my favorite classes. We didn't do much exept learn about scales and play a few. After that, she dismissed us into our project groups. Since I wasn't in that class for the first semester, I didn't have a project. Luckily, another cello dropped out of the class so I just took his place. It was great how it all worked out, but then I took alook at the composition. The key was difficult as well as the rhythms. By difficult I mean that I couldn't sight it well, that I would have to spend a few hours alone with the piece and a metronome to be sure to get the correct rhythms and fingerings. After I continued to complain to my classmate who composed the piece, he told me that I should just quit if I thought it was so hard. Slightly offended, I grabbed my things and stormed out of the room.
Thinking back, I probably shouldn't have gotten so mad, but I did. My day was a rollercoaster and so were my emotions. Oh well, maybe the rest of the day will go better.
After that dreadful episode, I walked into biology, where I once again realized that I wasn't allowed to use my backpack and continue my 5 month long tradition. Though slightly aggravated, I tried to learn the topic for the day. It was at this point that I discovered that I actually understood what he was talking about and could follow along and interject intelligent comments along the way as well. Pretty good experience.
On to APUSH, one of the world's worst classes. I love history, but the teacher loves to lecture and that makes it difficult for a visual student. Our quiz was not too difficult and I only missed one so I was pretty proud of myself. Overall, it was an okay period.
Next was orchestra, one of my favorite classes. We didn't do much exept learn about scales and play a few. After that, she dismissed us into our project groups. Since I wasn't in that class for the first semester, I didn't have a project. Luckily, another cello dropped out of the class so I just took his place. It was great how it all worked out, but then I took alook at the composition. The key was difficult as well as the rhythms. By difficult I mean that I couldn't sight it well, that I would have to spend a few hours alone with the piece and a metronome to be sure to get the correct rhythms and fingerings. After I continued to complain to my classmate who composed the piece, he told me that I should just quit if I thought it was so hard. Slightly offended, I grabbed my things and stormed out of the room.
Thinking back, I probably shouldn't have gotten so mad, but I did. My day was a rollercoaster and so were my emotions. Oh well, maybe the rest of the day will go better.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Best Friend Long Gone
The week before my first day of middle school, I met my best friend. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but it happened none the less. Though we did have a few things in common, being the tallest girls in sixth grade, basketball, and the same classes, it was mainly our differences that drew us to each other. She was everything I wasn't: bold, witty, and able to stand up for herself. Every day, we could survive lunch and school because we helped to balance the other's personality. For instance, when something would irritate her, I would always try to calm her down and let her know that the situation wasn't a big deal. But then she would help to me stand up for myself and not allow people to run over me. Because of her, my middle school experience was pretty great because who wants to mess with a 5'8" no nonsense girl?
So needless to say, one of the the most traumatic things that's ever happened to me was the day I found out that my best friend was moving. No, she didn't choose to leave me alone (her step-dad was offered a really good job out of town), but I still felt like someone had just yanked the rug of my life out from under me, and I had no idea how to proceed. Walking the halls of eighth grade seemed impossible without my best friend. I'd always known that I'd had many friends, but they were more like acquaintances. But, somehow, we both made it through 8th grade and the transition from middle school to high school.
Now, we both have our own lives in different states. Her with her friends, schoolwork, and stories, and me with mine. But, the best part is that at New Year's, she has this party with her friends and I get to go down and see her. This year was a total blast because I got to meet more of her friends that she talls me about. They're all really nice and welcomed us into their homes even though we were perfect strangers. We've promised to come see them more than once a year now, too :).
When we go down, it's funny to see how in some ways we're still exactly the way they were in seventh grade, and others, we almost seem to different to be friends, but we still are. If I need some encouraging, or a pep talk on how to be myself, she's always the first one I call. And I'm always there for her when she needs to talk about some problems. All in all, it makes me happy to know that we can still count on each other after all this time.
So needless to say, one of the the most traumatic things that's ever happened to me was the day I found out that my best friend was moving. No, she didn't choose to leave me alone (her step-dad was offered a really good job out of town), but I still felt like someone had just yanked the rug of my life out from under me, and I had no idea how to proceed. Walking the halls of eighth grade seemed impossible without my best friend. I'd always known that I'd had many friends, but they were more like acquaintances. But, somehow, we both made it through 8th grade and the transition from middle school to high school.
Now, we both have our own lives in different states. Her with her friends, schoolwork, and stories, and me with mine. But, the best part is that at New Year's, she has this party with her friends and I get to go down and see her. This year was a total blast because I got to meet more of her friends that she talls me about. They're all really nice and welcomed us into their homes even though we were perfect strangers. We've promised to come see them more than once a year now, too :).
When we go down, it's funny to see how in some ways we're still exactly the way they were in seventh grade, and others, we almost seem to different to be friends, but we still are. If I need some encouraging, or a pep talk on how to be myself, she's always the first one I call. And I'm always there for her when she needs to talk about some problems. All in all, it makes me happy to know that we can still count on each other after all this time.
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