On the Future

NOTE: We have a peasant in our midst! Everyone, please welcome Gabriel, a dude from my grade, who somehow found this blog! Please don't tell anyone about this blog or I'll kill you in a Moriarty-fashion. love!

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff."

This past week they gave us our "high school prep talk". It was basically the same thing they told us in the fifth grade: friends! electives that you don't get to choose, really! HOMEWORK! Classes! Break!
Not much was different, except that we get to CHOOSE our classes this time. Are you an over-acheiving math geek who wants to take a crapton of AP and Honors AND  a class-like elective, making you stay up until one o'clock every night? Sure, why the heck not! Are you an artist and want to, y'know, like chill and take "discrete math" (What the heck is that anyways?!) and just dance your way through life? Okay, we'll let you! Those were basically the people they described during the presentation. And then, there's people like me.

I'm a creative person, but I'm also an academic person. I dunno, school has always been easy for me. Except maths. Why in the TARDIS did I pick Honors Algebra as my Maths this year? I don't know, and still don't. So this year, my courses will be the following:

ENGLISH I
GEOMETRY
AP SPANISH LANGUAGE
AP WORLD HISTORY
BIOLOGY
DIGITAL DESIGN I

Pretty fun, right? Yeah, that's what I think. Music was always out of the question, since they don't give ukulele. And I sure as Gallifrey would never take an Academic elective: we're required to take those as Seniprs (more on that later), and I'm already taking two AP classes that give a ton of work. And I'm taking them because I LIKE advanced stuff, especially on those areas- if I could take Honors/AP English, I would. So that left Arts: the best things that have ever happened since, like, cavemen drew and stuff. This requires a brief explanation of how my school system works:

• The school year is divided in four quarters, two semesters, and one year of approx. 9 months.
• In Elementary and in Middle School they choose your electives. In Elementary, they are Library, Art, Music, and Computers (one per quarter). In Middle School they are Health, Art, and Music (one for approx. one and a half quarter). PE is mandatory.
• In High School, you have the following: 

1. Freshman and Sophomore: one elective: PE is mandatory. You can choose two semester-long courses or one year-long course.
2. Junior: two electives. No PE, but you are expected to take care of yourself. This mean either four semester-long courses, two semester-long courses and one year-long course, or two year-long courses.
3. Senior: mandatory Science and Social Studies electives (resulting in one year long or two semester long courses for each), and then one other elective (one year long or two semester long)

MY PLAN (for electives):

Freshman: Digital Design I

Sophomore: Digital Design II

Junior: Digital Portfolio and two other Arts electives that will enable me to have a full art portfolio, which is required for my college application process by the end of the year. run as PE substitute

Senior: For SS, Sociology and Comparative Religions. For Science, Food Science/Enviromental Science and Astronomy. Two Arts electives that will depend on my college choices, major, interests, etc. run as PE substitute

For higher education, I might double major or do a minor and a major. However, what I do know is that I will study abroad as soon as possible, after high school, and that I will do a two-year thing in business somewhere in Central or South America. 

I'd love to do something like Bri Emery from DesignLoveFest. Universities I'm still not sure about, but I know that I want one that lets me do something creative in my job. My dad would love for me to go to Harvard or Oxford, but we'll have to see about that!

What about you? Any future plans? Did you understand this at all? What would you choose if you had the chance to? Any Clara theories?

Essay for English Class

Prompt: A moment in your life where the power of love was present. (Note: I really enjoyed writing this, and want some input on it! It's due tomorrow, though, so no revisions can be made) 

                                                                   Sunday

 
     Visiting was a Sunday thing. My would get my sister and I all dolled up- with those
fancy dresses that don’t fit me anymore- and we’d take the car to Abuelita Hilda’s (my
great grandmother) house. There, my cousins and I would crowd around the wood-paneled
family room, staring at the TV, the channel usually on Discovery Kids. Or we could take
a “hike” across the huge backyard and pretend we were explorers. Some days, we could
even fool around in the pool- a rare treat for us thanks to our overprotective mothers. While
we were satisfying our childhood antics, our mothers and grandmother would entertain
Abuelita Hilda. Then, we would be called for lunch. Lunch was always the same: chicken
and rice, with green beans on the side and Coke for a drink. Dessert was usually flan
(something like custard) and Neapolitan ice-cream. Nothenless, it was always delicious.
But we stopped going after it happened.

   One summer, Abuelita Hilda fell terribly ill. She didn’t go to the hospital until she
was closer to the light, instead; she had nurses at her house and a hospital bed in her room.
We’d still visit on Sundays, of course, but the allure of the visits was gone. The garden was
no longer a jungle, the pool, a mosquito breeding bed. Even the chicken tasted stale, as if
they had forgotten an ingredient (pardon the cliché, but I honestly think it was love). Oh,
sure, we tried to help Abuelita Hilda, but eventually, we left that to the adults (who
obviously knew what they were doing). We’d continue to crowd around the family room,
this time watching Disney Channel, half-heartingly laughing at Hannah Montana and her
adventures( how come nobody noticed that she put on a wig?). However, during those
eternal months, I knew what was going on in everyone’s minds: what would happen? We
celebrated Christmas here. This house was so full of memories that we would die a little
inside whenever our mothers would mention reading wills and “who-is-going-to-have-the-
china-oh-my-Isa-the-CHINA!” I mean, we couldn’t just leave all of this! She had lived
here, you know? I could bare the house becoming an office or worst: a junkyard! “But life
goes on,” would say my mother.

     One day, Mom took us to see Hilda. Alone. This time, there was no excuse-
“Homework? It’s summer! The dog? Your dad’s here! Your hamster is dead, for God’s
sake, Isa, stop making excuses!”- and there was also a book. My mom explained that we
had to read aloud to Hilda, since she couldn’t do so for herself anymore. The book was an
old one. Old red jacket, old yellowing pages, old ink marking its owner. It was Japanese,
about a princess. Abuelita Hilda had bought it on one of her trips east, back when she
could still travel without an escort. Somehow, we had gotten in possession of it. Anyways,
that afternoon, I read to Abuelita. “There was once a princess…” I started. Hilda babbled
a little, and I looked pleadingly to my mom, wanting it to stop. “GO ON,” she mouthed.
Swallowing a little, I went on. In that moment, when I read to her, I could see her eyes
glimmering. They were telling us something that vocal cords and sound waves couldn’t.
For that moment, we were both back in Sunday, eating flan on her terrace and talking about
Disney.

    I like to think that the fact that we visited her made her stronger. She had to go to
the hospital, of course, but she survived a couple more weeks. One time, at the hospital, she
started singing, “Ay, Ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores… porque cantando se arreglan cielito
lindo los corazones.” Maybe those were her last words. I’m not sure. Even the doctor isn’t.
But if they were, I’m sure that she was trying to say that even though she wasn’t with us
anymore, those special Sundays together will always be. In our hearts.
                                                                 
                                                               ***
Do I sound Latino or what?!

... That Would Be Cool if you Were Actually Hot!

Barely two weeks ago, I started school. I started with just one resolution: to speak. You see, I am extremely shy in the classroom. I know the stuff, heck, sometimes I even know it before they teach it, but I simply cannot bring myself to raise my hand in class. In the third grade, I had to do this presentation on beavers and I literally threw a sheet-with-an-i fit, in order to not speak in front of my class. I also did the same in second grade, but it was a presentation on termites. I hated talking in public- HATED it. It froze me up and I spent years hiding behind the curtains. However, in the sixth grade, I joined the Drama club. Bad idea, right? Not so much. I have always secretly admired all those play actors- they have the ability to muster up the courage and sing in front of millions of people a day and do crazy monologues. And I knew people that were there. In that club, I discovered that I loved the stage (particularly wearing a mask). But I still froze up if somebody came and watched us. Take for example one time that high-schoolers came to watch us perform this little 'play' of ours, created by the members of the club, which I like to call 'The Nightmare'. I did show up, but I kept forgetting what I had to say. Anyways, next year I wasn't there because I had no time for it, with Handball practice and all.

Anyways, this year Drama is obligatorio. Yes, it is actually a class. And I love it. This will help me so much- like literally a lot- with my talking. The teacher makes us memorize tounge twisters (one in Spanish and one in Enlgish), and here they are, written purely by memory:

Peter Piper piked a peck of pickled peppers, 

a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked, 

so if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Se fundio el famoso foco fabricado en Francia, porque falló la fuente de influenzia que fabricaba el fluido, y finalmente fallecieron de frío las focas feroces que fulguraban en el firmamento.

I have no trouble remembering them, it's just the speaking in front of people that makes the butterflies fly. However, I tried one thing: imagining that I was back in the sixth grade drama club, only my fellow  'dramies' watching. And it worked! No, I didn't do the best performance in the class, far from it, but it was a personal victory- I did not stumble while speaking! 

In class, also, I have been raising my hand a lot. If I know the answer, I raise it, regardless if I know the teacher will call on me or not (because I have to give others a chance), so that at least she knows that I'm trying hard to speak up. I hope this is something to keep up all year!

Now, some videos that I love:

**From the Tonys**

                                                  (One Man, Two Guvnors monolouge)

(Opening number for the Tonys)

*From other Musicals*

(Masquerade, Phantom of the Opera)

(Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, Lés Misérables)

(Telephone Hour, Bye Bye Birdie)

They are very few, but they are my absolute favorite! 

School.

Tomorrow, I go back to school. I have this "feeling" about me for this year. Now, I'm Queen of the Pre-teens, or, going into the eight grade. At least I can say that both maturely and age-wise I am a teen- there are many people I know who are sixteen and seem like twelve. I guess that this year will be ~different~ because I have so many  NEW teachers- History and English Honors are the Gringo teachers, but I have no idea how the other teachers are, except for the Physical Science teacher who used to come and brood while I was in class last year. He has cool ties, though, so that's a plus!

Also, this is the first year I will be without my favorite Spanish teacher- Ms. X (name omitted because she doesn't like her name to be online, as everyone). She TRANSFERRED into the seventh grade with us, a big accomplishment, because every time that we pass a grade, a myriad of teachers suddenly disappear. The first day of sixth grade, she scared me quite a bit, but after a while, she grows on you. She is quite the spunky person, very independent and respectful, my fellow Grammar Nazi, although her temper is a little short- once we even made HER go out of the classroom. Class of 2017 is quite the one, eh? I'm not sure how the eight grade Spanish teacher is, but I really hope that she's nice and not one of those "analyze this original Chicano literature about crossing the Mexican border*" type of teachers.

I'm also a little nervous because this summer didn't reach my expectations. I exercised all summer, but only lost about one inch or two from my belly- I still have another two to loose. However, I think it was because I didn't eat clean per se; I had a couple of candy bars during the weeks, cake... mostly desserts. However, I'll try to eat cleaner this {school} year, so, hopefully, by one month's time, I will reach my health goals. And it'll be easier because I will be packing my own lunch! I'll also exercise along with handball practice and P.E. (the most dreaded thing in the world!!!). I hope that this fitness 'thing' will become something else- a friend and I are talking about starting a fitblr (a fitness Tumblr) tomorrow!

Toodle-doo!

*****
When do you go back to school?
Any fitness goals this year?

Some Searches, Updates, and Hectic-ness.

You may have noticed I changed the name of my blog. It's now Lovely Oxfords, and I think that it fits my now-being personality so much better. Any how, today, while watching Crash Course World History, I came across "Topaz Fist". Yeah! TOPAZ IS HARDER THAN IRON! So I did a quick GoodSearch search and this is what I found: A werewolf picture, a sterling silver death-preaching ring, some pretty jewels, and "paxangshop" shoes, which seem to go rather well with the gangster skull ring. Either the werewolf has a topaz fist and is Cesar, or GoodSearch needs to up their search hamsters.

Rawr. 

In other news, school starts in just FIVE DAYS.  Holy cow, people, five days to enjoy the sweet freedom and finish 30 pages of summer homework. If I'm absent from my blog, blame it on the huge amounts of homework I will {most likely} have in grade eight.

Micro-blog 2.

Why, oh why, do all the girls on tumblr look the same? They all have these weird self shots where their eyes look HUGE. And they wear sunglasses. When it's raining. Really?

Micro-Blogging it... My Own Way.

Note: I shall start writing down EVERY SINGLE DAY a small post. Wish me luck.

Fanfiction: you either love it or hate it. I have been recently googling lots of fanfiction- did you know that there's Shake it Up FF? Friends FF? What about Pair of Kings FF? Phineas and Ferb FF! I might just start writing it, but... meh. I really like creating my own world. 


I know what I want to be when I grow up: Good Housekeeping Magazine editor. I have been reading GH since I was NINE!! Nine years old and I knew what to do to save your marriage! NINE! This will definitively go into my resume when I apply to an internship there. Oh, and I covered my school notebooks with their vintage covers (not real ones, though). Expect a long blog post about it.