Sunday, September 30th 2007, Wake up time: 11:25am
My first thing I did was sort out my laundry. I then attempted to do my history homework, but as it was too hard and I'm a typical procrastinator, I put it off until it definitely needed to be done. I passed the morning by playing Pictionary with Claire and her friends. Lyle wanted to play some Frisbee after, so I went out with him to the park. He was playing Frisbee for the school, and taught me how to do a move called the fore-hand!
I came back for some pasta for my lunch...and then tried to tackle my homework again. Did I get any done? What do you think?! Ha. I also was saved by Tiago, who invited me over for his dad's birthday. Tiago was Brazilian, so a lot of the people there spoke little English... I felt even more foreign, if that were possible. There was some great food, as his dad was doing a barbecue. I came home, and managed to type most of my literacy narrative up...which was something!
I was getting into the swing of things, but was then told we were going to Bev's friend's house...who had recently got her American citizenship... O dang! We arrived at the party, and we wished her congratulations (she was originally from the Netherlands.) There were cool little flags in the cheese, one Dutch and one American... I still have them in my room! It was the first time I considered getting citizenship, and moving to America! It takes a really long time to get the Citizenship though, I think you have to live in the country at least three years first... Lyle, Claire and I played hide & seek...for some odd reason, before cake was served. We had other food before hand, but it was mainly snack food.
We headed home, and for some stupid reason I'd taken my script to the party...and forgotten it! I'm not quite sure why I took it in the first place, as I was hardly going to learn my lines at the party! Once I got home, I finished the evening by doing the inevitable...finishing all my homework! I was quite impressed I worked so well under pressure, nowadays I just leave it completely :/ A pretty fun day, despite the stress at the end!
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Game Day
Saturday, September 29th 2007, Wake up time: 9:05am
The first thing I did with my morning was to call my Nan & Grandad and catch up with them and their lives. I headed to school (which may seem odd) but I had a reason! It was Game Day, which is when all the sports teams at Arlington High compete against Arlington Catholic...it's a small rivalry. It's a community thing, you go along and support the team from your school...and you can watch lots of different sports. Joyce was in a volleyball game, hence why I was going along!
I arrived at school but had to pay five bucks to get in! How crazy! I headed over to the volleyball game. I watched her play, and although the team was very good...they sadly lost :(. I saw Ben from my psychology class, another person I got very close with over the year and he became a good friend. There were cupcakes for sale, and we got some and headed out to see the boy's soccer game, which they won 3-1! We then saw the girl's soccer game, which was another win! This time it was by 3 goals to 0.
I saw Courtney, and we got some pizza and Gatorade. I then watched the cross country races...which many people were watching, including two English teachers...Mr & Mrs Richardson and I also saw Ms Tobin, my psychology teacher. I hung out with Joyce and her friends...and randomly ended up going with a girl I hardly knew to Davis Sq...for pizza and mountain dew...which she paid for! I really am a bastard sometimes. When we got back to school, she parked in a tight spot...she was awesome all round! I wish I remembered her name :( (and she doesn't have facebook).
We got back to school, just in time for the American football game...which we lost 13-12, it was a very tight and enjoyable game! I saw various people who I knew who were playing in the school band, including Lyle and Tiago. I had some sweets and a fanta and then I saw Courtney (again) this time with Hannah (a girl in my Drama class) who were quiiite drunk! It was getting late, and the big game (the football game) was over...so I headed home. On the way, I ran into Danielle (a girl in my drama class) and Andrew. We had a good chat and some laughs before I got back for dinner. Dinner was pasta and sauce...and that was the last thing that really happened in a very eventful day!
Thanks for listening.
The first thing I did with my morning was to call my Nan & Grandad and catch up with them and their lives. I headed to school (which may seem odd) but I had a reason! It was Game Day, which is when all the sports teams at Arlington High compete against Arlington Catholic...it's a small rivalry. It's a community thing, you go along and support the team from your school...and you can watch lots of different sports. Joyce was in a volleyball game, hence why I was going along!
I arrived at school but had to pay five bucks to get in! How crazy! I headed over to the volleyball game. I watched her play, and although the team was very good...they sadly lost :(. I saw Ben from my psychology class, another person I got very close with over the year and he became a good friend. There were cupcakes for sale, and we got some and headed out to see the boy's soccer game, which they won 3-1! We then saw the girl's soccer game, which was another win! This time it was by 3 goals to 0.
I saw Courtney, and we got some pizza and Gatorade. I then watched the cross country races...which many people were watching, including two English teachers...Mr & Mrs Richardson and I also saw Ms Tobin, my psychology teacher. I hung out with Joyce and her friends...and randomly ended up going with a girl I hardly knew to Davis Sq...for pizza and mountain dew...which she paid for! I really am a bastard sometimes. When we got back to school, she parked in a tight spot...she was awesome all round! I wish I remembered her name :( (and she doesn't have facebook).
We got back to school, just in time for the American football game...which we lost 13-12, it was a very tight and enjoyable game! I saw various people who I knew who were playing in the school band, including Lyle and Tiago. I had some sweets and a fanta and then I saw Courtney (again) this time with Hannah (a girl in my Drama class) who were quiiite drunk! It was getting late, and the big game (the football game) was over...so I headed home. On the way, I ran into Danielle (a girl in my drama class) and Andrew. We had a good chat and some laughs before I got back for dinner. Dinner was pasta and sauce...and that was the last thing that really happened in a very eventful day!
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
First Live American Football Game
Friday, September 28th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
Luckily, I woke up on time! I arrived at school and had a student breakfast as I had skipped mine. I met a kid called Viktor, and had doughnuts, yoghurt a danish and grapes for breakfast! In history, we shared our journal entries. Each week, we were set a task of finding one piece of local news, and one piece of international news and writing a summary of the news stories and then our opinion about it. Each time, I got full marks, yet he didn't set it regularly, as he forgot...and we were hardly going to remind him! My story was a piece about shootings in Stevenage (a town close to my English home) and how it showed the rise in gun crime in the UK...and how America have always had guns.
In American Literature, we marked our vocab quizzes, and this first time I got 95%, pretty good for my first time! I then went to psychology, where we shared the interview that we had given. Lunch was the same as yesterday, a mozzarella cheese sandwich and lollipops (odd combination I know). We had film class, but there was an assembly and I can't remember quite what it was about...but it was pretty moving. I had a directed study period, but I just used it to catch up with Sharon, the guidance counsellor. I also talked with Alex, who was a kid in my literature class. There was a football game after school (American Football) and he told me all the rules before I watched...so I actually understood what was going on! I hung around at school until the game started.
I watched the first half, but it was cold and dull and so I headed home...stopping first in Sweet Sues where I talked to Josh and Courtney, both from my drama class. I got home and had a bit of relaxation with some cookies and milk. :). I then did my laundry for the week, and cleaned the bathroom to get my allowance (as I was going out again.)
I headed to Alewife, to meet up with Josh, Kyle, Kuro (who was an exchange student) and Joyce. We headed to Copley Sq. where we met up with Ana and Erin. We walked for ages looking for a place to eat, as most places were too busy and we didn't have a reservation. We finally tried a place called Steve's, which was a Greek restaurant. I had cheese fries and a cheese burger (nice and Greek ;) ) We walked home, as it's not a long way and we met Julia on the way back.
Arriving at home, I found out the Yankees had lost and I also found out that the Red Sox had won the league...which meant they were in the play offs for the World Series! This was, apparently, a rarity in itself...so I was lucky to experience it! To finish off a great evening, I watched the film Suicide Kings which is a black comedy with Christopher Walken. It also features one of the main nerds from The Big Bang Theory (if anyone reading this watches that.) It's a pretty good film, just a bit silly in parts, but Christopher Walken is excellent. I headed to bed, quite content!
Thanks for listening.
Luckily, I woke up on time! I arrived at school and had a student breakfast as I had skipped mine. I met a kid called Viktor, and had doughnuts, yoghurt a danish and grapes for breakfast! In history, we shared our journal entries. Each week, we were set a task of finding one piece of local news, and one piece of international news and writing a summary of the news stories and then our opinion about it. Each time, I got full marks, yet he didn't set it regularly, as he forgot...and we were hardly going to remind him! My story was a piece about shootings in Stevenage (a town close to my English home) and how it showed the rise in gun crime in the UK...and how America have always had guns.
In American Literature, we marked our vocab quizzes, and this first time I got 95%, pretty good for my first time! I then went to psychology, where we shared the interview that we had given. Lunch was the same as yesterday, a mozzarella cheese sandwich and lollipops (odd combination I know). We had film class, but there was an assembly and I can't remember quite what it was about...but it was pretty moving. I had a directed study period, but I just used it to catch up with Sharon, the guidance counsellor. I also talked with Alex, who was a kid in my literature class. There was a football game after school (American Football) and he told me all the rules before I watched...so I actually understood what was going on! I hung around at school until the game started.
I watched the first half, but it was cold and dull and so I headed home...stopping first in Sweet Sues where I talked to Josh and Courtney, both from my drama class. I got home and had a bit of relaxation with some cookies and milk. :). I then did my laundry for the week, and cleaned the bathroom to get my allowance (as I was going out again.)
I headed to Alewife, to meet up with Josh, Kyle, Kuro (who was an exchange student) and Joyce. We headed to Copley Sq. where we met up with Ana and Erin. We walked for ages looking for a place to eat, as most places were too busy and we didn't have a reservation. We finally tried a place called Steve's, which was a Greek restaurant. I had cheese fries and a cheese burger (nice and Greek ;) ) We walked home, as it's not a long way and we met Julia on the way back.
Arriving at home, I found out the Yankees had lost and I also found out that the Red Sox had won the league...which meant they were in the play offs for the World Series! This was, apparently, a rarity in itself...so I was lucky to experience it! To finish off a great evening, I watched the film Suicide Kings which is a black comedy with Christopher Walken. It also features one of the main nerds from The Big Bang Theory (if anyone reading this watches that.) It's a pretty good film, just a bit silly in parts, but Christopher Walken is excellent. I headed to bed, quite content!
Thanks for listening.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Cards, Cakes and Cookies
Thursday, September 27th 2007, Wake up time: 7:30am
Unfortunately, I had overslept! I quickly made Joyce a 'Good Luck' card, as she had a volleyball game that afternoon. I got to school and filled out a late slip. I went to history, where we began working on our posters. I then went to my algebra class. I didn't pay much attention, and spent most of the class quietly reminiscing the hilarious jokes in the film Team America : World Police.
In American Literature, we peer assessed each others literacy narrative. I then went to Psychology, where we went round and did a survey with the rest of the class. I'm not a big fan of classroom surveys, they're just weird and they don't seem to serve much purpose. Lunch was a mozzarella sandwich (which is actually delicious) and I also got some cakes from the bake sale for desert. Bake sales were a regular occurrence, as various clubs used them as a way to raise money for their plans and activities.
After lunch, I headed over to my gym class and was able to give Joyce her card...she was very grateful! Someone in my gym class didn't want the cookies he bought from the bake sale, so he gave them to me :D. I worked out, and then changed and headed down to my last class of the day, which was film. We watched The Great Dictator again. After class, I met up with Talia, Cecile and Rosalie in Sweet Sues.We hung out, and I met Tad and Luke. We sat outside, as the weather was pleasant, and I tried (and failed) to do my maths homework. I then resigned myself to heading home, as it was getting close to dinner time. Dinner was a meal of steak, which was really delicious! After dinner, I finished the evening off with my English and Psychology homework...before heading off to bed, I didn't want to be late again!
Thanks for listening.
Unfortunately, I had overslept! I quickly made Joyce a 'Good Luck' card, as she had a volleyball game that afternoon. I got to school and filled out a late slip. I went to history, where we began working on our posters. I then went to my algebra class. I didn't pay much attention, and spent most of the class quietly reminiscing the hilarious jokes in the film Team America : World Police.
In American Literature, we peer assessed each others literacy narrative. I then went to Psychology, where we went round and did a survey with the rest of the class. I'm not a big fan of classroom surveys, they're just weird and they don't seem to serve much purpose. Lunch was a mozzarella sandwich (which is actually delicious) and I also got some cakes from the bake sale for desert. Bake sales were a regular occurrence, as various clubs used them as a way to raise money for their plans and activities.
After lunch, I headed over to my gym class and was able to give Joyce her card...she was very grateful! Someone in my gym class didn't want the cookies he bought from the bake sale, so he gave them to me :D. I worked out, and then changed and headed down to my last class of the day, which was film. We watched The Great Dictator again. After class, I met up with Talia, Cecile and Rosalie in Sweet Sues.We hung out, and I met Tad and Luke. We sat outside, as the weather was pleasant, and I tried (and failed) to do my maths homework. I then resigned myself to heading home, as it was getting close to dinner time. Dinner was a meal of steak, which was really delicious! After dinner, I finished the evening off with my English and Psychology homework...before heading off to bed, I didn't want to be late again!
Thanks for listening.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
The Great Dictator
Wednesday, September 26th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
I got myself some cold pizza for lunch. I got to school and my first lesson was algebra. We studied matrices, although I couldn't tell you what they are, nor do I care to learn again. Our second lesson was drama, where we watched other groups scenes, though we didn't go. I was rather happy though, as I still didn't feel ready. It was very nerve racking! Nobody really likes having their work judged.
We studied a literacy time line in American literature, which was a look at all the great writers and changes in styles of writing throughout American history. In psychology, we watched a video, before going to lunch...which was okay, but Joyce wasn't around. :( My penultimate lesson was film. We began watching 'The Great Dictator', which is another Chaplin film. It played on the humour that many people made the unfortunate (for Chaplin) comparison that Chaplin looked quite a bit like Hitler...mainly due to the small toothbrush moustache. It also starred Paulette Goddard, and we heard her talk...she has a terrible voice though! It was pretty good, but not as funny as Modern Times.
After class, I finally got some agenda books! Mine was useful for writing down all the bloody homework I received. I then went off with Rosalie (someone who I was in Le Triomphe de l'amour with) and Cecil and their friend David to Robben's Farm. It's not actually a farm, just an area to hang out in. I came home, and talked to Julia on the phone, it was kind of random, but I liked just chatting to people...and procrastinating! Dinner was burgers and macaroni and cheese. I then talked to Joyce before going to pick up Claire from her art class. I got home, and did my literature homework for the evening.
Thanks for listening.
I got myself some cold pizza for lunch. I got to school and my first lesson was algebra. We studied matrices, although I couldn't tell you what they are, nor do I care to learn again. Our second lesson was drama, where we watched other groups scenes, though we didn't go. I was rather happy though, as I still didn't feel ready. It was very nerve racking! Nobody really likes having their work judged.
We studied a literacy time line in American literature, which was a look at all the great writers and changes in styles of writing throughout American history. In psychology, we watched a video, before going to lunch...which was okay, but Joyce wasn't around. :( My penultimate lesson was film. We began watching 'The Great Dictator', which is another Chaplin film. It played on the humour that many people made the unfortunate (for Chaplin) comparison that Chaplin looked quite a bit like Hitler...mainly due to the small toothbrush moustache. It also starred Paulette Goddard, and we heard her talk...she has a terrible voice though! It was pretty good, but not as funny as Modern Times.
After class, I finally got some agenda books! Mine was useful for writing down all the bloody homework I received. I then went off with Rosalie (someone who I was in Le Triomphe de l'amour with) and Cecil and their friend David to Robben's Farm. It's not actually a farm, just an area to hang out in. I came home, and talked to Julia on the phone, it was kind of random, but I liked just chatting to people...and procrastinating! Dinner was burgers and macaroni and cheese. I then talked to Joyce before going to pick up Claire from her art class. I got home, and did my literature homework for the evening.
Thanks for listening.
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Good Times, Bad Times
Tuesday, September 25th 2007 (My Sister's Birthday), Wake up time: 6:45am
I started the day by making my lunch of jelly and peanut butter sandwiches. I left for school, but was slightly late, so I took the bus. I got to school, just after home room, so I signed in and went to my first class. In Drama, we continued rehearsing the scene I was directing. I'm going to assume it was the time we were asked to direct a silent scene to a piece of music (as I haven't written down the specifics.) We had to direct the scene so that the music would tell us what was going on, without dialogue needed to explain what was going on. I had chosen the song 'Nessun Dorma' by Pavarotti. The interpretation I took from the song is that it's about unrequited love. My scene was a boy at a party, who pines after a girl...but she is unaware of his presence. As the music comes to a climax, we see the pain the boy feels at not being able to feel love again. We rehearsed this, but it was taking me a while to work out how I wanted to stage it...
I then had algebra, where it turned out that I had done badly on the quiz, no surprise there. I then went to my literature class, where I had a quiz which I knew I'd done well on. Over the year, my teacher set us a number of vocabulary quizzes. We were given a set of words, and we had to learn the spellings and definitions. I don't think I'm ruining any surprises, but for almost all of them, I got 100%. :) It was just something I excelled at.
I had psychology before lunch, where we designed our own experiment about human behaviour. Lunch was quite amusing, and I got to share it with Joyce. I will admit, being the hapless romantic I am, I was falling for Joyce...who I was a lot closer to than Ana. I also really enjoyed actually having my own lunch for once! My last two lessons were gym and history. In gym I just sat around as I had no clothes to change into! History was another quiz, which went okay!
After school, I went with Julia (a girl I had met on my first night out) to Sweet Sue's. I met Cecila who's first comment was essentially 'You're British!' (as if I was unaware). I also saw Talia, who I had briefly met before but not properly spoken to. We hung out, and I ordered a chicken salad with croutons. I ate it while Celia helped me with my algebra homework. By the way, I learnt nothing from the help I got, it just meant my friends and Lyle were doing my work for me ;) I found out that Desi, a girl in my drama class, worked at the café! She gave me a free glass of coke :) I regularly visited Sweet Sues, and over my stay, I got a lot of free stuff as I became good friends with the workers there! Sadly, Sweet Sues is now closed :(.
I came home, and called my parents for a catch up talk, before going to my Tae Kwon Do class. I came home and had pizza for dinner, before working on my American literature homework. Then I just hung out for the evening before bed. I had a good afternoon at Sweet Sues, and got to the point where I never wanted to come home...as home meant homework :(. Ah well, it's all important... I suppose ;)
Thanks for listening.
I started the day by making my lunch of jelly and peanut butter sandwiches. I left for school, but was slightly late, so I took the bus. I got to school, just after home room, so I signed in and went to my first class. In Drama, we continued rehearsing the scene I was directing. I'm going to assume it was the time we were asked to direct a silent scene to a piece of music (as I haven't written down the specifics.) We had to direct the scene so that the music would tell us what was going on, without dialogue needed to explain what was going on. I had chosen the song 'Nessun Dorma' by Pavarotti. The interpretation I took from the song is that it's about unrequited love. My scene was a boy at a party, who pines after a girl...but she is unaware of his presence. As the music comes to a climax, we see the pain the boy feels at not being able to feel love again. We rehearsed this, but it was taking me a while to work out how I wanted to stage it...
I then had algebra, where it turned out that I had done badly on the quiz, no surprise there. I then went to my literature class, where I had a quiz which I knew I'd done well on. Over the year, my teacher set us a number of vocabulary quizzes. We were given a set of words, and we had to learn the spellings and definitions. I don't think I'm ruining any surprises, but for almost all of them, I got 100%. :) It was just something I excelled at.
I had psychology before lunch, where we designed our own experiment about human behaviour. Lunch was quite amusing, and I got to share it with Joyce. I will admit, being the hapless romantic I am, I was falling for Joyce...who I was a lot closer to than Ana. I also really enjoyed actually having my own lunch for once! My last two lessons were gym and history. In gym I just sat around as I had no clothes to change into! History was another quiz, which went okay!
After school, I went with Julia (a girl I had met on my first night out) to Sweet Sue's. I met Cecila who's first comment was essentially 'You're British!' (as if I was unaware). I also saw Talia, who I had briefly met before but not properly spoken to. We hung out, and I ordered a chicken salad with croutons. I ate it while Celia helped me with my algebra homework. By the way, I learnt nothing from the help I got, it just meant my friends and Lyle were doing my work for me ;) I found out that Desi, a girl in my drama class, worked at the café! She gave me a free glass of coke :) I regularly visited Sweet Sues, and over my stay, I got a lot of free stuff as I became good friends with the workers there! Sadly, Sweet Sues is now closed :(.
I came home, and called my parents for a catch up talk, before going to my Tae Kwon Do class. I came home and had pizza for dinner, before working on my American literature homework. Then I just hung out for the evening before bed. I had a good afternoon at Sweet Sues, and got to the point where I never wanted to come home...as home meant homework :(. Ah well, it's all important... I suppose ;)
Thanks for listening.
Friday, 24 September 2010
First Rehearsal
Monday, September 24th 2007, Wake up time: 6:55am
I woke up slightly late, and I wolfed down maple oatmeal before rushing out the door to school. I was really tired though, and my first lesson was not my favourite! Algebra was pretty rubbish as we had a really hard quiz. I did not get algebra at all! I then had a good lesson of drama, where I did some directing, which was a new experience to me, though something I greatly enjoyed.
I had English, where I got my essay back...which as you know, I got a B on! :) I was glad, as normally essays that I do in class, aren't great as I don't prepare for them properly nor do I read through them. My next lesson was psychology, where I gave in the survey I had done for class. I had interviewed Bev at the weekend, and it was questions about her as a person. I can't remember the type of questions I had asked!
I then went to lunch, where I sat with some friends and ate what they didn't want, as I didn't have my own! I am an awful person sometimes. After lunch, I had history, where I gave in my essay and got back my quiz. I didn't do great, but hopefully my essay was going to be good! My last class was film, where we discussed doing our first essay and how it should be done, and got a number of questions to choose from for Modern Times. I was looking forward to getting started! After class, I had my first drama rehearsal, which was just a quick run through of the first part of the play, while on stage.
On the way home, I got some snacks as I was hungry again. I arrived home, to find a new camera had been sent to me...This was the camera I unfortunately put through the wash (not until later obviously!). I had roast pork with peas and carrots for dinner. After dinner I watched an episode of 'Everybody Hates Chris' a comedy written by Chris Rock. It's quite funny, though the jokes are never really that different, just about how black their family is, and how racist everyone is who lives in their neighbourhood. After the episode, I did my English homework for the evening, before just chilling out and then heading to bed.
Thanks for listening.
I woke up slightly late, and I wolfed down maple oatmeal before rushing out the door to school. I was really tired though, and my first lesson was not my favourite! Algebra was pretty rubbish as we had a really hard quiz. I did not get algebra at all! I then had a good lesson of drama, where I did some directing, which was a new experience to me, though something I greatly enjoyed.
I had English, where I got my essay back...which as you know, I got a B on! :) I was glad, as normally essays that I do in class, aren't great as I don't prepare for them properly nor do I read through them. My next lesson was psychology, where I gave in the survey I had done for class. I had interviewed Bev at the weekend, and it was questions about her as a person. I can't remember the type of questions I had asked!
I then went to lunch, where I sat with some friends and ate what they didn't want, as I didn't have my own! I am an awful person sometimes. After lunch, I had history, where I gave in my essay and got back my quiz. I didn't do great, but hopefully my essay was going to be good! My last class was film, where we discussed doing our first essay and how it should be done, and got a number of questions to choose from for Modern Times. I was looking forward to getting started! After class, I had my first drama rehearsal, which was just a quick run through of the first part of the play, while on stage.
On the way home, I got some snacks as I was hungry again. I arrived home, to find a new camera had been sent to me...This was the camera I unfortunately put through the wash (not until later obviously!). I had roast pork with peas and carrots for dinner. After dinner I watched an episode of 'Everybody Hates Chris' a comedy written by Chris Rock. It's quite funny, though the jokes are never really that different, just about how black their family is, and how racist everyone is who lives in their neighbourhood. After the episode, I did my English homework for the evening, before just chilling out and then heading to bed.
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Dances with Wolves
Sunday, September 23rd 2007, Wake up time: 11:50am
I had a nice healthy doughnut after waking up. I played some Dungeon Runner to pass the time, before heading to the library to borrow a film. The film being 'Dances with Wolves', starring Kevin Costner. I had been set an essay in history to watch the film, and write an essay about how it compared to the historical events it was loosely based off of. I found the library was closed! I then took a walk to the film store to try and find the film there. I stopped to get a Gatorade first, as it was so hot! However, it was out of stock! This was very frustrating as I needed to do the essay by Monday, I had only left it so late because I thought I could find the film easily...apparently not!
I came home and called everywhere in the local area to get a copy of the film. Newbury Comics had a copy in, thankfully, but it still cost me eight bucks! It wasn't even a film I'd ever watch again! I came home to watch the film...which turned out to be just over three hours long! In fairness, it is a very good film...but when you have an essay on your mind, the enjoyment is somewhat removed! I finally finished, before having dinner of roast chicken with carrots and potatoes in gravy. Jan had given us some Whoopie Pies to take home, so we had those for desert.
After dinner, I got started on the essay, and it took me around four hours. I'm not even kidding. I wanted to do really well, to up my history grade. I essentially just went through the film scene by scene, and argued if it was similar or dissimilar to the original historical period. It frustrated me it took so long! However, I was glad when it was finally done, and quite happy with the work I'd done. As it was so late, due to the length of time spent on the essay, I went straight to bed, as I had school in the morning.
Thanks for listening.
I had a nice healthy doughnut after waking up. I played some Dungeon Runner to pass the time, before heading to the library to borrow a film. The film being 'Dances with Wolves', starring Kevin Costner. I had been set an essay in history to watch the film, and write an essay about how it compared to the historical events it was loosely based off of. I found the library was closed! I then took a walk to the film store to try and find the film there. I stopped to get a Gatorade first, as it was so hot! However, it was out of stock! This was very frustrating as I needed to do the essay by Monday, I had only left it so late because I thought I could find the film easily...apparently not!
I came home and called everywhere in the local area to get a copy of the film. Newbury Comics had a copy in, thankfully, but it still cost me eight bucks! It wasn't even a film I'd ever watch again! I came home to watch the film...which turned out to be just over three hours long! In fairness, it is a very good film...but when you have an essay on your mind, the enjoyment is somewhat removed! I finally finished, before having dinner of roast chicken with carrots and potatoes in gravy. Jan had given us some Whoopie Pies to take home, so we had those for desert.
After dinner, I got started on the essay, and it took me around four hours. I'm not even kidding. I wanted to do really well, to up my history grade. I essentially just went through the film scene by scene, and argued if it was similar or dissimilar to the original historical period. It frustrated me it took so long! However, I was glad when it was finally done, and quite happy with the work I'd done. As it was so late, due to the length of time spent on the essay, I went straight to bed, as I had school in the morning.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Whoopie Pie Shop!
Saturday, September 22nd 2007, Wake up time: 8:25am
I updated my journal from the day before breakfast of shredded wheat. I then played Dungeon Runner, a video game, for the morning...which was a nice lazy morning. I then went to get lunch, a pastrami and cheese toastie! I called Joyce, but she was out...so I said I'd call back later. I played more Dungeon Runner before finally buckling down and doing both pieces of my Psychology homework.
I needed to do my clothes wash and washing the sheets for my bed. I called Joyce again, and we had a talk about different things, including the events of last night. :) I then got changed as we were going to Bev's friend Jan's house. When we arrived, I met Jan and Peter. They served up snacks and we played with their dog, it was so energetic! I went outside and played Frisbee with Lyle, before coming inside and watched a couple of episodes of 'Scrubs.'
Jan served up dinner, of roast pork and mash potatoes. Jan then said we should play a game of kick ball...we won 4-2! Madeline came home, another of Jan's daughters, and we played a small game of basketball...except this time we lost! We came back inside for deserts, and I tried my first whoopie pie! It's amazing, it tastes great. I said I'd start up my own whoopie pie shop, as England didn't sell them...that's a plan for the future :P.
I played pool with Lyle...which I won, then we had some more cake. Jan had been awesome and got loads of deserts in! I then played pool with Emily, Jan's other daughter. However, she was cheating! But, it was okay, she was about twelve and neither of us are very good! There was a Red Sox game on telly, and the Red Sox won 8-6 against Tampa Bay, but they were lucky to do so!
We went upstairs, and watched Dr. Who, which I always thought nobody in America knew about! We started playing team tag, but there was a skunk in the garden! It my sound silly...but you want to never ever get sprayed by a skunk...you have to literally burn your clothes, you can never get the smell out. We then came downstairs as we wanted to watch a film before going home. We took ages to pick out a film to watch...but finally decided on Hot Fuzz which is one of my favourite Simon Pegg films. However, we had to go home soon after watching it. We didn't get home 'till about 1:30am! I don't know why we stayed so long, but Jan and Bev are very good friends. I got my laundry out, and changed the sheets on my bed...before collapsing on to them to go to sleep!
Thanks for listening.
I updated my journal from the day before breakfast of shredded wheat. I then played Dungeon Runner, a video game, for the morning...which was a nice lazy morning. I then went to get lunch, a pastrami and cheese toastie! I called Joyce, but she was out...so I said I'd call back later. I played more Dungeon Runner before finally buckling down and doing both pieces of my Psychology homework.
I needed to do my clothes wash and washing the sheets for my bed. I called Joyce again, and we had a talk about different things, including the events of last night. :) I then got changed as we were going to Bev's friend Jan's house. When we arrived, I met Jan and Peter. They served up snacks and we played with their dog, it was so energetic! I went outside and played Frisbee with Lyle, before coming inside and watched a couple of episodes of 'Scrubs.'
Jan served up dinner, of roast pork and mash potatoes. Jan then said we should play a game of kick ball...we won 4-2! Madeline came home, another of Jan's daughters, and we played a small game of basketball...except this time we lost! We came back inside for deserts, and I tried my first whoopie pie! It's amazing, it tastes great. I said I'd start up my own whoopie pie shop, as England didn't sell them...that's a plan for the future :P.
I played pool with Lyle...which I won, then we had some more cake. Jan had been awesome and got loads of deserts in! I then played pool with Emily, Jan's other daughter. However, she was cheating! But, it was okay, she was about twelve and neither of us are very good! There was a Red Sox game on telly, and the Red Sox won 8-6 against Tampa Bay, but they were lucky to do so!
We went upstairs, and watched Dr. Who, which I always thought nobody in America knew about! We started playing team tag, but there was a skunk in the garden! It my sound silly...but you want to never ever get sprayed by a skunk...you have to literally burn your clothes, you can never get the smell out. We then came downstairs as we wanted to watch a film before going home. We took ages to pick out a film to watch...but finally decided on Hot Fuzz which is one of my favourite Simon Pegg films. However, we had to go home soon after watching it. We didn't get home 'till about 1:30am! I don't know why we stayed so long, but Jan and Bev are very good friends. I got my laundry out, and changed the sheets on my bed...before collapsing on to them to go to sleep!
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
First Night Out
Friday, September 21st 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
My first activity when arriving at school was to give in my PSAT form. My first lesson was drama, where we watched the final collection of people's two minute scenes. It may seem like we should have got them finished in one lesson, due to it only being two minute scenes...but Mr. Byrne talked for about three quarters of that lesson! He told what I've noted down as the red chess story... don't' ask me what it was, damn me for not writing down details.
I then went to Algebra, which was just an all round confusing lesson. I then went to Literature, and we had to describe a problem teacher we've once had. I immediately thought of my GCSE maths teacher, who was a lovely guy...but the most useless of teachers. We were little shits though. After literature, I had history, where we finished watching the Wizard of Oz and then had a team quiz about the Populist movement...and we won!
After History, I had Art of the Cinema, where we finally finished Modern Times. I really enjoyed it a lot, but I wanted to start learning about how to write essays for the films...the questions were good! I might still have one of my essays from the class... I'll try and submit them if I do, so you can all have a read. (Though I think about one person reads this blog...).
I went to see Joyce, as it was our directed study period. She was very tired, but she gave me a ride home and we talked for a long time again! :) She dropped me off, and I did nothing productive for the afternoon, apart from clean the bathroom. I got my allowance, as I was going out with Joyce and her friends for the evening. I called mum and dad, as we hadn't talked in a while...and I caught up with them.
I headed out to Alewife. I thought I was late, and I couldn't see anyone...so I was getting worried. It didn't help that I didn't have a mobile phone. Luckily, someone asked me 'Are you James?' and it turned out this was Jean, a friend of Joyce's. I met up with her, then waited and met Julia, Kyle, Josh and Danny Chin (and Joyce of course). We got on the subway from Alewife and headed into Boston to pick up Ana! Boston really is a beautiful city at night...we'll have to go one time ;). The main part of the evening was just hanging out and walking around...but we went to the food court and I got a large pizza to myself. I think people were surprised I could eat so much...but it's pizza! We then walked around and talked for the rest of the evening, before I was picked up by Bev. We had planned to go to the Chilly Cow for desert, but as Danny Chin pointed out, everything's lame and shuts at ten :(. I got home, and I was quite tired, so I went straight to bed!
Thanks for listening.
My first activity when arriving at school was to give in my PSAT form. My first lesson was drama, where we watched the final collection of people's two minute scenes. It may seem like we should have got them finished in one lesson, due to it only being two minute scenes...but Mr. Byrne talked for about three quarters of that lesson! He told what I've noted down as the red chess story... don't' ask me what it was, damn me for not writing down details.
I then went to Algebra, which was just an all round confusing lesson. I then went to Literature, and we had to describe a problem teacher we've once had. I immediately thought of my GCSE maths teacher, who was a lovely guy...but the most useless of teachers. We were little shits though. After literature, I had history, where we finished watching the Wizard of Oz and then had a team quiz about the Populist movement...and we won!
After History, I had Art of the Cinema, where we finally finished Modern Times. I really enjoyed it a lot, but I wanted to start learning about how to write essays for the films...the questions were good! I might still have one of my essays from the class... I'll try and submit them if I do, so you can all have a read. (Though I think about one person reads this blog...).
I went to see Joyce, as it was our directed study period. She was very tired, but she gave me a ride home and we talked for a long time again! :) She dropped me off, and I did nothing productive for the afternoon, apart from clean the bathroom. I got my allowance, as I was going out with Joyce and her friends for the evening. I called mum and dad, as we hadn't talked in a while...and I caught up with them.
I headed out to Alewife. I thought I was late, and I couldn't see anyone...so I was getting worried. It didn't help that I didn't have a mobile phone. Luckily, someone asked me 'Are you James?' and it turned out this was Jean, a friend of Joyce's. I met up with her, then waited and met Julia, Kyle, Josh and Danny Chin (and Joyce of course). We got on the subway from Alewife and headed into Boston to pick up Ana! Boston really is a beautiful city at night...we'll have to go one time ;). The main part of the evening was just hanging out and walking around...but we went to the food court and I got a large pizza to myself. I think people were surprised I could eat so much...but it's pizza! We then walked around and talked for the rest of the evening, before I was picked up by Bev. We had planned to go to the Chilly Cow for desert, but as Danny Chin pointed out, everything's lame and shuts at ten :(. I got home, and I was quite tired, so I went straight to bed!
Thanks for listening.
Monday, 20 September 2010
A Good Liar
Thursday, September 20th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
I woke up to make Claire's lunch...I was running slightly late, and I got to school just in time! I was really tired, so I slept through my Algebra lesson. The teacher didn't seem to notice! I then went to Drama, where we watched more of the 'two minutes' from other people's lives. Some people grasped exactly what was expected, but some still struggled with the concept. It's noticing all the small things you do, in the space of a two minute activity...pretty hard.
My next lesson of the day was American History. We learnt more about the Populist movement, and how it was linked with the 'Wizard of Oz'. The yellow brick road is gold, and emerald city was the State capital. The Populist movement was where the common man would stand against the rich and wealthy, the wealthy being tycoons who had emerged, such as John D. Rockafeller. It's an interesting theory, that I need to re-examine, but it's been dismissed by Literary critics.
Psychology was the study of facial expressions...which is something you should pay attention to when talking to someone. It's a lot harder to mask what your thinking if your face gives it away. I then had lunch, which I prepared my lie for Psychology. Remember, I had lunch part way through my fourth lesson. The idea was to tell a lie convincingly enough, through tone of voice and facial expressions. Most of the class said they'd believe me if they didn't know it was a lie. That was pretty cool, I'm apparently a good liar!
I then had Gym, but my leg hurt really badly, so I didn't work out too much. I then headed over to film class for the rest of Modern Times. It's not a long film, only an hour and a half, but we have to keep stopping the film, to analyse various key moments! After class, I talked with some people from class and then walked home with Erin (who I didn't know at all). I found it really easy to get on with people, not just because I was British, but also the fact that they were just so friendly!
I got home and I immediately did my literature and history homework. I hung out and talked with Ralph about the current political situation. I was lucky that during my stay, the run up for a new US President began. I ended up knowing far more about US Politics than England's! Luckily this has been remedied...but it's a shame I don't remember as much about US Politics :(. In fairness, it's something that you know easily if you specifically study it or live in that country.
Ralph also told me about OJ Simpson, who I learnt killed his wife and her lover, but got away with it due to a very dodgy trial...but it's okay, he's been arrested for something else now. Amusingly, he released a book called If I Did It which explicitly details how he'd have murdered them, if he had...which he didn't ;). The title was extended though, after rights went to the Goldman family (the lover's family) and the title became If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer. Pretty amusing, despite the seriousness of the events! Dinner was served, roast chicken with mash potato and after dinner, I just procrastinated for the rest of the evening rather than doing my Algebra homework...:/
Thanks for listening.
I woke up to make Claire's lunch...I was running slightly late, and I got to school just in time! I was really tired, so I slept through my Algebra lesson. The teacher didn't seem to notice! I then went to Drama, where we watched more of the 'two minutes' from other people's lives. Some people grasped exactly what was expected, but some still struggled with the concept. It's noticing all the small things you do, in the space of a two minute activity...pretty hard.
My next lesson of the day was American History. We learnt more about the Populist movement, and how it was linked with the 'Wizard of Oz'. The yellow brick road is gold, and emerald city was the State capital. The Populist movement was where the common man would stand against the rich and wealthy, the wealthy being tycoons who had emerged, such as John D. Rockafeller. It's an interesting theory, that I need to re-examine, but it's been dismissed by Literary critics.
Psychology was the study of facial expressions...which is something you should pay attention to when talking to someone. It's a lot harder to mask what your thinking if your face gives it away. I then had lunch, which I prepared my lie for Psychology. Remember, I had lunch part way through my fourth lesson. The idea was to tell a lie convincingly enough, through tone of voice and facial expressions. Most of the class said they'd believe me if they didn't know it was a lie. That was pretty cool, I'm apparently a good liar!
I then had Gym, but my leg hurt really badly, so I didn't work out too much. I then headed over to film class for the rest of Modern Times. It's not a long film, only an hour and a half, but we have to keep stopping the film, to analyse various key moments! After class, I talked with some people from class and then walked home with Erin (who I didn't know at all). I found it really easy to get on with people, not just because I was British, but also the fact that they were just so friendly!
I got home and I immediately did my literature and history homework. I hung out and talked with Ralph about the current political situation. I was lucky that during my stay, the run up for a new US President began. I ended up knowing far more about US Politics than England's! Luckily this has been remedied...but it's a shame I don't remember as much about US Politics :(. In fairness, it's something that you know easily if you specifically study it or live in that country.
Ralph also told me about OJ Simpson, who I learnt killed his wife and her lover, but got away with it due to a very dodgy trial...but it's okay, he's been arrested for something else now. Amusingly, he released a book called If I Did It which explicitly details how he'd have murdered them, if he had...which he didn't ;). The title was extended though, after rights went to the Goldman family (the lover's family) and the title became If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer. Pretty amusing, despite the seriousness of the events! Dinner was served, roast chicken with mash potato and after dinner, I just procrastinated for the rest of the evening rather than doing my Algebra homework...:/
Thanks for listening.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Monkey Man
Wednesday, September 19th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
I made Claire's breakfast before running to school, as she was running late. I got to school and gave in my form for the PSATs. My first lesson was drama, where I got to perform my two minutes! It's actually quite hard, because you naturally act while on stage. I added lines of dialogue to my two minutes, although it was just me getting out a book and reading it. Although I talk to myself, I don't do it in such an exaggerated way. I then went to American History, where we started our next topic, which was the Populist movement. I hadn't enjoyed history so far, as I found the topics done...but after the study of pre-1900...it got a lot more interesting :).
I then went to my American literature class...where it turned out I'd done the wrong thing with the homework. We were meant to summarise what we'd read, but I'd annotated it :/ I'm an idiot sometimes. My next lesson up was psychology, where we studied Harry Harlow and his investigation called 'monkey love.' Harlow chose to give monkeys two surrogate mothers...one made of wire and a head and the other made of cloth over the wire. The monkeys always went for the cloth monkey, and enjoyed snuggling to it. It was also a look at how they dealt with loss or fright. When scared, the monkeys with the cloth mother would hold on to them tightly until they felt calm again. However, the monkeys with wire mesh mothers threw themselves to the floor and shrieked in terror. It does show that monkeys are evolved and mothers are just as important to them as to us, even if they're only surrogate mothers!
Lunch wasn't great, as the Ana thing was bumming me out, but I sat with Joyce and this cheered me up :). I was also happy as I had Art of the Cinema again, and we got to watch more of Modern Times. My last lesson wasn't really a lesson, it was just directed study. I now had my directed study slots with Joyce so we hung out and talked. We went to a small café which was called 'Sweet Sues.' Joyce and I had a long talk about many things, while eating some delicious muffins. It was quite enjoyable! During my stay, Sweet Sues became a regular hang out spot...a bit like Central Perk in Friends ;) I am too cool.
After the free period was over, I headed back to school as I had to attend a reading of our script. I was pleasantly surprised that I had quite a lot of lines...but then there are only five characters. I had a lot of long monologues...which I couldn't wait to learn. :/ I got home, and headed to my Tae Kwon Do class. I didn't really enjoy it, but we'd paid for three months so I felt obliged to go. I did however meet Virginia near the bus stop. Virginia was in my psychology and maths class...and we soon became firm friends. But that's for later on!
I practised my Tae Kwon Do, rather unenthusiastically...then came home for dinner. Dinner was made by Ralph this time! It was spaghetti in a very delicious sauce, and I enjoyed it a lot. Before getting ready for bed (back in the days when I had a normal sleep routine) I did my algebra homework, with Lyle's help of course, as it was due in for the next day! All this homework was tough, but I was getting into a routine.
Thanks for listening.
I made Claire's breakfast before running to school, as she was running late. I got to school and gave in my form for the PSATs. My first lesson was drama, where I got to perform my two minutes! It's actually quite hard, because you naturally act while on stage. I added lines of dialogue to my two minutes, although it was just me getting out a book and reading it. Although I talk to myself, I don't do it in such an exaggerated way. I then went to American History, where we started our next topic, which was the Populist movement. I hadn't enjoyed history so far, as I found the topics done...but after the study of pre-1900...it got a lot more interesting :).
I then went to my American literature class...where it turned out I'd done the wrong thing with the homework. We were meant to summarise what we'd read, but I'd annotated it :/ I'm an idiot sometimes. My next lesson up was psychology, where we studied Harry Harlow and his investigation called 'monkey love.' Harlow chose to give monkeys two surrogate mothers...one made of wire and a head and the other made of cloth over the wire. The monkeys always went for the cloth monkey, and enjoyed snuggling to it. It was also a look at how they dealt with loss or fright. When scared, the monkeys with the cloth mother would hold on to them tightly until they felt calm again. However, the monkeys with wire mesh mothers threw themselves to the floor and shrieked in terror. It does show that monkeys are evolved and mothers are just as important to them as to us, even if they're only surrogate mothers!
Lunch wasn't great, as the Ana thing was bumming me out, but I sat with Joyce and this cheered me up :). I was also happy as I had Art of the Cinema again, and we got to watch more of Modern Times. My last lesson wasn't really a lesson, it was just directed study. I now had my directed study slots with Joyce so we hung out and talked. We went to a small café which was called 'Sweet Sues.' Joyce and I had a long talk about many things, while eating some delicious muffins. It was quite enjoyable! During my stay, Sweet Sues became a regular hang out spot...a bit like Central Perk in Friends ;) I am too cool.
After the free period was over, I headed back to school as I had to attend a reading of our script. I was pleasantly surprised that I had quite a lot of lines...but then there are only five characters. I had a lot of long monologues...which I couldn't wait to learn. :/ I got home, and headed to my Tae Kwon Do class. I didn't really enjoy it, but we'd paid for three months so I felt obliged to go. I did however meet Virginia near the bus stop. Virginia was in my psychology and maths class...and we soon became firm friends. But that's for later on!
I practised my Tae Kwon Do, rather unenthusiastically...then came home for dinner. Dinner was made by Ralph this time! It was spaghetti in a very delicious sauce, and I enjoyed it a lot. Before getting ready for bed (back in the days when I had a normal sleep routine) I did my algebra homework, with Lyle's help of course, as it was due in for the next day! All this homework was tough, but I was getting into a routine.
Thanks for listening.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Freud is a Freak!
Tuesday, September 18th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
My first lesson at school was history. Annoyingly, I'd forgotten we had a quiz and I hadn't revised! :( I pretty much epically failed the quiz and I didn't know any of it...apart from the odd question. I then went off to Algebra, where we were set more homework...it was starting to kill me! After Algebra, I had English Literature, where we were given some excerpts of a text to read.
My next lesson of the day was Psychology. We learnt about Freud, who is easily one of the weirdest guys you'll ever learn about. I then went to lunch, and I borrowed some money as I didn't have any lunch or any money to buy some! After lunch, I went to my new gym class. As I had dropped French, I had to swap around a couple of my lessons, so I had gym at a different time. We did a beep test...which is a test of stamina. You essentially just run up and down but you have to pace yourself. As long as you always get to the other side before the beep, you stay in. I have always been good at this (I don't know why) and it got to the point where it was just me against one kid...I was determined and he finally gave up! After class I had a talk with the gym teacher. He was really interested in England, especially as he was a fan of football...so he had some questions for me.
After my work out, I went to film class, where we started watching 'Modern Times' which is a Charlie Chaplin film. It's a very funny physical comedy, and has some great moments between Chaplin's character and the lead female role...played by Paulette Goddard...who actually was married to Chaplin between 1936 and 1942. After we watched the first half, class was over, so I headed home. Before leaving, Mr. Byrne gave me the scrip for 'Le triomphe de l'amour'.
I got home, and I got my English reading done. I annotated the texts and read through them. They were quite enjoyable. Claire then asked me to walk her to her Art Class as she didn't want to go alone. I was happy to do so, and it wasn't a long walk. I then came home, just in time for dinner of chicken dumplings and soy sauce...delicious! I was pretty tired out...so I went to get an early night.
Thanks for listening.
My first lesson at school was history. Annoyingly, I'd forgotten we had a quiz and I hadn't revised! :( I pretty much epically failed the quiz and I didn't know any of it...apart from the odd question. I then went off to Algebra, where we were set more homework...it was starting to kill me! After Algebra, I had English Literature, where we were given some excerpts of a text to read.
My next lesson of the day was Psychology. We learnt about Freud, who is easily one of the weirdest guys you'll ever learn about. I then went to lunch, and I borrowed some money as I didn't have any lunch or any money to buy some! After lunch, I went to my new gym class. As I had dropped French, I had to swap around a couple of my lessons, so I had gym at a different time. We did a beep test...which is a test of stamina. You essentially just run up and down but you have to pace yourself. As long as you always get to the other side before the beep, you stay in. I have always been good at this (I don't know why) and it got to the point where it was just me against one kid...I was determined and he finally gave up! After class I had a talk with the gym teacher. He was really interested in England, especially as he was a fan of football...so he had some questions for me.
After my work out, I went to film class, where we started watching 'Modern Times' which is a Charlie Chaplin film. It's a very funny physical comedy, and has some great moments between Chaplin's character and the lead female role...played by Paulette Goddard...who actually was married to Chaplin between 1936 and 1942. After we watched the first half, class was over, so I headed home. Before leaving, Mr. Byrne gave me the scrip for 'Le triomphe de l'amour'.
I got home, and I got my English reading done. I annotated the texts and read through them. They were quite enjoyable. Claire then asked me to walk her to her Art Class as she didn't want to go alone. I was happy to do so, and it wasn't a long walk. I then came home, just in time for dinner of chicken dumplings and soy sauce...delicious! I was pretty tired out...so I went to get an early night.
Thanks for listening.
Friday, 17 September 2010
New Class
Monday, September 17th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
I had sugar puffs for breakfast and made my lunch for school. I left for school, and on arriving collected my PSAT papers, i.e. Practice SATs. My first lesson of the day was Algebra, where we were given about five pieces of homework, which was far too much! In Drama, we had been set the task of acting out a part of our life, however mundane, in two minutes...exactly as we would normally. For example, making a cup of tea, or reading a book. I didn't get to go yet however...so I was sad I missed my turn for the day, but it was good to see the others!
I then headed off to English, where I marvellously fluked the seminar ;). I even admitted that I hadn't read most of the book...honesty is the best policy! My next lesson of the day was Psychology. We did some more work before heading off to lunch. I sat with Joyce again, who was fast becoming a good friend of mine :). My last proper lesson of the day was my first Art of the Cinema class. I was introduced to the class, though I knew most of the kids, either through other classes or by the fact I was British and therefore they knew who I was. ;) We watched the Battleship Potemkin which is a silent film by Sergei Eisenstein. It is about the mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin when the soldiers rose up against the Tsarist regime. It is one of the most influential films of the last 100 years, and was named the greatest film of all time in 1958!
My last 'lesson' of the day was directed study, where I did some of my English homework. Directed study lessons weren't great for me, as I usually just ended up talking to people in the room instead of doing my work... I get distracted easily. I then headed home for the day, stopping off first to talk to Ana about the school plays... :) I was about to get home, when I bumped into Tiago. I found out that he actually lived right near by! It was going to be good to have a friend so close. I went round his house for a little bit, and played some video games, specifically Kingdom Hearts 2. I then did the rest of my American Literature homework before heading home for dinner.
I got home, and had dinner of chicken and potatoes. I then went to see Lyle about my algebra homework, as he knew a lot about it...and I was rubbish! He helped me a lot, and I got it done quickly. I then went on AIM for the rest of the evening. AIM is what most Americans use instead of MSN, not quite sure why...it's rubbish. But it was a good way of socialising with people from school, without having to 'write on their wall.' The person I talked to mostly was Joyce that evening, before she had to go to volleyball...and I went off to get an early night.
Thanks for listening.
I had sugar puffs for breakfast and made my lunch for school. I left for school, and on arriving collected my PSAT papers, i.e. Practice SATs. My first lesson of the day was Algebra, where we were given about five pieces of homework, which was far too much! In Drama, we had been set the task of acting out a part of our life, however mundane, in two minutes...exactly as we would normally. For example, making a cup of tea, or reading a book. I didn't get to go yet however...so I was sad I missed my turn for the day, but it was good to see the others!
I then headed off to English, where I marvellously fluked the seminar ;). I even admitted that I hadn't read most of the book...honesty is the best policy! My next lesson of the day was Psychology. We did some more work before heading off to lunch. I sat with Joyce again, who was fast becoming a good friend of mine :). My last proper lesson of the day was my first Art of the Cinema class. I was introduced to the class, though I knew most of the kids, either through other classes or by the fact I was British and therefore they knew who I was. ;) We watched the Battleship Potemkin which is a silent film by Sergei Eisenstein. It is about the mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin when the soldiers rose up against the Tsarist regime. It is one of the most influential films of the last 100 years, and was named the greatest film of all time in 1958!
My last 'lesson' of the day was directed study, where I did some of my English homework. Directed study lessons weren't great for me, as I usually just ended up talking to people in the room instead of doing my work... I get distracted easily. I then headed home for the day, stopping off first to talk to Ana about the school plays... :) I was about to get home, when I bumped into Tiago. I found out that he actually lived right near by! It was going to be good to have a friend so close. I went round his house for a little bit, and played some video games, specifically Kingdom Hearts 2. I then did the rest of my American Literature homework before heading home for dinner.
I got home, and had dinner of chicken and potatoes. I then went to see Lyle about my algebra homework, as he knew a lot about it...and I was rubbish! He helped me a lot, and I got it done quickly. I then went on AIM for the rest of the evening. AIM is what most Americans use instead of MSN, not quite sure why...it's rubbish. But it was a good way of socialising with people from school, without having to 'write on their wall.' The person I talked to mostly was Joyce that evening, before she had to go to volleyball...and I went off to get an early night.
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Gorge Scaling
Sunday, September 16th 2007, Wake up time: 10:35am
Our first activity of the day was a tour of Chris' house! He was building his own house by the lake, and construction was well under way! Breakfast was more cookies, and then we packed our bags and made our beds. We went for a car ride and a walk around a pond, amusingly named Pudding Pond! After our walk, we came home for lunch, which was roast turkey and then some cake for 'pudding'! (See what I did there?)
After lunch, we cleaned and dusted the house, as a way of saying thanks for having us! We then headed home, as it was a bit of a drive and we wanted to be back in time to get ready for school tomorrow. On the way home, we did take a stop at Rocky George, which had shallow water to paddle in :). It was a lot of fun. We paddled around in the water, and watched sticks float down the river. We then drove on a little further and stopped off for a view of what is known as 'White Mountains'. We scaled the waterfall there, it was easily one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen!
We headed the rest of the way home, stopping off and Tilt'n Diner for dinner. I had jumbo hot dogs and an ice-cream soda! It was brilliant. We finally arrived home after the various excursions in the car. I unpacked my bags and checked my e-mail. Ana was on face book, so we spoke briefly before she had to go. :( For the rest of the evening, I was a good kid and did my homework. There was only a small piece of drama work and some algebra. Before bed, I attempted to read 'Mayflower' some more, in preparation for the Socratic Seminar. However, it was a futile effort, as all it did was make me tired! So I just gave up, and hoped I could talk my way through the Seminar. One thing I've always been good at is blagging on the spot...so I thought it'd be fine. Will it be? You'll have to find out ;)
Thanks for listening.
Our first activity of the day was a tour of Chris' house! He was building his own house by the lake, and construction was well under way! Breakfast was more cookies, and then we packed our bags and made our beds. We went for a car ride and a walk around a pond, amusingly named Pudding Pond! After our walk, we came home for lunch, which was roast turkey and then some cake for 'pudding'! (See what I did there?)
After lunch, we cleaned and dusted the house, as a way of saying thanks for having us! We then headed home, as it was a bit of a drive and we wanted to be back in time to get ready for school tomorrow. On the way home, we did take a stop at Rocky George, which had shallow water to paddle in :). It was a lot of fun. We paddled around in the water, and watched sticks float down the river. We then drove on a little further and stopped off for a view of what is known as 'White Mountains'. We scaled the waterfall there, it was easily one of the most amazing sights I had ever seen!
We headed the rest of the way home, stopping off and Tilt'n Diner for dinner. I had jumbo hot dogs and an ice-cream soda! It was brilliant. We finally arrived home after the various excursions in the car. I unpacked my bags and checked my e-mail. Ana was on face book, so we spoke briefly before she had to go. :( For the rest of the evening, I was a good kid and did my homework. There was only a small piece of drama work and some algebra. Before bed, I attempted to read 'Mayflower' some more, in preparation for the Socratic Seminar. However, it was a futile effort, as all it did was make me tired! So I just gave up, and hoped I could talk my way through the Seminar. One thing I've always been good at is blagging on the spot...so I thought it'd be fine. Will it be? You'll have to find out ;)
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Campfire Fun!
Saturday, September 15th 2007, Wake up time: 11:45am
I woke up in a strange bed, then I remembered where I was. Breakfast was frosted flakes and honey nut cheerios. While eating breakfast, we watched a couple of episodes of 'I love Lucy.' I had never seen it, but it was a very popular television series starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It's where the famous catchphrase 'Lucy, you got some splaining to do!' comes from and it was one of the first shows with a woman as a lead. Here's one famous clip from the show...it always makes me laugh!
I Love Lucy
After the episodes were over, I was hungry again! I had lunch of ham and cheese and some of Grandma's cookies for desert. I needed to get some new clothes, so I went with Bev to Woolrich...which does various shirts and got two new ones and also some t-shirts. I also got a hoodie, as apparently that's what everyone at AHS wore. You know how much I love to conform to popular ideas... It was in a mall type area, with lots of shops, so I checked out Music 4 Less to see if they had any CDs I wanted, but they didn't so we headed home.
Once home, I watched Crocodile Dundee II. It's no way as good as the first but it's still pretty funny and has some great moments. After the film was over, we went and sat by the lake outside of Chris' cabin. It was beautiful! There was also a chance of spotting a beaver who sometimes visited. We didn't see him though :( We came inside for dinner of lasagne with jelly for desert. We cleared the dishes before heading outside again.
Chris suggested we build a Campfire, and roast marshmallows. I had my first experience of 's'mores' aptly named because you always want more! To make them, you roast a marshmallow between two Graham crackers. They were delicious, but really very sticky! We had some Apple Pie before coming inside (as it was getting cold, and the fire was dying out) and playing Cranium. It's a game where you work as a team against another team of players, and try and do different activities before you reach the end. It's a lot of fun! We unfortunately lost... After the game it was getting late, but before we headed off to bed, we watched a game of actual football! Which was good. Shame it wasn't a great game eh ;)
Thanks for listening.
I woke up in a strange bed, then I remembered where I was. Breakfast was frosted flakes and honey nut cheerios. While eating breakfast, we watched a couple of episodes of 'I love Lucy.' I had never seen it, but it was a very popular television series starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It's where the famous catchphrase 'Lucy, you got some splaining to do!' comes from and it was one of the first shows with a woman as a lead. Here's one famous clip from the show...it always makes me laugh!
I Love Lucy
After the episodes were over, I was hungry again! I had lunch of ham and cheese and some of Grandma's cookies for desert. I needed to get some new clothes, so I went with Bev to Woolrich...which does various shirts and got two new ones and also some t-shirts. I also got a hoodie, as apparently that's what everyone at AHS wore. You know how much I love to conform to popular ideas... It was in a mall type area, with lots of shops, so I checked out Music 4 Less to see if they had any CDs I wanted, but they didn't so we headed home.
Once home, I watched Crocodile Dundee II. It's no way as good as the first but it's still pretty funny and has some great moments. After the film was over, we went and sat by the lake outside of Chris' cabin. It was beautiful! There was also a chance of spotting a beaver who sometimes visited. We didn't see him though :( We came inside for dinner of lasagne with jelly for desert. We cleared the dishes before heading outside again.
Chris suggested we build a Campfire, and roast marshmallows. I had my first experience of 's'mores' aptly named because you always want more! To make them, you roast a marshmallow between two Graham crackers. They were delicious, but really very sticky! We had some Apple Pie before coming inside (as it was getting cold, and the fire was dying out) and playing Cranium. It's a game where you work as a team against another team of players, and try and do different activities before you reach the end. It's a lot of fun! We unfortunately lost... After the game it was getting late, but before we headed off to bed, we watched a game of actual football! Which was good. Shame it wasn't a great game eh ;)
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Audition Win!
Friday, September 14th 2007, Wake up time: 6:40am
I made my lunch and had some toast for breakfast. Claire was running late so I also made her sandwich! How kind am I? ;) I left for school, and when I arrived, I asked around for a book I had lost...but had no luck finding it :(. I then went for drama where we played some drama games. I then had Algebra where we did some quadratic equations. How do you do those? I have no clue, didn't know them, don't know now!
My next lesson was American Literature. We discussed when we'd have our Socratic seminar. It was named after the philosopher Socrates as it was his own method of teaching. As we had done an essay on the Jack Gantos book...(which I got a B on!) we were having a group discussion on Mayflower. I was not looking forward to it at all! The idea is that you ask each other questions, and draw ideas from the book. I was grateful it was this way round though. I can't blag an essay as easily as I can talking about something. I had read the Jack Gantos book and enjoyed it, whereas I'd read about 15 pages of Mayflower. We planned to have the seminar next Monday, which gave me the weekend to prepare. Would I read it? NAH! :D
I went to Psychology, and did another work sheet. Psychology was a very interesting subject, the worksheets just don't sound interesting! I wish I'd written down what I'd specifically done sheets on, but I'm afraid I didn't do details at the time...something I do regret. After the lesson, I went to lunch and did my history work (last minute man!) and sat with Anna...a friend of Joyce. Guess who developed a crush on Ana? Yup...me :) I fall for people far too easily...it's terrible!
My next lesson of the day was French, where we were given a book to read for homework (in French obviously). After French, I went to a guidance meeting and changed my French class to Art of the Cinema, which quickly became my favourite class. It was also taught by my drama teacher, My. Byrne! It was about the history of film, and was where I developed a great interest in cinematography, directors, actors and film genres.
My final lesson of the day was history. I gave in my rushed homework, which was good, but I still couldn't find the textbook. There was a lot more reason to do homework. In England, homework is just there to reinforce your knowledge. You get told off, but that's it. In America, it affects your overall grade...so if I don't do all the homework for the term, I can drop at least a grade and maybe two, i.e. from an A to a C overall! Pretty important. It's important to reinforce the learning, but we don't see the effects on a short term.
After class, I went to check to see if I'd got a part in the school plays... I had! Yay :). I was the role of Hermocrates in the Triomphe de l'amour! I was a philosopher who is the guardian of Aegis, who is the son of a usurped throne. A girl, called Leonide, who wants the son to reclaim his kingdom comes into the house of Hermocrates and his sister Leontine...and tricks them into loving her (by pretending to be a girl and a boy respectively). I think I was chosen due to my accent, so being a philosopher sounds better due to my rich accent ;)
After talking to Mr. Byrne about the play, I headed off home. I was sad because Ana was helping to direct the other show...I wanted to act with her watching :D...O well. I met Tiago, Alison and Walker and talked to them for a while with a group of others...cracking jokes and being generally British! I got home and finished packing my stuff, as we were heading to Bev's brother's (Chris) lake house for the weekend. We set off that evening, stopping at Bugaboo Steak House on the way. I had chicken with cheese and bacon for dinner...which was delicious! We then headed off for Chris's lake house and arrived that evening. We just got unpacked, and crashed on our beds...quite tired out after the full week at school!
Thanks for listening.
I made my lunch and had some toast for breakfast. Claire was running late so I also made her sandwich! How kind am I? ;) I left for school, and when I arrived, I asked around for a book I had lost...but had no luck finding it :(. I then went for drama where we played some drama games. I then had Algebra where we did some quadratic equations. How do you do those? I have no clue, didn't know them, don't know now!
My next lesson was American Literature. We discussed when we'd have our Socratic seminar. It was named after the philosopher Socrates as it was his own method of teaching. As we had done an essay on the Jack Gantos book...(which I got a B on!) we were having a group discussion on Mayflower. I was not looking forward to it at all! The idea is that you ask each other questions, and draw ideas from the book. I was grateful it was this way round though. I can't blag an essay as easily as I can talking about something. I had read the Jack Gantos book and enjoyed it, whereas I'd read about 15 pages of Mayflower. We planned to have the seminar next Monday, which gave me the weekend to prepare. Would I read it? NAH! :D
I went to Psychology, and did another work sheet. Psychology was a very interesting subject, the worksheets just don't sound interesting! I wish I'd written down what I'd specifically done sheets on, but I'm afraid I didn't do details at the time...something I do regret. After the lesson, I went to lunch and did my history work (last minute man!) and sat with Anna...a friend of Joyce. Guess who developed a crush on Ana? Yup...me :) I fall for people far too easily...it's terrible!
My next lesson of the day was French, where we were given a book to read for homework (in French obviously). After French, I went to a guidance meeting and changed my French class to Art of the Cinema, which quickly became my favourite class. It was also taught by my drama teacher, My. Byrne! It was about the history of film, and was where I developed a great interest in cinematography, directors, actors and film genres.
My final lesson of the day was history. I gave in my rushed homework, which was good, but I still couldn't find the textbook. There was a lot more reason to do homework. In England, homework is just there to reinforce your knowledge. You get told off, but that's it. In America, it affects your overall grade...so if I don't do all the homework for the term, I can drop at least a grade and maybe two, i.e. from an A to a C overall! Pretty important. It's important to reinforce the learning, but we don't see the effects on a short term.
After class, I went to check to see if I'd got a part in the school plays... I had! Yay :). I was the role of Hermocrates in the Triomphe de l'amour! I was a philosopher who is the guardian of Aegis, who is the son of a usurped throne. A girl, called Leonide, who wants the son to reclaim his kingdom comes into the house of Hermocrates and his sister Leontine...and tricks them into loving her (by pretending to be a girl and a boy respectively). I think I was chosen due to my accent, so being a philosopher sounds better due to my rich accent ;)
After talking to Mr. Byrne about the play, I headed off home. I was sad because Ana was helping to direct the other show...I wanted to act with her watching :D...O well. I met Tiago, Alison and Walker and talked to them for a while with a group of others...cracking jokes and being generally British! I got home and finished packing my stuff, as we were heading to Bev's brother's (Chris) lake house for the weekend. We set off that evening, stopping at Bugaboo Steak House on the way. I had chicken with cheese and bacon for dinner...which was delicious! We then headed off for Chris's lake house and arrived that evening. We just got unpacked, and crashed on our beds...quite tired out after the full week at school!
Thanks for listening.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Lunch Buddies
Thursday, September 13th 2007, Wake up time: 6:40am
I made my lunch before heading to school. My first lesson of the day was maths, where we did more Algebra problems. I got a calculator to do some of the harder equations. I then went to Drama where we played a Drama game. The game being 'The Peanut Butter Game.' The idea was you imagine what it would be like to have peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth, and then you try and speak like that. It's a very weird game, best thing to do is not to ask and if you play it in a group, just have fun!
I then headed over to my American Literature lesson, a majority of which was spent talking and making jokes with George. I did pay attention! I just talk a lot in class, and I like to joke around sometimes. I feel bad now! I should have been a better kid, but hey, I did okay. Psychology was my next class (see if you can spot a pattern between the lessons!). We did another sheet and watched a video related to what we were studying.
I then went for lunch and sat with Josh and Joyce. Joyce was someone who I was getting on very well with, and it was nice to have someone I could always have lunch with. After lunch I had history, where we also did a worksheet. My final class was Gym again, where I worked out ;) After class I met up with Alison and Walker and talked with her for a while before heading home. This became a regular routine. I wasn't thrilled to go home because I liked to hang out with lots of people (and have the attention on me) and so I would normally spend at least fifteen minutes talking to all new people before going home.
I finally got home, and did some homework (a regular part of my days now!) before dinner of macaroni and cheese and pork with vegetables. I took a television break to watch 'Two and a Half Men' while eating some cake and yoghurt before finishing off any school work I had to do for the next day. I apologise these entries aren't as detailed as they should be. When I remember great moments while thinking about the specific day, I shall always be happy to tell you! Please, stay with me, and once again,
Thanks for listening.
I made my lunch before heading to school. My first lesson of the day was maths, where we did more Algebra problems. I got a calculator to do some of the harder equations. I then went to Drama where we played a Drama game. The game being 'The Peanut Butter Game.' The idea was you imagine what it would be like to have peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth, and then you try and speak like that. It's a very weird game, best thing to do is not to ask and if you play it in a group, just have fun!
I then headed over to my American Literature lesson, a majority of which was spent talking and making jokes with George. I did pay attention! I just talk a lot in class, and I like to joke around sometimes. I feel bad now! I should have been a better kid, but hey, I did okay. Psychology was my next class (see if you can spot a pattern between the lessons!). We did another sheet and watched a video related to what we were studying.
I then went for lunch and sat with Josh and Joyce. Joyce was someone who I was getting on very well with, and it was nice to have someone I could always have lunch with. After lunch I had history, where we also did a worksheet. My final class was Gym again, where I worked out ;) After class I met up with Alison and Walker and talked with her for a while before heading home. This became a regular routine. I wasn't thrilled to go home because I liked to hang out with lots of people (and have the attention on me) and so I would normally spend at least fifteen minutes talking to all new people before going home.
I finally got home, and did some homework (a regular part of my days now!) before dinner of macaroni and cheese and pork with vegetables. I took a television break to watch 'Two and a Half Men' while eating some cake and yoghurt before finishing off any school work I had to do for the next day. I apologise these entries aren't as detailed as they should be. When I remember great moments while thinking about the specific day, I shall always be happy to tell you! Please, stay with me, and once again,
Thanks for listening.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Audition!
Wednesday, September 12th 2007, Wake up time: 6:45am
I woke up and I had toast for breakfast as there was no milk. I made my lunch before leaving for school. On the way, I bumped into Walker and we chatted the rest of the way to school. I got to school and I had Drama, where we practised entrances again. You have to remember, we did very little because we kept talking and telling stories each lesson! I left for Algebra, which was the usual dull experience.
I then had English, where we wrote our essays in timed conditions on the book A Hole in my Life. I then had history, where we studied the American Frontier before having my lunch with Dennis and Peter, two boys in my Home Room. I had Gym class, where I met Dan and Kristy, and I worked out a lot! I was happy with myself :). After Gym class, I finished the school day with French, where we had a stupid test, which I couldn't do due to my severe lack of knowledge.
I then headed to my audition for the school plays, performing a monologue for Mr. Byrne. I think it went well, but you won't know until later if I got a part ;) I then walked home and did some American Literature work before dinner. Dinner was chicken and potatoes. I watched America's Next Top Model with Claire, before doing my Psychology homework. A pretty dull day, but hopefully, I got a part in the play... I know already of course!
Thanks for listening.
I woke up and I had toast for breakfast as there was no milk. I made my lunch before leaving for school. On the way, I bumped into Walker and we chatted the rest of the way to school. I got to school and I had Drama, where we practised entrances again. You have to remember, we did very little because we kept talking and telling stories each lesson! I left for Algebra, which was the usual dull experience.
I then had English, where we wrote our essays in timed conditions on the book A Hole in my Life. I then had history, where we studied the American Frontier before having my lunch with Dennis and Peter, two boys in my Home Room. I had Gym class, where I met Dan and Kristy, and I worked out a lot! I was happy with myself :). After Gym class, I finished the school day with French, where we had a stupid test, which I couldn't do due to my severe lack of knowledge.
I then headed to my audition for the school plays, performing a monologue for Mr. Byrne. I think it went well, but you won't know until later if I got a part ;) I then walked home and did some American Literature work before dinner. Dinner was chicken and potatoes. I watched America's Next Top Model with Claire, before doing my Psychology homework. A pretty dull day, but hopefully, I got a part in the play... I know already of course!
Thanks for listening.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
9/11
Tuesday, September 11th 2007 (Anniversary of 9/11), Wake up time: 6:55am
I woke up a little later than usual, meaning I didn't have time for breakfast! I rushed to school, but had forgotten my lunch :O. It was fair to say I was pretty hungry for most of the day. I got my stuff out my locker and went to my first lesson which was Algebra. I was set some problems homework and then we had drama. In Drama, we practised entrances, i.e. how you should enter when performing on stage.
After Drama, I had history, but I got lost on the way from drama so I was late! My teacher was cool with it though and just told me to try and learn my way around. History was just vocal work. The idea was that we practised with tone and pitch of our voices so that when we made arguments they were more interesting to listen to. I then headed to Psychology, we finished the sheet I was working on and then I went to buy lunch...I was so hungry!
Lunch was a hot dog with pizza and wedges. I sat with Bryan from my Psychology class and then Josh from my Drama class and I met Joyce and also talked to Walker. I went to see my counsellor again about my SATs before going to my first Gym lesson, I had chosen to do Weights (might as well bulk up!). I got a Gym locker and talked to Alex who was in my Algebra class.
After school, I headed home...even though it rained! I got home, soaking wet, and did my Psychology homework while eating the lunch I should have bought to school! I then went on to my maths homework, and then read more of A Hole in my Life before dinner. Dinner was Swedish meatballs with rice and peas. After dinner, I quickly did my French homework (despite not having a clue what to do) and then I learn my monologue before bed. I was rather nervous as I hadn't acted in a while, nor gone to an audition for about a year! Wish me luck (even though I've already done it...just pretend).
Thanks for listening.
I woke up a little later than usual, meaning I didn't have time for breakfast! I rushed to school, but had forgotten my lunch :O. It was fair to say I was pretty hungry for most of the day. I got my stuff out my locker and went to my first lesson which was Algebra. I was set some problems homework and then we had drama. In Drama, we practised entrances, i.e. how you should enter when performing on stage.
After Drama, I had history, but I got lost on the way from drama so I was late! My teacher was cool with it though and just told me to try and learn my way around. History was just vocal work. The idea was that we practised with tone and pitch of our voices so that when we made arguments they were more interesting to listen to. I then headed to Psychology, we finished the sheet I was working on and then I went to buy lunch...I was so hungry!
Lunch was a hot dog with pizza and wedges. I sat with Bryan from my Psychology class and then Josh from my Drama class and I met Joyce and also talked to Walker. I went to see my counsellor again about my SATs before going to my first Gym lesson, I had chosen to do Weights (might as well bulk up!). I got a Gym locker and talked to Alex who was in my Algebra class.
After school, I headed home...even though it rained! I got home, soaking wet, and did my Psychology homework while eating the lunch I should have bought to school! I then went on to my maths homework, and then read more of A Hole in my Life before dinner. Dinner was Swedish meatballs with rice and peas. After dinner, I quickly did my French homework (despite not having a clue what to do) and then I learn my monologue before bed. I was rather nervous as I hadn't acted in a while, nor gone to an audition for about a year! Wish me luck (even though I've already done it...just pretend).
Thanks for listening.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Audition Sign Up
Monday, September 10th 2007, Wake up time: 6:35am
I walked with Lyle to school, and arrived for the first lesson of Drama. We played a couple of drama-themed games. The one great thing about Drama was it was never a hard lesson. Our teacher had so many anecdotes (I shall share some with you sometime) and jokes and ideas about theatre that most of the class would be spent talking with him. We did do work and get grades, but he obviously knew we were good at Drama, so as long as we did the set tasks, he was happy to just have us share stories, jokes and enjoy each other's company.
For my second lesson, I had history, where we learnt about the reconstruction period. It wasn't the most fascinating of topics, but I didn't mind. I then had English, but we had an assembly so the lesson wasn't much. I got to know George Rautenberg (who actually was a III!) a little better and he even gave me one of his wrists bands, which was pretty nice of him! I then had Psychology, (which I went to first, before lunch this time!). We talked for a lot of the class about various stories about our lives, as a way to get to know each other better. I then went to lunch...at the right time, and met Tiago! He was a kid in my Psychology class and was Brazilian. We talked immediately about football, though I don't think he knew a lot. I liked Tiago a lot but he did smoke a lot of weed, which put me off him :/.
After lunch, I had French, which I failed to understand again ;) but I managed to bear it. I then headed to the Chorus room to sign up for an audition for the fall productions. The two productions were both French. Scapin by Molière and Le Triomphe de l'amour by Marivaux. I signed up for Wednesday, giving me two days to pick and learn a monologue. I'm a last minute man, I have learnt entire monologues the night before, so I wasn't worried.
I went to see the counsellor, about my SATs that I would take (just to see how I would do) and also got some Charlie cards. If you remember, Charlie is the guy who never got off the subway, so the Charlie cards were to put money on and then you could use them for the bus or the subway, clever huh? I headed home, stopping off at the library to re-borrow 'A Hole in my Life' as I needed to re-read it for my American Literature class...we were doing a test paper on it (to prove we'd read it).
I got home and called my Nan, to catch up and so she could know how school was going. I then read some of A Hole in my Life and chose a monologue (which I didn't try and learn yet!) before making my lunch for the next day and watching youtube clips to amuse me before bed. I haven't written down what I had for dinner, most unlike me! It was Pastrami and Cheese for lunch...and dinner will never be known :( I know how disappointed you must be! Food is all I talk about in these blogs! I won't let you down again...
Thanks for listening.
I walked with Lyle to school, and arrived for the first lesson of Drama. We played a couple of drama-themed games. The one great thing about Drama was it was never a hard lesson. Our teacher had so many anecdotes (I shall share some with you sometime) and jokes and ideas about theatre that most of the class would be spent talking with him. We did do work and get grades, but he obviously knew we were good at Drama, so as long as we did the set tasks, he was happy to just have us share stories, jokes and enjoy each other's company.
For my second lesson, I had history, where we learnt about the reconstruction period. It wasn't the most fascinating of topics, but I didn't mind. I then had English, but we had an assembly so the lesson wasn't much. I got to know George Rautenberg (who actually was a III!) a little better and he even gave me one of his wrists bands, which was pretty nice of him! I then had Psychology, (which I went to first, before lunch this time!). We talked for a lot of the class about various stories about our lives, as a way to get to know each other better. I then went to lunch...at the right time, and met Tiago! He was a kid in my Psychology class and was Brazilian. We talked immediately about football, though I don't think he knew a lot. I liked Tiago a lot but he did smoke a lot of weed, which put me off him :/.
After lunch, I had French, which I failed to understand again ;) but I managed to bear it. I then headed to the Chorus room to sign up for an audition for the fall productions. The two productions were both French. Scapin by Molière and Le Triomphe de l'amour by Marivaux. I signed up for Wednesday, giving me two days to pick and learn a monologue. I'm a last minute man, I have learnt entire monologues the night before, so I wasn't worried.
I went to see the counsellor, about my SATs that I would take (just to see how I would do) and also got some Charlie cards. If you remember, Charlie is the guy who never got off the subway, so the Charlie cards were to put money on and then you could use them for the bus or the subway, clever huh? I headed home, stopping off at the library to re-borrow 'A Hole in my Life' as I needed to re-read it for my American Literature class...we were doing a test paper on it (to prove we'd read it).
I got home and called my Nan, to catch up and so she could know how school was going. I then read some of A Hole in my Life and chose a monologue (which I didn't try and learn yet!) before making my lunch for the next day and watching youtube clips to amuse me before bed. I haven't written down what I had for dinner, most unlike me! It was Pastrami and Cheese for lunch...and dinner will never be known :( I know how disappointed you must be! Food is all I talk about in these blogs! I won't let you down again...
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Go to the Shops?
Sunday, September 9th 2007, Wake up time: 11:45am
I woke up and played some Command & Conquer Renegade. I then re-watched The Truman Show...it really is that good. I printed some labels for my folders and sorted them all out into their subjects, putting any papers I had received so far into the folders. I went to the Library to sort out my books again but it was closed :(.
I got home and Bev asked me what I wanted for dinner. I suggested chicken & bacon pie and Bev asked how I make that. I replied "... you go to the shop and buy it?" America apparently doesn't sell many savoury pies :/ Bev said she'd find a recipe and get the ingredients, but I was still disappointed you couldn't just buy a pie.
Greg came round and we played some RPG called 'Phantasy Star'. After he'd left, I sewed badges on my Tae Kwon Do suit before I went that to any more practices. I then had my dinner of Chicken & Bacon pie with mash potato, so kindly made by Bev. I then went on a bike ride with Claire before returning home for desert. Desert was Red Velvet Cake (again!).
I ended the evening by packing up my bag for school, doing my washing so I had some fresh clothes and making lunch for the next day. Lunch was pretty expensive, and I didn't want to keep paying $3 for food that wasn't fantastic. Before I went to sleep, I watched some film, but it was half way through and wasn't great so I just went to bed.
Thanks for listening.
I woke up and played some Command & Conquer Renegade. I then re-watched The Truman Show...it really is that good. I printed some labels for my folders and sorted them all out into their subjects, putting any papers I had received so far into the folders. I went to the Library to sort out my books again but it was closed :(.
I got home and Bev asked me what I wanted for dinner. I suggested chicken & bacon pie and Bev asked how I make that. I replied "... you go to the shop and buy it?" America apparently doesn't sell many savoury pies :/ Bev said she'd find a recipe and get the ingredients, but I was still disappointed you couldn't just buy a pie.
Greg came round and we played some RPG called 'Phantasy Star'. After he'd left, I sewed badges on my Tae Kwon Do suit before I went that to any more practices. I then had my dinner of Chicken & Bacon pie with mash potato, so kindly made by Bev. I then went on a bike ride with Claire before returning home for desert. Desert was Red Velvet Cake (again!).
I ended the evening by packing up my bag for school, doing my washing so I had some fresh clothes and making lunch for the next day. Lunch was pretty expensive, and I didn't want to keep paying $3 for food that wasn't fantastic. Before I went to sleep, I watched some film, but it was half way through and wasn't great so I just went to bed.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Town Day!
Saturday, September 8th 2007 (Town Day), Wake up time: 10:45am
I began the day by purchasing some essential school supplies. I picked up various folders and pads and pens and bought them with the vow I would be organised this year. (I do this every school year, and by about...oo October? I'm completely disorganised!) While buying the items, Bev and I bumped into Eric's family. Eric used to be Lyle's best friend but apparently Bev knew things were over when she heard Lyle say "Eric, why do we always get to do what you want at your house but at my house we still do what you want?" It wasn't too bad though, they were young.
I got home and Bev gave me my allowance plus extra for Town Day (a total of $60!). I left with Lyle to the centre of Arlington. There were a number of stalls set up, live music and loads of people out an about. I got myself two slices of pizza with some cokes and then some pumpkin pie and ice cream. I was very hungry and there was so much delicious food available! Lyle wanted to go to Game Crazy...which was a very long walk up the hill. Lyle likes to walk, I don't... However, we did stop for Gatorade which I had never tried before. It was brilliant! It was an energy drink and so hydrating. It was necessary to cool me off in the heat.
At Game Crazy, Lyle only browsed (which annoyed me as I thought, what was the point?) but luckily we took the bus back down to the centre of town. We met up with Bev and saw more of Town Day. By this point, I wasn't hungry any more, so we just saw some of the attractions. There was a cool ferret show where the guy got these ferrets to do tricks! We then headed home. At home, Ralph drove us to Staples (as Lyle and Claire needed more things and I needed more pens) and then Barnes and Nobles, where I picked up a monologue book. I had asked about an audition for the fall performance (as I wouldn't be playing 'soccer') and I needed to perform a monologue.
We headed home for dinner, which was more pizza! Lyle and I walked to the film store to pick up a film for the evening. We chose The Truman Show, which I had never seen before. We watched the film while eating some Red Velvet Cake for desert. It is a very good film, I'd argue one of Jim Carey's finest. He doesn't do the typical 'crazy, over the top' goof ball act which shows he can act in a serious capacity. I suggest you watch it if you think Carey is a one-trick act.
Thanks for listening.
I began the day by purchasing some essential school supplies. I picked up various folders and pads and pens and bought them with the vow I would be organised this year. (I do this every school year, and by about...oo October? I'm completely disorganised!) While buying the items, Bev and I bumped into Eric's family. Eric used to be Lyle's best friend but apparently Bev knew things were over when she heard Lyle say "Eric, why do we always get to do what you want at your house but at my house we still do what you want?" It wasn't too bad though, they were young.
I got home and Bev gave me my allowance plus extra for Town Day (a total of $60!). I left with Lyle to the centre of Arlington. There were a number of stalls set up, live music and loads of people out an about. I got myself two slices of pizza with some cokes and then some pumpkin pie and ice cream. I was very hungry and there was so much delicious food available! Lyle wanted to go to Game Crazy...which was a very long walk up the hill. Lyle likes to walk, I don't... However, we did stop for Gatorade which I had never tried before. It was brilliant! It was an energy drink and so hydrating. It was necessary to cool me off in the heat.
At Game Crazy, Lyle only browsed (which annoyed me as I thought, what was the point?) but luckily we took the bus back down to the centre of town. We met up with Bev and saw more of Town Day. By this point, I wasn't hungry any more, so we just saw some of the attractions. There was a cool ferret show where the guy got these ferrets to do tricks! We then headed home. At home, Ralph drove us to Staples (as Lyle and Claire needed more things and I needed more pens) and then Barnes and Nobles, where I picked up a monologue book. I had asked about an audition for the fall performance (as I wouldn't be playing 'soccer') and I needed to perform a monologue.
We headed home for dinner, which was more pizza! Lyle and I walked to the film store to pick up a film for the evening. We chose The Truman Show, which I had never seen before. We watched the film while eating some Red Velvet Cake for desert. It is a very good film, I'd argue one of Jim Carey's finest. He doesn't do the typical 'crazy, over the top' goof ball act which shows he can act in a serious capacity. I suggest you watch it if you think Carey is a one-trick act.
Thanks for listening.
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