I can’t believe it but my freshman year is almost over. I better get over this laziness soon, because next year I’m going to be in World History AP and Comp Sci AP. Yiiiiiiikes.

CST’s are almost here.

My brother’s almost home for his summer break. Except he’s only staying for 10 days.

I didn’t get into the summer program I wanted.

But I am going to be at SYMF again this summer!

Anyway. I’m not even going to say I’m going to be here more often, because I really don’t know.

Example A: The Teacher Who Gets Blamed For A Hard Class

Now, let’s clear something up right away. I’m a freshman, so considering Biology Honors as a “hard” class is relative. (Honestly, I don’t think it’s all that difficult once you figure out how to study and whatnot  :T). Anyway. So the class is a little confusing, and the teacher gets blamed for “never explaining anything ever” and being “the worst teacher in the history of bad teachers”. I mean, it really wasn’t that bad. There are textbooks for a reason. And I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Google. I must admit, I didn’t like her at first, but then I realized it wasn’t her fault I had a bad grade. I made some changes to my note-taking and studying, and voila. Grade improvement.

*It should be noted that once others began getting higher grades, the complaints lessened.

Example B: The Teacher Who Gets Blamed For Not Holding Your Hand

Class sizes are so huge now, it’s insane. In my math class, there’s about 40 people. Just because one person is stuck on a particular concept, the teacher isn’t just going to be like, “WHOA GUYS. HOLD UP. SO-AND-SO DOESN’T GET IT. LET’S SPEND THE NEXT 30 MINUTES OF CLASS GOING OVER THE SAME QUESTION UNTIL THEY UNDERSTAND.” I mean first of all, that’s not fair for other people who have to sit through this excruciating event. And then secondly, it puts the entire class behind and then we have to rush through all the next things.  So then every time this doesn’t happen in my math class, the teacher gets blamed for not “caring about whether or not we learn anything or get it right or wrong”.

*And I’ve heard people even say that “when you go see her privately during tutorial, she’s actually really helpful!” Well then.

Example The Teacher Who Can Just Never Win

We’ve all had a teacher that’s known for being “the cool one”. The usually young, usually funny, super laid-back one. This is my history teacher. She’s super cool as a person, but until recently, I didn’t think much of her as a teacher. I mean, the activities we did were pretty interesting, but I didn’t feel like I was learning much or being challenged or being prepared for anything. It wasn’t that bad to me, but a lot of people complained that “we’re not learning anything” (semi-true). One kid even said “why bother paying attention if we never learn anything in this class?” To her face. Oof.  So she steps up her game and actually starts giving us notes and lectures and articles to read. And then everyone complains that “ugh there’s so much work to do” and “this is so hard”. Okay. A) It’s not even that hard, and B) Weren’t you just complaining that we never work? Hmm.

In conclusion,

• Don’t look for reasons to hate your teacher
• Don’t expect your teacher to just hold your hand
• Thesearehonorsclassesohmygodcalmdownit’snoteventhatmuchwork.

It’s Thanksgiving break and I have a week off from school, and I’m hoping to make it productive! I have a lot of Mock Trial practices, but aside from that, I want to crochet a lot, make more clay charms, and of course, work on this site! I feel so bad for neglecting it… :<

I still have 2 more fanlistings that I’ve adopted from Georgina to work on.  Then I’ll take a break from fanlistings and work on my blog, and then try to open more/adopt more. I know I always say I’m going to work hard on this site and then you never hear from me again for like, two months.

BUT THIS TIME I SWEAR I’LL DO IT!!! 

Anyway. It has been a while. Almost 3 months since I last updated? Oops.  I’ve just been so busy lately. So many things have happened to me since I last blogged. I joined the Mock Trial team, and it’s really fun. We have a scrimmage this Wednesday, and our first trial is November 15. I’m playing the detective. Wish me luck!

I joined class council, which is like an extended ASB. We only meet during lunch time, but we’re really busy right now since homecoming’s coming up! It’s next week. We’re working on hallway decorating, and it’s supposed to be done by tomorrow. I have to go into school to work on it. This year, homecoming is Harry Potter themed and it’s super cool 

Halloween is this weekend (Monday, technically). I’m not really doing anything but watching movies with my friend. Should be fun, though.

Okay. This weekend, I’m going to work on more fanlistings! I also have to organize this site better…  I really don’t have time to make graphics, but I don’t want to take them down. And have you seen the fanlistings page? It’s so messy. 

Well, I’m tired, but I’m determined to work this weekend! 

The era known as high school, that is. That’s right, folks, I’m a real high school student as of today. Of course, I spent my first day almost getting lost five times and barely showing up to class on time. Here’s a somewhat detailed look at my day:

• Arrival at school: 7:20 AM. I arrived at school and learned that it is in fact required for us to wear our ID cards every single day. Which wouldn’t be so bad except my ID picture is horrible and I hate it. :< I found my name on the list. I got my first period class and teacher on that list, and then ran into Reggie (my best friend, :D) and then went to go find some other people I knew.
• First Period, Freshman English Honors: I was like the first one to my class which was slightly un comfortable but at least it was a freshman only class (as the name would suggest) so at least I knew most of the people in my class! Plus, my teacher seems really nice, and I don’t think the class is going to be that difficult. Also I have a nice seat by the window so when I’m bored at least I can stare out and day dream! Even though the view is only of the parking lot….
• Second Period, Algebra 2 Honors: One of my non-freshman-only classes. My math teacher’s name is Addison which is, of course, punny and a source of many jokes. She’s also really, really crazy, but in a good way. I hope. At least most of the non-freshmen in my class are sophomores, so I know some of them from my middle school. And one of my closest friends is in the class, and we have the same last name so when we’re seated in alphabetical order we’ll be together!
• Third Period, Life Fitness: AKA Physical Education. AKA the END OF MY LIFE. If there’s one thing I hate in this world, it’s PE. Especially since I literally know two people in a class of 40+, and I don’t even know those people well. And PE’s a class where you have to interact with people and play games and work together. It certainly doesn’t help that I’m not exactly the world’s most athletic person.
• BREAK! I tried to find Reggie during break, but I just got lost and ended up walking around the whole school like three times. My high school’s kind of built in a circle with a few hallways branching off here and there, but I wasn’t sure which direction I was walking in so it was kind of confusing.
• Fourth Period, French 1: I was so excited for French! Except my teacher usually teaches Spanish, even though she’s qualified to teach both, so she’d sometimes just randomly start speaking in Spanish and we’d all be really confused. I got a French name though! Well, it’s not anything really different from my regular name, it’s just the French spelling (Vivienne). I like it a lot though; it’s really pretty in my opinion!
• Fifth Period, Biology Honors: My teacher seems pretty interesting, and there’s a lot of people in my class. The only bad part is that the people that I sit with (because we’re seated alphabetically) are really kind of creepy. And I was only one seat away from being able to sit with my friend.
• LUNCH TIME! Everyone’s favorite time of day! I ate with Reggie, but I don’t think her friends like me very much. :Z I hung out with some of my other friends too. And my mom packed me these really good turkey, cheese, and lettuce rolls.
• Sixth Period, Ancient Civilizations Honors: We got a really weird assignment even though it was only the first day. We basically wrote our life’s story. Kind of. We had to choose three “key moments” of our lives and write about how they affect who we are today. :B I realized how truly unexciting my life has been. My teacher is really funny and nice though! I think if you have a good teacher, any class can be fun and interesting. The only really horrible thing is that even though this is my last class, the clock is broken, so you can’t even stare at it and will it to move faster so the day can end, since you don’t know what time it is. (Also, I don’t own a watch.)

If you actually read through all of that, you deserve ALL THE AWARDS. Seriously.

Speaking of school, I got my CST (California Standards Tests) results in the mail the other day. Out of a maximum of 600, I scored 506 in English-Language Arts, 452 in Geometry, 594 in History-Social Science, and 600 (!!!!) in Science. I was really pleased with the last two scores, as they were pretty unexpected. Those werethe easiest tests, but I didn’t think I’d do so well. My English score was alright. I definitely could have done better, but I think it was an improvement from last year, which is good enough for me! I was pretty disappointed with my Geometry score though, because despite knowing that I struggled a bit on the test, I expected better. The sad thing is, of the four “content areas” of the math test, I scored well in three (96%, 100%, and 94%), but I totally bombed Trig with a 73%. Ouch.

Ah well. Nothing to do about that now! I realize that tests are all in the past, and when you get your scores, there’s no point to being upset and moping about them. You can only change your study habits and improve on the next one!

In other news, I spent this past weekend in Berkeley visiting my brother. It was kind of boring, as we didn’t actually go anywhere “vacation-y”. We spent most of our time shopping for apartment things for him at Ikea and Costco. Ugh. I did, however go to see Deathly Hallows part 2 with my brother, and of course, I bawled like a baby. When the movie first came out, I was going on about how I wasn’t upset about it being the last movie and blah blah blah. Well. I had obviously spoken too soon. (Pottermore is very interesting though, and is helping to cure my “Post-Potter Depression.)

Anyway, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to discipline myself more and actually do something graphic-related or something. Who knows. I have a few ideas for some site things, but we’ll see what happens.

‘Til next time!

I was going to write a new blog once I had a new layout, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to get done soon. I’m also trying to work out how to make a Tumblr theme, but I’m kind of unmotivated on that front as well. I have decided, however, that this is mostly just going to be a blog. Graphics stuff will go on my “graphics Tumblr”, http://mostlyharmless-.tumblr.com.

I’ve still been crafting. I made some button-related things with my friend the other day, and they look pretty cool! Maybe I should have a section of the site for my crafts as well, because I do really enjoy making them! The only downside is some supplies can be quite expensive, and I have no source of income (being 14) and I don’t have an allowance or anything. But I do convince my mother to let me have some cash to spend every now and then, which is nice. I always kind of end up feeling guilty for it, though. Now for some stuff about what I’ve been doing with my actual life, hah.

Last weekend, I auditioned (well, performed, but they like to use the word ‘auditioned’) for the Southwestern Youth Music Festival at Cal State Long Beach. I played for the Chopin Impromptus category with Fantasie Impromptu. Since Chopin only wrote 4 Impromptus, and only 2 are really popular, mostly everyone played the same piece. Out of 12 competitors, 10 played Fantasie Impromptu, 1 played the other popular one, and 1 played one of the lesser known ones and won first place! So I guess playing a kind of unique piece and standing out worked to her advantage! I did manage to scrape 3rd place though, and I’m pretty proud of myself because that was my first experience with a big festival like that.

Also, this morning (early early, like 1 AM, I believe), the first clue to get into Pottermore (an “interactive reading experience” site for Harry Potter) was released. Luckily, I had the first book (which contained the answer) on my desk, due to having used it to look up quotes for graphics I was making. I managed to get in! I was so happy. Then I thought that even if you manage to register, you don’t automatically get early entry, but my worries have been calmed. I just need to wait for an email that should come after August 6, or something.

Happy happy!

Here’s some of the stuff I’ve made!

The crocheted stuff is the easiest to make, I think, because you can kind of do it anywhere and the materials are cheap. I haven’t had much experience with the Sculpey clay, but it’s not too bad either. Slightly expensive for a fourteen year old’s budget… And painting is super cheap because I only buy the really inexpensive, 50 cents a bottle paint. The only thing is I’m not that good at painting stuff and I usually mess up. I prefer to draw and color with Sharpies, mostly doing song lyrics and quotes.

Anyway, I know I haven’t done much for the site, yet. I finished two fanlistings though, one for Jack’s Mannequin, and one for Leonard and Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

I’ll get around to posting more stuff on here!

Now that I’m “back”, I’m going to try to visit some other sites, maybe get some affiliates and get my site out into the public. I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve been part of this “world”, and there’s so many amazing websites out there that I need to see. I truly do miss all the friends I made through my site.

In terms of updates, I hope to get some tutorials up soon. I have some ideas, like animating icons, icon editing, and even crocheting, which I’ve taken up since my last site. I want to apply for some fanlistings too, which is actually mainly the reason I came back, at the urging of Georgina :3.

And, of course, I’m still working out little bugs and tweaks and issues here and there. Within the next month or so, I really hope this will be running smoothly.

Ah, well. We’ll see what happens! ;)

The ceremony itself wasn’t anything special. We practiced it five times, so at least it went smoothly. They just called some names for Principal’s recognition for a 3.5+ GPA, Presidential recognition for a 4.0+ GPA, citizens of the year, etc. They also announced the American Legion award winners, both of whom were my friends, so that was exciting!

I was pretty much in love with my dress and shoes, which I’m usually not so conceited about but they were pretty much perfect.

This morning was the service/sports awards assembly, and I received three. (One for PAL, one for teacher’s assistance, and one for overall service to the school.) Last week we had the field trips to Knott’s and Disneyland, which of course I had a blast at. We also had the promotion dance party, which was so much fun, I almost wanted to cry. Like Rory in Gilmore Girls said in that one episode (haha, vagueness FTW!), you feel sad because it’s like nothing will ever be that perfect again.

And tomorrow’s the last day of school. The last day of middle school I’ll ever have. I didn’t think I would care this much. I thought I was so “done” with middle school. But I find myself wishing for one more day, one more night. I feel like there are still a lot of loose ends I haven’t tied up yet. Things that I haven’t done yet, but probably won’t ever be able to, now.

Feels like just yesterday, I was walking in the gates at the beginning of 8th grade, already excited for the year to end. I understand the meaning of bittersweet now.

But at the same time, I’m kind of excited for high school. New opportunities, new things to do, new people to meet. I’m sad to move on, but it’s inevitable. I’ve never been one to be afraid of change; I’ve always embraced it. I know I can do well in high school, and I’m more than ready to prove myself.