The term is finally over and the long-awaited, and much-needed Christmas holidays have begun. I had considered writing an update over the past few days, but I decided to stay true to my word and make my next post a positive one. So, here it is!

Big news! As of January, my little sister, Ashleigh will be attending ISPS. The decision was sort of abrupt, but seeing as things weren’t working out with her teacher at her old school, and my parents were going to move her at the end of the school year anyway, they decided that 6 months earlier wouldn’t be a bad idea. Ashleigh is very excited and will either be in 4th or 5th grade. It depends on how she does on a test. Her uniforms have been bought already, and she hasn’t stopped asking questions in days. She thinks that she is in for the greatest experience on earth; and who am I to change her perceptions?

I should have no need to touch my calculator over the next 3 weeks. That in itself is a glorious reality, as it means no Physics or Pre Calculus for the rest of the year! I do have holiday homework for History, English, and Spanish, but I think I can handle that by the end of this weekend. When I go back to school in January (Nasty times…) my Physics teacher, Mr. Tummala will be back. That means no more of Mr. Horsfall’s lectures that not only confuse me, but bore me to death/ insanity (whichever comes first).

Today, the last day of the school term was rather enjoyable, except for the fact that I had a history quiz. But what can you do? Something’s got to give, right? From crosswords in English to playing around with Santa hats in Pre Calculus, there was only joy and carelessness being spread. The highlight of my day was in Spanish class, where we sang Christmas songs in Spanish. I had my camera with me and filmed Spider, my classmates, and I singing. This was somewhat difficult, as Spider kept moving around. THen, during the second verse of Silent Night, she walked over to a boy named Prithvi and told him to come and make Jamie and I put own the camera. I don’t know why she couldn’t tell us herself. I hope she doesn’t hate me now, because to have her crawling on my skin would be truly dismal. I was so disappointed though that I could not film SPider singing Feliz Navidad (her favorite song in the whole world). Who knew that she had such smooth moves? During the “From the bottom of my heart!” she even opened her arms and pitched her voice an octave higher. I was horrified, yet I was going insane with laughter throughout the entire class period. I can’t believe she caught us…

For the next two weeks I plan to entertain myself with writing, reading, doing art, hanging out with friends, and working out with Adam (because we feel inspired). Then o Christmas night I’m off to New York for a week to do some serious shopping, and to bring in the New Year with my grandfather and cousins who live in New Jersey. I’m not expecting any elaborate or abundant presents under the tree, since my birthday present was so lovely, but I will certainly be stocking up on movies, music, books, and games when I go to New York. I cannot wait! I love the winter weather, my Jersey family, the top-notch food (ranging from Chinese, to Arabic, to Indian, to Italian), and the infinite shopping. I will also be seeing The Lion King and Wicked on Broadway. I have seen The Lion King once before but this time it really will be special, since I am going through a Renaissance of my childhood, and the music now holds sentimental value for my friends and I.

I have a lot to celebrate, a lot to do, a lot to enjoy; and only 3 weeks to do it. I better get cracking!

It is common knowledge that if a machine such as a computer, fridge or even a lightbulb is left running and expelling energy for too long a period of time, it will eventually start to experience technical problems and possibly even failure. This process has proven itself to be true in human beings and in school. This term has been going since the last week of August and we still have a week and a half to go. The temperate zones of the world have seen summer fade to fall and fall fade to winter, and during this time  we students have been going through the unchanging routine of school life. We have not had any time to breathe, recharge, or get adequate sleep for over 3 months and the effects are starting to show. In the earlier part of the term (September/October) I was able to cope with challenges and work loads, then as November rolled in my exhaustion began to catch up with me. I struggled to pay attention in classes and even fell asleep here and there. What little understanding of Physics I had was now replaced by total cluelessness and I know longer had the energy to make the effort. Making history notes, studying for Pre-Calculus, and getting ahead in reading for English all fell from priority and were replaced by procrastination, naps, and simply staring into blank space. Now we have entered December and alas I am at home, sick. I have a throbbing headache, upset stomach, and no matter where I go I feel extremely cold. Yet I must spend my day studying for 2 history tests, a Pre Calculus test, and cringing at the thought of having to take the SAT this Saturday. With all of these unpleasant experiences awaiting me It seems hard to imagine that in just over a week I will be free to curl up under my Christmas tree with some good music, my laptop, a snack, and not  care in the world.

I am not the only one suffering the effects of this long exhausting term. People have been getting sick throughout the school. Mr. Kaster was absent on Monday, and a girl fainted just yesterday. Even Spider was been sneezing and snorting in unmannerly ways. As if my school troubles weren’t enough, my Physics teacher is going to be absent until after Christmas because he had to go back to the US because his mother is very ill. What hopes I ever had at doing well at all in that class are slipping away at exponential rates. So, I really don’t know what to do at this point other than try to weasel my way through the next week and a half. Hopefully the next time you hear from me I will have a happier tale to tell!

On Sunday night I literally got the shock of my life! This year for the first time in years, we have put up Christmas lights on some bushes outside of our front door. Every night I have to plug in the lights around 6pm, and then unplug them before I go to bed. I don’t mind doing it, seeing as I was the one who decided to put up the lights in the first place (plus I am also exempted from all dog-feeding duties for the rest of the year!). As I was saying, on Sunday, at midnight I went outside to unplug the lights as usual. I approached the bushes and jumped back a bit when I saw a little frog hop away. Frogs have always been a fear of mine. After recovering from this minor astonishment I fumbled around in the bush until I found the connection between the light strand and the extension cord. I had not thought to unplug the extension cord from the wall socket first, so as I pulled the cords apart, the head of the extension cord subsequently broke off an left my finger totally exposed to the wire endings. Instantaneously, a surge of current flowed up my right arm. I lost all control of my arm and felt my heart rate escalate to probably 20 times its normal rate. I let go of the crd as soon as my brain had processed what was happening, and for about 10 minutes just stood there, on the spot, not knowing what to do. My heart was still pacing at a rate and I was trying desperately to calm myself down before cardiac arrest set in, stopping my heart and ending my 16 year life. Another side of me was just trying to process so many thoughts at once. Things like “HOLY SHIT!!! I COULD HAVE DIED!!!” and “OH MY GOD I AM SO LUCKY!!!” were flying through my mind. I wanted to scream and cry of both fear and gratitude, but I was far too stunned to even breathe properly. I could only keep thinking about what would have happened if one of my parents or sisters had found my dead body on the ground outside, and about all the things in life I would have never have done if I had died right there on the spot. I did eventually calm down though. I unplugged the remaining lights and walked inside with the broken extension cord. I showed it to my parents and then briefly mentioned my ordeal as though it was no big deal, before heading off to bed. As I lay in my bed I still hadn’t accepted the fact that I was alive and well; I was convinced that my heart would fail while I was asleep. But that’s just how I am: paranoid.

Since the electric shock of Sunday night I have been feeling imaginary twitches and pains in my heart, finger, arm, neck, and shoulder. I know I am making them up, but it just goes to show how paranoid I am. While electrocuting myself is definitely something I plan to do intentionally at any point in time, I have noticed that since the incident I have been far more alert and active. Over the last few week s I have been sleeping very little (about 5 hours a night) and as a result I have been feeling drowsy in some of my classes. I even fell asleep in AP Psychology last week. Since my shock, I have not felt drowsy at all; even at midnight on school nights when I really should be asleep . If this electric jump-start can just get me past tomorrow then I will be free for 4 days to sleep and enjoy life watching Disney movies with Mai and Jamie and at my cousin’s concert on Saturday in which my little sister is singing, and of course educing my sleep deficit. If I do rejuvenate myself this weekend then I should be able to get through the last 2 weeks of school before the long-awaited Christmas holidays which I am very excited for. I have a feeling that Christmas is going to be really awesome this year. I don’t know why, but I like this feeling. I actually think it may be the best Christmas since I was told the horrible truth about Santa. I am still upset about the fact that I will never experience my fear of Santa again. Christmas just isn’t the same anymore. I suppose in a way I still do believe in Santa though. I believe in what Santa represents in a 21st century world so occupied with science and hard facts that room for suspicion and mystery is shrinking. I think its important that something out there is “supernatural”. Whether its some form of God, aliens, Santa, or even the Lochness Monster I think that its a reassuring and comforting thought that something out there can undermine human “facts” and maintain ambiguity in the universe. I am a big fan of supernatural beings because I believe that they are all true in some form or another, and they are brilliant manifestations and stimulants of the imagination, creativity and dreams. If religious scriptures and institutions are sometimes inaccurate or corrupt, why should those things impact on personal interpretations of religion? If extraterrestrial life cannot be proven just yet why discredit the possibility and limit our understanding of the universe? If Santa was just a charitable man named St. Nicholas who died hundreds of years ago and not a fat man who flies around on Christmas Eve, why not believe in the goodness, charity and joy that he represents? If The Lochness monster is dead, just some kind of giant fish, just a giant rock, or just a hoax, why not keep the tradition alive and look out at the loch and try to spot Nessie just for fun anyway?

The point I am trying to make is, that whether  we believe in something or not isn’t important. The important thing is understanding. Understanding that “supernatural” elements have all arisen from some degree of truth and that more relevant than the “supernatural” being itself, is the deeper, implicit message that comes along with it. In the case of Christmas we can look at both Jesus and Santa as symbols of positive energy. The birth of Jesus is meant to signify peace on Earth, and Santa is supposed to be symbolic of the magical joy that charity and sharing gives. Whether or not we believe in these individuals is immaterial. What I believe in most is that if we all acknowledge the messages and symbolic meanings of Christmas, then there is hope that solutions to both our own, and the world’s problems can be found. Maybe when we truly take in the deep emotional, personal, universal, and spiritual significance of Christmas, then when me come close to meeting death when we least expect it, then there will be no need to look back and think of all the things left incomplete and unreconciled.

Just a thought…

Most of live our lives following some sort of routine. I certainly do. Anyone who has a job or goes to school does. Some people like their lives to b laid out and structured and others like to shake things up a bit and break the routine. This weekend I have managed to break my routine and just enjoy life. I’ve still been doing work and studying for my massive history test on Monday, but at the same time I have been managing to enjoy my life while doing what must be done. Yesterday I came home, wrote a post, ate some cereal, then I decided that I would ditch art lessons this weekend just so that I could chill out a bit. Instead of going to art, I put up my Christmas tree. In my family, the tree always goes up in mid-November because my parents (being the owners of a toy business) are extremely busy at Christmas time. The tree goes up in 3 stages. The first stage I do on my own voluntarily, and it is by far the most tiring and tedious. Every year I blast some music and separate all the branches of the tree and about 3 hours later the tree will be assembled. Next, my parents and I string the lights around the tree. This process takes no more than half an hour. Finally my sisters come and my dad blasts Christmas carols while we drop and break put up the decorations. By the time the angel has been placed on the top of the tree, 5 hours have passed since I started. It may be tedious, but I love doing this job.

Once the tree was up, my parents sat with a glass of wine and my sisters ran inside while I stayed and just lay around. My dad ran out of Christmas songs eventually, so he just let his music play randomly. Soon after, Circle Of Life from The Lion King played and I was sent plunging into blissful memories of my childhood. Since then I have been listening to my favorite Disney songs from The Lion King, Tarzan, Brother Bear, and Pocahuntus. This has been a change in and of in itself from the more mature Coldplay, The Fray, and Paramore that I have been routinely listening to for months on end. As much as I love those bands I have noticed that this music from my childhood makes me so much more happy. I have literally been smiling for the last 24 hours!

I am so very relaxed right ow that you would never guess that I have spent the better part of the last 11 hours writing up 26 pages of history notes. It sounds crazy, but I accomplished it! I’m confident that my mood and motivation had a lot to do with it. Today has been a change from my usual Saturday procrastination epidemic, and I think I am happier than I have been since summer. I feel more at peace with the world and I am going to do my best to keep my mind this way!

From the day we arrive on the planet

And blinking, step into the sun

There’s more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There’s far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It’s the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life

It’s the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life

The other songs that I am going nuts over are:

• I Just Can’t Wait To be King (The Lion King)
• Can You Feel The Love Tonight? (The Lion King)
• Colours Of The Wind (Pocahuntus)
• You’ll Be In My Heart (Tarzan)
• Two Worlds (Tarzan)
• Take A Look Through My Eyes (Brother Bear)

For those readers who have been following along over time, you may know about my pet peeves when it comes to my cousin Andrew. Growing up we were best friends and did EVERYTHING together. Yet, as people grow up they change. You notice things that you didn’t before. Andrew is the classic example of this scenario in my life. Ever since he cheated me in a game of Monopoly, and locked me out of the “kids’ room” on Christmas eve at the age of eleven I’ve never really considered him too much of a friend. Most people would love hi I guess: he’s extremely smart, sociable, talented, plays the piano, and does about a million other things that would make him seem to appear to be the ideal student, son, cousin, friend, etc. But I know better. The way I see it he’s arrogant, pushes in order to get his own way, and uses people for his own personal gain. He’s never been told “no” and is so used to having his own way that if things don’t go according to plan, expect trouble.

Andrew’s latest endeavor in his strive to wards absolute excellence is the hosting of his very own concert, Imagine. (cue “ooh’s” and “ahh’s”). It has become an annual November event for him, and since it started last year, has evolved into something totally “Andrew.” Therefore, I’m not a #1 fan. My sister, Ashleigh is singing in it though. She sang last year and this year she is going to be sining Believe by Josh Groban: a beautiful Christmas song; yet not a song that a 9 year old girl is necessarily meant to sing. Who chose this song? Andrew’s right-hand-man, a good-for-nothing swine by the name of Jean-Marc Tardieu. My sister wanted to sing The Climb by Miley Cyrus, which despite my hatred for Miley I find to be a good song.The poor child’s simple request was rejected due to the song being “inappropriate”. Yet guess what, Jean-Marc, who was the one to dismiss the idea and label it “inappropriate” in the first place had his own concert last weekend, in which he sang, you guessed it, THE CLIMB! Hypocrite? I think so! Meanwhile, my poor little sister has been left to struggle singing a song meant for a male soprano! I’m sure that with the help of my dad and her singing instructor she will be able to pull trough and perform beautifully, but her situation is still extremely unfair.

Andrew has been nagging about his glorious Imagine since September. Every Wednesday at lunch during National Honor Society meetings he has constantly been taking the reins from Shari (NHS president) and yapping on and on and on about Imagine and what he wants each of us to do.

Put a sock in it. Seriously.

Some people need to learn when to stop sometimes. There’s a point in everything when you cross the line and begin to overdo it. That’s what Andrew does with his life. I suppose that you could attribute that to many of his wondrous successes and achievements, but I’ll never resort to that. People like Andrew may go far in life; they may get into a top school, have an amazing job and make millions of dollars, and maybe even change the world, but I know that I would rather spend my life being able to respect myself and have people respect me rather than reaching the top by standing on the heads of others and sticking my nose up.

If ever I was hosting my own show or concert I would make it an event full of family and friends. Make it enjoyable and personal. Andrew on the other hand has people in Imagine who he doesn’t even know. I believe that he met his drummer for the first time earlier this week, and he has trumpet players from the police band. The way I see it, that is inappropriate. I shudder when I think that Andrew’s Imagine concert, which last year was the work of students in order to donate money to orphans has evolved this year into a commercialized event that will be generating funds so that Jean-Marc can go abroad to pursue his musical career.

In my view, Imagine this year is a perfect symbolism of Andrew as a person:

• Buy your way to the top and use prestiege and propaganda in order to impress.
• Use people to your advantage without any regard for their input and own desires.
• Have a trusty side-kick who is just as conceited as you are.
• Puy yourself at the center of attention, because its where you deserve to be.

Count me out!

A year has passed since I last wrote about Halloween night, and I’m sorry to say that for me nothing has changed. On the plus side, I went Trick O’ Treating with Mai and Jamie, ate candy, dressed up in my EPIC costume, and totally forgot about work and school for a while. On the negative side, Trinidadians once again displayed their lack of Halloween spirit, and I went to another party that was even worse than last year’s.

As you may already have known/guessed, I love to celebrate Halloween. I’m a huge fan of costumes, decorating, and Trick O’ Treating. I go all out when it comes to anything Halloween and this year was by no means any exception. I started celebrating on Friday (30th) by dressing up in school (we were allowed to. This wasn’t just a spontaneous decision of mine). I was in my glory, basking about in my costume with Mai and Jamie in their equally amazing outfits, but nobody else in the entire school really dressed up. Most people just wore everyday clothing, some wore uniforms, and a select few did something out-of-the-box with their makeup or wore fancy gloves or necklaces. That was about it. I didn’t feel like an idiot at all though. In fact I felt proud of myself for being “amazing” (If I may say so myself). While being stared at by flabbergasted Trinis was quite annoying I was thrilled when some of them asked me what I was dressed as (Ms. Thomas was among them) and proceeded to guess the answer to a question that unanswerable. Among the guesses people made as to what I was were: Sweeney Todd, Michael Jackson, Edward Scissorhands, WIlly Wonka, Vampire, Harry Potter, Mad Hatter, Jack The Ripper, and Freddy Crouger. Most were understandable I suppose…

So, the next chapter of my Halloween took place on Saturday evening (the real deal 31st). Mai and I went Trick O’ Treating with Jamie then pigged out on our stash of candy in Jamie’s TV room. Jokes were made, movies were watched, and anarchy erupted. Typical us. I had the time of my life though. It all went down hill from there. Mai and I left Jamie’s house to go to a party. A huge party. A Trini party. Now, I am not one for Trini culture and getting drunk, so I pent just over two hours enduring pure torture before I called my dad to come and pick me up. I saw classmates of mine go totally nuts in every regard: from their attire to their behavior. A group of girls came dressed in those “sexy” costumes you se for sale on costume sites. You know, the nurses, French maids, police officers, and sailors with their boobs hanging everywhere and 90% of their legs exposed. I felt embarrassed by just seeing them dressed in such a way. I wonder, should I have been a gentleman and offered one of them my costume coat to cover some of their flesh? I eld my cane handy in order to fend off drunk “hoss” Trini girls and patiently endured while my head began to erupt into a splitting headache. I got home at 12:30 and had the best shower of my life. I sat with a bowl of cereal, an apple, and my Macbook Pro and chatted with friends online while drawing some quick sketches: what I should have been doing all along.

So now I know, no more Trini parties for me. I’m not into the drinking aspect of parties or the Trini dancing, so what’s the point? As a “brilliant” classmate of mine in a “sexy” police costume with her boobs protruding and her skirt raising up off her backside said to me at the party  ”You’re bored? Not having fun? That’s because you don’t drink!”

Sorry my dear, but I have better things to do. I may be different to the rest of them but at least I’m not a fool. I respect myself, and I would rather be Trick O’ Treating with a few friends and a ton of candy, than partying with a crowd of “hoes” and a bottle of rum.

Amen.

[ NOTE: Last Halloween I saw a black cat crossing the street. This year I saw a white one. Significant?" ]

This year, Halloween is a really big event for me. I pretty much get to celebrate three times. Yesterday was the first. There was a massive “Halloween Town” at Ashleigh’s school (my old primary school), involving tons of food and drinks, games for the kids, a trick o’ treat lane, and a haunted house. There were prizes for the best costumes (for the kids only) and a raffle. The event lasted from 4 pm to 9 pm and for the entire time I was there, rom half past four to half past eight, I worked in the haunted house.The decor was amazing everywhere. Huge statues adorned the entire courtyard, fog, graves, strobe lights, a huge skeleton, large branches, a butcher’s table with a rubber human corpse (in pieces), and electronic puppets were all in the haunted house. I was so impressed. I doubt half of the decorations were even made in Trinidad unless they were handmade for the event. My Halloween spirit was at a maximum. Though the haunted house was not air-conditioned, and was extremely hot and stuffy, I had so much fun. Most of the other workers were tweens and even young children so not many people got scared – until they got to me. I apparently played my part really well, as I made dozens of children cry, forced several adults yell swear words, and humiliated obnoxious children who insisted that they were not scared and that the haunted house was stupid.

I am still not going to describe my costume, but people yesterday who saw me asked me some pretty weird questions ranging from, “Are you Willy Wonka/Michael Jackson/Mad Hatter/A Vampire?” to “Hi! can you come work in our haunted house next week Saturday?”. My reply to all of the above questions was no. But, I was thrilled that I was considered: “the best part of the haunted mansion”, “the guy with the amazing costume” and “Oh God! No! No! Daddy I don’t want to go near him! Please daddy! PLEASE! He’s scary!” I was humored for four hours by the embarrassing reactions people had to being scared of me. These were my favorites:

• A little girl in a blue princess dress was approaching me in the haunted house. She was pretending to be really unimpressed and kept chanting “Haha! I’m not afraid of anybody at all!” as people tried to scare her. I decided that I’d try my best to freak her out. So I froze in position and followed the girl with my eyes. She continued her chant and then, as she was standing right in front of me about to walk past, I jumped at her and let out a loud, “RAAA!!!!”. I never saw a child break down into tears and screams in such little time as that. She ran for the exit, not bothering to take notice of any of the other spookers. I felt victorious.
• A father walked in with his three children. All appeared to be under the age of five. He was holding the youngest girl and another girl and a boy held onto his legs and to each other. As they approached me the father pointed me and asked, “Is that real?” There was nobody there to answer him other than his shivering children so he took a few steps forward. I broke cover and yelled loudly. All three children screamed “Daddy! Daddy! Ahhhhh!!!” and started to cry. He hurried them along and said, “Don’t worry kids, it’s just Michael Jackson.”

I have countless other stories to tell that provided me with high quality entertainment. I enjoyed myself so much that I don’t feel badly at all about losing my voice, getting a splitting headache, and not taking full advantage of the great food that was to be found at the event.

My next Halloween will be on Friday, as we get to dress up in school. Then on Saturday for the real thing Mai and I are going trick o’ treating in Jamie’s neighborhood with her. After that I have four possible places I could be.

1. Go home and do whatever I please
2. Stay with Jamie and go see a movie in our costumes
3. Go to a huge party with Mai
4. Go with Adam to a concert featuring tribute bands to Nickelback, Iron Maiden, and Guns & Roses.

Decisions…Decisions…

Last Monday, October 12th,  was my 16th birthday. I did not host a big party. I did not get a car. I wanted neither of these. In Trinidad I can’t drive legally yet anyway. So what made my one and only 16th birthday “sweet”?

Well, last Saturday, Jamie, Mai and I celebrated by gathering at my house and just hanging around for a few hours. We then enjoyed a delicious Chinese dinner overlooking Port of Spain. Finally, we went for ice cream and cake. Basic, but amazing.

Then, on Monday I was the happiest I had been in months. I got my 16th birthday present (and I’d take it over a car any day). I now possess my very own Macbook Pro. It is once of the most amazing things I have ever set my eyes and hands on. It is everything that my old, miserable, beast-of-a-computer was not. It is sleek and pretty, the internet does not die every 2 minutes, the speakers are of much better quality, the display is amazing, and the applications are so much fun! I am so impressed and I am catching on pretty well to the Mac way of life. I still have much to learn though! My day was finished off beautifully with a casual dinner with my family at a restaurant which is like the Trini version of TGI Fridays. My birthday was pretty much perfect except for the fact that some of the most important people in my life were absent, and naturally, I had physics homework.

Now I am just hoping that there will be other such events in the near future. Ones that will satisfy my itch to end the monotonous routine that is: school, homework, gym, homework, school, sleep, school, homework, SAT lessons, homework, school, homework, school, sleep. Halloween should be a great opportunity in the near future. This year, my second favorite “holiday” (second to Christmas) is falling o a Saturday. That means more fun, less school-related business. It is also likely that we will get to dress up at school the day before, so I get two Halloweens. I have already ordered my costume online and I’ll just say that it is going to be epic. I thought long and hard about to surpass last year’s costume and I think I’ve chosen well. More on that closer to Halloween…

The down side of life now is that we do not get another day off of school (excluding weekends) until November 26th and 27th. That means five more long weeks of intense physics pressure, mind-straining math, slavery in spanish, hellish quizzes in history, and essays in english. Thank God for peaceful psychology. We may not do much work in that lass, and it may come back to haunt me closer to the AP exam, but for now I am welcoming the opportunity to slow down the pace of life a bit.

When this year is over I am literally going to kiss the round!

Half an hour remains before my 16th birthday. I’d just like to make a quick list about things that I will probably always remember from this past year.

1. I remember coming home from school one day at the end of April and seeing my dad holding my new puppy Cosmo.
2. I went to Europe for the first time ever. England and Italy were amazing experiences and seemed truly magical.
3. My trip to Toronto over the summer, with Jamie, Mai, and Robin; and Tyler’s visit, were out of this world. We really got much closer and family-like.
4. I’ll always remember the day that I said goodbye to Lanora. Though sad, it was a vital emotional learning experience.
5. I think I have become more able to express myself externally. I have to accredit some of this to my involvement in the debate team and in my first ever play.
6. I think that my art has improved a lot. I’ve tried a lot of new things this past year and for the most part, I am proud. Thanks to Mrs. Chesler, I have also become an amateur photographer.
7. I have really spent a lot of time reconsidering and formulating my opinions and beliefs. I am pretty pleased with the complete package that I am today.
8. I have developed a taste for more emotional, mellow music. Some people may think this is boring but I think that it suits my personality.
9. This blog has actually been a significant part of my routine over the past year. I am proud to say that the posts I have written over the past year were pretty much my life story.
10. I’ve accepted and chosen to face some challenges. Though it has taken a while, I am really improving on handling my stress and improving in order to meet my goals.
11. Over the Christmas break my grandfather got really sick, but pulled through and is now much better off. I think the experience helped me realize that nobody will be around forever, and that I should appreciate the people who care about me more.
12. I have matured a lot and have come to accept many things about myself and my life that can’t change or be eliminated. Looking back, I think I was rather silly to have blamed myself for things out of my control.
13. As I have looked back on the past, I have also looked towards the future. I have actually started seriously considering things like where I would like to go to University, and what I am really interested in and care about.
14. I got my first gray hair and glasses. Most people would (or do) hate these situations, but I find them comforting for some reason.
15. My friends and I have developed a liking for eating Chinese food and talking about life. This is perhaps when I am at my happiest. I feel at peace when doing this and my emotions seem totally controllable\

Let’s see what 16 will bring…

Something that has been bothering me a lot lately is how much people love to show off, and how hard they try to make an impression. Shoot me if I’m wrong, but showing off doesn’t make a person better than anyone else. In my view, the humble one who knows just as much and is willing to listen and learn is far more admirable than the one who will broadcast everything they know in order to try to convey a message of perfection. Lately I have noticed lots of show-offs prowling around, but none are nearly as bad as two girls in my AP World History class.

These girls are silly. I won’t deny that they are capable and knowledgeable history students, but in my view they go too far in the wrong direction. The two are “best friends” and in their giddy voices and squeals constantly go on and on about how much they love each other. Yet I can’t help but notice that there is a hidden rivalry between them, buried deep under the surface. It seems that in their quests to be the best they even try to outdo each other. It is for this reason that these two girls remind me of the sisters Goneril and Regan from Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Yesterday in class, we began discussing the Ancient Greeks, a unit which was particularly adored by anybody who was in my Ancient World History class 2 years ago. Yet these two girls naturally think they know it ALL! I’ve known of their mistaken sense of superiority for two years and I was most delighted that I’d gotten a higher mark on the Ancient World and Modern World History exams than either of them did. Still, I had been dreading the point in our AP World History course when the Greeks and Romans came up. They are like vultures gone wild! Yesterday in class, our teacher, Mr. Broughton was lecturing and writing important points on the board when suddenly Goneril and Regan arose from their seats for seemingly no reason. The situation became even more awkward when the two walked up to Mr. Broughton and asked him  if they could go and ask our Ancient World History teacher, Mr. Lentz about the Ionian Revolution, because lo-and-behold they begged to differ with what Mr. Broughton was teaching us. If I was the teacher I would have stared at them blankly and told them to sit down, but Mr. Broughton let them go. I couldn’t help but notice though, the faint hint of sarcasm and subtle disapproval as he spoke to them.

All Jamie, Mai, and I did at that point was stare at each other with raised eyebrows and dropped jaws. A series of muffled “Oh my Gods…” and “what the hells…” escaped our mouths before we shook our heads and went back to listening to Mr. Broughton, while Goneril and Regan were off canvassing. When they returned they continued to annoy the hell out of me indirectly and then I noticed that they were competing in a slightly bitter way with one another. It was then that I made the Goneril and Regan connection, shared it with Jamie and Mai, and said, “We are going to have a lot to talk about this weekend!” (This refers to us three meeting this weekend Mai’s house and going out for dinner for my birthday. We usually discuss things/ people who irritate us during our social gatherings.)

“Wow Eddie!” replied Jamie in response to the Goneril and Regan statement as well as the weekend reference, “You hit the nail on the head! That’s so true! That’s like…the icing on the cake!”

Then in unison Mai and I chorused, “The cherry on the ice cream!”

Needless to say that chorus caused a few laughs to erupt.

As I entered History class today I was expecting to hear more garbage spilling from the mouths of Goneril and Regan. We were given the option of doing a practice quiz or a worksheet on Athens first. The class agreed on doing the sheet so that we could learn the material that would be on the quiz, “No, sir!” chanted Regan, “I want to do the quiz now!….*gasp*…CAN I DO IT FOR EXTRA CREDIT!?!?”

Mr. Broughton said no, thank God, Jamie muttered, “oh yeah, that’s fair right?”, and I came dangerously close to saying, “Regan, chill out! You’re not the only one who knows this stuff.”

So, as a class we completed the worksheet then we did the multiple choice practice quiz. There were a few tricky questions and as we were going over the answers as a class, Mr. Broughton asked, “So who was certain about the answer to number 4?” Four people (including Regan) put up their hands, “only 4 of you, that’s okay,” said Mr. Broughton.

“No, SIR! She had her hand up too!” exclaimed Regan, gesturing towards Goneril.

“Okay, so 5 then…”

“Sir don’t worry, whenever I know something you can be pretty sure that she knows it too,” said Regan with a grin across her face and her arm still clutching Goneril. I felt so disgusted. They were practically confessing that they are clones of one another. It’s people like that above all others who I cannot stand.