I am a WRITER

The past month has been a blast. I've written on my computer until my fingers gave in, stayed up late at night trying to reach the final stretch, and spent all the spare time I had, anywhere in any place, writing in a sketchpad and occasionally going back to count how many words I had down.

And I won.

It was late at night on November 30th when I was about to finish. My friend Tyler wouldn't quit sending me messages on my cellphone. He told me to keep him updated, so I did. When I hit 49,000 words, I was freaking out and my fingers were shaking. I could barely hit the "send" button on my phone.

It was late in November when I made the decision to do NaNoWriMo this year. November 11th, to be exact. I had heard about it in 2008, right before it had begun, but I skipped it and decided to try it when I was a little older. Looking back at it, I'm pretty glad that I didn't attempt at the age of eight; it was hard for me to keep up with my word count, even three years later. I didn't even get to ten thousand words until the week after I had started to write.

So, as I was saying, I had sent the message to him and immediately put my phone down to continue writing. I was so close, yet so far. Only a thousand words to go. I could do this. I knew I could do this. I didn't even bother to take any breaks that night; my eyes were ready to droop shut and take a long nap, but I forced them to stay open. I had to write. I couldn't stop writing. If I stopped now, I'd never reach 50,000 words!

Let me go back farther and help you understand.

The morning of that day, I was doubting that I could make it. My friends at school reassured me that I could. I was only at 41,000 before I had come home from school. I didn't have any time to spare to write at school that day; I couldn't go up to open library (pretty much, it's study hall, if you want to call it that) and write because we didn't have it on Wednesdays. I was ready to quit and try again next year. I even had a cold, and I had to go home early anyway that day because I was ready to throw up at my desk.

When I got home, I laid in bed for a while and let my eyes rest. I took around twenty minutes to get myself together before getting out of bed and picking up my laptop. I turned it on and immediately opened up my story. I started to write like there was no tomorrow; I used Write or Die, MyTomatoes, and NaNoWordSprints from Twitter. Sometimes, I didn't use anything at all and just typed without anything to motivate me except for the thrill of getting it all done.

At some point, I fell asleep next to my computer. Could you blame me? I was tired, I felt like I was going to throw up, and I had barely gotten any sleep the night before because I stayed up writing again. The only reason I had woken up was because I heard my dad arriving home and coming up the staircase to say hello to me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before looking at the clock. I had four hours left, and I still had to eat dinner!

Until dinner and after dinner, I typed and typed and typed. That's all I did. Besides Tyler occasionally texting me and asking for my word count, I had no distractions and had no reason to procrastinate. This was the last day. This was the day that I had to get it all over with; it would all be worth it. I would be done and I would get five free copies of my book once I finished editing it after November, a winner's t-shirt, a certificate, and the pride of being an eleven year old writer.

I was not a "want-to-be-a-writer". I was a writer.

I became a writer when I powered to 50,000 words at 10:45pm on a Wednesday night. I became a writer when I pushed myself to reach my goal late at night, when everyone thought that all hope was lost. I became a writer when I forced myself to face my fear of not reaching my limit after all the time that I had.

I am a writer.


-Zoe

Just a quick post to assure you all that I am not dead.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I have two days left. I promise I'll post after I'm done my novel. :)


AND I GOT TO 30,000 WORDS TODAY
OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Halloween, Aladdin and NaNoWriMo

Sorry for the really late post! I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I haven't been posting because I've been procrastinating with Minecraft and Hogwarts Extreme school has been really busy lately.

For Halloween, I went as Luna Lovegood. I copied her entire outfit and even bought radish earrings! I went with two of my friends, my brother and my sister. Here's a picture we took after we went trick-or-treating:

Me being a nerd and making my "candy shop" as we get ready to trade our goodies :) (Under my jacket was a Harry Potter t-shirt...go figure)

While I was gone, I tried out for an Aladdin play. It was for middle school only; sixth to eighth grade. We had to sing (we learned Arabic Nights and A Whole New World), dance (we learned a combination), and act (they gave us a few lines and we had to recite it). I went with a few of my friends and had a great time. I was really nervous. I now know who I am playing, however, and I'm relieved. I'm playing a thief! I'm actually very excited to play this part because for one, I've never acted in a play before, and two, Aladdin thieves are cool. :P

This year, I'm participating in YWP: NaNoWriMo (Young Writer's Program: National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo is a contest that starts on November 1st every year. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. since I'm participating in the YWP, I can change the goal. I've decided not to and push myself to the limit. At the moment, I'm on word 3,216/50,000. I need lots of enthusiasm and discipline to get this done. :) You can find my NaNo profile here.

I better get back to writing. I promise to blog more frequently and post about the Aladdin rehearsals as well as my NaNo progress! Bye!

-Dominique

The God Complex

EDIT: I keep editing this post because I keep thinking of things to add onto, so I'm going to stop adding on now. I'll be posting and venting about this episode on my Tumblr if you'd like to read more.

So, I lied. I'm not posting about Pottermore or Minecraft in this post, but Doctor Who. All of you know very much that Doctor Who is my absolute favorite show. There was a new episode, The God Complex, on BBC America yesterday and I have to post about it. Spoilers are coming your way if you haven't watched it yet!


For one, I found the episode absolutely terrifying. The beginning, even. "Praise him. Praise him." Praise him is so scary it might as well be the new "don't blink" or "look behind you". I refused to look at any spoilers on Tumblr before I watched the episode, so I had no idea what this episode was going to be like. I'm very satisfied, though, and I can't wait for the next one.

Rita was great. The Doctor liked her. She was brave. I honestly thought she would be a great addition to the companions. Maybe not, though.

Howie's death...that was scary. To see someone beg for death from someone he had been running away from for so long, it was a bit horrific.

Joe gave me the creeps. "Here comes the lighter to light up your bed. Here comes the chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop." I was actually really amused when the Doctor came out with him on a luggage cart and his mouth covered in black duct tape.

GIBBIS IS PERFECT. He is absolutely perfect. That's all I have to say about him.

The scene in Amy's room was very emotional. When I saw what was in her room (which was the young version of herself sitting on her suitcase, waiting for the Doctor), I was going "awwwwhhhhh". It was so emotional. And when the Doctor said to lose faith in him, I was like, "you're joking. You have to be joking. You cannot know her for so many years and then say that." When he calls her "Amy Williams" instead of "Amy Pond", he's letting go of the girl who waited for him. His best friend. She's not Amy Pond anymore. This is just. Oh my. ASHKFSDHGSA.

Though, I laughed when the Minotaur came inside and threw Rory against the wall with the door.

I'm thinking Rory's room has something to do with losing Amy.

THE ENDING. THE ENDING. NO. RORY AND AMY ARE MEANT TO BE WITH THE DOCTOR FOREVER AND EVER AND YOU CANNOT JUST LEAVE THEM LIKE THAT. MOFFAT, STOP MESSING WITH MY EMOTIONS.

I'm wondering what was in the Doctor's room, though I was excited because his room number was 11. My mom said, though, and I'm not sure how she interpreted it at the end,

"That was his fear."
"What was his fear?"
"His fear was losing them."

-Dominique

Errol and Notch

Hello everyone! I solemnly swear that I'm sorry for not posting in quite a while (I've been busy with school, as I started September 7), but I finally got my Pottermore welcome email! I'm extremely happy and I've been playing since September 6th. It's very convenient that it decided to arrive a day before school began.

Notch has also officially released Minecraft 1.8 (since this Monday!). I've been playing Minecraft since August 22nd. Expect a new post about Pottermore, Minecraft or something extraordinary soon!

Photography at the Philadephia Zoo

Yesterday, I went to the Philadelphia Zoo with my family and a few friends. It was a long drive, but we got there. It was great fun!

The first thing we had done when we arrived was get on the zoo's Channel 6 Zooballoon. The wait was around 50 minutes due to the long line, but it was completely worth the wait. The air balloon brought us up 400 feet in the air. I was able to see the Comcast building and the rest of the zoo from high up, as well as snap a photo...or five. My dad was also able to take a picture of the balloon going up before we entered the line.

Before the ride.

What we could see from the balloon!

My brother, sister and I in the balloon. Don't mind my lack of hair; it was hot in the line and I pulled it up in my cap.

Next, we saw many types of animals; reptiles, amphibians, mammals. Everything you can imagine! I went horse-back riding and had a photo-taking spree as well.

My brother and I on a horse. This photo wasn't taken by me, but by my dad.

I was able to see a cheetah up close, and even take a picture! It was tamed and roaming around its zoo habitat. I found it to be very exciting, because I've read about them in magazines and books.

I was able to snap the picture just as it was raising its paw!

I took a picture of something not as exciting, but much cuter and adorable! They had a small rabbit exhibit set up that I couldn't help but woo over. :)

A rabbit eating its food.

A group of rabbits sleeping together. Awwww!

There is one picture I can't help but post. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we read and watch a green python escape from Harry and Dudley's local zoo. In the reptiles and amphibians exhibit, I was able to take a picture (not too sharp, but pretty decent nonetheless) of the same species of snake curled around a branch!

After going sight-seeing, we took our last stop as the gift shop, where I bought a post card for 69 cents. Just if you wanted to know.

-Dominique

More Pottermore

This week, I've been lying in front of my computer, my phone next to me and curled up on a bed, reading a book. My phone would make an email notification. I'd get up and scramble to my inbox like it was the end of the world. You know what that means! Pottermore beta is starting!

The acceptance letters welcome emails for Pottermore are being released now, every day, and are sent randomly. (Read in one of my last posts about Pottermore if you don't understand what I'm rambling on about.) This frustrates me because in the Terms and Conditions (Pottermore was the only time I actually read the terms and conditions; true fact) that the welcome emails were on a first-come first-serve basis, yet I created an account on Day 2 of the Magical Quill Challenge and there are people from Day 7 already Sorted and earning House points.

I really want to get into Pottermore already. I've been longing for the day I'd receive my acceptance letter, go to Diagon Alley, buy an owl, head to Hogwarts, get Sorted and learn a thing or two. Since the welcome emails are being sent to random beta members throughout these next seven weeks, I'll just need some luck to get in today or this week.

To get Pottermore off my mind, I'm finishing up the first series of the 39 Clues. I have just finished the eighth book, The Emperor's Code, and moved onto Storm Warning. It hasn't been a full day yet and I've already finished more than half of the book. Another thing that gets Pottermore off my mind is that I have a sleepover with a best friend on Friday, which is wonderful, because I've only had one other sleepover with her before.

Well, I'm going to go back to my reading and inbox-stalking. Goodbye for now. :)

-Dominique

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Reaction

From this (age 4)

I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 19th last month and never got to write about it until today because I was busy trying to find the picture I took after we finished watching. Now that I've found it, I'm going to post about my reaction.

***SPOILERS***

This movie was incredibly powerful to me, because I've been watching the movies since I was around two years old, read the books at age eight as well as throwing a movie premiere party each year starting then with my friends (see picture below), and I was devastated when the movie had ended.

I did have lots of fun though. The movie was great, especially with that touch of comedy. I couldn't help but weep during The Prince's Tale (title of the chapter with Snape's memories of Lily and such) and when Snape had been attacked by Nagini and slowly faded towards death. Let's take all of the awards and give them to Alan Rickman and re-name the Oscars the Alans. His acting was truly, truly astonishing! Benedict Clarke was great as well! "She's jealous. Because she's normal, and you're special." He portrayed young Severus so well.

Fred's death. That was perfect. It was short and devastating. I do wish it went as it did in the book for that, too, though. Lupin and Tonks' death, too, was short and sad as well.

to this (age 11)

My friends couldn't help but woo over the Ron and Hermione kiss, as well as the Ginny and Harry one. It was sweet. Sort of a "love-of-your-life" kind of moment, because it's a dark time and you know that you're probably going to die by the end of the day. I do wish they used the script directly from the book for Ron and Hermione's kiss, though, because that was sweet and humorous. 

Evanna Lynch is an amazing actress. I loved the lines "Harry Potter, you listen to me right now!" and "I'm going to go have some pudding." Luna Lovegood had such a minor part in part two. I would have liked to have seen more of her, but her appearances in the movie were perfect. I also liked the chemistry between Neville and Luna. Though Neville ends up marrying Hannah Abbott and Luna to Rolf Scamander in the books, I still ship Neville and Luna together.

When Harry is with Dumbledore, that was innocent and pure. Honestly, I couldn't have imagined it better. "Of course it's in your head, Harry, but it doesn't mean it can't be real." 

When Harry woke up, Narcissa Malfoy's dialogue was wonderful! My friends and I were saying, "Go Mrs. Malfoy!" Some people don't seem to understand or realize that she's only evil because of her husband, Lucius, whom she stands by no matter what the consequence. She's a Death Eater because he's a Death Eater. 

Neville's speech was amazing. Amazing. He started winning five points for Gryffindor because he stood up to his friends to slicing a snake's head clean off its neck. 

I couldn't stop smiling when Harry jumped up to defend Neville and everyone else at Hogwarts once Draco crossed sides (I feel bad for him, I hate when people think of him as a "bad guy"! It's like, he's not! Get your facts straight!) to join his parents.

The epilogue. Bawled. Straight-out bawled. Also, Albus Severus, I DON'T RECALL FERRETS BEING ON THE LIST OF PETS AT HOGWARTS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. The ending was beautiful none-the-less. The kids in the compartment, like a next-generation trio. 

We were weeping when we left the theater. We took a few pictures (my favorite one listed above) and headed home. I was very depressed, but hey! My Pottermore welcome e-mail is coming soon. It's taken quite a while, so I suspect Errol is behind it. ;)

-Dominique

Waiting for Pottermore

If you don't know, Pottermore is a site that was announced on June 23 this year at around 6am that J.K. Rowling released where you can have your own virtual experience in Hogwarts. You find different pieces of information that weren't in the Harry Potter books that J.K. had been hoarding for quite a few years. That day it was also announced you could learn how to preregister on July 31. On July 31, it was released that you were to hunt for a Magical Quill, which you can learn about here. To find the Magical Quill, this whole week (beginning July 31 and ending August 6) there will be clues that will show up on the front page of Pottermore that will guide you to the Magical Quill once you answer it. On Day 1, the clue will be about the first book. Day 2 will be about the second book. Day 3 will be about the third book, so on and so forth. Clues one to three are the hardest ones and day four to seven are easier. The clues in my time-zone (EST) were released, the first being 4am and second being 5am.

The first two days, I completely missed it due to sleeping in or my alarm not waking me up. Today for the third clue, I managed to get to it. The clue was released at 6am. The clue was "In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, in Harry's third year, how many points was Gryffindor leading by before Harry catches the Golden Snitch? Multiply this number by 35." The answer I had resolved was 2,100, which was correct. The answer led me to an archive about the release of Pottermore. Soon I noticed the ad to the right side-bar of the archive wasn't just a plain Google ad; it was an ad that led me to the Magical Quill! I was told to "levitate" the Quill by moving my cursor rapidly underneath it, which I did and found the Quill easily. I registered. I also repeated the process and created an account for my sister, Alexis, who had went to bed.

Once I finished, I verified my Pottermore account and logged in. I noticed a note in the middle of the page. It had told me that I gained early access! I'm so excited for it. I'm nervous for the Sorting, though, because I've always been considered a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw (Ravenclaw, mostly; I want to get into it more). I don't mind Hufflepuff, though, because I've been called it once, but if I get into Slytherin, I'll be most surprised.

My Pottermore username is CharmWillow118 if you were wondering. Sorry for the lack of blog posts, I've been quite addicted to a different site called Tumblr, which I find quite fun and interesting. If I'm not blogging here, I'm usually found there. Click here for my profile. I have posted a few screen caps from when I registered on Pottermore there, as well as photography and other funny things usually Potter-related.

Harry Potter's Legend

I'm watching the Deathly Hallows Part 2 tomorrow dressed in my Gryffindor robe and a Harry Potter t-shirt, bringing my wand along with me. I'm going with my best friends and a few others, most of them very excited, but I'm both excited and depressed. Watching my childhood go by in a flash just by this one movie.

I'm too young to say that I've past my childhood, but I came to preschool on the first day with a Harry Potter backpack and a matching lunch box. I got a Harry Potter pillow from my aunt for my sixth birthday, and began to read the books when I was eight. Finished when I was nine, I was excited for my first day at Hogwarts for when I turned eleven. Ten now, I'm one of very few who will get their acceptance letter---Pottermore opens for pre-registration three days after my birthday. But a computer game isn't all that completes it. Sometimes at night, I squeeze my eyes shut and imagine that I'm waking up in the girls' dormitory, getting dressed into my robes and cleaning my glasses, then head down to the Great Hall with my two best friends, maybe getting a letter or post-card from my mom or dad. I'd take a swig of pumpkin juice and owls would swoop over my head while I panic that I hadn't quite finished my Muggle Studies homework as we sweep through the hallways towards our first few classes for the day.

Then I wake up.

One day, I might be speaking to my nieces and nephews and grandchildren and they may ask for a bedtime story. Instead of telling a story from the top of my head of nursery rhymes and the cat and the fiddle, I'll pull out the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and read a chapter or two. You may ask, "after all this time?" and I will reply, "Always." (See what I did there?)

Thank you, Harry Potter, for everything. Your legend will never end. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome me home.

WATER.

Water had a great meaning for my day today.

Today, we were headed to the neighborhood pool at 6:00pm. I sat on our wavy floaties and swam around the pool with my sister. I swam to the floor and snuck up and underneath her and my brother. Afterward, we got out of the pool. My brother and mom drove home whilst my dad, sister Alex and I walked home. Once we arrived home, we each took a shower. Our dinner was seafood, and we practically had a feast.

Pool, shower, seafood. That's enough water for one day.

-Zoe

Creating a River

As I blog this very moment, a very severe thunderstorm is going on outside my window. The pictures above I took with my mom's phone from my window. The big puddle in the picture is from the thunderstorm.

Honestly, I haven't seen such a severe thunderstorm happen like this since I was about six. I remember my younger brother, sister and I were terrified of a big thunderstorm that was practically creating its own river in my backyard, so we took all our precious things to what would become my sister and I's room in the future (foolish how we thought it was going to flood, huh?) and waited until the storm was over. The thunderstorm today is creating a much bigger "river" than before, and instead of hiding away in our room like then, my brother is playing with his action figures, my sister is playing online computer games and I'm blogging.

Honestly, a thunderstorm was so much more exciting when I was little.

-Zoe

The consequences of being a bookworm

I, for one, am a bookworm, and I absolutely love to read; I'm currently reading The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Dragonwings by Laurence Yep for my summer reading projects. I've also finished two other books that were required for me to read this year over the summer.
The consequences of being a bookworm is that, for me, I read lots. I have required books to read over the summer, a list from my best friend on books I must read (or else! haha), and books I read simply for fun. This causes a gigantic pile of books I need to finish to continue growing on the top of my bookshelf.
There are seven books more for me to read after I read my required books, and honestly, they are both a good thing and a bad thing in my opinion.
Some (conceited, really) people think "books are for nerds". I'm actually very proud to stand for nerds. Where would the world be without them?

-Zoe

My experience in New Jersey.

New Jersey with my cousins and aunts and uncles was over-the-edge hilarious and fun. I also learned how to play chess, but I'll talk about that later. :D
First, I went to my cousins Chynna and Jordan's house (I hope I spelled that right. I am truly, very sorry if I spell anyone's names wrong, because never really discussed it), which took an hour and forty minutes, so I nearly finished my book in the car during that drive. We played the piano and guitar, talked about Harry Potter and biking, then headed to my other cousins' house. I was introduced to people who arrived and who live there; Julian, Jared, Bren, Kristin, Kimmy, Christian, Lauren, and Ryan. I also met other aunts and uncles there.
First, we watched TV and played the piano in the living room, ate, drank Diet Coke, then jumped into the pool. My sister Alex and I were chasing each other around the pool, then played a game in which you guess what movie someone is thinking about. After, some people got out of the pool and began to play basketball whilst my sister Alex and I tried sitting on floaties and pool noodles (in which I failed miserably to on many of my attempts) until we got out and began playing Knockout (a game you play in basketball). Then, we went inside and changed. Afterward, we went upstairs, the boys in one room and the girls in another.
My cousin Jordan had put on makeup on most of us whilst I did her hair in a loose braid. We then went downstairs and ate cake. My cousin Julian taught me how to play chess with our spare time, and I'm pretty grateful because chess is so much better than a boring checkers game.
After most people left, we watched a part of Tangled and ate smores before we had to leave. I can't wait to visit them again!

-Zoe

Road trips are exhausting.

Today, my family and I went to cherry pick with a few friends. It took about forty minutes to get there. Afterward, we went to a fancy restaurant that took twenty minutes to get to. Afterward, we all separated and my family and I drove to our local Asian store, which took about twenty five minutes. Then, we had to head back, which meant another ten minutes. If you're lazy and don't feel like pulling up your calculator, that's ninety-five minutes.
That isn't long, right? Tomorrow, my family and I are heading to New Jersey to visit my aunts, uncles and cousins and take a dive in one's pool. To get the facts straight, I live in Pennsylvania. It takes an hour or so to get to New Jersey, and maybe even longer depending on where my mom's uncle's house even is.
The good thing about road trips is that I get to listen to music most of the time we're driving, I can read (which I do very frequently, even if it weren't time to do summer reading reports), I can play on a portable console (my DS or my mom's PSP) and I can even just sleep. Depending on what time I wake up, I can bring a pillow and sleep the rest of the car ride for all I care. :P
I still owe two blog posts---sorry! I'm trying to find an interesting topic to blog about. It'll be up soon, I promise! G'bye!

-Zoe

Practicing my Poetic Pupil

So,
I hear you
write poems,
Zoe.
I can rhyme,
freestyle,
narrate,
whatever you'd
prefer.
I call this
poem
"Practicing
my Poetic
Pupil".
You ask
why,
exactly?
Because I'm
practicing
my poetic
creativity by
choosing
to do
this.

I also didn't
have any
better idea
for a
blog
post.

"The Hands Behind the Milk"

I was going to the grocery store today with my family after my third guitar lesson and it was both interesting and hilarious at the same time.

We were going to get yogurt and while waiting, my sister Alex and I saw the wall behind the milk across from us slide open and white gloved hands appeared, re-filling the shelf with new gallons of milk. We watched as walls slid closed and slid open, slid closed and slid open as white gloved hands emerged from behind and pushed milk cartons here and there. We had always thought that they re-filled milk cartons and yogurt containers from in front of it, not behind!

Before I finish this blog post, I'd like to apologize for the lack of two blog posts; one yesterday and the other before yesterday. I'm going to post two extra blog posts today just to fill in the gaps. G'bye.

-Zoe

Staying up late on a Monday night.

Today is one of those days my parents let me stay up late, which is good, because I was procrastinating all today and thinking of a good topic to write about here on my blog when I realized I could write about; staying up late on a Monday night.

Staying up is a casual thing for my sister and I to do over the summer unless we're so extremely tired or just not in the mood. I usually am using the computer, reading, watching television, or fiddling around for something to do during that gap of time before I finally head to my bedroom for some good night's sleep.

I'm usually not very up to staying up late on Monday nights, but today is different. It's close to midnight, too, exactly one minute before it here in Pennsylvania, United States. I feel a bit more awake than usual on normal weekdays during the summer.
I guess this summer seems special, and different in general, like today, too. My two most best friends are leaving for a different school this year, one even to an international school in Germany and the other to one a few minutes away from our original school location together.

Even though, this summer seems more beautiful than ever before.

My summer so far.

How do I wrap up these past few days? It's been both an incredibly dull and exciting week for me. Finding as it's only the beginning of the summer in June and we didn't have many "special" plans, I might as well start from the most exciting point.
A few days ago, my family and I went to visit Herr's Factory on the other side of Pennsylvania. It seems that now that I know how their famous chips are made, I don't think we're paying enough to eat them! We ate at their "Chipper's Cafe" and got free chips for each meal we got, which filled up our bag. Afterwards, we went to Boomer's Family Fun place for arcade games, mini golf, prizes and just to play around on their big, unique playground.
Afterward, I had my second guitar lesson, which was actually very fun and helps me a lot with my little knowledge of playing guitar. I practice for at least twenty minutes everyday before my next guitar lesson.
Yesterday, I went to a local park in Collegeville for my friend Aaron's sister Arianne's birthday. There was a big playground and a pavilion in front of it. We watched a deaf magician with the name of Sam Sandler, ate cupcakes and cake, played on the playground, and got our faces and arms painted (actually, I didn't get my face or arm painted; I helped paint the kids in the first place). Afterward, my family and I went to Speck's Chicken to pick up dinner (which was delicious, even though I can sometimes despise our constant dinner of chicken) and to have a quick snack of ice cream (I had a Chipwich) and a bottle of water.
Today, I'm doing the usual; reading, playing guitar, playing computer, drawing and sketching, and some other casual things most people do over the summer. Later on in the summer, though, my friend Thea and I are going many different places in Pennsylvania because she is one of my best friends and is moving temporarily to Germany in August for a stay for two years. She's coming back in eighth grade, though, which is great and I'm glad she's even coming back in general.
I don't have much else to say in this post today, so I might as well finally wrap it up. G'bye, world of Blogspot.

-Zoe

Irrational advertisements that I'd rather not watch.

My sister Alexis aka "Alex" (find her blog here) and I were scrolling through different television channels, desperate for something good to watch. We stumbled upon some type of advertisement that seemed very dull and uninteresting. I found this, unusually, actually interesting because it was extremely irrational to be creating an advertisement for a very large amount of money that no one is going to be very excited or fascinated about, which results in a complete failure for whatever company is advertising it.
I thought that, if they were going to attempt to increase their numbers in dedicated customers for their company, they would be better off creating a commercial that won't automatically bore the viewers when it first begins to air. That's very irrational and ignorant of them to even try.
I'm going to attempt to post daily, just to say so myself. Though I'm already required to post at least twice each week, it would be a great challenge and fun to look back at as the days go by.
That's all I'm going to say for now, but I might publish another blog post later or early tomorrow. G'bye.

-Zoe

Pottermore, to my disappointment.

I woke up at 5:50 in the morning (because that's how much of a dedicated fangirl I am) yesterday to prepare for Pottermore. Did any other Harry Potter whiz do this and is a little disappointed?
When I read Pottermore released preregistration three days after my eleventh birthday, I jumped for joy when I found out that I had finally gotten my acceptance letter. Then I realized that if I didn't get through the pre-registration, I'd have to wait until October. Does that mean that we have to follow another owl in a month? Oh, I'm sorry. FIVE MONTHS.
I'm not that disappointed. A live, online Hogwarts school is a great idea; we'll be part of the story and learn crucial information that J.K. Rowling has been hoarding for many years. That's a bonus for us hyperventilating fangirls.
Harry Potter is a great factor in my childhood, even though I still am young. My parents seemed to have readied me for my ultra-fandom; said they took me to see the first Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) when I as two, three, or four. I came to preschool with a Harry Potter book-bag and matching lunchbox. When I was six, my godmother gave me, as a sixth birthday gift, a Harry Potter pillow that, to this day, lays beneath my head each night as I go to sleep. When I was eight (which meant I was in the third grade), I began reading the Harry Potter series by mistake; I was utterly bored and I stumbled upon the first book on a bookshelf in the basement. I finished the series when I was in fourth grade, or I was age nine.
I'm not ready to watch the last Harry Potter series film this year. I might even cry throughout the movie. Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for my childhood.

A daddy-daughter date.

It was incredibly fun. I had a daddy-daughter date with, obviously, my dad, because a special Father's Day event held by my school every year for my specific grade was unfortunately canceled. I'm glad it was, though, because it was a blast to play with my dad today! I went out with my dad today at 6:40AM to the local basketball court. We shot some hoops; he started by throwing a few jump shots and then handed the basketball to me. I threw ten hoops and then handed back the ball to him, in which he did the same as me. I did ten hoops one more time until we decided to play "H.O.R.S.E." Dad explained how to play; one person chooses where they'd like to shoot the ball and then shoot. If they make the shot, hooray for them! However (Heheh.), if they don't make the shot, they hand the ball to the other opponent and if that person makes the shot in the same spot in which the other was standing (Though, my dad is much, much taller than me, was I was permitted to change the place I shot the ball to about two feet ahead of the original spot. I love being short), the person who doesn't make the shot gains a letter in "Horse". Whoever spells "horse" out first loses. I ended up winning the game I'm beginning to think either; I'm better than my dad at basketball, or he let me win.
Next, we went for a walk in the Valley Creek Trail. Most of the time we were doing so, we were talking about Harry Potter and that new mysterious Pottermore website that everyone has been talking about that was released by the one and only J.K. Rowling. I've heard rumors that there will be an eighth book continuing the Harry Potter legend, though J.K. Rowling and her lawyer have denied it on various articles. I can't wait until "J.K. Rowling announces"! Four more days. FOUR MORE DAYS! I CAN'T WAIT MUCH LONGER! :(
Afterward, we went to Bob Evans to eat (I got strawberry crepes. Yum!) and then browsed the mall. Later, we went to Staples and McDonald's to get my mom, brother and sister some food.

Looking back at my oldest obsessions.

Looking back at my old posts, I had some sort of obsession with a show called House of Anubis. I was just re-watching a few episodes today and their acting is a little disappointing, now that I watch carefully. The plot began to become dull after a while. Honestly, I don't think I'm going to be as excited as I was before for Season 2.
Sorry for the incredibly late post, I have nothing much to post about.

I see you're procrastinating again, Zoe!

Yes, yes I am.
Don't worry, summer officially started for me yesterday, so I'll be posting very frequently.

What time is it? Summer time.

Actually, I still have three more school days until my vacation.
Over the summer, I may be going on our family and friends' annual camping trip, but since my aunt and uncle have children now, we might be staying in apartments instead. (Sounds better than you think.)
We may be going to the beach or the boardwalk again during that trip; I'm not very sure. Last year, we went to both, though the boardwalk was a catastrophe. I'll post about it some other time.
I also will have time to finally work on my band. To check out the band website, click here. This summer is going to be great!

Goodbye elementary, hello middle school...*shiver*

A new guitar, I see.

When I entered my parents' bedroom today, I saw a big package leaning against their bed. I thought it was one of my parents' things. Man, was I wrong.
My mom told me that it was a present from my godparents; an early present for my birthday. I ran down the steps to grab the scissors out of the drawer and walked back up (because running with scissors is a safety hazard! Haha). She gave me the receipt and I read the letter they had sent. Afterwards, I saw the item the receipt was for and started to jump. A new guitar! We opened the package carefully and pulled out the guitar. I squealed with happiness; it was big, new, and shiny! Those three words led me into a musical paradise.
My dad figured out how to put on the guitar strap and I tuned it. I'm currently playing it now and having lots of fun with it! I emailed my godparents about how happy I was. I can't count how many times I said "thanks" and "love". Haha.

-Zoe

I JUST FINISHED MOCKINGJAY!

Spoiler Warning: This blog post contains book spoilers of each Hunger Games book. If you haven't read the books, it is not recommended that you read this post.

I just finished reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, and I have many mixed feelings; sadness, happiness, joy, woo, and angriness.

When Finnick danced in his underwear..self explanatory. My sister looked at me like I was loony. (Is it not normal for a ten-year-old girl to giggle uncontrollably and roll around the floor of her living room?)

Finnick's death was short. I wanted to scream so loud until my lungs burst into flames, but I was in my parents' room and my dad was sleeping.

When Peeta came back to District 13, my heart jumped into my throat and I was practically dancing in my car.

When Gale was arrested and mouthed "Shoot me", I buried my face in the book. Another self explanatory thing.

I absolutely adored the bond between Katniss and Haymitch; a love-hate relationship, that is. When Katniss was dazed over Prim and Haymitch teased her, my heart died a little. "Okay, not funny" made me smile.

When Katniss agreed to a final Hunger Games, I wanted to scream her out. IS IT NOT ENOUGH THAT PRIM AND RUE DIED? She's already been in two Games, one in Catching Fire too! Then I realized that it was DEDICATED to Prim. Oops.

I felt sympathy and miserableness when I had read about Prim's death. Unfortunately, earlier that day someone posted a spoiler about it, yet I didn't think it would be this affective. I felt this horrible cringe in my stomach and my eyes began to water. I personally like Rue better, yet how Katniss reacted to it made it so saddening.

When Peeta visited Katniss in Victor's Village, I wooed over the bond. I'm a personal Peeta fan over Gale, though Gale is very sweet too. When he held up the primrose and Katniss wanted to yell him out until she realized what kind of rose it was, and once she realized, I was full of woo and agony.

When I read the epilogue, I wooed at maximum. Woo woo woo woo. I sang along to the lullaby at the end (in fact, I'm listening to mockingjaynet's version of it now).

Then I closed the book.

There are much worse games to play. . .

Just to tell you,

I'm not dead.
I'm actually busy with procrastinating.

Where's my 7.5 mag earthquake?

Sorry that I haven't blogged in awhile. I was busy with school and got caught up with my tutor so that I didn't have enough time to post something. I'm aiming to have at least one blog post daily, and I'll see how that turns out.
As most people know, Harold Camping, an 89 year old man, predicted that Judgment Day (the day in which Jesus re-visits the earth and brings all the well-behaved humans to heaven and leaves the mortal sinners to several destructive disasters for five months. Once the five destructive months are over, October 21 was another prediction in which the world will be done with) was May 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM, when a so-called terrifying earthquake was going to happen. Apparently, he is also the man who predicted that the 'end of the world' was in 1988. Look where we are now! May 22, 2011 and none of us here have been even merely bruised unless of a different reason.
To make this clear, I do not believe that anyone knows the day in which Jesus comes back, or when we have a massive tornado that destroys every continent, or any other thing of that sort. It even said in the Bible that no man knows the hour in which it does happen in any of the situations I had listed just now. 2012 was just a movie. May 21, 2011 was just another wild prediction that made some people jump. It could happen any time, even in a matter of seconds from now, and we wouldn't know it.

I don't feel that I have to explain any more, because it's over. It's done.

-Dominique

Let's play a glove game, play a glove game...

I was on Animal Jam yesterday frantically looking for someone willing to trade their black glove. This is because I was scammed out of mine.
If anyone says to you "want to change your glove color?" on Animal Jam or "want to see a glitch to get a free glove?", don't follow them. You'll be scammed out of your glove or treasured item. I lost the rarest item on Animal Jam; the glove, and searched for a day until I finally got another one.
First, no one traded with me. Then, I was scammed out of my rare Christmas bow and didn't get a glove that time. Afterwards, a number of people rejected me, even while I was hopping in Jamaa Township for an hour saying "I will give 4 rares to a person who gives me black gloves!". When someone finally accepted, I was jumping for joy.

Then some greedy, needy, and speedy beggars followed me everywhere asking for it.

Here's a tip; once you get a glove on Animal Jam, keep it. Never let it go. Ever. Unless you trust the person, which you can't exactly do to someone you've just met on the game. No. That's not how it works. Keep the glove until someone in real life asks, offers something good, and then do so. Never ever let it go unless that is the case. You will utterly regret it if you do.
I was literally sitting in bed at night thinking "how the heck am I supposed to get my glove back?" That's how obsessed I am with this game. I seem desperate, but my friend has just recently obsessed over it, so I decided to give it a go again, and this way, I have an over-obsession for Animal Jam. Very funny.

The moral of this story is; gloves can cause frustration.

-Dominique

Save the lions!

I was reading through my new April 2011 issue for National Geographic Kids Magazine when I stumbled across page seven. It told me that lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and many other different types of cats were disappearing at an alarming rate! I knew I had to do something about it. I decided to help save cats from extinction on causeanuproar.org. I read about how I could help; by spreading the word, expressing it on t-shirts and so on.
I also found one that I did. Anyone can do this with their parents' permission; send a letter to National Geographic on why they should protect the cats (specifically lions) and why they are important to you. You can also send drawings of lions and cats. If you are interested in doing so, go to kids.nationalgeographic.com/letters-big-cats.
I did this by asking my parents, who signed a form you must mail with your letter to National Geographic, wrote my letter (which can be up to two-hundred fifty words maximum), drew a small picture at the bottom, signed it, and put it in an envelope. My dad is going to stamp it and drop it off at the post office sometime later to next week. I am now currently scanning my magazines for other interactive things to help the world, or just for fun!

-Dominique

Pointless watchamacallits that you probably don't care about.

If you read a previous post of mine, I play Animal Jam, which is a virtual animal world by National Geographic Kids (much better than Club Penguin in my opinion!) that is very fun and entertaining, but also educates the subject of animals, habitats, and the environment. There is an optional paid membership (it makes little difference, unlike Club Penguin, where more than half the game is P2P ((Pay 2 Play)); you just can't get more than two animals, extra dens, and some clothes) in which my parents let me get. If you pay for the six month membership like I did, you get a six month free subscription to  National Geographic Kids Magazine. I've been waiting a month or two, and finally, my April and May issues have come in the mail today!
I was obsessing over them. I even almost squealed when I found a very small tear on the back cover of my May issue. And by very small, I mean minuscule. Not even an inch long. I was very, very obsessive over it when I realized each issue has at least one code for Animal Jam that, if you type it in on the game when you log in, you get 1,000 gems or over. In this way, I got 3,000 gems in less than five minutes! I then spent it all on the new restaurant den and some den furniture/items.
My sister has a Club Penguin membership. She prefers it over AJ, which I am very sad about. I do not get why, especially because she practically forgot about Club Penguin when I first showed her AJ. I guess the money you pay is the game you play.
As I enjoy my new magazines and Animal Jam, I guess this is a farewell until my next post. Goodbye!

-Dominique

Finally a Tumblr!

Finally, I created a Tumblr to upload my pictures. I'm very into photography, I find it interesting and I way to express life in such a way you can't find anything bad about it; even in the simplest pictures that may not mean anything at all.

Surprisingly, I usually only take the pictures with my phone or one of my parents' phones (G1 or MyTouch). I use picplz, Vignette, and the default camera tool for MyTouch to edit my pictures quickly. I don't usually add heavy effects, just things like Russian Toy Camera and Cross-Process.

I hope you enjoy my Tumblr. Stick around!

http://dominiquelestrange.tumblr.com

Rock it acoustic.

So far, the only things of done today that was interesting was take a hot shower, re-paint my nails out of boredom, rock out on my acoustic guitar, and now, blog.
I've been growing more attached to my guitar by the minute. I've learned all the major chords, most of the minor chords, and I'm going to go on to more complicated chords later on. I have no guitar teacher, so I practice songs I like at home and read through a how-to "Ultimate Beginners Guide" by myself. The beginners guide confused me after I reached halfway through.
My brother, who sits at a desk next to mine, gave me a look when I got up and started to rock out to Bad Romance by Lady Gaga--on acoustic guitar. I did the same to Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson, Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus, Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, and so on, so forth. He finally sang Grenade by Bruno Mars while I played the chords, too, once he gave up on silencing me.
When I first played guitar for a talent show in my grade last year, people gave me looks and gapes as if I had a wart on my face. "You play guitar?" was the top question asked to me throughout the day.
At one point of the summer last year, my guitar's strings screwed up and sounded like a dying walrus. I had to live without it for quite a while until my cousins came this month and fixed it. I couldn't thank them enough.
Once the guitar was fixed, I began playing it daily like I did before. The reason why I'm so attached to this guitar is because I practically got on my knees to beg and plead to my parents every other day, no matter what day it was, for a guitar. Once I got one last June, I couldn't stop playing it. It was surprisingly fun, entertaining, kills time, and my dream since I was like, what? 5?
I'm planning to finally post a decent cover to my family's YouTube channel of me playing guitar, probably to Bad Romance, as I can't get the song out of my head at the time and it was the most fun to play so far.

Two more months until the release of House of Anubis Season 2. :)

-Dominique

States and sickness, pretty much.

Unfortunately, I became sick with a runny nose, sore throat, violent cough, and headache. I'm stuck sitting at home listening to my brother sing Big Time Rush while I blog alone while drinking lemon-lime Gatorade. I would play guitar, but the strings screwed up somehow and now sound like dying walruses when I strum. I would Skype call or chat with a friend, but they're all at school. I would play with my brother, but..it doesn't come out pretty.
I'm sitting at my desk in the basement. It is very cold downstairs on a day like this, so I'm wearing my fuzzy Eskimo winter coat from Old Navy. I'm surprisingly growing closer to this jacket. It's so comfy.
I might as well talk about yesterday for me. I had a "State Show" at school, which is something the fifth graders at my current school do every year. We all get an assigned state, in which mine being Colorado. We gather up in groups of regions (In my case being the Mountain West) and create skits for the show, region boards, commercials, programs, and other pretty fun stuff. We had two shows; the afternoon show at 1:30 in front of the school, and the "easy show" at 6:00 in front of our parents and other relatives.
We decorated and set up the gym for the show and practiced. Afterward, my teachers announced what drawings were going to be put into the programs (we all had to draw a program cover as a part of our grade). I was surprised when they called out my name, because I personally thought mine was horrible. It came out pretty well anyway.
The afternoon show was shorter than I thought it would be. We were all so nervous and worried we would mess up, but it was perfected and we didn't miss a single word. The easy show was even easier. Our parents laughed whenever something funny in our skits would show (even though we weren't aiming to be funny. "Shop in Delaware, it has no sales tax!" How exactly is that funny?). We had to bring in food relating to our state, and we sampled food for about an hour before the show and guests during. I ate crab cakes, Milky Ways, yellow bell peppers with ranch dip (I brought it in anyway), pineapples, hush puppies, potato chips, biscuits, cheesecake cupcakes, salt water taffy, you get the point. Yesterday was pretty awesome.
Why couldn't it be awesome now? I'm stuck sick in my cold basement with nothing to do..

-Zoe

Hello, Hong Kong!

Today, I skyped with my good friend, Emerie. She had left to live in Hong Kong because her dad had gotten a better job there. My heart practically leaped into my throat when I saw the familiar Skype notification appear on my laptop screen. "Emerie is online!"
The first thing I did, of course, was chat with her. The first thing I said was extremely typical. "EMERIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
 She immediately replied back. "Hey, are you free to skype?" Of course, I said yes. We greeted each other, smiling widely and asked simple questions. How is school? How is the state show? What is it like in Hong Kong? What time is it there?
Soon, she had to leave to go to school. I nodded and smiled, waving my hand slightly. "Goodbye!" We both said in unison and she signed off of Skype.
I remind myself of the time I went to Forty Winks with the Sphinx, a sleepover at the Penn Museum. We went with other friends (Thea, Elena, Isabella) and bonded with one another. Landmark trivia first thing, museum exploration, scavenger hunt, night expedition, sleeping by the sphinx, and a light breakfast. We were the two tiniest in the car, so we had to share a seatbelt on the way there, plus, we were the only two girls who didn't have their mom come with them.
Now, I have four pen pals. Isabel, Emilia, Valeria, all from Chile, and Emerie. Former American citizen and classmate. Occupation? Hong Kong.

-Zoe

Finally, the first day of spring.

Today is the first day of spring, and my family and I had what a day.

Firstly, we went to my friend Dianne's house for her mom's birthday. The highlight of my period of time there was picking at a piece of loose lint hanging out of my shoe. Yeah, I didn't have much fun there. All I really did was talk to my friend Owen (the only real friend I actually had there. He was the only one who talked to me by choice and the only one who didn't curse every five minutes. -_-) while I watched everyone play Call of Duty: Black Ops. He made me laugh once during that while I was drinking my Sunkist, and I blew everything in my mouth on my friend Aaron's jacket, who was unfortunately sitting in front of my at the time. Then, one guy named Andre screamed so loud I spit again, this time standing up, though (conveniently) only a little came out of my mouth, which caught onto a little boy named Angelo's shirt while he was playing Pokemon on his Zelda DS.

Dianne and all her other girl-friends left to go to Rita's, CVS Pharmacy, and other convenient stores. I was stuck (after the room got crowded while they were playing PS3) being chased by Aaron's sister Arianne and a little girl named Tristan up and down the stairs for three minutes.

After we left, my parents drove up to Rita's. Since it was the first day of spring, everything was free. So, chyeah, guys! :D Free gelatis! :D

We ate our gelatis in the car and then drove home. Now I'm waiting in my room quietly blogging while my parents order Domino's Pizza for the second time this weekend.

-Zoe

Mother-Daughter Mass and Communion Breakfast, Pt 2

I woke up at 8:50AM this morning, scrambling to dress up, brush my teeth, get my shoes on, find my gray Gap jacket, and then finally getting in the car with my mom. We drove off to my school and entered the chapel.
My friend Shannon handed us a program and we walked toward an empty pew. As we listened to the Call of Worship, Thea appeared in the corner of the room and waved, walking to our pew to join us.

Halfway through the mass, I needed to pee. Badly. I whispered it over to Thea and she almost laughed out loud. Then, during the gospel reading, Thea heard the words "kitten" and "killer" and started to glare at the front of the chapel where the gospel was spoken. Her mother laughed and I stifled a giggle.
Afterward, we ate breakfast. We met up with my friends Elena and Katie. Walking over to the buffet, I got a cream cheese bagel, crunchy bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit slices, and a hash brown. We ate and talked, and later on, Sister Danielle talked to us about mother-daughter relationships, and how they relate to God. (See what I did there?)

Once we were finished, we grabbed our things and left, saying our final goodbyes for the day.

That was my first I've ever bond with my mom like that.

-Zoe

Mother-Daughter Mass and Communion Breakfast, Pt 1

Last month, my mom and I signed up for a mother-daughter mass and communion breakfast at school.

Tomorrow is the day.

This morning, during breakfast, my mom and dad were discussing if we should go to mass later today. Dad said no, because we would have it tomorrow, together. They decided we would split up; Mom and I would go earlier in the morning, while Dad and the others go an hour later at our parish instead of our school. It'll be our first and last. I was moving to a new school next year, and I was extremely happy about it, even if that meant not going the next year.

Of course, I have to get dressed up, so my mom had me try on a ruffled, silk shirt, with a short sleeved black jacket attached to the front. She also had me try on short, black leggings. I was partially sensible about this because of the cold. Though, it was mass. Luckily, my mom had three jackets I could try on to match my outfit.
I tried on a long, gray jacket over my clothes. It was nice and cozy, though it clashed with my clothes. I told my mom I'd like something black better with my clothes. She trotted down the stairs and scooped up my black Gap jacket and her own, thicker one. I tried on my jacket, but it was too thick. "The gray one could work," I agreed and then I changed back into my white field-day shirt from 2006 (which I can't believe still fits me. I got it in the first grade) and my blue shorts.

Later on, we tried to decide on what shoes I wore. I recently bought new shoes from DSW, which have gotten to be one of my favorites. Another was one my grandmother had given me; I wore it for my younger sister Alexis's first penance. It was a slip on with that hole in the front that your two front toes stick out of. I was shivering with it on, so we said whichever was better in the weather.

So tomorrow, I'm going to wake up at 9:30, drive off with my mom to my school on a Sunday, walk in wearing something I'd never get to wear to school (considering I wear a uniform), listen to Mass, eat breakfast, and bond especially.

It'll be our first. I'm looking forward to it.

-Zoe

Internet obsessions and pet persuasions.

Practically all of today, my siblings Alexis, Nicholas and I were playing the computer. My brother played a building game called ROBLOX. My sister was playing and still playing Club Penguin, and I blogged and played Animal Jam all day. Soon I got bored and tried to persuade my parents into letting us outside, but my mom wanted to rest and my dad was working, so no one could watch us and I was stuck inside with the computer all day.
Now-a-days, everyone seems to be on the internet 24/7. I don't even know, after five years of living where I live now, three of our neighbors. Though at least five of them go outside every day.
I have a whole bookshelf of books here in my room, but I'm not in the mood to read; I read for hours on weekdays. I would re-read the Harry Potter series again, but not even Harry Potter can entertain me right now. That is a very, very bad thing if Harry Potter can't do anything to adjust my mood.

If I had a pet, I'd be entertained 24/7. And I don't mean a fish, like the one we have in our living room. I mean a dog, or cat, or even just a guinea pig can entertain me. Though my parents don't think I'm responsible enough, I try negotiating with them to get us a dog or a cat whenever I get a hold of them. My best friend Thea, who can't get a pet either, at least got to cat-sit for half the year. That's six months of petting, grooming, feeding, and playing with cats. I can't even feed my fish anymore ever since my parents decided to get an automatic fish-feeder. I don't even get the point of that, because I fed the fish every day since my brother first (luckily) won it two years ago at the Kimberton Fair. And by luckily, I mean luckily. He was two. Two.
No one is online to roleplay, and no one is on Skype to skype. I must somehow prove that I can take care of at least a guinea pig.

And, before I end this blog post, I wanted to let everyone know; ROBLOX is a building game somewhat like Blockland or Minecraft, and Animal Jam is a game from National Geographic Kids that is somehow extremely fun, though educational. I don't even realize I'm learning anything from playing it for five minutes.

-Zoe

Track and Field for the second time.

Today, at school (of course), I had my second track-and-field practice. My music teacher coaches us, and trust me; I've seen him every day wearing a tuxedo around the school. It is your worst nightmare to see him in gym shorts and a blue t-shirt.

First, we ran a lap around the school (half a mile), then stretched in the parking lot. He is very strict (with a surprising twist of humor). Never, ever, ever in your life, go past the limit for jumping jacks. If we did twenty-five jumping jacks one day, and someone went to twenty-six or stepped out of place, he would make the whole team do 5-20 more jumping jacks, depending on how many times it happens.

Afterward, the track team jogged to Immaculata's quad center. Four times, four times, we had to run up and down the long, bumpy pavement that led uphill. Four times. Then, we jogged back to the school parking lot, did another stretch, and then were dismissed. My best friend Thea and I went to Rita's together afterward, and found three other girls from the same school of ours, either coming from track to cool off or out of the blue.

As Thea says. Track is a love-hate relationship.