I've decided...

...that I need to do educational stuff this fall instead of wasting time. Here's the basic plan:

1. Get my algebra knowledge up to scratch. That means going over my polynomials pages and (hopefully) finishing the written work and the practice test. I hate the written work. It's vague as hell.
2. Learn chemistry right from the beginning. I had started using my textbook (Chemistry Demystified - I also have the physics one), but then I stopped because I got lazy and I thought I had cheated on the chapter one practice test.
3. Japanese. I'm so out of practice.
4. Writing - specifically, essay writing. I think I'm going to start a narrative essay first, about one of my favourite karate teachers in the universe, Mr. Bishop. Shit, I miss him like crazy. He and Mr. Perrins (the EVIL ONE who was such a bastard to me when I had my tooth extracted) parted ways a few years ago, and Mr. Bishop owns a dojo (karate school) in Grimsby. If we lived closer, I'd so sign up at his dojo, but it's just too far away. Damn!
5. Biology. I want to finish my truly awesome anatomy colouring book - I screwed up on colouring in some vertebrae, but it's too late to fix it. Oh well, it doesn't matter.
6. Reading. I want to read some classics, like Orwell's 1984.

I have this seriously weird itch to go back-to-school shopping, only I can't think of anything that I need. I already got pencils a couple of weeks ago, when we went to Staples after church in that horrific weather. But surely there's something else I need... right? Oh! I know! Medium-point Sharpies! In loads of pretty colours! I have some coloured Sharpies, but they're in an Ultra Fine Point - which is okay, but I want to get some in a bolder point for doing big, obnoxious drawings. I don't draw much, but I'd like to get back into it.

Speaking of drawing, I came across a portfolio of my childhood drawings. Boy, was that a flashback. Some of them aren't too bad, actually. I'd like to get a new sketchbook for making fashion sketches, though, because my sketchbook is full of juvenile drawings. Then again, I got it several years ago at Wal-Mart. Mom says I should get one at Curry's, which is a nice art supply store. I'm not sure if it's a franchise or not - I've only seen one Curry's. I love them, because they carry good markers, nice paper, and even origami paper. Pretty super, if you ask me. I think I'll go on Flyerland and see if they have a Curry's flyer. Maybe I'll convince Mom to get some new paint for her own use. She'd like that. She's been saying that she wants to paint again, and what better time than the present, eh?

On the subject of art, I want to make some collages. We have some National Geographic magazines that nobody reads anymore, and an issue of Glow (the Shopper's Drug Mart magazine), and somewhere in the Abyss of the Flyer Bin is an issue of Famous, which is the Famous Players cinema magazine. Maybe I'll find all of our drawing books and try to draw human beings again. I seem to be better at drawing inanimate objects.

I need music...

There. Music. I love YouTube.

I also want to try cooking Japanese cuisine, like onigiri and sushi. I joined the Bento Artists group on Ravelry because I love the idea of making cute lunches. I know I probably won't need to make myself a boxed lunch for a while, but it would be neat to practice by making a bento the night before and stick it in the fridge, and then I don't have to frantically ask myself, "WHAT THE HELL SHOULD I HAVE FOR LUNCH?!". hehe. I'm borrowing a couple of Japanese cookbooks from the library, which are nice, but they're mostly Western-style stuff.

Wow. I've written a lot.

I'm also going to work on my existing stories. I need to do some research for my crime story first, though. I like writing it, though, because it's different from what I normally write - urban fantasy. Sometimes it's refreshing to write something a little more real, a little more logical. Maybe it's because you don't have to imagine as much. I mean, with a crime story you still have to imagine, but you don't have to make up magic or anything. It's all stuff that can happen anytime, anywhere.

I feel a lot better today than I have for the past few days. Probably because the weather is nice and cool. I still can't wait until I can wear jeans again.

That's all, folks :)

Feeling more normal

I'm almost back in knitting shape - which is great, because I want to get started on my HPKCHC assignments as soon as possible.

I have the theme from Happy Days stuck in my head. I guess it's because I've taken to watching Fraggle Rock at 9:00 and Happy Days at 9:30 whenever The Ellen Degeneres Show is a repeat - which it has been for the past few days. *is irked*

I started reading Fruits Basket the other day, and it's pretty neat. I'll have to put it on my birthday list.

Oh, and I started geometry yesterday. So far it's going good. I'll probably do some later - I'm avoiding polynomials ;) It's actually a pleasant change from polynomials. I'll probably finish my algebra booklet soon, I just need a break from it. Then I can move on to more interesting algebra :)

Writing!

All I did today was write, listen to 80s music via Youtube, and muck about on my computer. I tried to doctor a photo in Photoshop, but it didn't work out well.

Anyways - writing. I got quite a bit done. I started some Harry Potter fanfiction, and I worked on a story that had been resting for a little while. And I've found that 80s music helps with writing - I logged onto Youtube to put some music on, and in the 'reccomended videos' was the video for Billy Idol's 'White Wedding'. I love that video. It's so cool, and weird - like a Tim Burton flick. After that I saw a video for 'Rebel Yell' in the 'related videos', so I listened to that. I had noticed that in the 'White Wedding' video's related videos was the video for 'Don't You Want Me' by Human League, so I, being paranoid, checked to make sure it was the same one that AJ had put up on her Facebook page, then I listened to that, too. Awesome :)

I'm such a music geek :p

So. I didn't pester Dad to help me with Human 3D today. Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow, after youth group. I hope I can get to youth group.

I didn't do any algebra at all :p I did some polynomials yesterday, though.

MORE ANGER

So Mom is under the impression that I am not behind in schoolwork at all, that I'm doing the right work for my grade level. Never mind the fact that I only just started algebra this time last year, and I'm supposed to be in 'grade twelve' this year. By American standards, I think I'm doing algebra II. My mom and I had a fight about it. I'm telling her that I should have started algebra when I was 13, and she said that I didn't want to do algebra then. I told her that she had me doing fractions, and she told me that I had to go through the fractions to understand the algebra!!!

THEN HOW COME MY BROTHER UNDERSTOOD ALGEBRA WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ALL FOUR FRACTIONS BOOKS?!

...phew.

So Dad called me upstairs to tell me not to fight with Mom. I told him that she won't get it in her head that I'm behind, and he told me that I'm not behind.

I started biology-ish stuff not too long ago. I probably should have started biology at around grade ten, maybe grade nine. I have very little knowledge of geometry, because Mom had me doing fractions. I'm still lacking in general science knowledge. I have a chemistry book and a physics book, though, so science will be FUN this year.

I'm not worried about English. Even though everyone else has it in their heads that you MUST read Lord of the Flies in high school. Do our lives really depend on that book? I'd rather not read a book as harsh-sounding as Lord of the Flies. And Shakespeare? I like the Reduced Shakespeare Company for that. Reading the childrens' Shakespeare books by Lois Burdett help, too, if you want to skip most of the 'thys' and 'thous'. In fact, I think my sister borrowed the childrens' Macbeth when she was in high school.

The library will be my friend this year.

I'm honestly wondering who's in charge of my education here.

Not a very good morning...

It started early this morning. I couldn't get to sleep because the cat was playing with a mouse. Yes, I said 'playing'. I kept a light on in my room so that I could keep an eye on her - after all, who wants their cat to drop a mouse on their bed?

I somehow fell asleep and had the weirdest dream about going for a run, going to a yard sale and phoning Q107 to try out for their Joe Bloe Radio Show (basically, once a month, they pick someone from the phone-in auditions to co-host an hour of the evening show). Oh, and the dream also involved my mom meditating, if I remember correctly.

I woke up to find Smiles licking a dead mouse. Ugh. So I had to dispose of the mouse, then I had a shower.

So, not only am I feeling fatigued, but I also have a headache. I have to talk to my friends, Erica and Holly, about a shopping trip. But I'm too tired to suggest any dates to them, so I'll e-mail them later. I really do need to get out of the house more often - I rarely go shopping, and I never really shop with friends. I just never seemed interested in that sort of thing until now. But after all the crap with certain people, I need some retail therapy.

At leastI managed half a page of algebra yesterday. I don't know if I'll finish the page today... maybe after having a snooze to regain the sleep I lost.

Snider Reigns Supreme!

Once again, Jesse Blaze Snider is untouchable, safe from elimination! And he smashed a guitar!




My mom said that it even worked as a ballad, too!

In other news, once again, I got confused with my algebra. It turns out that my mom and I both messed up on one problem. I detest algebra...