Reading Goals

One of my goals for 2011 is to read more. I'm trying to finish up the novels I started a while ago, but I also want to start and finish a good amount of books this year.

Fortunately, Goodreads now has a feature where you can set a goal of how many books you want to read in 2011. Because I read so slowly, I decided on 10 books - Mom recommended that number last night when I told her about the Goodreads feature. I think it's a reasonable enough goal for me, and I can always go past the goal if I think I can.

Speaking of last night, Mom gave me a brief lesson in long division last night. It was late - about 11:00 - so my brain wasn't at its sharpest. But perhaps I'll actually remember what she taught me.

Mom also got out some books on math by Danica McKellar (she played Winnie on Wonder Years). At first I was skeptical about them, because they're written for girls to enjoy math more, so I thought they'd be overly-girly, but I was wrong: I flipped through the middle school math book, Math Doesn't Suck, and it has some useful tips. I know some of the math in Math Doesn't Suck, like factoring numbers in algebra, but I might still use it to brush up on decimals and percents, because I never did work through decimals and our Key Curriculum book on percents got lost somehow.

I cast off the bobble pillow a week or so ago :) It's not quite done yet, though - I have to buy a pillow form yet, and then it'll have to be seamed up. I'm still happy, though, because it's one less project on the needles.

That's all for now. I'll post again soon :)

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 :)

A somewhat productive Thursday

So, I didn't go to youth group last night, because chances are I would have bitched Stephen out for leaving me and Stone stranded last week.

Today's been good. I did some biology - another skull page. But this one's the last of the skulls - next I get to learn about the ribcage and such. I just wish Human 3D would stay functioning - I loved the animations. Mom gave me this biology e-book CD-ROM that used to be Katie's, but I haven't tried running it yet, because the system requirements say Windows 95, so... I'm a little scared :p I'm sure it'll run okay, but still, I want to be careful.

I was going to do memoir writing, but I never got around to it. Maybe tomorrow. I worked on one story a little, but not much. I also read a little bit of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

No math today, but I might start Key to Geometry soon.

This afternoon, before Coronation Street came on, I watched Milk and cast on for my Herbology assignment. Milk was fantastic. Harvey Milk, to me, seemed to me like a Caucasian Martin Luther King Jr. - a powerful speaker. It is a shame, a real shame, that his life was cut short.

The Herbology assignment didn't go too well - my work was too loose, so I ripped it out, and I'm going to start again using a smaller circular needle.

Right now, my wrists are aching, so I should probably give myself a break from knitting and excessive typing tomorrow. Maybe I'll ask Mom to help me block some stuff, including the blanket square. And then maybe I'll borrow her camera and take a photo of the blanket square so that I'll earn points for my house.

I was thinking today that I should not only start geometry, but also physics. I have a physics book, but I'm concerned about what math I'll need for physics. Maybe I'll wait until I've done some geometry, or maybe I'll just go ahead and work through the physics book.

I was supposed to exercise today. Maybe tonight, before bed. I'll probably do some shadow-boxing (basically, shadow-boxing is fighting an imaginary opponent), and some exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc.

I might also start a simple roll-brim hat, maybe adapting the pattern from Hip to Knit so that it's in the round instead of knit flat and seamed.

Drinkin' pimple juice

Actually, it's pineapple juice, but my mom and I like to call it pimple juice. lol.

So today has been somewhat eventful. We went to the lab because Mom had to have a blood test done, but there were, like, 25 other people there, so we had breakfast at the restaurant in the same plaza. I had a waffle with a side of breakfast sausages. It was yummy. And filling, since it's ten after eleven and I don't feel hungry. I may not eat lunch for another couple of hours.

I tried to do some polynomials, but I may have to redo some of them, because they have mixed symbols - a plus and a minus. I hate those kinds of polynomials, because you have to figure out if it has to be positive or negative. And usually, when you times a positive by a negative, you get a negative (see? I remember at least one of the algebraic principles!), so if you're times-ing the factors at the beginning of the polynomial, you'd wind up with all negatives - but, at the end you have to have a positive in there. So yeah... re-writing must be done before I can say that the polynomials are finished. eep.

My Labyrinth fanfiction is coming along nicely. I've also started a crime story that I wrote down in a notebook a few days ago - basically, I wrote down a paragraph, the plot, and a few character names in the notebook, and today I started it in Word, and it's taking shape better than the paragraph I'd written in the notebook.

So, I don't think I'm going to youth group tonight, because I think Dad's working this evening. I'm not too bothered, though. As long as people don't bitch me out for missing three meetings, I'm happy.

The weather's nicer today. It was chilly this morning, though - about 32 degrees farenheit - so I wore my ski jacket. There's still patches of snow here and there, but not as much as yesterday.

I should be doing math

...but I feel like writing.

Today's been a good day. Not much schoolwork got done, but I did a bit of writing. I wrote a lot last night, it was brilliant. I might start some memoir writing - that, and I have to work on essay writing. I want to read more books on other cultures and religions, too. In fact, I reserved a book on paganism, but it's on order so I may not get it for a few months.

I might walk to the library tomorrow, because the two DVDs I'm borrowing from the library are due on.... the 8th, I think. And I've never walked anywhere on my own, really. I know that sounds pathetic and childish, but it's true. And I need some time alone.

The weather is damp, rainy and pretty awesome. I like damp weather - I think I'm most creative when it's damp, or windy, because when the weather's warm and sunny I get lazy, and when it's freezing cold I just want to curl up with a book and a cup of hot chocolate.

I think I'll do some math later, though - try and get that big page of polynomials done. Or maybe I'll put in my CD-ROM and read up on geometry.

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.

Yay!

Not much to report, except that I'm going over to my uncle's house on the day before Father's Day, which is pretty awesome. My uncle's a wacky guy, and my cousins (his children) are also awesome. One of them is going to art school in the fall!

Plus, tonight the finale of Rock the Cradle is on. GO JESSE BLAZE SNIDER!!!

Also, I've figured out how to use up my blue acrylic - a ruff! I'm borrowing a knitting book called One-Skein Wonders from the library, and it has a pattern for a ruff. I did a test swatch, and it's close enough, so the pattern will most likely work!

The only downside is that tomorrow's Monday, which means I'll have to get back to my math. But hey, that's life...

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...