Mel: It's an optical illusion, created by the distances and how near it is to the horizon. No size change, or lensing effect or such, just an optical thing. That's what I've read.

If you want to know why it get orang-ish at the horizon also, I can answer that too. I'm a geek...

I'm better now, which is good. And I promised to call a friend at 4 AM, so I have about 3 more hours to go! I'm happy.

I am mad at the 10-day forecast on weather.com...it originally said that there were going to be thunderstorms on the day of my Twilight party, and now it says there aren't! Waah! And we really wanted to play baseball...ah, well...

I'm trying to organize my books again, because many of my books are in boxes, and I'm finding that I need more shelf space...maybe I should just put up industrial shelving units or something, like my mom has in the pantry...I dunno...

Mel again: Wow...your brother's sock monkey obsession sounds...weird...haha, and sort of interesting.

I'm going to go keep organizing...

Dai Stiho!

Emi: Yay for being a senior! I'm only a sophomore...the majority of my close friends are juniors, though, and they call me an underclassman (jokingly) every chance they get. Oh to be an upper...

Eric: I definitely agree about fall. I can't stand the heat, and in southern Missouri it gets really hot and humid until mid-September. About the scientific calculator--if it's a Texas Instruments, it's worth it. You can get most TI calculators at Wal-Mart for about twenty dollars; at least, that's where I got mine. They're really helpful once you get past Algebra I. And don't worry too much about the guitar.

Mel: Your brother's sock monkey obsession sounds...strange. And weirdly awesome. I had a sock monkey when I was little and every time I'd come in the door I'd tell the sock monkey I was home. It never talked back. Oh, and Wombats=awesome! On another note, I'm not sure how I'd feel about going to an all-girls school. I'd enjoy there being less drama and stress about that sort of competition, and being closer to everyone would be a plus. I don't think I'd mind the uniforms either, but I would miss my guy friends. Other than that, I think it'd be fun.

wolf: The freshman stuff does get better after the first week. And there are pretentious people in every school; try not to let it get to you. Just avoid them. Just out of curiousity, what AP classes are you taking? At my school, there are no AP classes available until sophomore year.

kk: Good luck with your books! I have the same problem...only mine aren't in boxes, they're in piles. And the one set of shelves I have are double-stacked to avoid even more piles...I would say I should stop getting books, but then I'd probably go insane. And good luck with the thunderstorms as well, haha. By the way, why does the moon go orange?

So I started school last Wednesday, and it was exciting for the first three days but I'm getting over it. I'm really excited about choir and speech--I think both are going to be really good this year, though I don't think this year's choir can top last year's. I really like my teachers, especially for AP Bio and French I. The French teacher is really enthusiastic and almost always talks to us in French until we figure out what she's saying, which I think is really helpful and pretty fun as well. My bio teacher is a PhD, which is awesome. Also I have two brand new textbooks, Bio and French, and one that's only one year old, which is my AP US History one. I love my bio book; it's so shiny and pretty. Ah, I'm a geek.

I've used a lot of smileys today...hm...Dai stiho, everyone!

You know, what really bothers me about our school system across the world, really, is that it is so insincere. I can't think of a better word.
What I mean, is that most students study because they want to pass a test or course. For so many, once they're over the course, the entirety of the information that they've "accumulated" just goes flying out the window. They study not to learn, but to pass. And they'll say: "Well, if I'm lucky, I'll pass;" or "Watch me fail miserably." or some other nonsense. How much good are you doing yourself? After all, shoot for 100%. Everyone's got it in them to do better.
As well, there are the other students who are hung up on marks. They will cry: "Oh no! 19.5/ 20! That's awful! and rant and get hysterical about it ( although I admit to saying that once...) Still, there are those who obsess about each mark, each little X and think they fail. They care for the marks, and not for learning.
I don't know why this happens. On one hand, there is the willful, apathetic student who already feels like they fail; on the other hand, the student that feels as though each wrong answer is a death blow. Where's the middle? WHY don't students learn for LIFE instead of SCHOOL?

I don't mean it against anyone here...it's just I feel like this is what our school system has disintegrated into.

"Maybe its a key all the time and when you stab someone with it it unlocks their death"--



P.S. "it" is a sword/key thing

Onix! So great to see you posting around... I just want to remind you to check our FAQ's. Try to avoid a one-liner in posts, if you can and when you do post add something extra to keep the conversation going. Oh, and I don't mean to be mean or rude or condescending but please make sure your Signature is a least three lines long? It's a little big...

But please don't think I'm hating... I might just edit this to make it sound less... rude?

Anyway, Mel Wombats! Oh my God, when I read that I nearly laughed. Sorry, but I was just reading Speak at the time and they had changed they're Mascots so many times and at one point the Wombats was one of them. Your brother is... 20? Haha, I love him already!! Hahaha. That's so awesome.

I think that the all girls school sound like fun... but then again, my school has so much drama that doesn't even involve the boys.

eowyngirl: My French teacher did that too when I took French a few years ago. That was the most confusing first day of my life. Haha.

silverflight: I see your point. I know that I, myself, sometimes get a little upset at like one mark wrong on my tests... but I do know a lot of people who OBSESS over these grades. It's crazy...

School starts for me in... Three days. Hehe, Freshmen start a day early. Orientation they call it. I think it's just an excuse so that the upperclassmen don't overwhelm the freshmen on their first day. *shrugs* I don't mind one more day of summer.

I think I'll post in later... but I'm going to look around now.

Dai!

First day of high school was today.

After I got off the bus, I went to the gym and got my schedule, and we hung around there for a half hour or so. Then we went to the auditorium and got an explanation of how the different buildings of the campus are labeled on the schedules and how to find specific rooms. Then we went to each class for 15 minutes or so, and then we had a break in the Student Commons for a while, and then we went back to the auditorium where we had a guest speaker and the Student Council did some questions-and-answering (doing funny skits for each question). Then we played some games in large groups, then went home. My English teacher is wonderful -- she's the one that my shadow had. She's extreeeeemely nice, funny, great interaction with students... I mean I've NEVER seen a teacher this great in terms of personality! Then I had Intro to Theater, and that teacher is pretty good, too. Were going to be doing a mix of everything involved in putting a play together, including the acting, plus set building, sound and lighting, costumes, etc. Then I had Technology, and that teacher seemed pretty nice and caring. No homework in that class, but if you miss class one day than it could get difficult for you.... And the Science teacher seemed to be a pretty nice person, but a very hard teacher (the first thing I saw when I walked in to her room was "Bring a 3-ring, AT LEAST 2" binder and paper TOMORROW". Which means we're already taking notes tomorrow, and a quiz Friday, and a test next Friday, and a lab report the following Monday.... It seems to be a trend. Science teachers are nice enough but very hard!

eowyngirl: The moon goes orange and reddish at the horizon for the same reason that the sun does when it is setting or rising: it's the way the photons filter through the atmosphere. When the sun (or moon) is at the horizon, there is more atmosphere for it to go through, hence; only the orange and red photons filter through (making it appear orange).

Eric: Good luck with the science teachers!

In the same way, when the sun is higher in the sky, only the blue and purple photons filer through; which is what makes the sky blue.

That answer your question? (I'm a science geek, if you hadn't already noticed. The book Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait is a really good read, by the way. It's where I get a lot of my sciency information. )

kk: where were you when I took science? Haha. I would have loved to have you as my lab partner. Even though I managed to pass the class with A's, don't ask how that happened. Haha.

Eric: Wow, you have different buildings? How big is this school? How many minutes is passing period? Wow that's a lot of questions... haha. Anyway, good luck with the rest of your school year! Most of your classes sound like fun. Science teachers can be hard, but you can have FUN in that class. Doing all these labs and stuff. Beats having to listen to a 90 minute lecture. Haha.

Just a thought... should we open the School! Thread again? I mean we still talked about school here anyway so I don't know.

I'm adding music to a song I wrote. Now, I have to try to get it recorded so I can get it on to my computer. I want to edit it and stuff... possibly post it up somewhere? I don't know. But I'm really excited about it. As much as my fingers hate me for putting them through so much pain playing the guitar... It still hasn't gotten used to that.

It's c-cold in my house. The AC isn't even on. So why is it sooo cold? It's sunny outside. But it's cold. So long Summer, hello Fall.

Heh heh, amazingly, I've never posted here before, not sure why... but anyway, I'm now posting here!!!
So.... let me think of what I should say.......
Ah, hmm... well, I've got more books then I know what to do with. Two boxes under my bed, two shelves full, and a bunch scattered around my floor. (My room's a complete mess XD)

So....... I like drawing, and RPing, and I think it'd be cool (not to mention awesome, wonderful, and incredibly fun) to have a job as a website/graphic designer. That'd be my dream job! Ooh yes, and since I'm not old enough to have a job yet, I like making graphics for people I meet online, which is also cool, awesome, wonderful and incredibly fun, but my mom doesn't take it seriously. DX

I've got 4-7 websites (depending on whether you count the inactive ones) and I LOVE going online!
But now I think I'm getting a little boring... I'm just gonna post this, can't think of anything else to say.

Dai!

Emi: Haha, that's what several of my friends have said...they say that it's not fair that I'm homeschooled, so I can't help them get through Biology this year... You got A's? Good for you!

Your house is cold? Hmmm...I wonder why...

My house is always a good temperature, though my bedroom varies between freezing cold and boiling hot. So...it's random. I mean, it varies daily. One day, cold, the next day, hot. I don't really know why, because the rest of the house is always the same...

I just rambled on about no real subject...

Oh, and Hi, Hanna-WindShadow!

I should go back to work now...wait...I'm finished! *has had braindead moment* Ok...so I won't go back to work...

Well, people are now starting to rush into church to see a magician perform (it's a fun event tonight), so I should go before someone realizes that I'm using the computer for fun stuff instead of work...

Dai Stihó!

Ah, book organisation! I just managed, finally, to shelve all of mine - 1360 of them in total, give or take a couple. I'm now trying, albeit slowly, to add them all to my Shelfari account, which as a lot of the older books don't have ISBN numbers is going to take -quite- a while. But I love my books. When I move houses I store them in bread crates (superbly useful for the purpose).

Speaking of cold rooms, maybe I should shut my window. (Darned cold August!)

Answers to Emi's questions:

Yes, multiple buildings. The main building is where my English, Tech, and Science classes are, as well as the technology office, nurses' office, main office, counseling office.... Then there's the other building that houses the auditorium, the gym, the band room, and a few rooms having to do with technology. Then the school's original building, the old library, and the... um... bicentennial building, which I've been told houses mostly language classrooms. Total enrollment? I have no idea, possibly around 2,000.... I'll have to check on that!

Lunch is a half hour, coming in five times ( depending on what part of which building you're in; for me, day one is at 11:55 and day 2 is 11:10). I believe that each block is 90 minutes.

Speaking of lunch, they sure feed us well there! There are always a number of options each day; pizza every day (very good pizza, not dripping in grease like at the middle school), and today there were tacos, macaroni and cheese, plus an assortment of sandwiches. Yesterday, I got 2 pieces of pizza, 1/2 pint of chocolate milk, and a Reese's ice cream bar, and it was $5.50! I said, "I can't spend that much on food every day after spending $2.50 at the MS every day....", so I got a taco boat today, apple juice, and a Reese's ice cream bar, and it was STILL $5.50! I don't know if the apple juice is more expensive or it if was the taco.... But anyway, there are bagels and muffins in the mornings, plus vending machines in the auditorium building and outside the cafeteria, with drinks and snacks. So, theoretically, I could eat everything in school: breakfast, lunch, and my after-school snack (since there's a 15-minute gap between the final bell and the buses getting here), and just have dinner at home. I'm not sure whether that'd be more expensive or not.... And most of the teachers (except the computer teacher, of course) allow us to have a snack during class, since some of the sending towns have to be on the bus at 6 AM and they're hungry way before lunch....

No, it's not a private school. I guess you consider it semi-private. There are about 5 sending towns, including mine, and these sending towns don't have high schools of their own, so they send tuition to the high school every year (it's a per-student cost, and the sending schools are forced to pay whatever they ask for) and provide transportation.

Hee, I never realized how much I like this school until I wrote all this!

Well, I've been at my college a week and a half, and am currently loving it. I mean, yeah...I'm seriously homesick. But I got really lucky with my roommate, who is like me only not a runner. And she wants to be a neuroscience major, not an english one. XD Crazy scientists...

It's taken awhile to get used to things...sometimes I'm just not sure what to do with myself (although I suppose the reading for my classes might be a good idea. Don't worry, I've gotten it all done-I even read a 312 page book in 2 days, AND ran cross country and went to classes at the same time.) There's a lot of free time when you only have classes for like...3 hours a day (on MWF) and 2-3 hours a day on Tuesday and Thursday. And now that the Olympics are over, my roomie and I aren't sure what to watch on TV, since Grey's Anatomy isn't back until September 25...holy cow, it's Wednesday. Jon & Kate + 8 might be on. Hold on a sec...ohmigosh. I love this show. Can hardly believe it's on right now, and I've got time to watch it!

I'm taking 3 classes, plus my freshman year seminar: a history class on China, an AMAZING English class with one of the best English professors on campus, Latin 101, and my seminar, which is on Legends of the Grail. I'm happy about all of them, except for Latin 101...I'm kind of mad I didn't place out of it, but there are people in my class who took 4 years of Latin in high school and didn't place out of the class, so I suppose it's alright...I had a good time for picking classes though, which is why I've got classes I'm happy about.

My school is all about the traditions, which is amazing. I think I made the right choice, since I actually feel at home on campus. I've never felt at home anywhere except, well...home. So this is a good sign. I've met a lot of cool people (both girls and boys )

My mom sent me a care package already, and in it were cookies...and a package of barrel full of monkeys. I never had barrel full of monkeys when I was a kid; we just never bought them. But they are the greatest procrastination tool known to this college student (after facebook, I suppose.) I love them, lol.

Hope everyone's having a good back to school time...I've kind of given up on keeping track of what happens in TOGR, sorry about that.

...I feel so old all of a sudden. It's been five, six years since I left school.

Only five or six years? It's six or seven times as long for me. Don't worry about it.

Schools here go back next week, and then the traffic along my journey to work will be back to term-time normal. It's so much easier getting out of the house during the holidays. Of course, when it comes to visiting museums and so on, as I did on the Friday I had off work a couple of weeks back, school holidays mean hordes of kids running around. I visited the Natural History Museum. It was very busy, and I'm almost sure at least half the other people there were under ten years old. Earplugs are good.

hehe I know what you mean Trialia. I usually avoid this topic because its mostly just people talking about school...

On the topic of school, anyway, I'm currently six weeks into my honours project (ah! I'm a postgrad) and I'm really enjoying it, for the most part. Ask me again in a month and a half when I'm in the middle of my 8000 word essay, and I might have a different opinion. I'm a little scared, though. I started geology with the firm intention that one day I would be a vulcanologist, but now I don't know if I'll ever get that far... The more I learn about coal and petroleum bearing rocks and sedimentary stuffs, the more interested I am in them. Perhaps I need to go and find some interesting papers on "hard rock" just to keep up my knowledge of that third of geology. There is also a possibility of a _funded_ (!) PhD project in carbon geosequestration! *sigh* So much to choose from...

Anyways, I have to run into uni now I get to tutor the second year sedimentary rocks practical (funfun). Its so weird tutoring people who are the same age or a year or two (in some cases older!) than you are.

quote:

Originally posted by Trialia:
...I feel so old all of a sudden. It's been five, six years since I left school.

It's been five or six years since it's been five or six years since it's been five or six years since I left school.

And I was reading YW before I left school.

YOU feel old? :-)

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while!

All you people talking about how you feel old makes me feel really really young. It feels weird.

And then I start feeling old again when I have to explain to my friends about old tv shows that they very well should remember, but somehow don't...

Recently I've been playing the beta test of the MMORPG "Wizard 101." It's...interesting...very addictive...and kind of fun... In some ways it's just weird, though. I'm trying to get my little sister to play it. She's now just as addicted as I am. :P

Well, my dad's yelling at me to go to bed, so I guess I should go.

Dai Stihó!

Eric: Wow that's a lot of buildings!! Man, I thought my school lunches were expensive but yours is $5.50? Geesh! My lunches just uped 25 more cents to make it $3.00...

Hungry: That's great your loving college!!! Hm. I love Jon and Kate Plus 8! That's such a cute show. I love how a Barrel of Monkeys were a part of your care package. That's awesome.

quote:

kk: All you people talking about how you feel old makes me feel really really young. It feels weird.

Haha I agree with kk... Just kidding.

Ah!! My birthday is tomorrow. August 31st. I'm so excited... 17!! Woot. Haha. I'm like one of the youngest person in my grade. I've had several people say "Oh My God, you're a senior and only 17? WOW." Haha.

I'm going to go to the beach again... with my friends and my boyfriend. This time I get to drive there!!! YES! I might stop by at a town near the beach to meet up with one of my old friends. Should be interesting.

Oh school! Haha. I forgot about that. Okay, so my first "week" (two days) of school was really cool. I love my classes. A-block (first of the four 90 min classes) I have TV Production. It's so cool! I got to play around with the cameras and the switchboards (it deals with trasitions and cuts to different shots) I love it. We're going to make a news cast in a few weeks and I'm the Political Anchor. Haha. I also have to run playback, so I'll be in the "news room" when I'm reporting.

B-Block I have Contemporary Asia. It's soo... laid-back. Awesome. My teacher was hilarious on the first day. He walked in to the room and then walked out, and then walked back in and walked back out. We were all wicked confused why he was doing that. And then he walked back in and told us to stand up. So we all did. And then he puts his palms together in front of him and bows and says "Namaste" We all mimicked him and he smiled and sat down.

"That's how we're going to begin class every morning." He said. "We'll start out with 'namaste' and then go on to the Chinese greeting (don't know how to spell it) and then an Islamic greeting (not sure how to spell that either) and then 'Ohio gozaimasu' (Japanese for good morning)." I new the last one, THANK GOD for having a Japanese father.

So that class should be interesting. We'll be learning about the history, culture, and language.

C-block is Accounting and lunch. Accounting is so easy... There's like 12 seniors in that class... I don't doubt we're all going to be slacking....

D-block is English! Yay. I love English it's like one of my favorite classes. Anyway, I've had this teacher for three years now. So she knows me a lot and depends on me to know the answers to stuff... Greeeatt. It's quite hilarious, actually. The majority of the class has HAD her before either two or three times. One person had for FOUR years. That sucks. She's not the _greatest_ teacher, the class always gets out of hand and she usually ends up getting in to an arguement with the kids. Haha. It's entertaining but utterly frustrating when you want to learn. I already have an essay due on Weds.

Oh and new things about the school. The lobby's being renovated (still) it was in the works during summer and they STILL haven't finished it. I hope it'll be done before we graduate. ANYWAY, the football field's done, along with the track. THANK GOD. We'll be able to have graduation on the football field this year. We now have a 5 MILLION dollar stage. Haha. My principal is a big Theatre guy, and he directs the plays so... yeah. New class rooms...

The "Tundra" an outdoor area in the middle of the school. It's closed in by the building, is going to be a privilige for the Seniors!!! They're putting out picnic tables and benches for us to hang out and eat or do homework or read... during school. A lot of people have blocks off or half blocks (skinnys) so it's really cool for us. And there's a posibility for an overnight Senior trip! This is all exciting because everything is new!

Ahhh, Senior year should be the best year!!

Well, on Thursday, I got some chicken noodle soup for lunch, with chocolate milk, and the Reese's ice cream bar (again... I seem to have an obsession with Reese's lately because I get the ice cream bar for lunch and then get some peanut butter cups for an after-school snack as I wait for my bus ) and it was... $3.75? Maybe $4.25.... What I hate is that there aren't prices for anything so it's always a guess when I go up to the register.

Hmm.... Emi, your principal is in to Theater? Our headmaster is in to sports.... He has this "lovely" idea to expand our sports complex down the road. Nice idea, but where's the money going to come from? Demand it from the sending towns, I guess, and make the other school systems suffer. Expand in to what? The historical district, wetlands. Tons of consideration needed for building procedures and lots of protest from the neighbors of the sports complex, but Mister Headmaster presses on.... I mean, it is great that he wants the best thing for his school, staff, and students, but there's a certain line where you have consider the other schools, neighbors, etc.

A couple days ago, I mowed the lawn at my mom's church. My mom told someone on the council that I would mow it after school. Well, my dad had to go somewhere, and my mom had to work, so I was stuck riding several miles to the church, up a series of long, steep hills. The lawn at the church is a hill, too, and mowing with a manual push mower is wicked tough. I drove back home sat in a chair feeling as if a bus had it me and parked on my upper back.... I'm still sore today.

Emi again: There's a Senior area in your school for free blocks? That sounds neat. Here, our Seniors have Senior Privileges, which allows them to leave the campus during free blocks. If they have a block free at the end of the day, they can go home early.

Yesterday, I walked to my friend's house from school with him and one of his friends (he lives about a mile away). The high school really doesn't care at all what happens to us after school. Last year on my bus, a high schooler would bring a friend, and my driver would just ask if both parents knew about it and that was it. At the middle school, parents of both children had to call the main office at least a day ahead of time, then the office would call the bus coordinator, then you had to get a bus pass from the office, and the main secretary in the office was NOT a nice lady....

Does it seem to anyone as though high school teachers are more enjoyable than middle/elementary school teachers? Aside from the campus supervisors (don't do ANYTHING suspicious around them!), it is a much more laid-back and pleasant environment. The teachers just seem happier.

This evening, we're going to my aunt and uncle's to play dominoes. I'm at my grandfather's now, and we're going to go to 4 o'clock mass and then either meet my parents somewhere or my grandfather will bring me all the way to my aunt and uncle's.