A Sigh of Relief

   After today, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I have been working my butt off this past week to get all of the work on my independent study project for my English class done for today. I have worked about a total of at least 12 hours in the past couple days, and I never even ended up finished reading the second book. I can't say how good it felt to be able to hand in the rough drafts and whatnot today. It means at least a weekend free from working or thinking about it. FREEDOM!

   I have been thinking for a while on what I will do my Biology project on, though, since I have been so busy with this one. I have chosen symbiosis in nature, which is basically species who live together mutually and work off of each other. A cool example of this is the clown fish and sea anemones. The anemone provides the fish with protection, and the fish provides the anemone with a source of nutrition. Without each other, they would both likely die. I think it's a pretty interesting topic. At least one that I will not be bored looking into.

   Also this week I submitted my university applications. It was an easy process once I decided what programs I wanted. After I was done though, I don't know if I felt more or less relieved. I mean, I didn't have to worry anymore about doing them, or stressing about what choices to make. But all of sudden the reality that I am in my final year of high school, and in a few short months I will be leaving home to start this, was just all too scary. It was kind of a momentary panic as to what emotion I should be feeling. Makes me wonder what will happen when/if I get accepted.

   Kayla and I ended up watching Edward Scissorhands, which I must say was a really good movie. I laughed a lot, which means that it has to be good. We also made a cake. A NyanCat cake. It was awesome.
   Adam, the Father Ted clip was hilarious. Maybe over the Christmas Break I will watch some of the episodes on YouTube. They really seem like they are worth a look.
   Kate, you are so lucky that you have other Nerdfighers in your town. Other than Kayla, there are no other really nerdy people around here. Which is really notsome. Also, I laugh at the Internet Censorship idea. They can try, but I don't think it is quite possible. People will find a way around it.
   Kira, I am infinitely jealous of your five day weekend. We only got 3 days for our Thanksgiving. Also I had a ton of homework to do during that weekend, which didn't help the relaxation. I hope yours is relaxing though.

   I have a music recommendation for this week. It is Alice's Theme by Danny Elfman, from Alice in Wonderland. I have had the tune from this song stuck in my head all week, and as much as I love love love it, it has driven me crazy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

   Hope your weeks have gone well and better than mine, and that your Thanksgivings (or regular Thursdays) have passed with pleasure. Don't forget to be awesome!
-Deidra

A Recipe for Writing

   Instead of concentrating on homework, or focusing on writing my post, I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies with my sister while watching The Big Bang Theory. Of course, when baking with my sister, I mean that I measure all ingredients, she stirs everything, and then I do the actual baking part while she waits for the cookies. It's alright in the end. I don't mind it too much, but I do wish that she would help a bit more sometimes, especially when I have a lot of work to do.

   I haven't really done all that much this week. I have been working on my university applications, and I think I am just about ready to send them off. I just want to double/triple check my choices, and make sure that it is what I want to do. I am kind of worried that I will not be accepted into my first choice program, which is also really my only choice. There is only one school that I want to attend, and one program that I really want to do, which is English/Education. I do have a fallback choice, which is just studying English, and a second fallback of Northern and Polar Studies. Both of them are very interesting, and the Northern studies program seems very interesting, but I've had my heart set on teaching since I was little. It's what I've always wanted to do.

   Campion, I do hope that your exams are going well. I know exactly what you mean by hand cramps during English. I wrote a test in English this week, and pretty much every 5 minutes I had to stop and stretch the muscles in my hand. I wish I really was ambidextrous, it would help so much in situations like that. The holidays are coming soon though, so hang in there and good luck.
   Looking at your post, Kayla, I cannot believe it has only been a week since Remembrance Day. I guess last week was just too hectic and chaotic that my mind has pushed it away. As for the movie, it is probably another that I will never see. Though it did sound alright. Just not the type of thing I am into watching.
   I hope your protest went well, Adam. Hopefully it does some good. College and university fees are getting outrageously high these days. It's nuts. No one ever seems to listen to the students, to the people that matter. Also, it's good to see that I am not the only one who looks at the blog statistics. I think it's cool that 'Cupcake Birthday' is one of our linking searchwords. It makes what I have done for birthdays a little more special.
   It was funny that you mentioned David Tennant in the Harry Potter movie, Katie, as I had just watched that movie a few days before. And I was specifically looking for Tennant. He looks completely crazy as Barty Crouch Jr. It was a stark contrast to him as the Doctor.
   I am jealous of you, Kate, that you are reading The Catcher in the Rye. I have wanted to read it for a while now. I have been to busy this year so far with English class and all of its required reading that I haven't been able to do any pleasure reading. It is very annoying, especially since I recently bought The Scorpio Races, which I have been waiting forever to read.

   I found it strange for a moment that you had to copy and past an accent for your French, Kira, but then I remembered that I have a weird bilingual keyboard, and can put aççents on my lètters with just à kéystroke. It made my two years of French classes much easier, but it can be annoying when typing now.

  

   Keep writing those NaNo novels, guys. I know that you will succeed, and that your stories will be amazing. Even if you don't end up writing the entire 50K, at least you tried. So keep calm, and don't forget to be awesome!

-Deidra

I Be Distracted

   This week has been a short one for me, since I did not go to school today. My family and I went to the city to do some shopping, and also because they had some appointments to go to. It was mostly boring, as shopping usually is for me, but I bought a book that is surprisingly very good. It is called Boy Proof, and I am almost finished reading it already. I would be done if it hadn't gotten so dark on the way home.

   I don't have school tomorrow, but I still have to get up a bit early to do some work for my online World History course. I have to finish and submit an assignment that I have barely started, since it is due tomorrow. Also this weekend I have to study for a biology quiz, do English homework from today, and start the history assignment that is due on Monday. I really wish school would be over now.

   Craig looked a little lonely, so I drew this for you Katie. I copied the baseline from a Google image, not from my head. I am not that creative. But it is my favourite kind of dinosaur cartoon, because it is so adorable. Also, my definition of hero is someone that you can look up to and take strength and ideas from I guess. I've always been a bit sketchy with the idea of heros. I kinda prefer the term role model, or something of the like. 'Hero' is just a bit too fictional for my liking. I don't know.

  
   Campion I am extremely jealous that you got to see a Shakespeare play. I would love to see one, though I have never read Henry IV. I have only read Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice. Personally Romeo and Juliet is my favourite of those, but for different reasons than most people. It is the play that really got me interested in English, and one of the main reasons why I now want to study it in university. To see it in the Globe Theatre would be to die for!
   Kira, your story was funny and reminded me of my Wednesday. We were in the library doing our online courses, and a friend of ours decided to take a nap underneath the the computer desks. I mean, he was sort of hung-over, but it was still pretty random.
   Congrats Kate on being sorted into Ravenclaw! Also on being able to play the ukulele so quickly. I am amazed.  =)
   Adam I hope you have a good week and that college is exciting. Please tell us how those challenges went, I am interested in seeing how you did in them.
   Kayla, I will never look at pudding the same way again.

   I hope you all have a good week and a good Thursday! Don't forget to be awesome!

I Refuse To Grow Up

     This past week has been kind of weird. I have been frantically trying to change my online history course for a writer's craft course, and I don't know exactly what is going to happen with it. I am really really hoping to get into it, since English and writing are what I love (and history is just bleh). Also, I have been writing a lot of essays for English class, which has been wearing me down. Essays are not fun to write.

     I did do a fun exercise on descriptive writing, where I had to describe what I can see from my bedroom window. Since I live in the basement I thought it was going to be extremely difficult, but once I opened my blinds (which are always closed, it was the first time they had been opened in months) I found that it was actually pretty easy to describe what was out there.

Living Low

     Soft yellow light filters down through dusty window panes as the tips of dying blades of grass leisurely brush the glass. In the brightening sky jet black birds make slow smooth circles, their shrill calls piercing the tranquility. Rising, the remainder of the scene comes into view. The front lawn unfolds in front of me, a vast expanse of glistening green broken up only by a declining shrub. The small number of remaining leaves make the plant appear skeletal and lifeless. Beyond its twisted branches lies the cracked and faded road, void of people and purpose during this moment. The houses that line the street remain dark, only their faces illuminated by the glowing light radiating from the street lights. Dropping back onto the bed, the scene disappears from view, once again engulfed by the walls of the room.

      I had never heard of Starcraft before you mentioned it in your post, Campion. It seems like an interesting sort of game. I am not much of a gamer, but it looks like something that I might like to try. Anyway, a few days after reading your post, I overheard some guys in my school talking about it. Coincidence? I think not.
      Kayla, the only thing I have to say to you is read more of The Great Gatsby! I finished it on the weekend and am dying to talk about it with you. The beginning of the novel was a little dry, but the ending is what really makes it worth the read. Just keep going!
     Happy Belated Birthday Adam! I hope it was really good and that you celebrated it well. Here is your Internet birthday cupcake, do enjoy!  ^.^  Also, some of those challenges sound pretty scary. I would probably be too embarrassed or shy to do many of them.

     Sorry to hear that you had a suckish week Katie. But I expect to see a dinosaur at some point in the future, so that I have something to cheer me up whenever I have a bad week (since I cannot draw dinosaurs).

     Kate, I am jealous of your ukulele. Although I have no musical talents I would love to have one, because they are so adorable and awesome. Are you going to decorate yours and make it nerdy? Or just leave it like it is?

     Congratulations Kira on your acceptance into Gryffiindor! I also have always believed myself to be a Ravenclaw, but I would accept Gryffindor or Hufflepuff anyday. Slytherin on the other hand, I would not. =P

     I must now go and do more English homework. So I hope you guys enjoyed this post, because I used it to procrastinate my work, and that you all have good weeks. Don't forget to be awesome. Ever!

I Even Ended Up Taking That Physics Class....

So it's back to the daily grind of school. All I can say is this will probably the first year where I won't have endless amounts of free time from putting work off or simply not having all that much work to do. It's actually kind of hard for me to believe that it's only been four days, I've been so busy it feels way longer than that. It already looks like I'll have more to do in Student Council than last year and I know for sure I'll have more work to do for my classes. And that's basically why I decided to write on Friday, because that way I would actually have time to post and the rest of the weekend to do homework. But, yeah, I'll try to not complain about school in every post.

In my English class we're supposed to be reading The Great Gatsby right now which I think is pretty cool because John is doing those videos on it at the same time. I'm also going to be reading Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility for my Independant Study Unit. I was thinking of reading those books sometime anyway so I figured they'd be a decent choice.

Also today was pretty exciting because there was some problem with the fire alarm, making it go off for no apparent reason so we got to stand outside for like at least a half hour and miss class while the firemen checked it out. Four fire trucks came which was pretty cool.

Adam, I hope college is going well and you're enjoying yourself. Also Happy (early) Birthday, because it's closer to the 12th now then it would be if I waited till my next post. Hope you have an awesome one.

Katie, don't worry about your little panda drive adventure. I think it happens to most people every once in a while. I myself am constantly looking for lost things and sometimes it turns out I was holding it the whole time.

Kate it must be kind of a big thing for your brother to be training to join the army and I'm not really sure what to say, but good luck to him. I hope it goes well.

Kira I hope your sweater was fixable. I don't have a sweater like that, but I know if something else I cared about was damaged I would also be pretty upset about it.

Deidra, I know what you mean about it being nice to see all your friends again because I'm usually gone for the summer and super unconnected with everyone (except you) during that time period.

Campion, I don't really keep up with sports either, even though hockey is a huge thing here in Canada. But when we hosted the Winter Olympics and won against the US in men's hockey for gold I was cheering so hard I even surprised myself.

DFTBA
Kayla