All the Little Fishies

     So sadly we did not get any comments. Boo. But whatever, we read it and that is what matters to me. Glad you are all doing well. I have had a pretty awesome week, mostly because I am actually doing things and mostly staying on top of reading and assignments. I have started going to the pool 2 or 3 times a week to get some well-needed exercise, and I really hope to be able to keep that up. Only downside is that I currently don't have a hat with me here, so it was pretty chilly on my walk home.

     The most exciting thing that happened this week was that I got fish! Yay fish! Mostly to keep me company and whatnot. A house-mate upgraded to a new tank, so I took his old one. I got two guppies, two neon tetras, and a snail. And of course I named them all. The guppies are Titan and Kavik, the tetras Brett and Iris, and the snail is Pierre. I have spent a good amount of time just staring into the tank and watching them. 

     You are very lucky Kayla. I have not been able to attend any meetings for the clubs I have joined, as they always happen during my evening classes. Hopefully I will get to one soon. I joined the English Students Association and a club for writing. You do not need any more television shows. Stop before you are totally overwhelmed with feels. 

     I am hopefully doing NaNoWriMo this year, Katie. The writing club has NaNo support, so I am hoping that it will push me towards doing something. Also I've been wanting to write every year since I learned about it, but haven't. I have an idea of what I would like to write about, I just have to flesh it out a bit more and hope for the best. Also, I hope to have enough time for it. 

     So clearly I vote for Canada for your exchange, Adam. Specifically, come to my school. I am pretty sure Lakehead has exchange programs with Ireland, and it would be cool if you did. Canada is cold, so I don't know if that is a plus or minus for you. Like, really cold. We also have beautiful nature and free health care, though I don't think you would get that. There are a lot of cool activities you could do here. And of course Canadian food. 

     Kate, I haven't watched an episode of Hank games in a long time, and I've only ever watched two episodes of Super Mario Brothers. I prefer to play games instead of watching them. Also haven't really been on YouTube in forever. As for posters, I have The Avengers, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and an Exploding TARDIS. I also have a map of the world and a map of Shakespeare's England, courtesy of Kayla. 

     Anyway, it's been a long week for me. Tried tea for the first time this evening, at an event in The Study (our university's coffee house), and it was not bad. Go forth and explore the world my friends! And don't forget to be awesome.
-Deidra

Woot December!

   Yay, it's finally December! Now, only 24 more days until Christmas. I'm kind of super excited, but more for the break part than the holiday. I have been so horribly busy these past weeks, and the next few will be annoying only because I'm now looking forward to the break. But my sister and niece are coming down to visit for a week to spend Christmas with us, so that will make it even better.

   I am also starting a blogging challenge on my personal blog. I will be posting a photo and writing every single day, which I hope I will be able to do. I am excited to do it, especially sincec some of the day's challenges are going to be really good. Except for tomorrow, which is supposed to be a self-portrait. I'm not a big fan of photos.

   I'm glad that your exams are all finished, Campion. I know the feelings of stress and anxiety that exams bring. I haven't seen Lord of the Rings, but I do intend to before my school year is over with Kayla. There just always seems to be something else to see when I am in the mood to watch a movie. Plus, they are really long, and I would want to watch them all together.

   Congrats on NaNo, Kate. I am assuming that you have finished by today, which is pretty amazing. Looking back, I would never have had enough time to get anywhere in a NaNo novel. Also, your kitties are adorable! This is my baby, Boots. Also one o my favourite pictures of her. She likes to follow me around the house, and even sleeps on te corner of my bed sometimes. I am going to miss her when I leave for school.  =(

   I've never tried tea, but your list of reasons may make me more inclined to do so one day, Katie. Until then, I will sit here and drink my hot chocolate while watching Doctor Who. I do celebrate Christmas, but there aren't many traditions that we have. I mean, we always do a special dinner with who ever is here with us, and decorate the house and such. The music, though, is something that I don't especially enjoy. It is just annoying for me, and it never changes. It isn't really fun or exciting, and years of stupid Christmas concerts growing up have really caused me to hate them.

   Happy early birthday Kira! I hope that you have a good day, and aren't plagued with homework or anything for the weekend. Here is your internet birthday cupcake, please wait until Sunday to enjoy though =P 

I thought it was both birthday-y  and Christmas-y, and totally awesome. And delicious. Hope you love it! (despite the fact that you must love it from afar.)

Well, have a good weekend all, and look into my blog to see my blogging/photo challenge. I'm hoping to not miss any days. And 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

Homework and NaNo = My life right now.

I fell behind on my word count for NaNo yesterday, it is now lacking 800 words plus what I have to write today.I hopefully will start writing 2000 a day so I stay ahead.  Right now I have about 9200 words, but I have yet to type up what I had written during study time at school.  This week is very busy for me so I know my word count will suffer even more, I just have to keep writing and do my best.

Tomorrow is the band/orchestra concert.  I play in the orchestra and I'm kind of nervous even though I know I shouldn't be.  Thursday is my 16th birthday as well as Academic Achievement Awards night.  If you had a gpa of 3.7 or higher you receive this award.  After the ceremony, everyone goes to the gym to get snacks and talk.  The orchestra provides background music so I will also be playing then.
Finally, Friday I am going to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert.  They are great; I really recommend you look up their First Snow song.  Preferably on youtube so you can see footage of the concert. I get to take my best friend along to the concert, and she is going to be spending the night for my birthday.
So you can see how my word count will fall behind.  Good luck to those who are doing NaNoWriMo.

Well, I've got to get to work.  Homework and then NaNo.
Fun.

Kate

Word Count: Not What It Should Be...

Almost forgot to post today since I was relaxing after a long week. All I can say is I am sooo glad I have a three day weekend. Maybe I can finally catch up on some sleep.

Tomorrow I'm going to be spending all day volunteering at the vet clinic that comes to our town every two months. It should be an interesting experience. They said I might be able to watch some of the surgeries too, so I'll get to find out if I'm suited for that type of thing. After all, it would be hard to be a vet that can't do surgery.

As for nanowrimo... well that's not going well. School has been pretty hectic so I really wasn't even sure I would be able to do it at all. I decided to at least try and wrote for all of 1.5 days before homework took over. And I'm not like those people who sacrifice their school and sleep for nano so I'm pretty far behind. Not sure if I'll be continuing or not. I never was really good at sticking with things.

Never considered a day of silence, I like talking too much I think. It would be really hard to not say anything. Kate those are really amazing marks! Keep up the good work. Never read the Da Vinci Code either, but I've seen both the movies and heard lots of good things about the books. Good luck with exams Campion, and that's really cool you got to go to Armageddon Expo. I've never been to any sort of convention, but I've wanted to for a while. There just aren't any that happen really near me, so it'll have to wait until I have more money I suppose.

Oh, and one of my dwarf sunflowers bloomed! The other one seems like it might flower soon as well. I'm so happy and proud that they've stayed alive this long.

DFTBA
Kayla

No NaNo

   I think it's safe to say that everyone has had a decent week. I know that my week has been better than the last. I've been sleeping better (which is an amazement all in its own), and I've been able to keep up with my work without stressing out like mad. The only downside to my week is that I've had a cold, but I seem to be through the worst of it now.

   We have a long weekend this weekend, and my family and I are going into the city for some appointments and to spend some time shopping and being together. I am hoping to get some early Christmas shopping done, though I have no clue right now as to what to get anyone. It will be great, since I don't really get to see my dad at all during the week, as he works during the hours that I am at home, and sleeps when I'm at school.

   My Hallowe'en was nothing special this year. I sat on the couch doing homework, (and freezing, as I sick), while my mum gave out the candy. I didn't even watch any movies or Hallowe'en specials like I have in past years. Also, since I was sick, I didn't wear a costume at school. I was planning to, just black angel wings, but I was feeling too horrible.

   I am like you in the subject of aliens, Kayla. I believe that we cannot be as unique as we make ourselves out to be. With such a huge universe as they tell us there is, with millions of stars and planets, there has to be some other form of living creature out there. And of course, since it does not live on Earth, it would be alien to us. Little green martian-like creatures would be neat, but I'd accept anything.

   I have thought about taking a vow of silence, though never during school. I don't think I could go a day of not talking to my friends, or giving my opinion on something. Also, I don't think my teachers would appreciate it. But one day when I'm not at school I might. Just to see what changes when my voice is not around.

   Congrats on your grades, Kate. You did wonderful! I'm sure you did the best you could, and that you will be able to keep them up sufficiently through the rest of the year. And at least your teacher allowed you to redo your assignment, instead of just taking away marks.

   Adam, I wish it were Saturday. But at least the weekend is almost here. One more day! I am jealous that you got to see a Rocky Horror showing, its something I've wanted to see since reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I hope your week was fun, and that your test went well.

   Your posts are never boring, Kira. Or annoying. I've never read The DaVinci Code, or watched the movie. It sounds really good, also a bit confusing. My Hallowe'en was good, all things considered.

   Exams suck, Campion. Good luck. Hopefully all of the studying you have been doing will kick in, and you will ace them. The Armageddon Expo sounds really cool. I've never been to anything like that, but I'd like to. Glad you are having fun in between studying, and not stressing too much.

   I am not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I was thinking about doing it, but since I have a lot of work already, and am tired all the time, I decided against it. Plus, I find that a looming deadline just makes me produce bad writing. I'd prefer to write in my own time, when I feel like it. But all to people who do NaNo, if it works for you, that's awesome.

Don't forget to be awesome!
Deidra

Excuses...

 I didn't have time to post last week due to a volleyball game that lasted longer than it should have.

For finals I did well.  I ace my biology and Algebra 2 final, giving me a 101% in Biology, and a 94% in Algebra 2.  I also finish with a 94% in English.  I'm happy with my grades... my dad thought I could do better.  (which, if I studied more in English, I would have).  This quarter I will be studying more and preparing myself more, so hopefully my grades won't be so close to a B+.

I've complained on Twitter. I've even complained on Facebook. But man.... I hate my English teacher.  I don't hate many people, like less than 5 people I hate, and the majority of those are book characters.  She really is one of the least favorite teachers at my high school.  Today she was handing back our essays.  She has marked only two errors on my paper, that's a lot less than a lot of the class.  She still made me rewrite it, well, retype it.  Why? Because I didn't underline the 5 vocab words we had to use.  I'm annoyed, because in the instructions, it didn't saw we had to underline the vocabulary.

Happy Halloween!  I personally am not doing anything because I am preparing for NaNoWriMo.  I'm really excited as it is my first.  I only decided today that I was for sure doing NaNo, so I probably won't be doing the blogging everyday thing on my main blog.  The story that I am writing I have had the idea for for awhile, and I had written an outline to it in the summer.

So answering questions time:
Teachers have to supply their own tissues for their classes, so most offer extra credit if a student brings a box for the class.
My favorite mythical creature would be the Pheonix.
I don't believe in aliens... but I do wish the Doctor existed sometimes.
I think that's it.

Kate

This is Hallowe'en, everybody make a scene~

Aliens. That's what I'm going to talk about today because it's the first thing I thought of. Do you guys believe in them? I do. I asked my mom what she thought about aliens and she says that she believes that there are other humans out there, but no "little green men". I'm a little more flexible in my opinion. I think that with such a huge universe there's bound to be more life forms out there than just humans. I can't even begin to imagine what they might look or act like though. There's just way to many possibilities. However, whether or not any aliens have contacted earth is questionable. I mean why would they?

Adam, that's cool you got to go to an observatory, I've never even seen one before besides in movies. And sure, if you think you can write a Doctor Who episode that's 50,000 words long then go right ahead. I bet it'll be awesome.

Num8ers was such an amazing book, Katie. I haven't read the sequel yet, but maybe I'll get around to it sometime. And if by "colours" you mean the ones for your post then yeah I love the colours. Makes your post stand out. As for contact outside of the blog, I'm mainly on msn, skype, and facebook. I don't use facebook to chat though because the chat on there bugs me. If anyone wants to add me on any of these message me on the nerdfighters site or something and I'll tell you my usernames/link to my facebook.

Hang in there Kira, I'm sure things will get better. I'm taking a physics e-learning course this semester because my school is to small to have its own class so I know how it can be frustrating sometimes.

Congrats on New Zealand's win Campion. And don't be ashamed about watching anime instead of sports, I'd do the same any day.

And Deidra I know exactly how you feel. I wish I could sleep forever. I've been so overloaded with homework, maybe it wasn't the best idea to take four 12U courses this semester, but I need them so I guess it can't be helped. As for Hallowe'en I'm dressing as a 1920's flapper girl this year. I would like to have a party or something with you, but with the way things are going I don't think that'll be possible. I'll probably stay home, watch some horror movies, and eat the candy that we never give away to kids because no one ever comes to my house. It's one of the perks to having a house a little outside of town. Also I'm carving my pumpkin tonight, anyone have any suggestions as to what design to put on it?

Also, before I forget, I'll give you guys a little plant update. Out of all the sunflowers only two are left (I think they may have been to squashed in the one pot), but they are thriving and one even has a bud. Hopefully it will flower. And I'll put a picture of my venus fly trap since I didn't put one up last time when I mentioned buying one. It caught a huge fly just today.
 

         DFTBA
         Kayla