April 27, 2013
I woke up at 7:30 with a very, very sore throat (probably from allergies/chewing gum) and very blurry eyesight (because I hadn't worn contact lenses the night before). Then, a couple of family friends and I carpooled to drive to Columbia, to take the entrance exam for SHP.
To be honest, I thought the first math section was going to be a lot harder, but it was all basic stuff. Algebra, some easy Geometry, etc. For those of you online freaking out about conic sections and matrices: it's not that complicated...
Then, they handed out the science portion. Andddd.....my day went slightly downhill. I had never learned half the things on the test (which was designed for upperclassmen) and I left a couple blank just because I had no idea what they were talking about and wrong answers resulted in lost points.
I didn't like the math competition part. My forte isn't math competitions, and I guess I could figure out most of the questions, but for the rest I was stuck. I ended up leaving some blank on this section, too. Whoever told me this was like the AMC, it's not. It's kind of harder.
And by the way, NYC is really crowded and noisy--I haven't visited for about two years, and I totally forgot about the chaos on the streets. Not that it's bad. :) We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant across from the building where I took the test.
Columbia is also really pretty--I really like the way the campus was designed.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
Sorry I haven't posted for more than a week--I was drowning under homework.
Anyways, last month, I finished reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple. It was stunningly amazing. It was, in fact, one of the few books I have read recently that I actually enjoyed. The whole novel is basically a compilation of emails, letters, conversations, and narratives by the main character (Bee). Bee's mother is Bernadette, commonly known by their section of Seattle as "the crazy lady". When one reads an email from her archenemy/neighbor, Audrey Griffin, one would think she was mentally insane. According to Audrey, Bernadette ran over her foot at school for no apparent reason. The humor in this is that Bernadette never actually ran over Audrey's foot. Also, even if she did, she would have been provoked; Audrey was running towards their car and tapping on the windows while making strange faces. Needless to say, Bernadette is not very fond of her neighbor/people in general. She starts calling her neighbors "the gnats".
Later, we find out that Bernadette was actually a genius, and had received a MacArthur grant early in her career as an architect. She had designed the "20 Mile House", which was basically a pioneering "green" house. Not a greenhouse. A house that was designed to minimally impact the environment. The bad news: she had a really cranky neighbor/moviestar that decided to buy her house under an alias and destroy it. Bernadette literally went a little crazy with depression after 3 years of her work was destroyed. She moved to Seattle, far away from where the house once stood.
Bee, her daughter, is also really smart. She gets admitted into a private school, Chaote, reserved for really smart kids. However, Bernadette unexpectedly goes missing. Bee becomes angry at basically everyone in her life. She basically gets kicked out of Chaote. Chaos ensues as everyone trys to find Bernadette. Once elusive, Bernadette now seems to have just fallen off the earth. I'm trying not to spoil any of the later parts...read it for yourself and you'll see what I mean by "stunningly amazing." :)
Anyways, last month, I finished reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple. It was stunningly amazing. It was, in fact, one of the few books I have read recently that I actually enjoyed. The whole novel is basically a compilation of emails, letters, conversations, and narratives by the main character (Bee). Bee's mother is Bernadette, commonly known by their section of Seattle as "the crazy lady". When one reads an email from her archenemy/neighbor, Audrey Griffin, one would think she was mentally insane. According to Audrey, Bernadette ran over her foot at school for no apparent reason. The humor in this is that Bernadette never actually ran over Audrey's foot. Also, even if she did, she would have been provoked; Audrey was running towards their car and tapping on the windows while making strange faces. Needless to say, Bernadette is not very fond of her neighbor/people in general. She starts calling her neighbors "the gnats".
Later, we find out that Bernadette was actually a genius, and had received a MacArthur grant early in her career as an architect. She had designed the "20 Mile House", which was basically a pioneering "green" house. Not a greenhouse. A house that was designed to minimally impact the environment. The bad news: she had a really cranky neighbor/moviestar that decided to buy her house under an alias and destroy it. Bernadette literally went a little crazy with depression after 3 years of her work was destroyed. She moved to Seattle, far away from where the house once stood.
Bee, her daughter, is also really smart. She gets admitted into a private school, Chaote, reserved for really smart kids. However, Bernadette unexpectedly goes missing. Bee becomes angry at basically everyone in her life. She basically gets kicked out of Chaote. Chaos ensues as everyone trys to find Bernadette. Once elusive, Bernadette now seems to have just fallen off the earth. I'm trying not to spoil any of the later parts...read it for yourself and you'll see what I mean by "stunningly amazing." :)
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Success! TSA!
April 10th, 2013
I GOT 2ND PLACE IN MY STATE FOR TRANSPORTATION MODELING! All my hard work has paid off.
I'm the only freshman girl from HTHS to place in states, so I'm happy enough. Even though I won't be able to go to nationals despite technically being qualified to do so, I'm not really dying of rage. I mean, it's basically a High Tech tradition only to let the first place person go to nationals; might as well honor the tradition! :D
But....HAPPYHAPPYHAPPY
I GOT 2ND PLACE IN MY STATE FOR TRANSPORTATION MODELING! All my hard work has paid off.
I'm the only freshman girl from HTHS to place in states, so I'm happy enough. Even though I won't be able to go to nationals despite technically being qualified to do so, I'm not really dying of rage. I mean, it's basically a High Tech tradition only to let the first place person go to nationals; might as well honor the tradition! :D
But....HAPPYHAPPYHAPPY
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Les Miserables, Lincoln, The Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook
April 7th, 2013
I've heard fantastic things about many movies, but the four that stand out the most are Les Miserables, Lincoln, The Life of Pi, and Silver Linings Playbook.
Les Miserables
All I know is that it's something about the French Revolution, Anne Hathaway, a little girl, etc. I also know that it has a lot of really good music. All my friends who have watched it say that it's one of the best movies they've ever watched. Can anyone elaborate, please? I need more information!
Lincoln
While my friends say Les Mis is one of the best movies they've ever watched, many say Lincoln is THE best movie they have ever watched. Last year, I read in the TIME magazine that the actor who played Lincoln impersonated him really well. I really want to watch this. ;D
The Life of Pi
Lots of computer animation, a random tiger stuck on a boat with a random guy for some random reason, who wouldn't want to watch? (FYI, I do know that the events are not very random, but before I read the book and when I saw the advertisements with a guy, a tiger, and a boat, I was really confused). Everyone says that the tiger's not real, yet they make it look real using computer animation. I do kind of want to see this for myself...
Silver Linings Playbook
It has Jennifer Lawrence in it, what can I say. That makes it automatically on my MUST SEE list. (I guess being Katniss gave Lawrence a lot of fans...) Apparently, aside from that, it's a really funny, awesome movie about a widow (Lawrence) and another guy....I think you can tell I haven't really researched this one yet. Oh, well. I still want to see the movie. xD
I've heard fantastic things about many movies, but the four that stand out the most are Les Miserables, Lincoln, The Life of Pi, and Silver Linings Playbook.
Les Miserables
All I know is that it's something about the French Revolution, Anne Hathaway, a little girl, etc. I also know that it has a lot of really good music. All my friends who have watched it say that it's one of the best movies they've ever watched. Can anyone elaborate, please? I need more information!
Lincoln
While my friends say Les Mis is one of the best movies they've ever watched, many say Lincoln is THE best movie they have ever watched. Last year, I read in the TIME magazine that the actor who played Lincoln impersonated him really well. I really want to watch this. ;D
The Life of Pi
Lots of computer animation, a random tiger stuck on a boat with a random guy for some random reason, who wouldn't want to watch? (FYI, I do know that the events are not very random, but before I read the book and when I saw the advertisements with a guy, a tiger, and a boat, I was really confused). Everyone says that the tiger's not real, yet they make it look real using computer animation. I do kind of want to see this for myself...
Silver Linings Playbook
It has Jennifer Lawrence in it, what can I say. That makes it automatically on my MUST SEE list. (I guess being Katniss gave Lawrence a lot of fans...) Apparently, aside from that, it's a really funny, awesome movie about a widow (Lawrence) and another guy....I think you can tell I haven't really researched this one yet. Oh, well. I still want to see the movie. xD
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Playing Frisbee...And Freezing to Death! :D
April 3rd, 2013
Note: Slices of Lives just ended!
From now on these are just regular blog posts.
The other day, my gym class played Ultimate Frisbee outside. Despite the fact that we're supposed to be relatively GOOD at Ultimate Frisbee, as the sport is HTHS's unofficial sport, we're pretty bad at it. At least, my team was. Some other teams were actually pretty decent at it.
Anyways, that day, it was really, really windy. It was also really cold. Everyone had gym the day before that, too, and that day it was sweltering hot, so we all brought short sleeves and shorts to change into. For some reason, Mother Nature decided to hate us all and make the next day below freezing. So while most people were in short sleeves and shorts, I was one of the few who had sweatpants and a winter jacket.
It was one of the few days I didn't wear a hoodie (WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THAT DAY) and I only had my winter jacket, so I was still warmer than most. After I donated my jacket to Christine, who was practically dying from coldness, I was half cold (my legs were still covered by sweatpants). It was also really windy that day, so whenever we threw the Frisbee it would land in the woods, which had a lot of thorns. The juniors spent quite a bit of time fishing Frisbees out of thorns. Eventually, we gave up and huddled together under a hill, which partially blocked the wind. Even though I got back my jacket, my hands were still literally frozen. I couldn't feel anything, and when I came back into a warm building I felt pins and needles. It must've been really bad for the people without jackets >.<'
Note: Slices of Lives just ended!
From now on these are just regular blog posts.
The other day, my gym class played Ultimate Frisbee outside. Despite the fact that we're supposed to be relatively GOOD at Ultimate Frisbee, as the sport is HTHS's unofficial sport, we're pretty bad at it. At least, my team was. Some other teams were actually pretty decent at it.
Anyways, that day, it was really, really windy. It was also really cold. Everyone had gym the day before that, too, and that day it was sweltering hot, so we all brought short sleeves and shorts to change into. For some reason, Mother Nature decided to hate us all and make the next day below freezing. So while most people were in short sleeves and shorts, I was one of the few who had sweatpants and a winter jacket.
It was one of the few days I didn't wear a hoodie (WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THAT DAY) and I only had my winter jacket, so I was still warmer than most. After I donated my jacket to Christine, who was practically dying from coldness, I was half cold (my legs were still covered by sweatpants). It was also really windy that day, so whenever we threw the Frisbee it would land in the woods, which had a lot of thorns. The juniors spent quite a bit of time fishing Frisbees out of thorns. Eventually, we gave up and huddled together under a hill, which partially blocked the wind. Even though I got back my jacket, my hands were still literally frozen. I couldn't feel anything, and when I came back into a warm building I felt pins and needles. It must've been really bad for the people without jackets >.<'
Monday, April 1, 2013
Slice of Life #32 - Rice Crispies
April 1st, 2013
Have I ever told you guys that my life depends on Rice Crispies? Without them, I would be dying of hunger. Not literally, but metaphorically. :D
At lunch, the Rice Crispies cost the same as all the other snacks, but they're so much bigger and taste so much better than buffalo wing pretzels. My friends will probably also notice that I buy Minute Maid orange juice a lot...mostly because it's *RELATIVELY* healthy, it's cold, and it tastes really good.
Short SOL FOR THE WIN!
Have I ever told you guys that my life depends on Rice Crispies? Without them, I would be dying of hunger. Not literally, but metaphorically. :D
At lunch, the Rice Crispies cost the same as all the other snacks, but they're so much bigger and taste so much better than buffalo wing pretzels. My friends will probably also notice that I buy Minute Maid orange juice a lot...mostly because it's *RELATIVELY* healthy, it's cold, and it tastes really good.
Short SOL FOR THE WIN!
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