Tonight was The Speech and Debate Club annual progressive dinner. I had so much fun. After our dessert stop, we went caroling and then just hung around and talked laughed. Such a great night! I got home and checked my facebook and put some cozy clothes on. I decided to check my e-mail (something I don't really do anymore) and I was surprised to see an e-mail from Utah State admissions.
I JUST RECEIVED MY FIRST COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE LETTER FROM UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY!!!
I'm so excited! I'm still waiting for my letter from the University of Utah and I need to finish my interviews for BYU. What a great day!!
Perhaps I have absolutely NO taste... but I LOVED Twilight!!! My secret? I went with the lowest expectations possible.
Of course the movie could have been A LOT better, but they cast a fantastic actor and Edward, and really, what more could any teenage girl want?
I had a blast going with my friends. We took some pictures by the movie poster outside the theatre and laughed hysterically.
Yeah that's my excellent skill at making a serious Bella face while trying really hard not to laugh. In case you're wondering, that's supposed to be Edward's hand on my arm. It's actually Judith's.
Like every teenage girl, I too am a huge fan of Twilight. But it still makes me laugh when I see the amount of sheer insanity that it creates. Every girl in my school has been freaking out this week. All midnight showings in the three theatres we have in the Tyler area were sold out like three weeks ago. If you say, quietly to your neighbor, the phrase, "Do you want to go see that movie?" at least two girls within a five foot raidius will immediately stop what they're doing and shriek, "WHAT MOVIE?!?!". It hasn't escaped the notice of the faculty at my school and all of them have made jokes about it. About two days ago my favorite teacher (English) Mrs. Brody was totally making fun of these books. But yesterday when I walked into her classroom this was on her board.
I cannot wait to go see it tonight!!!Monday night The Young Democrats Club and The Young Republicans Club had a sort of presidential debate. There were three speakers for each club. Two debated the economy crisis, two debated foreign affairs, and the last two gave a candidate over-view. My friend Judith, president of the YDC, organized the whole thing. She called me the night before to see if i could bring a package of cookies. I told her that my mom had offered to make a cake, and she said that would be awesome. The debate coach for our school, Mrs. Caldwell was so excited about this cake that at the end of the debate (which was a great success) asked me if I could bring it out for a picture. She proceeded to tell the entire audience about how my mom had generously contributed and pointed out the business cards I had printed out for mom's cake decorating. This was on the front page of Lindale ISD's website:
Right.
As you all may or may not know, my big thing in high school has been Oral Interpretations. This includes Poetry, Prose, Original Oratory, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp, and Duo Interp. The last four that I listed are NFL (National Forensics League) events, not to be confused with this "National Football League" that I keep hearing about. The NFL has different rules and regulations than Poetry and Prose which are UIL (University Interscholastic League) events.
These two events are then broken down into two different categories (A and B) every three years. This year Category A for Poetry is "Excellence in Poetry" This means that The author you use for this category must have at some time won an award that the UIL deems "excellent". These poems are usually depressing and the authors have most likely been druggies or simply have committed hari-kari. Fun. Not only is this the most "blah" category, but it's also really hard to find pieces that haven't been used a thousand times, and that are also worth reading. Believe me, if you can find a great Category A- you're in. Category B is much more open. Basically, if you can prove that the poetry you use is published- you can do whatever you want.
So now that I've bored you with the rules and whatnot, I get to thrill you with my discover for Category A!! Don't jump out of your seats just yet! Actually my poetry buddies and I are totally stoked with my discovery.... Billy Collins! All last year I'd never heard him performed once, but my wonderful English teacher, Mrs. Brody, introduced me to him. She told us he was the Poet Laureate for the USA a few years ago.
...Wait. There's a government position for poetry??? Well I want to be the Poet Laureate! Who knew?
Anyways, I read his poem "The History Teacher" in English and just thought it was fantastic. I looked it up, just in case, but he was qualified for Category A (I mean come one... Poet Laureate). I stopped by Barnes and Noble yesterday to buy one of his books. I bought "The Trouble With Poetry" and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I can't wait to show off my brilliant discovery to my Interp coach, Miss Thomson!
Watch:
Last week was Homecoming 2008 for Lindale High School, and also the last homecoming I could experience while attending high school. I never really cared for all of this "school spirit" stuff before, but this year I threw myself into all the chaos! I don't know if homecomings are as big a deal everywhere else as they are in Texas... but I do know that in Texas they are INTENSE. EVERYBODY is excited about this stuff, regardless if you are a high school student or not.
It's 9/11 today. I'm surprised that only two of my teachers discussed it with us- and very briefly.
In my Creative Writing class we talked about how it was the first significant moment of history my generation was able witness. I don't think any of us will forget where we were.
The History channel posted this map with different locations in New York where people were video-taping the event. They were all shocking, but the one taken in the NYU dorm was really, really scary.
Of course it may just be that seniors have more fun. I've only been a senior three days now and I just can't believe how much I love it!!! I highly recommend it to those kids who think they need to graduate early. I knew I was going to love this as soon as I realized that none of my teachers were passing out their extremely specific school supply lists. (See Pimp My Pack) The teachers are totally lenient about everything from chewing gum to being late to class. Also, on B days (we're doing block schedule this year) during 4th period I am "counselor assistant" which is code for "really long lunch break but this is a closed campus so we have to keep you in the building". I've spoken to past "counselor assistants" and they say that on the off chance that one of the counselors notices that you're there you might have to copy some papers, but otherwise feel free to go to all three lunches, read, or do homework.
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Yeah... I'm not sure what's up with that face. I think I was talking to Daniel.
The first day of school is today!
Okay so I looked all over the internet for the seen in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where Ben Stein is calling role. I had no luck. So instead I wrote up the diologue which isn't nearly as exciting.
Economics Teacher: Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?
Simone: Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
Economics Teacher: Thank you, Simone
Simone: No problem whatsoever.
I can't wait for this year!
This past pay period I worked almost double the hours I usually work. I got paid Wednesday and it was the biggest check I'd ever gotten! So Thursday I went to the mall, of course. Mom talked about what I bought on her blog.
Mom's time was divided up between Paul and I and she brought the younger kids with us. They started to get a little restless so mom asked me to entertain them for a few minutes. So we all got a turn in the massage chairs outside of Dillards! When Gloria was in the chair she was just tall enough that her head was exactly where the chair would massage your upper back. It looked so funny so i video taped it:
In every issue of Eliza there is a page titled "Something Old.... Something New". On this page are two movies, two books, and two albums: one old and one new. It's one of my favorite things about this magazine. I thought it would be cool to do something similar every month or so that would talk about what I've been whatching reading and listening to, so here's take one.
There is a large shelf in the back of Doc's Pizza that holds spices, noodles, a boombox, and a small mountain of CD's. What music I like and dislike has been affected this past year by who I've worked with and what they listen too. Whether I buy a song on iTunes or swear never to listen to it again, it's usually because it was playing in the kitchen at Doc's that week.
One day I was working the slow shift with a kid named Jaimen Jones. It was just him and I for three hours. And for that entire three hours he played "Apologize" by One Republic. Just that one song. For THREE HOURS. By the time he left I was convinced (and still am a little) that there has never been a worse song written.
I think my favorite music incedent so far, however, is when we started listening to Elton John. I remember listening to "Tiny Dancer" one night. All the guys I was working with sang along, including my brother Paul. My hardcore Baptist boss (who was also singing along) kept shaking his head and saying, "It's a shame he's gay". A few days later I was working with a kid named Gary Greene. Gary is all about Green Day, Third Eye Blind, and Taking Back Sunday. He put in a CD and said, "Robin have you heard this song? It's kick-a! I mean, this is the song." I'll give you three guesses what song it was. We listened to "Tiny Dancer" several times and then the rest of "The Best of Elton John". I ended up buying "Tiny Dancer" and several other songs. But I'm finding the idea of this song being number one with guys hard to understand. Is it just the guys in Lindale?
On the 25th of August school will be back in session. This week we went to Target to buy our school supplies. In high school you don't get supply lists until the first day of school. Each teacher will then explain what they "expect you to have every day when you walk through the door". You know which teachers you'll like because they will say, "Just have paper and a writing utensils, okay?" The worst teachers are the ones who give you a long list with particulars like "green highlighter" and then they explain to you why it HAS to be green. About four months later though, you realize you never have used said highlighter in that class. But I digress.
I also had a small collection of pin-on buttons just sitting in my room. So I bought a generic messenger bag and spent this afternoon ironing and pinning! I think it looks great.
