11/11/11

Today is the 11^th day of the eleventh month of 2011 or  11/11/11. I hope you made a special wish at 11:11 am or pm (even better if it was 11 seconds past 11:11). We are lucky because we get to experience this time twice, unlike other countries that follow military time.

Since it is such a unique date many people want to get married. According to the Gazette in Las Vegas five chapels are booked full with a wedding every half hour for 24 hours. There has even been an increase of C-sections births because it is believed that people born on the 11^th of any month have better intuition. It would be even cooler if the baby weighed 11 pounds and 11 inches or was born at 11:11. People do this just so they can say “hey I got married on 11/11/11” or “I gave birth on 11/11/11”.

Since today is such a distinctive day, companies are taking advantage of this and creating 11 dollar specials. An example of this is the eleventh person to come into Coal Vines Pizza Pasta & Wine Bistro gets a free meal and they also cut their prices of their pizza to only 11 dollars. A hotel room in Beverly Hills is renting rooms for 11 dollars. For those who are getting married, the “Pink Caddy Wedding Package” in Las Vegas costs $1,111.11.

This day is even more special because some people say 11 is the luckiest number. According to Chinese numerology this is the year of money. This might be true since 11 is the most common number picked in lotteries. So if you buy a lottery ticket with an eleven on it, you probably have a greater chance in winning. Make sure to buy a lottery ticket today!

Today is not only a special day because of the all the 11’s in the date but it is also Veterans Day, so make sure to wish everyone who has served in the military in their life time a happy Veterans Day. It also would have been my grandparent’s 58^th wedding anniversary.  Unfortunately, both of them have passed away in the last two years so they are not here to celebrate it.

These kinds of days only come around once a year for twelve years in a row and then disappear for another thousand years. We only have one more year of these special dates so we better not take it for granted.

"The Grapes of Wrath"

The Grapes of Wrath is a great book for someone who is looking for an classic but interesting novel to read.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. (314/460)

My mother recommended The Grapes of Wrath to me when I was having trouble finding a good challenging book for class. She said it’s one of the few classic books that isn’t complicated and is interesting.  I have read Of Mice and Men which is also written by the same author, John Steinbeck, so I decided to take her up on the offer and checked out the book.

At first I was questioning whether I should stay with the book because it started out on the boring side. The author was describing what was happening in the town as if you were on the outside looking in. This was very boring to me because I am not use to reading paragraph after paragraph of description.  As I read further into the book and people started to communicate, the story became more interesting.  John Steinbeck, the author, will sometimes insert chapters in the book that are talking about completely different characters. This confused me because I wasn’t sure what they had to do with the main characters and the family’s move out west. Later in the book though, I found references to these random characters and it made more sense as to why he wrote about it before.

The way the author writes the dialogue between two people is different than what I normally would hear or read currently. Since the story was set back in the 1930’s during the depression, the characters have a different style of talking. It also didn’t help that they were from the south and had a southern accent to go along with it. There are a lot of apostrophes to replace letters and combining of words like “Jus’ tar’d ridin’ in the sun”.  The author also writes some words in the way they are spoken instead of the correct spelling. For example, the word rather is spelled “ruther”. This style of writing makes you slow down when you read instead of quickly going through the pages like you would in an easy book. This writing also makes it more challenging but not to the extent where you don’t understand what they are saying.

So far The Grapes of Wrath is an interesting book. I would recommend it to people who are looking for a challenging classic book but still want it to be interesting.

The Secert Powers of MIddle Children

The Seceret Powers of Middle Children is a great book to read, especially if you’re a middle child. You learn new things about how birth order affects you as a person and how you will deal with situations. Don’t let it foul you that it will be boring because it is a nonfiction research type of a book. The author writes in a way that makes it interesting why learning new things. It’s also very interesting to read about how middle child celebrities achieved what they are today.

Salmon, Catherine and Schumann, Katrin. The Secret Power of Middle Children.  Penguin Group. 375 Hudson Street New York 10014. 2011. (288/288)

           

I first found out about this book when my father emailed me a link to a story on National Public Radio about the strengths and weakness of middle children and how birth order contributes to your overall personality. When I was listening to the story the host mentioned this book, The Secret Power of Middle Children. Since I am a true middle child, I decided to get the book and see how I compared to their description of a typical middle child.  

            When I got the book I thought it would be boring because it was a nonfiction book which tends to be more difficult to understand. I was proven wrong though and found that I actually enjoyed reading it. I learned new information about middle children that I didn’t know before, like how they are often great negotiators. I also found traits that I, as a middle child also possess, like being open to new things.

            I normally do not read nonfiction books so this was a good change from my usual fiction books. The vocabulary was pretty easy but every once in a while there would be words that I didn’t know. Overall though, I would recommend the book to people especially if they are a middle child.

Shadow in the Wind

Shadow in the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was an amazing book. The book has a creepy and eerie feeling to it. It keeps you wanting to read more and find out what is going to happen to the main character. Once you think you have it all figured out the author throws in a curb ball that defeats your reasoning. I am defiantly going to read other books of him.

Zafon, Carlos Ruiz. The Shadow in the Wind. The Penguin Press. 175 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014. 2001. (300/486 pages)

I have enjoyed reading The Shadow in the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It has opened up a new type of genre to me. I usually read only romance books so when my mom recommended this mystery book to me, I decided to take a chance and I am glad I did.

The author’s choice of words makes the book challenging enough but you are still able to easily follow the plot of the story. Originally this book was published in Spanish under the title Las Sombra del Viento and was later translated to English. The book is split up into four parts and takes place over a ten year period from 1945 to 1955. The story follows the main character, Daniel, during this time period as he tries to solve the mystery surrounding a book he is reading. Sometimes the author writes in the past when one of the characters is talking about the mystery of Julian Carax’s life, the author of Daniel’s book. He italicizes these parts so the reader knows the author is referencing the past.

When reading The Shadow in the Wind you may think that you have the mystery solved as to who is taking the books of Julian Carax but then the main characters find another clue. You want to keep reading to find out where the next clue will take you. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Halloween

Halloween is such a fun holiday. It’s the only day of the year where you can dress up in a cute or scary costume. You can be completely ridiculous and not be looked at funny or asked “why in the world are you wearing that”. Then after you have your costume together you go from house to house saying “Trick or Treat” and receive free candy. When you’re younger it’s probably one of the few nights you get to stay up after your bed time, even during a school week. What kid doesn’t love that!

As you get older though, you grow out of the age to go Trick or Treating. Even though you can’t do that, there are still tons of ways to have fun on Halloween. For example passing out candy is a great way to spread the spirit of the holiday. You get to make little kids happy just like how other people made you happy at that age. Not only do you get to hand out candy, you also get to see all the costumes from princesses to vampires. A great thing about this is that if you have left over candy you get to eat it. Yummy!

 Setting up decorations is a great way to celebrate the holiday. My parents get really into this part which is why we are the most decorated house on our street. We have a graveyard in front with tombstones and bones lying around. In our driveway we have a couple of stuffed dead guys with various bugs crawling on them. On our roof there is a giant spider, with a light on him so you can see it in the dark. We even have body outlines and scary sayings on the driveway. My family tries to add something new to our exhibit each year. You obviously don’t have to go to this extent but it’s fun to see the little kids’ reaction when they come to our house. 

Carving pumpkins is also a great way to celebrate. I love to carve pumpkins because I like to be as creative as possible. This year I drew a clown that I saw when I googled creative pumpkin carvings. When I finished carving it (3 hours later) it turned out pretty cool compared to my family’s ordinary ones. To carve a pumpkin requires no special skills at all. The pumpkin can be really simple like square eyes and nose with some kind of mouth. Nothing is wrong with ordinary pumpkins; at least you have something while others don’t even carve them.

Along with Halloween come scary movies and haunted houses. Scary movies are a must on Halloween because of the creepiness that comes with the holiday. It adds to the scary factor of the movie. Haunted houses are also another must you have to do as a teenager. If you go with a group of friends it’s even better because everybody is screaming and they are pretty scary. I went last year to my first haunted house and enjoyed every bit of it even if it was scary at times. 

Even though you can’t go trick or treating anymore, there are obviously plenty of things to do to celebrate this fun holiday.

My Love of Winter Weather in the Fall

Oh, I am enjoying the magnificent beautiful weather happening outside right now as I am writing this blog. NOT!

As I look outside right now it is raining or sleeting with a few snow flurries in the air. This weather should not be happening in November, especially considering it is the beginning of the month. Just last week there was a high of 65 degrees and I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, with no jacket. Today, I am wearing pants and a sweatshirt, something I don’t want to wear until at least December and if I had a choice wouldn’t wear at all. Shorts and T-shirts are fine for me all year around.

This weather wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t make everything a pain. Today, for example, when I was walking to school form Kennedy’s south parking lot, I was drenched from head to toe by the time I was able to open the doors to the school. The mix of sleet and rain made everything wetter than if it were just plain rain. I tried to use an umbrella but the wind was too powerful. The umbrella kept on being blown in odd directions and didn’t help protect me from the sleet and rain at all. It didn’t help either that the sleet and rain was coming sideways, straight at my face. YEAHH!! I just love this.

By the time I enter the school building my pants were completely drenched with snow clinging to them. My jacket had enough water dripping off of it that if I was standing still it would probably have made a lake. Even though my hair was still wet from taking a shower, it was wetter than when I left the house. This was not the way I wanted to start my day.  

Before I even came to school, the weather was a hassle. I had to go outside and scrape the mix of snow and sleet off my car in the cold. My hands were freezing because it was getting on me. It landed on the ground in clumps of mushy water. Disgusting! With all of this coming down, the ground was absolutely gross, with puddles everywhere.

Mother Nature should study harder on what type weather goes with which season because right now she is failing the test. The weather that is happening right now is for the winter. Mother Nature, we are in the fall not winter, please get your seasons straight.

Life as a Cupcake

After many weeks or more accurately months of blogging I have finally come up with a name for my blog.  Every time I would log in to my blog, I would see my boring head line “My Blog” in huge letters staring back at me. Reminding me, yet again that I have not come up with a name for my blog. I have come up with several names but never found one that fit me. Finally though, over the weekend I found my title “Life as a Cupcake”. This title may appear to be a little weird, but it fits me so perfectly.

I decided this would be a perfect title for me because I love cupcakes. Cupcakes are probably my second favorite desert (you can’t beat ice cream). They come in a variety of flavors from your average vanilla to French toast flavoring. The best kinds of cupcakes, though, are the ones piled high with frosting, which is the best part.

Not only are cupcakes delicious they are also cool to look at or at least I find them to be. It takes a lot of practice to achieve the skill in getting the perfect piping of frosting on top.  Adding a touch of some type of garnish makes it look even more sophisticated. I don’t know why but I find this really interesting to look at.

The last part in why I choose this title is because I love to bake. I like to spend cold rainy days baking some kind of desert like cookies or cupcakes. The best part of this process is the decorating. It can take me hours to decorate them because I like to make them as creative as possible. Over the weekend I made cookies for my dad’s 20^th anniversary of his first day of his job and it took me about 3 hours just decorating them. But, they did turn out very cool and all my hard work paid off with compliments from his coworkers.

That is why I chose the title of my blog “Life as a Cupcake”. I even changed my background to cupcakes to fit the theme.              

National Honor Society

This past week I sent in an application to the National Honor Society. It is an organization for high school students who have met the needs of community service, leadership skills and academic excellence. In order to completely fill out the application you had to write a short paper about how you fit these needs. Me, being a naturally quiet person I found it difficult to brag about myself because I felt that if I put too much information in then I would come off as a snob.

Here is what I wrote:

One of my dad’s favorite sayings when I complain about life being tough is “It builds character.” Each and every day we develop our character either building it up or tearing it down. Character is an important part of the National Honor Society and I believe I possess the traits needed to be a member.

During my life here at Kennedy I have worked hard at achieving the best possible grades I can by studying and knowing the importance of a good education. I have been able to maintain a high GPA while taking several A.P. and advanced classes.          In cross country and track, I strive to be a good team member and represent my school to the best of my ability. Despite having to work through an injury at the end of cross country and most of track season my sophomore year; I continued to practice with the team. This year I am one of the top runners on the JV cross country team and have bettered my time throughout the season by one minute and ten seconds. Training for theses sports is not always easy and it takes a lot of perseverance and hard work.

How I represent myself outside school is important as well. I have taken dance lessons for the last twelve years at Studio Dance.  Being reliable by showing up for class and cooperating with the teacher are important to be able to work together as a class and have a successful recital at the end of the year. Reliability and cooperation also are important in my job at Dairy Queen.  My boss and coworkers expect me to be there on time and deliver courteous service.

            To be in the National Honor Society means to strive to do your best every day. I try to apply these ideas to everything I do. It would be an honor to be a member of the National Honor Society.

I hope that I will get accepted because I have worked really hard on all the things I have described above. Not only would it be an honor to be accepted in to the National Honor society it would also open new doors to college scholar ships.

Horror Film Watchers.... Part 3

Previously in my last two parts of my blog I have wrote about the different kinds of horror film watchers. I have described the “macho men” as people who need to hold up a manly image during the movie. The last type I defined are the “scaredy cats” which are people who are too afraid to even sit though the movie. I have saved the best for last because the last types of people are my favorite which is the “screamers”.

“Screamers” know how to truly have fun watching a movie. They aren’t afraid to scream and let everyone know they are scared. Unlike the “macho men” and the “scaredy cats” they let themselves be taken into an unknown world of scary movies. In this world you experience an adrenaline rush that draws you into the movie. You keep on wanting to watch the movie even though you are scared but you can’t look away either. 

Watching a movie with these types of people is also fun. Everyone is getting into the movie so you don’t experience “macho mans” questions of “how are you getting scared, it’s fake”. Even the scaredy cats questions of “why can’t you guys watch another movie, this is too scarey” are left out during this experience. If you look around you might even laugh at seeing everybody reacting to a scary part. 

I would consider myself one of these people. Even though I have not seen a lot of scary movies, I have gotten scared and screamed in everyone that I have saw. I was watching Halloween three on Halloween this year and only seeing twenty minutes of the movie I screamed about four times.  I have even screamed during the trailer to paranormal activities one and three, that’s how bad I am.

I believe everybody should become a screamer at least once during a movie. Then they can see what they have missed all these years.

Horror Film Watchers.... Part 2

As I stated before in part one of the blog there are three types of scary movie watchers. The “macho men”, people who think there too cool for scary movies and need to hold a manly figure. “Screamers” people who will enjoy the movie the most and scream. Then the last type would be the “scaredy cats”. I have already talked about my description of the “macho men” type, so now I am going to describe people who are scaredy cats or in other words refuse to watch the film.

Scaredy cats are described as someone who is too timid to take a risk because they don’t know what the outcome will be. When you apply this to watching a scary movie they are usually the ones that will not attend the movie or sit in another room while it is being played. When asked why they aren’t watching the film they usually reply with “it’s too scary” or “I’ll have nightmares”.  If I were to answer to the last reply I would say “doesn’t everyone get nightmares after watching a creepy film?” While these people are sitting out on the fun, you, on the other hand, are experiencing a whole new world of fun. 

In my opinion, I feel like they are missing out on a great experience. They don’t get to experience that adrenaline rush you receive when you know something is going to happen but not sure when. Another one would be when creepy music comes on and you brace yourself for the big surprise. They don’t get to experience that. My sister is one of these people as described above. She will sit downstairs or in her room until the movie is over not undergoing the fun we are having. I have constantly tried to get her to watch a scary movie but she refuses. I even tried to make her watch Poltergeist which isn’t really scary; it’s more of a cheesy scary film.

There are probably more people who will refuse to watch scary movies than who enjoy them. I was one of these people until I watched one. I soon realized what I was missing.  Hopefully others will feel the same way.

We all Scream for Ice Cream

Working in the sun all day especially if it’s hot outside can be tiring and sweaty but nothing is better than having a bowl of ice cream to cool you off and make you feel reenergized. I know it may seem weird that I am writing about ice cream when it’s only 50 degrees outside but I believe ice cream is a year around treat. Whether it’s 100 or -10 degrees you can always have this delicious treat to make you feel better.

There are so many different kinds of ice cream out there; just going down the freezer aisle in the grocery store you can see all the variety. With all this variety it can be hard to decide which flavor you should choose. Personally, when it comes to grocery store ice cream I like plain vanilla. Actually I am very picky about the ice cream I get from the grocery store, I only like Skondra’s vanilla ice cream.  All the other kinds are fine and I will definitely eat them but none of the others live up to favorite. Skondra’s ice cream is not too soft and not too firm. It’s just right to dig your spoon in and taste the deliciousness melting in your mouth.  Yummy!

Now after picking out your ice cream, you have to decide how much you WANT to scoop out and how much you SHOULD scoop out. This can be really difficult at times, because if you didn’t get fat from eating too much ice cream I would probably go through a whole carton a day.  That is how much I love ice cream. I try to limit my intake, but I’m pretty sure that what you think of limiting is not what I do. I put my ice cream in an ice cream dish but it’s piled really high and smashed down so it doesn’t look like I have as much. Sometimes during the summer I can go through a whole carton for about 14 people in less than a week and a half. My mother and father on the other hand have only a little bit of ice cream, which I call people watching their figure portions. To me it seems that they don’t eat enough of it and don’t get the real lusciousness of the ice cream.

After you decide how much you want then you have to choose from a variety of condiments to put on it, for example chocolate, Carmel, Oreos or M&M’s. There is so much to choose from that it can be hard to decide what to put on your ice cream. I usually just like to eat my ice cream plain but sometimes I will put chocolate on it and then stir it to make chocolate ice cream. Some people though put a whole bunch of stuff on their ice cream creating a sundae.

All this work goes into this delicious treat that you will probably devour in less than 10 minutes. I believe though it’s worth it and can satisfy anybody on hot day or just a bad day.