Still Alive

Believe it or not, I'm actually still alive...even though I don't exactly feel like it today.  I'm a little tired. Well, maybe a lot.

Since high school started, I've learned a few things about studying and thought I would share. Here are my top 10 studying tips!

1. Listen to music.  It helps tune out other distractions, especially if it's instrumental or a song you don't know well.  Turn it to whatever volume you prefer: I like mine in the middle, because loud makes it hard to concentrate and when it's too soft I strain to listen instead of working.

2. Break.  The way I break up my studying is by doing homework for thirty minutes and breaking for anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on the amount of work I have.  During that time I go on instagram, tumblr, or I get up and walk around.

3. Ask for help.  Sometimes you don't have time to copy down the homework or don't understand the way the teacher explained the lesson.  Don't be afraid to ask a friend for help!  As long as you're not asking for the answer, only an explanation, it's not cheating.  My friends have helped me a ton by explaining things I don't understand.

4. Know what your teacher wants.  Let's be honest: if your teacher wants you to copy straight out of the book, you can do that.  If your teacher wants you to use your own words, do so.  Follow their preferences of how to do your homework and it can potentially create less work for you.

5. Study all week.  Test on Friday?  Start studying Monday or Tuesday.  You won't regret it.  There is nothing more stressful than doing an entire project or cramming for a test the night before--or worse, the morning of.  I've been there and can say it's awful.  If you study all week, you might not even have to study at all the day before!

6. Make time for yourself.  Maybe it sounds cliche or insignificant, but it's actually really important--especially if, like me, you get stressed easily.  Read a book, watch a movie, write a blog post (this one has been a work in progress for a few days)...do something for you at least once a day.  If that means waking up 15 minutes early or staying up 10 minutes late to take a little longer in the shower or write an email to a friend, it's worth it.

7. Weekends are for chilling out.  Do your weekend homework ON FRIDAY.  I always try to reserve Saturday and Sunday for family and friends.  Who wants to worry about homework on a beautiful Sunday afternoon?  Not me, for sure.

8. Push yourself, but know your limits.  Don't be afraid to do the maximum--in fact, go for it!  But if you don't have time or really can't think of enough information to write 10 pages, don't worry. Maybe you're really good at history but can't write fiction to save your life.  Make your history summary the maximum amount and be excited that you know the information!  Your short story is a minimum of 4 pages?  Try for 4 and a half and don't beat yourself up over it.

9. Eliminate distractions.  There is a mirror that I keep on my desk which serves as a handy tool for when I do my makeup in the morning, but once the music turns on and I start my homework, it's only useful for helping me think my life is a music video, and that's not great for my focus.  Now it has a spot on my dresser in the afternoon for this very reason.

10. It's okay to have bad days.  We all do and it's fine.  You might even have a bad week.  The math lesson didn't make sense and you got a C on the quiz, or your English homework fell out of your binder and is lying on your floor.  Most teachers are understanding and though they probably won't let you turn it in for full credit, if you're normally good about turning in your work they're not likely to get mad.

There should probably be an 11, which is don't blog while you should be working on homework, but this post was long overdue and I'm nearly done anyway.  Thanks for reading, everyone!  See you next week--and that's a promise, as it will be my Thanksgiving break.

Hopefully my iPhoto will be up and running again soon (we got a new computer, yay!) so there can be more than just me jabbering on forever.

-Blue

We're All Mad Here.

I thought there would be a whole post involved, but really we just had dinner and I hung out with friends.  It was fun, but my posts have been slacking big-time and this wouldn't make it much better.

When I went to Wonderland on Saturday it reminded me of that time I tried to write Alice's daughter falling into wonderland...

“Oh, bloody...I’m late!  They were expecting me to be there 20 minutes ago!” the rabbit said.  Then, he saw me, took out a pocket watch, and tapped it.
“My dream.  Is this a dream?” I asked under my breath, but I knew better.
He scampered off, and I tried to follow him.  He quickly vanished, however, and I had only the rustling in the bushes to follow.  I saw him dash around a tree, then I heard no more.  Tiptoeing over to the tree, I found a large hole.  Leaning down on my hands and knees, I called down, “Hello?  Mr. Rabbit?”  
Suddenly, a large chunk of ground crumbled from beneath my hand, and I tumbled down into the gap.

***

“Ahh!” I screamed as I fell, my dress flapping around (though luckily not flying up) and my shoes falling away into the darkness.  I saw all sorts of strange things, from a bookshelf to a piano that nearly took my head off to a floating tea set.  Down, down, down I flew, gravity playing with me while I shrieked and plummeted literally head over heels towards an unseen floor.

I'm pretty impressed with my use of "gravity playing with me" at age 11, but other parts of that story shall never see the light of day (fewer things are more embarrassing than the majority of my elementary school writing).

Hope you enjoyed this post, even though it was short.  Thought you might enjoy some dusty old Blue stuff, pre-Misadventures :)

-Blue

Busy Bee

My homecoming is today, and hopefully it will be super fun!  Sorry for not posting lately, we were in Los Angeles and I had lots of homework to make up for the days I was gone. I'll post about homecoming tomorrow--you'll get a full report :)

Thanks for being patient with me, everyone!

-Blue

Math Blogging

I tend to do most of my blogging after math tests, because we have extra time to do whatever (quiet) activity we want.  Also, blogger isn't blocked on the school's internet. 

I suppose that a life post is in order, because all of my posts have been school, school, and school.  Here is an update for you all!

Choir is fun, and I suppose it counts as school. But it doesn't feel like it. We had two concerts last weekend, thanks to everyone who came and to those who didn't, there's always the Christmas concert!

Hello, new followers!  I've never actually had followers on my personal blogs who are not my family.  What would you guys like to see?  Comment ideas. 

Halloween is coming up (how did it sneak up on us so fast?) and my current idea is to be a fox. And not because of "What Does the Fox Say"...I haven't even seen that video.  It's mostly because foxes are cool and it's a good idea that has been suggested by my friends.  Another suggestion was a pumpkin cat, but that might be a little hard to pull off.  My third option as of right now is to be genderswap Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.  What are you gonna be for Halloween?

It doesn't feel like fall and it's mildly upsetting. Fall is supposed to mean sweaters and tea and rainy days but all we've gotten is 70-80 degree weather.  It's October, we shouldn't have to wear tank tops!

We had to write a short story for English class and if you want me to post it, I will.  It got 100% so maybe it's good enough for people to want to read.  Let me know :)

Finally, we have a four-day weekend which is awesome in so many ways.  Although I will most likely spend it babysitting my siblings and catching up on TV shows, maybe somehow human interaction will happen. 

Oh!  We're going on vacation next week, so I don't know if I'll be able to post.  If not, then I apologize in advance.  If so, then I'll just talk to y'all then!  And I apologize for the lack of pictures, it's a combination of me blogging from the iPad and my iPhoto refusing to open.  Dad is working on fixing it. 

Thanks for reading, everyone!  Have a great rest of the week :)

-Blue

One-Fourth

As of next week, we will be done with the first quarter of the school year!  I find that a little bit insane. Of course, all the teachers are cramming in as much homework as possible, as well as tests and projects that need to be done by the end of the quarter. This means that I have to write a paper, make a brochure on Ancient Greece, take the unit one history test, a literature test, and finish other assorted things in the next five(ish) days.  I just took my math quarter exam, and luckily it wasn't too hard...but it might be a little easier on the kids if everything wasn't crammed into the last week of the quarter! 

However, I really do like school.  I have great teachers, interesting subjects (mostly), and amazing friends to laugh with through it all.  So all in all, I think it's been a successful one-fourth of the school year.  Here's to three more that are just as great :)

I'll try to be back next week!  Things this month are going to be very crazy, though.  I promise to at least post short things, like this, as often as I can. 

Until next time!

-Blue

How to be Athletic

As someone who really doesn't enjoy high-performance athletic activities (reading and drawing are more my thing), I'd like to mention that I have P.E. four out of five days of the week, and one of them is an hour and a half long.

Now that I'm running and doing ab exercises four days a week, as well as learning different sports, I thought I would share my tips on how (and how not) to become an athlete. 

1. Good shoes are helpful.  In fact, they're more than helpful.  They keep PE at "hard" instead of "torture". 

2. A positive attitude actually really helps me.  If I'm complaining and insisting that I hate PE, I will.  If I try my hardest and think about how much the exercise benefits me, it'll make class way better. 

3. Jogging the mile is better than sprint/walk/sprint/walk.  I get better times (9:12!) and even though I'm tired at the end, it's very satisfying to know that I made it the whole way without stopping. 

4. Nobody is going to be amazing at every sport.  Some people think they can do all of them, and others think they can't do any.  Coming from someone who was convinced they were in the latter category, neither are true!  It's not as bad as I always used to think. 

5. Count by tens.  Thirty sit-ups?  Count to ten three times. It seems much shorter. 

6. IT'S JUST A GAME.  Too many people just don't get this, and it makes everyone feel bad.  We're learning and playing for fun.  Our grades aren't based on how many games we win, it's on who participates and tries hard to learn. 

7. Get sweaty. (Granna will be glad to hear me say this one!)  It means you're working hard and it's paying off.  Just last year, the thought of sweating made me cringe.  Now it's only slightly gross, haha!

8. Your makeup will come off, so don't wear a lot.  Or plan on re-applying.  (I'm lazy, so I just don't wear a lot)

9. Deodorant works wonders.  Bring it, use it!

10. Have fun!  No matter what, the point of sports is to enjoy yourself.  So do just that!

Sorry for my lack of posting this month, I've actually been writing this over a few weeks (the majority was written after I'd finished my math homework and had free time in class).  Homework has really picked up recently!  Hopefully I'll remember and have enough time to start posting weekly again!

-Blue

I may die young, but at least I'll die smart.  -Looking for Alaska by John Green

Off to Hogwarts

I will steal a flying car if I have to, so help me

So, it's off to Hogwarts today, for all the people who actually got their letters when they turned eleven.

I'm still waiting for mine.

Actually, instead of going to Hogwarts, I've spent the day doing homework and trying to pick out a biography for my book report.  Give me spells and potions any day!

This week has been a busy one.  Not only have I been assigned two essays and a book report, we also had two tests and two quizzes, homework upon homework upon homework, and struggling through PE even though I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in both of my legs.

Then we had our  first school social on Friday, which was at a trampoline place, where I had lots of fun and lost my voice and messed up my legs even more (but it was worth it), and afterward there was a party, and then a birthday party yesterday, and how do popular and social people do this?  It's tiring!!

Alright, time to keep researching biographies.  'Till next time!

-Blue