The Zodiac

The Zodiac Trip. Last Spring I got to sail around the San Juans on the largest working mainsail on the West Coast. The Zodiac is now officially docked in Bellingham, and we’re happy it calls Bellingham it’s home. Through Squalicum, a group of about 30 students take a weekend to work the sails and learn about the boat. We all took different stations learning about the various responsibilities including navigation and being at the bow and helm. Other than that, it was an opportunity to relax out at sea after stressful AP tests, and enjoy time with friends. It was a blast!

Finishing my Culminating Project. In May, I was ahead of the game and completed my senior project as a junior. I volunteered in the Learning Center (where I normally work) and tutored students in math. I felt very accomplished to get it done so early. Now I can relax as the rest of my classmates work diligently on their own projects.

Working on our puzzle

The summer of 2011 was a ton of fun. In it, I got to take a train down to Seattle for the day, see a Rush concert, do a lot of Zumba with Danielle and Sbeydy, receive postcards from Germany, read a lot, and relax. I also got to spend quite a bit of time with Ryan’s family both in Oregon and Birch Bay. There were many jokes and bike rides, and some Huard-y adventures. I even tried water skiing! Knowing I’m into astronomy, they also made a point to go to an observatory. They are a very fun group of people and the fact that I was welcome to join them made me feel included and well liked. (and it’s good they like me, because I like them a lot too!)

Ryan and I overlooking Hanalei

And of course, we like Ryan. So! In the beginning of November we were able to take him along on a trip to Kauai. It was the first gathering of the wonderful Happy Heretics! It was great fun with everyone there, and I really look forward to being able to go something like that again.

This year I also got to participate in WIBC. (Western International Band Clinic) For a weekend (three days) over 600 high school musicians get together and are a part of four different bands; Thunderbird, Firebird, Sunbird, and Phoenix. I, along with four other friends from band, got to be a part of this huge production. We rehearsed 5 different songs under very good conductors and also got to play a piece with a guest artist. This year it was a fantastic trumpet player, Allen Vizzutti. Two of the songs we performed were written by the conductors we got to work with. It was a great experience.

Navy Commodores

Also, in the evenings there were two concerts we were able to attend. We heard some interesting pieces performed such as one with movements for each of the 13 stages as Jesus was hung on the cross. It was rather haunting. (Every time he fell, the music made you jump in your seat) The most exciting concert was the Navy Commodores. They are the Navy’s jazz band and they were Great! It was very entertaining to watch them and they even worked with our guest artist and played a few tunes with him. It was fabulous. One of mine and my friend Danielle’s favorite parts was to see two big Navy men pull out piccolos to do the piccolo duet in a jazz rendition of The Stars and Stripes Forever. It was a very memorable evening.

Near the end of the year, I spent a lot of my time working on college applications, and while this my not be a highlight, it is kind of a big deal. I was happy to finish them all before December and have heard from them all except for UW (of course…). I’ve been accepted into WWU, WSU, Oregon State and Northern Arizona. It’s pretty cool to have so many options. I’m leaning towards Western. It’s a good school, especially if am I going into teaching, and has many opportunities for study abroad. It’s also a good size, small enough you can be involved in your classes and potentially later on, research, yet it’s not too small.

Well, there for have it. A summation of my 2011. I look forward to 2012 a lot. I will be getting to graduate, enjoy the fun events in my last year of high school, and travel to Washington D.C. with the band. There will be a lot of changes in 2012 and I’m planning on just enjoying my time and embracing what’s new to come. It should be great!

How was your 2011? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

And now to the real point of my post.

This afternoon my mother and I took a day trip up to Vancouver, B.C. We took the opportunity to have High Tea at the Secret Garden Tea Co. Upon first arriving, we took in the cozy atmosphere created by warm lighting and soft music playing. We were given a large list of different teas to choose from. My mom and I both decided on the “Secret Garden Secret”. This tea was vanilla with a ‘secret’ in it. It was kind of fruity.

They soon brought us our tea and asked if we had any eating preferences. They were more than willing to make sure that everything they brought was suitable for you. In efforts to supply me with something other than turkey, they used tuna. (unfortunately, I’d rather have turkey than tuna, but they were so helpful I didn’t want to complain. My mom enjoyed the tuna ones as well. )

The first tier of our treats were many savory bites… mini sandwiches made with croissants, tiny ham and cheese sandwiches and cute rolled egg salad sandwiches. The second tier had cream and jam with cranberry muffins and scones. To top it off, the third tier had lemon tarts, a gingerbread and mango cake, and a chocolate mousse on top of a chocolate cookie.

Every bite was delicious! You know, even though they are so small of treats, when you eat it all, it’s quite filling. Along with enjoying all of these delectable snacks, I had a lovely time chatting and spending time with my mom. ‘Twas an excellent day!

Acer Aspire Timeline

Mini is an Acer Aspire Timeline. So far, I love it. At only 11”, it’s lightweight, quiet, and fast. It stays a good temperature, as opposed to my old computer that would get very very warm. It has a long battery life and even when it’s plugged in the cord is small and doesn’t get in the way.

Oh, how I love my new little computer.   Thanks muchly to my mother for finding such a great one, and getting it in all working order for me.

Are you excited about anything you got for Christmas?

Marissa. She draws pretty cool things on my hands… and is fun to talk to… most of the time.

My Job. Obviously, I appreciate the extra income, but going in and just being able to help people makes me feel good.

What are You thankful for today?

• The Awakening is an awful book..  Full of impressionism which is not facts, only perceptive feeling. In other words. Dull.
• Matrices although odd, are helpful in pre-calculus.
• Ryan Huard is a pretty nifty kid.
• In Stargate scores, Saxophones = past tense. Awesome.
• Stargate music is also sometimes “too intense” at times… which is amusing.
• Hanukkah music is fantastic. Especially The Eighth Candle.
• Ryan’s grandmother is a sweet lady and I’m wishing her a happy birthday tomorrow.
• Stomp is amazing. Seeing them last night was great, it was a wonderful night.
• The guy playing with paper was my favorite. It was so cool that he talked to us after the show.
• Fun Holidays are coming up soon.
• Kitties are warm and snuggley.
• Texting is a convenient method of communication.
• Being a percussionist would be very fun.
• Finding other people who wear pi shirts makes me happy can you find it? here! (thanks for pointing it out, John!)
• Cat Surprise Parties seem interesting…
• Fall Quarter ends in 3 weeks.
• John Keats was a cool guy. He wrote three books of poems before he died when he was 25. Chaucer hadn’t written anything when he was 25.
• Flowers make me happy.
• Life is Good.

Okay, so back to my original post..

Over the the summer I’ve been doing a health class online. I have to read pages upon pages of health information, then take quizzes and tests on it. Obviously over time I’ve begun to see a pattern in what they’re trying to say. Consistently, good ways to prevent chronic illnesses are: maintain a healthy weight and regularly exercise.

I’m not a particularly athletic individual but I have spent years walking distances either for a paper route or to and from bus stops to school (decent 20-45 minute walks from my house). My mom and I like to go on walks through parks here too. However since I’ve moved to Bellingham I haven’t had the daily need to use my legs as transportation.

I’ve decided that my walking exercise, although helpful and relaxing, wasn’t quite sufficient for the exercising habits I should be developing. As a result, I started looking more into riding my bike. In Bellingham there are a lot of trails to go on, and many fellow bikers. Also, John has been quietly wishing me to get on a bike again for pretty much two years so he and I can go ride together. These things got me to go around the block once or twice… not necessarily what you’d call aerobic exercise.

One day while driving into downtown my mom and I saw a sign for “Tour de Whatcom”. Once we looked into it, we found out that in was a charity bike ride with three different rides; 100, 50, and 25 mile. The rides go through Whatcom county and are near the end of July every year. You can read up and look at last year’s pictures here. Seems pretty cool, right? I thought so too.

So this has become my goal. Come next July I want to be able to participate in at least the 25 mile ride. Today I went out with my dad and went on a short ride. 5.5 miles. I did pretty well Seeing as it was my first ‘real ride’ in quite a while, I’m feeling pretty good about my goal .

Any fitness (or any other kind) goals you’re working towards?

My schedule is as follows: Band, Viscom. (Visual Communications, aka. Photography), Algebra (2nd year), Physics, Spanish (3rd year), and Hon. English.

Band: Met the flutes right away and now they all know My name.. but I don’t know all of theirs yet:) We started on music for parade season. At Southridge we didn’t do parades so I’m looking forward to this. I also get to sight read lots of their music which is just about the same level I was at, if not a little more challenging It’s a productive but fun class.

Viscom.: The teacher has an interesting personality. When I first met him he was wearing tropical hawaiian shirts and wearing pastel colored reading glasses. This class has been the most neutral because we don’t do much and there’s not much for me to do… I hope it will get a little more interesting when I get a little more adjusted to the class.

Algebra: My teacher for algebra is friendly and “hip”. I don’t mind listening to him go over what I already learned (because I’m ahead ) because he teaches it in a new way. He, like the band teacher, allows the class to be fun but productive. He seems like a good teacher to me. The people at my table are enjoyable to talk to too, and we have to interact and “ask each other questions” on how to do the problems, so I’m glad they’re friendly.

Physics: The most recognizable feature of this teacher, in my opinion are his glasses. They make him have huge bug eyes! he’s not Mr. Choi, and certainly easier to understand, but that’s okay. We’re in electricity at Squalicum and Southridge was only at Light waves. I think I caught up pretty well and feel pretty good about the test I took today. If it makes my grade worse the teacher won’t count it because I haven’t gone over this section, but if it helps my grade, extra points for me!

Spanish: This class is certainly not as fun as my other Spanish class, but I had a pretty fun teacher. Like any foreign language class though, it’s enjoyable and a break from the norm. It is a funny coincidence however that at Southridge we were reading a Spanish novel called “La Catrina” and at Squalicum we’re reading the Sequel to “La Catrina”. Same characters, new story line. Also the teacher gives most instructions in Spanish. Which is a good strategy but something I’ll have to get used to. She tries to use words we know, and will define them for us if we don’t know, so it’s not that hard

English: Ugh… English… Just like any English class… However, the students are very close and like to chat a lot. Even though I’m not actually in the conversations I feel included a bit The teacher is a lot like my old one unforunately… she maybe could be a little worse…. BUT, I do appreciate that we’re writing Essays instead of reading and analyzing things. That’s my least favorite part. Essays are okay, and I get to write my own because I didn’t read Frankienstien or do the research that the rest of the class did.

Lunch: Yes, it’s totally a subject   I spent the first lunch looking for the library and hung out in there the first day. Then I was invited by flute players to eat with them the next day. A girl in my spanish class invited me to eat lunch with her the next day and she told me a lot about the school. Thursday, I ate in the band room with band and orchestra people which was very fun with the loud music over all the conversation. Today I had an enjoyable solitary lunch in the hallway with my book I liked just being out in the open but not actually looking like I didn’t have a place to go.

So, School hasn’t been that bad so far. Physics is always my favorite subject, then Band and Algebra. Teacher/student wise, my favorite class is Band, then Algebra and Spanish. Nows you knows… The only thing I’d change is make my friends from Kennewick go to this school too

So , really the only interesting thing lately:  Mr. Choi-isms!

- There was an optional assembly about poverty in Africa during 5th hour yesterday, and seeing as Mr. Choi is my 5th hour teacher, I didn’t expect to go. However, some of the other students still had hope in convincing him that we should go. After a lot of ridiculous reasons why, Mr. Choi simply said, “Don’t eat for a week then you know poverty.” Shocking as it may have been, that was a typical Mr. Choi-ism and made us all laugh in surprise.

- As you’d expect sometimes there’s a small difference in the way Mr. Choi pronounces words… some of my favorites are:

Octave:
Us: oct-TIV Mr. Choi: oct-TAHve
Page:
Us: pay-guh  Mr. Choi:  pay-gee
Trumpet:
Us: Trum-pit  Mr. Choi: Trum Peht

(it’s especially funny to realize that We’re the ones that aren’t going with the spelling. Phonetically, Mr. Choi is right. )

- Mr. Choi loves to give advice based on physics when he can. Have you ever looked on headphones at the decibels(db) it’s able to produce? Typically a normal cheap-ish pair (lets say $10) can produce 12db-200db, while a more expensive pair (for exaggeration lets say $200) produces 8db-200db. You’d assume those 4db make a big difference, wouldn’t you??  Well, the human ear can only register about 12db!  Mr. Choi’s life lesson, don’t pay the extra 190 dollars so that you can say you Can’t Hear your music!

- Now, Mr. Choi’s biggest lesson (for boys he said, it would ‘Save Your Marrige’). Here’s the story:  So there a guy and a girl and they fall in love. The first anniversary comes along and the boy give the girl 10 flowers. and the girl is “oohhhahhh” (Mr. Choi makes a sound kind of like an excited school girl). The second anniversary comes along and the boy give the girl 20 flowers. Again, the girl is “oohhhahhh”. But now the the third anniversary comes and the boy give the girl 30 flowers. The girl goes “awwhhhhh… “  (Mr. Choi acts disappointed, then looks up at us) Why she dissapointed? She want 40 flowers! See?? It doubles!! So after a few years you’re going to have to buy 1,000 flowers! The trick is, ‘don’t play the game’. Don’t give her Anything! You can’t win!
At this point a boy in the class asked: “So do you not give your wife anything?”
Mr. Choi: “That’s not a physics question!” *looks back at his text book*

So there you have it, Happy Spring!

1. As we were learning about force, we learned every force must have an opposite force. (for a bowl sitting on a table: gravity vs. the table   yes, the table is considered to be “pushing up”) Mr. Choi then goes on to say that in Starwars they say “May the force be with you”, and they are wrong! You can’t have the force be with you unless you’re punching yourself. A student decided to ask if Mr. Choi liked Starwars. His response, “Ask after school.”

2. “If I give you answers, you be happy, and I be happy, but I be sad..”

3. For some reason Mr. Choi got on a rant on how it’s better to drive a manual than an automatic. Saying it saves gas, you were more intune with the car, and it was more fun! Someone asked him if he drove a stickshift. Quickly, he said, “That’s not a physics question!”

Although, I had an interesting thought. Guys usually don’t shave their armpits normally. The bacteria that makes your armpits smell probably would have a hayday with all that hair. So if guys didn’t want their armpits to stink, they’d have to clean their armpits really really well… But do they??

The plural would be, ‘esposas’

‘eposas’ is also translated to ‘handcuffs’

(ball and chain, man…)