Boredom Block: Lol-League of Legends

For over a year now, my brothers and I have been playing a free online game called League of Legends. Now, most of the time when you see "free" and "online multiplayer game", the first thought that comes to mind is "horrible" and "computer viruses". League of Legends, however, does not fall under either of these categories. This game is made by Riot games, famously known for the creation of DOTA in Warcraft 3. When they started on League fo Legends, or LOL for short, Riot games basically took their famous and popular DOTA game and put it on gamer roids. They made it more organized so players are set up with other people of the same level, added new characters, and have made new maps with different team playstyles, there are a LOT of options. This game is not just some off-kilter game played by only the few odd balls- It is actually one of the most played games, with 32.5 million players signed up, 11.5 million players who play monthly, 4.2  million daily players, and the peak of players playing at any given time is around 1.3 million. To put this into perspective, World of Warcraft (which is one of the most often thought of game when the word mmo is mentioned) says it has 10.3 million active players. League of Legends is one of my favorite games with all the great teamplay. But.. sometimes you get stuck with a bad/angry/stubborn player on your team, and it can ruin the game experience. But otherwise, it is definitly a game to look into playing!

Writers Block

Yes, I am writing about the one thing that bloggers dread more than anything (other than losing internet/electricity). The dreaded Writer's Block. *DADADUHHHHH!* I am, at the moment going to teach any bloggers out there how to avoid a writer's block. One is to go exercise until you think of something. Not only does this get blood pumping to your brain, but it also give a motivation to think of one quickly- how many bloggers out there like running? Next option is to surf the internet, especially news sites and other blogs. There are many various places to go, and Google is one great way to find those places. Now if you are in a situation like me, where you have to do blogs for a grade, you can just do the occasional bs, and if you are really desperate, you can write about your writer's block, or better yet writer's block itself. Then you give advice to people, and keep going with examples(such as this one XD ), maybe listing a couple of sites like NBC news, National Geographic, exc. And If there is still some extra words you need to put in(and the quality is not relevant), you can just keep repeating certain things and go on and on and on and on like so. And if you become really desperate, you can always troll! Well, good luck out there and hopefully you can smash that writer's block into smithereens!

Charles Dickens

Yesterday marked the 200th birthday for Charls Dickens, a famous english writer who wrote classics such as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist,  and Great Expectations. I have read two out of three of these books ( A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations), and seen movies of two of these  (A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist).  Other than Great Expectations, I have found Charles Dickens' works very interesting and worth reading. A Christmas Carol is acually one of my favorite classical stories- the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present,&Future. I will admit, I much prefer the Disney animated story over the the book itself, but nevertheless I do enjoy the book and the additional story that gives the book some darker, more serious tones. Oliver Twist was, for the most part, a very depressing movie. The orphan Oliver Twist first works at a "workhouse" doing various tasks such as undoing rope so the fibers could be reused, and where one of the most famous line of "Please Sir, May I have some more?" is asked by the main character to get another bowl of porrige from the taskmaster whom whips him for asking. Then he later runs away and works for two men who "employs" a group of rag-tag young boys to pickpocket(steal) from other people. He eventually gets adopted by a rich man who owns a vast library, and lives happily ever after(that is, after a dispute with the two men & gang of children). Great Expectations is...... not going to be described. If you want to find out about that horrid book, go look it up on google, I refuse to think about it for another second! And with that, I say good day!

New Car! and errands...

Recently, my parents got a new car. Now that we have three cars, I am no longer stranded at home or dependant on my parents whom are working full time and part time (my father and mother, respectively). No longer do I have to ask them if I will be able to go somewhere (although I still have to ask for permission). No longer will an empty garage haunt my eyes and destroy hopes of going to the movies or going to wednesday night church. FREE AT LAST! But... some added responcabilities come with this option. Firstly, I am now much more likely to be sent on "fetch" errands- ranging from fetching some onions for green beans to fetching my brother from his football/swimming/track practice. Picking up my brother is not that bad, but when I'm supposed to get something from the store, the difficulty is unpredictable. Produce is pretty easy- either it's there or it isn't. But certain items like chocolate syrup can possibly be found in multiple sections(ex. ice cream, toppings, deserts,exc.), but can actually only be found in one. And the bigger the store, the more time it takes. One time I had to look for cream of mushroom soup at Wal-Mart. An easy task, with either the canned goods or with the soups, right? No. I look in both areas, and it is nowhere to be found. I ask multiple people around the store, and I couldn't find it. When I'm about to give up, I see a "Specialty section" on the edges of one of the aisles, and.... there is the cream of mushroom, marked as 1/2 price. I did a *facepalm*, scratching my hand down my face slowly like someone scratching an old chalkboard(with the expression like I was hearing the chalkboard-scratching noise on my face) as I dragged my feet like a broken-leg zombie to the accursed jel-of-cream/mushroom contained within the cans. This luckily is my only experience with FML errand experiences, and as long as they are few and far between, I will find the freedom to drive w/out worry of lacking a car very, VERY worthwhile.

Favorite Thing:Video Games

Of all things I have difficulties saying I have a favorite of, it's a game. I  really enjoy action, like most people do in games, but I don't like the instinctual type of game where u merely 'point'n shoot' or simple reaction games- I am the type that likes action that is mentally ingaging, where you have to solve puzzles on the fly or use strategy and find the enemies weak spot to overcome impossible odds. I find some teamwork games very gratifying when my team and I work in tandum, but often people are... stubborn and so I usually end up preferring one player games. Finally, I like games that tell a great story. It makes the game feel much more real when a story is there giving a purpose for the main character(s) for fighting in the struggle they were forced into/chose to do. Of all games that fall into the action-and-thought category, my preferred selections would have to be- Legend of Zelda (favorites in the series are Orcina of Time and Twilight Princess, but haven't finished Skyward Sword yet so can't quite say whether it will be added to that list). If anyone reading this hasn't played at leas tone Legend of Zelda game, then you just need to play it. Let's just say that among 100's of top ten lists of video games created by individual people, blogs, and prestigous gaming websites/magazines, Legend of Zelda Orcina of Time consistantly ranks in the top 10 games ever made. Now many say that the other L.O.Z. games are not as good, but each game has it's own unique story to tell. Speaking of stories, my favorite story told via game has got to be the the Gears of War Series. The tale of brotherhood of one batallion, and their dramatic, gory, epic, and somewhat dismal story as they defend the surface world from the underground humanoids called Locust, Their assault on the Locust underground, and the afteraffects of the victory against the locusts- fighting the Lambit and the remaining locusts. Both are Some (key word some) of my favorite games.

Favorite things: Books

Hello again, and it is now time to chat about my favorite books! I have read countless books, but only a small fraction of those numbers make my best read/re-readable list. Many of them include some rather popular books like the Chronicles of Narnia, Charolette's Web, and Harry Potter. This books vary greatly in action, suspense, and adventure, but each has a unique story that just excites me! These books, though, are put to shame by my favorite book series. It is not the Inheritane Cycle, and it is definitly not a book about vampires. It is a relatively little-known- it is called The Sword of Truth series. This book tells a story on a scale so vast, so powerful, so creative yet using familiar enough ideas that the reader isn't lost. The first book in the series, called Wizard's First Rule, follows the main character Richard Cypher as he helps a stranger Kahlan from being assasinated, and ends up being involved in a struggle to save the world from utter destruction/complete domination from the Cruel Ruler of D'Hara, named Darken Rahl. Now, this summary sounds very cliche, but the summary does not do the story justice at all. This book contains some of the most intense action scenes, the deepest concepts I have ever seen put into a fantasy book, some of the most intruging secrets and the most intense love story that will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more. There are a lot of parts where there is merely discussion between characters about ideas, planning what they are going to do, and other important matters which some may find boring, but these parts of the story make the action scenes all the more intense, and allowing the reader to have a deeper understanding of the culture the world of Sword of Truth, and also gives the book a more realistic feeling- how many heroes can acually succeed without a plan, without being knowledable? This series, once you start will suck you in. As my brother once said to my friend "Don't read it. Once you do, all other fiction books are dissapointing"
Unlike my brother, I reccomend anyone out there to read it. BEST. BOOK.EVER

Unexpected Happenings

It has been six months now since my family and I have moved into our new home. I recently went down the stairs and looked at the picture hanging awkwardly low on the wall, just below a set of light switches. I instantly started laughing, recalling why that picture was hanging there. It was early September, and My brother Garrett, our best friend Gabe, and myself were all goofing off on the weekend. We were eating a hearty meal that my mother had cooked. I got done eating before Gabe and Garrett, so I decided to head on downstairs. I saw Garrett's lime green fuff chair( a bean bag chair that's filled with memory foam instead of beans), and instantly a devious prank came to mind. I picked up the awkward load, and began moving like a sumo wrestler past the obstacles of chairs, a couch, and the pool table. I heard footsteps, so I quickly shoved the bulky yet fluffy chair through my bedroom doorway and squeezed it into my closet. As I was shoving my fuff chair into my closet, I head a THUMP, and felt the house shake a little. After squishing the huge fuff chair in the the darkest corner of my closet, I went to see what had happened between my Friend and my brother. My brother was laying on the floor and Gabe was walking with his back arched down. Both had a shocked look and their eyes and had their hands over their mouths, trying and failing to suppress their laughter. I came over to them and asked " What happened! What did I miss?". Garrett lifted one of his hands from his face and pointed at the wall and where the painting now hangs. There was a gaping hole in the wall. I ended up looking just like my brother, laying on the ground suppressing the laughter that would get those two caught. What were the odds? Us three had been horsing around a lot more aggressively and a lot more often in the old house over a course of 10+ years, and yet we never did any noticeable damage to the house. But after being in the new house for only three months, we had put a hole in the wall(*reminder* I was  innocent in this situation) Then, my mother came downstairs. There was nothing we could do- we were still laughing, and she would know that it was us who put the hole in the wall- so we didn't try to escape. When she saw the hole, she started laughing hysterically. Gabe, Garrett, and I started laughing even more, no longer able to suppress it well enough with our hands. Then I asked in between chuckling "Why are you laughing Mom? I thought you would be angry." "Well" my mother replied, laughing briefly " Your father said to me 'make sure they aren't breaking anything'". Gabe Garrett and I laughed like maniacs for a whole minute straight. A few hours later, we told dd what had happened. He chuckled a little bit, but I could tell that he was not very happy- he was most likely going to be the one who had to fix it. He hasn't gotten around to fixing it yet do to many other things that are needed to be done, but as soon as it's summer, Garrett will most definitely be helping him fix the hole. Don't forget- Wrestling, tackling, and shoving are not a good combination when near a wall

Favorite things: Movies

Hello everyone! This is going to be the first blog in a series about, well, some of my favorite things! Now, movies are extremely entertaining ranging from romance, horror, action, and even documentaries- I love em' all. My favorite movie is under the category of historical fiction, and includes drama, love, action, comedy, but is not focused on any of these themes. It is a slice-of-life from the perspective of the simple storyteller named Forest Gump. This heartwarming story starting with his early childhood, covers how he got into regular school, how he met his best friend Jenny and the drama in her life, how Forest learned he could run, and how Elvis Presley got his famous jumpy leg move. As Forest grows up and matures, so does the movie. It becomes more serious, more real-except where Forest Gump is being Forest Gump. He becomes a star college running back. The story goes on for quite a long time, and progresses and changes in ways that you don't expect, yet seem so fitting, that you feel like you should've expected it. It is a beautifully done movie, and it gets a rating of 11 out of 10 from me- it is one of my favorites! But, it is not my only favorite movie. A few of my other favorites are- the new Star Trek, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy,  the Chronicles of Riddik, and the classic Star Wars series.  Yes, I am a fan of science fiction. But, I don't like the fairy tales or the dream come true kind of movies. I much prefer the gritty ones that are more realistic( at least, as realistic as science fiction can get) in the sense of people dying, the outcomes of stories, the flaws in the heroes/main characters, exc. I have found that most of the newer movies that have come out recently are not very appealing to me. They often seem too... shallow. Usually with more action in action movies, more gore in horror, more smooching in love stories and less of the conveying of feelings via words that went deeper than a mere touch, less of the suspense that even made a cat scary(like in Alien), and less background behind the action to make the watcher understand why it is so exciting.

The perks and downs of downsizing

Last summer, my family and I moved into a new home. It was the first time I have ever moved, and even though I had lived in my old house for almost all of my life, I was not uncomfortable in my new home. It still had a open feel to it, with easy access to all of the rooms and a refrigerator downstairs. The carpeting was so plush, that when we were moving in I almost fell asleep on it. Speaking of sleeping, since I now live in town, I can get places a lot faster, and I can sleep later in the mornings that I have school XD. The neighborhood kids are odd, but very kind and active. My brother and I often swim in our neighbor's pool- usually after being begged to go by the neighbor kids- and is a great way for he and I to cool off. But, there are some downsides to downsizing. Our house is what many Realtors call "very centralized", meaning that the majority of the space is very open and connected to the center of the house. This may seem great at first, but there is one huge downside- My brother and I can't sneak around the house and avoid contact with our parents like we could in our old house. For the longest of time, we could hide behind walls between rooms, minimizing the chance to be seen to almost zero. Our parents, especially in the summer, would often get swept up in errands and chores that they needed to get done, allowing us to go unnoticed for hours. Eventually they would call for us, but until then we were free to roam outside and almost anywhere in the house. Sadly, Now that we are in a very open house, It is almost impossible to go somewhere else without being heard or seen by somebody. This does not mean that our disappearing act is over- just that it happens less often. One more disadvantage hasn't presented itself yet, but will be very relevant soon. Our house is two minutes from a school that my brother and I don't go to. That particular school is notorious in our new neighborhood for egging, tee peeing, and many other pranks that involve vandalizing. Our house has not been a target yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if we become one soon enough. But despite the downsides, I really love my  new home.

Dead of winter

I love winter. The snow days that get us out of school, the beautifully snow-dusted and ice encrusted landscape glistens and sparkles with a beautiful elegance, and going down a hill of snow whether it be in a sled or on skis are all of the activities and sights I enjoy seeing. But below the snow, below the ice, lies a dormant carpet of grass, dead debris, and a world hibernating from life. I have recently wanted to see bustling, vibrant life again- whether a tiny blade of grass or a songbird chirping merrily from a nearby tree. Don't get me wrong- I still love winter-but I am ready for life to come back to this seemingly dead world. The deer that I see and tracks of various animals brings a little warmth to my heart, but not nearly as much as when the ground doesn't have to be covered to be beautiful. I am ready to see the grass grow again, to hear the chirping of birds in the day and of crickets at night joined by the sound of croaking and grunting of frogs in the nearby pond. I am ready to go hunting for morel mushrooms again, to find those elusive fungi growing near a dead elm and to munch on the wonderfully Delicious fried shrooms. Oh, how I yearn for summer days where The water is inviting and where cold is a good thing. I love to have the freedom of the days, not having many obligations- that I can search for new things outdoors or on the web, and enjoy new shows and veg out on video games. But until those days come, The snow will cover the grass, and the grass will lie waiting-dormant.

Political Relief

This may sound surprising, but I haven't until now realized that there haven't been many political commercials on T.V. There have been none, actually. It struck me that after the Caucuses(yes, I'm in Iowa), the candidates don't really care about Iowa all that much anymore. All of the Candidates have headed East. Honestly, I like that. The publicity with the nation  seeing who Iowa will choose in the upcoming election is nice, but... After ten calls to my cell phone even though I'm not old enough to vote, constant commercial, and a crap- ton of publicity with National news in Iowa, I've had enough of the caucuses. One of the traits I find appealing about my lil' state of Iowa is that it's rather quiet. Basically no murders, scandals, or disasters combined with high employment rate yet plenty of fun stuff to do in the "big cities" of Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines. Besides, I have no voice in the political debate as I am not 18 yet, so the cell phone calls saying "will you vote in the caucus?" is like asking a woman if they need to have their prostate examined. I will say all that attention is a nice change of pace but... only so much.

Slowing down

The past few days I have found quite odd- I've been eating less than I normally do. I have been loading my plate with the usual heaps of food, and finding I only clear off about half of it before I feel full. I found this odd enough that I had myself measured. 6'2", the same as the last time i got measured- which was about a month. I got on the scale(which I hadn't gotten on for about two months), and I weighed 189,  just two and a half pounds more than the last time I checked. Then I began to realize that maybe, just maybe I have stopped growing. I personally find this idea great, because I'm already awkwardly tall the way things are now- the most common first impression of people is "WOW you are tall!"- and that comment is honestly getting kind of old. Not only that, but whenever I'm loading cars for work-especially vans and SUV's- I find that I consistantly run into the open part. There are also other low clearances that I run into, like in storage rooms and in other, very random places that hit me(literally) when I least expect it. It is not a pleasant thing to experience. Now there are some perks to being tall, like being able to reach the top shelf at the grocery store, or save a frightened kitten in a tree, but there's always a tool to make you taller(ladder, stool, pedistal, exc.), but there is no tool to make you shorter(or more so, the way you naturally stand shorter). And when you are a rather clumsy guy like me, it hits you all the harder.

Why Pink?

I have been experiencing and noticing some odd things related to the color pink. Whenever see a pencil lying on the ground, especially mechanical ones, I pick them up for later use. For the last few months or so, all of the pencils I pick up are pink. Now this would make more sense if I found all of these pencils in one class period, but that's the problem- I've found at least one in every class period save first hour. Not only that, almost all of the mechanical pencils are different- difference in size, shape, quality, just about everything except- they are all pink. Now, they arent' all the same shade of pink, but... finding only pink pencils is starting to freak me out. This isn't the only thing about pink that is bothering me- the "Pink" brand cloths that girls wear is bothering me too. Especially the yoga pants that have pink around the glutoeus maximus region. My eyes are drawn to drastic color changes on a person's body. If I see someone in my peripheral vision with colors that are the same or pretty close to the same, I don't bother looking.
But, when there is black, black, black BRIGHT COLOR(pink, in this case), my eyes are instinctively drawn to the color. And before I know it, I'm looking at girl's butt without really intending too. It's very embarrassing. Why would women want people looking at ... that region? Why? I thought that all people,  especially women, wanted to be treated with respect. Well, the PINK is not earning my respect, and is sending the message to guys that you want them to look down there. I don't want to  myself, but others are perfectly fine with doing that, and will think of your personality & character by doing that.

Resolve

For a while now, I have been reading the book The Seven Habits of Important People.
This book, though is more than merely changing habits- it is about changing the very way
the reader views life, activities, and how they can influence them. It starts out covering
how you can change yourself to become who YOU want to be. First off, it starts with the
foundation of the change for the individual- their independance. The book states that
the following need to change- drive to produce and production balance, purpose, and priorities.
I would tell you myself how to, but the way the book describes it is so much better then I could
put into a few sentences. Now I haven't gotten to the interdependance sections, the other four
habits to form good, healthy, and productive & joyful relationships with others- a strong self
is needed for strong relationships. Well, if you want to read it, you can buy it at Barnes & Nobles,
or find it at a local library. Well, cya later!

Neflix issues

  I love Netflix. It has let me be able to watch a lot of fun and interesting shows, documentaries, and movies. For all you Netflix users or post-users, you know about the dvd-internet streaming split. It used to be 15 dollars a moth for both, but now you have to buy each part separately. I myself was not to dissapointed by this, because I never really bothered with the DVD shipping- It took too long, and If I wanted to watch a movie, I could just go to Mr.Movies or Family Video and rent the one I wanted. But, apparently many other people did use both parts of netflix quite a bit- many people were outraged by the split, and Netflix lost a lot of customers. This is not including the "mess-ups" that have happened to me when streaming via online. There would sometimes be connection errors, or other inconvenient happenings. But, despite all these issues, Netflix is thriving, and I'm enjoying it just as much as before. Now I'm off to watch more MythBusters- cya later!

Chicago (cont.)

It has come to my attention that is my last post about Chicago, I only talked about the aquarium. Well, there are COUNTLESS other wonderful things to experience in Chicago, and I will try to give you a full list of  what my family and I have done so far. We have Gone on a Segway tour of Chicago(which Segways on their own are awesome, but combined with eating hot dogs while riding them and seeing all the major sights of Chigago it's amazing!), We have gone to see the Art Museum(which I would probably appreciate more than I would when I was younger), went to a plethera of amazing places to eat- my favorite being a sushi bar. I was never one to think of tofu or raw fish as something edible. But the cooks there at that place made this spicy tofu soup that was absolutely delicious- I had two bowls. The sushi, both just freshly cut fish by itself and fish wrapped in seaweed w/ roe and rice, was AMAZING. The pieces of red snapper just melted in my mouth. I felt like I went to foreign food heaven!
    One of my favorite places to go, though, is the beach on Lake Michagan. The water may be somewhat cold, but the waves are twice the size of any wavepool that has ever been installed in a waterpark. It was so amazing to be sitting in the sand at the low point of a wave, and then to be taken high enough I couldn't touch the sand beneath my feet. It was like a water roller coaster ride!
  Sadly, I can't remember any more of the countless experiences we've had at Chicago. So go out there and get a taste of Chicago yourselves!

Favorite things-other than food

"T.V. that teaches you something worth learning,
Snapple cap phrases and ice cream makers a' churning,
Movies that make my eye tear up and gleam,
These are a few of my favorite things!
Fuff chairs that sink to conform to your size,
Games that end with a bad guy's demise,
Pictures that says more than it first seems,
These are a few of my favorite things!
When the cold strikes,
When the price hikes,
When I'm feeling down,
I simply remember my favorite things
liiiiikkkkeeee
Hugs from my friends and from warm strangers,
The story of jesus a-sleep in the mangers,
Stupid ol' dares with a hint of danger
Skiing til' sundown is no longer there,
These are a few of my faaavorite things

The Sights and the actions that always brings
me warmth and laughter and fullfilment at the thought!
Oh how I just can't wait.

The Morning After

The morning after. Everyone dreads the feeling of waking up groggy in the morning and thinking "uuuuhhhg". No, I am not talking about the day after getting drunk( I have yet to experience that or see someone else experience it). I am instead talking the day after your birthday- specifically my younger brother's birthday. Yesterday, my brother turned 14. He was livin' the good life, hanging out with his best friend the whole day doing whatever whimsical idea came to mind. He was pretty excited and peppy yesterday- at least compared to how he usually is. But, now that it is the morning after, he has become even more quiet, blunt, and grumpy than usual. I tried talking to him, and he paid no attention to him. I tried to get closer to him, and he just swiveled in his chair. So I left him to brew on the fact that his birthday- and the special prevlidges that come with it- are over to blog about it. :-D

Sinking in

Have you ever experienced something, thinking "WOO HOO! This... is.... AWESOME! XD". Then you think about the situation and all of the results you are and will deal with. "Yea, this is still great!". Then, you realize that, well it's not so great "oh... crap". There are many situations where one may experience this. For me, it was with the snowfall in my state. At first I was thinking "YES! finally we will get snow days and I'll be able to go skiing and all the other fun winter activities-and to top it off, the snow covers up the boring old dead vegetation!". Then, I drove through the snow and thought "eh, it's great and all, but it makes driving a pain." Finally, at work, when I had to go outside repeatedly and drag a cart through the snow(I work as a courtesy clerk at a grocery store, for more info read my Work, Work post), I realized how much of a downer the fluffy white stuff was going to be on my daily activities. We all have these experiences some time or another, but knowing it may happen never prepares you for when it finally sinks in.

Chicago

The Windy City. It has been years since I have felt the gusts that sent smells of car fumes and resturaunt aromas rushing to my nostrils. I still remember seeing the sights of  Chicago with my family, all of the wonderul places. One of the most memorable places we went to was the Chicago aquarium. In the entrance to the aquarium was a huge cylindrical tank filled with (relatively) small sharks, green morey eels, countless coral fish and even a sea turtle named penny. Most of the other aquarium tanks were gallery-like display, jam packed with unique and unusual animals. There was jellyfish in a dark, glowing tank- like living pieces of a lava lamp. There was fish from  the Missisippi river, from the Amazon (with poisin dart frogs!), there was a whole expedition on life on the sea shore, where you could acually touch sea stars and sea anenome. The best part, though, was tied between Beluga whales, Dolphins, Penguins, and the Shark Tank. The Shark tank is well... full of sharks and other large fishes. The Beluga whales are beautiful white to ivory colored whales that look like their always smiling. The dolphins are very social, and active- especially when doing tricks! The dolphin shows are amazing. Then penguins are just awesome, especially when you see them hopping around- they're so cute!(not to mention the mild yet hilarious skirmishes they have with each other). But even these four cannot beat the experience I had at the dolphin show one year. No, it did not have to deal with dolphins. Instead, it dealt with(drumroll please)..... a seal! I was called up during a dolphin show to be the first public visitor to shake hands(&flipper) with the seal trained at the Chicago aquarium. It was AMAZING.

ice cream

Now, Ice cream. This stuff I could live off of. It is the food that tops all of my favorite foods. It is so rich, smooth, and cooling. There are nearly endless flavors of ice cream and just as endless variations of those flavors(not to mention the variations in the basic ingredients of ice cream, causing a change in general taste & testure). I have has some ice cream that was.... dissapointing, and I have had some ice cream where I at all that I possibly could! I will now tell you my favorites in the following category- fast food, grocerty store, ice cream store, unique ice cream store*, hommade. Ok, so fast food. You may be thinking "duh, DQ", but you are dead wrong. My favorite fast food ice cream comes from Culvers. Now I know it's technically called frozen custard, but by all definition it is really just super-rich, amazingingly delicious ice cream! Next, grocery store bought. My favorite is Breyer's Ice cream, because of it's simple flavors that just taste so... authentic! the vanilla tastes like lagitamate vanilla bean, the chocolate tastes like a (chocolate) truffle, and the strawberry is berry-licious! My favorite Ice cream store.... I don't really have one. Or at least, none of the generic Ice Cream stores like Cold Stone(yes Cold Stone is good, but too expensive for the amount of flavor). I have gone to a cheese/dairy shop in Wisconson, and it is the winner for unique ice cream store. I was able to buy this wonderfully delicious Ice cream with actual brownie chuncks, Fudge swirls, and pecans&peanuts in a vanilla ice cream. Not just that, It was a HUGE waffle cone for less than 3 bucks. It was SOOOOO delicous. Sadly, I don't remember the place's name. :(

How to crack a nut with using your fists

About a week ago or so, my brothers and I tried cracking pecans, but not in the usual manner- we held the pecan in the palm of one hand and smashed it with another. My younger brother, being a mosterous football player, smashed through the pecan shell in three tries. My older brother tried about five times and quit to avoid hurting his hand. Me? well.... my hand got really hurt. The pecan, on the otherhand, was happy as can be, snug in it's hard shell. Snug and smug that is, until I smashed it against the table and ate it out of frustration. But as I was sitting near the kitchen again, I wondered if I could crack it the way my younger brother would. But, unlike last time where I just picked up any Ol' pecan, I was more picky about which one I would try to crack. I finally chose out the one that was the roundest, put it in my palm, and started punching it. First try, a "CRACK" sound, but no broken shell or even cracks along the surface to be found. The second time, the same. The third time, I felt the shell give way, and I gave a war cry in triumph as I picked of the rest of the shell and devoured the delicious pecan. So give breaking a pecan open with only your fists a try! It's very satisfying when you actually crack it open, but if you don't.... shame on you.

The good things about snow

 Since the winter weather has finally arrived in my state, I find that it is finally time to enjoy all of those winter festivities and sports that need snow to be done properly.  Soon enough, I will probably be outside pelting neighbors with snowballs, sledding down large hills, making snowmen, and... skiing. It has been over a year now since I have last been out cutting into the snow, carving into it with my skiis. I miss the thrill of the speed and the wonder as I see the beautiful landscape from the lifts that allow me to enjoy the experience descending and ascending the gigatic hills/mountains all over again. I still remember the place me and my family would always go to- we would bring hot chocolate, and many wonderful snacks that we would eat in our akward ski boots with our skiis in the crook of our arms.
We would recall the first time me and my younger brother went down our first fully fledged ski run. My brother and I had been going down the bunny hill to practice our skiing, and we were getting awfully tired of how short and slow it was. We wanted to go down the "grown up hill". Eventually, we wore down our parents and they let us go. Big mistake. My brother went zooming past me as I flew past countless people on the green, or "easy" hill. I somehow made it to the bottom without falling or running into anybody. But I couldn't stop. So instantly I decided to direct myself toward a hill that was inclined upwards. I stopped, then fell face-first into the snow. I was very embarrased, but not as embarrased as my brother- my mom chased him down and tackled him while he was speeding down the hill! This was all years ago, but the memory is still hilarious!

favorite meal

Ahh, food. It is one of the few things in life where how enjoyable it is doesn't change. There is rich food, refreshing food, sugary n'syrupy food, bitter-but-nutritious, and even combonations of all of these. Of all these general types of foods, everybody has at least one favorite food to eat. Since I am a food connoisseur of food, I have many favorite foods.
        I  loooove chicken tortolini soup, the refreshing broth combined with fresh veggies, the tender chicken, and the soft tortolini noodles filled delicate cheeses. I still remember one Christmas evening eating three bowl of this soup in bowls from our china hutch with silver spoons, and still wanting more after I and my family had completely stuffed ourselves.
   Another one of my favorites is my mother's hommade apple pie. Whether we get our apples from a nearby oarchard, farm, or grocery store, my mother's years of experience makes any already delectable apples into one of the most mouth watering desert you can ever get at home. I could eat those pies for every meal of the day for an entire week and not get tired of them.
    Another chicken dish I gorge myself on is chicken alfrado. Hommade white sause with garlic, salt, pepper, and lots of cheeses combined with generous chuncks of clay-baked chicken and broccoli/asparagus..... oooh it makes my mouth water at the thought.
   There are other foods I adore, but  I've made myself hungry and I'm off to eat something!

super lens

 I just read this article written by Marica Goodrich at Michagan Tech University-http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2012/january/story60318.html , and the information within is amazing! This article talks about the concept and persuit of a Super lens, or a "perfect" lens that can allow us humans to use microscopes to see objects as small as 100 nm. this is only half of the size of the current most powerful compound microscope- around 200nm, but the concept of how to make it is completely different and may revolutionize our technology- making microscopes as easy to access as a cell phone and making much smaller, cheaper, and better technology produceable.
"The secret lies in plasmons, charge oscillations near the surface of thin metal films that combine with special nanostructures. When excited by an electromagnetic field, they gather light waves from an object and refract it in a way not seen in nature called negative refraction. This lets the lens overcomes the diffraction limit. And, in the case of Guney’s model, it could allow us to see objects smaller than 1/1,000^th the width of a human hair."-Marcia Goodrich, http://www.mtu.edu/  The implications for a cheaper, better lens using negative refraction are great, and I can't wait until I can get a phone that has one or a phone made with one. XD

Beauty rest

I have experienced, about once a week or so, not being able to sleep. Turning, tossing, twisting to try to find the "perfect" position. This happened to on Friday, and I felt like crap. In school, I got nothing done other than dreaming of christmas tree ortaments fighting over thier right to be hung and drudging through the hallways from one napping location to the next. My brother the day before also experienced a similar feeling- he got home after 7 hours of school and 4 hours of vigorous varsity swim practice, shuffling through the door with his glazed eyes half closed. My brother had gotten past all but one obsticle getting between him and being zombified on the couch watching Monday night football- Adv. Geometry homework.My brother is usually great and extremly efficient at his homework, but since he missed a key lesson in math two days before and his mind had been bleached of all thinking by the clorine water in the school pool, he needed help. That help, to my delight and by appointment of the master & mistress of the household, was to come from me. My brother during this time did his best to solve the problems. When he finished writing down the answers I told him to write, he sunk deep into the living room couch, and fell asleep before kickoff.

Beef Jerky... gone! D:

Today, I went to a half day of school as my brother stayed home sick with the stomache flu, which he caught late last night. When I get home, he still has not eaten any food. I go to my volunteering at the local hospital, and my brother went from illness- induced hibernation to feeding frenzy. He devoured four eggs, lots of who-knows-what, and ... two pounds worth of meat in the form of deer jerkey.  My heart felt empty knowing that there was no more jerkey to snack on.... and the dent in my familie's pantry made me begin to wonder- how could my brother suddenly recover from the illness? It seemed really odd. But then I myself had the stomach flu one and one half days ago. I remembered  I was busy staring at a monitor like now, distracting me from my pangs of hunger that would inevatibly lead to throwing up again, and also I had a fear of eating- Who want to eat food just to taste it a second time while holding their head over the toilet/garbage can? Not me, that's for sure. But when the growls of my stomach became too insistant, I whipped up a big ol' bowl of Ramen noodles, and made the entire contents dissapear within a minute. It was SOOOO satisfying, I didn't care wether or not I was going to throw up, and I didn't. So maybe it was O.K. for my brother to suddenly turn into a giant, hungry bear after not eating for a whole day. But it was NOT ok for him to eat all of that jerkey.
:(

GREEN!

Green. It is one of the countless colors in our(us human's) field of vison. Over the years, it has accumulated a personality for itself through it's use in banners, paintings, and in life itself. But, let's just touch on the basics of green. Chlorophyl, the pigment that allows plants to photosynthesize and create the vast majority of the chemical energy(aka food), is green. Because it is a color almost always found within plants, and due to the versatility and durability of plants, green is often associated with growth. Green is also closly connected with things that are young or "new". For example, a green break is when a bone in a person bends(more than it should), instead of acually breaking. A green horn is usually used to refer to people new to a profession.
Green vegetables make up many foods that I love. Apples, Lettuce, Kiwis, Cabbages, and many others are painted with green, ranging from a blush of the color to a solid coating of it. One of my FAAAAAVORITE foods, called chorizo soup, is made with collard greens.
Green is a very lively color, and the lighter the green- the livlier and younger it feels. Dark green can Thsometimes give the feeling of old or even ancient. But even the oldest of redwood trees spring with bright new pine needles in the spring, and even the youngest of people can carry on a tradition as ancient as history itself.

Is winter here yet?

Ah, Winter. The time when various holiday decorations such as the Christmas tree, draped boughs of conifer tree limbs, strings of lights cover the house, and for Mother Nature to envelop the roads, trees, cars and houses in ice and snow. At least, that's what usually happens. But not the December of 2011. Where I live, there would usually be a total accumulation of 2 to 4 feet of overall snowfall by now. Instead of high hills of plowed snow though, we are getting high tempatures(at least considering it's winter)- tempatures on average between 46-52. This fact is particually entertaining after remembering what two girls said to me during autumn comparing where they live now to where they used to live. "It's cold up here. I wish I was back in Florida/Texas". This winter, both Texas and Florida have experienced freezing tempatures, while I have yet to feel the cold bite of 32 degree and below weather. XD

Work,work

For the past month now, I've been employed at local grocery store. Even though the job description was simple-I am a courtesy clerk, bagging merchandise and taking the bagged items to the customers' cars, and other odd jobs around the store. At my work, I meet lots of people- both interesting and simple. I was acually able to meet a French person- he had the accent, and he was a conaissour of food- he was trying a turducken for the first time(a turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey, which each are also filled with stuffing)! He also talked about his daughter being trilingual by the time she was starging high school! I'm just starting to become bilingual- french & english- and I'm already a junior in high school! There have been some other pretty fun things about work- Like when I worked on Christmas eve morning at 5:00 A.M., I was the only hyperly peppy person there- the others were still chugging coffee and rubbing the sleep from their eyes. My favorite part about my work, though, has to be making money while doing something I enjoy doing- helping people.