Paper Quilling

As I look online at all the other blogs that I am following, it occured to me that only one other person I follow is actually updating their post. I just thought that was pretty weird.

So I am spending the first few days of summer, warmth, and freedom in Connecticut. At my grandparents. Whoopee. Now, don't get me wrong, I really love my grandparents and their puppy dog Nellie. I just kinda wanna spend my days of summer lazily lying on the couch watching Looney Tunes and only eating when I absolutely feel hungry. Since I just said that I would rather not be here, allow me to back that up with a bunch of positive things about spending time here:

• They have a swimming pool (although their pump was currently chewed out by a chipmunk, who wanted a place to store his food)
• They have their puppy dog Nellie, and are watching over their friend's dog Nick.
• They have a cat named Abby who reminds me a LOT of a mix between Willow and Simon (surprisingly, she doesn't have a lot of Hazel in here. By the way, those are MY cats)
• They live on a nice, quiet little street
• They often buy me whatever I want (like grandparents do so well)
• In the morning, there are always HUGE breakfasts waiting that fill you up until dinner.
• I am learning how to make my grandmother's chicken with a bread crumb outer layer today

And so on.

I think the biggest reason that I am not completely happy right now is that I am not here with either of my brothers or even my dad. As my mom once said, the house never feels complete if one of us are gone, no matter what we are doing. If we aren't together in the same house, it just isn't complete. She's right, of course. I always felt that way. I can even sense when someone new has entered our house, like one of our friends or perhaps our handiman Tom.

Handiman Tom. That's a nice little nickname. Although I mostly just say Tom our handiman. Oh well, either way works, I'm sure. He has done wonders to our yard. It looks beautiful. We have three little flower pots just sitting on our steps. They've been there for years, so that it seems like they just came with the steps. One day, I was leaving the house through the front door, when I looked at the flower pots and saw, much to my amazement, flowers inside each one of them. Red and yellow flowers. Our backyard looks a little neater, with the patches of dirt filled in with healthy green grass that looks like a comb has been run through it, making it neat and untangled. Our rosebush has even decided to bloom a little early. Or maybe it's not early. I can't be quite sure. I don't know much about the life cycle of a rose. I always thought it would be nice to have a rose garden, with all the wonderful smells and colors blending together. A flower garden does involve a lot of maintenance, depending on the flowers. I don't think I would be up for that, no matter how gorgeous the results.

In the newspaper yesterday, there was an article about a woman who did this thing called Paper Quilling. It is an art that takes a lot of patience. Basically, she makes pictures like flowers, unicorns, and dragons using only paper. Here is a picture of a fish that somebody did using Paper Quilling:

Isn't that amazing? All of that is paper! I don't think this was done by the woman who was in the article, but this is a very good example of what I was trying to describe. I would like to learn how to do it, but, like I said, it involves a whole lot of patience. It sure does look beautiful.

Here is a picture of a three- dimensional tea cup that the woman from the newspaper article, Pat Caputo, I think was her name.

Again, fantastic! I went down to the library today with Grandma, and saw this for myself behind a display case. Even that little spoon thing is paper. I don't know how it is done, but it is absolutely fantastic!

Food and Spellcheck...Things We Cannot Live Without

Hallelujah! I now know how to make French Toast!! No more boring, same-old, granola bars for breakfast. Now, I can make everyone jealous because I can make French Toast!!!
I really do enjoy cooking and making my own food. It's not a chore to me, which is most likely because it is always my choice when I want to cook. So far, I know how to make Chicken and Rice, Gammy's Cheesecakes, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Mac and Cheese that is not Kraft, pancakes, and now, French Toast. I know there are a lot of things on that list that I neglected to mention, but otherwise the list would go on for quite a while, and you wouldn't like that very much, would you? Especially if you were hungry. Oh man, if you were hungry right now, this blog post would just be torture. So, before I torture you anymore, I demand that you get up out of your seat, go downstairs to your kitchen, and make yourself some nice, warm, delicious, fresh-from-the-oven banana bread. That's right, I demand you do it this instant. When you have finished making your nice, warm, delicious, fresh-from-the-oven banana bread, I want you to call me up and invite me over for some. It really is my favorite kind of bread. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Would you honestly deny me the right to some nice banana bread? I certainly hope not! What kind of friend would you be if you did not let me have any? It was my suggestion, after all.

Okay, so now we go onward with this blog post. I bet in your heads you are now saying "Onward!" as if you were continuing with a quest. Am I right? I bet I am! I always say that in my head. Whether it is continuing onto our next class for the day, or just deciding to go downstairs for a snack. There I go with food again! I'm not hungry at the moment, just not full either. I don't know how people can just will themselves not to eat. Food is delicious. They shouldn't deny themselves the right to food. I mean, if you are full, that's one thing. If you do it because of calories, then I herefore say that--wait, is herefore a word? I mean, I thought I heard it said in those old medieval movies, but I'm not really sure anymore. No red line appeared underneath it, so it must be a real word. If I were to type ladkfjla, then--oh wait, no red line under that either. Ok, something is strange about this computer. For all I know, I could've made tons of mistakes in the last few sentences, but I won't ever know!!

Oh hey!! Spellcheck!

First Day of Summer Vacation

So as the title of this blog post says, it is now the first day of the summer vacation. The last day of school happened yesterday, and it couldn't have been shorter. We started the day by going into the science room, where many students had brought in delicious food. The donuts were gone before they reached the table, so I didn't get any of those. There were muffins, corn bread, doughnut holes from Dunkin Donuts, and etc. We spent that time sitting around at a table and just hanging out, really. I don't even really remember what we talked about. My friend Anna and I kept sniping pictures of our friend Sara, who made it very clear that she doesn't like getting her picture taken.

At 9:00 am, we all headed down to the auditorium. My math teacher, Mrs. Nockles, had made a slideshow with pictures showing all these great events that had happened over the course of the year. It included Spirit Week, our River Project in science class, the Boat Cruise Dance, Washington D.C., and even from the first day of school.  In the pictures from the first day, we all looked like deer in headlights. There were the lucky few that had friends that they hung around and talked to. Then there were other people that kept their distance since they were afraid of everyone else. 

My very good friend Anna came from Saint Michael's Catholic School. She didn't know anyone in our class. Well maybe a few people, but I really don't know for sure. When I first saw her, I really liked her. She dressed a little differently than other people, since she was wearing a skirt and wedge heels, which I thought was awesome! When we were being shown around the school, I stood closer to her in case we might start talking or something like that. Even though we were shown around the school, I still don't know where half the stuff is. I can't even get to the Nurses' office on my own! 

When I was in 6th grade, I met a girl named Jane. She had moved here when she was in 3rd grade from India. We became close friends. She was the person that I really hung around and felt that I could tell anything to. Even when her friends took a disliking to me and kicked me out of their little group, I didn't blame Jane, even though she didn't say anything. I knew exactly what was on her mind. In every picture with Jane, I am there, standing next to her. I felt really sad when, in April, she moved back to India. She was like my best friend for the year. Having Anna be there for me reminded me of Jane. They are completely different people, but they are the type of people that nobody should ever say anything bad about. They are reliable, trustworthy, and loyal. 

I do wish that I still kept in touch with Jane. We have each other's email addresses, but it never seemed to work out. Anna is just going to a school in Lowell, and I don't even know if she is moving, but at least it will be easier to keep in touch, like text messages and such. We can even keep in touch with our blogs! I do my best to put current events up here that happen in my life, and she does the same with hers. Oh yes, this can work! By the way, Anna, I mean all these things I am typing in the very best way possible. You are awesome!!

Wow, I really do ramble when I begin to type. It's hard for me to keep talking about the same subject without getting a totally new idea that I just HAVE to write about. I still hope this all makes sense regardless. Maybe I will get all this together and have a nice, normal post for once. 

I feel welcoming. That's a good word to describe how I feel right now. Welcoming of new things yet to come.

It's Almost the Last Day of School!

There is only one more day of school left, then SUMMER VACATION!!!!!! Today, we had our final day of finals. I had an English final, and then a French final. For the English final, we had to make a portfolio that reviewed four pieces of work that we thought would best represent our strengths and weaknesses. The four essays I chose were:

• My "How To" essay, which is titled "the Quick Guide to Mediation"
• My Favorite Toy essay, titled "Pandora's Box"
• A creative rewrite titled "Stabbing Scene Rewrite"
• My slavery research essay, titled "The Importance of John Brown"

Taylor went online and I found out that I got a 99 out of 100 on the presentation. I think that's amazing! I was the very last person in my class to present, but I was still very nervous about the whole thing. I had no idea what I was going to say. I'm still not completely sure what I did end up saying. Whatever I said, it must have been good, since Mrs. Snyder liked it. 

Oh, I should tell you about Mrs. Snyder! She is currently filling in for my English teacher, Mrs. Lackey, who just had a baby girl. Mrs. Snyder, I believe, is also a drama teacher, so she's very open and full of excitement. Plus, she is fluent in French and ASL (American Sign Language). I was thinking of asking her if she could teach me sign language, but there's only one day left in the school year so I didn't see how it could work out. Mrs. Snyder reminded me why I love English class so much. The literature, the creativity, the happiness that comes when you write something that sounds just the way you want it. Mr. Reynolds first showed me how great English could be, and Mrs. Snyder kept it alive in me. What a great way to end the school year! I sure hope that I see her around. I would love to join in on school plays, I just get scared and back out. Plus, I never know when auditions are being held or how to prepare. Everyone else seems to know all these things that I just haven't yet figured out. 

A few weeks ago, the C.A. Farley Elementary School was hosting their 10th annual Free To Be You and Me play presented by the 5th graders. For this, they were allowing former students of the elementary school to come in and sing a song, I think. My dad found this on the school website and told me about it. I even managed to contact Zach Johnson to get more information. However, on the day of the rehearsal, I got scared again. I just couldn't see myself going up on the stage and singing. I don't even know where this fear comes from. For heavens sake, I sang karaoke on that dance night on the Odyssey! This stuff should be a piece of cake! I used to be in many plays, I have very good memorization skills, I should be ready for stuff like this. I really WANT to be in school plays, although I never planned on doing anything in eighth grade. I figured that I would wait a year to figure out the flow of things and then in my freshmen year, I would perhaps get into some theater.

I think part of it is that my life is so undecided. I mean, there are so many wonderful things that I can do. I know I don't know everything, and I hope I never get to know everything, for that would be totally boring. I want to experience all that life has to offer. I want to do all I can in this life, and then have completely new experiences in lives to come (yes, I believe in afterlife. It just makes sense, doesn't it?) 

Perhaps this is just something that I am going through. Lately, so many emotions have been running through me, it's a bit overwhelming. Just a few hours ago, I was cleaning out my room when I went over to my Amma doll that was sitting on my bedside table. I held that doll for a little while when I began to feel this overwhelming desire to be close to her. To Mom, I mean. Not only could I feel the desire, but I could also feel the possibility of fulfilling that desire to see her. It was like she was there, but just out of reach. I just had to connect. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to connect like that. My mind tends to over think.

I feel like I should feel a little saddened since my eighth grade year is coming to a close. However, I just feel liberated. My best friend may be leaving and going to a new school, but we shall always keep in touch. I have her cell number and we will definitely text. And just to cease any disputes, I have more than one best friend. My best friends are the ones that I would allow to read this blog. That's not necessarily everyone that IS reading this blog, but I am slowly getting people's emails to invite them on. 

So thank you, best friends, for letting me share my life with you.

Oh my gosh, this is starting to sound like a good-bye. It isn't, in case you're wondering. I'm mostly just rambling.

Oh, my cat is lying across my arm. What a sweetie! Honestly, what would we do in this world without cats? What a lonely place that would be...

I Wanna Learn!

I wanna learn French! I know it's possible, and it doesn't have to take all through high school. Besides, even then, I don't think I will know it fluently. There are many people that have taken a language in their high school that don't even remember how to say "hello" or "yes." Oh, and I know it's possible. I just need to know how to do it. That's where you come in, Sue. I know that when we last skyped, you told me how to connect to Source, but I forgot. So either by comment or email, I would really like to know how I can tap in to the endless knowledge of the Universe and learn fluent French. I know it's been done, you said so yourself. I shall do some research on that book you told me about, if you reminded me what the book was called and who the author is, and I shall ace that French exam!

Of course, I don't wanna learn French just because I have the French finals coming up. I wanna show off too! One day, I will be messing up "De quelle coleur?" with "Tu as quel age?', and the next thing, I will be asking the teacher very complicated questions that I just haven't come up with yet. I already learned a new French word from watching Doctor Who. I learned from Dad how to say "head" in French as well. Of course, he told me in sixth grade that "commo se dice" was French, when it's really Spanish for "how do you say."

Languages are cool. Especially when you can do their accent really well and people look at you really amazed. When I am reading French, I tend to be able to read pretty fast. My teacher admitted that even she couldn't talk that fast. French was her first language. She also knows English, Spanish, and I believe she is learning Russian. It's gotta be cool. I have no idea, since I am only fluent in English. Perhaps I shall learn Portuguese and Spanish. I hope I don't get languages mixed up!

Oh, this is exciting! I can't wait to test this new knowledge out!

Katie and Anna's Fairy Tale

Before I begin the story, I would just like to re-thank Taylor for letting us use his two riddles (he wrote them himself!) Enjoy!

            Once upon a time, there was a smart and very wise young girl named Princess, who lived in a village, with her magical talking cat Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV, near the deep dense forest. She had a malicious neighbor named Chester. He was a tall man with red hair and lots of freckles. One day, Chester dared Princess to go deep into the forest and take a scale from the great dragon Vasenthior. If she did not fetch the scale by sundown of the next evening, Chester would sacrifice Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV to Demeter when Persephone was occupied in the Underworld with Hades.

            The next day, she set up her picnic basket and a few other supplies and headed into the deep dense forest. Since she didn’t know exactly where to go, she just headed straight down the path. After a few minutes of walking and light dancing while singing musicals, she came across a fork in the path. In the way stood a ten-foot tall tarantula.

            “What brings you here?” said a deep voice, which Princess soon realized was the spider himself talking.

            “Uh, I need to get to the great dragon Vasenthior. It’s important.”

            “Well, that gives you two riddles. One for letting you pass, and the other is if you want directions to which way you must go.” The spider said, “Are you up for the challenge? If you are wise, you will surely get them right.”

            “I’m ready for the riddles.” Princess replied uneasily.

            “Alright then. Here is the first riddle.”

            It has teeth, but cannot chew--

The golden door you must get through.

And yet the gateway sealed tight

Holds heavy bars to keep the night.

The eighty-eight lined in a row,

Designed as to exclude the foe.

In lonely word you must progress,

For with the answer comes success.

            “Hmmm… I think the answer is a…key!” She exclaimed.

            “Correct! Now here is your second riddle. If you do not answer this riddle, you will not be allowed passage through here and you must find the path on your own. And I will tell you, it is quite treacherous if you go the wrong way.”

            She pulls you in with loving arms,

She promises she'll never harm.

Cerulean master of guise,

She'll never let you take the prize.

The friendly stranger she once was

Has become hideous with flaws.

She leaves you lifeless on the ground,

Yet with death, closely you are bound.

            “Huh, that’s a hard one, but I will have to say the answer is the ocean.” She said nervously.

            “Unbelievable! You got it right again! I must say, you are a very bright young woman. Let’s hope you shall make it to your destination.”

            “So which path do I take that will lead me to Vasenthior?” asked Princess.

            “You must head down the left path. That is as far as I can assist you. It would sure be a shame to have you die.”

            Soon, Princess was heading down the left pathway. She saw a tree stump and decided to stop for lunch. She once again headed down the path. Out of seemingly nowhere, a rather large acorn came and hit her on the head and landed neatly on the ground. Right behind it came a squirrel wearing a cape and carrying a wand. When the squirrel sighted Princess, he stopped short.

            “Can you pick up that acorn?” asked the squirrel

            “Oh, sure.” said Princess, and she went over to pick up the acorn.

            “Now open it.” Princess opened the acorn and out flew a cloak. It fluttered to the ground. She picked it up and turned back to the squirrel.

            “That is a cloak of invisibility. The acorn has clearly chosen you to be the keeper of such an item. You are to use it wisely and sparingly, so as not to bring attention to the cloak and its full powers.” Princess put to cloak over her body to test it out. Sure enough, she could not see the rest of her body unless she had her head under the cloak as well. The squirrel told her to go straight until she saw the creek, and then follow the flow until she came upon the dragon’s hill. She thanked the squirrel and headed on her way.

            Finally, she came upon the creek. By this time it was mid-afternoon, almost five o’clock. She turned and followed the stream. She didn’t have to go far before the land began to slant upwards. She quickly pulled on the invisibility cloak and proceeded up the hill. Soon, she was at the top of the hill. She looked around curiously. The hillside was surrounded by rocks, so there was only one entry point. There was a small fire going near the center, and around it laid Vasenthior. She jumped back when she saw his great size. Remembering what she had to do, she carefully stepped forward, taking comfort in having the cloak on. She approached his tail and prepared to take a scale. The instant her hand touched his smooth emerald green scale, his tale roughly jerked, sending her reeling onto her back. The cloak fell off of her. The dragon stood to his full height. She estimated that he stood at 20 feet, 5 inches and 2 centimeters tall. The dragon had deep eyes that appeared to be reading her every thought, and perhaps he was. She didn’t know what kind of power Vasenthior had.

            “What are you doing?” the dragon demanded.

            “Uh, I, oh, y’know…” She couldn’t think of anything to say to Vasenthior. How could she explain her situation? “Don’t kill me” She finally managed to say.

            “Kill you? Why would I want to kill you? It seems rather unreasonable to kill someone for climbing up a hill and disturbing my rest. I simply want to know why you were thinking of stealing one of the scales from my body, when I shed them every year and keep them in a pile over there.” He pointed to a large pile full of bright green scales.

            “Well, I need to have one of your scales because--“

            “I know. My power isn’t as weak as you think. I know that Athena has disguised herself as your neighbor Chester to meet you. I know that this goddess of wisdom and strategy feels threatened by your wit and wisdom.”

            “Really? My neighbor is Athena? Is there any way you can help me?”

            “Well, you can have one of my scales over there. The colors are a little diluted, but it should be sufficient enough. As for getting rid of Athena, I think I can help.”

            “How?” Princess wondered.

            “Dragons’ blood is poisonous to the gods if they were to drink it and harmful if they were to come into contact with it, yet gives strength to mortals. Do you have any containers with you?”

            “Yea, I do.” She pulled out her canteen from her picnic basket and emptied out its contents. She handed it to Vasenthior, who lightly took it.

            “I will be right back.” With that, he flew off to a cave in the distance. After a few minutes, she could see him extend his wings and smoothly glide back to the hill. He handed her the canteen, which felt heavy in her hands. She placed the canteen of the dragon’s blood, as well as the scale, in her picnic basket.

            “That should get her to go away. After that, it’s up to you what you do with it. However, I must warn you to use it sparingly.”

            “Of course, I will.” The Princess said, turning away and heading back down the hill. She went all the way back to her cottage in the village by the dense woods. She found Chester/Athena waiting patiently by the door of the house. Her cat sat in a carrier in Chester’s hands.

            “You are almost late.” Chester said.

            “I know who you are Athena.” The man looked at her. Then he began to get brighter. She looked away, since she heard that looking at a god in their true form could kill you. When the light dimmed, there stood a young woman with gray eyes and blonde hair.

            “Do you have the scale?” Athena asked

            “Yes, I do.” Princess pulled out the canteen. Before Athena could see what it was she was holding, she swiftly opened the cap and threw the canteen to Athena. The goddess backed up quickly with a shriek as Vasenthior’s blood came out of the canteen and onto Athena. She dropped the cat carrier, which Princess quickly scooped up.

            “Thank you so much, Princess. You would not believe what she gives me for food in that place! It’s store brand!” said Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV. Princess looked back at Athena, but there was nobody there. It was as though she had teleported away. Princess walked into the house and put out some food for her cat.

            “Thank you very much.” her cat thanked her.

            As for the rest of the dragon’s blood, it all soaked into the ground in Princess’ yard. After a few weeks, they produced a magical bean plant that she would sell to a man for a profitable size of money. She did not know what happened to the magic beans until one day, a few miles away, she saw a rather large bean stock protruding out of the ground.

Didja like it?! Anna and I certainly had a blast coming up with it!

Such a Beautiful Morning, Don't You Think?

Today is just going to be a nice day to hang out, read, perhaps take a nice walk outside, and clean out our attic. Actually, I am quite looking forward to cleaning out the attic. Stored in there are tons of memories that may have been forgotten. Of course, we will be throwing a lot of stuff away, like the stuff we had when we were four years old. We don't really use those toys anymore. A lot of stuff that was in my room before I renovated is still in boxes in there. Hopefully it won't get too hot today, because that room can be like an oven!

There are a couple things I wish to find. All of them are things that my mom has told me about and said that they were probably in the attic somewhere. When I was little, I was able to do this pose with my leg that I can still sorta do now. Anyway, my aunt got me a little glass pink elephant that was doing the exact same pose. Since I was roughly two or three at the time, I would be likely to drop glass. So they put it somewhere in the attic. Another thing that I've been told is in the attic is a tabla. A tabla is a really cool drum that can be persuaded to make different sounds depending on the method you hit it and where on the head you hit it. I once heard it being played at a school drum demonstration of the different cultures of percussion. It has such a unique sound that is comforting to me. Mom also got a pair of drumsticks. I forgot what was so special about the drumsticks, but her friend had been going on and on about how great they were, so she bought them. Finally, I hope to find Mom's box of little animal figurines. I happen to collect them, and I would love it if I could find them. We won't get it all done today, so I may just find one of those things. I even know what kind of case the figurines are in, I think. I'm really excited to unearth memories that happened even before I was born. There's even a typewriter in there!

It's strange to think that it hasn't even been a year since my mother's death. I still don't know why I have to refrain from saying "death" and just resort to "that incident." Everyone knows that people don't really die. If you had one life to live, that would be a load of crap. This earth has lived too long to only allow us the single life that we seem to think we have. What I really hate about this whole thing is that I can't even talk about Mom, even though she was the greatest mom that I could have ever asked for. So whether you like it or not, I shall tell as many stories about my mom as I like. I want to. I want the world to know how great she was in her life here as my mother. She was wise, organized, and open. Her voice was always calm and soothing. She never raised her voice unless she was downstairs yelling for us to come from upstairs. It happened too fast.
It shouldn't have happened. I know that as much as the next person. It's the hospital that really got her. I know that. She was always so miserable in that place, no matter if it was the one in Marlboro or the one in Worcester. She hated it there because she was away from her husband, her kids, and her cats. She always said that when one of us were gone, even if we were just at a friend's house for the day, she said that the house never felt complete until we came back. It felt the same to me when Mom was in the hospital. You couldn't imagine all that worry I felt for her every second of the day. I absolutely loved those days when I would come home from school, all tired from the day's activities, and she would be home, awake, and watching TV. Those days, I was content. I found it so easy to connect to my true happiness.

Great, now this post has taken a weird turn. I would just like everyone to know that I do feel fine. Some might say that I am even happy. Content is still too strong of a word, and I don't know if I will ever get there, but that's okay. I like where I am at this moment. The morning is comfortably warm, quiet, and the birds are just waking up, which means they are very talkative. This morning feels perfect.

My next post is going to knock your socks off. In a "haha, this is so funny" kind of way.

My Favorite Poems

The title speaks for itself. Enjoy!

Rapt in a Revery by Henry David Thoreau


I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sing around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant roadway, I was reminded of the lapse of time.


We can never have enough of Nature.


Oranges by Gary Soto


The first time I walked
With a girl I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather,
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers, 
And asked what she wanted.
Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickel in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn't say anything.
I took the nickel from
My pocket, then an orange
And set them down quietly on
the counter. When I looked up,
the lady's eyes met mine,
And held them, knowing
Very well what it was all
About.
Outside,
A few cars hissing past,
Fog hanging like old
Coats between the trees.
I took my girl's hand
In mine for two blocks,
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands.


Leap Before You Look by W.H. Auden


The sense of danger must not disappear:
The way is certainly both short and steep,
However gradual it looks from here;
Look if you like, but you will have to leap


Tough-minded men get mushy in their sleep
And break the by-laws any fool can keep;
It is not the convention but the fear
That has the tendency to disappear.


The worried efforts of the busy heap
the dirt, the imprecision, and the beer
Produce a few smart wisecracks every year;
Laugh if you can, but you will have to leap.


The clothes that are considered right to wear
Will not be either sensible or cheap,
So long as we consent to live like sheep
And never mention those who disappear.


Much can be said for social savoir-faire,
But to rejoice when no one else is there
Is even harder than it is to weep;
No one is watching, but you have to leap.


A solitude ten thousand fathoms deep
Sustains the bed on which we lie, my dear;
Although I love you, you will have to leap;
Our dream of safety has to disappear.


Gone From My Sight by Henry Van Dyke


I am standing upon the seashore. A ship
spreads her white sails to the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length she
hangs like a speck of white cloud just
where the sea and sky come to mingle
with each other.


Then someone at my side says:
"There, she is gone!"


"Gone where?"


Gone from my sight. That is all.


her diminished size is in me, not in her. 
And just at the moment when someone
at my side says: "There, she is gone!"
there are other eyes watching her
coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:


"Here she comes!"


And that is dying.






So those are the poems that I have so far. I may come up with more in the future. I would like to thank my 6th and 7th grade English teachers for showing our class some poetry. I have always loved poetry and the many depths behind the words that are written.

On This Beautiful Day

On this wonderful morning, my dad and I drove down to Gates Pond and went for a walk around the trail that traced the outskirts of the pond. Just taking a walk in the morning can be hugely beneficial, I had come to find out today. It seems like as you walk, all this negativity is being lifted from your body, and you are left feeling content... although you also feel sweaty from all the walking.

This was the first day that we decided to walk at Gates Pond. Taylor and I had piano lessons every Saturday in Bolton, MA. Our piano teacher. Mrs. Eleanor Toth, lives across the street from a lovely walking trail. It surrounds three little lakes. In the fall, the trees are absolutely gorgeous! When I am having my lesson, Taylor and Dad go for a walk until my lesson is done. Then, Taylor has his lesson and Dad and I go for the same walk. Dad gets a lot of exercise, and he has told me that he has more energy when he plays tennis the next day with Neil. I am done with piano for the summer, so we decided to walk around Gates Pond on Saturdays.

These walks give me a chance to really talk to my dad. It's a connection that we have that I can't really find any other time. It might have something to do with the nature around us, or the walk itself. Either way, it's nice.

On this walk, I brought up the subject of our half birthday. You see, since my birthday is in December, a lot of people are away on Christmas break, so I never really get a chance to celebrate my birthday with anyone other than my dad and my grandparents. All my other friends get a birthday party where their friends come and they get red velvet cake and ice cream with fresh strawberries all topped with whipped cream (Yum! My favorite). So my dad came up with the idea that we could celebrate on our half birthday. I still don't completely understand what he means, since he doesn't say it's a party. He told me that it was just a day that gave us a chance to get presents other than in December. Now, I would love to have a party, or I would feel pretty strange about just having presents, and then the day continues. I managed to bring up the subject of turning it into a party. He asked me what I would want to do, and for that, I had no idea. He thought about taking us to this place that he once had a work party at. It has miniature golf, an outdoor picnic area covered by canopies, and a driving range. As much fun as I had that day, it was mostly because Alex and I found a couple of badminton racquets in the grass and started a little tournament. Besides, I don't think a lot of my friends would enjoy golf all day. I thought that maybe we could do something like go-carting. I did it once, and I had a blast! It's a lot of fun when you have fast cars. Then there is an thrill to the whole thing. If the cars just go slowly, then that's just no fun, even if you are allowed to slam into people. I like that idea, and I just need to know if my friends do too. Then I have to ask my dad how many of them I can invite in the first place. I do hope it turns into a birthday party, I had to skip mine last year.

Oh, my cat is giving me that look that says, "snuggle me!" I must go.

The 8th Grade Odyssey Dance

We had our 8th grade dance last Friday. And it so happens that it was also on a boat! I had never been on a boat before that night, so I was very excited!

Around 5:00 pm, the eighth grade students all met in the front of the school to wait for the buses that would bring us to The Odyssey (which was the name of the boat). The day was full of the sun shining and a comfortable warmth in the air. There is a picture of me standing with my brother Taylor and two of my friends, Jessica and Nadia. It's my new facebook profile picture now! I will put it on here if I can figure out how.

Hey, look! I successfully put a picture on here just by clicking some random buttons! I can't believe it worked! So anyway, from left to right it goes: Taylor, Nadia, Me (Katie), and Jessica.

That night, I had a tremendous amount of fun! I was all the great people I have met over the years, and even over this past year. Thinking back on the dance makes me reflect on my entire year as an 8th grader. Sure, there were some rough patches. In my case, a few rough patches and one great big one, but the point still stands.

But, I digress, you don't want to hear about me talk about all the sad things in my 8th grade year, do you? That was rhetorical. It doesn't matter whether or not you wanna hear them. I don't wanna reflect on them, so you won't.

The Odyssey was a great boat. The teachers made it sound smaller than it actually was. We walked in to a nicely decorated room with a small wooden dance floor in the middle of the carpet. The DJ was behind a nice little booth where he could easily interact with everyone else. There was a bar that served Sprite, Coke, and Shirley Temples. The food was absolutely splendid! What more could you ask for?

As everyone knows, or at least should know, I absolutely LOVE food!!!! There is never a moment in my life when I cannot eat. Y'know, unless I'm already full. I'm actually thinking of becoming a chef. I'm not sure what kind just yet. My cousin (second cousin, cousin once removed, whatever) works as a private chef and a caterer. I know that as fun as catering seems, it would not be the job for me. I want to be able to spend my nights and weekends sleeping or reading or just spending it doing whatever I want! I wouldn't be able to do that if I had to serve parties all the time. Being a private chef would be so much fun! The only downside that I can see is that I wouldn't be able to work with anyone in the same field. Being a private chef involves going to people's houses and making future meals for them that they can easily just reheat and put on the table in seconds. It's really only a one person job. I could be wrong, afterall, I did only shadow for one day. I will just have to wait and see.

Oh! Writing about my future job just gave me so many ideas to write about! You may never get to hear about the dance! I would love to tell you, but this stuff just has to be said first.

In the future, I would love to work in a small job in the food industry before making any career moves. I thought that working at a place like Panera Bread would be extrordinary! There aren't really any waiters or waitresses there, so I don't really know what I would do, but I'm sure the great Universe will line it up for me somehow. All I have to do is think of how wonderful it would be to work in a place like that, where there is always food cooking, and you can walk in to the fresh smell of baking bread. There are delicious goodies all around you, and I could probably eat there whenever I like, using my employee discount of course. Oh Universe, I would like that very much. Line it up for me, won't you?

Now! Back to the dance!

In the beginning, nobody really moved at all. We just sat at our tables and drank our drinks. Finally, a song by the name of Friday came on the speakers. It had been requested by Andrew Nugent. You see, everyone really detests that song, since it consists of really, well, stupid lyrics and one note that just keeps being repeated. The artist, although the name escapes me, got a recording contract as a birthday present, and somehow, that was the only song that she could come up with. It seems to me that the song is so bad, you can't help liking it, if that makes any sense at all. It doesn't? Well, that's your loss, because I can't make sense of it either.

So anyway, Nugent goes up to the dance floor and does this little dance. It was hilarious. He is a lot like the seniors that we have at our school. His humor is a lot better than the jokes that a lot of the kids put out at our age. More mature, you could say. Yes, Shannon, if you are reading this, I am in fact talking about your brother (duh, I said "Nugent"). If you are, I would just like to say one thing: Yay!!! You read my blog!!!! That is all.

After that song was over, more people got onto the dance floor until the small little platform was filled. I even did a little dancing. I was already wiped out when I looked outside and realized that we hadn't even started moving yet. I decided to get another Shirley Temple (man, those are good), and sit down for a little while. My friend Anna sat down with me. The DJ made a few announcements about a sign up for karaoke. My friend had signed up for a song, and it sounded like a lot of fun. After thinking it through for a few seconds, I decided to sign up. I also got Anna to sign up too, although I forget what song she sang. I sang My Immortal by Evanescense. It is a pretty advanced song to sing that involves using a lot of voice. I couldn't really hear myself, so I couldn't tell how I did exactly, but many people came up to me to tell me how great my singing was, so I bet it sounded fine. Anna sounded great! She really did! I'm not just saying that since she has access to my blog, she really sounded great! I'm so glad that she got up there and sang, even though she was as nervous as I was, if not more.

I have this one teacher, Mr. Kelley, who is my history teacher. Everyone that knows him can say that he has a comfort zone, and clearly likes to stay in it. He didn't do any dancing as far as I could see. The only time he did any movement other than walking was when "I've Got a Feeling" by the Blackeyed Peas came on and us students surrounded him. A few grabbed his arms and made him fist pump. That was as far out of his comfort zone as he got that night. We asked him to do some karaoke, and instead, he went out on the deck to get away from the pestering. All the same, I hope he had fun. He lives close to the Boston Harbor, so he walked back to the train stationa and went home from there when the night was over. On the upcoming Monday, he told us that when he was at the train station, some guy came hobbling out of a bar and grabbed his tie. The guy said with slurred speech, "Nice tie, can I have it?" Mr. Kelley said something along the lines of "No, get away from me." He told us that the guy looked so sad that he almost gave him the tie. The man clumsily walked away. The way Mr. Kelley told it, we all cracked up. He has changed a lot over the course of the year. I could tell that he was nervous about teaching us. It's his first year teaching at Hudson. He had no idea how crazy we could all be. As the days turned into weeks, which then turned into months, Mr. Kelley became more comfortable with all of us. My friend Amanda began to record all the funny things that Mr. Kelley has said. We call them "Kelley Quotes." We have told him about it, so he knows exactly what we are doing.

Congradulations if you have read up to this point. You are truly interested in what I have to say, and for that, I am grateful. But I'm not done talking yet!

Tonight, on June 17, 2011, The middle school that I went to is having their Semi Dance. I don't know why it's called a Semi, but it is. I have a friend named Alyssa who is one year younger than me. Either that, or she stayed back for one year, I'm not really sure which. Either way, she is currently in 7th grade. I implored her that she go to her dance regardless of whether or not anyone asks her. It's always nice to be asked, but she should have a good time either way. I'm not sure whether or not she took my advice. I sure hope she did. I just know that she is going to have such a fun time. I never got asked to either one of my school dances, but I still went and had a blast!

As much as I didn't believe it at first, I am going to miss 8th grade.

Warning

I've been home from school for two days now. Today has just begun, so I can't say much about that. Yesterday had a few interesting events fortunately. Around two o'clock, my dad called me to tell me that there was a tornado watch going on in Massachusetts. Nothing to worry about, just to make sure that if it starts raining, I should make sure all the windows are closed. Then he added that if I heard anything that sounded like a train was coming, I should get down in the basement. That part kind of scared me, but at the same time, I thought it would be very cool if that happened.

After that conversation, I went upstairs to go get some more sleep. I was woken up by the sound of thunder in the distance. it didn't begin raining until after I had dinner. When I went on Facebook, everybody's posts had to do with the tornado warning. As far as I know, five people died from the whole thing. I saw videos of people's houses pretty much knocked to the ground on the news. Normally, I don't really ever watch the news. Other than the weather, they always show the negative things going on in the world. Something that I heard was that if they were to show everything that ever went on in the world, the positive would trump the negative. Every single time.


I don't know if you know this, but it's actually really hard to come up with good ideas to write about in a blog. I keep changing the subject, and if I wait too long, I forget what I was typing about. Like just now. I had a sentence planned, went to the bathroom, and forgot what it was. Maybe it's my sickness. Ah well, I should get some sleep.
I'll blog again soon!