"...a delicate flicker of light darted through the crisscross of triangles and parallelograms, traveling west to east in a clean, zigzag line..."

(the Robie House in Hyde Park, Chicago)

Okay, maybe you can't actually see the light through the windows in this photo, but I wanted an old picture. This one is dated 1963.

We did more testing today, this time it was science. It was pretty easy, which worries me. However, other people finished before me, so they'll probably get worse scores than I will.

I switched from reading The Jungle in my free time to reading The Wright 3 by Blue Balliet. It's a very alleviating book, but, unfortunately, it made it so I couldn't read The Jungle. Emerging from such brightness and whimsy to that was too depressing. Hopefully, later, I will be able to read The Jungle, when I am stronger.

On another note, reading The Wright 3 makes me want to go to Chicago to see the Robie House. I am not saying that like any other reader eager to spotlight the prose of a favorite author. The first 2 or 3 times I read it, I didn't want to see the house as much as I do now. It's very hard to explain. I- I just want- (sigh). I want to see the orange sunlight glitter off the candy-sepia windows! Okay, that's not right.

Hm. Okay, so the reason is because I want to touch, to feel, the life that Frank Lloyd Wright put into this house. I want to see the special beauty and fragility this house possesses. I want to place myself in the folds of cozy and welcome that are contained in the carpet, to sit and absorb the true artistry of such a beautiful landmark. This house is very old, about a century, and I long to grasp and witness the stories of joy and sadness it can tell.

Okay, that was super corny. If you could read the actual thoughts in my mind, it would make more sense.

So, that's it. It was a pain italicizing all those titles.


About 5 minutes later- Ah, ha! I've finally got it! The Number 1 word I would use to describe this book is heartwarming. Remember that, peoples.

the filth of a lifetime...

(No, I'm not referring to the girl.)
Since we're 8th graders, we must take the CSTs (California Standardized Tests). They're these tests on math, english, history, and science that students take all over California to "measure our progress", but they're really to give the school money. I like it though, because we don't have to go to our classes and we get out early. Our schedule for Monday thru Friday is: homeroom, testing, lunch, testing. Each testing period is about 2 hours, and since each section of the test we're taking during that time is about 30-35 questions, we usually have a lot of free time. They advised us to bring a book.

The book I'm reading during this time is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I got it because I like to read old books, but only the most influential or the ones considered "classics". Plus, the passages I read of it on the internet were interesting.

Since it was written in the early 1900s, it's literary style is a bit different than books from this century, but, surprisingly, not that much. Actually, I wasn't that surprised. I can read it as easily as any other book, but sometimes I find that I went over a whole paragraph without visually comprehending what it said. That might be because of it's tiny print.

So far, it's very good. Although most people think of all the "Pure Food Laws" it brought, it has many great qualities as a novel. Upton Sinclair is a good author. Unfortunately, people care more about their stomachs than their hearts. In addition, most students will only think of it as homework and see no point in gaining any literary enrichment by reading it again.

So, that's it for today. If you haven't guessed, the title of my post is a quote from The Jungle. Page 104, to be precise.

First edition cover, 1906

Upton Sinclair when he first achieved muckraking fame. Isn't he cute?

dey guns

I must strangle my science teacher...

He's making us do an astronomy project, and, for our topic, me and my partner picked black holes. Then, when I went up to tell him that, he told us we couldn't do it because IT WAS ALREADY TAKEN. Now, we have to pick another one. We already came up with a title! And it was a good one.

Well, at least it was the topic she picked.

I'm thinking of doing nebulae, the topic I originally wanted. I just went along with what she said, because all I really wanted to do was put glitter on our board. Plus, I drew a picture of a nebula. I've never actually seen one, it's just what I pictured a nebula to look like. So, I would've told her I picked a new topic, except SHE WASN'T HERE TODAY. Of all the days...

Sigh.

the synthetic gives vintage a rather plastic taste.

The song "So Invincible" by Victoria may sound nice at first, but there are really undertones of pure stupidness. Here we go again with the "get famous quick in L.A." revolution that's sweeping the nation. Because of that, people see Hollywood for L.A.! (kind of like seeing the forest for the trees) Los Angeles is not made of silicon, you know. Plus, nowadays, everyone believes they can get along with fancy eyelashes and a catchy beat. I do not agree with people's finding affinity in her with Lady Gaga. I even found one person commenting that she was better than Lady Gaga! Obviously, they have not ears.

Hear the song, if you must. But, I will not show you it, since it's so terrible. You'll scour the internet for it, only to find it and cower at it's dreadfulness. Ha! I laugh at your misery.

Okay, I changed my mind. Here it is. See it if you must.

tommorow's post

The theme of the Dark Knight is... you may destroy individuals, but you cannot destroy the community as a whole. (may not be right.)

I saw that movie yesterday. It was tremendous. (and, yes, it was the fourth time i saw it.) The lines may be corny, but they're corny in a good way. The acting was great, of course. And I realized how much Christian Bale reminds me of Kevin Richardson.

I also want to include that I finally got to eat fried ice cream. It was delicious, everything I thought it would be. It was served in a pool of strawberry puree, which made it entirely.

Then, I went to the library and checked out some... Japanese comic books! (oh yeah.) They were Princess Ai and Et Cetera. Plus, I got a manga because of the cover: the person had pretty eyes. (it turned out to be very boring. oh well, at least the girl had pretty eyes.) I also wanted to check out Cherry Juice but they didn't have any. (i wanted to see the fashions. aha, dork.)

the flavor of brown

Ah, a great day. Mostly because it was Friday. Plus, since my dad was sorry for picking me up late (he was getting gas), he took me out for lunch. I ate at a thai restaurant in Sunland, called My Thai. We asked for coconut shrimp and coconut chicken soup. My dad ordered some brown rice to go with the soup, but I objected. (i don't like brown rice. although, i don't know why. probably because it tastes like brown.) We got it anyway. Afterward, we had planned to get the flame-fried ice cream, but my dad said he was too full. He promised we would get it on Thursday. I'll be dying until then.

On our way home, we stopped at the library. Since I had been craving it, I checked out the movie Breakfast as Tiffany's. It was all I remembered it to be. Paul Varjak and Holly Golightly's romance is the only one I can seem to agree on. (in fact, I agree on all her romances.) I also like it because it doesn't include any random making out or explicitness. Okay, maybe there was making out, but in this movie, it's called kissing. And it wasn't random.

Yes, I love this movie. I cried for the third time I've seen it. It's so charming. And Audrey Hepburn has class and character that we will never find anywhere else. If you manage to, then give me a call. Or leave a comment.

"You know those days when you get the mean reds?"
"The mean reds, you mean like the blues?"
"No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?"
"Sure."
"Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!"

half psychotic, sick, hypnotic

(Click on it. Her eyes look really cool.)
Today, I had a very flavorful bowl of canned chicken noodle soup. It was probably flavorful since I forgot about it and left it in the pot too long. I do that a lot, so I have flavorful noodle soup a lot.

I finally finished my book report on the Grapes of Wrath. I was up until 3:00 am last night, mostly because I had to draw my title cover. I'm really sleepy right now, but I'm too lazy to go to sleep (that was a paradox). Plus, I have to do my homework, which I'm too lazy to do (that makes more sense). I also don't want to stop listening to Just Dance.

So, I have to go. I need to wash the dishes. Meanwhile...

click on it.

coconut is the new vanilla

I was finally able to eat at my favorite thai place (or one of them), Thai Taste. Since I did something good in... something (I forget), my dad took me to anywhere I wanted. I said Thai Taste, since I hadn't been there in ages. I would eat there all the time up until I was 8. Since then, we have fallen by the wayside.

I ordered their orange chicken, because I remember I loved it. They make it crispy, so it's much better. I wish I had chosen something else, like shrimp, or coconut soup. I wasn't actually in the mood for it. I just thought I was. At the end of our meal, I wanted something that wouldn't make me want to barf, so I ordered dessert. They only had 3 choices, and I ordered the coconut ice cream, since it sounded the least... weird. It was really good. I was happy to finally get something that I actually liked.

Check out the performance of Nobody by the Wonder Girls. It's really cute.

Also, watch the tuzki version. It's pretty cute, but the dancing is not as great. The song quality is better, though.

seriously, i love this song

... and why is Aaron Johnson engaged to a 43 year old woman?!

So, here I am, listening to Dead and Gone by T.I., and I just learned that Aaron Johnson, the star of the new movie Kick-Ass, is getting married (or already is) to this director named Sam Taylor Wood... who is 43 years old. I mean, are you serious? And she is pregnant with their first child! He is NINETEEN! Not only is he in a seriously twisted movie, he is with a lady who is twice his age. More than twice his age! I just don't know what is wrong with this world. Maybe we should all die in 2012.

I'm just listening to all my favorite songs, trying to wash all the pain away. This song is great. I don't care if the lyrics are explicit, I'll listen to it nevertheless. It's definitely better than perverted British boys getting with 40-year-old hags. (I apologize for my wording. It just couldn't be avoided.)

it's very cold today

Hello. Right now I'm typing up an essay for history. Well, not right now. Right now I'm typing this post.

My essay is on the Mexican-American War. Were James Polk's or Henry Clay's views correct? It should be pretty easy, since I wrote a bajillion note cards on it. I didn't find out it was due until today. I should really be working on it now. But I'm not. This is more important. I should also be washing the dishes...

Anyway, I have been feeling pretty bored this week. It's as if my life is going at a lull. Nothing seems fun anymore (except music. but, that's always fun). I need something to take me out of this funk.

I know this is random, but once I thought of installing a view counter, even though I only had, like, 11 posts. I decided against it, since the only person who views this blog is probably me. I look at it every time I write a post. You know, when it says View Post. Plus, I like to click on things, to make all my links purple.

su+octo

Up until 2nd period, I somehow thought that a jelly fish was a combination of a jellybean and a fish.

This picture kind of reminds me of Su from Love-Hina. Doesn't it? Well, if you're a fan.

Today, I


uh, oh crap. that wasn't the one I meant to click on.

a slightly retarded post

One of my eyebrows is higher than the other. Either that, or I hold my head at a tilt.

Hello! It's Micci, back from... school.

The other day, I saw the movie The Prestige. It was GREAT. It's just so creepy, and hard to understand... I LOVE IT! The cover said "You'll want to see it again once it's over," and it's so true. I totally did not get anything while I was watching it (I had to read the Wikipedia article), but at the end, it kind of came together. I need to see it again.

So, that's it. Sorry for the stupid post. I just have to keep you updated.

i STILL really need to use the bathroom

I need to use the bathroom so bad my knees are hurting.

i really need to use the bathroom

Right now, I have anxiety. I am very worried about the presentation I am doing in English tomorrow. Our teacher was saying how our posters were very good, and she hoped our presentations would be just as great, which of course puts a ton of pressure on me. I haven't memorized what I'm going to say, since I'm lazy, and I have a lot of stuff to memorize. I need to memorize Claude Monet's entire life, and I don't even remember when he was born. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but I haven't thought about this stuff for two weeks. Plus, I plagiarized a lot. Don't give me that look! It's not like she should expect us to actually work on something that has nothing to do with English. And she doesn't have the right to make us do a mind-numbing presentation on it.

something to keep you happy

While you're waiting for my vacation story (although you probably don't care. is there even anyone out there?), I have something for you! It's a series of videos I found on Youtube last summer called "Simon's Cat". They're about a cat who constantly causes trouble for his owner (I know it's quite a negative way to view it, but aren't all cats like that?). It's really adorable, and terribly funny. And whoever did the sound deserves an award in cuteness.

Here's the link.

hai!

I just got back from my vacation! It was really long (10 days!) but really fun! I spent my spring break in Hawaii (the big island) and I got back on Sunday. Our flight came in at 10:00 pm, and we got home at midnight. I didn't get to go to sleep until 3:00, because I had to balance 110 chemical equations for a science assignment. So, now I'm really tired. I would go to sleep, but I need to do my homework.

I'll tell you about my vacation, but later. When I get my pictures from the camera uploaded into the computer. I want to tell my stories with pictures! (wow, so many exclamation points. i sound like a perky 16-year-old)

Saturday.

(Above: Tulip Fields in Holland by Claude Monet)
I am so stressed. I have a bunch of big school projects due in April.

I just recently learned that my English project about Claude Monet is actually due on the 7th, not the 12th as I thought. And I won't be able to work on it on the 25th through the 3rd of April, because I'll be on vacation. So, that only gives me 8 days to work on it. And I haven't even started it. Also, I have to do a book report on The Grapes of Wrath, which is due on the 26th of April. Although, I'm not that worried about it, since I think I'll have enough time. But, my science fair project, which is due on the 19th, might get in the way of it. I don't even know what my experiment will be!

I also have to do an extra credit assignment as an addition to my poster presentation about Claude Monet. I don't really have to do it, since it's extra credit, but I really want to. Plus, if my poster sucks, then I can get extra points. For the extra credit, I'm re-painting one of Claude Monet's paintings. I chose the painting Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies, because it's typical Monet, with lots of trees and nature. I need to buy the materials for it, like a canvas and some paints. (May 13, about 1 and a half months later- So, I didn't get to do my painting of Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies. I procrastinated, so I didn't have time. Instead, I did a colored pencil drawing of a tree. Yeah. It sucked.)

I picked Monet because I really love his techniques of painting, how he used streaks of color to depict light and trees, and light on trees... Also, when we used colored pencils to draw color wheels in art class, I was really bummed because I couldn't really make the color purple with red and blue; I thought it looked too blue and too red at the same time. Then, I snuck a peek at the girl next to me, and her purples and oranges and greens were PERFECT. She could just draw yellow on top of red and make a smooth, perfect orange, while my oranges were red with streaks of yellow in it. Later, when I was looking at Claude Monet paintings in the Getty Museum, I saw that his colors and backgrounds were the same way; they had streaks of different colors in them. I felt much better after that. Also, one time when I was drawing a sunset, it just came to me to draw different colors on top of each other, like orange on top of pink on top of blue. I thought it looked really weird, and that I was weird for drawing it like that, until I saw this painting by Claude Monet. He did the EXACT same thing I did! I was so happy. (Also, I found out later that that is how that sky actually looks when the sun is setting. I didn't even realize that when I drew my weird sunset. Maybe I did it because I stare at sunsets a lot and that is how my subconscious tells me to draw sunsets.)

So, that's it. Thanks for listening. Sorry for talking too much. Even though I'm not really talking...

did you see the percy jackson movie?

(a still from the movie)

Because I did (actually, I saw it 2 weeks ago). And it SUCKED. Well, I mean it was pretty good; the special effects were really good, but it had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the book. They omitted a ton of important stuff, like the character Charisse, and Annabeth is supposed to have BLOND hair and GRAY eyes. Maybe it's kinda hard to find a suitable actress with gray eyes, but that's no excuse. They could have just given her contacts.

And another thing! There were all these great scenes in the book that made it awesome, but they didn't include them in the movie. I loved the scene where Percy defeated Charisse with his amazing water powers that he didn't even know he had, and they didn't even have Charisse in the movie. The movie would have been a million times better if the producers had actually READ the book. Or even glanced at it. Or even CONSULTED the AUTHOR!! I doubt the sequel will be even half as popular. Or if they'll even have a sequel. It was so disappointing that it wasn't faithful to the book. I'm a huge fan of the series, and I'd been looking forward to the movie since 2008, when I first learned that they were going to make a movie out of it. I want to stab the screenwriters. And the casting director.

So, that's it. Sorry for going crazy with the caps lock button. NO I'M NOT.

whatcha doin'?

Posting. Hating my life.

Why do boys date the most unappealing girls? It's like they'll go out with any girl that will have them. I was hoping the guys at my school would turn out to be smarter than other boys, but they didn't. (It wasn't really a surprise. Kind of like an empty hope.) Like, there's this boy at my school one of my friends is crazy about. She got me to send a note to him, which I felt really bad about later. He never replied. I don't blame him.

So, anyway, I thought he would forever be single, until my friend told him she had seen him with his girlfriend. I was pretty surprised, not because he's unattractive or anything, he's kinda attractive, but because I thought he wasn't that popular. Turns out I was wrong. He's actually popular, but in the other school. (My school is divided into two schools, but I might explain that later.) Yeah, so it wasn't until, like, 2 or 3 months later when she told me this that I finally found out who his girlfriend is. I saw him with his arm around her (yuck!) and I can't see how he can stand to even touch her. She is just like any other annoying girl at my school, and they're all pretty annoying.

Today, I found out that, on their way to their 4th period, they pass right by my algebra class. I always hurry, so I can see the happy couple, or, as I would rather refer to it as, the adorable, manga-character-resembling Asian boy and his hideous, ghetto girlfriend that looks-a-bit-like-Nicole-Scherzinger-but-in-an-ugly-way. She could be the man version of Nicole Scherzinger.

Even though I hate their relationship, I try to see them, because I CANNOT figure out how they came to be. Jeez. Asian and ghetto simply do not mix. He has lost respect in my book...of...respectfulness. Whatever! Signing off.

(Above: Too Young to Die by Yoshitomo Nara)

i'm so sad that the winter olympics are over

(Above: Kim Yu-Na at the 2010 Winter Olympics)

The Winter Olympics in Vancouver were amazing, especially the figure skating. I love figure skating, and was so happy when Kim Yu-Na won the gold for ladies singles. She's my favorite! I just love her gracefulness and all the creative little moves she does while skating. There's never a moment that goes by where she isn't doing something really interesting.

I especially like figure skating because, when I was little, I wished I were a figure skater, but I couldn't even skate! I always fell down... I wanted to take skating lessons, but I was afraid they were too expensive. Plus, I was lazy. (the real truth)

Here is a link to Kim Yuna skating to a James Bond medley. (I apologize in advance for the narration.)