31/31

Done for March!

Today is the last day of the March SOL challenge. There is a lot I could write, but this is my last one for March 2014. Over the past thirty one days, I have challenged my self in time management, and of course different ways of writing.
Memoirs, reading blogs, and SOL entries alike were written everyday for all of March. My inspiration was my vast catalog of pictures on my computer and some from close friends. Most of the time I talked about vacation experiences, but as I got later into the slices I chose to put variation in my blog by just free writing about small things.

Also I would choose some things from past experiences but later I posted from that day and found the little things that I could slice about. Some days it was a nuisance that I had to blog and comment, and other times it was a way of escaping the things around me. It was a stress reliever. If something was bothering me I would sit down and let it out onto the page. Most of the time I deleted it when I was done, but it was a good way to calm down and let my emotions out. SOL's were really neat because you would take time out of your day and just write. I could be about anything, and my different posts were interesting to compare.
Some of my friends might think I am crazy about loving this assignment, but it was really fun in actuality. There is so much I could write for this last post, but nothing spectacular stood out. My fingers hit the keys as I say goodbye to the SOL. It isn't the end for them, just for the challenge and the ones in March.

photo credit: http://www.elkriver.k12.mn.us/webpages/weatherford/photos/33198/Writing21.jpg
 

30/31

I woke this morning over heating. It is normal for Florida, but I have to adjust to the heat. It is late morning already, but my eyes are still heavy so I have to practically drag myself out of bed. The humidity is over whelming and soaks down to the bone. I grab a quick breakfast, and hop in my aunt's car to go to a local park in Miami. My family and I have always gone to Florida for at least one break and we always have fun. Ever since I was little, I loved climbing Banyon trees with my family. The branches and trunks are intertwined, which is a natural playground for small kids.

Later we headed out to Tampa. On the way we had to stop to buy Pastalitos, which are the most amazing cuban pastry. They are a flaky danish about eight inches long, that is covered in a thin layer of sugar. The inside can be filled with a variety of things such as guava and cheese, but my favorite is just cheese. The car pulls up to La Palma and as we walk up, we both agree that I have to order in spanish. "Cuatro pastalitos con queso pro favor." She just nods and pulls the out with tongs and places them in a paper bag. "Llevar?" she asks have smiling. Mom asks if she speaks english but she just shakes her head and says no. I don't know if I completely believed her because as we left she said "goodbye."I laughed a little and pulled out the first pastalito and hopped in the car. My first bite isn't filled with thick cheese, but it was sweet and flaky which was still delicious.

29/31

I say goodbye to my dad, and grab the suitcase. My mom, my sister, and I walked into the airport to fly to Florida for our short week of spring break. Today happened to be my little cousin's second birthday and we would go visit them later, but for now I needed to get through the day. We get through security, and jump on the train to get to gate C49. Once we are there we leave my eight-year old sister with the luggage while my mom and I get food for the plane ride. I take a twenty from her and head over to La Casita for tacos, and she heads over to some healthy place. We meet up at McDonald's and grab Hannah's lunch then head back to the gate.

As we approach people are lined up at the posts, and we panic. "Mom, they are boarding." Both of our faces turn pale as we race to make the plane and grab Hannah. She isn't at the place where we left her, and we look up at the sign. It says Washington and we relax because it isn't our flight. "Wait, if it isn't our flight, we went to the wrong end!" Mom yelled. She checks her watch and we only have five minutes. We race across the airport with tacos, salad, and McDonald's in our hand trying to make out flight. Gate C49 hangs above our head as we speed walk over to the back. Hannah is still there with her headphones on playing on her I-Touch, completely un-aware of what was happening. I practically pick her up and grab my suitcase as they were boarding A. "Mom, what number are we?" I ask worrying a little. "A49, so we have a little time." I can breath now but nothing has ended. Finally, we sit down in our seats and I pick up SkyMall. My heart is still racing, but I try to relax and look at the strange pictures of inventions that SkyMall has to offer. The plane starts to pick up speed and we take off. I can relax for a couple of hours but then I have to help my mom get across Florida.

28/31

Personally my favorite color is blue or turquoise. My friend Julia hates the color blue. Really hates it. lately she has been going on about variations of blue, that are not actually blue. If she points to navy blue, it is actually "navy green." This is the same with all kinds of blue, blank green. I love that color but she tells me that it is too mainstream and that everyone loves blue. I can't really disagree with that because blue is mainstream. Everyone loves the color blue, so she decided not to. Blue is a soothing color for example it is the color of the ocean. It is a calming place, and a calming color. It is also the color of the sky. When I get stressed or annoyed sometimes, I would look up into the blue sky. The clouds would pass by, but it is still relaxing because it is blue. Some people don't like blue, I guess that is alright. I have to except people, and they should except me.

photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSy9DOi3x6bSUuT1KIhRdSBOTADH963GnEod5Et636hac-T09puk4R_uVYq6k9FxQxqCL1zpw8aCTos7v6Vbv0382v3m0gjV0ND3LlwaKXA9zWEGHa1X-LdZGiZHBpl1hSqizTRce2lpE/s1600/blue+sky+ocean+(9).jpg

27/31

Why did I have to wear Uggs today? The one day of winter/spring they are not useful I decide to wear them. The hike up "Castle rock" (not really castle rock but another one that looks like it) was easy at first, and then it got steeper. Every now and then I would look back and the busses would look a lot smaller. It didn't seem that we walked that far, but from the bottom looking up, it was a long way. The trail didn't take that long but when we were at the end, I didn't know how much my shoes could take. Most of my steps were shaky and my feet felt like they were going to slip out from under me. Uggs have no traction and are definitely not ideal for hiking up a small mountain.

The wind blew really hard at the top, and it made it really hard to eat my yogurt. As people were finishing up lunch, others got up to play sardines and camouflage. "...29, 30. Ready or not here we come!" We were playing in a dessert like area so there weren't many hiding places. All of us ran at once, and who ever go to the person last lost. I needed to reach the other side and beat the last person, and I willed every step to be flat and stable. Small rocks were in the path which were awful for shoes without traction. I see her behind the bush and, second! I am safe and my shoes are fine.

The last part of the hike was about 20 cement steps up to the top of the plateau, and then we would get a great view. All around me there were mountains, and large objects that were small from where I was. We weren't supposed to get too close for safety reasons, but we were allowed to lay down at the very edge if we wanted to. I chose the farthest corner that over looks a big street and a river. It was really peaceful at first, and then three more people sat down next to me. I didn't mind, I just sat there and watched the cars pass by. Of course when you are up high you have to spit over the edge, and watch it fall. It is just something you have to do. I carefully lean over and spit, and watch it hit a rock at the bottom. Abby saw this and wanted to do it too. She leaned over ready to spit. I was about to tell her to wait until after the wind stopped, but it was too late. She spat and the wind blew it right into my face. We both laughed as I took my hand and wiped what ever I could onto her sleeve and heard her squeal as she backed away. Day trips were fun, and this one wasn't even over.

26/31

The last day of matrix was very satisfying to me. My first period class was Magic 2 and it was a performance oriented class. For those of you that don't know have really bad stage freight. Tuesday the 26th came too soon, and I was left un-prepared in front of forty people. The act was split into three parts because I did the act with Haley R. and Lydia Loof so I didn't have to do as much. It wasn't trying to get out of doing the work, it was more needing someone else there to help me with my stage freight. My first part was to mention the fact we only had one scarf, and invite Vaughn to come help us get a new one. My next part was to un-do the scarfs that were tied together, but somehow "magically" they were still tied just not to each other. Everyone's eyes were on me because this was the last part of the trick, and the hardest but easiest to mess up. I just looked at what I was doing instead of at the audience and the next thing I know there is applause and I am sitting back down. A heavy sigh escapes my mouth, and I realize I am only 1/3 of the way done with my matrixes for the day.

In the hall people kept telling me what a great job I did, so I said thanks and kept walking trying to forget about the performance. I put down my winter jacket in the art room, grab a smock, and sit down with my printing folder. Today is the last day, so we all have to exchange prints. I printed eleven copies of one of my prints and signed them to give out. It was kind of relaxing, because I had to stamp each one and the sequence was kind soothing actually. The black roller glided over my small stamp, which was pressed against the paper. Over and over again, I was sort of lost in process. By the end of class my hands are stained with ink from this print, and a few other ones. I'm glad the class is over, but at the same time I wish I had more time.

25/31-Book blog

This week I read Lunch Box Dream by Tony Abbott. It was a quick with around 200 pages, but really well written read and I am glad I read it. Some people say that the story didn't pull together, but I liked it. The main character is named Bobby, and he has an older brother and a mother. They all go on a trip which starts as dropping their grandmother off in her car. The plan was to look at Civil War cites (which Bobby and his brother loved) and then fly back home on their first airplane ride. There are some plot twists that make them end their trip early, but it turned out alright in the end. This book also looks at racism and segregation, which was really neat and interesting coming from different perspectives. It is more or less a reality fiction book. It was based in the 20th century when segregation was happening, and it goes into a lot about that subject. I really liked this book while others may not, and I think anyone could read it in our class or in AS. I hope you take my suggestion and read it!

Photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQvINcwYobMgTN3OQzOPeY3Wcy0bO-xHS1ItDDmPerMaXJN4c89Y1KXWPh9SgoUG1g_MvehKyR4Hy9O_kB92fQ6QgnU7U5n95oKkJIlkLsdkBER_GzP8xDZ2bUcPob7F9kh0oVgEy9CM/s1600/abbott%20lunch.jpg

24/31

Leah is to the right

I am really excited about going to Maine, and it made me think about the time I went to Maine myself. I don't remember much because I was four, but my family visited my aunt, uncle, and cousins as well ads their friends. There, we met someone to ride a boat and I was really upset that I had to wear a life-vest. We went around islands, with the wake spraying in the opposite direction creating waves behind us. Back at the dock, my dad and my oldest cousin grabbed me by my life vest and dipped me in the water. I giggled with excitement as my ankles skimmed the water. They kept teasing me about how I was a chicken nugget, and they were dipping me in ketchup. This only made me laugh harder and I almost slipped out of my life vest. The dark clouds started to roll in, so it was time to go. We went to go eat dinner at a lobster restaurant, and it was weird for me. My dad ordered one and I tried little bits of it, but in the end I didn't want to eat so I just poked it with my fork. The main thing I remember form this trip was being dipped in the water, and wearing my favorite dress at the time. It was green with pink flamingos all over it, and it was kind of layered at the tips. I am really glad I have memories of Maine, because I can experience Maine again later in the year.

23/31

I had a pet turtle once, his name was Davie. I loved turtles so much when I was younger that I wanted to study them, and it was one of my favorite units. I built a model of a turtle, made a book or two, and went on some field trips to the zoo and aquarium. Of course that was in Kindergarten so I don't remember most of it. My room in our apartment at the time had turtle stuff everywhere. Even the bathroom had a turtle toothbrush holder. The mint wall behind my bed had one big quilt of a turtle, and I had lots of turtle stuffed animals.

I begged for a pet turtle for a long time, but my parents just said "we'll think about it." I wanted a turtle just as bad, I just stopped asking for a while because I knew the answer would be "we'll think about it." Finally, my parents were taking me out for a drive "somewhere" and actually had no idea where. We arrived at Scales and Tails, and I started to squeal with excitement and joy. On the way home, I had a box on my lap that had a turtle in it. I wouldn't open the box, but I would look through one of the holes to see him. I was only around six, so just holding a box wouldn't satisfy me. The bumps in the road made it hard to hold, so while my parents weren't looking I tilted the box and watched him slide down to the bottom. It was a 45 minute drive back to the apartment but I didn't mind because I liked sliding my turtle around the box. I knew it wasn't very nice, but I was really bored and it was really cute to watch him slide down. The last thing to do after getting him the right equipment, was to find him a name but that is another story for another time.

22/31

Passover is coming up which is my favorite Jewish holiday. The past couple of years our family would get together with a couple others and celebrate it that way, but when I was younger we would go to my grandparent's house. My Grandpa passed away this summer and they sold the house, so we wont be able to have the same celebration or have it with family. But I do remember the times we did get to go over there, and they were really fun. I remember that one long table was stretched across the deck in the backyard which at night was packed with people.

 I didn't know most of them besides my family, but I was only around five years-old. It seemed like hours until we got to eat, which it probably was considering the list of things we had to do before. Such as the Seder which means "order" so we had to wash our hands, discuss the items on the plate, and re-tell the story of Passover. The food was delicious, especially with my grandma's classic and my favorite brisket. Everyone quietly eats and talks while Maddy sneaks under the table stealing everyone's napkins. She is a Black Lab and she is old now, but she was young then. Someone would go to wipe their mouth, and their napkin wouldn't be there.

My family was talking about stuff I didn't understand at the time, so I just sat there quietly eating my dinner, but I would look at the rest of the backyard. Four sculptures stood in the middle of the backyard and some of them were taller than me. I liked stacking some of the rocks on top of them and pretend it was part of the sculpture. To the right of that in the trees and bushes was an old canon. I didn't know if it was real or not but when I was younger I like to imagine the battles it was in and actual cannonballs firing out.

After dinner, my grandpa would pull out the clues to find the Afikomen. The Afikomen was a piece of Matza (thin un-levend bread) that was set aside and hidden for kids to find. It could be anywhere on the property. My grandpa was a poet, so each year the clues to the Afikomen would rhyme and be riddle-like. I don't remember the words, but we were split up into teams of two and set out. I was paired with Benjamin who is one of my older cousins, and we made a plan to split up to look for it. He went by the bottom deck that was by the basement door, and I headed over to the sculptures. My hand stroked the bright and glossy ceramic, not finding a trace of Matza. I quickly walked over to Benjamin, but before I could my eyes caught a quick glimpse of blue fabric in the canon. I grabbed the neatly folded fabric to open to a flat cracker. My heart skipped a beat as I ran up to Benjamin and screamed "I found it! I found it!" We each received one dollar and two gold pieces of gelt. (Chocolate) I couldn't wait until next year, and I didn't know I should treasure it while I had it.

21/31

Last night/ this morning, I went to the Divergent movie with some friends. I was really excited, but it was missing some essential parts from the book. When we got home, we stayed up for a while then eventually got tired and went to bed. Around four hours later, an alarm went off and woke us up. Annoyed, we went back to sleep again to wake up to an alarm. Now we knew someone was up to no good so we needed to prank them back. It is around 7:30 in the morning which is just a couple of hours after we went to bed so we were still tired, but we managed to set an alarm to go off in five minutes. I quickly and quietly rushed over to the other room and slid the phone under the door. Just as I was leaving, the alarm went off and a few of the girls woke up definitely surprised so I ran out of the way. I waited and waited for them to get us back, but I soon drifted to sleep again. Soon the sun had risen, and it was time to get up for an exhausting day.

20/31

We turn the last corner in my mom's green Rav 4 and arrive at Sweet Action. "Hailey, what are you going to get?" "I don't know, maybe the Vegan Mocha?" That sounded a little weird, but I wasn't judging. The mountain of Vegan Mocha was passed to Hailey over the counter, and I begged for a taste. Bits of cake were layered into the ice cream, and it was surprisingly delicious. Though it was good, I quickly ordered my classic mint chocolate-chip in a cake cone. Both of our eyes flew over to the bar stools at the window, and we rushed over.

We would then take turns making stories about random people we saw walking down the street. "Ok that girl wearing the Bronco sweater." Hailey blurts out through licks of ice cream. "She is going to the urgent care because she dislocated her foot. She was so mad that the Broncos didn't win, that she went around driving into posts on her block. She came so close to hitting a post, she stepped on the brake as hard as she could which dislocated her foot." Laughter escaped our mouths, some in the ice cream. "Ok, ok my turn." I say still smiling. "Ok, that man over there handing out the flyers is actually Morgan Freeman's younger brother. He was also an actor, but his brother got the spotlight, so he had to go hand out flyers to strangers and practice his acting by pretending he cared." People walked by and giggles were released into the shop, out into the street, and down the block in the car.

19/31

I look outside of my window and see the tall Evergreens scrape the sky swaying ever so gently back and forth. I remember the time I went tree climbing with Julia. We both live by Cranmer park, and there are lots of trees there and most of them are good to climb. It used to be my favorite activity, and then I got older so the trees got smaller. In Florida when I was younger we would always go to a park with bannyon trees that were great for climbing. They were huge, and easy to climb. Out side of Julia's house are three trees to climb and my favorite is the second, which is the hardest. I grab the first branch or more step on it because it is about twenty-four inches in diameter. Thick sap pools right where my hand is and my hand is uncomfortably sticky. Though it is annoying, I push on and keep going up. "Julia, why are you so slow?" "This is hard ok?" She is a little frustrated, but she still climbs. She just starts climbing up the tree, and I am almost at the top. The houses get smaller and smaller, and the branches get thinner and thinner. I finally get to the top, and just sit back to look at the view, while I wait for her.

18/31 A Crooked Kind of Perfect

This is a really quick read, and I loved it. It is by Linda Urban, and has 210 pages. It makes you think about what you really need in life. Zoe Elias wants to show the world her musical talent, and she "needs" a glossy new piano to help her. Life gave her lemons, also known as an old organ and she was not happy. Of course she had to make lemonade, but what she wants isn't always what she needs. I could really connect to this book because everyone has things that they want in life that they claim that they need. Something they care about so patiently that they say they need, but once they get it, they get rid of it and "need" something else. Linda Urban really captured Zoe's life, and also entered the mind and hearts of mine and probably others. I loved this book and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who like realistic fiction, and anyone in our class our AS or maybe IS.

17/31

         Saint Patricks day, is normally a day to relax but still celebrate. It is not like the New Year where everyone does something, it is more of a laid back celebration. Last year and years before I would wear green and pinch people when they were not wearing green, but this year I could care less. I wake up to the sound of my alarm, and groan because I want to go back to sleep. I know I cant, so I throw off the covers and head to the kitchen for Eggo waffles. I have Eggo toaster waffles every morning, but they are so good and they never get old.
         Still asleep, I jump as the waffles pop out. They taste normal, sweet and fluffy maybe a little crispy. It feels like a normal morning as I get ready for the day doing whatever I do every other day. Should I wear green? Is it too childish? What am I saying, I love Saint Patricks day. It is never too childish. I ignore that thought and ignore the green. 7:55, where is my mom? This normal day is becoming as normal as  thought it was going to be. 8:00, she finally arrives. We pile into the car about to get Hailey for our carpool, but we turn around to get my sister's homework. Great, a "regular" day just turned into a late one. On a normal day we come to school at around 8:15, but since today isn't normal I arrive late. My off normal day at school starts as soon as I walk in the door at 8:30 and five people are there.

photo credit: http://solarfountainblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/clover.jpg

16/31

The purim carnival was today, but I didn't want to go this year. I did have a blast my first year though. I walked up to the first booth I saw with my tickets in hand, and I waited for my turn. I gave them my tickets and held the bean sack in my hand feeling the weight of it. I had three more, but I had to just take a moment and relax. I lined up the bag so one of the points is in between my middle finger and the ring finger, ready for the throw. Next, I focus on the six pins stacked up in a pyramid and aim for the one in the middle. My arm goes back, and the sack flew so fast all I heard was all of the pins falling down. People who are around me started talking and looking in my direction, and I just smile and get my card punched. The line looked pretty short, so I joined the back. Soon it was my turn so I handed the man the tickets and fixed my braid and got ready to throw. I lined up one of the corners between my middle finger and my ring finger and took a deep breath. I pulled my arm back, and crash! They all went down. Again, people turned my way to see the little red-head keep knocking down all of the pins. I did this a couple of times, until I missed and decided that I should move on. I was almost out of tickets so I headed over to the cheapest (ticket wise) booth which was the goldfish booth. There were around one hundred glass cups in neat rows. To their right and left were buckets of ping-pong balls most of them white, while some of them were yellow. I hand the woman my two tickets and grab three ping-pong balls. The closest marking of tape on the ground was for kids around five and younger, so I walked over to the one behind it a couple feet farther back. "All, you have to do is put one ping-pong ball in any of the cups, and you can win a goldfish!" She made it sound so easy that a toddler could do it, but I had a feeling that it would be a bit harder. The small white ping-pong ball swishes in my hand as I get ready to throw. It escapes my fingertips and bounces a couple of times before rolling off of the table. The second try must go in because I really want a goldfish. As I tossed it, I was thinking of good fish names. Sammy? Maybe Nemo. I couldn't decide but luckily the ping-pong ball distracted me. Back and forth, it bounced a lot  between the glass cups. It came close to the edge, and I panicked as it rolled off of the table. The last ball rolled around in my hand and I just had to get that goldfish. I threw it forward, and it made a large ark before hitting the first glass. "Come on, come on!" I mumbled. Three, four, five bounces and it finally landed in one towards the right. "Yes!" I said that pretty loudly, but it was a really exciting day for a ten year-old.

15/31

April fools day is coming up, and it is one of my favorite holidays. A couple of years ago, I decided to prank my dads office. Aimee, is one of my dads front office assistants and her one flaw is that she has to look at her fingers when she types. It was late on March 31st as my dad and I quietly walked into the building. First, we popped out all of the keys from her keyboard, and rearranged them to make it harder for her to type. Next to her computer there is a bottle of lotion-hand sanitizer called Vionex. I grabbed the bottle and dumped the contents into the sink and then filled it with heavy whipping cream. I smiled at my marvelous work, and moved to the next room. Kim, has a phone in her office which was completely irresistible. The Vaseline was in my hand and a smeared a big glob all over the ear piece and set it back down. I looked over to the clock and thought about how funny it would if they were all panicking that they were twenty minutes "late." My dad helped me grab a stool and I moved all of the clocks twenty minutes forward. I was having a blast, but it was getting late for a nine year old on a school night. We finished some other pranks and then closed up. I just kept smiling, because it was going to be awful for everyone else but me.

14/31

Wednesday over Winter Collective, my family and I visited Clearwater Beach in Florida with Julia. Behind me there were people and blue umbrellas as well as to my sides. My only escape was the clear ocean or as clear as it could be. The cold water tingled against my ankles while the rest of me was baking in the ninety degree heat. "Briahn!" my mom called. "You should really here what just happened! I just made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and while it was still in my hands a seagull came and ate it! Can you believe it?!" My mom was astonished and I was already swimming. The shells I found on average were about two inches wide and two inches tall which is really cool. I started a pile of clam like shells, broken sand dollars, and some spiral shells. My sister and Julia thought I was too crazy about shells, and suggested to have a sand sculpture contest. "The theme is fruit!" called my sister. "Briahn, what are you going to be sculpting?" "Fruit." I said sharply. Annoyed, she walked over to Julia and asked her the same thing. I started to sculpt my apple. It took a while, but I finally moved on to a banana. "Briahn, what are you sculpting right now?" Hannah asks expecting a sassy reply. "A banana." My sister was the judge so she though it was her job to pester us about fruit. Impatient, she came back 30 seconds later "Briahn, what are you sculpting now?" "Still a banana Hannah." Julia and I were sand sculpting for at least an hour and in the end I won, but we should have tied. As we were diving through the waves, I kept looking looking for shells. I found two small and round ones so I picked one up expecting it to be dead and found a hermit crab inside. I screamed and through it back in the water. I kept on swimming and collecting shells. The biggest shell I found was greenish black and was about nine inches long. I think it belonged to a horseshoe crab, but I'm not sure.

13/31

In printing class, we carve different things out of a soft rubber, a hard rubber, and linoleum which is the hardest. "Gale, can I use some of the linoleum?" I ask. "Yes, let me go grab it." she replies. I pull out the scoop tool, the and the thin push tool and sit down at the paint incrusted table. She hands me the thin piece of linoleum, and instructs me to put it on the special plate to heat it up to make it easier to carve. I stand there with my hand pressed onto the linoleum listening to other conversations, and forget everything else I have to do. I just take a deep breath and relax. Adrian and I are making a Colorado print, so I am carving a 5280 to put on. The linoleum feels warm, so I grab the plate but a get a small electric shock in the process and jump back. Every single time I grab the linoleum, I get shocked and no one else does, and I think the warming plate hates me.
I pick up the pencil and try to tune everything else out so I can work on drawing 5280 backwards on my piece. It is all laid out, and I pick up the scoop tool. I get a couple good carves, and then it starts to cool and harden, but I don't want to go back up so a stay in my chair and dig the carving tool in harder. My hand grabs the handle and attempts to carve the linoleum, but it slips and cuts off a part of my fingernail. I still don't want to go up to warm it up, so I try to be more careful. It is getting harder, but I put more energy and effort into carving. My hands are cramping up, but the heating plate is not worth it for 30 seconds of easy carving. One last time I grab the handle and try to get a good grip on the piece, but it didn't work and I didn't move my hand out of the way in time. The blade slips and all of the force I put into the handle went right into my finger and a puddle of blood pools on my fingernail. I jump back in pain, but try not to make a big deal out of it because Gale would freak out. "Gale, I am going to the bathroom." I run out before she has time to respond, and head for the front desk. I grab a bandaid from Miriam and grab some paper towels from the bathroom. The paper wrappers fall into the trash as the bandaid is put on, and I head back to class. I see the tool that pierced my skin, so I grab the pull tool so it wont touch my hands and I get back to work.

12/31

I search on my desk for a pair of scissors my sister is requesting, and she wont go away until I give them to her. As I search, I come across my Dumb Friends League pin, and I forget about the scissors and get transported to memory lane. One of the days, I helped walk dogs and play with them. "Ok group three; Sam, Ben, Lily, Jackson, and Brian." I sigh and head over to the corner where our group has gathered. "Its actually Briahn." I say. She apologizes, but it really is not that big of a deal. I get called Brian almost everyday and everyone thinks they are so funny and original with that name. Nope.

We start to walk to the kennels and the strong smell of dog and cleaning supplies hits me hard and I have to blink my eyes to get adjusted. Our supervisor quickly stops at the desk. "Today it looks like we will be working with 307, 328, 412, and 251." Normally I end up with Sam and Jackson, because thats how it always plays out. Sam, Jackson and I stand over by the door and wait until we know where dog in kennel 328, and 307 are. "First, we are going to walk Presley." He was around six years old and had short brown and white fur for a Basset Hound. The purple leash is clipped in, and the walk went by quickly, and soon we reach the pen where we play with the dog. Sam played a lot of fetch and Jackson did tug-a-war, while I waited for my turn and tried to see how well he would listen to commands. I pulled out the treats "Presley, sit!" he sat. I gave him a treat, and moved on to the next one. "Presley, stay." I walk away swiftly not looking back for a reaction until I reach the other side. He does as he as told, and the supervisor marks something on her sheet. It's time for the dog in kennel 307, so we quickly walk back.

"This is Spike." He was probably around four, and he was a Boxer mix with brown fur. The people at the Dumb Friends League didn't know what other breed he was mixed with, only that he was part Boxer. Spike's green leash is clipped and we head out. It starts to snow, but Spike is as happy as every walking around. When we get to the pen, Sam, Jackson and I do the same things. First Sam plays fetch, Jackson does tug-a-war, and I work on the training. Spike was really obedient just like Presley, and the supervisor marks something down and flashes a quick smile. I lost track of time, and it was time to go already. I said goodbye to Spike and headed towards, "Briahn, where are the scissors?"

Wonder

This week I read Wonder and it was a really good book. It was a really quick read at around 300 pages, and I loved the way it was written. There were two parts of the book and it started out being narrated by Auggie and then it switched to his sister Via. Auggie is starting fifth grade, and he just wants to be a normal kid. He has been home schooled for a while, and though he tries to be a normal kid he may have some trouble. He has a face deformity, but on the inside he is just like everyone else. He is funny, sensitive, smart, but thats not the problem. The problem is to get everyone to accept him and treat him normally. It made a great point of stating "don't judge a book by it's cover" and it got into some bullying and friendships. I really liked this book and I would highly recommend this book to everyone in AS and everyone in our class.

10/31 SOL

I sit here on my couch thinking of what to write. Every once in a while I don't have any good ideas and just sit and stall. I'm on the couch thinking of Sarah London as I watch The Voice while I think of ideas and write. "Mom, what should I write about?" I ask impatiently. "I don't know." she continues working on her computer and her architecture. I decide to look through my photos and pass by one with a barfing pumpkin. Oh I remember when I made that, it was either in 2009 or 2010 and I saw a picture of one on the internet and I really wanted to try it. It was my favorite pumpkin carving, and it was really fun to make. Nah, its to cheesy. I keep scrolling and find a picture of my dogs and smile. It was a while ago, but I took pictures of my dogs after they got a hair cut and they looked adorable. The first line popped into my head as Adam got yet another player while Shakira had none. "Louise is almost thirteen years old but she will always be my dog." I stop to see Blake take another player and Shakira has not one person on her team. I was getting worried I wouldn't finish anything like Shakira, I just started writing and hoped I would get something down.

9/31

I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off an hour early thanks to daylight savings. Today is Sunday, the worst day of the week. I have to go to school the next day, and I have Sunday school today. I walk into my classroom, and hear screaming children. I always come early for some reason and have to play with my teachers kids while she gets ready for the day. They pull out the Dixie cups and stack them as high as they can in pyramids and scream with joy as the topple over onto the ground. "Lets make one big one!" says the oldest. Great, three times the screaming. The pyramid gets really tall and then time is up. "Ok girls, it's time for class. Clean up and head on over." The kids were disappointed, but the youngest tore through it with her arms and squealed as the cups hit the ground.
 Finally, 9:00 and people were coming in. Basically we stay in that class for twenty minutes, stalling and doing whatever then go to a different class to learn something else. The twenty minutes went by quickly in Sarah's class so we then headed over to Jim's. That also went by quickly as we talked about immigrating Jews, and watched scenes from Fiddler on the Roof. At 10:30, we went to the social hall to finish our "Olympic Games" that had absolutely nothing to do with Judaism at all. "India, its your turn to throw the ball threw the spinning hula hoop. Cam, Shane, who's your third player?" they all look at me. Darn. First Cam throws his and misses, as well as Shane. Its my turn and the hoop is quickly moving away, I throw and I barely make it. "You know, that was a bad throw on my part so lets try it again." I was starting to get competitive and into the game, and it was unfair because I made it through! He throws it again and Cam misses, Shane misses, and of course I make it through. "Wow, these hoops are bad. Lets try it again." He throws it; Cam misses, Shane misses, and I miss. "Ok no points for India, but that looks pretty hard so we will just hold up the hoop and have you guys throw it through." I don't complain out loud, but I should have gotten the points. A boy named AJ holds up the hoop and Cam gets ready for the shot. He doesn't stop talking about basketball or football so we should have had this in the bag. He pulls his arm back, and misses. The same thing happens to Shane. It's up to me and I am the least athletic person in our group but yet I stand there with the red ball in my hand. Its just twenty feet Briahn, just make it through. I try to comfort myself because I have stage freight, and yes this counts. There were probably sixty people there, and they were all focusing on my movements, most of them praying that I miss. I take a deep breath and I pull my arm back and everyone's eyes are on me. My arm moves forward and the ball escapes my fingertips, and it goes straight through the middle. "One point for India!"

8/31 SOL

Today was one of my best friends Bat Mitzvah. She did so well and I am so proud of her, even through it's not my favorite activity. I sung along to most of the songs, but every now and then my mind drifted off to something random like why lace had flowers. Once the service was done, my friends and I sat down for lunch and started to talk about things from Sunday School. There were trays of delicious food as well as deserts around the entire room, and no one hesitated to take a closer look. It is crazy how small the world is, because I saw five other people I haven't seen in at least six years, and it was great to see them again. It wasn't a very big party, but that isn't what it is all about. It's about how a girl or boy becomes Bat or Bar Mitzvah and it is then that they are allowed to bless, and read from the Torah. To celebrate, a party is thrown, or they do something else like volunteer for a charity fund. At my friends party, there was a photo booth, a spray paint t-shirt stand, and yes my favorite Henna. There was only one person doing the Henna, but she beautifully painted each one. The was symmetry, and pattern to all of them, and I could only imagine how pretty and intricate the ones in India were. I of course loved the Henna, but my favorite part was seeing one of my best friends step up onto the Bimah, and become Bat Mitzvah.

7/31 SOL

I woke up to the feeling of my feet. My friend and I didn't go to sleep for a while, but I just wanted a few more minutes yet something was with my feet. I groaned and turned over. It stopped for a second, and there it was again. I couldn't stand it and there was no way I was falling back asleep with my feet keeping me awake. I opened my eyes, and go straight for my feet; Sarah. "Sarah, why are you pinching my feet?" she just smiled. "Good morning!" she exclaimed fully awake as I turned on my phone. "Sarah, it is seven in the morning on a weekend! I'll see you in an hour and a half." I flopped back onto my pillow. Again, she started to pinch my feet. It was really irritating, so I got up to make breakfast.

Later when it was late morning and we were ready to face the day as they say, we pulled out the tie-dye and grabbed some white shirts. "Come on Sarah, we have to finish before my dad comes home." The original plan was to tie-dye outside but it was raining so we decided to do it in the garage. "So we have gloves, shirts, dye, oh we forgot rubber bands." We were out of hair ties, so we had to think of something. "Oh Hannah! Don't you have a million rainbow loom bracelets?" Yes, we did use rainbow loom bracelets, and it worked really well.

 My shirt was a collage of colors. A dash of red, some yellow, and a lot of blue. As I worked, I tried to keep a balance of dye and shirt. Soon, it was time to clean up and I had to practically guide my sister's hands so she could actually be productive. I turn away for just a second, "Hannah?! Don't put the dye in the trash! Were going to use it again!" I was pretty upset because I had to go through the trash just to get the dye out. I took the blue and squirted it all over her grey pajama shirt as she was screaming to the house in disbelief. "Hey, you can't do that! Now my shirt is ruined!" She was smiling but still shocked that I actually did it. "Maybe you will listen better next time. I'm sorry did that upset you? You seem a bit blue."

6/31

The first five slices came easily, but now I 'm starting to run out of ideas. I sit here staring at my computer from the library, without a sliver of inspiration. I have been stumped for 45 minutes thinking and thinking, but I haven't gotten anything done. "Lydia," I asked annoyed. "What should I slice about?" "Bananas." She replies quickly. "What?" "Yeah, bananas. Talk about why they are the funniest fruit." "No." "Yes." This went back and forth until I won. I then moved onto Sarah. Before I could ask her anything, she asked me to peer edit her AS program bio, again. "75 letters, how does anyone type 75 letters in their bio?!" "I don't know Sarah. What should I write for a slice?" Sarah wasn't completely paying attention, but I finally got out an idea out of her; to write about how I can't write anything. It wasn't very original, but I didn't have any other ideas so I didn't complain. As my fingers hit the keys, the first line came out. "The five slices came easily, but now I'm stating to run out of ideas."

5/31 SOL

 My favorite two more religious things we do at camp are celebrate Shabbat, and Havdalah. Shabbat is the seventh day of creation; God rested so the Torah commands us to do so as well. There is a nice dinner and we all dress fancy and have a party. There is lots of singing and dancing, and religious food such as challah. The last Shabbat, I was one of the five or six people that played the Jewish prayers/songs on the guitar before we went to bed. The lights were off and the whole camp was singing along side by side, hand in hand. It is just a special moment when you are singing these prayers and songs with a special bond with the camp in a big circle all connected. People say they have comfort food, but these songs and tunes and even this memory is my comfort. I feel at home when I sing the songs and the songs remind me of a place where I belong. The words go "Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Elohanu Adonai Echad. Baruch shame kivod malchuto l'olam vaed." The next song I also played is called the Haskivanu and it goes "Haskivanu Adonai Elohanu L'shalom V'hamidanu Malkanu L'chiyim." There are other versus but normally we just repeat this verse.

        Havdalah is when Shabbat ends and there is no party but we have a ritual. We all sit in a circle with a cup of wine, a jar of sweet smelling things like cinnamon, and a braided candle in the center and we sing a couple of songs about the objects in Hebrew, and the other two I mentioned. As I sit next to two of my friends,  I sway ever so gently to the music as I sing along to the familiar lyrics. I just close my eyes and feel the warmth of the candle on me even though it is very small. This is my home away from home, and the songs are part of me. The lyrics are repeated and I don't want this night to end as the jar of cinnamon gets passed around and everyone takes in the soft smell and wish for a sweet week like the cinnamon. I am exhausted from the long day and almost fall asleep on my friends shoulder, but I keep singing while I sit there. During the part when we sing about the candle, we hold up our hands and watch the light and the shadows crawl around our fingers as we move them around. The candle is a dark orange and almost fills the room, with only a single flame. The candle rests in a tin where the blue wax slowly drips down from the heat I love.The last part of the ritual marks the end of Shabbat, which is dipping the candle in the wine and hearing the crackle as it burns out. Before I go to bed when I am laying in my stiff cot, I still mumble the lyrics because I don't want the night to end.

The Fault in Stars/SOL 4/31

This week I read The Fault in our Stars by John Green. It was really good, and I am glad I got to read it before the movie came out. I have to read the book before I see the movie or I wont even try after I see the movie, and I wouldn't want to miss a great story like this one. This was a pretty quick read, and it had around 310 pages. Hazel is sixteen years old and is diagnosed with a kind of lung cancer. A miracle medicine has kept her alive for a couple of years now, but its not a permanent solution. Her mom wants her to be a "normal teenager" so she sends her to a support group to make friends, and there she meets Augustus Waters and her whole life is getting turned around. This was a very sweet book, but it isn't a typical cancer book. Those are normally very factual, sad and only talk about death and being sick, but this had a great plot to it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone in AS who hasn't read it and anyone who likes sweet but kind of sad love stories.

3/31 SOL

Normally my dreams are very creepy and vivid, so I decided to share one of them. It started out in a carnival/amusement park area, except a lot of people lived in small houses down the street.  My house was in the middle of block, and was very poorly built. The inside looked somewhat like my actual house, but instead of a kitchen it was a metal working area with a refrigerator where it is supposed to be. I'm going about my day at the amusement park with my friends in my dream. (I don't actually know them but my dream told me that they were my friends.) We decided to go in the haunted house. We thought it was going to be lame and childish like it normally is, but as we kept walking strange things happened. I've been in there many times before and I know exactly what is going to happen when but it didn't this time because the ride kept malfunctioning, like the swords would actually drop and hit us. Luckily we got out of the way just in time. This happened a lot with a bunch of different pieces of the ride, but we just assumed the ride was getting old and broken. We kept walking and as we were about to exit, this large horror clown about ten feet tall came up and just stared at us and we stared back. It wasn't startling, but it wasn't pleasant either especially because it seemed very real instead of a pop up dummy. The next thing I know we are outside of the ride but we didn't remember leaving, just staring at the clown. We didn't pay any mind to it so we kept walking over to go take a picture with the mermaids. It was obviously people dressed up and paid to pose and take pictures, but we still wanted the picture. I hand my phone to the man who takes the camera and I ask him if he can take a picture. He took my phone and his eyes bulged at the sight of my phone and I still don't have a clue why. In a thick accent of some kind he said "No phones like this allowed" and he threw it behind him. When I picked it up, the bottom was cracked. Did he want to break it? Why? Strange things have been going on all day. My friends and I want to go on one last ride before heading home, so we decide to go on the zip-line. Thirty minutes went by, and then our group somehow got moved to the group zip-line which was like a char lift. Three at a time go, and I sat between two of my friends. As we were going over the canyon following the sharp cuts of the orange rock, we suddenly stop on the edge of a cliff that had one small tree threatening to fall. As I look behind me, I see an emerald green plane with a banner that had an advertisement. The letters were small, but I could make out three sentences each one starting with the word Ladson in green print. I knew that name from somewhere, but I don't remember what it means. I look back to the amusement park and I see most of it engulfed in flames burning and I could hear faint screams. Driving away was an emerald green car from some time around the sixties. I hear the crackling of fire at a near factory and see a similar emerald green car. My friends continue the ride but I race home to check on my dad. The last time I saw my sister, she went with her friends so I assumed she was safe. I come home to our small house just one hundred feet from the amusement park, and find my dad reading a book at the dining table. I let out an exhale of relief just before I hear the window smashing. I was panicking someone was going to rob or murder us, but it was just my sister. "Hannah, what are you doing?" I yelled at her. "They attacked and I had to join their side. I had to." I was about to ask her who and why, but she interrupted and said we needed to hide dad quick because others would come looking. They weren't interested in me, but something with my dad that they would be willing to kill for. "Dad, you need to hide now. Go in the basement, and maybe they will go away." I was panicking now, because they were going to be here any second. "But what about food?" said my dad. "Here, have this." I opened the top drawer of the freezer and pulled out seven individual pints of chocolate or phish food ice cream.   I threw them down the stairwell and told him to go down and hide, and hide the ice-cream too. As soon as I closed the door to the basement, four people wearing black sweatshirts and sweatpants with colored gas masks broke down our fence and were quickly advancing to my house. And then I woke up. Most of my dreams that I remember are this vivid and are not normally happy ones, but they make great stories!

2/31 SOL

Over Winter Break, my family met up with my aunt and uncle to go on a cruise to Cozumel, and Belize. The road I live on has trees that create a canopy over the street which is like a blooming tunnel of green lush. The only thing is, is that it is winter and the trees are covered in snow which in some ways is prettier. Normally the drive to the airport is slow and boring, but I pass time gazing at the snowy tunnel of branches all around me. My parents are talking about how to get to the hotel before we go to the ship, which I would be interested in and even give some ideas but I am lost in the many twisted branches that were intertwined with each other. The simplest objects around us can have meaning and beauty and I was realizing that through the frosty limbs. It was probably forty-five minutes  to get to the airport and I just leaned my head against the cold glass of the door as I watch the landscape quickly change from houses and tall buildings to white planes with solar panels. We finally arrived at the airport and we quickly boarded the plane.


The ship was starting to set sail as we were getting to eat our first lunch. The days at sea where were fun and I got to hang out with some new friends, but my favorite days were the days where we docked. First we went to Belize and went on excursions. We saw Sleeping Giant mountain as we thrashed violently against the thick fabric of the "left handed" land rover my dad decided to drive. The second part of the day was a river tour and a hike to a cave. As we were getting ready for the hike, I noticed the bridge we were going to be crossing to get to the path. The scene was really pretty at the cite of the hike with the tropical Hibiscus flowers, the the tall green plants that thrive in the humidity, and the river with the rickety rope bridge. I was laughing quietly to myself as my mom was worried about walking across the bridge because she had acrophobia which is a fear of heights.

My feet were starting to get tired on the uneven ground especially because I was wearing flip-flops. I kept myself busy by looking at the beautiful scenery and listening to the soothing sounds of birds and other animals lurking near by. The cave itself was really warm with the thermo-heating "vent" system while we were walking through the gloomy rock structure. My mom and my aunt could have had a better time because they realized when they were walking through, there were bats two inches away from their heads. They didn't think it was funny then, and they don't think it is funny now. The only thing that was funny was that on the river tour my aunt sat in the back of the boat so she got soaked in the river water from the wake the motors were creating. It was a long tiring day with the humidity drenching us in heat from the Central American sun that was beating down on us in December. We also visited Xel-Ha in Mexico which was another small adventure with my aunt and uncle while my parents stayed in Cozumel. It was a great way to end the year; in warm weather, and with my family.

1/31 SOL

Introduction:

I'm Briahn, and I am in 7th grade. This year I studied Environmental Inventions, and for my next unit I am going to study Festivals Around the World. I like to snowboard, and Ice Skate with my friends and family as well as read.

Most people could say that the art in Ohio is in the things around us. The trees, the animals, even the architectual design in the buildings. When my family and I visited Ohio for Thanksgiving, we just went to an art museum. This was after a couple of days relaxing with family, celebrating Hanukkah, and celebrating Thanksgiving. Hanukkah is always fun with my family for a lot of reasons; the traditional food such as latkas, and the customs that our family practice. My favorite part is lighting the candles after dark. The blue candles become glossy as thick wax drips off of the sides from the small flame. We all say the hebrew blessing for the candles, together as a family and in unison. Our family talks about the candles and the words they are associated with while the flames are still burning. The first candle is connected with faith, and we would talk about that until the conversation ended or until the candles burned out.
My aunt made the food for Hanukkah, and Thanksgiving with her own family recipes. Holiday food is comfort food and it is even better with family recipes cooked in. The turkey was softer, the cranberry sauce was sweeter, and the latkas had the best homemade applesauce. Some people would also call cooking an art, and I would have to agree. You have to mix and compliment the flavors and spices in the dishes as well as making it look like a culinary master piece.

Our trip soon came to an end but before we left, my family and I went to visit the Ohio art museum in Gahanna. The museum displayed a large exhibit to an artist the worked with light, so we went at night for the best experience. As I walked in the first part of the exhibit, I saw lights flashing up above me with the sound of lightning and thunder. It was a inside of a greenhouse, that had blooming plants and flowers everywhere. The lightning clashed and made me shudder at the loud sound. As we kept walking, we eventually ended up outside in the garden of lights. The entire garden was filled with hundreds of balls of light that changed colors in waves. It reminded me of the ocean as the blue wave moved across all of the lights, soon changing into green. We passed colored glass sculptures hanging from the ceiling that were reflecting the light all around the room, and many others before going outside to a different area then the garden of light.

These were the water bottles in the pillars.

Each triangle had around 30 water bottles.

There were many pillars of light, that also changed colors, but not in waves. each one changed colors separately, but they looked identical. As I looked closer, the lights were inside 2-liter water bottles that made up the pillars. It was cold enough that the artist put in the lights and then froze water around it. This was also in the last part of the exhibit, which was a dome about fifteen feet tall also lit up with light inside water bottles. As I walked around it, it changed colors and reminded me of a memory from when I was younger. All of the lights were beautiful, but the pillars and the dome spoke to me in a special way, and I hope I can see them again next year.