Spontaneous

...combustion. But not really. So for some reason today, I spontaneously decided to do NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). For all those who have never heard of this, allow me to shed some light on the subject. NaNoWriMo is during the month of November where you drop everything and write a novel (of 50,000+ words). Some people fail, some succeed. I was in the first of the two categories last year. I'm excited for November but I'm kind of afraid of it. I have not idea what I'm going to write about. I'm thinking right now that it will be a collection of short stories. Hmmm, I don't know. But I'm determined to succeed this year!

October!

And I forgot to mention that October is my all-time favorite month. I'm so happy it's just here. I love autumn!!! :)

AHHHHH!!!

Hi. So I'm blogging when I should probably be doing AP European history homework. But for some reason I'm not doing it. I think Samantha is a bad influence because this is something she would do. My mind is going crazy, I think I'm trying to memorize too many things. I have names like Ansel Adams, Hans Holbein III, Savonrola, St. Teresa, Bruegel, and Copler floating around in my head. Mixing Quiz bowl facts and AP Euro ones don't really mix. I have a tournament (for quiz bowl) on the eleventh and that is exciting. I'm so pumped for it. Then I have a swim meet tomorrow, next Thursday, and a tournament on the 25th. Bleh! I hate competing in swim. I'm also trying to write a short story for English (1000 words or less) and that's going ok. I'm trying very desperately to use the word tintinnabulation but so far it doesn't look like it's going to work. It's about this kid name Mika who finds this valuable...treasure and then gets bit by a rattlesnake. I think I'll leave the ending ambiguous and the last line will be something like, "and he lay alone in the unforgiving heat of the blinding sun," or along those lines... But anyway just thought I'd say hi.

Yo, Home Skillet

For some reason I feel like skillet should be pronounced as if one was speaking French, dropping the 'et' at the end and saying 'ayyyy.'


Anyway.


It seems as if my life became hectic overnight. I have seminary at six a.m. so I'm up at five. I go to school five days a week. I have swimming six days a week, two hours a day except for an extra hour on Saturday. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have quiz bowl. On Wednesdays I baby-sit from 6:30-9:30. I tutor two children. Needless to say I am tired. Exhausted, mentally and physically, would probably not even explain the extent of it all. I read this description in a book once and I now know what the author means. He says, "[She] was tired but it wasn't the same kind of tired one gets from not sleeping. It was a weariness from somewhere deep inside the bones, consuming her whole body, constantly there." However he was describing an elderly lady so I'm not sure if that description has all the same meaning...but it feels like it does.


But on the up side of life I am in this contest against some of my cousins and other extended family members to see who can work out the most. It's more than that but I don't feel like telling you the extended version. All that needs to be said is I am going to win. Tyler may have Wii exercise or whatever but I swim 13 hours a week. 'Nuff said. ;) I am reading Cannery Row for English and it's pretty good. I like Steinbeck. I'm reading A collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe and that's really good. I'm also still reading King Lear. Yes I've been grinding through that book for a month now but I am determined to finish it...somehow.

The Flat Earth Society

No, I'm being serious. There is a society in this world that believes in a flat earth. It first started in England then later its headquarters were moved to Lancaster, California. Yes, in America... Anyway.

This theory first emerged with Samuel Rowbotham who, based off his interpretations of certain biblical passages, supported the idea of a flat earth. He then published a 16-page pamphlet, which later he expounded into a 430 page book, explaining his views. According to Rowbotham's system, which he called "Zetetic Astronomy", the earth is a flat disk centered at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice (Antarctica), with the sun and moon 3000 miles (4800 km) and the "cosmos" 3100 miles (5000 km) above earth. Rowbotham and his followers gained noticed by having debates with leading scientists of the day. After Rowbotham's death his followers established a magazine but after World War I, the movement saw a slow decline. In the U.S., this idea was first taken up by the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. They established a theocratic community in Zion, Illinois and for a while the flat earth doctrine was taught in community schools. However once the leader of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, passed away the movement struggled well into the 1950's. In 1971 Charles K. Johnson became the new president of the Flat Earth Society. For the next three decades, the society grew in size by 3,000 new members. Johnson and his wife passed out fliers, brochures, maps, and other promotional materials to anyone who asked about it. Charles Johnson died in 2001, leaving the fate of the Flat Earth Society uncertain, though a BBC news interview with leading Flat Earth proponents revealed that attempts at re-establishment in different parts of the world are currently under way.

Oh and their explanation for gravity? The Flat Earth Society maintains that the earth is moving upward at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2.

Sunset and sunrise? The planetary bodies above the earth revolve around it, shrinking away until not able to be seen anymore and then reappearing.

How about the infamous sinking ship effect? The sinking ship effect is explained by a series of perspective laws, in which a ship on the horizon intersects with the vanishing point, causing it to appear as if it is sinking.

For more explanations concerning seasons and other such phenomenons, visit Wikipedia (the source of this post) and search "Flat Earth Society."

A Dream...

Last night I had a dream. Atypical that I actually remembered it? Yes. But it was such an odd/realistic dream that I feel like I should share it. So I had a dream that I met the Jonas Brothers in person. Then the next day (or month, I don't know how time works in Dreamland) they died on a plane crash. Everyone, but me, was devastated. People were crying, people looked really upset, and this hush just settled on the world. Almost as if it stopped spinning or something. I just kind of shrugged at the news. In my dream I thought to myself, "I'm so glad this didn't happen at school-no work would get done, the teachers wouldn't teach, and the students would be so upset." The next thing I know, the world is having Jonas Brothers concert marathons on t.v., they're recapping their lives as in documentaries if they were an icon from the Renaissance such as Michelangelo or Donatello. Then I woke up. I was confused at first and thinking to myself, "Wait, did the Jonas Brothers really die?" But then I remembered it was only a dream.

Bonjour auf meine casa...

Well for you information, my back went off. I mean, it is titanium so it makes sense. Whatever.
Anyway. I have really nothing else to talk about so I'm just going to do a movie review. First up:

THE DARK KNIGHT. This movie was, how you say, Amazing with a capital a. Christian Bale pulled in another spectacular performance and I really like Michael Caine. I'm a sucker for the Brits, what can I say? Heath Ledger's performance was one of the best I have ever seen in his ever convincing role of the Joker. The cinematography was practically perfect, the lightning just great! However I will say Maggie Gyllenhall's performance wasn't all that memorable-probably equal to that of Katie Holmes'. Other than the cinema side of it, the movie was all around good. Some people complain because it's too long, almost three hours I'll never get back of my life. One comeback: Never base a movie off of its length for it makes no sense. Besides it got a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes which is enough said in itself.

MAMMA MIA. So this movie was rated PG-13 for 'some innuendo.' Yeah, ok, they went a little overboard with the innuendo. Enough is enough. The music was great-I personally thought it did ABBA justice. I was actually surprised at how good the music/choreography was considering no one knew Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, or Amanda Seyfried could sing. The overall disappointment in this was the ending-come on! (warning Spoilers!) Sophie never got married after all of her wedding plans but Donna did. The cast included some pretty big names and the acting was overall good. Meryl Streep's performance was exceptional, I thought. The movie was all in all, OK but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

So that's all for my movie review... That's probably three minutes you'll never get back of your life so for that I apologize.