New GPS!!

Hello, fellow readers!

So I am posting to you about the GPS that we bought yesterday! I was really looking forward to buying it, and for the first hour or so yesterday, I was playing around with it until it ran out of batteries and we needed to charge it again. I tend to do this a lot with new electronics that are bought... Anyways, my mom complained that we would have to charge it again now that I had used up all the batteries. I quickly retorted that it was a chance to understand how to use the charger, so she sent me to the car to plug it in. See the thing is, I plugged it in, but I don't think it charged. Maybe you had to have the engine on? I don't know. I just couldn't do it. I spent a while fiddling around with it until I came back telling my mom that I couldn't figure out how to do it.
The point is, now it's completely out of batteries and I can't play with it anymore. That's a bummer.
But I am so glad we finally got a GPS. Everybody else I knew had one, and although I had been told that it can be annoying what with the robotic "TuRn LeFt" every few seconds, I still wanted one. What can I say? All I want is a little more than I have now~!

Anyways, thank you for listening to me drone on about being all excited over the new GPS, and I hope you enjoyed the post!!

Now Posting To You... From A Different Home!

Hi Everybody!!
So as you know, I have moved to a different home.

I have stressed to you about adjusting to the different home, but you know, it's really not that bad. I've managed to adjust very quickly, and the neighbourhood is great. Even though the 2nd floor cannot compare to the 22nd floor, it's still not that bad. One benefit that I realized: If a burglar is in the house, I can easily jump out my bedroom window, land on the roof, and make a safe landing to the ground. Whereas from the twenty-second floor? Erm.. not as great of an idea. We are all settled in already, so the place feels more like ours what with all our pictures and furniture everywhere. I guess it's not so bad to move. Of course, you are pretty busy and you have lots of things to do, and it seems like there's endless things to pack and then unpack and organize and so on. However, it's nice to have a change every once in a while. Have I wanted to go back to my old home? A few times. Do I miss my old home? To be honest, no. I mean, it was my house and everything, but now, this new place is what I call home. Afterall, they say that home is where the heart is!
So basically, I'm just posting to you that I have moved in safely, and nothing broke or ripped (that's okay Teddy, I can sew your ear back on) and I'm letting you know that I am now posting from a different location! Honestly, to you, it won't be that much of a big deal because you get the same posts, and my location does not really matter to you people, I guess.
Anyways, I will keep you posted on everything that happens (new schools, new friends, etc.) and of course, I will have the occasional book review and movie reviews, which I have decided to do!
Have fun for the rest of the- HOLY MACARONI AND CHEESE THERE'S A WEEK UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN!!
Alright then, you folks go and frolic and have your barbeques and what not, because SUMMER'S ALMOST GONE!!
Have fun, everybody!

Adjustments

Hi Everybody!!
So as you know, I am moving. Alrthough not far, there's still a lot of things to adjust to. A new school, a new neighbourhood, new friends, and a new house.

It will be rather hard adjusting from my noisy downtown apartment to the quiet, humble home in a nice little neighbourhood with houses that look like the ones that you would see in fairytales. And now we have next door neighbours and a small garden. Also, I do not come out onto the sidewalk to meet a bunch of stores and cars and people anymore. Now I come out to see a big, big field in front of me, an occasional person, and a bunch of small houses painted all different colours. I also cannot see the ocean from my house anymore. No more taking walks along the seawall in the evenings. That's really sad. I love living by the sea. -sigh- And here, when I go to bed and turn out the lights, I can still easily see in the dark because of the light coming from the other buildings and the streets. But now it will be pitch black when the lights go out, since there's nothing but the streetlamps. The last thing I hear before I go to bed is usually people screaming or cars on the street. Now it will be silence. The last thing I hear before I go to bed will be nothing. That kind of creeps me out. Nothingness creeps me out.

And the house is a huge thing to get used to one of the big things is the elevators. Probably half of the six years of my life I have lived in my building I spent going up and down the elevators in my building. I am just so used to them. I have to get used to the stairs now. not even that many. And just going up two floors... not 22. We have gone down 20 floors. That's a pretty big difference. And another thing is that we have landlords. Which means we can't be too loud; which means that I can't scream whenever I feel like it anymore. I also have to get used to sleeping in a different room. And eating in a different kitchen. I just have to get used to the entire house in general.

New school, new friends. This is a big one. A major thing. I will miss my school, my small school by the sea. It'll be a shame to have to move to a different one, as I have spent pretty much all of my school life there. And of course, a new school means new friends. Making new friends can be exciting and a little bit intimidating at the same time. Everyone likes the friends that they have now and nobody - I mean NOBODY would like to say goodbye to them. As of right now, I am quite convinced that nobody could replace the wonderful friends I have now, and no one could be as great as they are. However, I still wish that I found friends that would welcome me to the new school and the new neighbourhood just as my old friends had. -sigh- I hope so.... I really hope so.

Ayways, everybody says that you should be able to adjust well to different surroundings and people. They say it makes you a stronger person and someone that becomes more experienced and all that other good stuff. I guess it's a good thing if you can do it because adjusting to something else - something that you're not used to - is hard.
So I hope you readers enjoyed reading this post, and understand what I mean by having trouble adjusting! I will see you all next time!!

Moving...

Hi everyone~!
I just wanted to tell you that I will be moving next week. Not far, just to another part of Vancouver. We are moving into a rental home, but it isn't as bad as you think it would be. Our landlord is really nice. He is 78 years old and is like a grandfather to me!! I am so glad that the landlord is somebody nice and not crabby and a clean freak who would hyperventilate because you spilled water on the carpet.
So yes, we found a nice house to live in temporarily. It's pretty spacious and clean, so...
We are moving in next week. It will be kind of hard to adjust to a new home since I have been living in my apartment for 6 years. But I'll adjust soon. I'm pretty good at adjusting.
One big thing I have to adjust to is my new school. I have been at my school for a really long time, and I am kind of reluctant to leave so suddenly, but I guess I'm okay with it at the same time. I am reluctant and excited to leave at the same time, and scared to live my friends here but am also anxious to make new friends there. If that makes any sense to you. There are a bunch of bad things about leaving, but there are also a bunch of good things to make up for the bunch of bad things. Hmm. Even I'm confused about what I'm saying. Oh well, I hope some of you understand what I mean...^^

Alrighty then. I just thought I would let my readers know that I am leaving my home soon. (My wonderful, wonderful home... ) But you know what they say, "Home is where the heart is."
So I'll see you folks next time when I tell you about my life and such!!

Wonderful Card!!

Hi everyone!
So I have just checked out my friend's blog,( http://dumberthanarock.blogspot.com/ )

and I found that she had written a blog about the birthday card + presents I had given her!! Well, I thought that I should say that her card is the better of the two cards. It's wonderful, what with the detail to the facial features and the beautiful mixture of colours... my friend is a real artist. Don't you think so?? She's so creative and I loved her card so much. I SHALL KEEP IT FOREVER!!
And as she mentioned in her blog, I am moving. Unfortunately, my friend Una and I will be split up (NOOOOOO) and we won't be able to see each other as often anymore. I am hoping that we can keep in touch though, and keep making each other beautiful birthday cards (Exhibit A---->).
I just want to give a shout out to my awesome buddy!!!!
Thank you Una, for your wonderful, creative, artistic card!!

Book Review #20 ~ Iqbal

Hello fellow readers!!!
I have come back with another novel to share with all of you wonderful people who have come to read my blog. This book is a very emotion-filled book. You might cry. You might scream with anger. You might laugh with joy. It's a wonderful book, and it's beautifully written. The words just flow. Here it is:
Iqbal - Francesco D'Adamo

This novel is based on a true story. It's based on the life of Iqbal Masih, a child slave in Pakistan. Iqbal's story begins when he arrives at a carpet factory run by Hussain Khan, a ruthless man who deprives his child workers of a decent life. You can't even say child workers. It's child slaves. Child labour. CHILD ABUSE, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, CHILD ABUSE!!!

Anyways. Back to the story.
The children were not kidnapped or anything though, as you might possibly be thinking. They were sold into slavery by their debt-ridden families and must work until their debt is paid off. Of course, their family extremely reluctantly gave up the child who would work on behalf of their family. But they had to. It was the only way to pay off the debt. Of course, Hussain Khan is the opposite of fair and nice and good words like that.
He would like the child workers to stay longer and work for him so that he could make more money with the carpets. So, children whose debts should've been paid off long ago are still there, working for Hussain. Yet, they don't know what is going on. They just keep working and working for years and years, assuming that their family's debt is extremely large. Hussain Khan is cheating them the entire time. -tsk tsk tsk-
But when Iqbal arrives (Yay, Iqbal, our little rebel!!) all the children begin to have sparks of hope about returning home to their families one day and gives them hope.

He is like their own hero. After working for a while at the factory and escaping once or twice, he finally attracts the attention of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front of Pakistan (BLLF).

Unfortunately, I cannot spoil the story for you, for the story has you on your toes the entire time. You are always dying to know what happens next, and for me, I was so enveloped in the book that I was scared if I put it down it would go on to the next part of the story without me like a T.V. I was scared that I would miss something. It is such a good book, and you must read it. MUST. Trust me. This is a book that is worthy to be in every single libarary. ... In the world. It's really that good. Loved it.
I rate it 6/5 stars. No, I'm not horrible at fractions, I just want to try to tell you how great of a book it was!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading my book review, and I hope it encouraged you to pick up the book and read it!!
Thank you for visiting!!

Happy Birthday!

Hi Everyone!

Guess what. Don't know? I'll tell you. It's my birthday today!!
YAY
So far it's been great. In the morning as soon as I woke up, my parents had a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banner up in the living room and my mom cooked me some delicious blueberry birthday pancakes. After eating breakfast, my mother went and got me the cards that she and my dad had worked on last night when I had gone to bed. They were beautiful, with stickers everywhere. (Yes, I do still happen to be into stickers ^^) Of course the words inside were so touching. I am keeping the cards forever!! After a few hours of reading and practicing piano, I went out to The Keg with my parents who treated me to a very special (and tasty) birthday lunch. Gosh, the steak was like a piece of heaven in your mouth. I loved it! So juicy... -drools-  It was the best lunch I've ever had. And, to make things even better, just because it was my birthday, I got a free dessert! YUM YUM

S'mores and Creme Brulees!! It was my first time ever trying a creme brulee, and boy was it good! I definitely love it, and if it is on the dessert menu at a different restaurant, I would definitely order it. It may be a bit sweet for others, but my sweet tooth was begging for it... I couldn't say no!

It's been a wonderful day so far!! No, I didn't have a birthday cake, but it was still a great, awesome day! I loved it so much!
Anyways, I hope all of you had a great day today like I did ^^
I'll be back soon~~

Back From Camp!!

Hello ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, cats and dogs!
So as you know, I was at camp for the last few days. And boy was it fun!!
The weather was great too, and I had so much fun with all my friends there!

On the first day, we got settled into our rooms and got assigned into different teams, played games, and ate. ... A LOT of eating.
So we were in Mission, B.C. The rooms in the main building were actually not that bad, considering it was just one room that slept up to 6 people. There was one thing that I was frustrated about. The boys side was renovated and had new bunkbeds and stuff, but the girls side was just same old same old (except for the bathroom. The bathroom was renovated.) . However, it was still a very nice room, and thankfully, I was placed with all of my friends and our favourite teachers!! The placing was so great that other kids were saying that it was unfair (LIFE ISN'T FAIR. MUAHAHAHA). We were split up into five teams, but this time, to my disappointment, we didn't count points. Everyone asked why we did not this year, and every single time the teachers would tell us that it was because everybody was a winner. Of course we knew that we couldn't argue with that so...
We did a whole lot of eating. We probably spent half the day eating. We ate every two hours. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I don't know how I managed to keep all that food down because I know that I do not have a big appitite, but I somehow got used to it. The games were awesome! We had so much fun playing them, and it was great. Of course, the arts and crafts were really fun too, and we did lots and lots of that. The weather was perfect weather to play games in (thank goodness it wasn't raining like the weather forecasters said it would).
Unfortunately, I had trouble sleeping because the first time I fell asleep I had a terrifying nightmare (No, I can't tell you about it. It's too scary. You'll have nightmares just hearing about my nightmare.) and after I woke up from it after a bunch of worthless screaming in my dream, I had a major headache. And of course, I couldn't go back to sleep because of that headache. I ended up sleeping close to 2 AM.
ANYWAYS. ON TO THE SECOND DAY.

On the second day I discovered how deep of a sleeper one of my cabin leaders were. She had set the alarm for us, and while everybody else woke up at 6:30 (BRIGHT AND EARLY?! THE SUN HADN'T EVEN WOKEN UP YET) she was snoring away like there was no tomorrow. At first we thought she simply hadn't heard the alarm, so we shouted her name so she could wake up. No answer. After shouting her name over and over again, it became somewhat like a game for us. It was amusing. Hearing all the commotion coming from our room, the girls from the other rooms came over to see what was happening. When we told them, they each came over and took turns trying to wake her up. We slapped her cheek. We shook her arm. We tickled her. We clapped into her ear. We screamed in her ear. We would've pinched her nose and held her mouth, but she was sleeping so deeply that we were scared she would stop breathing entirely if we did it. Finally a teacher from another room came over and took her phone and put the ringtone on on maximum volume and put it right beside her ear. That woke her up. Well, kind of woke her up. But her eyes were half open, and that was good enough for us. So after trying to wake her up, we quickly ran upstairs to have breakfast. And after games, lunch, and a team relay, we finally got what we were waiting for; a water fight. At this time everyone was running around screaming like maniacs with waterguns, hoses, buckets of water, water balloons, spray bottles, everything. It was like a war zone, and everybody got wet. The teachers too. That was really fun. The weather was hot out too, so it was perfect to get really wet. Soaking wet. So after doing all that they ordered us back to our rooms to shower. After that? More games. Then dinner. Then we had a dance competition where we had to make up our own dance moves for an entire song. That was great. We had guest judges too! After that we had more games. (Lots of games...) Then of course, we had campfire! That was fun. Mmm. S'mores. Yum yum. Campfire songs! Anyways, after that we were sent to bed.

THIRD DAY

On the last day, we went canoeing! YAY! That was really fun. We almost flipped over 7 times and other boats flipped over a lot of times. It was funny to watch them scream as they fell into the water. Then, we had games. Then, we drove back. The drive should've taken one and a half hours, but instead in took three because of traffic. There were lots of cars on the road flipped over because of a big accident. -gasp-

Well, now I'm back and it was very very very tiring.

BUT I was willing to stay longer ^^

I will be back soon people, probably with yet another blog post~~~

CaMp!

Hi guys!
I just thought that I would let you know that I will be going to camp tomorrow, so there will be no more blog posts for a few days.
That's right. I will be at camp roasting marshmallows and singing campfire songs and throwing water balloons. BE JEALOUS
No, I'm just kidding. But I will be having lots of fun. Just letting you know. Lots of fun.
(heehee)
Alrighty then, have fun! Don't worry about me. No more exams, so I will be screaming and running around for the rest of the summer! ^^

Book Review #19 ~ The House of the Scorpion

Hi again!

So I'm back with another book review. We read this one in class together. The teacher picked it. And boy, was it a good pick! I really like Nancy Farmer books, this is one of the great ones that she's written.

So this story takes place in the future (ooh I love books that take place in the future... there is always so much creativity in the book...), and it is about a boy named Matteo Alacran who learns that he is the clone of El Patron, a powerful drug lord who is the tyrant in the country of Opium. As a clone, Matt is considered and treated like an animal by El Patron's greedy family. They throw him in a room that is quite like a cell and leave a maid to abuse him. Later, El Patron discovers what his relatives are doing to Matt, and quickly rescues him and puts him under the care of Celia, a surrogate mother, and Tam Lin, a scottish bodyguard. They become like mother and father to him. But, growing up trapped in a society where enemies are all around, he eventually flees the escape, only to be captured by "Keepers" who push him towards the direction of a whole new problem.
Trying to escape from one problem after another, he finds himself thrown into a chain of traumatizing and life-changing events.

I thought this book was very riveting. It is by far the best futuristic fiction book that I have ever read. You find yourself skipping parts because you are so desperate to find out what will happen next. This is definitely one of the few books that I have read that are irresistible and almost... mind-controlling. It is such a great book, and if I had to pick one book to read for the rest of my life, it would be this one. (no doubt!)
Alrighty then, see you!

Book Review #18 ~ Lord of the Flies

Hi Readers.

So, you've come to find out about Lord of the Flies, eh?
Well, let me begin by making a long story short. A bunch of boys get shipwrecked on a stranded island and they start having mental problems and go crazy. It's supposed to have a much, much, deeper plotline, but to those of you who don't really see past the fact that they just get stranded and go crazy, that's pretty much the summary of the book. (Keep readin', I'll have the real summary for my deep thinking readers later on.)
To those of you who do understand the phsychologically fascinating part of this book - It dramatizes a fundamental human struggle: the conflict between the impulse to obey rules, behave morally, and act lawfully; and the impulse to seek brute power over others, act selfishly, scorn moral rules, and indulge in violence. The first set could be thought of as a... hmm... let's say a "civilized instinct," which encourages people to work together towards the same goal and keep things peaceful. The second set could be thought of as a... a "barbaric instinct," which urges people to rebel against civilization, therefore turning to violence and chaos.
Was that confusing? Well, maybe reading the book, you will come across quite a few confusing parts in the story.
For most people, the first question that pops into their head as soon as they start reading the book is: "Who is the Lord of The Flies? Is it the bloody pig head that is on the cover?"
In fact, yes, yes it is. It is the bloody pig head. At least that is what the boys refer to as the Lord of The Flies.
Okay, one of the most obvious things you will notice throughout the book is how much the boys are in need of civilization. They create their own little government, but eventually, the boys split into two groups and result to attacking each other.
I had to read the book twice to fully understand the entire meaning of the book, so you might also have to do the same to completely understand it. You do find yourself cocking your head at some parts and having to re-read some sentences over and over again, but I think that the book does require some of that, since it's one of those think deeper stories...
Anyways, that's my book review, (or more like an explanation...) I don't know if it helped or anything, but I hope you enjoyed reading the blog post!!
Alright then, see you next time, folks!

Theory Exam....

Hello fellow readers!!
So I got the theory exam done and over with, thank goodness. I hope I did O.K.

It was in a room at a hotel. I've never had an exam in a hotel before, so that was kind of cool. There weren't as many kids as I thought there would be though... They had a bunch of people taking a bunch of different exams in one room. One thing that I didn't like about the room: It was way too cold for my liking. The A/C was on very strong.

They were pretty strict about everything. You weren't allowed to bring your pencil case to the desk! You had to take out all your stuff. I guess they were afraid you would cheat... Out of your pencil case? Oh well, it didn't really matter anyways.

Unusually, I wasn't hyperventilating during the test like I usually would. I was almost... careless? No, no, that's not the right word. I was very careful. I was... more... relaxed. Yes, relaxed. I was more relaxed than usual.

Anyways, I think that I can pass the exam. Now I just have to sit here and wait for my exam results. I'll tell you when I get them, but 'till then, bye-bye!!

Book Review #17 ~ The Boy in The Striped Pajamas

I am sure everybody has heard of this one. If not the book, you have probably heard of the movie. In my opinion, both the movie and the book are good, but you should probably read the book first; it's what I would say with all movies based on books.
ANYWAYS
The title of the book :

The Boy in The Striped Pajamas - John Boyne
This book takes place in the time of the Nazis. It shows how life was like in World War I.  Nine-year-old Bruno's father works for the army-the German army. Bruno is perfectly happy living in Berlin with all his friends, but much to Bruno's dismay, his father gets sent to a place called Out-With, taking his entire family with him. Bruno absolutely hates it at Out-With and believes that he will one day die of boredom. There was absolutely nothing to do there, and sitting there all day doing nothing makes him even more bored. Looking out the window one day, he remebers that he loved to go exploring back in Berlin and decides to do exactly that at Out-With. So out of the house he goes, exploring under, around, and above. Then one day, he comes across a massive fence. And on the other side of the fence is a boy in striped pajamas. This is fascinating to Bruno, for other than his sister, he had not seen any children around the place. Just soldiers. He sits down across from the boy and starts to talk to him. Before they knew it, they were the best of friends and everyday Bruno visited the boy and they talked for hours. But when Bruno makes a daring move...
I can't tell you the rest, I'm sorry. This is one of those stories that you absolutely can't spoil. You just have to read it for yourselves. The author did an amazing job of describing in great detail everything that happened, so you can just borrow the book from the library and read it. It's phenomenal, and you can't turn this book down. It's a must-read.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, but prepare for tears....
Alright then, I will be back soon with another book, but until then, bye-bye~!

Piano Theory Exam

AHHH! EXAMS!!

We all hate them. And guess what's coming along to ruin my summer vacation? (Okay maybe not ruin... I was being a little dramatic... but come on, who would want exams during summer break?) My piano theory exam.

If any of you play the piano, you'll probably know that to pass higher grades you must take basic theory rudiments. You basically study a thick book with 286 pages... plus a little over a hundred Italian music terms that you have to memorize. Not the most fun thing to do... But anyways, I have been studying and the day for my exam has come. (NOOOOO) It's the day after tomorrow, and I definitely am not looking forward to it. They sit you in a room with a bunch of other people and you take the test... they give you two hours to do it. This is my first time doing a big exam like this, and what with the tense atmosphere and the deathly quiet room, it's pretty nervewrecking. I would just like to get this over with already...

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say about this (dreaded) piano theory exam. All right then, you lucky duckies have fun while I study for the test!

Book Review #16 ~ Looking for X

I'm back with yet another book review. This one is by a pretty famous author. It's by the author who wrote "The Breadwinner." Deborah Ellis. She wrote another book, which I found pretty exciting and gripping. It's called:
Searching for X - Deborah Ellis

Adventure-loving Khyber is an 11-year-old girl who struggles to help her mother make ends meet. Her mother was a former stripper. She was poor then, and she is poor now. And being a single mom with three kids, Khyber and her two autistic twin brothers, her mother is beyond stressed and is practically living on Asprin. Khyber, despite all the difficulties in their household, (and trust me, there are more difficulties than you could ever imagine) is perfectly fine and handles her life in a positive, glass is half-full way. The story comes to a heavy climax when her mother decides that she will give the twins away to a home because she simply can't handle them anymore. Khyber is shocked, and then angry when she finds out that her mother would do such a thing. While Khyber is stressing about this issue, not wanting to let her brothers go, she is suddenly framed for a crime that she didn't commit. Her mother doesn't take her side when she pleads her innocence to the school principal, which makes Khyber even more frustrated, angry, and overflowing with so many other emotions. When she becomes overwhelmed with everything happening around her, she goes searching for her homeless friend X, hoping that X can help her out of what seems to be a bottomless pit.

This book was just as good as "The Breadwinner," if not better. I thought that it was a very gripping book. I wanted to scream and pull my hair out when her mother and the principal both believed that Khyber had commited the crime. I loved the fact that the book made me want to do this, because the way Deborah Ellis had written this was very rousing. I would definitely recommend this to everyone, for this is an exceptional book that everyone would love!
Be back soon~!