School Ties

Today during club time we watched the movie 'School Ties'. We somehow managed to fit the entire highschool and middleschool into the auditorium... but a lot of them were sitting on the floor. The movie was really touching. It was about how a Jewish boy, David Greene, gets into a rich prep school in Massachusetts. At that time, the Jews weren't very welcome, even in America. At first, when he arrived at the school, he hid the fact that he was a Jew. Everyone were making Jew jokes while he was right there, but he took it all in. He was recruited into the prep-school because he was a star-quarterback. This upsetted one of his friends, Dillon, who comes from a high achieving family of quarterbacks and harvard alumni. After the most important game of the year, where they won, Dillon's resentment towards Greene grew stronger. He was annoyed that he wasn't the quarterback to win the game. Then he also saw his 'girlfriend' breaking up with him for Greene. This up set him a lot, and at that time, he overhears that Greene was actually a Jew. Back at prep-school, he tells the rest of their friends. They start making fun of him and insulting him, with only Reece, his roommate, giving him a little support. They started taunting him in the cafeteria, and even hung up a sign that said 'Go Home Jew' with a Nazi sign at the head of his bed. As the history exam came up, all of the students were nervous about it. Dillon decided to cheat. As he left the classroom, his cheat sheet dropped. The teacher picked it up, but was unable to tell who wrote the sheet (it was written in capitals). The teacher decided to leave it up to the person who cheated to confess, or he would flunk the whole class. Greene saw Dillon do it, and Dillon, out of desperation, accuses Greene in front of everyone. With a secret ballot, the class decided on Greene to confess and were convinced he cheated simply because he was a Jew. In the end, Dillon's roommate Rip told the principal anyway that he saw Dillon cheat. Dillon was expelled. This story has several strong meanings behind it. First, there was the theme of discrimination, whereby Greene was being judged simply because he was  Jew. Second, there was the theme of cheating and honesty. Dillon cheated on the test and accused Greene. Third, there was the theme of perseverance. Greene persevered. This is a strong movie and I'm really glad we watched it.

24

Today in basketball practise, we got our jerseys. FINALLY!!! I'm really excited. I couldn't let go of it when we got it. At first, directly after practise, our coach took us to his office. We all crowded around his cubicle, and stared in awe as he dumped the new jerseys out. We took in the numbers, and all of us locked our eyes on the jersey of number 24. Right before practise ended, our coach gave us a little speech about the jerseys. The number 23 was left out because it was the number of one of the greatest basketball players. Michael Jordan. If anyone got that number, I'm sure he/she would be under great pressure. But then there was number 24 as well. Our coach told us that the number also belonged to a great basketball player, Kobe Bryant. He said that whoever got the number should aspire to play well in basketball. Out of all the new people who got their jerseys, there was 1 senior, 2 sophomores, 4 freshmen, and 1 eighth grader. Our coach told us that the number would be distributed according to age. So the senior would get a smaller number, because the jerseys were distributed from 1 though 99. I counted in my head, and figured that one of the sophomores would get 24, since the senior is going to get 21 (because the last jersey last year was no. 20), and there are two sophomores, each 22 and 24. However I was wrong. When he called out number 24, he looked at me, and asked me what grade I'm in. I got the 24 jersey. I can't believe it! This is means that atleast our coach has a certain recognition in me, because out of all the freshmen (and the sophomore), our coach chose me to be 24. I'm really proud, but at the same time, afraid that I won't be able to live up to the number. But our coach told us to make our own history with the number. So I'm going to make my own history, and make the number live up to me.

Tetris

I've realized recently that I've become addicted to Tetris. But really, its a fun game. I've played it everyday, and haven't had one day where I didn't touch it in any way. By this I mean, because I've gotten so into Tetris, I've even downloaded a computer version, one on my phone, tetris online, etc. but the most common one I use is the one on Facebook, called 'Tetris Battle'. I don't know why, but the one on Facebook seems the most addictive. Tetris is such a fun game. You have to fit the blocks so that it cancels out when one line is full. I find it super fun. Surprisingly, I used to hate Tetris. I used to think that it was hard and boring. But for some reason, I played it once, and immediately got hooked on to it. I remember the first time I won a tetris game. I was ecsatic. I was so happy and excited. But after a few days, where I've won a lot more games, I realized that its really not that hard. On a couple of days, I've been playing tetris so much that I even dreamed about it. Also, I sometimes catch myself picturing the blocks falling into place and the lines cancelling out when I'm bored and daydreaming. It's kind of frightening actually. I can even do a mental game of tetris. I swear I've gone through all the different combinations in which the blocks fall into place. It's actually overwhelming at times. I feel myself yearning for another game of tetris, and familiar feeling of my fingers on the up, left, and right keys and the space bar. I yearn to put the blocks into a perfect spot. I think that I'm going to leave tetris for a while. Maybe that would help me.

Today. November 3rd.

Techinically, its the 4th already. I've been working on my homework and studying that I've finally got time to write my blogger. I really should be getting my sleep. But I still need to do my Musical Production Midterm homework, and study more for chemistry. Today was in general a good day. The first class was geometry and that was boring... as usual. English was really fun today. We spent the lesson solving riddles. That was really fun. I think that if I was 'Supreme Executive Educator' or something, I'd make that a lesson. And call it 'Riddle Class'. People would answer riddles and practise lateral thinking skills. And talk about Tom Riddle. Haha. That was a joke. So after that we had chemistry class. I spent that lesson reviewing for tomorrow's Midterm. Then World History class was slightly boring. We learned about Zheng-He and his trips to various places. Lunch was ok. After lunch was Wordly Wise. I finished my weekly two lessons and played Tetris for the remainder of the lesson. Then we had clubs. I am in the extreme sports club, though actually in my case it is 'extreme sitting'... with friends and gossiping. But today, I actually practised shooting. Then I sat down with my friends and talked and watched guys play basketball. Then school ended and I ran to the cafeteria and stole a couple of cookies from the baking club. I spent the remainder of the afternoon surfing through music with my friends for suitable songs for the chistmas show. Then I did homework for the remainder of the night. And now here I am.

Songs That Mean A Lot

There are many haters in the world. Sometimes, they judge a song by who sang it. If someone else had sang that song, they would worship it. That's stupid. At times I just want to shout, 'SHUT UP AND ENJOY THE MUSIC.' Many of these songs actually mean something. Recently, I've heard the song 'Skyscraper' by Demi Lovato. Many people in this world really hate her for absolutely NO reasons at all. (Haters= Having Anger Towards Everyone Reaching Success). So anyway, her song is about overcoming difficulties and staying strong. Many artists have songs that mean a lot. Most of the themes of the songs are easy to relate to. One artist once said that songs are messages and the artists are the messengers. One song I find really meaningful is 'American Pie' by Don McLean. It was about the airplane crashed that killed some of the best artists in the world. It talks about 'the day the music died'. I also like the song 'Someone Like You' by Adele. It is about her breakup with her boyfriend. I think it is an amazing song. It has good lyrics and a good tune. Most of the best songs in the world are the ones that the singer can actually relate to, and is sang with true passion. Another song I think is probably one of the best songs (it's actually a song from the musical, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the ORIGINAL one) is Pure Imagination. It has such amazing lyrics. I love listening to it. It also has this really mystical and fantastical tune. Eminem also has a lot of songs that mean a lot to him. Like his song 'Mockingjay' and 'When I'm Gone' are both dedicated to her daughter. I think crappy songs that don't mean a thing and are insulting should be banned and made illegal.

How To Come Up With Topics for the Journals

I've decided to write this journal entry on how to come up with topics to write for the journals. Everyday, I google 'random topic generator' and click on the first link and choose the 'opinion' tab, then click 'Generate Topic'. Some of the topics are quite good, but most of them repeat. Today, I decided to just write about this. To be honest, I have a pretty boring life. No one wants to know what I eat for breakfast, or what my brother and I argued about today. So in general, I just use the random topic generator. However, sometimes during the day when I randomly think of a topic that could potentially be something to write about, I save it in my phone. There's a function called ListMaster, and I just basicallly make lists of a lot of things. In this case, a topic to write about. Sometimes, I write about what I feel about what I learned that day. For example, I write about what I feel about certain current events that I learn from MUN class. And rarely, unless something happens, I write about something important that happened, like the HsinMUN conference, or Halloween. Actually, as I am writing this topic, I've just came up with two more topics I can write about, one of them relating to something that happened to me today (deciding on a new flute) and a random idea that just popped into my head (writing whatever, and let the flow of your thoughts take you). Sometimes I think my entries are too long. I don't mind personally. I don't mind writing these long entries because later on in life I can reflect back on these thoughts. But for example, in my musical class, we have to write a journal, too. But its handwritten, and also you have to fill up an entire page. That kind of sucks because if we hand-write it, chances are we will write less, and slower. And if we write slower, it is harder to let your thoughts flow. So I think the best forms of journal are the digital ones. However, my musical production teacher does have a point, that handwriting is a diminishing art, and that it is best if we can preserve our handwriting. And right now, I've just thought of another topic to write about: Handwritings.

Friends

Friends mean a lot to me. Actually, I think they mean a lot to everyone. Friends are the people who know you, and are nice to you. That's the general definition of the word. But really, there's more to it. There are many different types of friends. There are those who you can talk to when there's no one else around. There are those you tell all your secrets to and be comforted by the fact that they won't tell anyone. There are those who although are nice to you, are able to backstab you if they want to. There are those who support you to the end, even if you are wrong. I want a friend who I can completely trust and can confide in if I ever get in trouble. Scratch that. If I do get in trouble and end up in jail, my true friend would not be the one bailing me out, but would instead be the one sitting next to me on the bench saying, 'Boy, that was some adventure." (I'm glad I have some friends like that :) ) Friends are indescribable. The amount of value they are to us is irrevocable. In order to have friends, you yourself need to be one first. I try my best to treat others the way I would like to be treated, that is, helping them out as much as possible, and generally, being nice and supporting them. Today, in a lesson, I'm not sure if I was accidently being rude to one of my friends. It wasn't on purpose, and I was just trying to give him/her an advice, but I may have come off a bit arrogant. I felt really bad afterwards, and apologized. Also, I think that sometimes I can be a bit pushy, and selfish. But I don't do it on purpose. Sometimes, I just forget to think. I feel really bad after though. Today, after basketball, I kept trying to persuade my friend to go back downstairs with me, because I wasn't feeling well. I saw that she was trying to practise really hard, and that she wanted to stay a bit longer. However, I felt like throwing up, so I was being kind of pushy. Afterwards, when I got home, I thought it through, and realized what a ..... I had been. I should have seen how much she wanted me to stop bugging her. I felt really sorry after. So anyway, what I'm trying to say is, friends are one of the most important people surrounding everyone's life. People should appreciate it, and not take them for granted.