Moron Moments: Talking to Trophies and Things to Do with Your Tongue

Well, this is just where I'll be recounting rather interesting moments of the day seemed moron worthy.

I was in school, during STAR testing. I was really bored since I was done early, so I started trying to amuse myself. The results were not pretty. I started doodling and ended drawing a whole bunch of smiling skulls and elephants that looked anorexic. When I was bored with that, I tried to play "Cave" by making it all dark with my hair. That got boring fast. So then I tried licking random parts of my body. I was unable to lick my elbow, but still managed to lick my breast. I think I have an unfair advantage, considering how big they are.

Moving on, just about half an hour ago, I was just looking around my room, I noticed the only trophy I own sitting near my door. I stopped to read the inscription. It read:

SARAH THOMPSON

2ND PLACE SPELLING BEE
'05-'06 MIDDLEVIEW JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

(Not my actual name, or school by the way)

I stared at it for about 3 mintutes before, like an Asian parent to their child, saying, "You disappoint me." WTF? I am so on crack.

The Lost Idols

This is just going to be a really short thing. Lately, American Idol has been a constant source of disappointment and the cause of some rather random fits violence (R.I.P. Papers, you never got to be put to proper use).

The first bit of disappointment was when this one chick, Kristy Lee Cook would just not get voted off! For God's sake! Everyone I know, friends and family who watch American Idol, were screaming for her blood. And yet she manages to cling on for a good 4 weeks longer than should have been legal. To add to the terribleness of the situation, Ramiele Malubay got sent home.

It was heartbreaking, because Ramiele is sweet (not to mention Filipino, FILIPINO PRIDE, YO!!!!) and the minute it was announced, she started to cry. Did I forget to mention that, almost no talent Kristy Frakking Lee Cook, WASN'T eliminated?! Where the hell is the justice in that?! The only thing that assuaged my homicidal feelings to all things remotely like KLC was that she was bumped off the next week.

Hallelujah!

But then later, this other girl, Carly, gets eliminated after a spectacular performance. There were two other contestants who were much worse than her didn't get eliminated. In fact, another contestant, Syesha, who also performed a show-stopper that night was also in the final two with Carly.

Tonight, another person's gonna get knocked off the show. I will be super pissed if Syesha or either of the David's is in the bottom two. Hopefully, America's not as stupid as I have pretty much assume by this point.

Message to the nation: DEATH TO BLONDIES AND DREADLOCKS!

Movie Review: Forbidden Kingdom

It depends on what kind of person you are. If you're looking for a real quality movie, you might not like it. But if you're the kind of person whose less picky about your movies, just going to be entertained for about 2 hours, you'd probably enjoy Forbidden Kingdom.The story is based on the old story Journey to the west.

The stage is set in a busy city, and the hero of the story is a boy named Jason (Michael Angarano), just your average teenage boy with a love for those oldies kung-fu movies. One day, after a terrible accident, is sent back in time to ancient China by an old relic in a pawn shop. There, he finds being forced into the position of the "Seeker" of prophecy, foretold to be the one to return the staff to its owner, the Monkey King, to end the rule of the Jade Warlord who had brought suffering upon the people of China.

Joining him are 3 kung-fu masters: the drunk Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), the Silent Monk (Jet Li) and the young orphan girl seeking vengance, Golden Sparrow. Lu Yan and the Monk have to band together to teach Jason how to fight before confronting the Jade Warlord. Chasing them is the Jade Warlord's bounty hunter's, who are accompanied by the White Haired Demoness. Jason must struggle to learn kung-fu and fulfill the destiny that has been forced upon his shoulders.

I expected this movie to just be one of those cheesy in and out P-13 movies. The only reason I really felt driven to go was because it had Jackie Chan and Jet Li in it, two high profile actors/martial artists who've never been in the same movie before. Besides that, I'm a fan of almost all of the actors and actresses from the movie Sky High, so I was excited about seeing a Michael Angarano movie.

I was pleasantly surprised at certain parts in the story. It was much better than I expected. While a lot of it seemed awkward, the fighting scenes were incredible and the humor was great. I was laughing so hard at this one scene I almost choked on the popcorn I was eating. All in all, I recommend seeing it.

Asthma and Some Rather Disconcerting Thoughts

Well, you can probably tell from the title that I'm not exactly very happy right now.

I found out yesterday I have asthma. Fortunately, or not, it's a mild case. It's like having a constant cough except worse. My parents, for the longest time just ignored the signs. They figured I was just keeping myself sick because of my own lack of care for my health. Truthfully, I thought they were right too. But, no. I really do have it. The only reason I got myself checked out was to humor my tutor, who was concerned. She was right, but no one's laughing.

Asthma aside, I have other fish to fry. I don't know how to break it to my mom that I don't have an A in math anymore. It's not that she's one of the super asian moms whose like "B+?! B+?! You bring shame to our family!" More like a "We're paying fucking $200 a month for a tutor and all you get is a B?!"

Math isn't the only place an A has fallen though. We've got French and English to look at as well. The only classes that I'm getting strong As in are easy classes that my mom overlooks. She doesn't even stop to think that maybe I'm not interested in overachieving. I'm satisfied with a B average. It's better than a whole lot of other students can claim. Not to mention the fact the half my classes are advanced classes.

I've also been putting some thought into my past relationships. Whenever I stay close, and there's good enough closure, I can easily let go and move on. It doesn't work so easy when I don't see a person for forever. What happens is that I stay stuck in this land of crushing and infatuation. And it takes a really long time to get rid of it. Like, years. Recently, someone I really cared for decided to move away, and our realtionship was put into a weird funk. Now, he's moved on and I'm left here still pining for him.

It's really disgusting. I'm like this love sick animal looking for anything from him. He's just about forgotten me and I'm still clinging to this hope we'll be together later on. And it's not going to go away any time soon.I wish I could live without the need to find someone to care about romantically. I love my friends enough, why can't I just be content to have them? Why do I have to put myself through so much useless drama? I just don't know.

Sunlight

I wrote this about a month ago, and thought it was really pretty. Figured I'd just post so other people could read it.

Sunlight

Trace the lines of the silver moon
Regret the sorrows that came to soon
Love can be lovely, love can be true
I won’t forget all my love for you

Clouds cross that milky light
Lost is your silhouette in the night
Lonely and solemn, hours are few
I won’t forget all my love for you

Sweet, sweet sunlight return
Shine on me brightly, never burn
Teardrops on petals evergreen
You are the prettiest sight I’ve seen

Sweet, sweet sunlight return
It’s your warmth for which I yearn
Capture a smile with each little glow
This time you leave, you let me know

Time ain’t a pattern set in stone
Sometimes you have it, then it’s gone
Day brings your face back anew
I will remember my love for you

Darkness has coming to steal you away
Sleep barely comforts the waiting pain
Every night patience is my virtue
Cause I will remember my love for you

Sweet sunlight, now you’ve returned
Shining so brightly, but never burn
Why keep on crying, you are here
You keep me warm when you are near

Book Review: This Lullaby

This book was a total surprise for me. It certainly wouldn't have been on my first to read lists, or even one that interested me. The thing is that I have this shallow outlook on books, where I must be interested in either 1) the flashy fun looking cover 2) the author or 3) the description on the back of the book. Truthfully, This Lullaby was kind of like an unremarkable unknown.

What got me reading it though, was my friend who bought it for me on my birthday. She reads more books than I do and has pretty good taste, so I decided to trust her selection. She's bought me several other books and I fell in love with them. Well, she has once again introduced me to my another love.

This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen, is about a girl named Remy, who is totally cynical about the idea of love and all things associated with it because of the many marriages her mother has worked through. She's calm and cool, the Queen of Dating, picking up relationships left and right and then dumping them before they get too serious.

It's set in the summer before she's goes to college to leave behind her life and her mother whose about to be married to guy #5. Unexpectedly, she meets a young musician named Dexter who throws her for a loop. He's everything she hates about boys, and yet she can't seem to say stay away. She has to deal with leaving, her mother's new relationship and the big swirl of strange emotions and changes being made in her life now that Dexter has made himself a part of it.

I just really enjoyed reading this book. Remy and I have nothing in common, yet I can still feel what she's feeling clearly, and understand the reason why she acts the way she does. Every character was incredibly alive, with contrasting personalities I had fun watching develop. It's also reminded me about life, and how life is pretty much a long line of risks, as one of the characters says.

Strangely enough, considering how the main character Remy is, the ending was happy, and conclusive, so I didn't have to sit there staring at the last page of the book thinking "What the hell?" I'm looking forward to reading more of Sarah Dessen's books. Someone Like You is at the top of the list, with a following view of the movie of How to Deal, starring Mandy Moore, which is based on it.

Love, Marriage and (Inevitable?) Divorce

I had an interesting conversation with some of my friends today. Strangely enough, I can't stop thinking about it. It was brought up in regards to a question that really never had anything to do with the topic. We were discussing homework and somehow that led to discussing the lives of our parents. Between the four of us, we all had different view points. Two of my friends both had parents who were together. One has parents who have been divorced, one recently remarried. Finally there's me, whose got parents on the edge of divorce.

The question that got us started was asked by me:

"You know how during a wedding, they say 'till death do you part'? Doesn't that mean that a divorce is like cheating the rules of marriage?"

Well, I recieved different answers. From the friends whose parents hadn't divorced, I heard comments about how divorce was okay if you weren't meant to be with that person. My friend whose parents had divorced said that in her opinion, people should not get divorced, especially if they have kids. For me, I was straddling the line. I want to believe that a marriage can and should pull through, but that it shouldn't feel like a cage for both.

When I look at my parents, I know that neither is happy with being together. Unfortunately, in the beginning, both of them never loved each other. They actually didn't even know each other at all. The only reason they got together was because they'd both come out of bad relationships (leaving behind marriages with kids) and were staying together in the same crappy room being rented out to them in San Francisco.

From there, they'd convinced themselves that being together wasn't so bad (better than what they had at the moment at least) and that they could and did love each other. They had a couple of good years while the nice novelty of the realtionship lasted, then things got bad. Arguements and violence became more and more frequent. Sooner or later, one of them strayed. Now, neither of them wants to stay. The only things keeping them together are my brother and me and the financial stability of being together.

Sadly enough, it's more for the financial stability. They both know that without the other's income, they'd be dirt poor again and we'd be kicked out of house and home. So for now, they're acting like nothing's wrong. I don't really know if I want them to split up. Sometimes, it makes me feel bad that I'm more concerned about how I'll be managing money for college without them together than about their relationship.

All I know is that even if it meant I'd have never existed, I wish they never got together. There had never been love, their marriage was a farce and divorce seems inevitable within the next 3 years, if not sooner. If they'd just stayed clear of each other, it would've saved a lot of people the heartache and stress.

Try Something New, Fail Spectacularly

Well, today I tried my hand at sewing...

God damn disaster, I swear.

It was this extra credit assignment for class. We have to make these stuffed animals and dress them up like famous people that have to do with the class. I decided I'd give it a shot, since a little extra credit couldn't hurt my grade.

So I got down to work. The teacher provided us with shapes we needed to cut the material out of and rather vague instructions on how to assemble the stuffed animal. I got through the first couple of steps with out too much difficulty. Cutting out the materials, getting the eyes, but then it came down to getting the cloth together. It was either fabric glue, which is unreliable or sewing.

Problem is that I've never sewed anything ever in my entire life. When I start though, I know I'm screwed. It's as if everything suddenly stops making sense. The needle and the thread aren't going together, I'm sewing the pieces together the wrong way, and my cut outs aren't fitting properly. I got so frustrated that I felt like I needed to sit in a corner and cry like a child who lost its mother in a grocery store during a shopping trip.

Finally, I was able to pull myself together and finish what I started. So now, my stuffed animal is done, but it's totally malformed. Wherever I sewed, there's fluff bursting from the seams. Everytime I look at it, it seems likes it's trying to tell me something.

Malformed Animal-esque Thing: Kill meeeeee.....

Yeah, well, my hope is that my teacher will give me points for trying.

J'échoue français! Pourquoi?

Title Translation: I'm failing French! Why?

I have no illusions about my educational performance, I am not a very good student. I have poor study habits and I procrastinate when it comes to my homework. What I do know is that I am not stupid, and I know when I do or do not deserve a grade.

French is a hard subject, for me at least. I've been taking it for almost 3 years now, and it has constantly been an uphill battle. When I put my mind to it though, I can glide through with a B. I can usually understand when my grade in the class drops into the D/F range. I've usually done something glaringly obvious to miss that many points.

But this last time, I was confused. I know I missed at least one important assignment, but it couldn't have been enough to cause me to be failing the class. I've been turning all my assignments in and I've even been doing extra credit to up my grade. When I checked the assignment log, it said I was missing three assignments, two of which I knew I turned in. Unfortunately, I am unable to prove that I did them, because I recently reorganized the papers I've had and threw those assignments away.

To make matters worse, I think that I am possibly the only student in the class who is actually failing. I'm positive that there's got to be something wrong with that. I've talked to my teacher about the problem several times, but I think she has stopped listening to me. Now the end of this quarter is fast approaching and I'm going to be stuck with this grade on my third quarter report card.

Book Review: Oh My Goth

Well, the first time I saw the book, I was slightly interested, but a bit put off by the idea.

Oh My Goth, written by Gena Showalter, is about a girl named Jade Leigh whose a nonconformist goth with some attitude issues. The setting of the book is in a rather stereotypical high school where the preps (dubbed Barbies) and the jocks rule and anyone different, the goths in particular, are treated as outcasts and hated. One day, Jade and the Barbie Queen get busted, and the principal pulls out this experimental punishment method in hopes it'll teach them a lesson.

The girls' punishment turns into a nightmare when their worlds are flipped: Goths rule the school (and Jade's the queen of them), Preps are the losers and Jade and the Barbie Queen's friends hate them. The only person who seems to not be affected is the mysterious new kid. So the two girls are forced to work together to find a way out of this new reality they've been thrust into and back into familiar territory.

I thought it was a nice book, even if the idea of preps and goths bugs me. The main characters, by the end of the book, each walked away with a new, better outlook on life. Their experiences helped them push past stupid social barriers and preconceptions, and look at people for who they are, not what they are. It also helped them appreciate the lives they lived, down to every small detail they may have under appreciated beforehand. The end, while unbelievably happy, predictable and cheesy, is a nice, optimistic break from reality. I managed to read this all in one sitting, and I think it was worth putting off my homework until the next night.