June 27, 2013
Hey what is up my friends, it is Stevie Spain here bringing you another greaaaat blog!.
I am feeling great, let me tell you. I'm exhausted but I have been feeling great. I have been extremely busy lately, I have had little to no spare time. It is the reason this blog has come so late. No, I didn't give up on you.
Oh man, so many things have happened ever since my last blog. I actually had to review my last blog to see where I left off and see what I have and havn't told you. Well, summer school began! I'm already finishing my second week of it, and it is pretty cool I'm taking Geometry over the summer. Geometry is a sophomore course, but because I am taking it right now, then I will be taking Algebra II on sophomore year, which is great. I will have an advanced class and in Senior year I will have AP Calculus. That will look pretty on my college reports! However, Geometry is a lot harder than I expected and it is completely different from what I thought it was. I thought it was all memorizing formulas and surfaces areas. But it is not, and right now I think it is becoming more a theory class. A mathematical theory. Whether this is true or not, I do not know, for I am only an average fifteen year old kid, living his life. A mathematical theory where everything makes so little sense yet it is so logical. Luckily the teacher said that the chapter we were currently on was the hardest of the whole course, so that is good. Apparently the first couple chapters are the hardest of all of them, and surprisingly, they don't include too many numbers.Oh by the way guys, don't be jealous, but my Geometry teacher used to be a rapper on MTV! Because of his short lived fame, he likes to sing a lot in class, and produces some very catchy gimmicks in order to memorize formulas and theorums. I love his style of teaching.
In other news, I seem to have a new hobby. It is listening to full albums of music and truly experiencing them. I know an album is good if I can go through my homework and enjoy the album instead of dong my homework and the music simply being there, bothering me. I have been listening to a lot of old rock, Smashing Pumpkins, The Offspring (their early years), and Pearl Jam. I love them all, they are so great. However, my favorite band of all time is The Strokes, and I seem to have an obsession with whatever Julian Casablancas does. I even considered growing my hair out over the summer like him, but then I realized he looks like a drug addict. Also his Twitter is quite deep, and he looks Spanish but it actually a Yankee. He is an all around weird and unique guy.
Well, that is all I can think of today. My friend flew in from Mexico and I'm going to go see her tomorrow, so I have to sleep. Stevie Spain, signing out.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Blog 7: Once upon a time in Chula Vista....
June 11, 2013.
Hey Guys, Stevie Spain here,
I am especially excited today. But first, since this is an online jounral and I probably won't be posting daily, I think I'm going to state the date of post at the beginning of each journal entry. Then I will keep the topics at the top, along with "Blog #7." This is going to be effective starting today.
Now why am I excited, you may ask? Nope, it isn't just because I'm a fifteen year old boy *if you know what I mean* but rather my friend and I are making a movie. We're both producing, acting out, and editing a full movie. It won't be extremely long, definitely not one of those hour or two hour long movies. I think it will only be a couple minutes long, maybe ten of fifteen. Our intro itself was about 1 minute and a half, which is pretty good in my book.
We started filming today, and it is about gangsters. Since this isn't or a school or anything, we aren't bound to anything. We can do whatever we want. We don't have to restrain ourselves from fake drugs, blood, guns, cursing, and everything that makes a gangsters movie what it is.
I think my favorite part of everything is all the fake blood and ridiculousness that we are doing. I'm guessing our inspiration is a Tarantino movie where it is interesting but ridiculously bloody. Look at Django Unchained for example. A revolver made a women fly about 20 feet. You might as well have planted dynamite on the poor women. What we did is my friend, Andres, he connected a plastic tube to a small garden thing and he pumps the garden thing and sprays it. Connected to the nozzle is the plastic tube, and we stick the tube inside our shirts in order to make a spilling blood effect. It actually comes out very nicely, and you see blood coming around everywhere. We are still figuring out how to make blood spray, but I think we know how to do it already.
We recorded about three minutes today, and had a massive cleanup. I was in a pool of blood and had to take a shower afterwards because of how insanely dirty I was. I am so excited I can't wait till next time we film, and I legitimately am willing to make the mess I did today again so I can make it. Even editing the movie is fun. I love every single part of it.
I was thinking today, and I think I actually found my main niche. I love every aspect of filming.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Hey Guys, Stevie Spain here,
I am especially excited today. But first, since this is an online jounral and I probably won't be posting daily, I think I'm going to state the date of post at the beginning of each journal entry. Then I will keep the topics at the top, along with "Blog #7." This is going to be effective starting today.
Now why am I excited, you may ask? Nope, it isn't just because I'm a fifteen year old boy *if you know what I mean* but rather my friend and I are making a movie. We're both producing, acting out, and editing a full movie. It won't be extremely long, definitely not one of those hour or two hour long movies. I think it will only be a couple minutes long, maybe ten of fifteen. Our intro itself was about 1 minute and a half, which is pretty good in my book.
We started filming today, and it is about gangsters. Since this isn't or a school or anything, we aren't bound to anything. We can do whatever we want. We don't have to restrain ourselves from fake drugs, blood, guns, cursing, and everything that makes a gangsters movie what it is.
I think my favorite part of everything is all the fake blood and ridiculousness that we are doing. I'm guessing our inspiration is a Tarantino movie where it is interesting but ridiculously bloody. Look at Django Unchained for example. A revolver made a women fly about 20 feet. You might as well have planted dynamite on the poor women. What we did is my friend, Andres, he connected a plastic tube to a small garden thing and he pumps the garden thing and sprays it. Connected to the nozzle is the plastic tube, and we stick the tube inside our shirts in order to make a spilling blood effect. It actually comes out very nicely, and you see blood coming around everywhere. We are still figuring out how to make blood spray, but I think we know how to do it already.
We recorded about three minutes today, and had a massive cleanup. I was in a pool of blood and had to take a shower afterwards because of how insanely dirty I was. I am so excited I can't wait till next time we film, and I legitimately am willing to make the mess I did today again so I can make it. Even editing the movie is fun. I love every single part of it.
I was thinking today, and I think I actually found my main niche. I love every aspect of filming.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Day 6: Mexican Paintball, Taken, and graduation.
Hey guys, Stevie Spain here
Haven't seen you all in a while! or ever for that matter. I'm sorry I haven't been here, I've been either busy or extremely tired lately at night, which is when I usually write my blogs. It is actually extremely late right now, I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this. I guess I forced myself to do it. I have not written in about three or four days. Well, here is a quick recap.
June 7, 2013 FRIDAY:
On Friday I went to a paintball field down in Mexico. I had never gone there before, and I had always wanted to go there. I had heard many good things from it, and quite honestly I didn't really know what I expected it. I sure wasn't disappointed, however. The field, "Baja Paintball," had seven or eight fields. I am still not entirely sure, all I know is that it was huge. Off of the top of my head, I can remember about let's see, one, two, three... four... five... six, seven, eight. There we go, I can remember about 8 fields off of the top of my head. The fields were massive, and they were quite a change-up from the fields I used to go to which were some very small ones. It only had a field or two too. It was actually quite sad. This one really was a lot of fun. On top of all that, I went there with some friends so we had a blast. No one else came but us, so we basically had the whole entire place to ourselves. It was crazy, I didn't expect such no one to go. Then again, it was early on a Friday morning, and most people had still not gone on summer vacation.
I came home and as soon as a I crossed the border my phone starting ringing and rigning with texts, calls, Facebook notifications, you name it. There was everything! My friend had invited me over to her pool. I thought,"sure, why not?" So I went, and surely enough it was a lot of fun. We spent most of the night in the jacuzzi with three friends of mine, including her. We had a pretty relaxing night, an excellent way to soften up after a hard's day work at the paintball field. We laughed, smiled, and had an overall amazing time. I took my friend home afterwards and that was the end of it.
June 8,9, 2013 Saturday and Sunday
I had an extremely slow weekend, not as eventful as Friday. I do not know why it was so slow, I think it was because I spent so much of it with my family. We have been hanging out a lot lately, maybe it is because of the fact that I am at my house all day now with summer going through.
On Saturday I woke up nice and late. I had nothing to do, I played some guitar and my mind thought it would be a good idea to play some good old Starcraft II. I played some, and then my mom called me; she said I had to get ready. "What the hell Mom?! For what?" I said. She said that I had to attend my sister's academic awards. She is graduating from 8th grade and I am guessing my mom believes that because it is our last time ever going there to celebrate something ours as a family, I have to go. I ended up driving there, so I was actually quite pleased. I also met my friend who happened to be there, and I said hi to all my ex-teachers. It wasn't all too bad, I must admit. I had some fun, and I actually really enjoy saying hello to all my friends and teachers. Some people hate saying Hi to their old teachers, which I honestly can't understand. I am guessing it is because for so long they hated them, but after you graduate, what really can they do to you? There is nothing to be afraid of.
Sunday I went to Tijuana. Again. I celebrated my cousin's 19th birthday. I always wonder why she isn't drinking, because 18 is the legal age in Mexico. It baffles me. I don't particularly enjoy drinking, but I don't see why she hasn't found something that suits her taste. I've tried a lot of drinks over my lifetime, some from friends others from parents, and I am yet to find something I especially enjoy. I believe champagne is my favorite so far. Anyway, we ate at a restaurant and we had food there. It was OK, but the hours passed by slowly. There wasn't much to do. I came home and Skyped with a couple of friends.
June 10, 2013. Monday.
Yesterday, ugh I'm falling asleep here. It is quite a struggle doing something at one in the morning. Focus Stevie, focus now. OK, let's go. What did I do yesterday? Oh wait, I'm writing this at one in the morning. Technically today was Monday, but right now it is Tuesday. My computer really confused me there, Wow. I'm telling you guys, as a piece of advice; never do anything at one in the morning. If any of you have seen the TV series "How I Met Your Mothers," there is something that Ted always says: If it is after 2AM; go to sleep. Except in my case, it is after 1AM.
Anyway, I attended my sister's graduation. It was really more of an emotional experience now seeing my sister graduate than when I myself graduated. I do not know why, I just felt a lot more connected this year. I believe it was because of the better speeches given by the Valedictorian and Salutatorian, as well as the change of priest giving the sermon. I could actually relate to the priest. I could actually understand him. and for that, I give him props to you my good sir.
After the graduation, I received an invite to the mall from my friends. They were going to celebrate one of my friend's birthday, which was the day after, Tuesday. I was barely able to go, being able to get a ride last minute from my friend. My parents couldn't take me because my sister was going to a graduation party. At the mall, we played hide and seek inside of Macy's (which we got kicked out), we hung out at a cookie shops (which we got kicked out), and we also went to California Pizza Kitchen (we didn't get kicked out!). It was a lot of fun, and I met a new friend. She was a little cute too, I believe so, but I can't be entirely sure. Her Facebook photos don't seem to match the face I had seen in person. I really hate it when that happens. It is the worst.
Taken was a great movie too. After all this, I have the nerve to go ahead and watch a movie. Taken is about Liam Neeson getting angry at some kidnappers, because they kidnapped her daughter, which is completely understandable. However, rather than entertain me, it got me thinking: do all parents love their children like Lian Neeson loved his daughter in the movie? Would all parents go through this much pain and emotional wear, as well as physical in order to retrieve their daughter/son? Is the love for their children so great that they would murder countless men in cold blood so that they could once again see their children? These are questions that arose in my mind as I saw the movie. The love must be unimaginable. Unfortunately you are on the blog of a fifteen year old boy, and I yet do not have the answer to that.
Haven't seen you all in a while! or ever for that matter. I'm sorry I haven't been here, I've been either busy or extremely tired lately at night, which is when I usually write my blogs. It is actually extremely late right now, I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this. I guess I forced myself to do it. I have not written in about three or four days. Well, here is a quick recap.
June 7, 2013 FRIDAY:
On Friday I went to a paintball field down in Mexico. I had never gone there before, and I had always wanted to go there. I had heard many good things from it, and quite honestly I didn't really know what I expected it. I sure wasn't disappointed, however. The field, "Baja Paintball," had seven or eight fields. I am still not entirely sure, all I know is that it was huge. Off of the top of my head, I can remember about let's see, one, two, three... four... five... six, seven, eight. There we go, I can remember about 8 fields off of the top of my head. The fields were massive, and they were quite a change-up from the fields I used to go to which were some very small ones. It only had a field or two too. It was actually quite sad. This one really was a lot of fun. On top of all that, I went there with some friends so we had a blast. No one else came but us, so we basically had the whole entire place to ourselves. It was crazy, I didn't expect such no one to go. Then again, it was early on a Friday morning, and most people had still not gone on summer vacation.
I came home and as soon as a I crossed the border my phone starting ringing and rigning with texts, calls, Facebook notifications, you name it. There was everything! My friend had invited me over to her pool. I thought,"sure, why not?" So I went, and surely enough it was a lot of fun. We spent most of the night in the jacuzzi with three friends of mine, including her. We had a pretty relaxing night, an excellent way to soften up after a hard's day work at the paintball field. We laughed, smiled, and had an overall amazing time. I took my friend home afterwards and that was the end of it.
June 8,9, 2013 Saturday and Sunday
I had an extremely slow weekend, not as eventful as Friday. I do not know why it was so slow, I think it was because I spent so much of it with my family. We have been hanging out a lot lately, maybe it is because of the fact that I am at my house all day now with summer going through.
On Saturday I woke up nice and late. I had nothing to do, I played some guitar and my mind thought it would be a good idea to play some good old Starcraft II. I played some, and then my mom called me; she said I had to get ready. "What the hell Mom?! For what?" I said. She said that I had to attend my sister's academic awards. She is graduating from 8th grade and I am guessing my mom believes that because it is our last time ever going there to celebrate something ours as a family, I have to go. I ended up driving there, so I was actually quite pleased. I also met my friend who happened to be there, and I said hi to all my ex-teachers. It wasn't all too bad, I must admit. I had some fun, and I actually really enjoy saying hello to all my friends and teachers. Some people hate saying Hi to their old teachers, which I honestly can't understand. I am guessing it is because for so long they hated them, but after you graduate, what really can they do to you? There is nothing to be afraid of.
Sunday I went to Tijuana. Again. I celebrated my cousin's 19th birthday. I always wonder why she isn't drinking, because 18 is the legal age in Mexico. It baffles me. I don't particularly enjoy drinking, but I don't see why she hasn't found something that suits her taste. I've tried a lot of drinks over my lifetime, some from friends others from parents, and I am yet to find something I especially enjoy. I believe champagne is my favorite so far. Anyway, we ate at a restaurant and we had food there. It was OK, but the hours passed by slowly. There wasn't much to do. I came home and Skyped with a couple of friends.
June 10, 2013. Monday.
Yesterday, ugh I'm falling asleep here. It is quite a struggle doing something at one in the morning. Focus Stevie, focus now. OK, let's go. What did I do yesterday? Oh wait, I'm writing this at one in the morning. Technically today was Monday, but right now it is Tuesday. My computer really confused me there, Wow. I'm telling you guys, as a piece of advice; never do anything at one in the morning. If any of you have seen the TV series "How I Met Your Mothers," there is something that Ted always says: If it is after 2AM; go to sleep. Except in my case, it is after 1AM.
Anyway, I attended my sister's graduation. It was really more of an emotional experience now seeing my sister graduate than when I myself graduated. I do not know why, I just felt a lot more connected this year. I believe it was because of the better speeches given by the Valedictorian and Salutatorian, as well as the change of priest giving the sermon. I could actually relate to the priest. I could actually understand him. and for that, I give him props to you my good sir.
After the graduation, I received an invite to the mall from my friends. They were going to celebrate one of my friend's birthday, which was the day after, Tuesday. I was barely able to go, being able to get a ride last minute from my friend. My parents couldn't take me because my sister was going to a graduation party. At the mall, we played hide and seek inside of Macy's (which we got kicked out), we hung out at a cookie shops (which we got kicked out), and we also went to California Pizza Kitchen (we didn't get kicked out!). It was a lot of fun, and I met a new friend. She was a little cute too, I believe so, but I can't be entirely sure. Her Facebook photos don't seem to match the face I had seen in person. I really hate it when that happens. It is the worst.
Taken was a great movie too. After all this, I have the nerve to go ahead and watch a movie. Taken is about Liam Neeson getting angry at some kidnappers, because they kidnapped her daughter, which is completely understandable. However, rather than entertain me, it got me thinking: do all parents love their children like Lian Neeson loved his daughter in the movie? Would all parents go through this much pain and emotional wear, as well as physical in order to retrieve their daughter/son? Is the love for their children so great that they would murder countless men in cold blood so that they could once again see their children? These are questions that arose in my mind as I saw the movie. The love must be unimaginable. Unfortunately you are on the blog of a fifteen year old boy, and I yet do not have the answer to that.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Day 5: Finals are exterminated.
Hey guys, Stevie Spain here
Finals are over. Finally. I managed to somehow get an A in Algebra, which was amazing. If any of you students happen to be reading, the final calculator called "RogerHub" is a little off. I'm not sure if the teacher gave me a boost or something, but the website said I needed to ace my final in order to get an A in algebra, but I only needed to get a 93% and I barely got the A. It worked out pretty well. I was really happy because I thought I might have actually gotten the 4.0. However, then the religion final came in. I got a C on that exam, and it was worth a great thirty percent of my grade, which brought my grade down about 5 percent. It was terrible, but oh well you get what you put into it. I didn't study for it so what did I really expect.
That means I'm going to take Geometry over the summer. I'm not really sure if I am too happy for it, because my mind is saying "ugh summer school that's so stupid" but my conscious is saying "good job, you are going to take a junior class as a sophomore, plus you will be getting honors credit for it." Also, Algebra II can't possibly be that hard. I heard that Algebra II was easier than Algebra I, because you are able to use a calculator in Algebra II and also it just builds upon the Algebra I concepts, which were easy themselves. I guess I'm just good math, I'm not quite sure myself. All I know for sure is that I can get an easy ride to the tennis courts for after school.
Which brings me to my next topic, tennis. I love tennis. I play a lot of tennis, in case any of you didn't know. However, lately I've become quite ambitious. I want to be a nationally ranked tennis player, yet at the same time be a Varsity Cross Country runner by Fall and also perfect Spanish. I'm already bilingual and soon to be multilingual because of French, and I can speak Spanish just fine but I wish to expand my vocabulary. I also want to be able to write correctly in Spanish with the correct accent marks and such. It is getting to the point where American people with a Spanish I education are starting to write either on par with me it just a little under. They should be way worse.
I've been a little disappointed because I haven't really had any good topics to write and discuss about my general life, with finals and most of my life consisting of studying at the moment there simply isn't that much interesting stuff going on. However, tomorrow should be a fun day. I'm going to go paintballing in Mexico with a couple of friends, and I should have a couple of funny stories for all of you. To be continued.... tomorrow.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
(P.S. How long does it take to grade an English final? My English professor has taken forever, it is ridiculous. I really want to know to see if I am eligible for Honors English II).
Finals are over. Finally. I managed to somehow get an A in Algebra, which was amazing. If any of you students happen to be reading, the final calculator called "RogerHub" is a little off. I'm not sure if the teacher gave me a boost or something, but the website said I needed to ace my final in order to get an A in algebra, but I only needed to get a 93% and I barely got the A. It worked out pretty well. I was really happy because I thought I might have actually gotten the 4.0. However, then the religion final came in. I got a C on that exam, and it was worth a great thirty percent of my grade, which brought my grade down about 5 percent. It was terrible, but oh well you get what you put into it. I didn't study for it so what did I really expect.
That means I'm going to take Geometry over the summer. I'm not really sure if I am too happy for it, because my mind is saying "ugh summer school that's so stupid" but my conscious is saying "good job, you are going to take a junior class as a sophomore, plus you will be getting honors credit for it." Also, Algebra II can't possibly be that hard. I heard that Algebra II was easier than Algebra I, because you are able to use a calculator in Algebra II and also it just builds upon the Algebra I concepts, which were easy themselves. I guess I'm just good math, I'm not quite sure myself. All I know for sure is that I can get an easy ride to the tennis courts for after school.
Which brings me to my next topic, tennis. I love tennis. I play a lot of tennis, in case any of you didn't know. However, lately I've become quite ambitious. I want to be a nationally ranked tennis player, yet at the same time be a Varsity Cross Country runner by Fall and also perfect Spanish. I'm already bilingual and soon to be multilingual because of French, and I can speak Spanish just fine but I wish to expand my vocabulary. I also want to be able to write correctly in Spanish with the correct accent marks and such. It is getting to the point where American people with a Spanish I education are starting to write either on par with me it just a little under. They should be way worse.
I've been a little disappointed because I haven't really had any good topics to write and discuss about my general life, with finals and most of my life consisting of studying at the moment there simply isn't that much interesting stuff going on. However, tomorrow should be a fun day. I'm going to go paintballing in Mexico with a couple of friends, and I should have a couple of funny stories for all of you. To be continued.... tomorrow.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
(P.S. How long does it take to grade an English final? My English professor has taken forever, it is ridiculous. I really want to know to see if I am eligible for Honors English II).
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Day 4: I f***ed up
Hey guys, Stevie Spain here;
June 4, 2013. I took my French finals. I got a 94%, which is pretty good. I needed a 94% to get an A in the class, so I barely have a 94%. I was so happy, I really wanted an A. I really needed the A, because I knew I wasn't going to get many A's this semester, thinking realistically. I havn't studied at all for religion class and I have a solid 90 in it, so if I get anything lower than a 90% it lowers my average. Well, I can't lie; I've studied a little. I havn't studied as much as I should've. I tried doing a couple practice tests today, but I kept getting the same questions wrong no matter how much I studied it. It all came down to memorization of answers and matching it to the correct question rather than actually learning about it. It's terrible, but I don't want to go off into my rant about learning concepts over material. You can see my last blog for that one
Did I tell you guys about my math grade? Ugh it is terrible! Well, the thing I'm about to tell you is terrible. To understand me, you guys need a little background on what I had. First of all, I was planning on taking Algebra I freshman year, Geometry over the summer, and Algebra II sophomore year so that in senior year I take AP Calculus. This, as we all know, looks great on college reports. However, in order to get into Geometry over the summer I needed an A in both semester of Algebra. Last semester I had an A, but this semester was a struggle. It wasn't a matter of not understanding concepts, but rather I simply did too many stupid mistakes and it cost me. I forgot to put a negative sign, I missed a radical sign, it was ridiculous. Anyways, there was a chapter test going on that counted as both a test and a quiz. Ontop of all that, it also dropped your worst test grade. So I had a 87.6%. I was running some calculations and found out that if I scored a perfect 100%, I could bring my grade up to an 89.6% and on the finals I would score a 93% and boom, I get the A. So I studied my ass off for it, and what ends up happening made me almost cry. I score an 88% on the test, and I immediately say to myself that it was surely a mistake, I studied to hard, I did all my work carefully, it was impossible. Well, I did something very stupid. First of all, I choked on a question and completely forgot how to do it. That was OK, I saw that one coming. However, I forgot a radical sign on a question and I accidentally multiplied 2x1 to get my genius answer of 20. Well, there goes my geometry over the summer. I now need to ace the final in order to bring my grade up to an A, and as we all know, that isn't going to happen. It simply isn't. I will mess up again.
I'm going to cut this blog a little short, I'm stressed and a little tired too; also I have English and Religion finals tomorrow. I need to score over 96% on my English final in order to get my grade to a 93% so I can take English Honors II. This is where I really regret slacking off during the winter. Oh well, till next year
With this, I leave; Your mistakes catch up to you.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
June 4, 2013. I took my French finals. I got a 94%, which is pretty good. I needed a 94% to get an A in the class, so I barely have a 94%. I was so happy, I really wanted an A. I really needed the A, because I knew I wasn't going to get many A's this semester, thinking realistically. I havn't studied at all for religion class and I have a solid 90 in it, so if I get anything lower than a 90% it lowers my average. Well, I can't lie; I've studied a little. I havn't studied as much as I should've. I tried doing a couple practice tests today, but I kept getting the same questions wrong no matter how much I studied it. It all came down to memorization of answers and matching it to the correct question rather than actually learning about it. It's terrible, but I don't want to go off into my rant about learning concepts over material. You can see my last blog for that one
Did I tell you guys about my math grade? Ugh it is terrible! Well, the thing I'm about to tell you is terrible. To understand me, you guys need a little background on what I had. First of all, I was planning on taking Algebra I freshman year, Geometry over the summer, and Algebra II sophomore year so that in senior year I take AP Calculus. This, as we all know, looks great on college reports. However, in order to get into Geometry over the summer I needed an A in both semester of Algebra. Last semester I had an A, but this semester was a struggle. It wasn't a matter of not understanding concepts, but rather I simply did too many stupid mistakes and it cost me. I forgot to put a negative sign, I missed a radical sign, it was ridiculous. Anyways, there was a chapter test going on that counted as both a test and a quiz. Ontop of all that, it also dropped your worst test grade. So I had a 87.6%. I was running some calculations and found out that if I scored a perfect 100%, I could bring my grade up to an 89.6% and on the finals I would score a 93% and boom, I get the A. So I studied my ass off for it, and what ends up happening made me almost cry. I score an 88% on the test, and I immediately say to myself that it was surely a mistake, I studied to hard, I did all my work carefully, it was impossible. Well, I did something very stupid. First of all, I choked on a question and completely forgot how to do it. That was OK, I saw that one coming. However, I forgot a radical sign on a question and I accidentally multiplied 2x1 to get my genius answer of 20. Well, there goes my geometry over the summer. I now need to ace the final in order to bring my grade up to an A, and as we all know, that isn't going to happen. It simply isn't. I will mess up again.
I'm going to cut this blog a little short, I'm stressed and a little tired too; also I have English and Religion finals tomorrow. I need to score over 96% on my English final in order to get my grade to a 93% so I can take English Honors II. This is where I really regret slacking off during the winter. Oh well, till next year
With this, I leave; Your mistakes catch up to you.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Day 3: Finals and disconnected material
Hey guys, Stevie Spain here:
Mondays. Nobody likes Mondays. They are the dreadful beginning of a week. The workweek, of course. Silly me. The actual beginning on a week is a Sunday. Which actually is quite astonishing, it seems to me like it should be Mondays. But it also makes sense that Sunday is the first day of the week because of Saturday being the original day of Sabbath. The seventh day of rest. If so, then the question remains: why do we begin weeks on Mondays? We start our weekend on the final day of the week, and end it on the second day of the week. I know that the Sabbath was moved to Sunday, but why? There's probably some missing factor here that I'm not thinking of at the moment because I'm so frustrated?
"Steve! Why are you frustrated?" Simmer down there, reader of my blog, settle down, sit on the ground, lend me your ears. You see, this week is finals week. Finals week are very logical, yet so frustrating. Why is it that the teachers remind us to much to study weeks beforehand so we are prepared? They warn us so much, yet we do not even care. What is wrong? Why do we do this? And it doesn't help that I have a terrible study habit. I can't concentrate at all. I do not know why. I have too many distractions. You see, the thing is I don't usually ever study for any exams. Paying attention in class sis usually enough to get me through exams. Finals, you can't really count on it. I am expected to remember everything from a whole semester. Now usually this isn't a problem; I do just fine in my Math, English, French, and basically every other exam. However, in History and my religion class, where it goes quite more in depth, I can't remember anything.
A major part of History class is simply memorizing many people and knowing what they do. I need to learn what many people did over the world during a span of about 1000 years. This is crazy, we covered so much material. And it wouldn't be so bad if the teacher actually taught what was on the exams. The teacher is a great guy, I love him to death, funny enthusiastic and he really likes his job, it is very noticeable. However, the only criticism I have of him is that his material seems a little disconnected sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes it all just seems a little off. For example, He will be teaching about Mercantilism when the actual chapter is about French Revolution. Both topics are very interesting, and I absolutely love economic topics, but I would sacrifice that in order to actually learn about the French Revolution. Unfortunately that was a bad example; he taught both very well but I can't think of a certain instance at the moment, and I can't think because I'm not even supposed to be awake at the moment. Living young, defying the rules on a blog. Woohoo.
Religion class is just a mess. I'm a very proud Christian gentleman and I love God and all that shnazz, but the teacher is simply awful. He doesn't teach too much at all, he doesn't check his homework or grades his tests. Some of the things he makes us do is simply ridiculous and I really don't like it. He is a very easy class, but the details of it are all on a test and it becomes more of a matter of memorization rather than understanding concepts. Understanding a concept is the most important thing, in my opinion. I'd rather know addition than perfectly know how to add 28734 + 67 always and instantly. In other words, I'd much rather make mistakes and learn a more general concept rather than get specific and simply memorize.
Now I understand some topics just aren't meant to be understood. How can the Robespierre be a concept? He can't, he is something you must memorize. Nazi invasion of France right through Belgium isn't a concept, it is something you must memorize. Unfortunately, it is something I am simply unable to do. I was never really meant for mass memorization unless I dedicate absolute hours to it, or find a fun away around it. And the time for that, is far.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Mondays. Nobody likes Mondays. They are the dreadful beginning of a week. The workweek, of course. Silly me. The actual beginning on a week is a Sunday. Which actually is quite astonishing, it seems to me like it should be Mondays. But it also makes sense that Sunday is the first day of the week because of Saturday being the original day of Sabbath. The seventh day of rest. If so, then the question remains: why do we begin weeks on Mondays? We start our weekend on the final day of the week, and end it on the second day of the week. I know that the Sabbath was moved to Sunday, but why? There's probably some missing factor here that I'm not thinking of at the moment because I'm so frustrated?
"Steve! Why are you frustrated?" Simmer down there, reader of my blog, settle down, sit on the ground, lend me your ears. You see, this week is finals week. Finals week are very logical, yet so frustrating. Why is it that the teachers remind us to much to study weeks beforehand so we are prepared? They warn us so much, yet we do not even care. What is wrong? Why do we do this? And it doesn't help that I have a terrible study habit. I can't concentrate at all. I do not know why. I have too many distractions. You see, the thing is I don't usually ever study for any exams. Paying attention in class sis usually enough to get me through exams. Finals, you can't really count on it. I am expected to remember everything from a whole semester. Now usually this isn't a problem; I do just fine in my Math, English, French, and basically every other exam. However, in History and my religion class, where it goes quite more in depth, I can't remember anything.
A major part of History class is simply memorizing many people and knowing what they do. I need to learn what many people did over the world during a span of about 1000 years. This is crazy, we covered so much material. And it wouldn't be so bad if the teacher actually taught what was on the exams. The teacher is a great guy, I love him to death, funny enthusiastic and he really likes his job, it is very noticeable. However, the only criticism I have of him is that his material seems a little disconnected sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes it all just seems a little off. For example, He will be teaching about Mercantilism when the actual chapter is about French Revolution. Both topics are very interesting, and I absolutely love economic topics, but I would sacrifice that in order to actually learn about the French Revolution. Unfortunately that was a bad example; he taught both very well but I can't think of a certain instance at the moment, and I can't think because I'm not even supposed to be awake at the moment. Living young, defying the rules on a blog. Woohoo.
Religion class is just a mess. I'm a very proud Christian gentleman and I love God and all that shnazz, but the teacher is simply awful. He doesn't teach too much at all, he doesn't check his homework or grades his tests. Some of the things he makes us do is simply ridiculous and I really don't like it. He is a very easy class, but the details of it are all on a test and it becomes more of a matter of memorization rather than understanding concepts. Understanding a concept is the most important thing, in my opinion. I'd rather know addition than perfectly know how to add 28734 + 67 always and instantly. In other words, I'd much rather make mistakes and learn a more general concept rather than get specific and simply memorize.
Now I understand some topics just aren't meant to be understood. How can the Robespierre be a concept? He can't, he is something you must memorize. Nazi invasion of France right through Belgium isn't a concept, it is something you must memorize. Unfortunately, it is something I am simply unable to do. I was never really meant for mass memorization unless I dedicate absolute hours to it, or find a fun away around it. And the time for that, is far.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
A belated Day 2: Finals, Permit, and a rich girl's "quinceañera".
What's up guys, Stevie Spain here. Sorry for a late day two, yesterday was a very busy day.
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, should this be a day three? Or four? I posted my first blog/journal thing on Thursday... wow. It seems like I did it on Friday. Well, I guess this will be a weekend sum-up.
Friday was a slow but amazing day. Remember the driver's permit I was talking about? Well guess what? I got it! I'm now able to drive the streets of San Diego. Unfortunately, I still need insurance on a car before I can actually drive anywhere, and both my parents are too afraid to let me go anywhere on a car, regardless of the fact that it is perfectly legal for me to drive now. I guess it is just a psychological problem, seeing their little boy finally growing up and actually being able to drive now. It probably seemed like such a little time ago that I was a baby. I requesting nothing but a toy car, but now it has evolved into a real car. Man, this is probably very hard on them. Then again, my dad seemed really happy when I got my licence. I think he likes seeing me achieve goals and not doing absolutely nothing with my life. I would also like it to see my son actually get somewhere when I have a child. But I still have a long way to go. Time flies, however, and that is the part that scares me.
Later Friday, I started to study for finals. What I mean by that is I just looked over one or two sheets really quickly. I didn't even fully study. I actually should be studying right now, but I am not. Procrastination Nation over here. I'm a productive guy *cough sarcasm cough*. I just needed some time off to calm down from yesterday, Saturday. That is a whole different story. I'll get to it later.
After I studied a bit, I got a call from my friends. "Let's go to the movies!" said my friend. "It'll be a lot of fun." Now the issue with me going out to see a movie with some friends is that whenever we see a movie we don't really talk as much. It's just us watching a movie, and then that is the end of it. We have to leave after that, because we can't drive and our parents pick us up at 10PM sharp. Yeah sure it is a lot of time but not when all your friends are always late and get to the mall at 7PM, barely giving us enough time to even watch a movie. Oh well, it was still fun. We watched Fast and Furious 6
Fast and Furious 6 was actually not a bad movie. I didn't really know what I was expecting. I knew it wans't going to be the type of movies that I prefer, but I also knew it wasn't going to be a bad movie. It ended up being a typical Hollywood movie with guns and boobs fast cars. What else could you have really expected out of the movie? Oh and also, a ridiculously long runway.
SATURDAY:
I woke up with my friend next to me. He slept over because he lives in Tijuana, Mexico and it is hard for his parents to cross the border every night just so the guy can see our friends. He has been one of my closer friends since 2nd grade, so I act as a hotel for him. It is actually quite fun. We both have similar tastes in everything, so we end up watching Starcraft games (yes, there is actually professional Starcraft games. They get paid a lot of money if you're good too. I know of a couple that make 6 figures annually.) We play guitar and have little jam session. However it gets a bit annoying because he smells a little.
He ended up leaving at about 1PM. I had to start getting ready for a party later that day, that started at 3PM. You might be thinking to yourself, "Isn't this a guy? Why is he taking so long?" Well yes, I'm a guy, but I had to pick up my room, leave it tidy, and because the party is a quinceañera, I had to get into a suit. If any of you don't know what a quinceañera is, it is a traditional Mexican party once a girl reaches the age of 15. It is the biggest celebration a Mexican girl will have, a little below or almost on par to a wedding. It is formal attire too, and they are some very fun parties. On top of all this, I have to cross the border to Mexico because the party was in Mexico and also had to check a candy machine I run in a restaurant in Tijuana. Just usual maintenance. After all that was done, I went over to my friend's house (not the one mentioned earlier this post, another one) and he took me to the quinceañera. We got there, and DAMN. I have to tell you, this girl has always been a really rich girl. I'm not gonna say who, but if any of you know her, when I tell you the following you are already going to know who it is. This girl has a zoo in her house. No joke, and it isn't even a tiny one. It is a massive zoo, with near dead extinct species. She actually has I think it was one of the last about 10 white tigers in the world or something like that? I can't remember too well, but it was nearly extinct. It was crazy. I ended up taking a little tour around the part of the house, saw a couple animals, caught up with a lot of friends, and just hung out. I ended up getting back to my house at around 2AM. Fell right asleep.
And now it is today, with me having to study all day today because I failed to do so yesterday and the day before. I might do another one today, but nothing interesting will come up today I believe. It will be a day of studying. Perhaps if I need to relax I will make another one. I genuinely enjoy making these.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, should this be a day three? Or four? I posted my first blog/journal thing on Thursday... wow. It seems like I did it on Friday. Well, I guess this will be a weekend sum-up.
Friday was a slow but amazing day. Remember the driver's permit I was talking about? Well guess what? I got it! I'm now able to drive the streets of San Diego. Unfortunately, I still need insurance on a car before I can actually drive anywhere, and both my parents are too afraid to let me go anywhere on a car, regardless of the fact that it is perfectly legal for me to drive now. I guess it is just a psychological problem, seeing their little boy finally growing up and actually being able to drive now. It probably seemed like such a little time ago that I was a baby. I requesting nothing but a toy car, but now it has evolved into a real car. Man, this is probably very hard on them. Then again, my dad seemed really happy when I got my licence. I think he likes seeing me achieve goals and not doing absolutely nothing with my life. I would also like it to see my son actually get somewhere when I have a child. But I still have a long way to go. Time flies, however, and that is the part that scares me.
Later Friday, I started to study for finals. What I mean by that is I just looked over one or two sheets really quickly. I didn't even fully study. I actually should be studying right now, but I am not. Procrastination Nation over here. I'm a productive guy *cough sarcasm cough*. I just needed some time off to calm down from yesterday, Saturday. That is a whole different story. I'll get to it later.
After I studied a bit, I got a call from my friends. "Let's go to the movies!" said my friend. "It'll be a lot of fun." Now the issue with me going out to see a movie with some friends is that whenever we see a movie we don't really talk as much. It's just us watching a movie, and then that is the end of it. We have to leave after that, because we can't drive and our parents pick us up at 10PM sharp. Yeah sure it is a lot of time but not when all your friends are always late and get to the mall at 7PM, barely giving us enough time to even watch a movie. Oh well, it was still fun. We watched Fast and Furious 6
Fast and Furious 6 was actually not a bad movie. I didn't really know what I was expecting. I knew it wans't going to be the type of movies that I prefer, but I also knew it wasn't going to be a bad movie. It ended up being a typical Hollywood movie with guns and boobs fast cars. What else could you have really expected out of the movie? Oh and also, a ridiculously long runway.
SATURDAY:
I woke up with my friend next to me. He slept over because he lives in Tijuana, Mexico and it is hard for his parents to cross the border every night just so the guy can see our friends. He has been one of my closer friends since 2nd grade, so I act as a hotel for him. It is actually quite fun. We both have similar tastes in everything, so we end up watching Starcraft games (yes, there is actually professional Starcraft games. They get paid a lot of money if you're good too. I know of a couple that make 6 figures annually.) We play guitar and have little jam session. However it gets a bit annoying because he smells a little.
He ended up leaving at about 1PM. I had to start getting ready for a party later that day, that started at 3PM. You might be thinking to yourself, "Isn't this a guy? Why is he taking so long?" Well yes, I'm a guy, but I had to pick up my room, leave it tidy, and because the party is a quinceañera, I had to get into a suit. If any of you don't know what a quinceañera is, it is a traditional Mexican party once a girl reaches the age of 15. It is the biggest celebration a Mexican girl will have, a little below or almost on par to a wedding. It is formal attire too, and they are some very fun parties. On top of all this, I have to cross the border to Mexico because the party was in Mexico and also had to check a candy machine I run in a restaurant in Tijuana. Just usual maintenance. After all that was done, I went over to my friend's house (not the one mentioned earlier this post, another one) and he took me to the quinceañera. We got there, and DAMN. I have to tell you, this girl has always been a really rich girl. I'm not gonna say who, but if any of you know her, when I tell you the following you are already going to know who it is. This girl has a zoo in her house. No joke, and it isn't even a tiny one. It is a massive zoo, with near dead extinct species. She actually has I think it was one of the last about 10 white tigers in the world or something like that? I can't remember too well, but it was nearly extinct. It was crazy. I ended up taking a little tour around the part of the house, saw a couple animals, caught up with a lot of friends, and just hung out. I ended up getting back to my house at around 2AM. Fell right asleep.
And now it is today, with me having to study all day today because I failed to do so yesterday and the day before. I might do another one today, but nothing interesting will come up today I believe. It will be a day of studying. Perhaps if I need to relax I will make another one. I genuinely enjoy making these.
Stevie Spain, signing out.
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