Homecoming, Dance, and the college fair

I went to the Homecoming game on Friday night and it was a lot of fun. We won 41-0. I went with my friend Nicole who works at Explore and is actually from Chicago and my friend Erin who is on dance team. After we won most of the school streamed on to the field and we all did the "We Are ASPEN" chant together. After the game I went to Erin's house and spent the night. Then I spent the whole day with her and we got ready for the Homecoming dance together.

The dance was very fun. I decided that I was going to dance the whole time no matter how stupid I felt and I ended up having a great time. It was way more fun than I thought it was going to be. The only thing that I didn't like is that it was a 80's themed dance and they only played like one 80's song. It was mildly annoying. But on the upside, Erin and I did make friends with this guy who is David Silver to a T (for those of you who are 90210 fans) and his name is Omar (I think). But I am not even kidding he acts like David and talks like David and dances and walks like David, it was kinda weird and Erin and I have decided that we are going to call him David.

Then today starting at 11:00 was the Western Slope college fair. I went last year and looked at colleges to try to widen my search area. This year I went to narrow my search area and I actually ended up making it bigger. I looked at Hammline, McDaniel, Lake Forrest, StBenedict's/St John's, and several others. I am not really sure what I want to major in/do with my life, but I think I want it to be something to do with theater/flim/television and History and English/writing. It was kinda fun and now Mom is talking about maybe visting colleges this summer. I am actually excited, but then I get worried about if I will get into the college of my choice and if I do how I will pay for it. Oh well, that is something to worry about later.

This weekend was very busy, basically packed full, all I can hope is that next weekend is more restful.

Frickin' A

I am really angry with my mom right now. I am supposed to meet a friend of mine at Explore to go to the Homecoming football game, just before seven. But first I have to go to my mom's office to get money, because my parents don't carry cash. I was supposed to get on the 6 o'clock bus but now it is 6:04 because after the game I am supposed to go to a friend's house, but to go I have to post. So here I posted and I missed the bus. So, I am very angry right now and am now running about 20 minutes late. And I am angry that I have to take all my stuff to Erin's house. So yeah that's it.

A Whole Heck of a Lot

There has been a lot going on with me and I have not really had time, plus I keep forgetting to post. So here I am with an update. I have turned in all my homework, so far. I have all A's and one B (NOT because of missing work). All in all school is going very well right now. I am also doing a 7-8 week internship with Aspen Public Radio which should be interesting and a lot of fun. I am going to start dance again in early October and plan to do the musical (which takes place second semester. I now have two jobs, I work at my mom's office and at Starbucks and I am debating going on another completely different People to People trip, but I am unsure I am going to be able to raise the money. I am also spending more time just chilling with my friends, so my year is going pretty good so far.

I am taking 7 classes this year, 4 of which are advanced. I am taking Applied Knowledge, Biology II, IB History, IB English, IB Math Studies, IB Theater and Concert Choir.

Applied Knowledge is a semester course. It is being taught by a man has been teaching for over 20 years named Kirk Gregory and he is one of the most interesting people. The point of the class is to learn about knowledge itself and to learn how to use it. Its a pretty good class, if just a little random, we haven't had any large homework assignments yet, mostly just reading and/or worksheets.

I am also taking Bio II which is a year long course. This is taught by a woman named Karen Zohar, who is very...unique. She is very energetic and passionate about science and has a tendency to do things like randomly start sing, "I'm dreaming of a quiet classroom," and of course everyone shuts up. In my school you have to take Bio I to graduate, so I took it Freshman year and I thought it was okay, so I figured I would take Bio II, if nothing else to make sure I had enough science credits. We haven't had anything really big yet, but we have reading almost every night and we already had a test which I did well on.

IB History is a two year type of advanced history course. It is almost like AP, but it is internationally recognized instead. My teacher is named Chris Bonadies and I am telling you he has weird way of teaching that I am actually finding it difficult to cope with. He never stops talking, even during tests and movies and it drives me crazy. So far we are learning about Latin American history, which I personally find incredibly annoying, its just not my thing. I like European history. As far as homework, we again haven't had anything large, but total we have probably done about 60-70 pages of reading. I am actually having a hard time with that which is why my grade in that class is only a B. Apparently I wasn't getting everything I was supposed to out of the reading and my grade on one of the quizzes wasn't that good, so now I am working to fix it mostly by reading things more thoroughly.

IB English is a two year advanced English class. My teacher is one I had Freshman year named Marybeth Thompson. She is kinda crazy and actually afraid of cotton balls, yes you read right, cotton balls. If she is close to them she actually starts to hyperventilate and she can't touch them, so if put them on the door to her classroom... Anyway, the class is pretty hardcore. We have already done a 5-7 minute oral presentation and a paper and are now starting our second book, Heart of Darkness by James Conrad. Its a pretty fun good class, even though the teacher is insane. We are finishing up Apocalypse Now in class on Monday.

IB Math Studies is a two year advanced math course. It is the lower level for people who are probably NOT going into professions where math is going to factor heavily. It is being taught by a guy named Ian Wagner and he is very nice and a good teacher. I just happen to be a stupid math student, sometimes he has to explain things to me like three times, before I get it. So far we have learned about TOK of math and about sets and Venn diagrams. We have had two test and I got A's on both of them. One thing I have to say is there is a lot of homework. Just the typical solve the math problem, but way more than last year.

IB Theater is a two year advanced theater course. I am taking it because theater is something I might want to do professionally and if I don't do that I will always be involved in it in some way. It is being taught by a teacher that is new to our school district named Lara Okamoto. She is very young, but a good teacher. It is a very fun class. We play a game at the beginning of every class and some games we have played are Whoosh, Protector-enemy, YA!, and Emotional Dinner Party. We have had almost no homework so far, but we have learned about the components of a production and we have also done several exercises on character development. Right now in class we are learning about the Isms, which are arts movements and are writing a collaborative play using all eight of them. The Eight Isms are: Constructivism, Expressionism, Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Absurdism, Surrealism, Symbolism. Its a great class.

My last class is the most easy one. That is Concert Choir. I took it because I love to sing, but my voice is not very trained and I want to get better. It is taught by a woman who has been teaching Choir for over 30 years I think she said. We are singing Les Miserables, Aladdin, the Skye Boat Song, the First Noel, and Phantom of the Opera and I am trying to get her to consider singing Mr. Roboto by Styx, or Ain't No Mountain High Enough or Heard It Through The Grapevine or Somebody to Love or Bohemian Rhapsody just to mix it up. Our first concert is on December 3rd.

Other that there is not much going on. I am now taking Aderol daily to try and help me focus. My friend Chengi who moved away after 8th grade is back and very easily slid back into her old spot. I really like this show called Bones that is now in its fourth season on Fox. That's about it. I will try to blog again soon.

90210!!!

Okay, I know you want to hear about my life and I promise I will fill you in tomorrow, but first...

90210 started yesterday. I was super excited. I went straight home from school for the first time this year. I buffed out my room, even under my bed and I did all my homework. I was determined to go watch the premiere of 90210 and these were the condtitions. So, I finished my homework at 6:51 pm. This meant I had nine mimutes to get over to Grandma and Papa's condo. Steve actually ended up driving me (Thank you, Steve!), but I still missed the very beginning.

But I really liked the show. I enjoyed how they tied the two shows together. For example: Kelly Taylor is in the new show as a guidence counselor and Mel and Jackie's daughter is in it. Also Shannen Doherty is back as Brenda for at least the first couple episodes. The same actress who played Kelly' mom in the original show is playing her again so that's kinda cool. They did a really good job of making the story the same yet very different. Beverly Hills, 90210 was revolutionary. It changed a lot of things about TV and they could never re-make it, but they have done a smashing job of modernizing it.

Now, I don't know much about the show yet, but here is what I do remember.

There are the main characters Dixon and Annie. They are the Brenda and Brandon equivalent. They moved from Kansas and Dixon is adopted, but their dad thinks he was on 90210, but he really wasn't. Annie is into theater and likes a bunch of guys right away and loves her brother very much. Sound like anyone you know. But Dixon seems to be his own character and almost a mix between Brandon and Steve.

Then there is Naomi. She is the weird, mean, popular girl. She is dating this guy, but when he cheats on her she cheats back, which is totally the way to solve this issue. She was the person who annoyed me the most.

Then we have Ethan who is dating Naomi. He is this big jock that is nice and very much a bastard at the same time. He plays lacrosse and is the big jock on campus. He reminds me of Steve, but he is actually not Steve-like at all.

Then we have Navid who is the news guy. He is actually a cross between Andrea and David. I like him, but it annoys me that we don't have an Andrea in this show. You know, the really smart girl who is from a bad background and the like. Navid is very loyal and is Dixon's friend and the fact that his dad is an X-rated movie producer was unexpected and funny. Although I have to say that he might be gay.

Here we have the first character from the original show Erin Silver. She goes by Silver and I think she is my favorite so far. She is a pretty nice girl, but she has a funky fashion sense and a mean streak. Shes runs a vlog called the Viscous Circle. I was really excited about her.

Ryan Matthews is the young English teacher, who actually is interested in Kelly Taylor. He seems pretty cool, but I can guarntee the fact that he is yoing and hot will efffect the story line greatly.

Then there is Harry Wilson and Debbie Wilson, who are the parents and like the Walshes, not quite sure what to do with this new environment. I think they will have a more interesting dynamic than the Walshes, so keep an eye out for that.

Tabitha Wilson is Harry's alcoholic, aging, sick mother. She is a character and does and says the most random things. She will add an element of constant comedy to a sow that can get very drama heavy.

Some of the returning cast is Jeannie Garth, Shannen Doherty and the girl who played David and Kelly and Erin's mother. It is also possible that some of the other original cast members will come back at some point. I noticed some thingas that I am sure that Brenda said to her parents in the pilot. And I noticed a ton of hat tipping towards the old show. They will not forget that it happened and they are going to acknowledge it. I am very excited about this show. I hope it will be good and survive. I hope I am able to keep up.