New Blog, Fresh Start!

 

I'm moving!  

Since I last posted (in July of 2020!!) I have actually moved to a new living space, but that's not what I'm talking about now.  I mean, I'm moving to a new digital space!  I've been writing more and more over at my new blog Megan Rediscovers Her Life!

So, why the change?  It comes down to a few things...

1. I created this blog for school when I was 16.  While it's grown beyond my 16-year-old self and changed over time (of course), I'm now 30.  That's a long time to be tied to one space and be connected to the content that I was putting out in high school.

2. I want to write different content.  Even when I was still writing here, it was getting harder and harder to write about what I was reading.  It was taking the joy out of that experience, so I was already starting to shift away from that sort of content.

3. I don't want my identity to only be books.  The older I've gotten, I have become more and more aware that I have made my identity books and teaching.  If you asked me how things were going in my life, I would give you some kind of an answer related to teaching.  What I teach is always connected to books, whether I like it or not.  So I'm giving myself this new space to talk about and explore the parts of my life that are not explicitly connected to books.

It's been a while since I posted here, so I'm not even sure how many people have stuck around (thank you if that's you).  But if you're interested in reading what I've been up to and what I'm experiencing in life right now, you can find me on Megan Rediscovers Her Life.  I have a few posts there right now with more scheduled and ready to go as early as this weekend.  I may talk about what I read in the future and include some things about teaching, but it's largely about goals, travel, and hobbies I've been working on.

I've been enjoying getting back into blogging, with or without an audience, but I hope that you'll join me over there.  This blog will stay up (there's a lot of good memories here and posts that I don't want to get rid of), but I will no longer be adding to it after this post.

Thank you for your support over the years!  I'm looking forward to this new chapter!

--Jude (Megan)

Preparing for the Reading Rush! (2020)

It's Reading Rush season!  That means that from July 20-26, I will be attempting to read as many books as possible.  There are seven challenges, all of which are optional, but that I have picked books for in an attempt to accomplish these challenges since that just makes things more exciting.

A quick caveat though-- I am sort of cheating this year.  This is the first summer that I've had a baby which makes things busier and more exciting.  Because of this, there are a couple books that I have already started that I am hoping to finish.  I'll talk through each book as it applies to a challenge and you'll see which books those are.

My main goal with this challenge was to push myself to read more of the Kindle and Audible books that have just been sitting in their respective accounts.  I think there's only one physical book that I'll be reading from this list.

2020 Challenges:

1. Read a book with a cover that matches your birthstone.

I was born in December, and apparently one of my birthstones is a turquoise.  So I chose "Me and White Supremacy" by Layla F. Saad.  I'm excited about this one because I hear that there are journaling prompts that I can do as I go through this book.

2. Read a book that starts with the word "The."

I thought it would be easy to find a book to fit this prompt, but it's easier said than done, it turns out.  But then I realized that a book I had started already began with "The," so I chose "The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys" by Eddie Moore Jr., Ali Michael, and Marguerite W. Penick-Parks.  I'm really hoping to finish this one since I've begun it already.

3. Read a book that inspired a movie you've already seen.

I'm reading this one out of convenience since I am hoping to offer it to my students as a reading option for one of my units this year.  I saw the movie towards the end of high school, so it's been a while, but I am hoping to reread "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

4. Read the first book you touch.

I tweaked this one a bit and picked a few books that I would be fine with reading and then made a mental decision.  Once I touched this book and took it off the shelf, there's no going back!  The book that I picked is "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly.  This is the only physical book that I will be reading.

5. Read a book completely outside of your house.

This one you could interpret in a couple different ways.  I don't know if I'll actually read this entire thing while sitting outside (although maybe I'll listen to part of it while spending some time in the sun tent I recently received), but if not, a lot of this book seems to take place outside!  I've chosen "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel for this challenge.  This is also a cheater one for me because I have already started this book.

6. Read a book in a genre you've always wanted to read more of.  

That genre is sci-fi, for me.  The only reason I want to read a little more of this genre is because it's my partner's favorite genre.  We're actually reading a series together now that fits this genre (so yeah, I've already started it).  This is an interesting situation though because we have an anthology copy, meaning it has all three books contained in one.  But I am going to specifically list the first two books in the series so that I'm covered no matter which one I end up finishing for this challenge.  The book series is "Lilith's Brood" by Octavia Butler.  The first book is "Dawn" and at the time I'm writing this, my partner and I are about halfway through (or just under halfway, maybe).

7. Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live.

I live in North America, so a different continent is Africa.  Therefore, I am FINALLY picking up Trevor Noah's "Born A Crime."  I'll be listening to the audiobook of it so that I can hear him tell his own story, which I think will be really neat.  I'm probably looking forward to this book the most!

Will I finish all 7 or 8 of these books?  No, I highly doubt that.  Will I spend more concentrated time reading especially during this week?  Yes, definitely.  And that's the point of the Read Rush!  I am really excited to start/continue these books and see how many I can get to the end of in the span of a week!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

Plotting

That's right, I'm plotting.  you know what that means...

No?

Well, typically that means that I'm making plans.  They usually involve a project of some sort.  I thought that I would bounce this idea off of you guys before it actually begins to take form.

So you know the LONTEM project that I'm currently neglecting doing?  My thoughts are that it's going to be something along the lines of that, only I'll be improving myself in different ways than learning new things every month.  I start college next year, which means that I'm already going to have to adjust to certain things.  So why not start now?  I could call it The College Countdown (TCC) or How to Win At College (HtWAC).  It would probably be shorter than the LONTEM Project.  The LONTEM Porject will come to a close on December 31 of this year (and hopefully I'll be all caught up with videos by then) and then in January 2012, I will begin TCC or HtWAC.

Whatever my project ends up being called, I will of course film what I do as I learn these habits as I have been procrastinating on doing for the LONTEM Project.

I've found out that there's actually a book called "How to Win at College," so I think I will base my list around the table of contents that I can get online.  I might just have to get this book though... and 'Miss Peregrine's...'

So here's my tentative list:

1. Write Outside of Class (I think I'll save this for April's Script Frenzy or the summer edition of NaNoWriMo).  Also, I'll include this one: Write As If Going For A Pulitzer.

2. Don't Undersleep, Don't Oversleep

3. Maximize Your Summers

4. Eat Healthy

5. Stay in Touch

6. Make Your Bed/Be Neat in General

7. Always Be Working on a "Grand Project" 

8. Seek Out Fun

9. Set Arbitrary Deadlines

This is subject to change of course, but I think that these points are things to do that can be done during high school and also over the summer before college.

I function well with projects and I think this will be more than a fun project for me to do (really, I can make projects whatever I need them to be, and fun is always right at the tippy-top of the list of criteria).

So I will try to obtain this books (and Miss Peregrine's...) before next year.  I'm looking at Amazon, and really, I think that's my best bet.  I'm so glad they sell used books!

Let me know if you have any college advice for me, I'm still making up my list and working out the details and also deciding whether or not this would be a good thing to do during the remaining months of high school (I know that everything is going to get really busy really fast, especially between the end of March through the end of May.  That's trips to testing to graduation).

So in this long-winded blog post, I'm asking you these things:

1. Do you think this is a good idea?

2. Do you think what I have on my list are good things to improve upon when it comes to college?

3. If you answered 'no' to number 2, what are some things that you believe would be good for me to work on?

Your input is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance!

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

Traveling Teacher

Recently, (like, within the last two or three weeks) I have started watching a lady named Paige on YouTube under the username hopeonatenspeed (click to pay her a visit).  She is such an inspiring person.  Not only does she consistently find a reason to be happy, but she's also done many amazing things so far in her life.  One of the things that she did was move to Korea to teach English for a year.  Pretty soon, she's moving to Thailand to do the same thing.  She has been on road trips around the U.S., she went to Northern Ireland to complete her Masters degree.

While all of these things sound absolutely amazing, I'm only going to focus on one of those things.  That thing is something that I'm currently planning for myself.

I'm talking about teaching English in another country.

One of the big things that I want to do in my lifetime is travel.  I plan on living in another country for at least a year in college, but after that, I didn't know what I would do.  Before I found out about this, I assumed that my options would be to look into Grad Schools or to get a job.  While both of these things are really good to do (and I'll more than likely end up doing them), at this point in time, they don't seem like the most appealing things to do.  So when I started watching Paige, I became inspired to look into teaching in other countries.

I did some Googling, and I found this online school that would allow me to earn a certificate to teach in other countries and learn how to teach English to those who were born in a country where English isn't the primary language spoken.  It's called TEFL Institute.  While I'll have to do a little more research (maybe even dropping an email with questions that haven't already been answered), this option looks very good for me.

It's an online class.  They let me do 100 hours of online work and then 20 more hours of in-person training.  After that, they'll help me get a job in a country I'd like to go to and wouldn't mind living in.  If online doesn't seem to be a good option for me, they also offer in-person training to make up for those 100 hours.  That would take a month to complete.

After that, it looks like I'd never have to renew this certificate and they'd help me with pre-departure dates and to-do lists, so I wouldn't be on my own through this whole process, which is comforting.  They could help me find a job during the summer (though the countries are more limited) or they could help me obtain teaching contracts anywhere from 6 months to an entire year.

I could even start this training right out of high school (though I would like to attend a typical college first)!  They only require that you have your high school diploma and that you're a native or a fluent English-speaker (which I am!).

All of that is a super-long way of saying that this program sounds absolutely amazing and I really want to do it as soon as I finish at least four years of college.  I'd basically be getting paid to travel.  And to teach.  How awesome is that?

After looking at the list they gave, I think I'd like to teach in Greece, Italy, and Indonesia for sure.  But there are so many other countries to visit and look into... that decision is going to be the hardest part, but making the decision to actually do this will not be hard.

So, I thought I'd just throw this out there, because I think it's so freaking amazing that this is out there.

I promise I'll have reviews up later today.  I have about three or four of them just waiting to be typed up and published on this blog.

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

P.S. Sorry for repeating the picture :)

Inspired Summer Challenge of the Day

So, whilst surfing the web, I decided to go to YouTube and in my subscription box, I saw this video by Neil Cicierega (that guy that created Potter Puppet Pals, if you're not familiar):




While I was listening to this little Masterpiece, I had this thought.  Actually, it was a thought conversation.  With myself.  Here's sort of how it went:

Me: Man!  I used to love reading Goosebumps when I was younger!

Subconscious: Dude, I totally remember that too.

Me: You know, I have a book blog.

Subconscious: No kidding...

Me: Nah, here me out.  I have this massively good idea.

Subconscious: Umm... 'kay... is this going to be like the 80% of the plans you think up that you don't end up doing?

Me: Maybe... but I feel really good about this one!

Subconscious: Okay then, shoot.

Me: What if I created a challenge for myself where I read through that entire series over the summer?

Subconscious: That would be awesome, but Jude, you're going to be working with the public school system this summer and then Marie is going to come back to visit from France with her family... where on earth are you going to find the time to do something like this?  Where are you going to find the time to eat, sleep, breathe, AND read all at the same time?

Me: Well, who knows.  But it'll be summer, the last summer I'll have as a high school student.  I don't think it would be the most acceptable to do this kind of challenge in college, or even the summer after high school and before college, so why not reminisce and be nostalgic about childhood while I still can?

Subconscious: I suppose you have me convinced... We'll give it a shot.

Me: I knew you'd come around some time!

There are lots of conversations like this between me and my subconscious.

So now my question is, would anyone be interested in doing this challenge with me?  If there are enough people, I could create a linky list that people can join at will.  It doesn't just have to be book bloggers, it can be anyone who is interested (I like flexibility).  I'm going to do it either way, I just need to know if a linky list is needed.  Go and vote in the questionnaire box up top (I'll call it The Questionnaire Box) and tell me whether or not you're interested.  I'd really appreciate it!

The Banned Become Incorporated

I know I've talked about banned book and the act of banning books. You know how I feel about it (well, you do if you read THIS RANT). I can't remember if I mentioned it, but something you should know about me is that I love conspiracy and scandal. There's just so much feeling and substance to books and movies like this-- I just can't get enough of it! Also, for me, there's no more exciting feeling than the one I get just thinking that somewhere in the world, I would be getting in trouble for reading what I'm reading.

That sounds incredibly messed up, but it's completely true. I can't lie to you.

Any way, there is a point to this point. Actually, a couple points. One: I haven't posted anything since my LONTEM video and it's getting really old to look at. Two: I have presented myself (and you, if you would like to join in) with a new mini challenge. I'm out of control, I tell you.... It's not a legitimate challenge, more like something to incorporate into my reading...schedule? What would you call it? My reading routine. We'll call it that. I want to try and read more books that were banned, are banned, or have been challenged. We'll see how it goes. Feel free to join in with me and compare notes!

Alright. That is all I wanted to say. Thank you for your time (I've said that a lot this evening... darn online gym...)!

--Jude

This Winter Break...

At 3:00 today, school ended and Winter Break began. You might be thinking (though you're probably not), "What the heck are you going to do for two whole weeks of freedom?"

Well, let me tell you...

Oh no, one of her stupid lists again...

1. Finish some books. There are a couple of books (namely the ones below) that I have started and I'm almost done, but I haven't completed them.

There's something a little different about these books though. They're books that I'm not particularly enjoying (some more than others). But that good reader within me doesn't want me to put them down no matter what. I simply must finish.

2. Post those reviews that I wrote before. I have a bunch more to write too...

3. Get pictures of that super cool snow fort that I helped build!

4. Visit with friends-- there's little to no time to do that during the week, so it's about freaking time.

5. Stay up till midnight and watch many movies

6. Spend some time with family-- especially over the holidays of Christmas and New Years.

7. Film French Soap Opera (we still need to think of a title)

8. Write. A lot. 'Nough said.

That's all I've got. I have no homework. My brain is going to rot so much and, quite frankly, I'm okay with a two week brain melt.

Thanks for reading! Have a splendid weekend!

--Jude

Something Inside of Me...

I've had some things on my mind this week... not only all of the things that I have to do for school. That takes up an entire hemisphere of my brain, I'm almost certain. Besides that and your basic motor functions, I've had only two other things on my mind...

This guy, and this girl.

I'm not kidding. I'll give you a brief recap of how these two came about.

My mom is part of the company she works for's choir. She recently had a holiday concert (it was very wonderful. I found that I had goosebumps a lot of the time) that took place in a Presbyterian church. I had never been to this church before.

I've found that I like churches a lot as buildings. They just make me want to go exploring in them. They make me believe that they have dark secrets just waiting to be discovered or made up-- whichever comes first. But the church is only one part of this whole thing I have brewing in my sub-conscience. Before we even saw this church, I saw a red brick apartment building with odd Greek statues in front of it (I say odd because 1. they were most likely replicas made of plaster or something and 2. they were just in a location where one would not expect them to be).

Any way, there looked like there was a fire escape on the front of the building. In my mind's eye, I saw a girl-- this girl, above and below-- and a boy on the level below her. She was dangling her feet through the bars and he reached up and tickled her foot, because he was trying to be a nuisance for whatever reason he thought of. My inner eye jumped from that building to the church. This time, the church was abandoned, with only the organ, looking skeletal against the wall and completely alone. I imagined the boy there, sitting in front of the organ and idly pressing the keys, trying to practice but keep quiet at the same time. Then the girl shows up and puts her hands on his shoulders...

This has all been told so that I can lead up to the fact that I have a story brewing inside of me. It feels like it once was when I was writing an earlier story of mine called 'Murder by Rulers' (still currently being completely re-written).

These two people have been floating about my brain for several days. I was freaking out when I first thought of this because I didn't have any kind of paper with me. I had a pen and some blank flesh, but I don't think that that would have gone over very well with my parentals. After all of this time, they have stayed with me.

They deserve to be written.

To keep my ideas flowing and fresh, I started to draw them and this is what has come out. I apologize for the wrinkles and the darkness of the pictures. My scanner is a piece of crap. My camera is a lot more reliable for showing you these (that's kind of a big deal, considering that my camera is verging on crap itself. In this instance, it has pulled through for me).

Any way, I thought that I would share my excitement with you fine people.

I also wanted to leave a message for Ezra: this is going to be a good weekend!

Thanks for reading!

--Jude

Literariness

Getting a notification from the library that I have seven books on hold and seven more on the way is like waking up on Christmas Day and finding out that the tooth fairy really does exist-- it's the best feeling ever!

Decision-making

Guys! It's almost November! If you would like to join in the craziness, there's still time! Click here if you absolutely want to do this (or if you want to know more). I have set my word count goal to 30,000 words. I've written that much before, but it was a while ago, so I'm really out of practice. Throughout the month of November, I will force myself to write 1,000 words a day! To all of those that are embarking on this quest, I salute you and wish you luck.

I have also made a decision to make another video over this long weekend. I'm going on another adventure, so it'll definitely be more interesting than the last video I did. I might even go outside! Oh my goodness that's unthinkable!

I must go and prepare now. I will leave you to wander the blog, make a decision on NaNoWriMo, and/or just go back to what you were doing. Either way, have a great week(end)!

--Jude

P.S. Just because I will constantly be writing next month doesn't mean I'm going to let this go to the way side. I'll try and update on the weekends in November. But they might not be as long (good thing? Bad thing? I don't know...).

Project(s) For Awesome 2.0

Hello everyone!

I have this mini idea. Two actually. Both I’ve mentioned to some people before, but not necessarily here. I just though I could voice them and then everyone here can tell me if I’m nuts for taking on these projects.

Idea Number One: Learn to do one new thing every month over the course of 2011.

I started making a little and a few people were nice enough to give me a few suggestions. I’m still open for suggestions, by the way.

Idea Number Two: Create a How-To Book over the summer.

It certainly won’t be something that’ll go into print. It’ll just be something personal. If I actually follow through on this project (and I really want to) I could post a few screen-shots. I want it to include recipes that I’ve tried and been successful in making, activities that I didn’t know how to do before… well, basically what I’m doing here. This blog will be a good tool to have when it comes to keeping track of new things.

I’ve also though of yet another project just by writing this. You know how I made a bazillion sock monkeys a few months ago? I kind of want to do something with this new skill (if that’s what you really want to call it). I don’t know… maybe I could make them for people and donate them to hospitals or gather donations and give them to charity… I don’t have all of the details worked out just yet, but what do you think?

Also! I just had another idea while thinking up that idea (do you see a trend here?). I wanted to do this over the summer, but I was too lazy and I never got around to it. I wanted to take pictures all summer long (which I did) and then make a book out of all of those pictures. It's not a scrapbook, but it kind of is.... it's a crossbreed!

Let me know guys. I love comments!

--Jude

P.S. Sadie's is in two days and I'm so freaking excited!!!

Pop Singers

Good evening, everyone! Or, good morning, depending on what time you are reading this.

I have finally scheduled my Pop Singers audition! It will happen on September 17 at 12:40pm. Here is the process that everyone who auditions must go through:

1. Sing the pre-chosen song of your choice. Here's mine:

I do hope I do it justice!

2. Note-matching:

Basically, the people who will be present for my audition will play notes on the piano and I have to match them to the best of my ability with my voice. Last time I auditioned, I think she said it was to figure out my range.

3. Sight-reading:

Basically, I'll be given a piece I've never seen before (unless I'm lucky) and I have to try and sing it. This is the part I'm absolutely nervous about. I'm a horrible sight-reader.

Luckily, I have time, so I can practice matching the notes and then maybe that will pay off when it comes to sight-reading.

Any way, I just wanted to post something tonight. I mean, it's the weekend. I have a couple days to do what little homework I have. I really don't have an excuse not to write a post other than "I didn't feel like it."

You can expect at least one post from me tomorrow, because I'll be baking like crazy! I'm going to be making French bread and bread sticks (so I can use up all of that yeast that I found in my cupboard) and cup cakes (because I volunteered to make two dozen of them). So this could be quite eventful.

Outside of blogging, I'll be finishing up a sock monkey for a friend, continuing to re-write 'Murder by Rulers,' and doing homework. That just about sums up my weekend! I hope yours goes quite well!

--Jude

An Idea to Pose for the Future

Dear real-life friends (yes, even those who aren't reading this),

I have this unoriginal idea that I would like to present to you (and if you're one of those friends that doesn't know about this blog, I will approach you with this idea in the future).

I have spent the last few weeks watching every single one of the Vlogbrothers/Nerdfighters videos on YouTube. COUGH nerd COUGH! Don't judge... The early videos consists of John Green (the author of 'Looking for Alaska,' 'An Abundance of Katherines,' and 'Paper Towns') making videos in order to correspond with his brother Hank Green (famous for his songs and work with Eco Geek). This inspired me to want to do something like this with you guys when we're all away embarking on our own adventures (be that college, work, traveling...). I love emailing you guys, but this might be something that's sort of fun to try.

I am not an expert at making videos. I might have to invest in a video camera (or at least editing software) when I get to college and then my job will be made easier.

As I watch the Vlogbrothers, I can't help but think that this is a wonderful idea! I really don't want to lose touch with you guys. You have shaped who I am and if you're not at least a video presence in my life, that makes me sad (that makes me sad just thinking about it).

So let me know what you think of this! Any ideas as to how this could work or other ideas as to how to make this idea better?

Love,

Jude

In Which I Reminisce about Summer!

The summer is coming to a close. If you have kept up with at least the previous two posts, you would know that. Or, if you too are in school or you are a parent/grandparent, you might know that.

(This picture isn't mine. So I'm totally jealous of this guy's mad photography skills).

In the beginning of the summer, I made a list of things I wanted to do! Now, I am going to share that with you and tell you which ones I did/didn't do.

1. Write a new novel-- Eeee... not so much. When I wrote this, I intended this to mean that I would start and finish a novel all in three months. I have been writing, just nothing of novel length. The stories I did start are not finished. This did not get finished.
2. Prepare for NaNoWriMo-- Umm... hehe, funny story... I did no formal planning for this crazy event.
3. Make a trip to Uptown-- Afterwards, I proceed to make a mini list of places I wanted to go. This did get done! When my family was hosting our French student, I took her to visit Uptown and my grandmother. That was an excellent day! Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, or else I would have shared pictures with you...
4. Get a new quill pen and ink-- I didn't look hard enough when I went to Barnes and Noble.
5. Pull an all-nighter with Ezra Zank-- I did do this! There is a blog entry to prove it!
6. Take the train to Mall of America/Ride the light rail from end-to-end-- Nope...
7. Apply for jobs-- Oh boy, did I!
8. Actually get a job-- Eeeh.....
9. Visit Avery and Nyaruach at their respective working places-- Halvsies. I went to Kowalskis, hoping to see Avery, but I was also going for my own selfish reasons.
10. Show Clementine the city-- Clementine was our French student. I think (hope) we did an okay job with this!
11. Go to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts-- YESyesYES!! Most amazing museum ever!
12. Do odd jobs-- I had a few.
13. Hang out with Rosemary, Avery, Ezra, Jack, and Laura-- a check to all!
14. Attempt to fix violin-- I did attempt, but alas, I failed. I am no violin expert. I blame the rosin.
15. Go on a "bike trip" in July-- Check! Unfortunately, I don't think I took any pictures...
16. Get a better camera-- Due to my lack of steady job, this wasn't entirely possible.
17. Get better at bass guitar/bass clarinet/clarinet/piano/guitar/violin-- This one is iffy too. Some instruments I worked at more than others (i.e. piano).
18. Finish summer school-- 2/3 done! I did not complete a semester of gym.
19. See 'Robin Hood,' 'The Last Airbender,' 'Up,' and anything Jack makes me see (:D)-- 1/2 done!
20. Build a bookcase/desk-- I had plans drawn up and everything, but alas, my dad and I never got around to it. But I might not have been persistent enough.
21. Make a family tree in French-- I started, and I learned a whole bunch of vocabulary, but I never actually completed it.
22. Get lots of cork board and push pins-- I went to the art store and I was about to get some, but it was really expensive. Since I don't have a job, it would not have been the smartest thing for me to have done.
23. Scrapbook and create an old-fashioned photo album-- I took plenty of pictures for it, but I think I will wait to work on it during the slow days over the school year.
24. Take lots of pictures-- oh boy, did I!
25. Put money away towards France and Australia trips-- Again, the job thing...
26. Paint-- I did!
27. Rearrange my room-- Too much work. If I had fewer books to shuffle around and a book shelf that could actually detach from the wall, that would have made life easier. So I didn't do it.
28. Read a lot-- Not as many as I would have liked, but yes, I did read quite a bit (my reviews below are my proof).

Other than the stuff that I wanted to do, there are other things that I did that I did not plan on doing:

1. Wearing flannel in the middle of summer
2. Becoming a part-time amateur web-designer to help my dad
3. Becoming a part-time architect and realizing that I can express my ideas verbally when I try
4. Making a YouTube video and trying video blogging (however unsuccessful it was).
5. Being as active on this blog (I have my Shelfari buddies to thank for that. We all got into a blogging phase where everyone was creating blogs left and right. I had one, so I just realized my love for blogging)

So, that was my summer! Actually, I guess this blog was a way of chronicling this summer, but this isn't the end of it! There's still plenty to do, though from August 30th to June, those things will be posted sporadically and in no pattern at all.

I apologize for the long-ish post. They'll probably be a little shorter... actually, I won't promise you that, since they'll be so sporadic. I'll probably have lots to tell you, it'll just be less often!

A Few Goals for the Rest of High School

I’m going to be slightly nostalgic and serious Jude tonight. I give you permission to pass over this post if you want.

Since I am heading into my Junior year of high school, I have come to realize that I’m going to have to be a little more serious when it comes to school work and… well, life in general, I guess. This is the sucky part about growing up. I want all of this responsibility, but I still want to be that kid I was a few years ago (meaning that I’m still living at home with my parents there to help me and my best friends close to me). Eventually, I’m going to have to leave the house and start figuring out this whole thing I’ve been given (life).

Tonight, as well as post my schedule (which you can check out below, I got that out there first) I’m going to write a list of things I want to do before high school ends for me.

• Take a fun class in high school—seriously, just look at that schedule I have down there. Does a majority of that look even remotely fun? I like French, music, and English, and that’s what I’m excited about. But ever since I’ve gotten to high school, I haven’t taken one art class. I miss art… I want to get my hands dirty during the day.
• Keep this blog up—you know, I really like blogging. Even though I might be insanely busy what with these ridiculous classes and life in general, I would still like to do at least one entry a week. Probably on the weekend.
• Get into Pop Singers—I am by no means trying to imply that I am a superior singer. I’m not, I can tell you that much. My voice isn’t trained. What’s there comes from singing along to Disney movies and the songs on the radio/iPod. It’s really a hobby, and I think it would be fun to do something with this. I auditioned last year, with a non-acceptance as a result. Now I know what I can expect when I go into that room. I can practice! I must get into that group! I am willing to get up early in the morning!
• Make a new friend—I’m horrible at making friends. Maybe it’s my sarcastic humor that puts people off. I don’t know what it is. The friends I made my freshman year are still there, but since then, I haven’t met anyone new that I would like to invite over to hang out. I would like to change that. Acquaintances are great, but friends are ingrained in your memory much longer.
• Try Handling Things by Myself—of course, I’m going to need my parents’ help a lot of the time, but when I go off to college, they won’t be able to come running to my aid like they could if I were here, at home. I figure that if I have a complication at school, I should handle it and find out who to talk to because it’s ultimately my education. I’m already going to do this, starting tomorrow, because I need to finish up my online gym, so I need to talk to my counselor.

This list will definitely change, but for now, I think it’s a good start. I will leave you to mull that over (or completely ignore it, depending on what you decided to do in the beginning). Obviously, if you’ve read this far, you’ve probably read through all of this craziness. Thank you for bearing with me. I will try to be a little more exciting for my next post!

--Jude

Junior Year -- 2010-2011

I know what you're thinking... "Jude, why the heck do you have a freaking picture of a tiger? It obviously has nothing to do with student life and academics." Au contraire. It's actually my school's mascot. We are the South High tigers. Fear us.

In this blog post, I present to you what exactly I'm going to be doing all year long.

1st Hour: French 3 (with Madame Campbell)

2nd Hour: Wind Ensemble (aka 3rd level band with Mr. Carter)

3rd Hour: Government/Economics (with Ms. Lanik)

4th Hour: Pre-Calculus (with Ms. Fitzgerald)

5th Hour: Honors Physics (with Mr. Rozeboom)

6th Hour: AP English Literature and Composition

I didn't want to make a blog post until I knew, because it would be stupid to write a blog entry reserving space just for this purpose (it's not like I'm competing with anyone on this blogger account).

--Jude

Dia de los Muertos

So I was rooting around on DeviantArt (my favorite art website) and I found this really cool picture created by the user KidNotorious. He has a very comic book-like style and I’ve added a few of his creations as favorites because of that. Any way, the picture that I found was called ‘Muerte’ which I believe means ‘death’ in Spanish. This led me to think about ‘Dia de los Muertos.’

This holiday is very close to Halloween (it’s either the day before, All Hallows Eve, or the day after, All Saints Day—or something of that nature). I’ve decided something. I want to go to Mexico. The week of that holiday, I want to go. I’ll add this to my bucket list (there’s a tab above that you can click on if you want).

I have never traveled anywhere outside of the U.S. By the time I finish going to Australia and several countries in Europe, I’m sure I’ll want to find another place to visit. So why not?

If I go, it’ll give me an excuse to re-learn enough Spanish to get me by and I’ll get to see a new country. I am so psyched for traveling! Let me tell you, there’s going to be quite a bit of it in my future!

I just thought I would make this update, because the last entry probably wasn’t that exciting to read. Now, perhaps I can get you a little excited with me (whoever you may be).

Thanks!

--Jude

Today, Tomorrow, and the Near Future

Today, I went on an hour-and-a-half bike ride with my neighbor, Faye.

Today, I read my book (I am 84 pages into it since yesterday-- I am really enjoying it).

Today, It looks like it might rain, but that's none of my concern. I've done what I wanted to do today.

Today, I blew off my homework yet again. I really need to start taking notes for physics or I'll doom myself on the very first day of school.

Today, I'm wondering how many people will show up to physics having not taken a single page of notes (it'll be like A.P. U.S. History last year).

Today, I don't feel like going into a lot of detail.

Today, I was told that I look tanner than normal.

Tomorrow, I want to go back to the beach and just hang out there all day long-- with sunscreen this time!

Tomorrow, I'm going to work on my horror novel some more and start re-working 'Murder by Rulers.'

Tomorrow, I'm going to do some of my summer homework.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try something new in my blog post.

Tomorrow (or sometime soon) I'm going to help my dad finish his landscaping website.

This week, I'm going to be productive.

Sadie Hawkins

Even though it's still a couple months away...

... it's never to late to ask someone to go with you :)

Your Future Is Knocking!

I love getting mail! We’re not talking about getting emails (though I love getting those too!). Since I’m getting up there in years, a whole bunch of colleges are saying “come to us! We’re a perfect match for you! We LOVE you!” Well, you know what I mean…

Any way, this whole college-sending-you-stuff thing is getting pretty ridiculous… see for yourself…

And they’re still coming! I just got two recently! But I requested one of them, so that’s my fault…

When I first started getting emails, I felt really, really appreciated. I couldn’t help but think, “Oh my God, they came to me! They want me to go there!” Several months later, Sullivan the hamster has a roof over his cage and I’ve had to weed through the various emails and pick out my least desired colleges and throw them in the bin.

Quite honestly, narrowing it down seems to be the easy part. In fact, I have four that I wouldn’t mind going to:

In case you can’t read the labels (from the bottom of the photo up): Academy of Art University, California College of the Arts, University of Iowa (I can't find that letter, so this is the closest to that), and the University of Minnesota. Of course, I still have about a year and a half to accumulate more possibilities… but at this point in time, I don’t want any more… they’re causing mail deposits in my room…

I need to remember to email certain colleges and tell them I’m not interested so they can stop sending me stuff.

I’m done moping and complaining to you. I apologize…

If you’re a fellow college hunter, if you haven’t already, check out the Princeton Review. It’s free!

--Jude Rosenberg