FRED IS DEAD!!!

Upon arriving today at play practice we took attendance just like any other day, we talked about how close the show date was, and we got up on stage. Only today rather than starting though the beginning of the script we were told to site in a tight circle up on stage. Our director told us that rather than just going though the script we were going to just sit and say our lines. We were supposed sit and when it was our line we were just supposed to say it. It didn’t have to be in character, it didn’t have to be loud, it just had to be said…fast!

As we were going through the script people kept messing up over and over again! My friends and me were sooo bored. Until we saw the fly. There was a fly on the ground, on its back, trying to flip over! I, being slightly grossed out by bugs, flicked it away. It landed right side up and it flew away. Trouble was its wings were all scratched up (probably why it was on its back in the first place) and it quickly ended up back on the ground. I decided I was so board I was going to try to catch the fly! But for some reason when I put my hand down next to it, it just crawled right on! This was obviously a sign! I spent the next twenty minutes letting it walk around my hand and everyone was either grossed out or laughing at the fact that a bug was waltzing around in my palm. We decided to name him Fred.

We had only known Fred for about twenty-five minutes and people were passing him around to see him! After everyone had taken a look I set him on a piece of paper in between my friend and I. As the fly slowly escaped my friends thought, she was texting her boyfriend, she suddenly threw MY script to the ground. Right. On. The Fly!

As all of us gasped in horror my friend slowly lifted the script. FRED WAS DEAD!! He had been squished right there in front of all of us!!! My friend, Kyle Hanschman, was a Fly Killer!!!

I guess it was nice to know Fred at all, even if it was only for twenty-five minutes.

 WORds: 391

Don't Get Your Panties In A Wad

Some people are just too sensitive! I can’t handle it when I’m trying to tell someone something to help them and they take it like a slap in the face! Constructive criticism is not a bad thing when given nicely and I believe that I am a mostly nice person!

Today in choir, we were rehearsing, Sing We Now Of Christmas, for our Christmas concert. Throughout the entire song, there is a line of music that remains the same with different words. However, at the very end of the song there is the same music with only one small note difference. Because we are mostly looking at our director why we are singing, we always seem to forget about that darn note!

Today, when we were singing through the song, we got to the end and everyone sang the note wrong including me! After this, we started working on a certain part of the end of the song. We ended up singing over the measure with that “note” about 5 times and every time everyone was able to hit the note, but one person. After about two times of hearing her sing it wrong and everyone else sing it right, I leaned over said, “Hey, make sure you’re not forgetting about the weird note on the last page!” I said it completely nicely and she snapped back at me like I had slapped her cross the face! The next time we sang it, the note was still wrong. After that last time, the director also noticed that someone was singing the note wrong and he told us to remember the different note. Not until after the director pointed out the note did she finally sing it correctly. If she wouldn’t have been so darn sensitive and defensive, she could have gotten the note the first time someone tried to help her!

Words: 311

The Girl Who Played With Fire: review

I chose to read The Girl Who Played With Fire because it is second, in a series of three books. I really enjoyed the first book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, so I was really excited to read on and see what would happen next! Like in the first book, The Girl Who Played With Fire was very challenging to read for many reasons; multiple story lines, words I didn’t know, and lots of important information. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy an intriguing, thriller, mystery!

The biggest challenge in reading this book is probably having multiple story lines. Every chapter has around six to ten text breaks, and after each one a new character begins telling their story. This book is written in third person, but even so, it is sometimes still difficult to remember which character you are reading about at any given time. Also, it switches back and forth so many times, I often find my self getting the different character’s story lines mixed up. In a book with so many details, this makes reading very difficult.

Another factor contributing to the difficulty of the book is language. Unlike in the first book, there are not many words that I do not know, but because this book takes place in Sweden many of the names and places sound so similar to me it’s hard to keep them straight. Sometimes I feel as if every city in Sweden begins with the letter K, because I always find myself trying to remember which K word is which. This makes reading very difficult because I cannot tell if they are talking about a person or a place, which often leads to me being confused!

In this book, there are many important things to remember. Because this is the second book of a series, there is often information that was presented to you in the first book that relates to the second book. If you don’t remember all the details from the first book, things that happen in the second book often don’t make sense, or seem to come out of nowhere. Since there is another book after this one, it’s important that I remember everything so that I will not be confused when I read the third book. This makes it difficult because I sometimes have to read and re-read certain important facts to be sure I can remember them for later in this book or the next.

Even with all the challenges in this book, I still find myself not wanting to put it down.  I think the challenges are good because it helps keep me focused in the book so I can get more into it, as a reader. From the second I started reading this book, my attention was captured and I only grew more in love with the story line as I read on.  I definitely recommend, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl Who Played With Fire to anyone who would enjoy an interesting thriller mystery!  You will not be disappointed with the characters, settings, storylines or outcomes.  The author makes you feel so comfortable with the characters and the settings that you feel as though you have traveled to Sweeden and walked the streets.  I can’t wait to dive into the third book of the series.

(560 words)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I chose to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(by: Stieg Larsson) because the happenings in the author’s life intrigued me. Shortly after writing the 3^rd book of the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, the author was murdered. This made me wonder if there was a secret in the 3^rd book that wasn’t supposed to be known. This book is challenging for many reasons; such as many story lines, big words, and interesting characters.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery.

One reason why this book is so challenging is the word choices. In this book, there are many big words in which I have never heard before. Also because one of the main characters in this book is being sued, there is legal lingo used. Not knowing what some of the words mean makes reading the book difficult for me.  When a word is used that I don’t know or in a context I am unfamiliar with, I find myself beginning to be confused as to what’s happening. It keeps me from being fully engaged in what I’m reading.

A second reason why this book is challenging is many different story lines are taking place. The entire book is written in 3^rd person but because they talk about so many people it’s easy to get confused. This makes reading challenging because the book may be talking about one person but then they switch to another person’s story and if you don’t pick up on when the story change or remember what back round goes with which character Its very easy to get lost.

The third and final reason why I found this book challenging is the scene. This book takes place in a foreign country and because the places and names are so different than our own it is often hard to under stand. For instance in this book there is a man named Blomkvist. I found my self getting confused toward the beginning of the book because the author also used the word Bolsheviks. At first, I didn’t distinguish these two words as different words so I found myself slightly confused.

All challenges aside, this book is fantastic! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to really get into a mystery series. At first when I started reading this book I wasn’t really that interested. I didn’t understand how the story lines tied into the book as a whole. But as I kept reading I began getting more and more into it. Just learning about the characters can be interesting because they are so different from us. Once I got more toward the middle of the book though, I just didn’t want to put it down! I can’t wait to read the next two books and strongly advise anyone looking for a book to read, to pick up  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.


(486 words)

Pull Up Yo Pants!!!

Pants on the ground, Pants on the ground, looking like a fool with you pants on the ground.

Although I believe many people have heard the song Pants on the Ground from the American Idol auditions in 2010, many people are still not acknowledging the lyrics. In this original song, Pants on the Ground, a General talks about his dislike of seeing men with their pants hanging down below their knees. I think many people should really consider taking this mans words of wisdom, and think about maybe wearing a belt the next time they leave the house!

When I walk down the street the last thing I want to see is some guy’s underwear hanging out the back of his pants! So many guys, of the younger generation, have started picking up on this fashion statement. The only problem is, is that they don’t realize that this is a fashion don’t! If I wanted to see your butt, I would tell you! But since I haven’t asked you to show me your buttocks, and I assume no one else has either, I would be so happy if would just allow me buy you a belt!

Now the real question is, why do guys think it’s cool to wear their pants that low? Do they think their butt is just that nice, that they feel the need to show it off? If so, I would much rather you just wore some nice spandex! Does having your pants pulled all the way up make you feel a little hot? In that case, wear some shorts you idiot! Do you think that this fashion statement attracts the ladies? If you do think this, you are sorely mistaken! I believe I speak for most of the females in the world when I say, “You do not look attractive. You look stupid!”

So please, next time you leave the house remember to wear a belt! If not for me, for the entire population of the human race!

(333 words)

Makes Me Giggle!

I love walking down the street and seeing things that just make me smile or giggle! The best thing about life, in my opinion, is watching out for those small random things that just make you want to smile!

Just last night my parents and I went over to Vito’s for dinner! When we sat down we noticed a table filled with senior citizens. At least 15 of them! When taking a closer look, we noticed that one of the ladies had about a three inch high Mohawk! Except instead of the Mohawk going down the back of her head, this ladies Mohawk spread from ear, to ear, up and over the top of her head. The rest of the hair, on the back of her head, was brushed over into a side ponytail! It’s just the little things that make you smile! You could just tell that this lady loved her hair! Good for her, everyone should be confidant enough to do their hair however the heck they please!

Another thing that you see almost every day that just makes me want to giggle are dogs, and their owners. People always say that most owners look like their dogs, but for some they just look so similar I want to laugh! When you see a short wrinkly dog walking down the street and trailing slowly behind is an old wrinkly man, doesn’t it just make you smile? Or when you see a little Yorkie with long straight hair, and walking on the other end of the leash is a little person, also with long straight hair. I just love seeing people who look like their dogs!

I think my favorite thing to see is old people. I just love walking down the street and seeing a little old couple walking side by side. You can just tell by looking at them that they are just so in love. I can never help but smile! Or on the opposite side of the spectrum, when you see little kids! I love seeing children with no teeth on a whole half of their mouth! And they are always just smiling away because they are so excited they lost some of their teeth!

I think the point of life is just to capture the little things. Any situation can be worth smiling about if you just find something little that makes your day! Always know that if you look close enough, there is always something to see!

 (414 words)

Character

Just two weeks ago many juniors, including my self, were asked to send in an application for national honor society. Although this blog may just sound like Maddy being vain, I wrote what they asked me too! Please don't take this as me thinking that I am all that! I can assure you... I am not!


I think to be successful you have to have a love for learning, the confidence to ask questions, the optimism to confront challenges in your day and a willingness to work. I believe these are traits I use everyday.

I like school but it doesn’t come easily for me.  I have to work hard to get a B or an A.  In middle school I struggled with math and missed taking Algebra in 8^th grade.  I vowed to catch up.  As a sophomore I took two math classes at the same time to do so.  It was hard but worth it as I am now in pre-calc and looking forward to taking calculus next year. 

Asking questions is a way of life for me.  Questions help me understand and I have never been fearful of asking them.  In class, I find myself leading the discussion or work on a project to get it completed right. I am usually not the smartest one in the group, but by facing the project head on, I find I learn more and the work is completed faster.  

I have studied music for many years and I love learning new things about singing. This year I decided to take on the challenge of instructing the elementary choir at church. I have enjoyed being the energy for the group to keep these young kids awake and focused on learning new songs.  I have learned how to motivate others and myself. 

Finally I have a positive outlook on life.  You will normally see me with a smile on my face.  School is fun and learning comes easier with a positive attitude.  I find smiling and a positive attitude is infectious and helps motivate people around me.  These are the traits that I would bring to National Honor Society, should I be invited to join.  

(363 words)