T1B4

November 30th, 2014

Hey dudsons!

It's the last day of November!  Starting tomorrow, it will officially be the Christmas season.  It's scary how fast Christmas is coming.  It's also scary because that's when I get my report card, and I don't want to see that.  Anyways, I am super-excited for all the Christmas lights and decorations as well as presents!  However, that also means that it's going to get colder, and I am one of those people who prefer warmth over cold.  Also, that means that there is going to be more projects before the winter break!  I'm already busy, and I can't imagine being more busier.

I didn't go anywhere today, so that was pretty boring.  My parents went out for groceries, but sadly, I chose not to go with them since I had homework.  This reminds me of my best friend Samantha.  She hates grocery shopping.  I do not understand her.  I, on the other hand, love grocery shopping.  Any kind of shopping is fun for me.
Ooh, I also like car shopping, because it's fun hopping into cars and also getting free hot chocolate! Furniture shopping is pretty fun too, especially in Ikea where you can go into these fake little rooms showcasing Ikea furniture.
Although, there was this one time furniture shopping made me sad and it was at this really expensive furniture shop.  I think I was around 4 and there was this really cool coffee table with a working violin as part of it.  So I kept on plucking the strings and suddenly the whole coffee table fell!  I got yelled at I think, but luckily those furniture people didn't charge us for the table (which was really expensive).  That was a traumatizing experience.

The table that I broke looks somewhat like this, except with a violin instead of a guitar and it looks much more classier. 
                            
                                  

I have music starting tomorrow and I'm not sure if I'm excited or not.  We're suppose to play the guitar, but when I was at my elementary school, I played the ukulele, and I did not particularly like it. The ukulele is basically just a mini version of the guitar and I hated it.  It just hurts my fingers and it's just so hard. I've always wanted to play the guitar though, so maybe it's going to be more fun to play than the ukulele.  

I just realized that this blog has a lot to do with stringed instruments.  Oh well, I'll try to create a blog that involves less "stringed instrument" talk.

School tomorrow.  Sadness.  Or for some of you, work.  Good luck!


--Cyndi Forrest

T2B3

November 29th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

There was a light snow that happened last night, but the total amount was equivalent to only one centimeter.  It's still snow though, so I guess that is the main point.  The sidewalks were a little bit slippery though, so for those of you who live in the Lower Mainland, be careful, or else you might slip! I hope it snows a little bit more though, to hint and give a sense that the holiday season is coming up soon. I can't wait for Christmas time!


~ ~Today my dad will be, once again, blogging a small excerpt on me today, so here goes ~ ~

Saturdays are always a big pain for me.  I have to drive my kids to and fro to Chinese lessons and all sorts of things and sometimes that can drive me crazy.  My daughter got 100 percent on her Chinese exam average, and so I am really happy and proud of her.  I'm not so sure about Chinese myself, so to me, what she is doing is very hard and complex.  - Daddy  

~ ~ Now back to me! ~ ~

I was looking at this Vancouver website, which talks about food, shopping, events and all sorts of stuff, called Vancity Buzz.  This website is pretty useful for Vancouverites and also for tourists as it explains what current events are happening and where to get cheap eats.

Anyways, I was looking at an article about the famous Bright Nights at Stanley Park.  It is an annual Christmas light festival, which features many spectacular light displays.  I remember going a few years back, and it was really exciting and beautiful.  I was reading the article, and I found out that they used over 3 million lights.  That's a lot.  That's even more than the population of Vancouver!

I hope my mom and dad take me there this year, and what motivates me to go is that the donations from the admission fees go towards the Burn Fund, which funds money to help burn victims.  It's so sweet, instead of earning all the money for themselves.  If you want to see the full article, the link is here.

Here's a really funny quote I found on the internet!  Something about it makes me laugh out loud.  I envision a really fetid and grubby person and I think that's the part that makes it funny.  I guess this counts as a superblog too. ( A blog which has not only words, but also some other source of media, such as a poem, video, picture etc.)
                                     
                                                     

That's all for today peeps!  See you again tomorrow! <3

-- Cyndi Forrest



   

T2B2

November 28th, 2014

Hey dudsons!

Happy Black Friday!  Even though Canada is known for it's Black Fridays, they are gaining popularity to refrain Canadians from going to the US for Black Friday.  I personally don't think that it's really effective right now, because the US will always have better sales, even though there are long lineups and cat fights over there.  Nonetheless, it is still Black Friday here in Canada, so Happy Black Friday!  I find it weird, however that it's right after Thanksgiving.  Aren't you supposed to be thankful during the time around Thanksgiving, and not hoard stuff and go on a shopping spree?  To me, that's not being thankful.  

Anyways, today my dad will be blogging a small excerpt for me today, as part of an applied skills class assignment:

Today my daughter went shopping at Metrotown, and therefore I dropped my wife and my kids off down at the mall, then went to work.  My daughter gets very excited and happy when shopping, so I am betting that she had a great time today.  When I went to pick them up they bought a lot of things. My daughter bought five or six pieces of clothing and my wife bought  lot of hand cream.  My son also bought some things too.  My daughter told me that she had a great time and told me that she ate at the food court for lunch.  There were apparently not as many cheap deals as Boxing Day, but things were still cheap.

Okay, now that was nice blogging from my dad.  Now back to me!

Okay, Black Friday shopping!  It was so fun and I got some great deals.  A lot of shops had bad deals though, so I didn't buy much from those places.  I even got an Adventure Time sweatshirt.  I love it, because I love the TV show Adventure Time!  Unfortunately, they didn't have my favorite character on the shirt, which was Lumpy Space Princess.  Her obnoxious and sassy persona makes me laugh at the thought of her.  Oh my glob! ( An Adventure Time reference!)

My mom bought a lot of hand cream.  Like a lot.  She bought four big cases.  That's a lot.

I went to eat at the food court at noon and I ordered this sweet and sour chicken noodle soup.  It was pretty good and the yummy sauce of the chicken made the soup extra tasty.  I saw a few people that I knew including my friend Karina from my Synergy classes.  Well, I saw her from a far distance, so she didn't see me.  I couldn't go to her because I was holding the table for my mom.  Food court traffic is terrible on Black Fridays!

It's snowing right now!  I can't believe it, because it's really early.  There's just a thin layer, but it's still snow.  I wonder if my snow boots still fit me....

--Cyndi Forrest

T2B1

November 28th, 2014

Hi dudsons!

Gahhh!  I missed two daily blogs!  I simply just felt lazy that's why.  Well, this blog will be about yesterday......

Yesterday was the last day of the term.  I got a B average of socials because I totally flunked the test. I studied quite a lot, but maybe I was just studying the wrong thing.  I guess I'm okay with a B, but it's always better to get an A.  I'll try harder next time.

Yesterday was the final term test for math!  It was definitely scary, but it was okay.  I just hope I don't make any stupid mistakes and get marks deducted just because of that.  I would get really mad at myself if I did that.

The rest of the day was the indoor track meet.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's like sports day, but in high school and it's way more extreme.  And it's inside.  I was on the green team, and I feel like I had low team spirit because I didn't wear any green.  But I don't have any green clothes!  I registered for five events, including the good old Tug Of War.  It was so fun, but also hard on my hands, as they got really red and numb afterwards.  The other games I registered for were also really fun too, and I had a great time.  At the end of the indoor track meet, the volunteers tallied up the scores.  My team was last place with 83 points.  It wasn't fair though, because the red team apparently had seniors.  I'm not sure, but I heard it from my friend Amy.  So if I'm wrong, please blame it on Amy. Anyways, they were first place with a high score of 114 points.

Yesterday was an awesome day and I sure had a bucket load of fun!  Too bad that this track meet is only for grade 8s so the grade 9s and up won't have another chance.  I must remember this experience and treasure it in my heart.

To make up for the missed blogs, here's a really funny video in which a cat farts and burps at the same time:

--Cyndi Forrest

  

T1B62

November 25th, 2014

Hey there fellow dudsons,

My applied skills teacher handed a strange task to the class regarding their blogs.  Starting from today, my parents will have to blog for me.  Weird.  What if they don't have time? What if they don't know English?  I don't think my dad will have time, because he has to work, and when he comes home he does other stuff.  My mom doesn't know English well, so.... what do I do?
So, I will not be doing this activity today, because they don't have time right now.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Anyways, today was a fun day which started off with applied skills class.  We presented our presentations on various different subjects.  My partner was a girl called Theresa, and our topic was welfare.  I never knew before how tricky it is to get welfare before I started this project.  There's also a link between homelessness and welfare.... I never knew.  Well, you learn something new everyday!

I also had a math test today and I got a good mark.  I made some stupid mistakes, but who doesn't make mistakes?  Everyone makes mistakes.  It's part of being a human.  If you don't make mistakes, I'm just going to suspect that you're an alien from outer space.  Prepare to be hunted down by government agencies....

We got back our short stories from English after lunch and frankly, as I mentioned in some of my blogs, I don't really like my story.  Even I think about it, an instant "eww" comes out of my mouth. It's that bad.  It's just horrible.  My in-class paragraph that I did today was even better than the story. I'm not kidding.  *Serious face*  Actually, I don't know why I wrote such a bad story; I usually write better than this.  I bet my Synergy friends are secretly laughing at how bad it is, and just putting on a fake smile on their face and pretending it's the best thing they've ever read.

Anyways, after school Andrew F. and David went over to my house to finish up on a socials map project.  ( In case you don't know, they're my classmates from socials class. )  We goofed around for most part of it, and therefore, we didn't get a tremendous amount of work done.  I am proud to say that we are almost finished though, and compared to other groups, I think we're kind of ahead.  We just need to think of a scale and add decorations to the poster.  Oh yeah, and David has to type up the story.  I told him many times and he still hasn't done it yet.  That part makes me livid with steam coming out of my nose.  For goodness sake's, we have to edit it too.  He better hurry up, or else....

Actually scratch out the beginning where I said that it was a fun day.  It was more like an all-over-the-place day.  Anyways, I'm excited for Thursday, in which there's indoor track.  Apparently, it's like sports day, but only for grade 8s. I love elementary school sports day, so I hope will be just as fun.

Here's a refreshing video to end off this blog: a cover of All of Me by Tiffany Alvord.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B61

November 24th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today was yet another regular day; nothing much happened in particular that was especially interesting.  Just school, school, and school.  It was also raining today, so I guess that made me in a glum and cranky mood.  Rain, rain go  away, please come back another day.....

Well, I was reading my friend Sabrina's blog for an inspiration for today's blog, and she was writing about where to get green juices around Vancouver.  Well, that's cool, because now she gave me inspiration so I know what to write now.

Today I will be writing about where to get macaroons in Vancouver.  I love these delicious little cakes, especially when there are many varieties and flavors to choose from.  In case you do not know what a macaroon is, they are a type of small Italian circular cake, typically made from ground almonds or coconut, with sugar and egg white.


                                       

1) Soirette
Soirette is a pastry shop situated in the Coal Harbour area of Vancouver, BC.  Indisputably, they serve macaroons, but also they serve exquisite teas.  Macaroons are becoming a "hot" snack right now, and Soirette's macaroons are reported to be the best in town.  It may be on the pricey side, but on the bright side, they are surely delicious.

Website:  http://shop.soirette.com/macarons_s/1814.htm
Address: 1433 W Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6G 2S3.

2)  Theirry 
Award-winning pastry chef Thierry Busset owns this renowned little patisserie/cafe, so it's no doubt that this one will  be a winner.  Even Gordon Ramsey once praised Busset, "one of the finest pastry chefs in the world".  Anyways, this cafe not only offers coffee, croissants, chocolate eclairs, but unique and flavorful macaroons.  So that's kind of cool, if you just want to go there for lunch and grab macaroons for dessert.  

Website: http://www.thierrychocolates.com/
Addrress:  1059 Alberni St, Vancouver, BC V6E 1A1

3) Thomas Haas
This place may be well-known for their chocolates, but they are also famous for their yummy macaroons.  They have really exotic flavours that you just have to try, such as kalamansi and champagne.  But, if you're on the tamer side, just dig in for the old classic chocolate or vanilla macaroon.  You can never go wrong with that!

Website: https://www.thomashaas.com/index.php
Address:  In North Vancouver--- Unit 128, 998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver, BC, V7P 3T2  
                In Kitsilano ----- 2539 West Broadway Avenue, Vancouver, BC  V6K 2E9

Well I hope you liked this blog and please come back for more!

-- Cyndi Forrest

    

T1B60

November 23rd, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today was more or less a regular day for me.
Tired, I woke up at seven-fourty in the morning, to get to my group mate's, Andrew F's, house, to work on this socials project I was mentioning earlier in the blogs.  Well, I went out of the house by eight-forty because his house is not that close to mine.  After a few hours, I think we actually made good process, but not great process.

Well, after that my parents went to a hair salon to get my brother's hair cut, because his hair is becoming long like a girl.  Just exaggerating!  His hair isn't that long, but it is getting long.  Since, we were all hungry we went to grab a late lunch at this dim sum place.  The food was really good and had authentic flavor, but unfortunately, I forgot the name, so I cannot tell you where and what name it is.

Today I am going to be blogging and interviewing my brother.

The first question....  Is there a special project that you are working on?
Yeah, but I don't really get it.  It's a science write-up.  I don't know what my teacher wants me to do. It's due next week Friday though....I'm going to ask my teacher tomorrow.

The second question.... What was anything new that happened to you today?
Nothing, just a normal Sunday day.  

The third question..... What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
During a code red drill at school, we were suppose to remain quiet and hidden.  But, someone decided to fart TWO times.  Not just once, but twice!  I think it was this girl called Chelsea, because everyone moved away from her.  In the end, we failed the drill.      

That last question though; that was quite hilarious.  Now back to me!!

The AMA's were tonight!  (The American Music Awards!)  I love how they incorporated some older singers, as well as some of the more modern singers in tonight's performance.  They had Mary J Blige, and also Garth Brooks.  Some of the more contemporary artists, included Taylor Swift (my idol...), and One Direction.  I'm so happy that Taylor Swift won the Dick Clark award!  She deserves it; I love her (not literally)!  Her performance was also awesome, that it dazzled me..... A fangirl moment right here.
I mentioned this conversation earlier in recent blogs, but I have to repeat it again: how come her Vancouver tickets are so expensive that it's ugly?  Actually, that part makes me mad.  Really mad.  80 dollars for a ticket in which you can see NOTHING.  I'm getting worked up; this Taylor girl is making me crazy.  She should be more like Meghan Trainor; 23 dollars for a ticket, man. Unfortunately, that concert is going to be on a school day...

My friends say that my blogs are too long.  Is it?  I

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B59

November 22nd, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today started off the regular Chinese school my brother and I have every week on Saturdays. Luckily, there was no test today; thank god for that.  The word "test" has been repeated too many times during this period leading to the end of term and it's gotten on my nerve.  Too many things to study and too little time.
Today I have decided to take a short break from blogging and interviewing my parents, since they are busy at the moment.  So today I will be blogging an interviewing questions about me!

The first question... How many times have you use the internet today?

Well, I'm not quite sure, because nobody counts each time they go on the computer.  However, I'll say it was well over one time.  Kids these days rely on the internet for an immense amount of things, so yeah...  

The second question....  Do you think the one child law should be used in Canada?

Okay, this answer is tricky.  There are both benefits and detrimental effects.  The benefit is that there would be way less population rise.  The water supply is also running out, so even if we do have more people, the water supply might actually be extinct.  Also, big populations can lead to increase in pollution.  The detrimental thing about the one child law is that people might rebel against this rule and might sneak ways to have more than one child.  So my final answer is that the one child law should be applied in Canada to human populations, which may lead to a decrease in environmental damages.

The third question...  Did you make a mistake today?

Of course!  Being a human requires excessive mistake making.  Does forgetting something at school count, because I indeed forgot something at school.  My applied skills teacher says it's because of our developing prefrontal cortex.  He told us a funny story about it too yesterday.

So, I hope you learned something new about me, just by reading my answers to these questions.  You learn something new everyday!

Mini food review!!
I went out to eat with the family at Pearl Castle today.  It's an awesome Taiwanese restaurant with delicious food.  I ordered this beef brisket and tomato rice and the portion was big!  It also came with a little dessert and some side dishes.  I would say that's the fun part.  This place is awesome, and also, their bubble tea is very yummy too.
If you want to try it out, the address is #1128 - 3779 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond, B.C. Canada, V6X 3Z9.  

                                                

Anyways, today was an overall day, kind of looking forward to tomorrow.... I think.  I have to get up extra early tomorrow instead of my usual routine of sleeping in, because I have this socials map due on the 26th, and it's a group project.  We were supposed to do it at the library, but at the last-minute, my other group members said no.  I have to be at this other group member's house at 9 o'clock in the morning.  Excuse me?  That is too early, and that is the reason why I don't get too sleep in.  His reasoning is that he has drawing class after, and then after that, he has to visit his mom's friend who just had a baby.  What a "busy schedule".

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B55

November 19th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

I thought I published this blog, but in reality didn't.

I don't know where the other part of the blog is.....

Short blog.

Bye.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B58

November 21st, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today I will be interviewing my father for the parent blog.  I find interviewing parents to be an interesting experience, since I've learned new things about them that I never knew before.  I would definitely recommend that everyone talk to their parents once in a while about random questions, as you would learn more about your family and it would sure be fun hearing.

Questions of the day:

What type of special training did you do for your job?  What bid deadlines do you have coming up?
So of course I needed an university education.  I needed a bachelor of commerce, a chartered accountant, and a masters in business administration.  I also needed to have experience and training in the fields of accounting, auditing, tax and finance.  As for the big deadlines, I have them everyday!

Now back to me (Cyndi)...

There were a huge amount of people who weren't at school today due to a field trip to a indoor waterpark called Watermania.  I went last week, and if you still remember, I lost my earring.  I'm still mad, because it was the most expensive earring I had.  I'm wearing a new pair today, but yesterday when I was playing basketball, a ball hit my ear.  It stung for a while, but that's not important.  When I went home I found the earring to be completely bended and I don't even know how it came to that. There was a little blood too, sorry to gross you out.  Luckily, with my awesome skills, I bended it back, but it's still a little wonky.

During applied skills, the class continued finishing up a video about mental illness and addictions. It was scary, especially with the creepy music they have going around there.  They were talking about a strange disease called schizophrenia, and you imagine strange and peculiar things if you get it.  They made that part of the video specially scary.  I do feel sad for people who got this disease, but I simply cannot understand why those videomakers have to mess up with our minds and make us feel insecure and afraid.

I recently read an essay composed by W.S. Merwin called Unchopping a Tree.  It is actually quite interesting.  The author uses indirect and meandering language to say what he wants the readers to know, but I'm not going to spoil it for you.  This essay is very good, and if you're smart enough, you might actually get the concealed message.  It's hard I tell you, but I got after reading it a few thorough times.  If you want to read it, the link is here.

I can't believe that the end of term is next week.  Now I have to dig through papers to find out what fine art course I have next.  I'm so going to be in trouble if I don't find it.  Or, I could go to the office! Go secretaries, go!  They're actually quite helpful.  I would recommend one if you're in trouble and need help, like me right now, not seeming to know where that course schedule sheet is.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B57

November 20th, 2014

Hi dudsons,

Here is the blog for my mom (translated)

What did you eat for lunch today?

Today I had a very simple, but delicious lunch.  I had two cheese and avocado sandwiches. Avocados are one of my favourite fruit to eat, as they have a buttery texture and have a egg-type taste to it.
Today my daughter forgot her homework at home, so I had to pick her up from school to go home.  Luckily, it was nothing major and she was back at school by the third block.  I also took my son to the dentist for a check-up.

Now back to me!

I feel very relieved that I handed in my MGP project.  It was sure giving me a lot of stress, and I hope that I did okay.  One thing I didn't really like was that we had to self-evaluate ourselves.  Many students lie and many just don't know what to put as their score (like me).  It also puts pressure on the student too, and sometimes when you are asked for why you chose that score for yourself, most people just put random answers because "people can't judge themselves".  I hate that part.  I like to stick to the traditional way; also know as the teacher mark student way.  I think teachers are more accurate and even if they are wrong, the students can tell them to change the score.  So basically, self-evaluations are horrible, and sometimes even give an incorrect view of the student's mark.  I find science to always be a frustrating block.

Anyways, on a happier topic, my group is progressing on this socials map we have to do.  This map is different though, because it allows us to be creative in what we do.  We have to think of an idea that something happened to our school, such a zombie apocalypse, and write a story and create a map. Since we think that it is not possible to finish it in class by the 26th, we have decided to work at the library.  And yeah, the 26th, that's only six days away.

And yeah, me and another classmate have to present something at applied skills tomorrow.  I'm not that nervous.  The problem is that there's not much online about my topic, so I'll hope for the best!  I'm supposed to be knitting my second scarf but I still didn't start yet, due to my late start due to my tangled yarn.

Here's a really funny video.  Please watch. (I'm not cruel, but I just found it really funny)  Watch till the end!!

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B56

November 20th,  2014

Hey dudsons,

Sorry!  I didn't forgot to blog yesterday, but rather I chose not to blog, due to the huge MGP project that was due today.  I heard among people that it counted for a large percentage of our term grade; so I figured I must exert all my effort on that project.  I think the main thing I need to improve on projects is stop doing work too slow, and also since I'm slow, I need to start on it a bit earlier.

So for yesterday, this is the blog for my mom (translated):

If you were given two weeks holiday, where would you go and why?  Well, I would go to Sydney, Australia.  It is a beautiful place, with nice landscapes and wildlife.  I previously have lived there and I want my kids to know a little more about me; the house, where I usually go for food, everything.

Yesterday, I went to the YMCA for exercise.  I love exercising since I feel very happy afterwards.  A special thing that happened today was that we took our daughter to the orthodontists at Oakridge Center to check her teeth.  We are planning to get her braces.  It is a very important thing today and is my top priority.

Now back to me!

Yesterday I had applied skills, math, english, and performing arts.  We didn't do anything spectacular yesterday though.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B54

November 18th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

After reading Andrew W's blog, I am quite ashamed of myself.  My blog seems very unspectacular compared to his.  He's really negative most of the time, but I guess that's the spark in his blogs.  He talks from school projects to even a blog about divorce parties.  How does he think of these random topics?

My teacher asked us to blog for our parents as an assignment.  I forgot to blog for my parents yesterday, so here's today's one from my mom (I'm translating for her):

Today I went grocery shopping in Chinatown.  It has been forever since the last time I have been there.  I went with my friend, so it was much more fun and less boring than with just my self.  She introduced me to a place where they make delicious rice rolls.  It was indeed yummy, and it was also very cheap and the portions were considerably big.  The rolls are freshly made, so it's nice and hot. At some places, you don't know how long people leave the food, but here, you know that they cook it fresh right in front of your eyes.  I will go there again.

Now back to the lovely me!

I have a MGP project due for science.  It's due on Thursday!  So basically, this project requires us to read about a book, then writing or illustrating or whatever five genres about that book.  It sounds confusing, and it confused me in the beginning too, so don't worry.  I'm done 2 1/2 out of the 5 genres,  I still have a long way to go.  I can see myself working like a dog tomorrow after school.  That's just the life a teenager.  It sounds so weird referring to myself as a teenager actually.  It's like calling myself an adult.  Let's just change that sentence to: that's just the life of a student.  Now that sounds much better.

I feel like I end up working later and later each night.  Right now, it's 11 o'clock and here I am still writing my blog.  My mom gets really mad at me sometimes for this reason and quote "Sleep is important!"  My applied skills teacher was also telling us that, but you can't just leave the homework on the desk and just go sleep.  Even with precise organization and scheduling, homework can kill you.  Homework is like the brain.  They like to play with you, and if you don't do homework, you get really bad marks, and then you "die".

These days I have began to subscribe to a lot of Youtubers.  I used to only have a short list of subscriptions, but now I have a lot.  I recently discovered a channel called ApriljustinTV and they vlog about their daily lives.  They have other channels too, but this is just one of them.  I love looking at vlogs; it's basically a blog in which you can actually see the events. I find April and Justin to be such great people to look at.  I think I have a thing for daily life vloggers.  I have gone through phases in which I am addicted to them, such as the SacconeJoly channel and also itsjudyslife channel.  I still like those channels.  I love looking at the babies too, because they're just so adorable.  I just want to squeeze their little cheeks to death.

I fail at writing short stories.  I think I've mentioned it in every blog, but I JUST SUCK!!  I am basically not a creative writer.  This short story I'm writing will for sure bring my English mark down.  I wish you guys could see my grumpy face when I even think of the short story I've written. Plainly horrible!

Now, I hate Day 2's at school (except for applied skills and math).  Writing the short story is making me mad and for performing arts (which is basically drama), I don't particularly enjoy acting AND the people who are in that class. (some people just make me so annoyed--not giving a name, even though they probably don't know about this blog)

Bye bye peeps!

--Cyndi Forrest
 

T1B53

November 17th, 2014

Hey dudsons.

Today started off with applied skills.  We watched other people's brain game videos and also a video about how to knit an infinity scarf with your arms.  It looked pretty cool, and the finished product looks really cute too.  I don't have really thick yarn like the one they used in the video, so I don't think I can do it.  Speaking of yarn, my yarn is all tangled up like the infamous yarn of Andrew W.
After applied skills. I went to math.  The AMC math contest is tomorrow!  I'm so nervous, but I don't know why because I'm just doing it for fun.  I'll be missing social studies, and since social studies is not exactly my most favorable subject, I don't really mind.  In math, I learned some new things, such as scientific notation.  It was confusing at first, but I think I understand.  We also did some exponential work, and that was okay.
Lunch!  My favourite "subject"!  A long way back in the blogs, I said that I need this book for my science.  Apparently, it's overdue... So I went to the school library, and luckily they have the book and it's not checked out!  I need it to complete my project which is due on Thursday.  I think I  need to get going, because I'm not really close to the end yet....
English!  We just reviewed our short stories.  I hate my short story.  I much prefer academic writing than story writing.  So far in english, we didn't do any academic writing (such as essays), and I hope we do more of them, perhaps in the next term.
Performing arts was basically a free period.  We worked on some masks, and most of us were already finished.  The teacher was really chill; he was even looking at his iPad.
I had Marpole-Oakridge community centre junior youth council after school.  We are thinking of what to sell in this basketball or soccer tournament. I'm not going though, because I have Chinese school.  I heard it's really fun from Amy, so I want to go too.  Life is so not fair....
So AMC 8 math contest!! SO scared for that!  Now that I think of it, I don't even know why I applied for this contest.  I don't have a very good reason.  Some people do it for their parents, some do it just for pure joy in learning.
Also, I have a French test tomorrow!! Super scared too for that, because it's first block tomorrow!  I wonder if the test is going to be hard or not...
Here's the vid for the infinity scarf tutorial:

--Cyndi Forrest
     

T1B52

November 16th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today was a normal Sunday.  Okay, so basically almost everyday is a normal day.  But that doesn't matter, because thinking on the bright side, a normal day is better than a bad day.  Okay that doesn't really make sense, but whatever.
I went swimming today, after skipping two classes due to other things, like my dad's birthday last week and I was sick the week before that.  Anyways, today was fun at swimming, as we swam ten laps, but played fifteen minutes of water polo!  My team sucked though, because these two girls chose the teams and made all the good people on their team.  As a result of the uneven teams, we lost badly.  
After swimming, my family and I went out to eat at this Chinese cafe at Lansdowne Mall.  I got beef brisket with vermicelli.  It was pretty decent, but the soup a tad bit too salty.  I would give it a rating of 8/10.
Afterwards, we just went to some supermarkets.
We went to T&T and today and there was especially more food samplings.  That's a good thing right? I also saw a crab "killing"a lobster.  I felt sad for the lobster, so I used tongs to put back the crab into the crab section.  Speaking of which, how did it end up in the lobster section?  I hope someone buys that crab, so it won't hurt anymore lobsters.  I didn't just see it here at T&T, I also saw it at other places, such as restaurants: crabs attacking lobsters.  So, from my observations, I learned that crabs are more nasty and aggressive than lobsters.  Bad crabs!      
I also forgot my dreams today. Now, that's just getting sad.  My brain just wants me to be played around with.  
I think I might present my brain game presentation tomorrow, but I'm so nervous, because I looked like a crazy person.  I mean really.  People are probably going to laugh at me for the rest of the year or perhaps even longer.  That thought makes me shiver.  Why did I have to get high (not drugs high, but natural happy high) at that exact time when we were filming?
Also, I tried making my yarn to a ball.  I successfully completed one, but for my second one, I couldn't find the head.  So now it's just a huge pile of yarn.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B51

November 16th, 2014

Hi dudsons,

Sorry I forgot to blog again!  This time I just completely forgot....:(
BTW happy late birthday Sabrina!!
Just as I thought blogging was in my head as a regular habit, my brain just had to play games with me and make me forget about blogging.  (Get it, the bolded words? Probably not....)  Anyways, I hope my brain doesn't play any more games with me anymore.  (I did it again, except without the bolded letters!)
Yesterday was a normal Saturday.  Chinese school and staying home.  For some reason, it feels easier to wake up on school days at seven-thirty in the morning than eight-thirty in the morning on Saturdays.  My brain is playing games with me.  (See, I did it once again!)  Anyways, we had a mini-test yesterday and surprisingly it was the opposite of my expectations since the teacher is kind of hard.  I thought the test was really hard, so I studied a lot for it.  In the end, it was really easy, so I guess that's a good thing. This teacher is playing with me like how my brain is playing games with me.  (Yes! Another time!)
In my chinese class, there is actually a lot of people from my high school, including my two besties! There are about seven or eight people, and comparing to the whole class, it's a lot, considering the whole class is approxiamtely fifteen or twenty students.  
Yesterday I was looking at Taylor Swift tickets, since she's coming on August 1st.  The tickets are so expensive!! The cheapest ticket with the worst seat is 74 dollars.  Well, someone blew my dreams up.... At least Meghan Trainor's tickets are $23 for all seats.  See, that's someone who cares about her fans....
As for my dream diary, I don't think I had a dream the night before last night.  Or it could possibly be because my brain is once again playing games with me and making me forget it.  (I did it again..........)
The last few blogs were me complaining about tests...
Well here's a fun picture from Facebook that I found.....


--Cyndi Forrest

T1B50

November 14th, 2014

Hey dudsons!

It's the fiftieth blog today!  Yay!  Happy fiftieth blog dudsons!
I had a dream last night.  I was always confused by card tricks, so I dreamt about how magicians actually do their tricks.  I imagined that the face of the cards were erasable, so that's the secret of the magicians.
For French, it was a lazy day since a lot of people were away for Watermania.  We pretty much watched videos for the whole class.  Those videos are pretty cheesy though.
The geo test today was hard.  I probably failed it.  It was so terribly hard, I don't know how I managed to get through it.  I didn't know to study some of the things, so I was unsure about some of the questions.  I guessed some.  I probably failed some too.
I went to Watermania today!  I went on the waterslides, and surprisingly there was no long line-ups. I prefer the red waterslide actually, because I feel like the blue one is really hot inside.  I enjoyed the wave pool, but I just hoped that I could go into the hot tub and just relax.  One bad thing happened though: I lost one of my earrings when I came off the waterslides.  I couldn't find it.  The lifeguard told me that it probably went down the drain.  RIP earring.  I hate the showers at Watermania. The water is not really hot, the hot I like, and you have to keep on pressing the button to get the water going.  Plus, the showers are open.  They don't have rooms or stalls, so nobody took off their swimsuits to actually shower. That's basically the worst part of Watermania. They also don't have proper hair dryers.  They only have hand dryers, which are used for drying the hair.  Hairdryers are not that expensive, in fact I bet it's cheaper than hand dryers.  So why don't they install hair dryers?
I have Chinese school tomorrow and I think I have another mini-test.  So, I'm going to go study now.....
BYE!

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B49

November 14th, 2014

Hello dudsons,

It's Fun Fact Thursday! Did you know that the Empire State Building has 73 elevators?  That's a lot. I now have a new goal to ride all of them in one day...that'd be fun...
I didn't blog yesterday because I had that huge social studies test that I had to study for.  We have to study everything.  It's really, really, really hard.
I believe this is the third missed blog.  Sorry peeps.
I don't really remember my dream, but I think it was about my brother.  In my dream he was talking about taekwondo and he was much taller.  I had another dream about me playing in the hallways with other people and people were trying to get us.  Pretty ridiculous.
Anyways, we had a library tour during English and it was really cool, because it was an interactive experience.  The teacher librarian gave us an introduction to the library and talked about the basic stuff, like how many books we can loan at a time, how long, etc.  Afterwards, we had a scavenger hunt around the library and I got to learn where everything is.  This makes me feel much better, because if not, I know for sure that I won't know where everything is.  There were also a lot of magazines, but not like the kiddy ones in elementary school.  I'll check out those sometime later.
During applied skills, some people presented their brain games presentations.  Some people's presentation was pretty good actually. It was interesting to see the results and all that stuff.  I liked Kailey's video when in the beginning it was punk-rock music and her and the people in her group were walking slow mode.  Moumita's was pretty good too.  I didn't present my video yet, because we ran out of time.  Just saying, I look pretty crazy in that video.  I think I was high or something at the time we were filming this video, so if you watch the video tomorrow, please don't laugh at me.  Amy was laughing at me too because I was so weird.  I regret being the TV personality....
I am a procrastinator.  I have not started my multi-genre project yet, the homeless presentation, or the science proposal.  I wish high school teachers would hand out homework passes like elementary school so that we can extend homework due dates.  Sadly, they don't.

--Cindy Forrest
 

T1B48

November 12th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Finally back to school after the long weekend!  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Anyways, my eyes wouldn't open up in the morning after lots of days of sleeping in.
Today started off with French.  That's exactly what it took to wake the whole class of sleepies up. Just kidding. We got back some tests and we have to study for this really big one on next Tuesday.  Why are there so many tests??
Next was socials, and we have another big test to study for on Friday.  This Friday!  We just got some part of the things we have to study for TODAY!
For science, luckily, there were no tests that we knew of.  Thank goodness for that...
PE!  We played line tag, something that I used to play in elementary school.  Ahh, the good old days. We only played one round though, so I would appreciate if we at least played one more round.  We are having a test for PE!  Can you believe it?  He's testing us on our "awesome" basketball skills.  I suck at basketball actually.  So I'm prepared to get a C, or if I'm lucky, a B.
I didn't recall having any dreams last night.  I like having dreams (except nightmares), because they intrigue me and make me wonder about them.  I remember when I was younger, I had a dream about a boy chasing me around, while people were laughing at me and that was really scary.  Now that I think of it, it's such a funny dream.  Makes me want to say"LOL!"
I have so much tests now, but I guess I should be expecting it, since the end of the first term is coming up.  I can't believe the school year has gone by so fast!  I'm scared about getting report cards though; who likes them anyways?
I finally finished my scarf and it's bootiful.  I did not spell that wrong; it is bootiful.  It's just a word from my awesome vocabulary, like dudsons.  I will not go into detail.  Anyways, I added some fringes on the scarf.  I hope who ever receives this scarf will like it; after all, I did put so much effort into it!
Basically there were a lot of test-related stuff today.  That's sad.  Well,  I hope tomorrow's a better off day, and see you tomorrow peeps!

--Cyndi Forrest

 

T1B47

November 11th, 2014

Superblog

Hey dudsons,

Happy Remembrance Day!  I hope you took some time to remember the countless amount of lives who sacrificed their lives for us.
Last night, I had a dream.  All I remember now was that one of the dreams I was at this food court with my dad and brother, and I think we ordered ramen or ice-cream.  I think it was a strange dream, but I forgot what was the strange part.  The other dream that I had was at school.  For some reason, we had to go to this teacher named "Mr. Shaman"'s class, and we were hurrying for a field trip.  I had these random friends and I think I made my best friend mad, because I said she doesn't like me anymore.  Anyways, there was this huge window, which looked out to the beach.  There was this ice rink in the middle of the ocean, and there were three people: one dad, one daughter, and one son. Suddenly, there was this cruise ship that came by and ruined the ice rink.  The boy flew away, but the dad and daughter were okay.  After that, I finished watching, and continued to "Mr. Shaman"'s class. What a ridiculous dream!
There was no school today, and I didn't do much, just homework and other random things.  I didn't really celebrate Remembrance Day or go out anywhere because my dad was at work, and my mom was doing some gardening.
We went out for dinner tonight with my uncle and aunt.  We ate at this place called Dinesty in Aberdeen center.  The food was pretty good.  I would give it a 9/10 rating.
After that I went to T&T supermarket for a quick grocery trip.  I saw this parrot fish in the frozen food section.  It looked really colourful and rainbow-ish.  It looked cool, but also unappetizing.  I wonder who would eat it...

Tomorrow's school and my head hurts from even thinking about it.  My uncle said that their kids in Edmonton got a super long weekend compared to us; they got two extra days, from Thursday to Wednesday.  Lucky.  Apparently, in Edmonton, it has already started snowing.  It's crazy.  I feel sad for my uncle and aunt, who got all this good weather here, and then going back to the cold weather. Maybe that's the reason why they have a super long weekend.  Anyways, I'm still envious of them.......
Well, I don't have anything else to say....
so bye!

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B46

November 10th, 2014

Hello fellow dudsons,

Today was a district closure day!  No school for me. :)
This morning I forgot all my dreams by the time I was fully awake.  I think I pretty much only remember dreams that are totally weird, super happy, or super scary.  I guess I just had a normal dream last night.
The majority of the day was spent on homework and TV.  I worked on my observation project that is due on Wednesday, and I already finished it right now.  I typed a total of 1,933 words.  Is that a lot or no?  Now that I think of it, I didn't watch that much TV.  I only watched about fifteen minutes of a chinese drama called Come on, Cousin.  It's a comedy and it's hilarious; it gets me laughing and feeling happy afterwards.  I did look at Youtube and a little bit of Facebook though, and once you go on those websites, it will eat up all of your time....
Anyways, my mom decided that we needed a break and that we should go take a walk.  So my mom, brother and I walked to Oakridge Centre, which took approximately thirty minutes to walk there. We went into the mall, and we also bought some clothes.  We were about to get a box of hand cream, but it was too heavy, so we decided to buy it next time.  There's this english honey and peach blossom scent and it's just heaven.  It smells so good!  
After we came back home, I had to go to piano class for one hour.  I used to hate doing play backs (where the instructor plays something on the piano and you play it back), but now I'm okay with it, since I improved.
Taylor Swift has put out a new music video for her new single "Blank Space".  I love the song, and I love the music video even better.  The music video itself portrays how the media talks about her love life, in particular her "long list of ex-boyfriends".  So the video may make Taylor look crazy, but I admire her for her audacity for being brave enough to face and make fun of the media.  Go Taylor go!
Tomorrow's Remembrance Day, so happy pre-remembrance day!  Let's just take a moment to commemorate and remember all the precious lives who have died in the war for us...

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B45

November 9th, 2014

Superblog!

Today was my dad's birthday!  So, I skipped swimming this week and went to downtown for lunch. We ate at Market by Jean-Georges at the Shangri-la.  The food was good, but not extremely spectacular.  I ordered this flat-iron steak and so did my brother.  My dad got this burger and my mom got eggs benedict.  There was also an appetizer of this cinnamon bun thing, but I didn't eat it because I was allergic to the cashews they spread on top.  I guess the best thing that we ate was either the pizza or this mushroom jalapeno side dish.  Actually, I like the mushroom one better, because it comes out not spicy, but then after a while it gives a subtle spicy taste that's not too spicy.  Anyways, I would give this place a 8/10 rating.
We also went to Urban Fare and I marveled at their pizzas and food, even though I was pretty full.
After that, we went to Stanley park for a walk for one hour.  It was pretty sunny, and I liked the feeling of the sun warming up my face.  I saw the girl in the wetsuit statue and the funny thing was that there was a fat seagull sitting on top of her head.  It may not sound funny, but when you actually see it, it's pretty hilarious.  When we walking back, my family and I ran into friends.  Their children are both in Churchill too.
My uncle and aunt came from Edmonton and "surprised" us.  They came to Vancouver, but didn't tell us that they were planning to.  So, we had to go back to Coquitlam, because they were staying there with my grandparents.  Another car ride.
Anyways, I went to Coquitlam Centre to go shopping.  The feeling of shopping makes me happy and warm. :) We only shopped for around an hour or so, so I didn't buy that much.  I bought a fuzzy sweater from H&M.  My friend also bought one there too, but mine is sort of different.  I also went to Claire's and bought some stuff for my ears.  We needed to buy groceries, so we went to T&T supermarket.  It was just a really quick grocery trip though, because we had a reservation for sushi at six.
We went to Oyama sushi restaurant at Coquitlam.  The main restaurant is on Kingsway, and reportedly a funeral home before.  I wonder if it's just a rumour...  Fortunately, this place was not previously a funeral home.  It's not an all-you-can-eat though; I'd much prefer that.  However, we ordered a lot of stuff, including sashimi and special sushi rolls.  I like this place, so I'm giving this place a 10/10 rating.  I would recommend the red roll, if you like spicy stuff, because that stuff is hot!
Last night, I'm pretty sure I had a lot of dreams.  However, I forgot most parts of it in the morning.  I hate that feeling; sometimes its interesting to reflect back on your dreams, and I had no memory of it, so I cannot reflect back.  Anyways, I'll try to conjure up some dreams tonight, even though I'm not sure if my brain will correspond.

  

--Cyndi Forrest

    

T1B44

November 8th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Last night, I had many strange dreams, though I only remember two of them.  I think that the Neybers app I was previously addicted to got into my brain, and I had a dream that I had a gigantic house that looked like it would be from the apps Neybers or Minecraft.  Anyways, the house was huge (and beautiful!) and my grandfather, dad, and brother were also there.  The strange thing was that all my family members' faces were different from real life, and yet I still acknowledge those imaginary people as my family.  Weird.  Anyways, I forgot what happened, but there was this part where my brother turned into one of the celebrities in this Chinese drama I'm watching.  Then, he was bragging about his many soccer awards and certificates.  Another dream I had that I only slightly remember is that I was shopping.  My family and I passed this store with huge signs saying "pants".  The funny part was all those pants were the ones I really wanted my mom to buy in real life, but I never wore them.  It's as though my brain is filling me with regret for not wearing those pants.
Today I went to Chinese school .  We learned about a new chapter in the textbook and went over the new characters and the meaning of the story.
In the evening, my family and I went to my grandparent's place in Coquitlam for dinner.  We ate a local Chinese restaurant called Deer Garden.  The food was pretty good, and they also have set menus, though you have a choice of what dishes you want.  It includes soup, rice, and desert.  I like the sweet and sour pork, and also the beef and bitter melon stir fry. Yes, I love bitter melon.  Most kids don't, but I love it.
Anyways, after that we just headed over to my grandparent's house and watched some TV and talked. My grandparent's house is very cosy and homely; it's a cute, little apartment.  After that, we went to Walmart.  I believe the last time I went there was a long time ago; probably one year.  It's because my mom just doesn't like Walmart, and strongly prefers Superstore, Safeway, Price Smart, etc...  We bought some groceries and my brother bought a Minecraft book.  He already has the basic tutorial one and this time we bought the construction one.  I personally like Minecraft too, because I like creating houses and stuff.  It's fun to follow a tutorial on Youtube on a house, and after you're done, you feel proud and stuff.
Tomorrow's my dad's birthday and I need to make him a card.  I still didn't start yet...

--Cyndu Forrest

T1B43

November 7th, 2014

Hi dudsons,

Today was the Remembrance Day assembly at school.  Even though the official day is next week Tuesday, the school does it before the actual day, because we don't have school on Monday or on Remembrance Day.  Basically, I have a four-day long weekend this week, which means I get to sleep in and play on the computer.  If only the school board would consider more of these mini-holidays, then I'd be the happiest girl on the Earth!

The assembly was much more sophisticated than elementary school Remembrance Day assemblies. There was a professional-looking choir and strings band, unlike the ones in elementary school, where some of the people don't even know how to sing or play the violin.  Additionally, there were cadets marching and it was really cool.  The school even invited a World War II veteran, who had a speech about his war experiences.  We never got these privileges in elementary school.  Something I found different was that we didn't stand silent for one minute, like in elementary school.  I thought it was mandatory or something like that.  Anyways, this assembly was pretty cool, and I like it better than elementary school ones.

I have to finish knitting for my scarf by next Thursday.  I used a thick needle so I think it will pretty quick.  I need to search online on how to finish it though, because I forgot how to do it.  I'm really frustrated by the fact that I started with twelve stitches, but now I have fourteen.  How is it possible? I feel sorry for the people who used thin needles, because their scarves take a long time to finish. 

For applied skills, I will have to start blogging about my dreams.  I forgot if I had one this morning, but I'll post one for tonight (if applicable) in tomorrow's blog.  I just hate the feeling of sadness and confusion when you just had a dream and you completely forgot about it a few minutes later in the morning....especially if you actually like the dream.  I find it cool though, that sometimes I wake up with a nightmare, and I find myself already crying.  I wonder how long I cried before waking up. 

After school, Amy, Sab and I filmed a video for our brain games project.  I am the TV personality, and my persona is this crazy person.  I probably even look crazy, because the sun was shining on my face, and my face started getting really hot and red. I'm not going to spoil the details, but I guess the skit was kind of funny.  One thing I know for sure: we have a lot of bloopers. 

Right now, I have a sudden craving for pizza.  Hawaiian, because I like the pineapples and their sweet taste.  I don't know why I have this sudden craving.  I think it's because of the Pizza Hut advertisement brochure lying on the table next to my laptop.  It's intimidating me..  :( 

--Cyndi Forrest     

T1B42

November 6th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today's the day of the parent-teacher conferences, which meant that we get off school at 1:30 in the afternoon!  I almost forgot about the block rotation until a friend told me.  Friends are important, and that is an example why.  Otherwise, I might have been in the wrong class and might have been late to class, and that's never a good thing. It's Interesting Fact Thursday! I think I forgot to post an interesting fact last week, so please forgive me.  Anyways, on November 6th in 2004 an express train collided with a stationary car near the village of Ufton Nervet, England, which killed seven people and injured a hundred-and-fifty.  RIP.  Onto a happier fact.  Emma Stone, a renowned actress and model, was also born this day in 1988.  I love her role in Amazing Spiderman 2.  That movie almost got me into tears.  That movie is a must-see.  Even though I didn't watch the first movie, I still understood the plot of the movie.
Anyways, we got a new group project in socials that involves a picture map.  It sounds pretty cool, and I'm working with two other boys, Andrew F. and David.  This project requires us to draw a map of the school after it being destroyed by whatever creature you choose.  I hope this project goes well! We also got our first maps back and I'm pretty happy with my mark.  :)
The Geological Showdown was also today during science and I was up against Kailey.  If only I knew it was her, then I would prepare more awesome facts.  Just saying, but I think Kailey is a very smart person, considering she's supposed to be in Grade 7.  The result of the showdown was that I lost to her.  I'm not mad; I think she deserved it.
The teacher-parent conference was today and I went with my mom and dad.  I always feel nervous about these things, because the teacher stares at you a lot and either says that you're going to make it or you'll fail, period.
Afterwards, I went to Oakridge mall because my dad had a dentist appointment.  I also bought some stuff there.  I think Oakridge should have more "hip" stores, because most of their stores are high-end and expensive.  There should be at least a Hollister or American Eagle there.  I would go to Oakridge way more often if it weren't for that.
Below, I have included a super-blog youtube video of a baby eating a lemon.  His or her facial expression is so cute!  Adorable!

  
--Cyndi Forrest

T1B41

November 5th, 2014

Hi dudsons,

Today was a normal day at school, so basically, classes, classes, and classes.  There was also a math test that I got an A on.  You can never be sad about getting an A!  Unless you know, if you're one of those super-smart people who just simply expect that they get an A each time and get it without exerting effort.  I envy those people.
Anyways, today was block rotation, and that meant the blocks are all switched up. Luckily, I didn't forget, though some people did, resulting in them late to class.  My first class was applied skills and I started knitting with these really thick knitting needles.  They were hard to control, but eventually I learned how to tame it.  I was so frustrated because I kept on having to start all over again, because since the needles were so big, the loops were easy to get out of.  Anyways, if you read Sab's blog, she and Amy were fangirling over Wesley's magic skills.  They were like 'he's going to get rich someday'. Funny, but somewhat unrealistic since there are a lot of magicians out there and only a few make it to the big stage.  Sorry to ruin your dreams, Wesley! (And Sab and Amy!)
English was just horrible.  Don't talk to me about it, but right now is the only time I'll tell you.  Our teacher expects us to write a short story in two days!  How is that even physically possible?  I would be okay, IF it wasn't for the rule stating that the word limit was 400, since we're doing a contest. Whoever made up that rule clearly was in a hysterical state that time.  As a student, I strongly believe in letting me have more time to think of better ideas and for ways contributing to less stress.  Right now, I have no ideas.  None. At all.
At preforming arts, we had to act in front of the whole class again.  Not fun at all.  I'm starting to realize how critical I am of this day.  Anyways, there was this girl who I thought was Korean, but was actually chinese.  Additionally, she loves K-pop which adds to my assumptions.  Oops, up until today, I only knew that she wasn't.  I should get to know more about people instead of assuming.  it's actually funny how Korean she looks.  My first impression was that she was pretty and a Korean. LOL, never assume people!
the Geological Showdown is also tomorrow, and I researched some new facts that were a little bit more interesting than my previous ones.  Some were the same, but some weren't.  Anyways, i'm kind of excited!
There's teacher-parent conferences tomorrow and I'm excited, but at the same time not.  One is that I get to get off school early, so I have more time to focus on my story.  However, I always feel uneasy about the teachers meeting my parents.  I don't know why.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B40

November 4th, 2014

Welcome back dudsons,

Today was a collab day, which meant school starts at ten-fifteen in the morning!  Unfortunately, I had to wake up at seven, because I wanted to study more for the Socials and French test that I had today. All my precious sleeping time was wasted; if only collab days started at one.  That would be much more pleasant and satisfying.  At least there's next month, but I'm hoping that the teachers won't decide to be cruel and give me tons of homework.  That would make me livid and I'd probably be hating on the teachers for the rest of the month.  
Apparently today the school was flooding and the main gym was 'out of orders'.  Funny, considering that when I went in, I didn't see any water on the floor.  Perhaps the janitors cleaned it all up and the problem was fixed.  Anyways, we went outside for PE.  We ran one lap around the track and then played ultimate frisbee.  Now that I look back to the first time I ran on the track, I made some progress. The first time I did it, I was huffing and puffing and when I was done, I felt dizzy.  Today it wasn't that hard and I did not want to faint.  After running, we did ultimate frisbee.  My impression of this sport was that it was really complex and even boring.  Now that I played it, it's actually okay and I hate to admit it, but also pretty fun.  I suck at throwing, but I hope that I improve, so I can really get into the game.
At science today there was the Geological Showdown.  I didn't know who I was up against, so I was pretty scared that I got a super smart person.  I was watching other peoples', and some were actually glamorous.  As a result of them both on the debating team, Nellie's and Wesley's was pretty intense. It was pretty fun to watch.  There was no time left and so I didn't go yet.  I'm glad because that gives me some extra time to get more interesting facts and more time to prepare.
After dinner today, I also went to the supermarket for grocery shopping.  I saw that ramen noodle bowl cake again, which makes me want to get it for my birthday even more.  Or should I get mango mousse?  I never tasted the ramen one, but I tried the mango one and it was pretty tasty.  Speaking of cakes, I have moved on from the Dairy Queen ice cream cake phase, because I simply got too bored of it after eating it after birthday after birthday.  I only like the chocolate parts though.  I forever will be a supporter of chocolate than vanilla.
When we went to the supermarket, these police were doing training on motorcycles and cars.  After analyzing and observing, I noticed that about each kilometer there would be a police waiting (usually a motorcycle), and he/she would join the police group.  It was pretty cool, but slowed down the traffic.  I bet a lot of drivers were mad that the police chose to do their training on a public road. As if they understood our feelings, the police veered off to a more secluded road.  Then the cars went speeding.

--Cyndi Forrest
      

T1B39

November 4th, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Another missed blog!  I apologize, but I had a massive amount of homework yesterday and there was no time to fit in a blog.  I had a socials studies map due, and I finally realized how long coloring took. Or was it just perhaps that I like making it neat and presentable?  Anyways, I also had to study for two tests; one Socials and one French.  Last minute studying is not really effective, but thanks to my short-term memory, I just remembered yesterday during the rare moment when I look at my agenda. I need to look at my agenda more often.  Also, I had a little bit of French homework and I had to research science facts for the Geological Showdown, where we find facts about a topic and "compete" against another fellow classmate.  The main reason that I didn't have time yesterday was that I had piano lessons and that took quite a while.  Not going to class is not a option either, because my piano teacher is quite strict if I have a sudden absence for not an important reason.  Basically, yesterday was a pretty busy day for homework, which also means that it was a day of boredom. Homework is NEVER fun.
Anyways, this blog will be a blog about yesterday, so I might be using a lot of 'yesterday's. Anyways, yesterday my applied skills teacher announced that rest of the Empathy for Homeless was optional. I was so relieved, because I didn't want to spend another two days of hygiene.  I never knew how much I needed hygiene and my bed until this project.  Now, I know not take things for granted and this was definitely an experience I would remember for the rest of my life.  This project helped me learn that living homeless is not easy and that people should be thankful for the privileges we get in life.
We started knitting also, but I didn't bring my knitting needles, so I just worked on something else.  I have a little bit of trouble with casting the way my teacher taught me, so I'm just sticking to the way I know how to.  The edges might be a little slanted, but I guess if you iron it out, it'll be okay.
Also, yesterday we had a short story test in English.  That was a major stress-producer for me, because that test seemed big and I worried if I studied the right things.  The test was actually okay and wasn't that long, but it was four pages long, which is kind of long for a test.
For performing arts, we watched a play called Hemingway, or at least something like that.  The actor talked about his life experiences, but I was in the furthest row back, so I didn't catch everything.  He put in some inappropriate jokes, but the rest was okay.  Near the end, he handed out drinks and told the audience to put it in their mouth and hold their breaths, then wallow without breathing.  Everyone started coughing, but most people didn't get a drink, due to the fact that there were only about thirty drinks to go around.

--Cyndi Forrest

T1B38

November 2nd, 2014

Hey dudsons,

Today was an inside day for me.  I just stayed inside and did homework and stuff.  I have a short story test tomorrow and I have to study.  Mrs. Greskiw's tests are unpredictable; one test it's easy, and then one test will be super hard.  God, the life is a student is hectic, crazy, and sometimes stressful.  I wish that tests never existed.  I can imagine the amount of people hating the inventor of tests.  And that includes me.
The Empathy for the Homeless project is going pretty well so far.  Last night I had to sleep on the floor.  It wasn't really comfortable and the floor was hard, even though it is carpet.  I had a hard time sleeping and so I woke up this morning, tired and cranky.  I was in fear of spiders and other creepy crawlies crawling over me too.  Today I ate one can of Chunky's soup with rigatoni.  It was okay, but a little on the bland side.  If only I had cheese and salt to improve it, then it would taste much better. For dinner, I ate chicken-flavour cup noodles.  I pretty much love the soup part, but afterwards I get really dehydrated because of the saltiness, resulting in me drinking a lot of water. The 'no hygiene' thing is bothering me.  I feel yucky not being able to brush my teeth and shower.  I am brave enough to say that yesterday I had something in my teeth and I couldn't use floss to get it out, so it was uncomfortable.  Tonight I am once again sleeping on the floor.  At least I've gotten kind of used to it. Something that I did like about this project was that it was a new experience and lets me feel some of the pain and conditions homeless people have to live in.  I couldn't imagine how hard it is to live out on the streets.
Daylight savings day was also today at two am in the morning and I am glad for it.  It allows me to have one extra hour of sleep, but since I'll stay an hour later, it doesn't really matter.  I hope you guys remember too, so you don't have to go to school one hour early!
Since I have nothing else to write about, I will introduce you to one of my favourite songs and music artists.  This song is my jam, even though I didn't download it on my iPad.  It's called 'Everyone Pees in the Ocean' by Taryn Southern.  I know, I know, the song's tittle is a little bit odd and weird, but just listen to the video WITH the captions on.  Warning: some of it is inappropriate, so I try to ignore those parts. She usually sings original and covers of other songs, just like a normal singer. Once in a while though, she makes these comedy ones and it just makes my day.  There are not many artists like her that have the guts to do what she does and yet, is popular and receives little hate.  She's awesome!
This song also reminds of the Writer's festival presentation that I saw called 'Secrets and Lies'. This song talks about the secrets we have and hide, just like one of the topics in the Writer's festival presentation.  According to the song, everyone pees in the ocean, but so far in my life, I don't think I have.  How about you?

-Cyndi Forrest

   

T1B37

November 1st, 2014

Hi dudsons,

I can't believe that October is over and that the holidays are coming.  This school year is passing by so fast that I don't think that there's even a 'pause' button.  Well, that's a good thing for now, since Christmas and Boxing Day are coming, and I want them soon.  Boxing day is equivalent to more shopping for me, while Christmas is equivalent to presents, sleeping in, and going out for dinner. This is the spirit of the holidays for me, people.
I am not going to lie; the Chinese mid-term exam today was HARD.  Even though I was kind of prepared, people were puzzled over it.  A simple four-page test caused some people to stay after class to finish it and the class is two and a half hours long,  I'm proud to say that I didn't stay after class, even though the test included a two-hundred word essay.  If you take Chinese class, you know that is challenging for a lot of people.  The topic of the essay writing about a recent vacation and some people didn't go anywhere during the summer holidays, so I naturally felt bad for them.  For me, I just wrote about my trip to Portland, Oregon.
Today was day three of the Empathy for the Homeless project.  Today I'm not supposed to have hygiene (brush my teeth, shower).  I am not excited for that.  I also have to go the food bank to get non-perishable/canned food, but the other alternative was to eat canned food and donate it back. Tonight and for lunch I ate the Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce with cheese and I ate cup noodles for breakfast.  The food, of course, was not as good as my mom's cooking, but it was bearable.  Tonight, I will sleep on the floor, and feel the hardness of the floor, just like of the streets.  Should I be excited or scared?
Anyways, I have this big map project for socials due on Tuesday and I didn't bring it home!  Oh my god, why does this always happen to me?  I now have the feeling of a knot in my stomach, which always happen to me in cases like this.  I hope the teacher will delay the due date of the map, though he will probably not...I guess that I will work late at night on Monday...
On Monday though, I still have a English short story test.   It's a test, not a little quiz.  I heard that my English teacher's tests are pretty hard and there will be questions you probably will not know the answer to.  

--Cyndi Forrest