It's raining outside.

It's raining outside. The weather has been threatening all day, but it only started raining sometime this afternoon. This post has no title as I write this, and I do not know what it will be about. I was hoping it might turn into a nice, attempting-to- be-in-depth kind of ramble, but now I've thought this, it seems like I've jinxed it. Anyway, let's see where this goes, shall we? It will probably just end up as another one of my never-to-be-finished drafts, though that in itself is an odd thing to write, because if I publish this it won't be a draft. Perhaps I just wrote that as a sort of anti-jinx; something to prove myself wrong against. Who knows? And better yet, who cares?

This question has been on my mind for the longest time. Who actually reads this blog? No one. I bet that no one consistently reads this blog. Yes, that's a bit of a bummer, but I'm not that worried about the lack of attention. Well, not in the way you might imagine. It just seems so wasteful to spend all this time thinking and typing and editing for something that doesn't matter. Does Ms. Wilson even read our blogs? By an off chance, or, by more of a predictable result of Murphy's Law, she will probably make a point of reading this blog and then calling it to attention in front of the class. Oh well, she mentions the (quote) screwed-up look of my face in front of them, so this shouldn't matter.
It seems that this whole blogging things is like a numbers game. She checks to see how many we have done, and when, and also if our link is highlighted.

When it comes down to it, though, as I have come to realise, no one cares what you think. No matter how hard you try to get it down into words and proper sentences, no matter how passionate you feel about it, who actually will this matter to? It sounds so pessimistic and a bit like the donkey Eeyore, but it's true.
I'm not depressed, I am, as always, simply curious.

I've heard that emotional intelligence is more important than that I.Q. (intelligence quota). Maybe people who say this are just bitter about their average score- I can relate, I'm no genius. I think this could be true, though. You think about what the ultimate goal of human kind is? A complicated question at best, but if you briefly glance at it, it appears as though all of our efforts go towards us living a happy life; about us feeling good; fulfilled; enjoying life.

Emotional intelligence is, if I am not mistaken, to do with how you interact and react to other people, and reading theirs, and your own, emotions.
No matter how smart you are, or how rich, or whatever, if you can't communicate with people, or are an arrogant smart-alec, then chances are you won't be happy.
If you aren't particularly smart, or are even below average in the I.Q. stakes, if you have good people skills and good friends, you will probably lead a happier life. Then, in the end, who is more successful?
That is why I think you emotional quota just might be more important than your intelligence.
This was an unnecessary lengthy explanation to something that doesn't really seem to fit anywhere, but bear with me.

The reason I am sounding a little sad or negative, I think, is due to that fact that today I found out the winners of the writing competition I entered Hunger into. I want to become more emotionally intelligent, so I have decided to analyses why I feel a certain way and see what triggered it. I think I feel this way because, for some unknown reason, I thought I might have won.
Okay, so the reason isn't totally unknown.
Ever since I won my first writing competition last year, I have started considering winning any that I enter. Prior to that, I wouldn't even think of it as a possibility; I just entered them for the sake of it. When I won my second consecutive won (it was a tiny, in-school thing, so I don't know if it counts), it sub-consciously strengthened this belief within me.
Secondly, I was quite happy with what I entered. I liked it, and quite often I'm not happy with what I write, so this was surely a good sign.
Also, the judges had said to 'make a statement'. I blatantly did this, but, now I think about it, perhaps a bit too blatantly.

Today I received two letters in the mail. When I got them, I automatically thought of this competition. My heart was beating and my mind was racing. They were bank statements.
I think these feelings were caused not only by all the reasons above, but also by the fact I had a really good day today, and so, whether I realised it or not, I was expecting my good fortune to continue.

Huh, I actually feel better. Instead of listening to music too loud and writing something angsty down and feeling tortured but somehow cool, I dealt with things intelligently and logically.
I wrote it all down, and it turned into another blog entry. On the plus side, no one will probably ever read this garbage, so they won't judge me on twittering along like a, well, twit.

Don't you love it when things work out?

Liberty

Liberty

‘Liberate your words-’ he shouted,
‘-and make your voices heard’.
None of us had ever doubted
What we knew to be absurd.

So we were clad in your beliefs;
And packaged up for war.
Fight to the death- for our country,
But what are we fighting for?

We headed off to war with no-one but ourselves,
To a fight a battle already lost.
To kill and bomb,
It’s just our population’s loss.

When they leave,
Let us start to mourn
Because they’re gone for good,
From our lives they’re torn.

But for what?
To fulfil an ego never satisfied.
To prove but one man’s point?
Patriotic, what a joke,
Just a country who worships Coke.

No-one’s perfect,
that’s for sure,
But some are inhumane.
Wars and bombing,
Pro death and pain.

Liberty, yes indeed;
Just a label- an empty creed.

I wrote this poem last year, I think, for a poetry competition aptly named Liberate you words. I was proud of it, and everyone really liked it. I stopped feeling so proud because of that latter. After some analysis, I realised people seemed to like it because they could understand it; it made sense; the knew what it was about. A lot...well, nearly all of my stuff is barley any of these things. It was in my anthology last year. Many of the people I let read it told me it was my favourite. When I read it at a reading the people clapped louder and sighed appreciatively for this poem.
Why did I post it on here? I guess, in a way, I am still proud of it. I mean, it is articulate, and topical. I seems like the kind of piece I'll look back at later and, depending on the type of person I am, either be impressed of embarrassedof my former writing. I don't know what else to write now. I'm contemplating posting more work from my anthology on this blog, but I am unsure. Oh, one more little thing. I remember being proud because I remembered the word 'creed'. I had read it and, not knowing what it meant, I had looked it up in the dictionary; actually using it gave me a thrill.

Festival!

Yesterday I went to a festival with my grandparents, my little brother and my mum. It is an annual affair, and is held in a small town half-an-hour's drive away. Our trip up there took about 50 minutes though, because there were roadworks happening; we were mostly stationary for those extra 20 minutes. I was kind of glad of the fact because my grandad is a race car driver, and he doesn't reserve it just for the track. So, in the back seat of my grandma's yellow sports car, leaning to the side because the roofs are too low for me to sit up straight, I was rather grateful that my grandad didn't have the opportunity to swerve and beep and speed (even though he did manage to pass, like, 50 cars when we went up the passing lane and everyone else stayed in the jam).

We arrived at half of twelve, and the festival was in full swing. Unfortunately, we had missed the duck race, reported to be one of the major highlights of the day. We scrambled as gracefully as possible out of the car and walked into the festive festivity. We even had their little, white and fluffy Westie in tow, Sparky. Grandad scored a park really close, and soon we were walking among the crowd, looking at the stalls.

After about three minutes Jack, my little brother, had got candy floss, and already had his eyes set on an $8 beaded spider...thing. There was lots of fudge for sale but I don't like to buy it because most of the time it doesn't taste as good as mine (as cocky as that sounds). We separated from the grand'rents soon after that and, well, this is what happened.

The next fours hours were filled of fun; buying stuff, food, laughter, and more food. We started our feast with some apple slice, and than I stole some of Jack's hot chips. That was followed by lemon and sugar crepes, which left us completely sticky. To my delight, there were toffee apples! They were proper ones, too. As you may have guessed, I became more sticky after that, even though I was content.

We got some really cool, and really cheap, bracelets. My mummy bought me two; one made of orange and white wooden triangles, the other blue and white beaded. After that I intelligently suggested that we use the water from my bottle to clean our hands, and then all was well.
We went to the rides then, which were really just four different bouncy castles. Jack went on the Fantasy Land one, and mum and I went into one of those groovy arty stores with beautiful, but painfully expensive, gifts and housewares. Have you ever noticed they all smell the same? I got this wreath of white roses for $4, when it was originally priced at $32. A steal!

We wandered around as everyone packed up. Jack got his spider (made in South Africa, you know), I got lolly cake and meringues for half price. We joined my grandparents and their friends on the water front and then we went to the playground. Oh, and we got free wood-fired pizza!

What a day. It definitely had the whole festival atmosphere, and my family definitely took full advantage of the fact. It had such a great time! There were several different acts of live music spread all around the town and even an American hotdog guy who kept trying to make people buy them. I even learnt about guide dogs for the deaf. I saw load of people I knew, too.

I couldn't face a festival every day, all that food left us feeling quite round and quite sick. We finished the day with haphazard omelettes and salad, and then a spa.
Indeed, a great day!

Vegetarian Banquet

Yesterday was not only the one year anniversary of the Fall Out Boy concert, and my auntie's nth birthday, it was also World Vegetarian Day.
To celebrate this occasion, a banquet was held as the local yacht club. It was called 'Candlelight and Roses', and, funnily enough, we dined by candlelight, surrounded by roses.
The ladies who had run my vegetarian cooking class had organised it; that is how we heard about it.

To get more hours for my Duke of E. award, I offered to help cook some of the food. I made the salads. It was actually quite a compliment, being trusted with this whole section of the food. (And now I have completed my skill for the award!)
Yesterday afternoon was dedicated to marinating tofu, slicing cucumber, chopping tomatoes and everything in between. I made three huge bowls of salads; Greek, tomato, and potato. It was a bit stressful; I underestimated how long it would take, but I got it done, even though I left a wake of destruction, and potato skins, behind me. I must admit, they did taste pretty good.

I was taken up there at 5 o'clock, and for the next hour helped tie down awnings, move tables and put out precariously balancing pink fan napkins. It seemed to be a bit crazy, and I must admit I was worried that that night was going to be a total flop. It all turned out fine, however, but the night wasn't flawless...

Brennyn came, which made it a lot more fun. She survived the drive up with my aunt, mum, and little brother (thank goodness he didn't bite her). After a little awkward beginning (when the gave us name-tages o f all things) we sat down and looked at the menus. For the drinks, main course, and dessert we had four choices to choose from.
Brennyn and I got grape cocktail (non-alcoholic), the walnut rissoles with roast veggies, and fresh fruit salad with So Good ice cream for dessert. My aunt got pineapple champagne, Thai noodles, tofu cheesecake and carob-cream pie. My mum got the carrot/apple/celery (interesting), the mixed dhal (delicious), and the steamed fruit pudding.
I pretty good hoard for 20 bucks per ticket.

Throughout the evening my friend, Jack, and I went out to the playground and small walks outside. We, luckily, missed a fair bit of Hugh's (the Master of Ceremonies) lame jokes and statistics.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
I learnt that I am, in fact, not a vegetarian, but a lacto-ovo-pescetarian.
I know Brennyn was feeling a little uncomfortable because he was basically saying 'meat is the root of all evil'.
Despite those those things, the haphazard spot-prize technique, the fact it started an hour later than intended and there was half and hour designated to garlic bread, it was a good night.

Food, friends, family- a fool-proof combination.

Debate! Debate!

On the second Friday of term 3 I did something I've always wanted to do; gave a speech to an assembly. For a while now I've wanted to do this, to see if I could do it. The school auditorium was basically full, so that's about 400 people. 800 eyes looking at me, listening to me- what's not to like?

When I first heard about this debate, I was psyched. I even thought up the moot. It was all downhill from there. People were pulling out and not showing up; I was certain it was going to be a disaster. I even, uncharacteristically, tried to pull out; the last thing I wanted to do was make a fool of myself in front of hundreds of people. Miss Hawkes encouraged us, however, and, afterwards, thanked us profusely. Turns out the TravelWise assembly had required a debate, or she had promised one or something. All's well that ends well, right?

The moot was: students living within a 2km radius of the school have to walk or cycle to and from the grounds on a daily basis.
I was in support of this idea, and was first speaker of the affirmative team.

My speech wasn't the exemplar of debating perfection, but I think it at least sounded good. My criticism is that it was too narrow; I focused on just one point, and even though I discussed it in detail, it was not a major part of our argument for this idea. I think now that it should have been mentioned it in passing, then briefly elaborated (if that makes sense) and that I should have focused on more relative issues (as in relative to youth)
I did write most of it the night before, so cut me some slack.

Anyway. You might be wondering what I was talking about in the previous paragraph. I focused on, surprise surprise, pollution. You know, how the air pollution caused by cars is damaging the environment, and of course I mentioned global warming. You can probably see now what I mean. This subject was more of a bonus than a major issue to this topic- not something a whole speech should be related to.
Most of these doubts probably stem from the fact that the council members smiled and nodded their heads appreciatively and approvingly while my partner Seamus spoke, but didn't for me.
Yeah, we had two on two debate.
The other team was Tania and Gabrielle.
This debate wasn't marked, but I think that we would have won, solely based on the fact that the other two were less confident.

Confident, you say? Of course. When I first heard (an hour before the debate) that we would be speaking in front of the year 7 and 8 assembly, as well as the deputy mayor, I got nervous, and freaked out. When I walked into the auditorium, I got a few butterflies, but when I got on the stage, I didn't feel nervous at all. I'm serious, I felt utterly normal and at ease. It was such a pleasant surprise!

I think I gave quite a good delivery, and now I am looking forward to doing it better the next time.
I'm not going to bore you with the whole speech, so keep reading, but I am going to type up a paragraph or two.

Just a few chemicals car exhaust fumes contain are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and benzene. These substances have been shown to produce affects on blood and bone marrow, These chemicals are in the air you breathe, and your blood can carry more than just oxygen. How do you feel to know that those chemicals may very well be inside you right now, interfering with red blood cell formation and shortening the life span of the cells of which you are made?

It's simple; it's obvious: reduced driving= reduced emissions. Making students walk of cycle to school is a way we can do our part to protect environment, and our own health. 2km is a short distance and can be easily traversed in 20 minutes, at a leisurely pace.
Every little bit counts,and an action such as this would make a good contribution, as well as setting a positive example and upholding our reputation of being oh-so clean and green. I hope you are aware of the damage car emissions are doing to the environment and our health, but also understand the small actions needed to target this problem. Students living within a 2km radius of their school should walk or cycle there, and I trust you now see why.

So, what do you think? Pretty snazzy, huh?

Speeches

Speeches. Public speaking. Most people cringe at the mention of those words. I've heard it's the biggest fear of the adult population. Getting up there, in front of everybody, everyone staring at you...well, it doesn't worry me one bit. I used to be scared, but now I have decided to enjoy it. Now I am focusing on improving, and becoming a great public speaker, not just someone who can do it.

For this year's speech in English class I decided to do the speech on The Brain. My topic wasn't that broad, we only had 3-5 minutes, but that's what I told anybody that asked. My speech was about sight and the brain. I mentioned three cognitive phenomenons intertwined with a lot of lame jokes.
This, I think, was my best speech so far. First of, the topic seemed to fit all the criteria. I found it interesting, it was relative, there were audience interactions, it was even humorous. My presentation went pretty much by the book, too. The beginning grabbed the audiences attention, I spoke slowly and clearly (thanks, debating), made eye-contact and varied my tone and pitch.

It wasn't perfect, though. I completely mucked up the start of one topic, and ended up saying 'sorry, I'll just start that again'. The most horrible bit was a certain movie that buffered for about a minute. I hadn't planned for that. I talked for a little bit, then asked if anyone had questions. It was so awkward. I freaked out- if my speech had been a joke, that clip was the punchline. It finally came on though, what a relief!

The main pre-speech worry was also concerning this video. It relied on people not paying attention, and I was worried that it wouldn't work. That everyone would just see the thing and I would be ruined. Luckily, that did not occur. Everyone, expect Seamus in Josh (who I still doubt) performed just as scientists had predicted. The people in my class liked the video and the flicker image; it was nice to pull something off.
The first experiment didn't work though- no one saw the black flash. My friends and some lovely people in my class put their hands up anyway. I think to see the flash requires time and concentration.
I'm remembering all the bad stuff now, ew!
Next speech, also, I have to remember my slides (and not have a picture of a clock pop up right after you;ve finished talking about it).

Anyway, here are a few excerpts from my speech. It was a lot better than I have made out, I am quite proud of myself.

-clears throat-

It’s over three quarter’s water.

It weighs about 1.4 kilo.
It can’t feel pain and it generates more electrical impulses in one day than all the phones in the world.
YOUR BRAIN

You and those 100 billion neurons share the most intimate relationship possible. That slimy organ is how you interact with the world around you. It enables you to see and smell, touch and hear, think and remember, and of course, it controls your vital functions. In my speech today, I am going to focus on sight and the brain.

Okay, so you might think that you and your brain are like best friends. I mean, you’ve known each other forever. It must be on your side, and of course it would tell you the truth, right? Wrong.

Yes, your brain is initially on your side, but sometimes, it deceives you, distorts your view of the world, and, well, sometimes, it’s just plain lazy.

If you want to see something amazing, click here. Look at the clip and count the number of passes the team in white shirts makes to one another. Don't cheat. Read the paragraph after. Do it.

Alright, how many did you count? But who saw the gorilla? No one saw the gorilla?
I’m not crazy, watch it again, and look out for the person in the gorilla suit.

This is the most famous example of inattention blindness, conducted at the University of Illinios by Daniel Simmons and Christopher Charbris.

What you have just experienced is known as ‘inattention blindness”. Basically, you haven’t got enough attention to go around. You are too busy concentrating on one thing, to notice something you would usually. To work, though, the distraction has to be unexpected. Real-life examples of inattention blindness happen everyday. Ever heard some involved in a car accident saying that they ‘simply didn’t see’ the other car?

During my speech today, I hope I have taught you something. I trust that you now understand that seeing really isn’t believing. Perhaps, I have even helped you begin to realise how amazing, yet not always factual, the human brain is.

But I know I have succeeded, because next time you find yourself in fourth block, staring at the clock, you’ll think of me, and some half remembered garbage about your brain and you eyes.

What a relief

It's the holidays. They are finally here!
What a complete relief. Two blissful weeks await.
It's only four minutes to two this Saturday, and my day has already been truly holiday-esque. I woke up around the usual time, and then, luxuriously, went back to sleep. When I finally did awake, it was to the smell of pancakes. What a delight! I dozed, the warm, sweet scent lingering about me, feeling rather at peace with the world. It such a simple pleasure; stretching among the cozy sheets of my bed, opaque light streaming through my curtains.

After I could no longer resist the smell of the wholemeal pancakes, I hopped out of bed, and greeted my family. The smell was stronger out in the lounge, and air slightly smoky; it was all quite delicious. After a warm serving of these treats, accompanied by vanilla yogurt, I went back to bed and read my book. I am currently engrossed in the vampire romance, Twilight. I started yesterday afternoon, and I have already flipped page 200.
I love being really into a book, when the character's thought are yours, and you can lose yourself among the story for hours. Reading, among other things, is how I relax.

I eventually pulled myself away from Bella and Edward to get dressed. It put on my new blue jumper, which is long, and has about 7 multi-coloured stripes across it. The garment sounds horrid, but it actually is nice. We were going to go visit my grandfather in hospital. He has just had a operation, bless him. My dad is not feeling to well himself, and we agreed that it was inconsiderate to go to a hospital when you have the flu.

As an alternative course of action, we went to buy circus tickets. I'm so excited. Better yet, we are in VIP ring-side seats. We're going tonight; it's going to be such a blast.
We went then to go and buy fish'n'chips, which I really wasn't in the mood for. We went down to the beach, and I had some overly-oily, heart-disease-causing chips and a potato fritter. Our family doesn't usually ever eat like this, and this meal was just another confirmation of why.

When we returned home, my brother and I went to shoot hoops in the garden. We have been doing this daily for the last couple of days. It is another way just to unwind, and I always feel so guilty being inside when it's beautiful out.
I then read some more. A little while later, I decided to temporarily leave Forks to write this blog entry.

For the first time in ages, Ms. Wilson checked our blogs on the Smart Board in class. My link didn't even work, but she congratulated people who had just one entry this month, so I think I'm fine.

Oh, another thing. Guess what I dreamed about last night? No, not another chemistry nightmare. We, as in our class, were sitting in our science class, and Ms. Wilson called me over. She then informed me that she wanted me to do both NCEA Level 1 and 2 next year. I freaked out, and just kept saying 'What!' over and over again. Then I started explaining to her about the sun expanding and encompassing Earth in 11 billion years, and then it kind of got hazy.
Dreams are fascinating, don't you think? Either way, my parents still laughed at me when I told them about it.

I guess that's all for now. These holidays are going to be great. I'm going to hang out with my friends lots, go to the beach heaps, and read a number of good books.
And, if you hadn't already came to this conclusion; yes, I am feeling rather optimistic.