Skiing

I feel like I'm in a snowglobe as I leisurely ski down the slope. The icicles hanging off the green tree branches, the early morning sun, the soft, gently falling snow...it just all seems too perfect! I speed up as I go over the next rising hill, my skis falling down the steep other side of the slope, wind starting to knife through my hair, my helmet, the seemingly thin layers of my jackets underneath my ski coat. I tuck and speed up even more, savoring the feel of going fast-maybe even faster then I've ever gone before. By now the wind is roaring at my ear, snow stinging my face and coating my goggles as I feel the rush of adrenaline and fear that I get from skiing this fast. I struggle to control my skis, going out of control. The next hill rises up and the drops down again, my skis seemingly leaving the ground and my stomach rising into my throat as the ground below speeds towards me. Suddenly, a person comes out of nowhere in front of me. I freak, trying not to hit them, and come to an abrupt stop, trying not to spin out, putting every single bit of my energy into stopping. I hear an angry yell as the person behind me realizes that they were almost hit by me. The wind stops howling and the harsh wind gets softer as I skid to a stop. Finally, I am all alone, lying on a soft hill of snow, and the snow that is gently falling gets illuminated by the perfect, sparkling, snowglobe-type sun.

Sorta Like a RockStar

Over break I read Sorta Like a Rockstar  by Matthew Quick. This book was about an eighth grade girl named Amber who lives alone with her mom and her dog, after being kicked out of her mom's boyfriend's last house (which Amber blames on herself) they have taken to living on a bus, homeless. Her mom turns into an alcoholic and secretly a drug addict, and Amber's only chance to be normal is when she goes over to her friend Ricky's house, who is wealthy and has a successful mother who Amber basically idolizes. Over the course of the book, Amber  saves her favorite teacher from being fired, teaches a group of Korean People english, visits old people in a retirement home, and accidentally stumbles across a strange, traumatized, Haiku Writing War veteran who actually becomes one of her best friends. Then a tragedy happens and her whole entire life is changed.
This book was actually REALLY GOOD. It had some mature topics, but really not that bad and the characters were great. I would call this book realistic fiction, and would also recommend it to almost everyone in the class.
Books that I want to read:
If I Stay
Looking For Alaska
Rethinking Normal
Book that I got as a present:
I got this book as a present and...
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Kindred Week Two

I finished reading Kindred by Octavia Butler for book groups this week, and it was really good. If you didn't read my book blog from last week, Kindred is about a black woman who gets transported back in time to slavery times. She is trying to save her ancestor Rufus from dying. She goes back multiple times, sometimes with her husband, sometimes not, but every single time has to face the prejudices of being a black women, who would be a slave in that time, who is married to a white man. This book was REALLY good. The ending was a total surprise, the plotline was really good, and you really cared about the characters. Overall I would recommend this book to people who don't mind reading about a few mature topics.

Cabaret

Once upon a time, there was a group of people. They were rushing around, missing entrances, and forgetting lyrics on stage. Their timing was off, the band was exasperated, and they had no idea how to serve. These people were us in the days leading up to the Cabaret.
But we actually pulled it off. Thursday was amazing, and just reminded me why I love performing so much. I've done it enough to not be nervous anymore, or to be able to ignore my nerves if I am, but I still think that it's so much fun to be completely in control of the situation; if you mess up, everything falls apart, if you do well, then everything is okay. Friday night was one of my favorites; it was stressful, one of our people was sick and we had to fill in for him, and we pulled it off perfectly. I loved it because it was just awesome to be nervous, and then do something anyways, and it was just great experience. The matinee was also great; it honestly went by in a blur. Finally closing night came and went super fast and well, except for as the lights dimmed down on our final solo, I finally realized that the show was over, and then I was depressed, but still.
Thanks to everyone who came, everybody who helped us, and everybody who performed with me; I had A LOT of fun.

Kindred

This week, for a book group, I read Kindred by Octavia Butler. This book is someone who gets randomly taken back in time to a river. She sees a child drowning and goes and saves their life. Half a second later, she gets transported back to her apartment in New Jersey, in 1976. She is constantly transported back and forth in time for the next week, sometimes with her husband, sometimes by herself, but she comes to realize that she is being taken back in time to the early 1800s, which is potentially disastrous for her, because she is black. This book so far is really good, one of the best ones that I have ever read for a book group. You really care about the characters, in 1800 and 1976, and it seems really realistic, even though it can be confusing at times. Overall, this book has some but not too much mature content, is really interesting, and really good.

Unfair: Math Test

I close the door behind me, actually upset. It's just not fair! I had told my math teacher that I was coming in the next day to finish my test, but he instead of listening to me, had graded it before I was done. It was a friday, I had just finished shadowing at a high school, and I was exhausted, but I still made the effort to come 45 minutes all the way to Logan to finish my test. All I ever hear about is "make sure you guys come in to finish your test; I want you to do well", and now that I actually walked up to my math teacher the previous day and told him that I was coming after school to finish it, he had apparently ignored me and decided to grade it anyways, denying that I had said anything of the sort. It was obvious that he felt bad for me, and it probably wasn't his fault; he gave me my possible corrections early, but still. I got a 14 out of 20; if I had finished it that would have become noticeably higher.
Most of the time when things are unfair, you can do something about it, and you should. But sometimes  there's nothing that you can do. I argued with my math teacher, and tried to tell him that it was unfair, but he didn't listen. I made up a lot of points on my corrections, so at the end of the day it wasn't that big of a deal. Then you just have to try and learn from it, accept it, and move on.

I Am Malala

This week I read I am Malala by Malala Yousafzi, co-written by Christina Lamb (which btw is a lot more boring name then Malala Yousfazi). It is non-fiction. First of all, this is a book that I would definitely not normally read. Even so, it was really good. For those of you who don't know, Malala is a Pakistani girl who was 16 at the time when she stood up for woman's education in Pakistan and was promptly shot in the head. After that, her life got crazy; she has to deal with a devastating brain injury, trying to survive the shot, and moving to Great Britain and America, and the rush that comes with being famous. This book was really good, but kind of gets off to a slow start, so don't be surprised when it does start very slowly. This book doesn't have to many mature references, but she did live in Pakistan in experienced some pretty unfair things there, and was shot in the head, so there is that; but not much. It is probably fine for anyone in the class; it's a great book. Malala was very likable at the end, even if not so much at the beginning, and seems like a cool person. Overall, I would totally recommend this book to people.
My Next Books:
Kindred (book group)
Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Counting By Sevens
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock