The 142nd Running for the Roses

Saturday, as you should well know, was the much-famed Kentucky Derby! This high-grade stakes race has now been run for 142 years (since 1874) and is the universal symbol of prestige in the Sport of Kings. It's run at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, under the white twin spires, where everyone dresses up in tuxedos for the guys and nice dresses plus ridiculous flowered hats for the girls. It's highly traditional, and yes, the winner's flower blanket is made of roses- hence the nickname "Running for the Roses". The field (horses competing) is usually around 20- that's the maximum number- and they're all colts. The Kentucky Derby for fillies is a different race, and is called the Kentucky Oaks, held the day before the Derby.
Now, last year, the racing community was blessed with the great Triple Crown champion American Pharaoh, who miraculously conquered the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes and ridded us of the 37-year Triple Crown drought that we'd had between Affirmed (1978) and the Pharaoh (2015). Every year after a horse wins the Triple Crown, the hype is intense to see if the new Derby winner is good enough for the entire Crown. In that 37-year drought, though, a disappointed crowd saw close to that many Triple Crown hopefulls fall short, either at the Preakness because of a muddy track, or at the long mile-and-a-half track at Belmont. American Pharaoh had what it takes, and hopefully he'll pass that on to his foals. But the question of the times is whether or not our dear new winner- Nyquist- will have that extra spark, too. 
Nyquist ran at a quick pace, clocking 1:10 at the 3/4 mile mark, and won by about a length. He was the favorite, although a Japanese newcomer was also attracting a lot of attention (that all went away when he broke last and stayed last the whole race). Now, after the race, journalists are saying that Nyquist may indeed win the Triple Crown this year. I hope he does. That'd be two consecutive years of history. 
And of course, for your enjoyment, we've gotta have Derby pictures.

www.courier-journal.com
Run, baby, run.

www.thoroughbreddailynews.com
Hey there...

So in a nutshell, the 142nd Derby was quite the time. Unfortunately I didn't have the money/time to actually get out there and actually experience it at the Downs; maybe someday. In the meantime, however, what's going to happen as far as the Triple Crown goes this year?! We're all waiting, and since we still have 2 weeks or so until the Preakness, don't speculate too hard. Keep looking at ESPN Horse Racing, and re-watch Nyquist's Derby run on YouTube. We'll see if someone can decode this horse's running strategy sometime before June. I honestly know close to nothing about this horse's habits, but hope for a good mudder- the Preakness is often muddy! Last year, it was both raining and flooded. A water main had started leaking a few blocks away.

So that's all I have for the periodical Thoroughbred column. Check back at ESPN for more!

3 Malls, 1 Day

Mallscape- by me

Lots of shopping took place during the break. I ordered a new suitcase for the Hawaii trip, which is expected to arrive on Monday or so. Then, Wednesday was the shopping day we take every week-long break from school. It was mainly to stock up on new summer clothes for marching band, although I did drag my parents through the Lego store as well. Every time we visit that particular mall, I make sure we spend at least 10 minutes in there. It's traditional. 
Anyway, you're probably wondering why I titled this '3 Malls, 1 Day'. I called it that because it's true. The items on my list were t-shirts and shorts, sunglasses, and shoes. All of this is spread between JC Penney, Dillard's and Charming Charlie (where I like to get my sunglasses). In the nearest large city, there are 3 major malls; one has JC Penney while the other 2 don't, one has Dillard's and Vans, and the last one has Charming Charlie. So what could we do but visit all three? 
My dad had work, so he took off around 8 in the morning. My mom and I enjoyed a more leisurely breakfast (you got to stock up on energy before you shop), then left for JC Penney. They did indeed have their summer juniors collection in, although I couldn't find a certain style of shorts that I wanted! They're the right length (not too short or long) but they weren't there, so I settled for a pair of Bermuda-style shorts instead. I got t-shirts, too, like I had wanted. That was all we needed at that particular mall, so we went to Charming Charlie next, where they sell everything you could want in jewelry and such. Most of it's real gaudy and silly and impractical, but it's fun to look at and I do like their sunglasses. My old pair of leopard-print aviators from them survived an entire marching season, so that's saying something. I got a new pair of aviators- white this time- and then was dragged into Sur La Table by my mom to look at kitchen stuff. This didn't bother me really, but I was distracted by the distracting thing that is Vans, waiting for me at yet another mall. I was patient.
Après (after) our visit to the kitchen store, we embarked on our journey to the 3rd and final mall of the day, which housed many things that were of use: Vans, Dillard's, Apple, Cheesecake Factory, Lego, etc. This was where my dad was meeting us at 3 o'clock so we could all look at Vans, because that's fun. But first my mom and I went up to Dillard's to see if we could seek redemption in the form of shorts. With luck, we found a pair (NOT for $98) and got out of that department store just in time to meet my dad, who was waiting for us outside the Container Store. We all went around the corner to Vans and perused their rows of shoe shelves; we had fun picking out the wackiest pair (the chicken-and-waffles print ones won). But there was also the important business of looking for the pair I wanted! Yes, they were there. AND THEY WERE ON SALE!!! What luck! We did get them, but much to my chagrin they're a birthday present so I can't wear them- or see them again- until June. Oh well. I can wait (there's only 8 weeks of school left, by the way). After Vans, we went to the Lego store where they finally had the new Star Wars sets in stock, which I also want for my birthday. Then, since my dad also wanted shoes but didn't fit into Vans, we drove to DSW to look at running shoes for him. I kept trying to get him to buy a pair of Converse low-tops, but he wasn't into those, really. Instead he ordered a pair of Nikes while we were waiting for our food back at The Cheesecake Factory. After eating our dinner there and going to get ice cream for desert, we drove back home. And such ended our day in which I visited- and bought stuff from- three different malls. It was quite an interesting experience. 

How To Entertain Yourself When You're Sick

Guess what: I caught another cold this past weekend. I think it was because of the finals I had to take last week (a test per day). I was up late studying and I've proven the fact that I get sick when I stay up too late multiple nights in a row. I stayed home on Monday and would have stayed yesterday, too, had I not had a band concert. It was fun as all concerts are, but the sickness tainted it a bit. Today I had to make up the 2 tests I missed on Monday. But the time on Monday was plentiful enough to make me long for things that were actually interesting to do while sick. I found some. 
1. Take note of the assignments you miss. At least write them down. Depending on how you feel, you might like to actually do some, but you don't have to. When you're sick, take it easy. (I guess this isn't fun, but it's something you should do nonetheless.)
2. Food for thought! Look at something and let your mind carry you through the thought process after that. Easy. Somehow, at some point, I wound up wondering the meaning of the word 'cosmopolitan' and learned something new. My other favorite food for thought is what the world's going to do when we run out of petroleum. That means no more plastic, peeps! More on this in a later post. 
3. Travel the world. You don't have to leave your house. Browse places you want to go in Google Maps. I looked all around the island of Oahu and through the Honolulu airport (for some reason), where I'll be in about 9 months. I also wanted to look up American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands too, but I fell asleep before I could get to those.
4. Remember happy times. I like to think about marching band, pep band, band practices, etc. Laughing at Romeo and Juliet in English class. Traveling I did with my family. Parties and end-of-year stuff long past. Conversations that have stuck with me. Things like that.

As in, I still remember all the memories. (Mine)

5. Coloring. It isn't just for little kids. Get one of those newfangled complex coloring books. All the time you have when you're sick might be the only time in your life that you have for coloring! I colored in a few sheets out of a travel-size Japan-themed book I got at Barnes and Noble a while ago.
6. Write lists. Do you assemble mental lists of things to do, things you want to buy, ideas you want to remember? Write them down. NOW. Otherwise, if you're at all like me, you're bound to forget.
7. Browse blogs. Search "(insert subject here) blogs" and find some new reading material. I read random blogs on anything I can find, pretty much. 
7.5. Window shop. Look at stuff you want to buy. Or, if you have money, buy it.
8. Stay away from binge-watching TV or movies. 1 or 2 is fine, but no more. Your eyes don't need any more strain than they usually get. That being said, don't spend the whole day traveling the world or reading blogs or shopping. Do something else away from the screen, too.
9. Write poetry or a book or a research paper. WRITE SOMETHING. I wrote a really downright long, horrible poem. It was called "Soliloquy for Brass" and I promptly shredded it to bits. But it took up time, and that was the point.
10. Sleep. Obviously, this is the best of all of these fun time-wasters.
If you're sick, get better. If you're just reading this, then... hey there. Whatever.

What's Up With Society?! (1st Edition)

Like it or not, there are LOTS of things wrong with our American society. Someone- likely my generation- is going to have to deal with the whole mess sooner or later. Over the rest of the year I'll blog about the big problems. But at the moment I feel like talking about a milder problem: guys. 
No, boys themselves are not society's problem, despite their occasional stupid actions. The problem is that the general dating age creeps closer and closer to the younger end of the teenage years. It causes problems. 
One: it takes you away from schoolwork. For example, I could be out on a date right now if I was going out with a boy, but I'm not, and therefore I can write this and study for my math quiz and go to bed on time. This is why I have a 4.0 GPA. You can handle both dating and school at once, but it's not easy and furthermore not recommended by me.
Two: we don't really need to be dating at our age (14 and 15). At this point we hardly understand love yet. You have your whole life in front of you. There isn't a rush. The one reason I could find to break this is if you sort of start dating a good friend and end up in a nice, relaxed relationship that's fairly genuine and lasts more than 3 weeks. That's fine. But since I am not blessed with such a good friend, I'm content with not dating for the moment.

By me.
Note: Don't take these examples seriously, they're just examples. (Meaning, they're not from my real life.)

I'm unsure of why girls my age get to be so obsessed with guys. What's the big deal? To be completely honest, guys get to be completely obnoxious at this age (with only a tiny few exceptions). I wouldn't ever date most of them. And yet the popular girls worry about how they look and everything ALL THE TIME, so everyone around them gets dragged into it. I have to listen to it and be annoyed. That's not cool, and that brings about the whole popularity topic. That problem with dating at this young age is that a lot of the popular guys that the popular girls go after are not cool. They say stupid things or try to impress everyone and end up looking unbelievably stupid or are just all-around nasty. I find that when 2 of these popular people "pair off" it lasts about 3 weeks- that's being generous- and it's only done to impress. Always to impress. It's an enormous popularity contest. Yeah, they may like each other slightly, but the relationship just dissolves. Sometimes it's off looks. The "handsomest" popular guy dates the most "beautiful" popular girl. Yeah, right. I hate makeup and I don't care about reaping the benefits of it. I look fine as I am. This is a life lesson I learned from Romeo and Juliet: do not date someone solely off their looks. Also, people make a big deal out of things like homecoming and prom. Although there are benefits to going and not going: why? It's just a dance. 
Find someone whose personality compliments yours. If you're lucky, though, sometimes that comes with good looks, which is nice. Thank you kindly for that. But back to the point at hand.
WHAT is so wrong with dating someone you actually enjoy being around that maybe isn't as popular as you?! WHAT is so wrong with being single?! WHAT is up with society? WHEN did someone decide it would be a good idea to start dating for popularity?! WHY did someone ever say, "I'm dating this guy and I'm only 14!" 
WHY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
Nice guys are nice guys. They don't have to be popular. They like you and your personality. Everything about you. You like everything about them. YOU LIKE BEING AROUND EACH OTHER. YOUR FRIENDS DIDN'T TELL YOU TO DO IT. IT WAS YOUR CHOICE, AS IT SHOULD BE. YOU DIDN'T RUSH INTO IT. (ALL THESE REASONS ARE WHY ROMEO AND JULIET IS SOOO INFURIATING!!!!! IT MAKES ME ANGRY!!!)

Also by me. Also not an example from my life.

I'm not saying I don't have crushes. I've crushed on a lot of guys since I turned about 11- all types from actors in my old high school's musicals to major motion picture actors (not Leo DiCaprio! What was the big deal with him?!?) to loud guys with electric guitars to other guys in the marching band trumpet line (NO, of course I won't tell you who they are- eh, were!!). Crushes are fine. I have good reason to crush on the guys I do, although I hardly ever get to know them. Maybe that'll change. Maybe. Likely not.
Next complaint: there are lots of male-dominated things! Sports, music, businesses, LOTS of things. One of these is trumpet. In marching band, the only girls in the trumpets were me and my friend Elaine. All the other trumpets were guys. It REALLY bothers me that there aren't more girls in the brass section! We trumpets sit in the back row of the band, and the vast majority of the girls in band are up in the front in the clarinets and flutes. Girls, what's wrong with brass? Too intense?! Nah. It's nice and loud. :) It's okay that there aren't more girls that play brass instruments if they really don't like the sound, but traditionally it seems that the girls were in the high woodwinds and guys played everything else. Actually, even more girls played violin traditionally. I don't like that. Whatever. It just bothers me.

Again by me. But this one's a good example of lots of lives, including mine.

What? You want an explanation for all of this? ... Do you really need one? ...Yeah. I thought so.

Reasons Why Shakespeare Isn't Worth Your Time

Every 9th grader in the U.S. of A. reads Shakespeare. Most commonly Romeo and Juliet, the stupidest love story in the known universe. My parents read it. My grandparents read it. 
And now it's my turn.
I...highly dislike it. Why would anyone like to read Shakespeare, who manages to create the worst tragedies out of otherwise fine things? I have other reasons why Shakespeare isn't worth reading, too:
1. Over-dramatization. Apparently, hidden deep within the Old English, there's humor, but Shakespeare also over-dramatized. Mostly, he killed off characters mercilessly. On the wall of our English room there's a Shakespeare's death count poster. I think the worst is King Lear or Hamlet, with around 14 dead people by the end. In good stories, people (or other organisms) don't die.
2. Old English. Like, gross. You can't even tell what they mean unless you take the effort to go read on No Fear Shakespeare; and sometimes that's forbidden when we read as a class. Even then it's not an easy read. Well, how are we supposed to write an analytical compare-contrast essay if we can't discuss the meaning and comprehend the story in class?
3. Why on EARTH do connoisseurs of fine English call Shakespeare the 'Noble Bard'? Shakespeare is in NO WAY noble! One is not noble if you make people listen to lute music instead of actual, good music like U2. Also, the plots of his plays certainly aren't noble, they're sad or stupid or just plain out, "Why would anyone want to write or read this junk?!?"

TRUTH, drawn by me.

4. People always quote Shakespeare! There's a whole arsenal of other really great quotes out there that were NOT said by Shakespeare, get some out of there instead of reverting to Old [VERY OUTDATED] English. STOP SAYING THINGS SHAKESPEARE SAID BECAUSE HE WAS NOT COOL.
5. Shakespeare made up a way to TERRIBLY insult people with his Old English. Now, we are forced to insult each other in this way at the start of every English class while we read Romeo and Juliet. It's not fun and I think we shouldn't do it because the world could do to just chill out for a while. Even though our insults aren't meaningful, it's stressful. I always think, "Why are we faking insulting each other? Why even do that?" It's not funny. It's not cool. That part of class should seriously be discontinued, because it's just pointless and it's a waste of time.
That kind of turned into a rant, but Shakespeare is literally and truly stupid! Why even bother! If I'm ever an English teacher (which is highly unlikely), I WILL NOT force my students to read Shakespeare. I don't believe he has anything worthwhile to say to us. 
Now, on to the rant on Romeo and Juliet. This is literally the worst love story I know about. First, I get that in those times, girls were... married off... to rich guys when they were even younger than me (14). Still, that's rude and weird and not cool. Then, Romeo seems to be this really emotional, depressed guy who's really lovesick and just rushes between one intense crush and another. NOT GOOD. Chill, Romeo. Chill. You don't always have to be in love with someone (although maybe that's easy for me to say? I've been single my whole teenage life...I don't know). I don't like how quickly Romeo and Juliet fall for each other. And they get married just about the next day after they meet each other. What's with that?!? Weird, that's what, and a large reason Shakespeare isn't a good thing. It's also just not really possible. Yeah, there's love at first sight but even then... get to know someone before you marry them... I think they should have slowed down and done some compatibility checks with their personalities first. Because right after they get married Romeo gets in a fight and is exiled and then Juliet gets sad and drinks the potion-thingy and then Romeo comes back and thinks she's dead and then he kills himself and then Juliet wakes up and Romeo's dead and then she stabs herself and it ends in a big, sad, stupid, why-did-I-waste-my-time-with-that MESS. That's not how the vast majority of love stories end. It's certainly not how they SHOULD or are SUPPOSED to end. 
If I'm wrong, correct me. But still. Even someone like me, who would find things like pep band romantic, wouldn't want a relationship to end like that. 
So basically, Shakespeare is just like, NOPE. I've given you ample reason.
(THIS IS TO YOU TOO, MR. PARKER. SORRY. SHAKESPEARE IS JUST NOT COOL.)

Travels

NOTE: THIS IS GOING TO BE A REEAALLLY LONG POST ABOUT TRAVELING SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ A LOT THEN JUST SKIM THROUGH IT.
Like many people my age, I like and appreciate traveling. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do very much of it in my lifetime, although things like band trips help. Then you get to leave the 48 contiguous United States for the first time and vacation on a tropical island with your family, the marching band. 
Shocking fact (for some of you): I have never been outside something like an 800-mile radius from where I live. That encompasses pretty much the west coast of the U.S. and nothing else. However, there are a lot of good things to see within that area and I've been to a lot of them. Here are some that I recommend to any traveling family:
McCall, Idaho
What it is: a small vacation/resort town built around beautiful and big Payette Lake, which accommodates motorboats, sailboats, and has a large, tidy marina. They also have a nice sandy beach area for swimmers. You can only go out about 8 yards into the water- the rest of the lake is for boats- but it feels nice in the summer. The lake's surrounded by montane forest with nicely smoky air in the summer. There are a few big mountain ranges around, but right near the lake you're in a nice valley with some rolling hills instead.
Where it is: Idaho, USA, about 100 miles above Boise
What's nice about it: The lake is really beautiful and it's a hopping resort town in the summer, so it's fun to roam around town and meet the other people that are vacationing there. There are a good few lakeside condos for rent right on the lake's shores (although those are ALWAYS reserved), and it's nicely designed to be a tourist destination. If you can't get one of the lakeside condos, there are also campgrounds for both tents and trailers just out of town, or there are nice vacation homes for rent. There are also a multitude of good restaurants and cafés. If you go over 4th of July weekend, be sure to get down to the beach on the night of July 4th to watch the huge fireworks display they do. Additionally, there's no shortage of rentals available, including but not limited to kayaks, canoes, mountain bikes, horses for trail rides, etc. There are also plenty of hiking trails outside the more built-up part of town. In short, you won't be bored here.
What's no so great: As most resort towns do, it gets super packed around the 4th of July and you have to drive awhile to get there. I believe it took us about 4 or 5 hours to get there from Boise, with several stops for gas along the way. It kind of depends on how fast you drive and how often you stop. Be prepared to wait in restaurants and cafés, especially during the evening rush, and always have a back-up plan in case something you want to do gets booked out before you get there or something else comes up. Also: CAUTION, boat owners! On the weekend of the 4th it gets pretty rough out there on the lake, and the lake police tow in many, many boats with unruly drivers. WATCH. YOUR. SURROUNDINGS. Resort town + crazy holiday = caution. That goes for anyone, really, be it with fireworks, boats, or televisions (more later on that). 
How my trip went: It was really great, other than the fact that we were sharing a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, too-small vacation home with about 16 other people. It was for a family reunion with my dad's side of the family. That being said, that vacation home was very nice and would have been really great without all the people in it. We weren't very organized, so we spent a good amount of our time sitting in various spots around the kitchen finishing breakfast and debating what to do. Also, we were the last ones of the family to get there and since our family all drove separately the garage was given to the first people to get there. We had to park in the street. I also have complaints about the mud room. I brought about 3 pairs of shoes on this trip- like everyone else- and the mud room was literally five feet square, and there wasn't a shoe rack. There was no point putting my shoes in the garage mudroom/washroom, because our car wasn't in there. Much to my dismay, the shoes in the front mudroom got mixed up and scrambled every time someone decided to come in or out, plus my cousins aren't very tidy due to their young ages. I ended up keeping all 3 pairs of shoes in my duffel bag, which was my whole suitcase during the trip. Also, the bathroom use was unevenly distributed: 5 people had the upstairs one, 4 people had the back downstairs one, and the other 9 of us rotated between the remaining main bathroom. But it was fun other than that! We would go do stuff around town in the morning hours and then come back for lunch and the afternoon. Some of the stuff we did in the mornings included a trip down to the lake beach to swim and a hike on a trail right outside of town. On 4th of July night we went to see the huge fireworks display. In the afternoons we kids would watch movies on the TV (be careful with how much you watch), play foosball on the table upstairs, and play outside in the backyard or in the spot next to the house on the mini-playground thing. For dinner we'd eat on the back patio (it was nice and warm well into the night), serve dessert, and then either go back inside or make liberal use of the hot tub on the patio. We were lucky with the weather too.
What to learn from my trip: 
Get a space big enough for your whole group.
Be prepared for delays, backed-up stuff, etc. especially if you go over a holiday.
Have a pretty solid plan. 
Schedule in time for driving.
Have fun with it!

Some of the beautiful scenery you'll see outside of town. Creds to my dad for taking this photo.

The waterfront + marina.
dmbrealtynetwork.com

Utah's 5 National Parks:
I have been to all five of these, although I don't remember going to Canyonlands because I was really young- like, 2 or 3. 
The one I remember best is Bryce Canyon because we've taken several camping trips there in the recent past. This one's pretty well known, as it's a photographer's heaven and it's one of the things people go see when they do the one-four-day-weekend-all-five-national-parks tour thingy. (Hint hint: I don't recommend doing that because you'll only have a tiny bit of time to spend at each park. NOT a good idea.) 
Where it is: Southern Utah. I think it's about 5 or 6 hours from Salt Lake City. 
What's nice about it: The entire park, of course, is cool for it's interesting displays of geology! But in terms of traveling there, the facilities are nice. The campgrounds accommodate both tents and trailers with a 10:00 pm no-generators time. There are bathrooms (not showers, those are elsewhere) in the campgrounds and it's pretty quiet, somewhat sheltered by huge pine trees. Each campsite has a picnic table, fire pit, and space for 1 or 2 4-person tents. Given that it's also close to the other 5 national parks you could easily go visit the other parks on the way in or on the way back.
What's not so great: You have to drive to one of the lodges for the showers, and a lot of the trails in the canyon itself are also super steep and difficult to hike if you're not an advanced hiker. Also, some people leave lights and stuff like their radios on for most of the night, so be prepared to be bothered by that. Additionally: DO NOT take a trip here during the monsoon season, which is early August! You'll get rained out every night when you go outside to cook dinner over the fire 'cause the rain hits around 4 or 5 every evening. I'd recommend July or June instead- then it wouldn't be as ridiculously hot either. The only other not-so-great thing is that in the summer it's always thronged with foreigners- meaning not Americans- and they try to ask you questions and of course since I don't speak Chinese-French-Spanish-Korean-WHATEVER, it gets a bit bothersome. Just try your best to help your fellow campers out as much as you can.
How my trip(s) went: I've taken several different trips here, all of them camping in a tent, and it was fun. Other than that one year when we managed to catch the monsoon rains and everything was pretty much permanently soaked, all our trips have been great. It's a bit cold in the morning, but that's to be expected. Nice red rocks down there. Very pretty, geologically speaking.
What to learn from my trip:
Always have a road map, especially if you haven't driven there before. (GPS's DO NOT COUNT!!! They'll take you on the longer route than is necessary.)
Go in the middle of the summer, when it's not raining all the time.
Don't try to hike all the trails unless you're a high-intensity trail runner or something; and also, don't try to see all 5 parks in one weekend. 
Be ready for foreigners, campfires, noisy generators, lots of people, etc.
If you've never been camping before, practice in your yard first and get advice from an experienced camper. (that really goes for any camping trip but whatever.) Also know how to set up your tent before you go. :)

Looking out/into the canyon.
www.vegas-online.de

Denver/Colorado Springs, Colorado
Where it is: Central/Northern/Western Colorado (I'm not sure exactly. Look on a map.)
What's nice about it: As the capital of Colorado, Denver and the surrounding areas (ex. Colorado Springs) have been built up pretty intensely but they have a lot of nice green space too. They have a nice downtown in Denver with offices for things like the Denver Post, shops and stores, a semi open-air mall, and more parking space than you could ever need. There's also a very nice street in front of the semi-open air mall that's open only to pedestrians and public transit, so you can walk and shop without having to be concerned about traffic and getting hit by cars while you carry your purchases back to your car! The other nice thing is the Park Meadows Center, in Lone Tree, which is a big, very nicely put together mall that has 2 of my favorite stores in it- Lego and American Girl! I highly recommend this mall to anyone looking to shop, or even just look around at clothes and Legos and stuff. Good restaurants there, too. I've been to Denver for the same dance competition for the past 2 years, and both times we went to this mall to shop and look at stuff. I think it's my favorite attraction of the Denver metro area. The other stuff I can recommend in Colorado is elsewhere. First I'd say, go ride the Pike's Peak Cog Railway. It takes you up the mountain to about 14,000 feet. They have a nice gift shop both at the bottom and the top, the trains are nice, and you can see all the way to Kansas once you get to the top. It's a long ride, so plan ahead, and it's expensive. Book your tickets well in advance because every train gets full. If you finance your trip, both in time and money, you'll be fine. If you do go, go in the summer because it's closed in the winter due to all the snow. And there's some snow on the summit year round, so don't wear summer clothes up there no matter how summery it may seem at the base. There are also a lot of good restaurants, most of them at the previously-mentioned mall, but my favorite one other than there is a small (emphasis on the small factor) pizzeria outside of Denver, in Old Colorado City (an outer part of Colorado Springs), called Pizzeria Rustica. It's very small and narrow, just a little shop in a row. It gets busy at dinner time and there aren't many tables, but it's worth waiting for because their pizza and appetizers are authentic and amazingly good. We also found a little independent Mexican place in Colorado Springs in a tiny strip mall that was actually surprisingly good because it was run by a Mexican family. Keep an eye out for things like that on any trip you take- you may strike gold!
What's not so nice: There are a TON of people and cars in the urban areas of Denver, causing a lot of clogs and congestion especially at rush hour, as with most urban areas. There aren't many super nice hotels outside of downtown, which are expensive, so create an account on Trip Advisor and look up other places you can stay (this past summer, we stayed in an apartment-thingy that these people had built off their house). Parking in downtown is also TERRIBLE. Get everywhere early so you can get the best space possible. The area's crowded. Etc. It IS a city, after all.
How my trip went: Both years that we went, I had a great time. It was fun for me, both for the dance competition, the shopping, and the fact that it was travel, which we hardly ever do. Overall it was just the kind of thing you can only describe with the word, "Great". 
What to learn from my trip: Pack and plan efficiently. Be ready for changes and/or delays due to weather, traffic, or other weird factors. Look for unexpected good things (ex. hidden restaurants). 

The downtown Denver cityscape.
www.mccormickbarstow.com

Places I want to visit, worldwide

• the British Isles
• France
• Hawaii
• Monaco
• Morocco
• California
• Kentucky
• Australia
• New Zealand
• the Caribbean 
• Italy
• Maldives
• Dubai

Downtown Dublin
www.curbfreewithcorylee.com

Countryside Ireland
theodysseyonline.com

Someday I will get to these places. As you may have guessed from the pictures of Ireland, the British Isles are one of my first priorities, because they fascinate me. Plus I can do a pretty good Irish accent, so I'd probably fit right in. 

Dubai and Monaco follow as the next places I want to go.

High-rises of Dubai
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Monaco + expensive yachts
www.slideshare.net

I'm not sure why I'm doing this post, perhaps because I wish for a trip of some kind right now. While drafting this I was sitting in my computer tech classroom listening to The Police (a popular 70's band) on Pandora and writing this, having finished everything else. My brain was pretty much shutting down for the weekend, and it isn't really willing to absorb or process much information.

I wish for summer.

I Built an X-Wing

My photos.

OK *sighs in relief* I know I just posted the "Assigned Thing", but that had to be done this weekend and I couldn't possibly leave it any longer due to the fact that I had good ideas for it and that it's due Sunday.
I am sorry to say that I have neglected this blog for a while due to a 4-day weekend last weekend and the weekend we just finished. Both times were very busy ones and I didn't bother to write stuff on here. I was working on a post on traveling before the 4-day weekend, but once the actual weekend rolled around I wasn't working on school stuff. I went to see Star Wars for the second time and went to the mall to look at Legos and stuff and I went to Barnes and Noble- I somehow managed to walk in and out of there without buying anything. I regret that now. But I'm going back over February break and will likely get the special-edition hardcover Star Wars book that's really pretty much a transcript of the movie plus some special freeze-frames in the middle on nice glossy pages. 
Other than all of that fun stuff, I survived the 3-day school week last week (there was standardized testing and for some reason we couldn't go to band), practiced trumpet, and built a prototype X-wing out of the Lego set I got for Christmas. This was perhaps the most monumental event of the weekend, as I did it in about 3 hours total and it was entirely of my own design. My dad came into my room while I was building, looked over my shoulder while I put on the finishing touches, and said, "Hmm... I think I know what I need to get you for your birthday now." I wonder what that meant. ;)
I also liked doing this because now I can say, "Yeah, I built an X-wing", all nonchalantly like they said, "Honey, I shrunk the kids" in that movie (which I happen to not remember). The minute I get home and finish my homework, I'm taking pictures of it on a nice white background. At the beginning of the year I promised myself I would use my mom's camera to take better pictures of stuff for this blog, so now you will be treated to high-quality, less grainy pictures off a Sony camera instead of the Photo Booth camera on my computer.
Ok, home now. Here are your photos.

From the side. 

From above.

The boarding ramp and spot for droids!

I'm not sure whether or not to be done with the building yet, because I have a lot of smooth plates and finishing pieces leftover and I want to make the whole thing as smooth as possible. I'll see what I can do. Like I said, it's hypothetical. There's not much space and it's not scaled to the Lego mini-figures, but if I had some more specialized pieces I could probably make it into a nice play set. The other problem is that the wings- s-foils- do move, but every time I try to move them I have to retract the wheels and the wings actually break off; the fastenings aren't too strong. 
Improvements needed, it's still pretty cool as far as viewing pleasure goes. For now I just move it around my room throughout the day as I need to, but after the first 2 weeks of February pass, I'll have break time from school during which I will build with Legos, finish this x-wing, listen to U2 and Coldplay, go back to the bookstore, and watch Episode VI of Star Wars since it'll be months until I see Episode VII again, as it doesn't come out on home video for quite a while. 
So, yes. I built an x-wing.

Assigned Thing

We as students in Honors English 9 have been assigned to "write a post that starts 'Dear ________' and fill in that person's name" (words of Mr. Parker, the teacher). Apparently it must be a person fairly famous in their field and someone that is somewhat related to the subject of our blog. Since I cannot think of anyone who is famous for being in a marching band, I write (and dedicate) this post to Daisy Ridley, who was cast as Rey in the recently-released Episode VII of Star Wars. Sorry. Can't think of anyone else.
Dear Daisy Ridley, 
I am not a significant person. I'm a high school girl with a blog for an English class and who loves band. 
I'm just another person that hasn't written you (or anyone) fan mail. One point of this letter to you is to tell you that there are lot of hidden fans out there; we just don't speak up. We are the introverts, the people without social media, the people that haven't bothered to reach out into the world, but, rather, observe it as it comes. This totally includes me, as I have an outdated flip phone that only texts and calls, and no desire to excessively peruse the Internet.
My being an introvert and a normal fear of mockery probably prevents me from reaching out to people, but I do have a group of great friends that couldn't be better for me. We are all in school band together. I play trumpet. My summer family is my high school marching band. The rest of my trumpet section very kindly got me started playing brass last summer. This December we're going as a band to Hawaii for the 75th anniversary Pearl Harbor Parade.
More stuff about me that's important in my life is music, horses, Star Wars (why I'm writing to you), Legos, and the like. Things I enjoy are marching band, Converse sneakers, aviator sunglasses, summer, sleep, good music, movies, shopping (not too much), and reading. I appreciate the upper-classmen in marching band and my band teacher for having infinite patience with me while I learned trumpet. I also look forward to hearing our high school's Varsity Jazz band play their awesome music. It's all great. I don't appreciate annoying guys, excessive loud blasts of noise out of the trombone section, and waking up early for school. Can't I just stay here in my soft bed and watch Star Wars?! Things I don't understand include hashtags, time, and the lack of girls that play brass instruments. Things that exist but aren't things include (but aren't limited to) Twinkies and Twinkie makers, Nose Basketball, Liquid Trust, and really, truly, completely playable drum t-shirts (see all of these here at Sparknotes). Things I learned today include multiple characteristics of mathematical functions, how NOT to entertain your classmates while trying to memorize poems (don't draw horses for them), and that Oscar Issac is from Guatemala (while looking at IMDb for you, actually).  

My constant conundrum when I go to buy a trumpet
All 3 trumpet pictures via http://www.cannonballmusic.com

Not that any of that is important. 

This is supposed to be about you. To be totally honest, I was a bit surprised but more than equally delighted with the fact that The Force Awakens had Rey as a key character and the first female protagonist we've seen in a highly-anticipated movie for ages. I think you did a good job as Rey. The only complaint I have about The Force Awakens is that the plot's the same as in the first movies, but that's nothing to do with you, that's my complaint to Disney. 
Anyhow.
I look up to you as a cool talented person, another actress we all know, and an integral part of the Star Wars family- cast, crew, fans, and all. 
All I really have to say to you is, you've broken into the film industry and will always be remembered as Rey. I wish you a successful rest of your film career. Perhaps someday I'll see you in the film industry if and/or when I possibly become a sound engineer, director of photography, set designer or the like. Etc. 
If you ever do happen to find this, you're amazing. And if not, that's OK. I'm simply yelling my thoughts into a void that will never be full. And it can stay empty. Just keep doing what you are- being a great actress.
Because like they say, it's the thought that counts. I've sent my thoughts out. Now it's simply up to you (and the online world) to find them.
--Emma
P.S. Jazz is a seriously cool middle name.

Dance Regionals- Part 2

I really kind of don't want to finish this story, as it happened so long ago, but I suppose I must and should, so as not to keep you waiting too far into this new year. At this point it was almost two months ago that I was dancing (where has the time gone???), but I haven't forgotten any of the details, really. I left off in Dance Regionals- Part 1 where I had figured out that I had recalled- meaning I had placed somewhere in the top six out of the fourteen in my competition- and was thus waiting for awards, which were supposed to be at 4 p.m. 
By the time I had found out about my recall, I think it was about 10 in the morning. I had danced at 7:30 or 8 and had been up since 4 a.m, but the excitement of the day kept me going. 
(Note: I've been composing this post for more than 2 months, too- I don't really want to finish it in great detail so I'll just prioritize and finish.)
I did recall, one of only 6 out of the 14 original competitors in my competition. Then we waited many hours for awards, which were initially delayed about an hour, but I did get an event sweatshirt while we were waiting, as well as folding a bunch of little origami stars. I didn't bother with homework until the next day, which was Saturday and thus the weekend. Awards started at about six in the evening and by the time I came out of there it was 7 or 8 o'clock and I had gotten second place. Yay. I got a nice white sash and a small vase made of irish crystal. 
Yep. It was cool, and I'm glad I got to do it. 

Irish stuff. In the middle: dance shoes. On the right: a spiral, or triskelle, as the ancient Celts called it. 

WAIT- guess what else is Irish? The popular 80's band U2! You may or may not believe that, but it's true. All of the original band members hail from Dublin, the capital of Ireland. One time my dad was in Ireland for a business trip and him and his colleagues were walking through Dublin looking for a good place to have dinner. One of his colleagues requested that they go to a place that was playing irish music- and he meant the kind that we dance to (traditional), not stuff like U2. And so on they walked. Sometime soon after that they walked up to a pub that was playing U2. My dad, who was the only one in the group that knew U2 was Irish, said, "Hey- there's some Irish music!" He told us that he said it jokingly, but even then he got some weird stares from his co-workers. So, yeah. There's your random factoid of the day. And yes, I got second place at dance regionals this year. 8)
Goodbye. :)

Dance Regionals- Part 1

Last Friday, (a week ago today) I spent my day at a convention center instead of at school. This was because of an event that translates from its natural language of Irish as regionals for Irish dance. The actual word for this is oireachtas (o-ROCK-tus), the literal meaning of which is legislature, or gathering. This is quite right, as the country is divided into several main regions, and each region is very big. It's fun, though!
It was a large day for me. I had to get up at 4:00 a.m. just to do my hair and makeup. This is a long process, yet one that yields quite some results. See below:

Me trying to do precision eye makeup at 4 a.m. while my mom does my hair.

My mom helped me do my hair while I worked on makeup. By the way, all of those curls are NOT- I repeat, NOT- my real hair! It's a curly wig that, like most irish dancers, I pin onto my real hair. The only part of my real hair that you can see is that darker poof at the top and in the front. It takes many bobby pins to pin this onto my head, and oftentimes they disappear into the wig itself. We lost a few pins that morning, but it was all good in the end. Many thanks to my mom for doing this for me. Without that help, I probably would have lost all the pins in my possession and then bad things would have happened. But, after the process of all of this hair-and-makeup, I packed everything up in our car, grabbed some pumpkin-chocolate muffins (small ones) for breakfast, and off we went. I also finished my makeup in the car.
When we got there it was about 7:00 a.m. Not many people were there yet because the larger competitions didn't start until later in the day, but I was perfectly fine with this because once all the dancers at a single Oireachtas get to the venue, they take up much space. This can be owed to the fact that we must lug around our dress bags. They look like this because our dresses have wide skirts.

Anatomy of a dress bag.

So we found a spot to put our stuff in the ballroom that I would be dancing in, and I started to get ready. I still had about an hour and a half, plus one competition before me, so I kind of just warmed up in a corner and put my shoes on and just diddled around a bit. When the competition before me commenced (too formal, sorry!), I put my dress on and kept warming up. I know that this must seem like a lot of warming up to some of you, but it's actually really important for us dancers to stay warm before you dance and in between dances, if that applies to you. 
At somewhere around 9:00 a.m., we got called over side stage to wait for the final few minutes before we danced. We line up in numerical order and then the backstage helpers categorized us by dance. See, there are many- M-A-N-Y- different set dances, as mine was called, and we dance three at a time. So we have to know what dance each person is doing so that the musicians will play the right music at the right speed and so that you'll be able to dance the dance you've been practicing for months. It always works out in the end. I was in the second round of five (there were only 14 people in my competition, compared to 150 in others), so I kept warm while the first round went, and then I was up on the stage. It went by SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fast. I don't remember much of it, except that I could hardly get any sound out of the stage. Overall my round was good though! I was happy enough with it. 
The rest of the day was pretty much waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more. But, as my dance teacher said in her pre-regionals email, "Wait many hours for awards and enjoy the experience." I think that this is very good advice. The anticipation of finding out how you placed is quite enough to sustain you through the long wait time. It was great. Now, before I could know what place I got, I had to recall. The recalls are a way of narrowing down the field of competitors to the top dancers. These dancers are then placed. So I waited for the recall list. 
But considering the time right now I think I will stop. To be continued...

The story stops here for a while...

Snow

Have I ever mentioned before that I love snow! I do, and I mean a lot. But only in the winter months of November, December, and January! After that, I'm good with it melting.

Wait... did I say only in the winter months??! Well, duh, it snows in the winter! Do excuse me. Here's what it looks like out my bedroom window right now. 

SNOW. Creds to me.

Anyway, I LOVE snow. I also like summer, though, because of marching band and swimming pools. So I presume that my favorite months are summer and winter. The two extremes. 

The problem with the extremes, though, is that they have downsides, too. Here are some:

Summer:

Good:

1. You can swim outside.

2. Marching band!

3. No school, no homework. Just band.

4. Unlimited time to practice music.

5. Birthdays! (Actually, my entire direct family's birthdays are in May, June, July, and August!)

6. The Triple Crown- Kentucky Derby in May, Preakness and Belmont in June.

Bad:

1. Really hot. 

2. Not winter, which means not Christmas and no snow. 

Winter:

Good:

1. SNOW!

2. Christmas

3. Christmas music in band!

4. Not as hot as summer.

Bad:

1. No marching band.

2. Cold. Last year, the lowest temperature I saw on my thermometer was -20º F.

3. My friends obsess about skiing. 

4. School until Christmas break. 

Oh well. Disregarding these things, both extreme seasons are very nice. I love them both. 

Yay, winter and Christmas!
grandlakechamber.com

I guess I naturally gravitate towards a tropical environment for summer...
travel.utimes.ru

There are some good things about spring and summer, too, though. For example, in the fall, you can start looking forward to the holidays in December. And in the spring, you can start looking forward to the end of school and the start of the marching season! Yay. 

Oh! By the way, Breyer has just released their model of American Pharaoh! I asked for him for Christmas. And the good thing about it is, he's not on backorder! He's shipping freely! This makes me happy. He's available for sale here, at Breyer, or on Amazon if you're a fan. And here's a video for all of you fans that want to watch this champion RUN! Creds to this channel for the video.

Happy winter, everyone. :)