tired.

I almost fell asleep in all of my classes today.

i planned on getting up at 6 this morning, but ended up hitting snooze until 7:30.

i didn't have time to take a nap this afternoon, even though i soo very wanted to.

i didn't practice violin this entire week, and class is tomorrow.

i have 2 english projects i haven't started on that are due early May.

i have a history project i haven't started on that is due early May as well.

i have a skating test and competition happening next month that isn't going very well.

i have STAR and CST testing next week, which i need to really study for. (i took a practice test and got a C-)!!!

my eyelids are about to close now...

Book Review #1: Secrets of My Hollywood Life 2: On Location

From now on, I will be writing book reviews for every book I read, even if it doesn't make it to my list of 1001 books to read before you die. [However, I admit that i am mainly doing this because i feel guilty for not doing something productive, like finishing my English essay or studying for algebra. But you must understand it is not my fault that comparing Robinhood and Saburo (from The Master Puppeteer) is so dead boring.]

So, approximately 13 minutes and 3 seconds ago, I finished the book Secrets of My Hollywood Life: On Location by Jen Calonita. I just bought it yesterday from Barnes & Nobles in paperback for $7.99 because i had and $85 card. (I also bought 3 other books which i will probably finish and review by the end of this month.)

For some reason, Amazon claims it is 256 pgs, except my book only has 228.5.

Official synopsis:

" It seems like the summer of dreams come true for Hollywood princess Kaitlin Burke: the media loves her (again), super-cute and funny Austin Meyers is finally her boyfriend, and she's starring in a movie by her all-time favorite director Hutch Adams. What could be sweeter? But life on set is not as perfect as the makeup and costumes. And with an old love and a scheming new publicist on the scene, it's about to get a whole lot messier. "

My review:

Even though I didn't read the first book, Secrets of My Hollywood Life, there was no problem understanding what was going on, unlike The Clique. The book is somewhat girly and cliche and unimportant, but it's like a little treat that can do you no harm. The main character, Kaitlin Burke, is a famous Hollywood actress who, apparently pretended to be a normal high school girl in the first novel, but caused a huge fiasco when her arch nemesis, Sky Mackenzie hijacked her Sidekick and betrayed her. Kaitie finally got the lead role in a new movie directed by her favorite director, but when her backstabbing, creepy ex- boyfriend is cast as her partner role, things can't be worst. Until the crazy director decides to cast the evil Sky as Katie's "best friend". Chaos comes back to Kaitie's life when Sky and Drew (the ex-boyfriend) team up to make her life miserable, and someone keeps leaking secrets about Kaitie to the press. It doesn't help that Kaitie and her adorable boyfriend Austin start fighting as well.
But with the support of her best friend and loyal assistant, Kaitie is sure to make another comeback, right? Read to find out!

3 Stars out of 5

Complete overview:

• 229 pgs.

• $7.99 (paperback) in stores, including Amazon.

• $16.99 (hardcover), $12.74 on Amazon
  

• Genre: teen/young adult/chic flick

By the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-My-Hollywood-Life-Location/dp/0316154407/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239829779&sr=8-1

http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0316154407

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Secrets-of-My-Hollywood-Life/Jen-Calonita/e/9780316154406/?itm=1

April and Last Day of School

April is a crazy month for people in school. You start off with a three day weekend, then comps, then spring break, which started today, and the following week is STAR testing. I'm really worried about my testing in Algebra this year, because i'm afraid i won't get a 600 perfect score again. I have a good reason to be worried because for the past couple of days, we've been taking practice tests. and about 40% of the time, i have no idea what i'm doing because i forgot everything from chapters 2 - 10. out of 11. So, for my spring break, i shall be reviewing everything in my math book.

On the last day of my 7th grade year at Whitney High School, our class of 2014 is planning a beach activity, so we get to go off campus for the whole day! Too bad i won't be going. Instead, i'll be on a 13 hour flight to Shenyang, China, puking my guts out. I'm so excited! Not. I don't remember if i mentioned this before, but i'll be in China for 2 1/2 months this summer, where i will be studying math, practicing piano, practing 古筝, practicing violin, possibly drawing, possibly dancing, 5 days a week. And when i have time, i get to go skating, and possibly find a coach. IF I CAN EVEN FIND AN ICE RINK!! but despite this very packed schedule and mostly unappealing activites, i hope that this summer will be a little fun and be a good experience for me.

:D:D:):

WORLDS ;)

BY THE WAY... I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I'M GOING TO WORLDS!!!!

ONLY THE LADIES FREE AND EXHIBITION, THOUGH.

i have school during the ladies short program, and daddy won't let me go ;(

but that's okay.

today, our first tardy sweep of the year, where teachers lock all classroom doors right when the bell rings, so that the school can catch people who are always tardy.

Unfortunately, i was one of the hundreds of late students who got caught. and this was MY FIRST TIME EVER late to class. except for that one time i was late to band, but he didn't mark me tardy. anyway, so me, and about 200 other people get to have detention next week. ain't that great?

doodling

Doodling is good for you! Read this article:

Take Note: Doodling Can Help Memory

By HealthDay - Fri Feb 27, 8:48 PM PST

- FRIDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- You might look like you're not paying attention when you doodle, but science says otherwise.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that test subjects who doodled while listening to a recorded message had a 29 percent better recall of the message's details than those who didn't doodle. The findings were published in Applied Cognitive Psychology.

"If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream," study researcher Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, said in a news release issued by the journal's publisher. "Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task."

For the experiment, a two-and-a-half minute listing of several people's names and places was played for test subjects, who were charged with writing down only the names of the people said to be attending a party. During the recording, half the participants were asked to simultaneously shade in shapes on a piece of paper without attention to neatness. Participants were not told they were taking part in a memory test.

When the recording ended, all were asked for the eight names of those attending the party as well as eight place names mentioned in the audio. Those asked to doodle wrote down, on average, 7.5 names and places, while those who didn't doodle listed only 5.8.

"In psychology, tests of memory or attention will often use a second task to selectively block a particular mental process," Andrade said. "If that process is important for the main cognitive task, then performance will be impaired. My research shows that beneficial effects of secondary tasks, such as doodling, on concentration may offset the effects of selective blockade."

In everyday life, Andrade said, doodling "may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist doing."

See, i knew i shouldn't have gotten in trouble in 5th grade for doodling during science!

snow!

snow in cerritos, southern california? yeah, right!

But these past few days, pretty white flowers have been blooming on trees, and falling on the ground while rain comes pouring. white stuff + wet stuff = SNOW!

allergies.

cough. sneeze. scratches face. scratches arms. scratches legs. scratches head. wrinkles nose.

those are typical signs that you have allergies. Or you just discovered that you are allergic to a fat cat. yeah, this past long weekend, i found out that i was allergic to 范阿姨's used-to-be-small-but-now-pregnant-looking-orange fat cat. five minutes from departing their house, i was sneezing the whole time in the car, while very sure that i WAS allergic to that cute big demon. even though jie ji and colosseum didn't really believe me. and then, when i got back home, i got bumps or hives on my face, so daddy had to take me to walgreens and buy some wal-dryl (benadryl knock-off). A few minutes later, i was fine.

But still, it is quite a mystery, because i have always played with the stray cats around the neighborhood, and never have i had an allergic reaction. Pearl said that it's probably just something that happens when you get older. >:(



great. now i can't have a cat anymore (not that i was really planning on it). at least i can still eat melons, nuts, and bananas, unlike pearl.