September 3

It's SPRING!

SPRING!

Finally the weather is warming up. Yesterday I was at the beach, and it was fantastic! I can't wait for school to be finished, so we can make the most of the weather. Apart from the fact that I just, you know, want school to finish, I actually have a reason!

My English Assignment is finally done! I just have to send it to my teacher, and I am finished my English work for the term. Awesome!

Shakespeare is awesome!

If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the dickens! but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare. (The Story of English, 145)

July 9

Well, the holidays are over, and so, we are back to school. However, by now I'm glad to have a little routine back in my days. I spent most of my holidays reading and watching TV shows over YouTube, and while that is fun, I'm glad to get back into things.

This term in English, I am covering Romeo and Juliet! I've read the play before, and even saw a ballet version a few years ago, but this will still be cool. The only downside is, as I already know the story, and the author, and a lot about it, it's kind of difficult to answer questions like: What do you think when you hear the name “Shakespeare”? 

Like, what am I supposed to think? He's a playwright, probably the most famous playwright the world has ever known. How am I supposed to sum up all that Shakespeare means, in a sentence, or even a paragraph. It's times like these that I wish that I didn't read quite so much.

Yesterday, I, my siblings, and our dad went to the Medieval Festival. My sister looked like a genuine princess, with an authentic looking dress. My little brother was a Viking, and even tried to eat my camera! It was funny seeing him eating a lamb shank, gravy dripping off of his chin. He sure looked like a Viking then!

The day before that we were at Surfer's Paradise, on the Gold Coast, and it was an amazing day. It was just the kind of beautiful, sunshiny weather that makes you want to be outside doing something. We visited Ripley's Believe it or Not, and had lunch beside the beach. It was a great day.

This was a photo I took of us by the beach. My sister's feet aren't in this photo. 

June 19

Today was less about Maths and more about finally finishing that speech for English. Mine still needs to be copied to disc and posted, but is otherwise done. I don't understand why it needs to be posted when I could email it, but I'm assuming that that there is some government reasoning behind it.

I was experimenting with the camera on my computer today, and it is so cool! I can do all sorts of stuff, even make everyone wear scuba masks, or Santa hats. Really cool!

June 15

Okay, this time that English Assignment should be finished. It seems like it's following me. Every time I think I'm done, it's back again with more to do. I'm getting tired of it, but at least it's better than maths. I have a lot of Maths that has to be done, and believe me, English is way better. Maths, if I get it wrong, it's wrong. English, nothing is totally wrong. It's just different, unconventional, or other words for weird.

This evening we are going out to youth group. For once, my older brother will be there with me. Usually he is in the city until youth group actually starts, but today he will accompany me for the whole hour and a half beforehand.

June 14

More schoolwork today. Maths tests, an English Assignment, and maths work all day long. It is so boring. Why can't maths go faster? It isn't that hard, but I never seem to get enough done in the time I work on it. I worked for 3.5 hours this morning, and still I had heaps left.

Fortunately, the oral report I was working on should be done. I already had to rewrite it once, because I misunderstood the question, but now it should be finished. I still have to record it, but at least the writing is done.

My little brother is enjoying physics games. He can play physics games for an hour at a time, and wants to be an astronomer when he grows up. I think he would be good at it.

June 6

Yesterday I was given a new skirt. It is all black, and it goes past my feet. I love it! Today I wore it, and I think it is fantastic. I love the way it swishes around me. Any skirt that does that is fantastic, and the longer the better. The only problem with a really long skirt is that when I am outside, I have to hold it up so it doesn't get dirty.

Our English teacher came around today, to give us some help on our next assignment. It was fun. I talked with her about classic books. I love classics, and have read a few, including all of Jane Austens' books, and all of the Sherlock Holmes books and stories.

The cake last night was delicious! It was chocolate, with melted chocolate just oozing out of it. It was really thick and rich. The melted chocolate was my favorite part.

Tomorrow we go to the city so my sister can get her braces looked at. She hasn't decided what colour yet.

May 15

I'm on the family computer today, because my older brother is hard at work and I don't want to disturb him. However, this computer is really awkward for me to type on. Having an enter key helps though.

Today, for me, has been a day of finishing things. Two of my subjects had Unit Reviews, and I spent most of the morning working on them. Tomorrow I start a whole new unit in those subjects.

I used Skype for the first ime this morning! My brother and I had a Skype call from our English teacher. It was so cool, and I'd never done it before. What a world of possibilities there are out there!

I saw a fantastic picture of chocolate on this blog. The blog is called Animate and Create, Mate, and the chocolate photos posted recently are really amazing. How does anyone make a keyboard of chocolate, and for that matter, why would they want to?

April 11

Today, my older brother and I had to watch the movie Australia, for English. That sounds kind of weird, that we watched Australia, for English, but we did. It's a really interesting movie, but some bits are tragic.

My brothers are playing games, and my sister is working on her newsletter. I'm not sure why she likes producing it, but it makes her happy, and it's kind of fun to write in with stories and reviews.

Today appears to have passed unusually quickly. That could have something to do with the fact that I spent until 10:45 reading in bed. Hey, it's holidays! My sister was asleep that whole time.

Tomorrow we have to go into the City. That includes going to the library, so I can't be too disappointed, but it's still annoying.

March 7

Both my brothers are feeling sick. The rest of us are fine, however. My younger brother was still very eager to go to the library earlier today,  so he's obviously not too bad.

We did go to the library earlier today, and it was cool! I always love going to a different library. They have different books there. I found 12 books I wanted to borrow, not realising that I only had space for one book on my card! The way cards work at our library is that you are supposed to able to borrow 20 books. However, the machines will let you borrow 40 books, in case you have the strange habit of returning 20 books, then getting another 20 books before the system realises that you have returned some. So, back to today, and I had 39 books on my card, and tried to borrow another 12! Fortunately, my mother let me put some books on her card, otherwise I might have had To go home without any new books. Tragic, indeed!

My older brother and my sister are washing the guinea pigs. They are getting a bit dirty (the guinea pigs, though my brother and sister probably are too!), and need a wash. I'm (rather selfishly) hoping I won't have to help. I don't really like getting assorted yuckness off guinea pig hair. Who would?

Our English assignment should be done soon, and then this silent barrier may be lifted, and I can talk to my brother about it. I like talking to my brother about schoolwork. We are in the same grade this year, which has never happened before now, so I want to make the most of it.

One final thing: do you think the song Friends Forever is sad? I definitely do, but my mother doesn't, to such an extent that she can't see why I do!

March 6

Peanut butter on toast tastes so good! My little brother was having some, so I decided I'd like some too. Now my mother and sister are having some as well! That was a totally unnecessary amount of exclamation marks, so I might as well add some more!!!

My older brother and I have to write an assignment for our English class. That's not too bad. A bit annoying, but alright. The annoying bit is that we have to keep totally quiet about it! We aren't allowed to talk about it at all, especially not to each other. That's really hard. I like to talk to my brother, and having something I have to keep quiet about isn't easy. I'll be glad when the week is over, and we can talk about it.

I'm writing on my laptop! I don't have to write on the family computer! My laptop is feeling a bit better today, maybe because I woke it up so late this morning. I slept in, so it did too. That seems fair.

We should be going square dancing tonight, though my little brother is coming up with every excuse in or out of the book to get out of it. He likes square dancing, so I reckon he comes up with excuses just for the fun of coming up with excuses!