Details

So in my English class we've been learning about how to use detail in your writing. Instead of using a generalization like, "it tasted good", you can use details about the way it tasted. You can say if it was salty or sweet, what it tasted like, etc. Then my teacher asked us to each write our own paragraphs that start with a generalization, but then they expand with detail. My generalization was "the room was messy." Not that it was based off my room or anything... well maybe parts of it... or most of it... Anyway, here it is:

Journal #15
The room was messy. There were clothes lying all over the floor and the bed. The desk was covered with paper and candy wrappers. The garbage was knocked over, spilling onto the ground. The closet was wide open, and everything was falling out. The clothes inside were all piled on the floor. The blankets on the bed were all over the place. The pillows had fallen off the bed to the ground. Last night's homework was scattered around on the blankets. The clothes hamper was so full it looked like it was about to tip over. The dresser drawers were open and filled with junk. Make-up was scattered all around the mirror. The basement air smelled like a jumble of old perfume, lotion, and nail polish. A big pile of earrings and necklaces were spilled out onto the dresser, and they were all tangled together. Bobby pins were all over the carpet, which really needed vacuuming. An old glass of water was wobbling a little on top of a pile of books. The shelves were filled with clutter that needed to be thrown away. Underneath the bed there were matchless socks, papers, junk, and lost jewelry. There were cobwebs inside of the light fixtures and in the corners. Towels were hung on the back of the chair. And right in the middle of it all, tangled in the mess of bed covers, someone was breathing slowly, asleep.

You'll be really happy to know that I just cleaned my room yesterday. It's a lot better. I threw away most of the stuff on my desk, made my bed, and picked up all my dirty clothes. I did exaggerate a little, though. I don't leave water in my room because there might be earwigs. The cobwebs are there, which is freaking me out, and I need to remember to get my dad to dust them out. I don't stuff anything under my bed, because if I ever need to get it out of there then there might be a spider on it. But the rest of it was pretty real.... Anyway, it was a fun assignment because I really just like writing. And I hate when people make generalizations. I like to know all the details. I want to know who, what, when, where, and why. It's all really important to me both when I'm reading and writing. That's why I liked this assignment a little more than some of my others. Because when it comes to some things, readers don't really want to leave it to their imaginations. Detail is important.

Guitar

Well I've just started learning how to play guitar. I'm just learning chords, but it's really fun! It's just another thing I can use when I sing. There are a lot of different chords. There's all the major and minor a-z and all the seventh chords. I'm just using my dad's acoustic guitar, but I'm saving up to get my own. So far my favorite song to play is "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. I saw the song on Glee and kind of fell in love with it. My fingers are really sore from holding on to the strings. I've also been working on this song that a couple of girls sang/played on the guitar at the Especially For Youth talent show last summer. It's called "Heavily Broken" by The Veronicas.

The guitar has six strings: E A D G B E. A memory trick is "Eat A Darn Good Breakfast: Eggs." It's kind of weird, but it helps you remember. To make a chord you put your fingers in between the frets. For example to make a C Major chord you put your ring finger on the 5th string (A) and the 3rd fret, your middle finger on the 4th string (D) and 2nd fret, and your index finger on the 2nd string (B) and the first fret. Then you just strum from all the strings. On other chords you only strum from the 5th or 4th string down. The hardest part is switching chords quickly and making sure you land on the right notes. So what I've been doing is practicing switching back and forth between different chords so I can get used to how to move my fingers. I'm working on getting to the point where I have the chords all memorized.

I already have the Avril Lavigne song memorized. It mostly does G, D, E, C over and over except during the bridge when it also uses A minor. The guitar I'm saving up for is a Yamaha acoustic electric, and it costs around $250. I'm not sure if I'm going to get black or blue. An acoustic electric can do the same thing as an acoustic, but you can plug it into an amplifier and it will sound more electric. I'm pretty excited, so I'm going to be working for my mom's business a lot to earn enough money. And I already have an amp because my brother plays bass guitar.

The reason I've started learning how to play is so I can use it when I sing. Right now I'm just going to different guitar sites that have tabs. It just tells you the name of the chords and where to play them in the song. So far I'm having a lot of fun, and my dad's going to help me while I'm learning. Then after I've worked really hard on it I'll be able to get my own nicer guitar and make it sound cool. Even though my wrists and fingers really hurt, it is way fun! And isn't my future guitar beautiful?

A New Start

I am so excited for this new semester! New classes, teachers, and a fresh start. Last term didn't go as well as I'd hoped. My grades weren't bad. They were actually pretty good. It's just that everything was A or A- except for one B+. Which I've never had before. But this term it's my goal to get straight As. Even if at the end of high school I still have that B+, I'll be fine with it as long as I tried my hardest every term after that and got the best grades I possibly could. That's what will really make me happy in the end.

I am pretty sad that I'm not in Theatre anymore. That class was really hard, but really fun and a great experience. On the last day of school we all had a bonding activity. We sat in a big circle and she asked a question that everyone had to answer. It started with things like, "What's your favorite food?" and "What's the grossest thing you've ever had to eat?" but then it was things like, "Who has made the most progress during this class?" or "Who in this class is the most like you?" It was really cool listening to everyone's answers because you could tell that a lot of people had made new and close friends with people they might not have even talked to otherwise. I know I did.

I was really surprised when one boy started crying. I mean, there are some boys that it wouldn't surprise me if they cried. But then there are some boys that you really never expect to see cry ever. That's why everyone was so surprised when he started crying. It kind of made me sad that someone had to stop taking a class that meant so much to them. But it was also really cool to see how some people were able to make such close friends in that class. It was also cool to see some people that are always really quiet come out of their shells and act in front of the whole class. One super quiet boy even got up and belted out this song from Scarlet Pimpernel. It just made me happy to watch it. I'm glad that I got to have such a great experience from Theatre this year. It pushed me really hard, and I made a lot of friends.

Even though I can't do Theatre anymore with all those people, I'm still excited to have classes with different people I didn't get to see a lot this year. I'm going to have a different class of 8th graders as an AL for Mrs. Nelson, so that will be like 30 new people I didn't know before. I'm also going to be able to stay with all the friends I made in Rhapsody this semester. I am so happy that choir is a full year class. I'm also getting a new Seminary teacher this year, so I'll have gotten to know both teachers. Brother Wood was really awesome, and I heard that Brother Lether is too. So even though I'm sad about some things, I'm really excited about others, and I kind of can't wait for this semester to start!

Technology

When I think of a lot of problems that come with new technology and things like that, I think about people who can't stay away from it. I've noticed that a lot of teenagers go insane if their phone isn't in their pocket. At Girls Camp and Youth Conference last summer, some people kept their cell phones in their pockets even though they knew there wouldn't be any reception. They just needed the weight there. A girl who sat next to me in Spanish last term didn't even pay attention at all. She just sat there and texted the whole time. When she wasn't texting she just sat there. It was really weird because I figured that if she texted so much she must have a lot to say, but she barely said anything during that class. What was crazy was that when I checked my texts about a month ago, I had almost one thousand. That was a little scary. Since then, I've tried to text less, and call more. If I want to hang out with someone, I try to call more often than I text to ask them. I don't want my cell phone to become my best friend.

My uncle likes to call Facebook "MyFace". That's another thing that's easy to get addicted to. There are games, quizzes, groups, other people's statuses to look at, chat, etc. There's always more to do. When I see how much time some people spend on Facebook, that really weirds me out. It's just another thing that makes people it harder for people to actually talk face to face. It isn't always safe, either. I've seen like 3 different kinds of links on Facebook that can give your computer viruses. Some people on Facebook add other people just to have more virtual friends, even if they're complete strangers. I think people just really have to make sure that they don't spend all their time at the computer.

My brother really likes music. He's kind of obsessed with it. Whether he's in the car, at the computer, or just sitting there, he is almost always listening to music. When he does that he usually uses headphones. He turns it up really loud so that you could be standing there yelling at him and he probably wouldn't notice. So when you try to get his attention he can't hear you. Then, if you try taking out his headphones, he gets mad at you for stopping his music. My mom's favorite phrase about this is, "unplug!" I think that really fits, because if you're always plugged into something, it makes it a lot harder to actually interact with people and know what's going on. I think that's why my brother is usually the last person in the house to know what's going on. To try to stay away from that problem, I asked for an iHome for Christmas. That way I can listen to my music, but through speakers. Then if someone is trying to talk to me, my music doesn't get in the way.

Basically, I think technology is a great thing. It helps us do homework, get information when we need it, listen to music, talk to friends, etc. I think that a lot of people don't realize that they're letting it become their life. They're letting it turn into the only thing they care about. I think that it helps if you try to make sure that you stay involved, and don't give yourself too much free time. Fill your time with good things, and you don't have to worry about technology taking your time over.

School and Goals

You know if you think about it the idea of school is actually a good thing. We go there so we can learn about a lot of important stuff, get into college, and eventually get a job that will hopefully get us a lot of money. It sounds like a great, important thing that we should all appreciate. But we don't. We all complain about it more than anything else, we put off the homework, and count the days to all the breaks. It feels really weird thinking that I have to go back tomorrow. I am definitely not looking forward to waking up early again. But I also want to try doing better now that it's a new year. Looking back on the first part of second term, I'm not exactly happy about it. I think I've kind of let my dislike of homework get me to start putting off/not doing some assignments. I've also been staying up too late so it's harder to get up in the mornings. So for an extra credit Spanish assignment, I made some new goals for the rest of this term and next semester:

Long Term- Raise my grade in all the classes that aren't A's

Short Term:

1. Turn in all missing assignments
2. Study ahead for tests
3. Don't put off assignments till the last second (Don't procrastinate)
4. I didn't use this on the assignment, but put homework before friend time

Long Term- Don't be late to Homeroom or 1st/5th period

Short Term:

1. Go to bed a lot earlier (before 10:30)
2. Wake up by 6:30 every morning
3. Leave home by 7:45 so I have time to walk

(I also added a note to number one to get homework done earlier so I can go to bed)

I like putting my goals in a couple places. My Seminary teacher likes to tell us that "A goal not written down is just a wish." I think that this is definitely true. If we just kind of think that we'd like to do something, it probably won't happen. If we write it down, make a plan, and commit to it then we're more likely to actually accomplish it. You also have to make sure it's realistic. If it's going to take a while, than you have to make it a long-term goal. You can't forget about it though. To accomplish long-term goals you need to make short-term goals help you get there. I want to go to BYU someday, so I know that I need to a) Get good grades and b) Work on the spiritual parts of life (Go to Seminary, church, etc.)

All my long and short term goals for this term and the rest of this year are to help get me to that big long-term goal. I need to fix my grades and keep them that way to go to college, and things won't work out so well if I go to college and can't wake myself up. My mom likes to remind us that she won't be there someday, and we'll have to do it without her.

I think that the biggest part of goals is that they keep you pointed in the right direction. If you always have a direction and a place you want to go, you're more likely to make better decisions. If you have too much free time and not enough important things to fill it up with, you might do things that aren't important and won't help you later in life. I don't want to regret how I spent my time as a teenager twenty years from now, so that's why I make goals.