Pen Pals!

It's a lot of fun to have a pen pal, especially since these days all the communication is done over phone or Facebook. Even e-mail is going out of date, which to me is sad because I love emailing people. Everything is done with use of electronics, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just the way the world is evolving. But it is nice to do things differently.

I look forward every week for my letter from my pen pal, and although calling each other would be easier and faster, it seems to the both of us writing a letter is better. We write each other weekly, and we've become closer in friendship than we would have ever done any other way. I met my pen pal at summer camp last year, and other than my best friend who went with me to camp, my relationship with Sophie has progressed and grown stronger than anyone else I've kept in contact with. Using Facebook, emails, phones or anything else. It's not lot of work, I look forward to receiving letters, and I overall just enjoy it. Sophie (my pen pal) and I both agree that it relieves more stress writing your problems down, and sending them to someone, knowing that the other person won't care what you write, than anything else.

And what I think is really cool, is that Sophie lives in the same city my grandmother does, so if I ever go to visit her, I can see Sophie too. I think I tell Sophie more than I tell anyone else. The last letter I wrote her was seven and a half pages long. And all it was about, was recent happenings in my life over the last week. I've told her things, and she's told me things that I know we could never share with anyone else, ever in a life time. Important things, confidential things, even stupid things, that I don't even tell my best friend. A relationship like that is hard to build, and I'm glad I have a pen pal.

ISIC First Month Update

This month a lot happened. It was just a busy month in general. I started actually working at ISIC (I Scream Ice Cream.) At first I was really nervous, and it took a while to get used to the hang of things, but it's not such a hard job at all. I serve people ice cream and I clean after little kids and their messes. The first day I kept leaving the scoop in the ice cream container, and messing up the cash register, but as time progressed I have gotten better. I can do the cash register easily, and have even mastered two layered ice cream cones, and the bowls are easy. At first I'd put too much ice cream in a cup, not leaving enough room for toppings or anything else, now Bill (my boss) says I do it perfectly. I learned to make coffee last week, and this week hot dogs. I'm hoping one day to master making a malt, but from what I've heard it takes a lot of practice to perfect. And since ISIC is one of the coolest places in Albuquerque to go, a lot of people go there. Meaning that chances are that I'll meet someone I already know. Today I met a family who used to go to pre-school with my brothers, and another family who goes to my brothers' school now. I also met one of my mom's friends of whom we haven't seen in such a long time, which is good. Now we're back in contact.

Today was my third day, and I think I've finally got the hang of things. Between serving ice cream, hot dogs and cones, coffees and sodas, and the cash register I've got the counter covered. And between mopping up ice cream from the floors and tables, and re-arranging and organizing the toys multiple times, I've got the front area covered too. I think the only problem today was that I couldn't replace the towels in the bathroom. And my co-workers are all nice, which is a bonus to everything else.

S.A.M.S. Academy

Southwest Aeronautics Mathematics and Science Academy- SAMS Academy
I've been on the waiting list to go to a charter school called SSLC (Southwest Secondary Learning Center) for a few years now, and my name hasn't been pulled. They pull your name from a lottery system in order for you to get in, and my name was never pulled. But just recently I received a letter from the school that said they were opening up a new school called the SAMS Academy. The letter said that it specialized in math, science, aeronautics, and most types of engineering, including and of coarse aeronautical engineering. And as most of you know I want to be an aeronautical engineer, so this is a wonderful opportunity for me! I'm really happy, and I can't wait to go. I think at first it will be a rough start for anyone who's going, just because it's a new school. But anyone who is interested in this kind of thing at all, knows how amazing this offer is. I've heard that subjects such as these are supposed to be really hard, but I'm ready, and I'm going to try my best to do well.

Here's a short bit taken from what they've written on the curriculum page on the school's website:

"... The SAMS Academy offers broader aviation programming with more depth into the many facets of aviation. Using aviation as a conduit to high-tech post-secondary education and careers, the SAMS Academy offers its students a more comprehensive education in the various disciplines of engineering, like aerospace, mechanical, and electrical engineering, for example. Mathematics and physics will be taught and emphasized, not just through engineering and science, but through the practical application of learning how to build and fly airplanes. Learning to solve problems and expanding critical-thinking are the transferrable skills high-tech employers need and we believe we can deliver with this stimulating and inspiring STEM education model..."

I Scream! Ice Cream!

Okay so there is this kitchy little ice cream parlor that I have been going to for years. It's kinda small, but it's filled with all sorts of cool things, like an original pac man game, tons of toys for kids to play with, board games, books, and even a little coffee area for the parents. The store also has a lots of different flavors, like my brothers' all time favorite birthday cake. Ooh and the walls are covered with old records. He even has one of those old bikes, with the huge front wheel, and a little small wheel in the back. Like I said it's a small place, so all of those amazingly cool things kind of makes it cluttered, it puts some people off, but I like it.

We have been going there for years, almost from the time when we moved here to Albuquerque. We go so often, and we have been going for so long that we have come to know the owner really well. He's a really nice person, and he always gives me an extra cookie, or extra toppings on my ice cream.

Last year around my birthday, I asked how old I would have to be to work there. He said I either had to be fifteen, or fourteen with parental consent. My mom said that she consented, and he told me that he didn't have any job openings, but to wait until next spring.

Well, spring is next month, so I took the opportunity to ask him today if he had any job openings, he said yes, and he'd be happy to hire me. He told me that he'll have a job application ready for me by the next time I come in, and that weekends would be best. I'm really excited now! I can't wait to start!

Pencils and Coffee

My latest homeschooling project was to find, replicate and research famous art pieces that you see in the everyday world. I found five, all at once while playing peggle. It's a computer game, and the background to the various levels I was playing just happened to be famous art pieces. It was easy really, but I guess that is the point of the project; art is everywhere, including art from the 1800's as I have found.

The pieces I found were: Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, M.C. Escher's Relativity, Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory, Edvard Munch's The Scream, and The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hotsukai.

I was supposed to replicate them with colored pencils or markers, (felt tip pens). I was quite happy we weren't using paint because I am no good at paint. But I happen to be really good at colored pencils. I think I see colored pencils the way most see paint, I'm really good at mixing the colors, and creating different textures. Each painting had a different texture, therefore my drawings had a different texture. And because I had only so many pencils I had to mix them. The background of my Starry Night, was made from six different colors.

Each replica has taken me about a day, and I can only imagine how long the real ones took. Here is the link to my picasa album.I'll post them on here later.
https://picasaweb.google.com/106570209400696421292/ArtReplicas

Babysitting

Once a month I get called to babysit at my brother's elementary school for their monthly PTA meeting. It seems I'm at their school all the time now. I volunteer there two days a week, I babysit there once a month, and I have to be there almost everyday to pick them up.
I like babysitting, even though it can be a lot of hard work. The job lasts throughout the duration of the meeting, which is about one to two hours. It would seem easy if it weren't for the fact that just about every parent has brought their kid, (some more than others, to make up for the parents that didn't bring their kids). I think I have counted up to thirty four kids at one time.
It's not too bad though, most of the kids are good, and the only problems I really have is them being loud. There's the constant telling of the 'be quiet'. Plus you have to be on your feet and attentive at all times. You can't sit down at all, and you have to be concentrating on the kids at all times. I learned that lesson especially today. I sat down for just a second when I realized one kid had stood up on a table, and another had flown his paper airplane into the rafters. It seems I'm always telling them off for something, so I have to invent knew ways to get them to be good.

My mom told me that one time she overheard a conversation between a kid and his mother. The kid was saying that the new babysitter, (meaning me) was so mean. He was explaining how I wouldn't let them run, or be loud, leave through any of the doors leading outside, come in and out of the meeting, throw things, or anything else fun. The mother then replied to the little boy, that if the babysitter was only trying to keep him safe and quiet, then she felt very sorry for him.
The job pays well, it only last for two hours at the most, and since there is always pizza at the meeting and I'm usually one of the last people there, I always end up with the last of the pizza. Today I made out with three boxes! Even though there are a lot of kids, all elementary school age, it's worth it, and I enjoy doing it. I feel that I am very lucky to have the opportunity.