Amanda's Guide to High School Courses

Hey all.

So today, after blowing up my physics teacher to shreds in my head like my teacher is made of ballistics gel, there's a bomb in him, and it's on Mythbusters, I started coming up with definitions to define all my classes. And thus, we have the theme of today's post, Amanda's Guide to High School Courses: What the course description should be. Sadly, that title is too long to fit in the little title window above where I'm writing this.

Anyway, let us begin. (just because it's classier)

Category 1: English (Mandatory)

English: a course in which you read novels from a really long time ago that effectively use the English language in a way no one uses anymore and that try to teach you morals, but you can't pick them up because the course effectively forces you to analyse the shit out of them until you're left with a broken and bleeding novel that has run off into the corner to slit its wrists because it no longer sees its purpose in life.

Media English: a course in which you watch a lot of movies, watch at a lot of Youtube videos, and watch/look at a lot of suggestive images in order to properly analyse the media without becoming influenced, which is achieved through assimilation and even-heavier-than-average exposure.

Writer's Craft: a course in which people who enjoy the creative side of writing (usually the people who do, in fact, have talent and shouldn't really be taking this course) practice writing in a variety of creative styles and submit their work to their one teacher who effectively circles all the things s/he doesn't like about the piece in bright red marker like it's an essay from a niner who only knows how to write like they're texting. At least the students learn resilience to harsh criticism.

Category 2: Science (somewhat mandatory)

General Sciences: a course in which the teacher attempts to cram as much of the three sciences as they can into one course in the hope that something will get through and be remembered by the time the student reaches the senior grade by giving endless projects and spending a lot of time on textbook questions and worksheets.

Biology: the most overtaken course in secondary education, in which one learns the internal and external structures of everything around them that is living. Which is just about everything.

Chemistry: a course in which one extends their knowledge of the Periodic Table, by occasionally accidentally mixing the wrong chemicals, lighting stuff on fire, freezing stuff in liquid nitrogen (if you have a cool teacher), highlighting the hell out of their periodic table until it looks like a unicorn licked it, and understanding how all this stuff applies to the little tiny bits that make up every last bit of everything.

Physics: a course in which one discovers that anything they have ever perceived about their physical universe is wrong, which makes you wonder what kind of people decided this was true, what kind of drugs were around when they decided this, and how stupid the general population of human beings actually is to believe them.

Category 3: The Social Sciences (questionably mandatory)

Geography: a course which recaps everything about maps and countries and rivers and such that you learned in elementary school just to make sure you got it all. And still some people can't name three countries beginning with the letter S.

Canadian History: a course in which you study the first and second World Wars, as well as the Cold War from the perspective of every country other than Canada, which doesn't become a country until the end of the course, but you still don't really study it much.

World History 1.0: a course in which you study the basic history of Mankind from evolution to the Medieval Times, by studying Ancient Civilizations of awesomeness.

World History 2.0: a course in which you study the next chunk of the history of Mankind through things such as the French Revolution, because the world is just that awesome that you can't explain it in one course. :)

American History: a course in which you study the history of our rebellious friends down south in much the same manner as World History.

Civics/Careers: a course that is so pointless it that you can actually fit the entire curriculum into 2 days.

Law: a course in which you learn the law of the Canadian government system so that you can eventually stab it in the back and become a lawyer, or learn to effectively lie that you're going to change it and become a politician.

Category 4: Phys-Ed (arguably mandatory)

Gym: a course in which you run around and play sports and get a bad mark if you're not good at them. Oh! And sleep through Health Class.

Goodlife: a course in which those of us who like to avoid running do weight training. And sleep through Health Class.

Exercise Science: a course that teaches you the science behind exercise and how the body reacts to it all. For those of us who'd rather avoid physical exercise all together.

Category 5: The Arts (should be mandatory)

Music: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday jamming and learning how to play almost any instrument of your choice.

Visual Art: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday creating and learning how to draw almost anything imaginable.

Media Arts: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday surfing the web, learning how to use Photoshop and Flash, and learning how to make almost anything on the computer.

Dramatic Arts: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday goofing off, learning how to act, and practicing almost anything dramatic.

Dance: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday learning how to dance a little bit of everything.

Vocal Music: an awesome course in which you spend an hour and a half everyday learning how to sing, and singing anything you want to.

Photography: an awesome course which is almost equivalent to a spare that counts as a credit and you get to bring your camera to it.

Category 6: Tech (never mandatory)

Woodshop: If you're a girl, a course in which you get to build stuff in a class filled with rather man-ly guys. If you're a guy, a course where you get to build some cool stuff which your hands and hang out with the guys... and the occasional thinks-independently girl.

Communications: the course that thinks it's television.

Yearbook: the course that makes the yearbook. Or... attempts to.

Robotics: a course that teaches you to build a robot. That's about it.

Category 7: Mathematics

Math: the course that almost everyone hates and decides that it's going to teach English in binary code, rather than words. In case you didn't know, Physics adopted it's methods of proving things from this.

Category 8: Religion (for those of us who are special)

Religion: a course that tries to assimilate the Catholic Religion into your brain and teaches a lot of self-discovery, which you just blow off and joke around with your friends. Unless you have the Witch. And you know who I'm talking about.

Philosophy: a course that bends your mind to the end of the diving board and forces you to think oddly. If you can watch the Matrix and read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the same day and understand both, I recommend this course.

FIN

And that's about it. Am I missing anything? I'll try and add it in if I am. This should be a very accurate document. :)

Oh... and the last thing... I think I'm getting too worked up over Max Ride 6: Fang, 'cause every time I look at the back and see "Mr. Tall, Dark, and Winged" in big letters, I can't help but smile. :)

Exhibit A.

That's all for today folks!

Read on, Write on ladies and gentlemen.

Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.

Amanda Out.

I *heart* Band.

OMG BAND IS AMAZING!

Just had to say that and point that very obviously out to you.

So our "concert" thing-y tonight for Jazz Band went swimmingly well, and there was a hint of sarcasm in there. From the perspective of the performer, I played like shit. From the perspective of the audience though, apparently we were pretty good. And that was coming from people other than my mother.

Now I'm not sure if you're aware how small the SMHS Jazz band (or rather, ensemble) is, but we had all of 5 people on the stage, not counting the conductor. We're intense. But we have fun. :)

So I'm currently still riding band high, (blowing hot air into a tubular piece of metal will do that to you) but I feel like I'm gonna crash soon.

So night all!

Read on, Write on ladies and Gentlemen.

Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.

Amanda Out.

Gosh I love Maps

Hey all.

As you can see from the date stamp at the bottom of this post, I'm midnight posting again. I know I shouldn't be doing it, but I promised myself I would keep up with this posting thing.

What was I going to mention today... Oh good heavens I can't remember... It's too late...

OH! I remember! So I was reading this site the other day (I don't remember what it's called), and it said that one of the things that will both help your writing, and something you will enjoy as a writer is drawing maps of your world and environment in your story. So today I yanked out some graph paper and decided to give it a go. And what do you know, it was so much fun. AND I got so many ideas for my story, just by trying to outline the world.

Now, the first map I drew looks really crappy, it was a map of the beach from Eli's memories, and it's horribly cheesy. But next I started to draw the south end of the Dream World I haven't really written much about yet, and it's looking pretty cool. Now I'm no artist (hey, I write, *shrugs*), but I'm pretty proud of it. I'm real excited to post it on the DC blog and show you all. But first I have to finish all the maps of the Dream World of course.

This will also be your opportunity to shoot down any stupid names I use before I use them, because I'm aware I use them a lot. I mean "Dream World"? I can be more creative than that, no? I'm not changing that one though. But if you would like, I can get into a debate with you over the sheer basicness of the human mind. But that is for another day.

That's all for now sunshines. :)

Read on, write on.

Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.

Amanda Out.

Happy Belated Easter!

So... what's new here...

Well, so much for posting every day. How about every weekday? That sounds good to me. :)

Anyways, how was your easter everyone? Happy belated Easter! Easter's always a wonderful time for me because I get to see all my wonderful cousins that I never see, the only cousins that I have. A lot of people talk about seeing their cousins all the time, they fight like siblings or are freakishly close. But I never get to see mine, so we're not like that. It's actually kinda awkward sometimes.

For one, I only have cousins on one side of the family, my aunt on the other side has no kids. So I'm extra attached to the ones I have. I'm the second oldest when it comes to people relatively close to my own age. So it's nice when there's someone older than me around, you know what I mean? Well, if you're not the oldest child, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. It sort of means that you get to be right hand man for once rather than bossy dictator. Mind, my older cousin deals with things a lot better than me.

So Easter is wonderful because I get to actually see my family. That's why we celebrate it. It's an excuse to get together. But as my one cousin pointed out, why do we say Happy Easter? There's nothing happy about it for people who see each other all the time. And if you're going to take a religious view on things... Jesus died. How is that happy exactly?

That brings me to something else I did this weekend, I watched a really low budget 60s version of Jesus Christ Superstar on TV with my dad. It was rather comical really. You can't take the bible seriously when it's performed in 60s costumes. Plus my dad said he first saw this particular version when he was my age. Which makes it creepy and awkward.

Hmmm... what else is new? I went to go see How to Train your Dragon in 3D, which was more amusing than I thought it would be. Mind, what I had to choose between was that or Clash of the Titans, and as much as I wanted to side with my Dad and go watch awesome Greek deities tear each other to shreds, it had a really crappy rating on the Internet, so I sided with my Mother and sis this time. My dad wasn't too happy.

I got a kick out of the line where the one chick punches the main character for scaring her and then he goes: "What is this? Is it always going to be like this?" Then the chick kisses him and he goes: "'Cause I could get used to that." :) Plus the characters were Vikings, which was almost as good as Greek deities.

Also, for once this year, our parents took us shopping instead of buying us stuff for Easter. So I ended up on the ride home with a new duffel bag (which I needed), a new Owl City CD, a copy of Lord Sunday, and a copy of the sixth Maximum Ride novel: FANG. Which I'm extremely thrilled about. And most of you who actually read this will be sharing this excitement I think, because it means there's a copy you can borrow if you haven't read it already. ;)

Which reminds me, I've taken a recent particular interest in Owl City. This guy writes incredible music, it actually has a decent melody, and he can actually sing. Plus the lyrics are so random, but make perfect sense. If this guy was like remotely close to my age and wrote these songs for me, I'd be madly in love. But sadly they are not for me, and he is not remotely close to my age.

But they've also inspired a lot of the next bit of Dream Catcher. In fact, so much so, that if I do ever get published with it, I will have to give him serious acknowledgement at the end of the book.

Which also reminds me, I need to churn out a Dream Catcher chapter before I start FANG, otherwise I may entirely forget where I was going with the plot from being so totally engrossed in the awesomeness that is James Patterson literature.

So, with that in conclusion, I'm off to finish my stupid homework so I can get that chapter out tonight and finish Earth: Mostly Harmless.

Happy Easter!

Read on, write on ladies and gentlemen.

Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you!

Amanda Out.

DON'T PANIC

So I was reading Book 5 of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, Earth: Mostly Harmless, when I came across this most amazing quotes of quotes that I wish to record here for you.

"You cannot see what I see because you see what you see. You cannot know
what I know because you know what you know. What I see and what I know cannot be
added to what you see and what you know because they are not of the same kind.
Neither can it replace what you see and what you know, because that would be to
replace you yourself." ~ The Seer on the Pole, Hawalius, Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, The Universe. (Adams, Earth: Mostly Harmless)

Isn't that phrased so insanely weirdly that it makes perfect sense? Isn't that incredible? I love it! And it's so true too! You cannot see the world that same as anyone else, and you can't know the world like anyone else, because that would mean you'd have to replace yourself.

Maybe this one will clear that up. It's by the same Seer on the Pole.

"Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to
you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you
perceive is specific to you."

Make anymore sense? Awww probably not, cuz it makes sense to me. Fail.

How ironic.

Anyways click here.

Read on, write on ladies and gentlemen.

Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.

Amanda Out.

Well so much for physics!

So... Nothing much has happened today. In the immortal words of Douglas Adams, Anything that happens, happens. So true...

Anyways... hmmm... I actually got my math homework done before 10 today... and my religion studying as well. I'm on a role. I might actually get sleep today.

At the moment I'm listening to Skillet, cause the one song gave me some inspiration for Dream Catcher, but none of the others are shaping up to my liking. That's pretty normal... I usually only end up liking only one or two songs by an artist...

OH! That's what I'll do! Ok, here's the playlist I've been listening to lately:

1. Lean on Me - Al Green (yes the song you're thinking of)
2. Don't Stop Believing - Journey
3. Super Trooper - ABBA
4. I Have a Dream - ABBA
5. Fernando - ABBA
6. The Mysterious Ticking Noise - Potter Puppet Pals
7. On the Brightside - Nevershoutnever!
8. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
9. Happy - Nevershoutnever!
10. The Odyssey - Symphony X
11. End Theme - Gladiator
12. Now we are free - Gladiator
13. Great Wall of China - Billy Joel
14. Fireflies - Owl City
15. Breakfast - News Boys
16. Fix You - The Offspring
17. 21 Guns - Green Day
18. Awake and Alive - Skillet
19. Your Guardian Angel - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
20. Season in the Sun - Terry Jacks
21. All'improvviso Amore - Josh Groban
22. Beautiful Day - U2
23. Cemeteries of London - Coldplay
24. Death and all his Friends - Coldplay
25. Never Let Go - Josh Groban
26. Remember Me - Josh Groban (from Troy)
27. Remember when it Rained - Josh Groban
28. Strawberry Swing - Coldplay
29. Violet Hill - Coldplay
30. When you say you love me - Josh Groban
31. Where the Streets have no name - U2
32. You are loved - Josh Groban
33. You raise me up - Josh Groban

Yeah, that's the soundtrack of my life at the moment. Check it out.

Anyways... hmm... what else... Oh! I'm watching my neighbours cats for them. They're wonderful kitties. I always liked cats. Unfortuantely animals don't usually like me. And one of their cats doesn't. The other's a fatso and knows that hand that feeds him. XD

And just for the peoples in my religion group... Wohocamomo!

So that's all for today.
Read on, write on ladies and gentlemen.
Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.
Amanda Out.

20 Questions

I got thinking today on my drive to Cambridge today what I would answer if someone was asking me 20 random questions. And then I got thinking onto questions that could be asked, etc. etc. ... you catch my drift.

Then I thought, wouldn't it be cool if someone was actually asking me 20 questions? (yeah I wasn't firing on all cylinders today)

So this is what I was thinking... what if you guys asked 20 random questions in the comments of this post, and then, when I have 20 I'll answer them? I'll make a tab on the side to list all the questions...

Yeah, it's a long shot, I know, but I thought it would be neat.

That's my lame update for today.
Read on, write on ladies and gentlemen.
Sweet Dreams! May Nightmare spare you.
Amanda out.