My blog, My life

Potty training; the most annoying thing since microsoft

2008-08-16T17:19:00Z

See I kept my promise about posting at least once every week or so. ANYWAY. I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Since the last time I talked about my life, I've gotten to two different schools, since I switched schools when joining a gifted program, and then switched again to go to the school that program feeds into. I've met lots of new people, and gotten to see people from years past once again.

NOW, the reason I'm telling you this with very little of my usual humor, is because this the basis of what I will be talking about in future posts.

THIS post however, is NOT talking about my school at all but rather the troubles I've had in these past two months with our new dog.

We currently have two dogs now, Dexter and Cinnamon. Dexter is a 9 pound chihuahua, jack russel, and italian greyhound mix. Our other dog Cinnamon, is a 50 pound, border collie and possibly boxer mix. (A fairly odd bunch, I know)

(click to enlarge)
Dexter (left) and Cinnamon (right)

Our new dog Dexter. He's cute, loyal, sweet, small for a change, playful, and doesn't bark. What could be the problem? That's what we though when we picked him up from the animal shelter on June 2.

After bringing Dexter into our car, he stood up on the arm rest to see out the window. When we got home, he played with our other dog's rope quite a bit, jumped on couches, cuddled with us, posed for pictures etc. But something else happened. He went in the house.

"POOP!" I remember saying, since I it came to mind and didn't want to cuss.

After Dexter went several more times in the house, including IN MY BED, (so if you or someone else complains because their dog gets hair in their bed, tell them to SUCK IT UP. .....I've dealt with much worse -_-) I didn't know what to do. So, I turned to the internet.

And THAT is why I'm writing this article. To explain how greedy people are (and how stupid others are) about giving real solutions to potty training dogs.
The biggest reason dogs are given away is because of potty training issues, and still, people have offered no FREE solutions to potty training. (and yes there are solutions!)
Let me give you an example.
When you search on Google: "potty training your dog" the first result (or the first result for ME, although google customizes your results based on the searches you perform.) almost doesn't help whatsoever. As I said before, Dexter, as well as our other dog, is from a SHELTER that finds STRAY dogs, and puts them up for adoption. Here's the first tip on how to potty train your dog on that page: buy a puppy from a responsible breeder who has already started potty training." When I read that, my jaw dropped. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I mean that's so low for a tip I don't even know what punctuation I should use after that. Like should I use the .......... to show it's pathetic, or the ?????? because it is so stupid or should I just say, "I'm gonna #(&@&!: that TIP! Yeah that gets out my anger a little more, but feel free to leave me a comment on which one you like best. Wait a minute...what the hell? How did smiley faces get in that??? Stupid hotkeys....

I will admit, there are a FEW decent tips on the website such as: take your dog out after they eat, take away water two hours before bed. But most are like the breeding one or things like: go to bed and get up at the same time. That does nothing, and doesn't help dogs get used to them possibly having to hold it a shorter or longer time.

Then when you have the smart people, most of the are like "Buy my book for only three payments of 39.95 (or whatever the cost is, It's not that high usually that's true) to find out the secrets of potty training your dog. But remember, this is the only way, since I TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT NO GOOD FACTS ABOUT POTTY TRAINING ARE ON THE INTERNET. I mean, they may as well say, "Hi, most dogs are given away because of potty training issues and then are usually youthenized later, but since im such a dick, I'm going to CHARGE you to get any REAL facts about potty training dogs. But oh ya i love dogs for sure."

Really and truely, these people need to get a grip, and realize that if you really care about people or dogs, you would make information free. That's what I'm going to do here.
I want you to know I'm NOT saying that all trainers should write a book or do everything for free, since obviously they need to make a living. And yes, writers need to make a living too, but if you really do know how to potty train dogs, your able to make a website (since most people use a website to ADVERTISE their book) and you are a good writer, don't write an expensive BOOK. Write a free ARTICLE on a BLOG, and write your BOOK about something that's not a necessity for dogs, like tricks, or advanced commands.

Now for the tips. I found this out from trying out things in my own experience, two professional trainer's help, the few facts I could scrape from the internet, and a few suggestions from friends.

GOOD tip #1: Monitor your dog constantly, and if you can't tie a leash to him and tuch it through your belt loop. This is a technique called tethering.

Good tip #2: Use a dog belly band. Yes a belly band. It is like a diaper, and dogs hate to have their waste being rubbed against them for two hours. So, put a belly band on them when their inside, and take it off when they wish to go otuside. Once you have this, and your dog hasn't gone for about a week in a half, you can be a LITTLE bit leaner on watching him. A LITTLE TINY TEENSY TEENSY BIT. I mean like, you don't need to tether him ALL THE TIME, just most of the time.

Tip #3: If you can, crate your dog at night. (crates can be expensive however, so if you can't buy one, make sure that you have an isolated area for your dog) Yes I said it, the dreaded word, crate. But don't fret. Let me explain. Dogs are denning animals. They like to be in spaces like crates. And when your potty training a dog, you don't want them running around the house, well..pottying. Dogs don't like to soil their sleeping areas. But, another thing you might not like. You can't get a lavish mansion crate for your dog. Your dog shouldn't be able to walk all around the crate. He should be able to stand, lay, etc. If your dog has too much room, they will potty in one area and sleep in another. Depending on the age of your dog, take your dog out after so many hours of sleeping to go potty. If your dog whimpers in the middle of the night or early morning, it usually means he has to go potty. Also, when first putting your dog in the crate, your dog may get a little nervous, not knowing what it is, and may whimper. . You can't give in. The dog's need to be confined to an area, and they need to know they can't potty in the house. Crates help with that, and since dogs are denning animals, after a couple days, they will like their crate. The first day however out of confusion, they may potty in the crate. But, once your dog hasn't gone in the crate in a couple of days, you can put a cushion pillow or blanket in the crate. It's also a good idea to from the start, put something, anything, with your scent, along with a towel, to help cushion them from the beggining. (Yes the towel may have your scent, and if that's the case that will work, but if your dog hasn't gone potty in it, it doesn't hurt to slide a quiet toy in there or something as wel.
Tip #4: Make sure to use a word every time you want your dog to go potty, and it's better if you have grass rather than rocks, because dogs prefer to do their business in grass, however rocks will work, as long as they get used to going in them. If you're dog doesn't go potty after you've used the word a couple times in the past, and you've said the word once kindly, and then firmly, take him inside and put him in his crate for 5-15 minutes. Take him back outside as soon as you let him out. Repeat this process up to three times. If the dog still doesn't go, just go in. Once the dog goes potty, is praised, and doesn't have to go in the crate, they will realize what you want them to do, and what that word means.

BEST tip #4: Don't try this unless your dog hasn't pottied in the last 40 inutes to hour in a half, (depending on the age). Also, do this after you've had the belly band on for a couple days. In the meantime, take your dog outside every hour in a half or less if your dog is a very young puppy. Make sure to use a word every time you want your dog to go potty, and it's better if you have grass rather than rocks, because dogs prefer to do their business in grass, however rocks will work, as long as they get used to going in them. If you're dog doesn't go potty after you've used the word a couple times in the past, and you've said the word once kindly, and then firmly, take him inside and put him in his crate for 5-15 minutes. Take him back outside as soon as you let him out. Repeat this process up to three times. If the dog still doesn't go, just go in. Once the dog goes potty, is praised, and doesn't have to go in the crate, they will realize what you want them to do, and what that word means. One of the hardest things about potty training and you may not know it, is your dog getting you to know he needs to go potty. Even if they know they aren't supposed to go in the house, if they can't find a way to get outside, they will go in the house anyway. The solution? If you don't get a dog door, the solution is as simple as a windchime.
Get a bell or a windchime and put it on your door to the backyard, front yard, or wherever your dog goes to go potty. If your dog is to short to be able to EASILY reach it with their nose, (if they have to jump, they may get annoyed and give up on it) get yarn, string rope, or anything else that can help make it the right height for your dog. Crumplle up about three dog treats into a bunch of tiny peices, so they are ready to go for the steps to come. Put a dab of peanut butter or cream cheese on your finger. Let your dog lick it. Then put some peanut butter or cream cheese on the bell or wind chime. When your dog licks the bell/windchime, open the door, and throw the treat outside. When your dog goes outside to get it, tell him in your happy voice, "Good Job!" or something similar. Even if you use a happy tone, if every time you get mad you say omg, and your so amazed that they are going outside you want to say omg, don't, beacuse if you got mad at your dog enough (which hopefully you didn't but still), your dog may recognize the word, and might think they did something wrong. So use a word that is often used to mean something GOOD. Repeat this process of every time they lick the bell you throw a treat out about twenty times. If they don't want to come in, show them a treat while you're inside to entice them. After doing it 15-20 times, (it seems like a lot but it's not hard at all) the next time he licks the bell, open the door throw the treat outside, go outside with the dog, close the door and use whatever the word is you use when you want the dog to potty. It might be "potty". That's fine. The simpler the better. Again, if your dog doesn't go potty, put him in his crate for 5-15 minutes. And if he hasn't after three times, try again later. If your dog does go potty, praise hi like it's the best thing in the world. Practice this bell technique every time your dog needs to go potty. To keep your dog from continually licking the bell, once your done practicing, take the bell or chime away for at least ten minues, and wash it off. Then put it back on. If the dog rings it, be dilligent, and put him outside. Even if it's just for 30 seconds, they need to know what the bell is for.

Tip #5: Develop yourself as the pack leader. Although I'm not fond of some of Ceaser Millan's methods of scaring and forcing dogs to do things, he does have a point. If your dog humps you, make sure they know it's not okay. Take them off, tell them no, and kiss their nose, as that is a sign of dominance. When going on walks, make sure you don't let your dog pull you. Let them sniff however. Show them you have treats to give them, and if they stay by you, even if it's just because they're staring at the treats, give them a treat now and then. Teach your dog basic commands such as sit, lay, and come. Stay is a bit harder, but do try it.
I will explain how to do these tricks in the next blog post, or in a couple of posts, so stay tuned.

Tip #6: Don't make them thing pottying in the house is acceptable. If they go in the house, don't rub their nose in it, or hit them, but if you catch them in the act, say NO, and put them outside. If you've caught them in the act several times, and introduced the bells and they go, if you don't catch them in the act, take them to the mess spot, point their head to it, and say in your firm disappointed tone, NO. Don't do that. Then put them outside for a bit, and spray the area they went with perfume or bitter apple. DO NOT SPRAY THEM WITH PERFUME OR BITTER APPLE!!
If you have a belly band however, you shouldn't have to worry about mess spots in the house. If that's the case, show them the belly band, say No, and put them outside.
Other Tip #6: When training your dog to do anything, don't repeat a word over and over. Don't even use a word when first training the dog but rather only a hand signal. Then incorporate the word to accompany it. If you constantly repeat the word over and over and then your dog does it, and you reward your dog, you could be teaching your dog to do the command only after you've said the word ten times, or however many times.
Tip #7: Be careful about smiling. Occasionally, vicious dogs will take smiling as bearing your teeth, so be careful. If you have a nice dog, you shouldn't need to worry, because they will soon understand that it's not a bad things, even if at first they don't understand why you're doing it.

Thank you for reading, and good luck training future dogs!

Be sure to leave me feedback about my tips!

Also, I wanted to include a section for program reviews, and a section for articles on my website. If anyone has suggestions about how I should include these (such as through one blog, or two seperate blogs, or two seperate pages, or on the homepage, or as part of a page, etc) I would greatly appreciate it.

Back and better than ever

2008-08-14T23:29:00Z

I want to use this entry to tell you about what I have planned for wehaveitall.net

Sadly, due to monitor issues, I was editing my website, but then wasn't able to for almost two months because of it. I also haven't been as consistent as I should have in updating the weekly events since I resolved the issue two or so weeks ago.

I would like to apologize for not updating my (awesome) site, and I promise that from now on I will work very hard to do so. I do promise that even if I don't update the main site, I WILL update the blog at least once in a week or so, to alert you about what's going on, etc.

If you would like to help me update this site in any way, including giving suggestions, sending outlines of pages, etc. PLEASE email me at wehaveitall.netwebmaster@gmail.com

Again, sorry for any inconvienience,

-Ben

Dear Santa: Will you please Destroy Microsoft this Christmas?

2008-05-11T05:24:00Z

Dear Santa
I'm Jewish, but since I've missed Christmas presents all these years, I was hoping you could grant me just four simple wishes. I'm sure these wishes will benefit the world in many ways

My wishes:
1. That every microsoft corporate center in America will randomly explode
2. That Bill Gates will be in at least one of those explosions
3. That apple is behind those explosions

And FINALLY,
4. That Microsoft will change their company name to Psychrosoft because all their products pretty much are a joke.

Thanks!
-Ben

Carpal tunnel at the same time of my birthday.....

2007-10-20T00:54:00Z

This is just a quick entry reminding everyone tomorrow is the big birthday bash, where new updates will be made on hopefully every page in celebration of my birthday! I sadly got carpal tunnel the day after I announced this, so not every single page will be updated. I'll try my best however to update as many pages as possible, and hopefully add another hillarious entry to this blog!

Cruising....oy...

2007-08-07T04:00:00Z

Alright, well I recently got back from a cruise. Now two years ago, we went on a Holland America Cruise, and it was fantastic. Now this cruise, we knew, wasn't going to be as great since it was cheaper. =o (just comes to show the less you pay the crappier the service) Anyway, moving on, the cruise wasn't at all like we expected. Below is a small portion of the schedule on one of the days from 10am to 1pm.

10 AM: Library hour
Airbrush tattoo artist ($18 dollars per tattoo)
morning trivia (18 and older)
ship tour
casino opens
weight loss lecture

10:30 AM classical music
bingo (18 and older)
board games

10:45 Am: fight the female fat cell

11 AM: travel and shopping talk

11:30 am: Shore excursion desk opens

11:45 AM: Puffy seminar (what the heck is that)

12:00 pm: afternoon trivia (18 and older)
Slot tournament
Under two time and family play

12:15 pm: golf clinic

12:30: Hollywood 5 minute makeover (for girls)

1:00 ice carving demostration (which sucked)
water wars (Which sucked more)
classical music
Kids bear factory
golf simulator (which was 30 dollars an hour to hit a screen with a golf ball and hope you make it farther.)
art auction preview (all the stuff was super expensive)

1:30 pm: Hairy chest competition (the stupidest and grossest thing you'll ever witness)

1:45: Art auction (which was super expensive)

Those are your only available choices of things to do, and honestly that's kind of pathetic. I don't feel like going on and on with it, but those are the kinds of stuff. Bingo 18 and older, weight loss lecture, super expensive air brush tatoos etc. I mean who HONESTLY PAYS 18 DOLLARS FOR A CRAPPY LITTLE TATTO THAT LASTS A DAY AND THEN IT'S GONE! If you are willing to pay that, I'm sorry, but you're an idiot. And the hairy chest competition, WHO THE HECK CAME UP WITH THAT?! The golf simulator you just hit a screen all day and hoped the ball on the little screen would go far for 30 dollars an hour.... I mean going on that cruise you may as well just flush your college fund down the toilet, they try and make you buy so much, and you get so little. I'm not going to mention what cruise line this is but I'll give you a hint: It has the same first letter as crappy, and also has the "r" and the "a" somewhere in it.

Happy cruising

I'm never eating a cookie again..

2007-07-18T04:33:00Z

Now, looking at my title, you probably think im a physco, but theres really a good explanation why I won't eat a cookie again..It all started 10 minutes ago........

I kept asking my brother to take me to Starbucks but he of course refused. I craved something to satisfy my sweet tooth, so I snatched a chips ahoy cookie from the pantry. I put a piece of it in my mouth and then my brother suddenly began changing his mind...I stopped chewing the cookie in case he was actually going to drive me so I could get a double choclate chip frapuchino and not a cookie too. I waited, and listened, and my brother continued onn talking, "I'll take you to starbucks if you pay me $30 bucks ill take you." I began to moan a little, annoyed a tad with my brother and then he said, "Fine, I'll take you for only $60 dollars." I began to laugh, and my head tilted back. I laughed and laughed, and then, the half chewed cookie slid down to my throat, but didn't go down my throat. I began to choke, and choke. I said as best as i could to my brother im choking. He slammed my back, and the cookie slid down my throat.

The lesson of this article is that cookies are out to get us, don't eat cookies-they are evil.

cookie=evil

Everything

2007-06-09T05:17:00Z

Ok, well school is out, ya say your woohoo's and all, but I'm super bored. Matt's been busy and will be until Sunday because he's been at his dad's FOREVER and as for my brother Jonathan he's always at work. As for me, I've got a lot of mind. The iphone comes out soon and I havent been able to get any money. I thought and thought and finally decided I will buy cheap stuff on ebay and then sell it for twice as much as I bought it for. So far I'm not having much success finding cheap stuff but...I think I'll find something. HEY! Don't give me that look. That's your will this entry EVER END look! Ok ok, ill skip to the good stuff sheesh. Continuing on, the main thing I wanted to blog about was all the attention Paris Hilton is getting. Ok, so she's rich and famous, but just because she's going to jail and she MIGHT not do every minute of her time, the world is going nuts. If they are considering letting her out early, I'm sure there have been times in the past where they have let other people out early, and I DON'T HEAR PEOPLE ACTING LIKE MANIACS OVER THEM! OMG PEOPLE, GET A GRIP, IT'S A PERSON, SHE MAY GET OUT A LITTLE EARLY, WHO CARES! Sometimes, the news really annoys me. Anyway, I just think people think she's spoiled so they want her to stay in jail forever and they are gonna blab all about it until she does. So here's what I have to say to that, "Go ahead, waste your time blabbing away about how a celebrity HAS TO STAY iN JAIL FOREVER OR THE WORLD WILL COLLAPSE, but just remember, the whole time your doing that, your just draining your life away. You only get so many years to live, and if you waste your time blabbing about Paris Hilton, well....how can i put this nicely....Bye Bye."
I hope you all learned something from my blog today.

That concludes the most aggravating entry I've ever written .

SUPRISE! I'm the blog writer!

2007-05-23T14:26:00Z

Ok, well just recently I got a comment from an anonymous person lecturing me on how I (the webmaster) don't write blog entries, because in my entry, Oi...(most) teachers are a piece of work I said the maker of this website is not the writer of this blog. That's not true actually.....I only said that little detail because originally, I was so mad at that teacher, I said a really nasty thing about it, and I didn't want anyone finding it and seeing I wrote it. But, soon I decided to just take that out, but I forget to take out the part saying I didn't write it. Yes, the webmaster AKA creator of www.wehaveitall101.com is the writer of this blog!!!

Oi...plays

2007-05-22T02:40:00Z

Ok, well let me tell you, it is NOT easy doing a play with 3 other people. (two of which were boyfriend and girlfriend that just broke up, leaving one depressed. Oh and the girlfriend is crazy) Writing the script, making the props, the set, the lines, the direction....EVERYTHING! Yes, I know, you are probably thinking, lol, this guy is retarded, he's a professional actor and he can't even do a simple little play. Well, you know what, tell your brain to stop the yapping and let ME do the talking because I got more to say! Now, first of all, we only had 23 days to do this, including weekends, holidays, etc. Once we finally wrote the 13 page script, and tried practicing direction somewhat, we still needed two people for two more parts, all the props, lines memorized, and more direction, and the show was in a week. We took a vote to decide if we should or shouldn't do the show, and as usual, I persuaded most everyone to vote do it this year. We decided to all meet after school that day at around 3:30, although one person said she couldn't come until 4:00. I tried asking people to be in a play, but of course, like most people, they didn't really have the desire to be in a play they knew nothing about, and have to rehearse after school, AND be expected to have lines memorized and be ready to do the show in 7 days. (Well, accept for Chris who was just being a plain retard and said he wouldn't do it because he said, "I'm not doing it if I have to go to Ben's house to rehearse." Now that, was just insulting. GO JUMP IN A LAKE CHRIS! Moving on, when we tried rehearsing with the cast we already had, (Matt, Bailey and Ashlea) Bailey couldn't come. We decided that there was no way we could do it in 7 days. So, we moved onto the idea of having a suprise party for our teacher. It's gonna be kinda crappy though, I mean all we have is like donuts, soda, chips and dip, and some balloons. Lol... Anyway we are trying to make something out of these last few days so since we came across the rare species that's almost exstinct...a GOOD teacher, we decided we may as well reward that and make it fun too by having a suprise party instead of the play. I bet you she is throwing a party for us for the end of the year and it will be a double party, just because that's how she is. That will make it even better =). Anyway, there you go, my "amazing" story of the first play I was going to be in that didnt work out.

School

2007-03-29T04:05:00Z

Ok let's review what happened today:
I got up at 7:00, tired as heck, and had some eggo blueberry waffles for breakfast.
I went to school and had boring music class. (the music teacher is the one who called everyone stupid idiots)
The day went on, and when it came time for lunch, I had to come in and make up an assignment I missed during a special program I was in. I made up the work and stood like two feet away from the teacher waiting for her to finish what she was doing to see if i could go to the regular cafeteria, but she said she was in the middle of something and demanded I sit down. (I didn't say anything, all I did was stand there, now see what she did!I waited and waited, and then a few minutes later, after she finished whatever she was doing, she said this, "I was going to let you go to lunch Ben, but since you were rude, you'll be staying with me. Now get a book and read. So I spent my lunch period reading. Now the book I was reading was good, but I just wanted a break from words and school! Thats what the lunch BREAK is! But the thing in this that angered me the most is that she got mad at me when I didn't do ANYTHING! I STOOD THERE! THAT'S IT! I FELT LIKE I WANTED TO JUST SCREAM AT HER, LIKE I WANTED TO....... I'm again not going to finish the sentence so I don't say anything too mean. So that was crappy, and then when everyone came back and we went to our writing class, Leo started chanting things like, "Your gay Ben." Then he'd giggle. Or, "Your retarded Ben." And he'd giggle. Well Leo, I hope your reading this because your the gay retard! Then my writing teacher started saying Ben don't turn to the dark side! For no reason. I mean it doesn't even make sense. The only thing i was doing was waving my hand a little bit instead of raising my hand calmly, and she thinks thats this big bad thing. I know she didn't do anything that mean, but I was already pissed about Leo and my other teacher doing all their crap. Then at the end of writing class, the teacher stuck a peice of tape to my lips.
Then In math class, we were doing this group project, and Leo did nothing. Plus, all the members were retarded and they were saying I was taking over (which I wasn't) and so I said, "go ahead then. You do something if you think I'm taking over. Do whatever you want. It's fine with me." But they were all like, "No you do it." Because they were lazypoops.
When school FINALLY ended, I went to Mcdonalds with my friend and then to my friend's house. Then pretty soon I went home.
When i got home, I was really bored and didn't know what to do. (and so I pretty much did nothing!) Then before I knew it, it was time for religous school! GAHHHHHHH!
Religous school went alright, some of the kids cracked some jokes that were pretty funny, and the teacher gave me candy because I hugged her. (I learned that trick a while ago!)
I finally came home and relaxed and watched some TV.
Then I began writing this blog entry.
Well that was my crappy day, hope you enjoyed lmy complaints about it.

Everything

2007-03-27T14:35:00Z

Well recently at school, I've been kind of mad, I mean, as I've mentioned in the past about spammers and retards and people who think the computer is worthless...but it's just, everthing is getting to me. Plus recently I was talking to these girls, and they were saying I was so mean because I was telling them WHY i didn't like my old teacher and i called her mean. THAT'S IT! THEY HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN MY ENTRY, "(MOST) TEACHERS OI......THEY ARE A PIECE OF WORK!" I mean, how pethetic is that? Yeah, I made up a similie for girls.(this applies to about 90% not NECCCARILY all.) Girls are like bugs on the windshield. Their there, their annoying, but you don't really care about them.

Annoyed But Happy

2007-03-03T04:58:00Z

Ok so recently, I've dealt with a lot of retarded people and such, like people arguing with me for an hour saying that the WII doesn't come with a nunchuck and then after an hour, the person lies and says, "Oh, I thought you meant nunchucks from...........China!" Which itself makes no sense. I've also dealt with people who think I'm crazy for thinking at school your a slave, kids who lie constantly, spammers, and think using the computer is the most boring an pointless thing ever unless you are typing a word document or something. What's up with that? I've talked to a FEW wise people, (Thank god!) and one of them said that don't call people retarded. Everyone has a purpose in life, even if it's showing people not to act like them. That inspired me, in a way that is. I mean as you can see i still call people retards, BUT u know. It's hard to describe, but in a way it changed me.
Another thing for the upside, we had some fun at school for Dr. Suess' birthday, and Linda Sue Park, author of the newberry award medal book, A Single Shard, traveled across the country to visit our school. (why I don't know.) It was really awesome to meet her. At first, she talked about her Korean culture. She said that on your 1st birthday, the Korean tradition is to play a fortune game. What you do is the parents lay 6 things on the table for the child to grab, depending on which one they grab determines their fortune. On the table lays: A spool of thread, some money, a piece of cake, a bit of rice, a book, and a pen. If you pick the spool of thread, it's supposed to mean you'll live a long life. If you pick the money, it means you'll be rich. (which her brother picked and he makes a very good living!) If you pick the cake, it means you will be lazy and fat. (ouch!) If you pick the rice, it means you will always have some food toe at. if you pick the book, it means you'll be a teacher. And if you pick the pen, it means you will be a writer. Guess which one Mrs. Parks picked? The pen! Anyway she also talked about writing and how she got her ideas. She said an idea is a mathmatical formula: world + imagination=idea. She talked specificly how she got ideas for some of her books such as A Single Shard. (I'm not going to go into that though) She said when she writes, she rewrites and rewrites. And she says it's fun. She gave the example of a basketball. You don't shoot it once, you shoot it over and over. It's the same with writing, which is why she rewrote her book, The Kite fighters 38 times! At the end, she took questions, but she couldn't answer mine. My question was, "Why do you think the people who award the Newberry Medal Award chose your book, A Single Shard, instead of one of your other books like, Seesaw Girl?" She said she doesn't know the secrets to how they decide who wins the award. That gave me an idea for writing my own book. What is the idea? I can't tell, I don't want anyone to steal the idea.
Anyway overall I think today was ok. Life isn't THAT bad

I'm not a complainer..

2007-02-26T02:49:00Z

Wow two blog entries in one day. That's never happened before. Well if you read my last entry you know I've been bored this weekend so. Ok well I'm writing this because all my entries so far have been about issues in our world and I don't wanna' be known as a complainer. There are some good things in our world. Our technology, our government, democracy, freedom of religion, ands the freedom to create. Now if I talked about all of these, this would be a really long entry which is why I'm only going to talk about freedom to create. Even as a kid, we may not be able to get a job, but we can create anything. A story, a song, a poem, a project, a blog, a website, a club, a friendship. We can also create things in ourselves such as a good performer. We have the freedom to be whoever we want to be and make what we want to make. To me, this is the best freedom to have. I feel lucky to have it. It empowers you, it lets you do anything you could possibly want. Even if you don't have freedom to do everything you may want in school, just think about that. There is a positive side to everything, all you have to do is find it. Think of life as a game, the goal, to try and be as happy and succesful as possible. (That game part wasn't my idea. Credit goes to anonymous.) When you look at it that way, you will most likely be a lot happier. If you aren't happy in life, well life sucks. I hope this blog doesn't make you dislike your life. It's just sometimes, I don't like certain things about life. I may seem like a total depressed person who complains about everything, but sometimes, even I look at the bright side of things. And you know what, this felt really good to write. I hope this changes your look at things. (and your look at me) Please leave your comments, tell me what your thoughts are about this. I read all comments submitted. If you want to discuss this topic live you can in my chatroom. I personally think you should. Telling how you feel about something is fun. That's why i made this blog.

The weekend is over already?!

2007-02-26T02:26:00Z

I can't believe it, here it is, Sunday night and tomorrow is school AGAIN. I mean it feels like the weekend just started. And of course I wasted my weekend doing nothing but play warcraft and eat brownies for the most part. I was bored. There was never anything good on TV. I was taking a break from editing my website, my favorite blog (http://www.blog.aliencam.net) wasn't updated over the weekend, and there were no magic shows...or (good) movies or anything else out that we could see. We were going to see this israeli singer but just when we were about to leave my dad checked online they were booked. Of course. I've been getting sort of depressed lately. I mean to me, people seem to think kids have no right in this world to do anything and well.. as a kid life is pointless. I know, that really isn't completly true, but that's how i feel sometimes. Actually make that a LOT of the time. I mean every day is the same, we go to school where we have no rights. My teacher has told us that with rights come responsibility. She backed it up by pointing out when your 18, you have to pay taxes but you can also vote and are considered an adult in many cases. You also get to call all those commercials that say, "You must be 18 or older to call." So in a way, people could argue with my point, but we have plenty of responsibilities with school but if they want to lay a few more things on us (besides taxes) we can take it. Even though we don't pay taxes, that doesn't mean we should always be at the mercy of adults as much as we are.

SCHOOL AGAIN

2007-02-13T22:30:00Z

STUPID STUPID SCHOOL!! OK so recently, people have been passing notes-a lot of notes. (I haven't though)Today, the Principal took it into hand and we found out that these weren't any old notes. Many notes apparently were threatning notes, sexual notes, or notes calling people "Obscene names" As one of my teachers said it. I haven't seen anyone passing these notes nor have I recieved any myself, but the Principal and my teachers seemed to make a very big deal. And actually, it didn't just seem like they were making a huge deal out of it, they were making a big deal out of it. And actually, much more then they needed to. Ok so at 1:00 PM today, the principal comes into the classroom, and starts talking about the note passing. At first no one seems to care, but then he says that unless someone admits between now and the end of the day, (3:00) the whole grade will stay after school UNTIL someone admits it. After he said that everyone's jaws dropped.
So the day goes by and here it is 2:50 when the Principal comes in saying, "If you would like to admit now, you can." Of course no one said anything. So 10 minutes pass and it's 3:00. One of the other teachers starts poking her head in the doors saying, "Better start calling home." So the teacher starts calling people up to call home. (considering we are not aloud to turn on our cell phones in classrooms.) Pretty soon people start complaining, and I ask, scared to death, "Is it really legal to keep us at school overnight?" It was a stupid question but I didn't know for absolute sure and I wanted to know. And of course my teacher lied and said, "There is no law saying we can't. But all i can tell you is I have a life and I'm leaving at 6:00." Now I know that there are laws saying they can't because our parents have custody of us, our teachers don't. So luckily after a few more minutes of staying after a few kids get up and finally admit it. Ironicly, three happened to be in my classroom. So after about 15 minutes of waiting, the Principal came in and announced we are all dismissed. Now how stupid is that? My teacher lied saying that we could stay over night to scare us, our Principal kept us after school and was ready to keep us after school for hours, and we had no say towards this. If you think about it, we really don't have many rights at school. Everyone claims we are such a just and fair world, so civil, with equal rights to all-but are we?

What a day...

2007-02-11T01:42:00Z

OK 'lemme tell you, school in Arizona, aient always so hot... My brother who is in high school, his FAVORITE thing in the whole world is to learn. And you know what? He hates school. SCHOOL! Something is wrong there.....As for me I've had a mixed bunch. Some teachers have been terrible while others have been great. For example, one of my teachers, is pretty retarded..... One time we were doing this project, you had to like immitate a spider web pattern, which sounds fun like she's a good teacher right? But no, she had to be a meanie about it. Ok so we were using colored pencils to make a pattern like a spider web when woops- I messed up the entire pattern. I raise my hand to ask for a new one. When she comes to me I ask her for a new one and she says, "Just erase the colored pencil." It's like, what the crap is that? So I try erasing it and sure enough it wont erase. (obviously) It says on my colored pencils in big bold letters, NOT ERASEABLE! So I raise my hand again and my teacher is like, "Figure it out." So I just sit there not knowing what to do. A few minutes later i raise my hand again, and like before, without letting me even talk she just says, "Figure it out!" So I just sit there. I stare at the big old clock wishing I could magically make it go faster. I keep waiting until finally like 20 minutes later she says to me, "Why aren't you working?" She of course gave me "The look" that showed she was about to punish me. I then studdred, "I can't erase it." "Why?" Then a girl sitting next to me saved me the trouble of having to say anymore and she said, "his colored pencils aren't eraseable." Thank god I said to myself. My teacher loves the girls and hates the boys. Since a girl had said that for me, it didn't make her as mad. (Yeah I know, discriminationnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn) She then handed me a fresh piece of paper and walked away still a little pissed. Now I finally transferred classes so I have a better teacher then that old...old.... (i'm not going to finish this sentence so I don't say anything too mean)
   As for nice teachers, there's the new one I transferred into for example. She doesn't mind repeating herself if you didn't hear, she likes both girls and boys, and she lets us have our fun sometimes. The only thing that gets a little annoying is if we are talking she gives us extra homework. On the bright side though, it's always very little. Overall, she's a fair teacher. Still I'm not sure if I even know the true meaning of a fair teacher considering all my life I've lived in Arizona, ranked 49th in the state for education. In my opinion I still have, and had some great teachers. When I grow up I might become a teacher, just to help Arizona become a little better in education!
   I've become depressed multiple times because of crappy education and being a slave to the teacher(s). My brother said that yes, in school you will have crappy teachers, but you just have to keep remembering that when you are out of school, college will be loads of fun, and after college you can get a job and do basicly whatever you want. Whatever you love to do. I think my brother is pretty right.
   The point is, it takes 15 years of school before you can really be happy and be able to do what you want and not have to always be hoping your teacher is a good one!

My First Entry

2007-01-16T01:14:00Z

January 14, 2007

This is my first blog entry! I'll give you an introduction of what my blog is about: my blog is all about my life, what I've been thinking, and what happened on certain days-just like a journal you'd keep at home, though, I don't release all my very personal feelings. Feel free to comment on my blog and tell how the entry made you feel. I hope you enjoy reading my blog!