Free Blog- Halloween '09

After a busy week at school, I was definately ready for Halloween weekend to be here. I was glad this year the thirty-first falls on a Saturday because I usually have to worry about getting homework done before I go out. The benefit of having Saturday off is I can spend some time doing homework early and have fun later that night.

On Thursday I cleaned and carved my pumpkin. Since I am going to be gone Friday to go to the Stevenson football game it seemed to be the perfect time to carve. It has been a tradition to carve pumpkins while listening to Halloween music, but we couldn,t find the CD we usually listen to, so we played songs off our iTunes library. I decided to carve out a skeleton pirate's head. The book I got the sketch from said the design was challenging, I found it to be pretty easy to do. It dosen't look like a perfect copy from the book but I did all right. Normally our family carves pumpkins the day of Halloween, but the pressure is off for this year.

We also decorated Thursday, too. Our house is never scary and thats just something I've gotten used to. Our neighbors, however, always have the scariest house on the block. Their dad has been on the Channel 7 Saturday news every couple of years talking about his house. In fact on Wednesday after school was over I came home to be greeted by a ten feet tall monster standing on the front lawn.

As for a costume, I had no idea what I was going to be. For the past three years I pulled together a costume with one hour to spare. We have a bunch of costumes and wigs in our basement that just sit down there and I could always borrow a monster mask from my insane neighbors. Unlike when i was little I dont buy a costume anymore. This year I ended up going as Slash, the guitarist from from Guns 'N' Roses. I wore the band t-shirt, sunglasses, a top hat, wig, and fake tatoo sleeve. As you can see, I use what I have and make the best of it. I love Halloween but I plan on next year being the last time I go trick or treating. However, I also plan on getting loads of candy this year.

We had the family over on Halloween night as usual. Every year we get pizza, go trick or treating and come back and have pumpkin pie. This year however, there was a Halloween party down the block that started around 8:30. We decided to go to the party instead, and it was exciting. All of our neighbors from around the block showed up, and we hung out, ate food, and sat around a bonfire.

Halloween will always be fun even when I stop dressing up. It is a cool holiday that I am glad was started. I've loved it since I was little and most likely always will. Happy Halloween!

Spirit Week

This week is Spirit Week. Each day we dress up as something different as preparation for homecoming. Monday was Country Club day which I dressed for because I golf a lot. Tuesday was for Tie-Dye which I don't own any of. Wednesday had a western theme, and I didn't dress for it. I don't plan on dressing up Thursday, but I will most likely dress up Friday for Super Spunky Spartan Day.

I haven't been dressing up that much but I am really excited for the game this Friday. One reason is because we are playing Churchill, and it will be a fun rivalry game because I know a few people from Churchill and other schools that are coming just to have a good time. Another reason is that I have been working on the Global Education float after school since Monday.

Global Ed. is working on a Ghostbusters float, and even though its not a "horror" film, it fits the theme and it is going to be a awesome float. A couple of seniors went out and and bought some strobe lights and other special effects to make the float better. Last year the Global ed float won the competition and I expect no difference this year.

I decided to go on Monday just to see what was going on. The first day I was cutting out letters and that was an easy job. The next day after I was folding flowers which was also easy, and Wednesday I was painting the background of the set. I was surprised I got to help on such an important part of the the float. After the float building was done each day I wondered what I would work on the next day. Then Thursday we put it all together. I stayed until the very end and it looked really awesome. It took from 3:00 to around 8:00, but it was worth it to stay. I ended up meeting some upperclassmen and seeing the other classes floats. I really do believe we are going to win.

This week has been busy, but it has also been really fun. I will definately remember what happened this week and will look forward to it again next year. And in honor of the game this Friday, GO SPARTANS!

Free Blog- The Final Frontier

On Monday I was sitting home and had just finished up doing my homework when my dad came home with some movie tickets. He had found them sitting in the lobby of his office free to take if anybody wanted them. They were tickets to an IMAX show at AMC 20 called Space Station profiling the construction of the International Space Station that has be floating above our heads since 1998.

My younger brother, wanted the third ticket so he tagged along. We got to the theater probably around ten minutes early,looked at a few posters for movies coming out this winter and bought some popcorn. We walked into the theater immediately recieved our 3D glasses and turned around to a sea of people. We had managed to get to a sold out show. Sitting in the perfect seat in the middle of the crowd the movie started.

I hadn't been to an IMAX show since the summer of 2007 at The Henry Ford. I obviously forgot just how real it was. The movie started with a space view from earth and then the crowd heard a quiet countdown. The noise became more definate at the last three numbers 3...2...1... and my ears exploded. It was the most realistic sound of a rocket blasting off I've ever heard. The noise was earth-shattering, the ground was literally shaking and being 3D, dust was flinging in my face and rocks were narrowly missing my head. The only way my brain knew what I was seeing was a movie was the abscence of the actual wind.

The movie was amazing. It followed the construction of the International Space Station and how the astronauts actually lived inside of it. It gave an interesting history lesson about Russia and the United States and the race to the moon. Today they are working together on a future home in space. It was a really cool movie for a totally free event.

At the end of the film it profiled what pieces will be added to the station in the years to come, including parts from the United States, Russia, Italy, and Japan and the credits rolled. Walking out of the theater, my dad and I were talking about what we had just saw and my little brother decided he wanted to be an astronaut. I never knew much about space, and before this film I didn't there was ann actually space station right above our heads. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years.

World Issue- Invisible Children

I woke up Wednesday morning around six. I knew it was going to be a long day and had no motivation to get up at all. Then I remembered that it was September 30 and tonight was Night on the Field. I went to school got through the day and went home ready for the event.

My family sat down for dinner and talked for twenty minutes and the I left for Night on the Field wondering what was going to happen. Aside from the pretty terrible kareoke performances it was a really fun night. It didn't actually take place on the football field, but that didn't make it any less interesting.

There were a few tables and tents in the back courtyard with people lined up for kareoke and the Wii. After directly getting dropped off in the parking lot I got to meet Tyler, the main Invisible Children associated with Stevenson High School in the Schools for Schools program in person.

He ask if I would be going to the courtyard for Night on the Field and I said yes. He then asked if I could help carry some stuff over to where the roadies were selling it and I agreed. The Invisible Children van was packed with so much merchandise, the three roadies that came barely had enough room to fit them. So for the next few minutes Tyler and I were constantly moving T-shirts, DVDs, Braclets and other things over to the table. After that I told him how the first movie I saw last week really inspired me to do something. He thanked me for my help and support of the charity and then he went busily to work. I ended up buying a T-shirt from him a few minutes later.

The video we saw that night was just as inspiring as the first. The only difference was this video was shown outside and it was freezing. The videos played for about 45 minutes and there was a 20 minute discussion afterward. The roadies started cleaning up their stuff and loading it back into the van. I was waiting for my ride home in the parking lot when the van pulled out and continued its cross country journey. I left shortly after the video was over, finished my homework and went to bed. It was a really cool and informative experience that I was glad to be a part of. I've been very inspired and hope to attend the next time the roadies come to town. I decided to go online to learn more about Invisible Children.