Many things

Okay. So there has been a huge gap between this post and the last. I’m not even going to bother apologizing because that will get tedious. I’ll just get on with it.

In order to write this post as efficiently as possible, I’ll outline what I’m going to write about. First I’ll write about the important things I need to catch up on, then move on to what’s new.

1. Credo

2. Pikes Peak Philharmonic

3. Credo Showcase

4. Recent things

5. Any other random thing I happen to think of.

1. Credo

Wow, I really haven’t written in ages, have I? I can’t believe I haven’t told you about any of this. Well, here goes. This year I am taking 3 classes at Credo: Chemistry, Choir, and Speech. And piano lessons, because we switched from my old teacher to the new one at Credo.

Chemistry is pretty cool. The work is harder than Biology, but the experiments are fun, and the class is larger. Choir is interesting. After a year in the choir at church (and having learned how to sight-sing), it turned out to be terribly easy. Speech is loads of fun, which is a little sad because I’m quitting now that the semester is over. I’ve  made a lot of friends in that class. I can name them all, even. The cool thing about it is that every other week, in addition to the High School students, we would get all the siblings and younger kids in the class as well, making 29 kids ages 7 through 17 all in the same room.

I guess I am pretty sad to be quitting that class. But it was a lot of work (which I often didn’t have time for) and it’s not like I won’t be seeing the people anymore.

2. Pikes Peak Philharmonic

You may not know this, but at the beginning of the semester, I missed the deadline to reapply for DYAO. So, instead, I auditioned for the Pikes Peak Philharmonic in CO Springs, the community orchestra that my dad conducts, and I got in! So now I’m driving down to the Springs every Tuesday for rehearsals (which, by the way, is a great way to get hours on my driver’s permit). For our most recent concert, we played music from Star Wars, as well as a bunch of Christmas music. It went very very well.

3. Credo Showcase

You’re probably thinking, why didn’t I write about this under “Credo”? Well it feels like a very separate thing to me, so I decided to write about it separately. It just happened on Thursday. (Showcase, by the way, is what we at the Homeschool co-op Credo do at the end of the year to prove to our parents that we really are learning something.)

For Chemistry, we did no presentation of any sort.

For Choir, we sang three songs. I had a solo in one of them, the only solo available. Hooray for me. It didn’t sound that great.

For Speech, each student did a 1-minute interp (skit adapted from literature). Bethany and I collaborated and did a duo of the scene from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

For piano, I played a Christmas song.

4. Recent Things

Well, for one, there was a Kantorei concert yesterday, and I got to turn pages for the pianist. It was in St. John’s cathedral in Denver, a huge, beautiful cathedral built in the 1860’s. If you ever get the chance to hear Kantorei in that church, DO IT. It was really cool for me to be so close to the music. One of the pieces had a hammered dulcimer; another had the choir split in half and stand at opposite ends of the cavernous room. From where I was, it seemed like some strange disembodied voices were echoing the visible choir right beside me.

After the concert, my dad asked me to give him some of my poetry so he can set it to music and Kantorei can sing it. I did that today, and he chose one he liked. I hope he actually does it. It’d be cool.

Okay, that’s a good recent thing. I shall move on now.

5. Random Whateverness

Sad face: Alex is going to college in Arizona next year.

Happy face: I’m going to start jazz piano lessons Tuesday.

I am currently sitting on the couch with Joe and Evan. We are watching Time Bandits.

So there ya go. I know this post is really choppy and weird, but I hope to be back to regular posting soon. Then it will all be back to the good old times. Huzzah.

Oh, one more thing; I wrote a new song. Here’s the link to it on YouTube. Enjoy.

 

Okay, okay!

I’m writing! Life is insanely crazy now that school has started. I just realized that I haven’t written a thing since July. Shame on me. Oh well.

What to say.

Well, something I should mention: I miss my cousins! I find it quite tragic that I finally get to meet an entire branch of my family and now I have to leave them again for who knows how many more years.

I miss Auntie Dinah’s family especially. I have so many great memories from the previous visits we’ve had with them over the course of my childhood; they are a very big part of the accumulation of experiences that is me. (If that makes sense. I hope it does.) At the risk of sounding overly-sentimental, I prepared myself to savor every moment of our time together before we left for the trip. And I did. And it made parting hurt all the more.

I am being too dramatic, aren’t I? Well, you wanted me to write. This is what you get.

The day we had to say goodbye was one of the most painful days of my life. How can you enjoy your time with someone when you know every second that passes is a second closer to parting? I’ll never forget standing with Alyssa on that little hill at the park, breathing the surprisingly cool air and watching a desert storm gather, with alternating darkness and brilliant light, in the distance.

I had a lump in my throat as I hugged each of them for the last time. After they left, and the door was closed behind them, I ran to the bathroom.

And no one in my family knows this (and probably never will, since they don’t read my blog) but I cried. I cried for a long time.

You would, too. I have no idea when I’ll see them again.

Dangit. I don’t want to write anymore today.

 

Back

I got back from Vegas and California and everywhere else a week ago. Sorry I didn’t write. I’m busy right now, so I guess I’ll write sometime later. Bye.

 

In Vegas

I’m in Las Vegas having a sleepover with all my cousins. My very special cousin Tyler is looking over my shoulder as I read this!!! Yay! I love him. If you’re my Facebook friend you will see pictures. Later.

Lots of stuff going on. I’ll make sure to write about the best parts when I get back. Tah for now!

Cousins of all different ages

Getting together here in Las Vegas

And that was an terrible rhyme but whatever. See you all soon!

 

Vacation (hurrah)

Tomorrow we leave for Las Vegas. Whoohoo! Can’t wait to see my cousins! The past few days we’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and packing and generally getting ready. I will be glad to finally be on the road.

Also, I should mention that I have my Driver’s permit now. And yes, I’ve driven on the roads, and no, no one was killed. Or injured. Or even startled. So stop with the jokes, everyone.

Today’s sign-off:

Tomatoes and tater tots,

I sure love my friends a lot. Tah!

 

A Haiku For a Friend

Please know I love you.

And maybe someday finds us

Alone together.

 

Vegas

I have been avoiding writing because I didn’t think there was much to write about. But then I thought: It’s about time I started blogging about summer vacation plans.

We are going to Las Vegas!

That’s right; Vegas, baby. I believe we are leaving June 25 or 26, and will be gone for a couple of weeks. It’s a family reunion. And it probably sounds weird to have a family reunion in a place like Las Vegas, but that’s how it worked out. Relatives will be coming from Guam, Hawai’i, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and possibly other places. 

The cool thing is, I’ll be meeting a bunch of them for the first time. My Auntie Leah (who is my mom’s sister), her husband Noel and my two little cousins are on the top of that list. Also some great uncle/aunt types with crazy Filipino nicknames like Dodong. Maybe I will get a crazy Filipino nickname too. Hahah. 

Anyways, yeah. We’re going to have people like, babysitting our house while we’re gone. Which means someone either really loves cats or is about to really NOT. And I’ll update more about trip plans and stuff, so keep checking.

One thing I want to add is that I would like to have a signature sign-off whenever I end a post. I’ll be thinking about it but I want some input from you guys. 

Okay, so, um, keep the comments coming, my little friends!

 

Garden

I’m finally writing about the garden, like I promised. 

We recently planted a vegetable garden. (Also known as a just-in-case-Glenn-Beck-is-right garden.) It was a lot of work. First, my dad had to rent a sod cutter, so he could tear up a bunch of the grass in our backyard. Then, because the sod cutter didn’t quite do the job, we had to hack away the rest of the grass with shovels and other such objects. Then I used a trowel and a large, flat garden tool I don’t know the name of to cut a two-inch trench around two sides of the garden so my dad could put boards in it to hold the soil in. One other side is against the fence, and for the last one, Evan and I lugged some huge pine logs across the yard from that pine tree we cut down a couple years ago.

Then, my dad went to some magical dirt place and filled both his pickup truck AND trailer with magical dirt. Well, okay, it wasn’t magical. But it was all soft and nice and I took off my shoes and walked around in it and got all Zen, whatever that means. Then Evan and I had to shovel the dirt into a wheelbarrow, and my dad would take it across the yard and dump it in the garden area. This took ages because we could only go one wheelbarrow-full at a time, and the garden is in exactly the opposite corner from the gate. 

All of this was interspersed with other types of yardwork, including a bunch more tough sod removal in the front yard, and dandelion removal everywhere. Since I was drafted into this Great Yardwork War, I also found and began to translate some ancient texts of “The Ballad of the Dandelion Warrior,” which is a heretofore undiscovered epic poem describing a war between dandelions and vineweed.

Here is an excerpt:

And so the vineweed went to work,

As only vineweed could;

Until the yellow fields ran white

With dandelion blood

As far as my colleagues and I know, it was written by the great Plant Bard, Drupus, who is now believed to have been a plum. The poem itself was written, remarkably, in the language of Juniper, which is an incredibly difficult language to translate; there are also several sections of the text missing from the very decayed manuscripts. Needless to say, the going is slow.

However, the garden is coming along great. We’re growing peas, corn, carrots, peppers, spinach, broccoli, and lettuce, among several other things I don’t remember right now. Oh, and tomatoes. My dad is… in love with tomatoes. He’s grown them since forever, and last year we had a delicious harvest.

Anyway, everything has started sprouting, and my mom and I had to weed the garden yesterday. Or…Sunday. I forget. It wasn’t exactly hard work, but it takes forever. It took us like 2 hours, and when we were done, we went inside and cooked dinner for some hungry menfolk (meaning Evan and my dad), who have been working on the car for like 8 hours a day for the past 3 days. 

And this post is way too long! Goll-EE. This is what happens when I haven’t written in a while.

 

I Am Beginnings

A poem written by little old me. I hope you like it.

Also, I will write soon about the garden. I promise.

–

I am beginnings
I am ideas
The ink in the pen,
The words in your mind

I am that flurried sense
Of inspiration,
So small and warm and bright
In the vast, cold, empty room
Of potential
I am first light.

I am brilliant
I am fleeting,
I run with the moon
And dance on the water,
Whisp’ring my songs
With the voices of wind chimes
To be heard and then forgotten

I am worshipped,
I am scorned
Revered and rejected,
Desired and denied

I am shallow,
Passing quickly
Like the flame of a match
That burns alone
I am paint without an artist
Worthless unpursued
Less than nothing without purpose

I am everything,
I am nothing

I am beginnings

–

(c) 2009 Emily Woodrow Clock

 

Squid Dissection

Today, some people from the Biology class (plus some people NOT from the Biology class) got to dissect squids at the Denver Aquarium. It was COOL. 

And I am too lazy to bother describing it. Blah. 

But it is of interest that we got to walk  around the Aquarium and stuff. I took lots of pictures. If you’re not my Facebook friend, email me and I’ll send some to you. My favorite were the otters and the tigers because I am a rebel and refuse to like anything exclusively aquatic at an aquarium. Oh. What now.

So, yeah. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been wanting to write about this all day and now that I get the chance, I don’t feel like it. Strange. I guess that’s what gardening will do to you.

I guess I should write about the garden. But tomorrow. Okay. Bye.