So, this week has been interesting so far. I already told you all that I'm giving up pokémon, but now... maybe it's just me being weak, but I sort of want to go back to it. The problem was I got too obsessed with it- it became addicting and too much of a priority. Could I still play it and work harder on putting it in its place? Or, should I stand firm to the conviction I think God gave me this Sunday? Man, I'm asking the Internet for justification. Forget I asked. It's between me and God.

Other than that, I have returned to piano lessons, only with a different teacher. I like her better so far! Instead of going along with a curriculum from a book, she lets me choose the pieces that I like which she thinks I can do with only a little bit of challenge, and she'll teach me what she thinks I need. I'm again remembering my love of music.

Last night, I went to a junior high football game with some other seniors from my church. A guy in our youth group was on the team, so we went to cheer him on. My alma mater -if you can call a junior high that- won, and it was pretty cool and fun. On the way home, I dropped someone off, out of the way. I got out my phone for GPS, and accidentally changed one number in my street address, and it took me somewhere I didn't recognize AT ALL. It was frustrating, and kind of scary. I got home, though.

Then, today. It was average, as days go- except I missed See You at the Pole due to my early class- until my last class. I had finished my work early, and had decided to rest my head on my desk, since I didn't have any other work or a book I wanted to read. Next thing I knew, my teacher was shaking me awake after the bell had rung. She asked me if I was on medication! Embarrassing.

Anyway, tonight is church, and a special night at that, so I am excited! Ttyl!

I Was a Pokémon Addict

It's true. Late last school year, I played my first Pokémon game, Alpha Sapphire. I became enchanted, and also got X. I've become the champion of both the Kalos region and Hoenn. It was great!

This morning, in service, my church observed the Lord's Supper. For those of you who don't know, it's where we take the bread and the cup to symbolize the last supper Christ had before He was betrayed, and the sacrifice He made for us. You are encouraged to self-reflect before taking it. If you aren't saved, you shouldn't take it. If you are saved, but have unconfessed sin, you should clear that up with God before you take it.

I was doing this self reflection, thinking if there were anything I needed to get off my chest. Pokémon came to mind, as it has many times when the subject of giving things up for God has come up. I've been working out whether or not it's ok for me to play it, and I've tried justifying it before, but, this morning, I gave up. I realized that, good or bad, it had become too addicting to me. I was obsessed with being the best, and finishing the game, that I put it before almost everything, and let it take up too much of my thoughts.

I prayed, and I just let pokémon go. Now, as I write this, I feel free, but I also feel sad. The games make your team feel like family. It's part of its pull, and it was hard to erase the save data and any evidence of my journeys. But, it's good that I'm letting it go. Please pray for strength for me?

Football

Even though I am in no way an avid sports fan, I can easily get into a game when I choose to. It can be fun to get excited over things like touchdowns, good and bad plays, and unfair calls from refs. I don't go to many games, but I regularly go to my school's rivalry games.

There are two other high schools in our district, and we have a rivalry game with each of them every year. Last week, we had our first rivalry game with the original high school of our district. We won, for the fifteenth year in a row, but unlike most times, it wasn't a blow out. They kept us on our toes!

Tonight is our other rivalry game, with the newest high school in the district. This school has always been competitive with us, so it's more of a game, and we never know who might win. I can't remember how many times we've won... Anyway, this being my senior year, I want us to win!

Unfortunately, I may not be there to see it. I bought my ticket yesterday, and put it in one of the pockets of my backpack. This morning, I was going to take it out to make sure I still had it, and it was gone. All the pockets of my backpack were sans ticket! Even if they were still selling tickets on campus today, I doubt they'd issue me a replacement. I just hope that it just fell out at home, and Mutt will find it. If he does, in exchange, I'll give him the play by play.

Cross your fingers, everybody!

Aand we're back to doing nothing in my computer class. My teacher's computer had been fixed, so we should have been good to go this week, but it broke down again. Oh, well.

I've, as usual, taken the time to write. I know I should be working on more original things, but stuff like fan fiction is easier and sometimes more fun to write. Like, right now, I am working on a pokémon fan fiction. The trainers from both games I own, X and Alpha Sapphire, meet up and adventure together. The main conflict is over how a splinter group Team Aqua is after the trainer from AS to get Kyogre, so she ran away to Kalos to stay with her cousin, my trainer from X.

It's supposed to be a continuation of another fan fiction I started but still have yet to finish. I like writing pokémon, because I love it in general, but feel guilty doing so when writing is supposed to be what keeps me focused on things other than pokémon, so it doesn't become the only thing I ever think about. But, it's hard to write other things, when I rarely have a good original idea, and when it's more fun to stay in the world of pokémon, and my trainers, Christina and Lane.

Hopefully, today's prompt in Creative Writing class will get my mind off pokémon. I mean, there's nothing wrong with pokémon, per se, but it shouldn't be the only thing on my mind at any given moment. I swear, if I didn't force myself to write, and hadn't given back my borrowed copy of AS -which, ironically, I have back now for keeps- I'd have played pokémon non-stop all summer. Granted, if I did that, I'd already be the champion of Kalos, but for now, I'm taking it slow with X, until I get more into writing.

Not that I don't enjoy writing. I can't believe I forgot how much I liked it! If I ever stop for such a long time again, you all have the right to send me a long-distance virtual slap. Multiple times.

Anyway, gonna go. Byes!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Hope you've enjoyed sleeping in, and will continue to relax and have a nice, fun day.

Labor Day is a long weekend for most people, but it's even longer for me. Other schools would go back tomorrow, but my district has an in-service day, so I get one more day to have fun and rock out! I plan on working on this story I've just started, and maybe watching a couple movies. And, of course, sleeping in... I may just do more of that after this post. Hehe :)

What is the history of Labor Day, anyway? I know it has to do with labor unions or something, but I've never heard all the details. Is my brother right, and it was made a holiday by FDR after WWII? I really don't know. I'm probably with the majority on that, but I still feel like I should know.

Well, I really can't think of anything else... happy Labor Day!

Christianity IS Slavery

Before you look at the title and have me committed or ex-communicated, hear me out.

A few years ago, I posted my thoughts on a screen name, "IAmNotaSlavetoaGodWhoDoesn'tExist." My view has changed on it since then, as you can already tell. Christianity is slavery, in a sense.

It's not slavery as we know it from pre-Civil War, where humans were treated as property and forced to work their master's home with little or nothing in return. In Old Testament times, slavery was more of a servanthood. A man or woman would offer himself to a master to work so he or she could receive money to send to their family. In law like Leviticus, God commanded that these slaves be treated well, and offered freedom after a set amount of time.

Christians are these types of slaves to God. We offer ourselves to Him humbly, and are given love, mercy, grace, and everlasting life in return. It is fully our choice to come to Him, and we are duty bound to spread His word of hope and forgiveness across the world. That's what it means to be a slave to God, to follow His word and get so much in return, never being turned away when we fall short. Sure, we are disciplined when we fall short, but never more than we can handle, and it's because He loves us and wants the best for us. A slave driver of the other connotation has no love.

Do you see the difference, now? I hope this makes sense, and gives you a better view of our God.

Writing

I have a hard time writing very often. I enjoy it, and want to get better at it so I can be one of the greats some day, but it's hard. Sometimes, I can't decide what my character is like, and how to portray that in one story without huge descriptions that bore people to tears. I have big events planned out in my head, but the smaller ones in between are hard to write, what with smooth transitions, especially to the big scenes. I rarely come up with original ideas, at least that's what I think. One of my biggest fears is that I'll write something similar to a really popular story I've read, not realizing what I've done until I get called out on it.

Since I've gotten out of writing as of late, I've been trying to do it more, but sometimes other things interest me more. Video games often seem more fun, with their stories and colorful characters. I don't have to do anything besides go along with it. Unfortunately, that means I'm not being productive, and little to no writing gets done in a day I get sucked into something like Pokémon.

I like writing, I really do- I love seeing words from my head appear in front of me. I love knowing that I'm good at something creative, something people like. But,  how do I fight the overwhelming urge to be the consumer instead of the creator?

Can anyone sympathize with me here? Any advice?

Pop Culture

I've been looking through my stats lately, and noticed a trend. Most of my slice-of-life posts go unseen. Then, a post about some sort of media, potentially popular, can get dozens of views. I'm glad that at least some of my posts are popular, but... Well, isn't a blog supposed to be about life, not just reviewing pop culture and media and stuff? Maybe that's what I'm good at, but that's not necessarily all I want to write about. I find it fun to write about my day, about stuff that's going on. Do you guys like that? Should I switch to full on reviews and other pop culture/media like that, since it's popular, or stick with what I like to write, and include those types of posts? I'd love to hear feedback.

Talk to y'all later.

ID

My school has a harsh policy on ID's. You have to wear them, or you get instantly suspended for the day when you get caught without one. Today was the first day we had to wear them, and of course I forgot mine. Our principal called over the PA to send everyone without their ID to him.

I was convinced I was doomed. Not only was I being called out in front of my class, I was potentially going to be suspended. My dad would whoop my rear if that happened! Or, at the very least, any chance of him getting me a used PS3 like he's been thinking about would go down the drain.I was so afraid, humiliated, etc.

Luckily, I didn't get suspended. However, our principal wasn't about to let me stay at school without getting my ID one way or another. I called my house, and was forwarded to my dad's cell. I assumed no one was at home, and my dad was at work, so he assured me that he was in no position to bring me my ID. He did give me permission to go home and grab it.

When I got to my house, guess who was there? Mutt! He had been home when I called, and he didn't answer! He could have easily brought me my ID, but instead he was sitting on his duff, watching TV. Granted, my ID is my responsibility, not his, but still. My leaving school and missing class time could have been avoided.

Aside from that, I lost my parking place and had to park on the opposite end of school, away from any of my classes. So, this day has gotten off to a great start. Oh, well. As much as I want to blame my principal or my brother, it's my own fault for rushing out the door without my ID this morning. Sigh. Well, like that one coyote says, rock bottom is a solid foundation, right?

Next step is to get my MLP playing cards allowed at school. Then again, now might not be the best time to bring that up... well, we'll see. A bientot!

French vs. Writing

Hey, guys. We're pretty much officially going to start doing work in this class tomorrow, so I may not be able to post as often anymore. That, and I may be getting a job -!!- and/or starting piano lessons again. While I have the time, though, I'd like to talk about something.

Since I was in grade school, I've enjoyed writing. I love to put the ideas in my head onto paper, and give them to others to enjoy. It gives me satisfaction when people like what I write, and it lets me know that I am actually good at something worthwhile. These past couple of years, though, I've been getting out of the habit of it.

Two years ago, I first started learning French. I fell in love with the language for its beauty, its simplicity and its complexity, and how I picked up on it. Where I thought I'd grow up to be a writer, I began to imagine myself as the next Madame. I thought I'd be a French teacher, or go to France and teach English, or something like that. That dream still excites me.

But, now I've been writing a lot more- because of this class, because of my creative writing class, and another reason which I will not delve into right now. I've learned to love it again. There's something so wonderful about the words in my head becoming manifested on paper or on a screen. Sometimes, I can understand what I'm feeling more when I think about it as I'm writing. So, what do I do? I'm torn between two loves. Do I go with writing, or French? Of course, French includes writing -and, to be honest, I am way better at reading and writing French than I am at listening or speaking- but there is more to it when you are the one teaching.

I just don't know.

Little Gesture, Big Difference

This will sound silly, but the best part of my day was after school ended. Well, that or my Bible study with one of my favorite Sunday School teachers EVER. Anyway...

I was walking to my car once the bell rang, and a sort-of friend of mine ran by. As she jogged passed me, she said, "Have a good day, -redacted-". It took me by surprise. We rarely see each other or talk anymore, but she still considered me enough to say something nice to me. I don't know exactly why, but it made me really happy. I was smiling all the way home.

It made me think about how small things make a big difference. What if there were, say, a bus driver, who spends his day driving loud, smelly kids to and from school, and he barely gets any recognition or pay? I can imagine that a small "thank you" or "have a good day" would mean a lot. Even though it may be nothing to you, it can mean the world to someone who really needs some kindness.

I know Jesus did big acts of kindness in His miracles, and a HUGE one with His sacrifice on the cross, but I wonder if He ever did anything like that? Surely He'd know just who would need it and when. I'm sure He'd love it if we all showed a little more kindness.

Please, for me, try and find the one kind thing you can do this week, or each day, and do it. It may be as small as a hello, or as big as buying lunch for someone. Just do it! You might be surprised how far your best gesture can go

Creative Writing

It's that time again, folks! The time of day for everyone's favorite game, Will We Actually Do Work in Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing? Hedge your bets, everybody. Announcements are go. The bell has rung, and any second now, Mr. E will call roll. He's at his computer. Will it work today? Will we finally have our first dive into the world of icons and brochures? The suspense is murderous. In the meantime, the announcer attempts to read comics, but finds them blocked due to "incidental nudity," even though it is a My Little Pony comic, and ponies don't wear clothes anyway.

And, it looks like the answer to the question on everyone's mind is no! We will not be doing any work in this class today. A bummer for over-achievers, and a relief to slackers everywhere. Well, tune in tomorrow for another exciting episode of Will We Actually Do Work in Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing?

Hehe. In all seriousness, it is getting a bit tiring, not doing any work in here. I can't complain much about having this free time to write, but it doesn't feel right doing absolutely nothing for 55 minutes a day when I am supposed to be working to earn the credit I'll receive at the end of the course. Tant pis. Oh well.

I mentioned my creative writing assignment yesterday, right? Well, we finally read mine not long after I last posted. My story, which started out as a girl having a bad day, ended up with her hallucinating due to drugs, and dying from said drugs... Okay, then. Well, at least it wasn't among the many stories that had minions added to it by this one girl in our class. I mean, I like them as much as the next person, don't get me wrong, but it's not creative writing when you only write about one thing. Even the guy who wrote about the spaghetti gypsy branched out, as far as I can tell.

Speaking of the spaghetti gypsy, I'm pretty sure whoever wrote about that guy is the same author of the famous Meatball story. The narrator's best friend/crush comes over for dinner, and he has an allergic reaction to the meatballs in the spaghetti. In the end, the narrator has a dream, and her sub conscious tells her, "You are the meatball." If that makes sense to you please let me know in the comments below.

So, yeah, my creative writing class has a lot of quirks. But, there were also deep stories, like about schizophrenia and existence. Those mess with my brain, since they always remind me of the breakdown I experienced after I watched the movie "Inception." So, I do my best to ignore them.

What's the craziest story you've ever heard? Let me know in the comments- I'd love to hear them! Thanks for reading, and I'll most likely see you all tomorrow. Bye!

School

Haha, my blog isn't blocked on the school computer! Whoopie! Hi, guys! Been a while, huh? Sorry about that. It's been busy, and this blog hasn't really come to mind.

School just started. I'm a senior this year. I don't feel any different most of the time, but when I think about it, it can hit me like a rock. This is my last year of high school. I'm getting closer and closer to real life. The thought of being an adult terrifies me. It will be totally different from what I'm used to! Being grown up, living on my own, buying groceries for myself... I don't know if I'll be able to handle it.

Agh, sorry. Enough about my Peter Pan syndrome. School so far has been amazing! Granted, it hasn't really been even a week yet, but it has been fun. I have most of my credits, so most of my classes are electives. Right now, I am in computer class, which is supposed to be about graphic design and desktop publishing, but apparently our teacher's computer is messed up or something, so we have the hour to ourselves for the most part. That gives me time to write you guys!

Another elective of mine is Creative Writing. Perfect for me, right? I love writing, so this is a good opportunity for practice, and a friend of mine is in it with me. The only problem is that the teacher was M and B's English teacher last year, and they say she's a witch. I haven't picked up on that so far, but time can tell. I'll follow my grandmother's advice and make my own opinion, which is this: Ms. Z is no Sally Sunshine, but she's also no witch. She seems like a cool lady to me, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

So far, the class itself has been fun. First, we interviewed each other to learn about our classmates. My friend and I interviewed each other. That may sound like I'm not branching out, but it's really not. I mean, we hang out, but, for the most part, I don't know much about her. This was a good time for us to learn more, like how we both love Jem and the Holograms! You know, that old eighties cartoon that was about a singer with a secret identity before Hannah Montana was cool? I also was able to reveal my new obsession with pokémon- I can't help it! The different critters can be cute, goofy looking, cool looking, or just plain epic, and they are so loyal and strong.

Got off on a rabbit trail, sorry. Our second assignment was this game where you're given a sentence to start a story with, and you keep on passing it around for others to add to it. So far, the results have been hilarious! Like, there was this one where Bob the Builder was dreaming that he was Katniss from the Hunger Games, and another one where the narrator pulled a pied piper and ended up with a herd of pet spiders. I can't wait to see how mine turns out!

My core classes are cool, too- I have Mutt's senior English teacher, and he seems pretty nice so far. At times in English, of course I feel like we're putting too much thought into a book, but other times I like going deeper into stories and finding possible hidden meanings. My other core class is American Studies, aka US Government. This is one of the only classes that grades participation, and what do I do? I can't stop nodding off! What's up with that? I mean, I wake up early for Zero Hour, and I feel fine, but when we get started in gov, boom. Eyelids become ten times heavier. Maybe is psychological, like I know that I'm being graded and since I'm telling myself not to sleep, sleep is exactly what I do.

Such is life. Anyway, this post is getting long, so I think I'll sign off for now. Talk to y'all later!

Frozen 2

Hi, all! Sorry it has been so long. It's been crazy! Anyway, today I have something very exciting to talk about!

It was just announced that Disney is officially making a sequel to their hit movie "Frozen." I love Frozen as much as anyone, but I was wondering what it could be about. I mean, the story was pretty open and shut. There's not much more, if anything, else to tell.

Then, I found this song on YouTube:

It's a song sung by Idina, the voice of Elsa, about the Snow Queen's powers and all. There has been uncertainty about whether it's going to be in Frozen Fever, the short in front of the new live-action Cinderella, or Frozen 2. In any case, it seems to be a little bit odd. It still sounds like Elsa is wary of her powers, even though she seemed to fully accept them and gain control of them by the end of the original film. So what's going on?

My theory is that Frozen 2 will be a prequel. It might delve into more detail of how Anna and Elsa grew up, and how each of the girls felt in their isolation. This was glazed over in the "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" montage, and they could do something with that, possibly enough for an entire film. That would be really intriguing!

Or, it just occurred to me, it's possible that Frozen 2 takes place after the events of the original, and this is maybe a flashback song. Oh, well. Only time will tell!