I totally forgot!

Wow! I totally forgot about this Mrs. G! And if its too late, I understand, but Ill still do it. Soundtrack! This is gonna be tough.
1) New Years! I'm gonna go with "We are the Champions". I had an awesome time new years, and I felt that I had overcome some goals that I had set the previous year, so I felt like a conqueror. I was really proud and myself, and just felt good.
2)January-March. During this time period, I was getting back on track, pulling out of a school slump, and fixing some friendships that were long over due. I think the chorus from Free's "All Right Now" works, because, it was all right, and it had the same kick butt feel as I had.
3) Nifty Fifties. I'm gonna chose "Rock Around The Block" from the show, not only because it's from it, but because the song is about having fun. And that's exactly what happened during the show. I got to hang out with some of my best friends, act, sing, wear a sparkly jump suit and a Hugh Hefner Esq robe. We also had a lot of awesome jokes! ("You're straight as a whistle" -that's to my dearest Matt McFadden and Kelly Moak).
4) March-June "Eye of the Tiger" This was the homestretch for Middle School, and I was plowing right through. My different friend groups seemed to bond, and we were a team. We were on the ball, getting good grades, and having a lot of fun.
5) Graduation "I've Loved These Days" by Billy Joel, because I really did love being at Algonquin, and I don't think my peers give it enough credit. We all know we had a blast there, and that it shaped us to be the "responsible, mature" people we are now. Anyway, I've always looked back at those days fondly.
6) Summer "Revolution 9" Not so much the lyrics or the concept of the song. But the feel. Long. Monotonous. Boring. Kind of like Moby Dick. I honestly am having trouble remembering more than three exciting things. Which brings me to August.
7) Steven goes Bye Bye "The Long and Winding Road" This was the most sad I had been in a while. Steve and I had really gotten close lately, and he was going away. The song is about to me is about looking back at what you've been through with a person, which I was doing a lot of, and mostly, I was proud of it.
8) Coping with no Big Brother home "A Quick One While He's Away" I enveloped myself with this Who song. It made me really happy during a time when I was having a lot of no brother, friendshipy problems. It still gets me through a lot.
9)Sometime in September "Superman" by Lazlo Bane During this time, I had someone that I wasn't too close to, come to me with a huge problem, and it put a ton of stress on my shoulders. The song is about only being able to do so much. I eventually worked it out.
10) October-New Years "More Than A Feeling" Well, the years over! And around this time I became obsessed with this Boston gem. Its just very spiritual for me. I don't know whether it's the lyrics, or the feel, but I just feel the song now a days. If that makes sense. I promise I'm not tripping. I'm not into Drugs.
Well there was my extremely uneventful year. But this blog made me appreciate the first half of the year. And dislike the second half. Oh well! -Peter
PS Im gonna add Summertime Blues to the Summer portion of this, because summer seemed rather unfair to me, and I didnt get my fair share O' fun.

More Extremely Extremely Vast Lateness - This Time About '07

Oh, dear. Silly me. Blowing off my blogs, again. Well, anyway - events of 'o7.

Numero Uno: I!!!! WENT!!! TO!!!! JAPAN!!!!!!
I could write an entire post on this one. Seriously, I could. But I'll just sum it up for now. It was my first time out of the country, my first time out of the time zone, and for goodness' sakes it's a TRIP! It was absolutely amazing, I loved it, I did so many awesome things. Anyone (and I mean ANYONE) who wants to learn s'more about it should feel free to talk to me any time! I'd love to share my stories!

Song: *scratching head* ummm.....I dunno.....Japan and its vast wonderfulness is too hard to figure out with my limited knowledge of songs. I suppose I shall choose a Japanese song (gee, I wonder why?). I'll go with Hikari E (To The Light) by The Babystars, because the lyrics (when translated) are about going on a journey, and searching for your dreams, so I feel like it kinda fits.

The Second One: I'm not sure if my long-term memory is entirely correct, but it seems as if '07 was the first year that I really experienced death. Approximately half of the dogs (and one cat) that I knew died this year (but not my adorable poochie, thank goodness), whether from accidents or just from old age and sickness. Also, the husband of a close friend of my mother's from Long Island (that's where I used to live), who had been fighting a brain tumor for about a year, passed away. Of course, I found that out on the same day that I found out that I hadn't made Anything Goes, so needless to say that day sucked.

Song: I'm baffled......again....do I even know any songs about death? I would say "Angel", by Eurythmics, except for the fact that I hate and despise that song. I guess "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" by Tears for Fears, just because it's kind of a desperate and sad song about humankind (but I still love it).

3/San/Tres: High school, man. Just moving up 1 year in school can make such a difference. High school is bigger, (mostly) better, and has great classes. It's also a big step in a person's life, to move up a grade and suddenly be in this different place. It feels like I've grown up a lot just by leaving Algonquin.

Song: Can't think of one. The transition is pretty much indescribable, and I'm not enough of a music guru to know a song for it. Sorry!

The Number Formerly Known as Four: This isn't strictly limited to 2007, but I love my friends!!!! They rock. In '07, they helped me to actually (gasp!) have fun at the Hollyball in December, and I was actually able to cut loose and dance for once. They help me, and I try to help them. They are indescribably awesome. I looooooooove all you guys soooo much!

Song: You're My Best Friend, by Queen : self-explanatory :P

1000/25=40 40*2=80 80/16=5 : Humm....trying to think of something else....what if 2007 wasn't really a year of consequence for us? Besides Japan and the other things mentioned here, not many exceptional things happened to me last year. Though I did start reading the Hungry City Chronicles, which, now that I have finished them, have become my favorite books ever. I read a lot of other good things this year, like Harry Potter 7 (I almost typed Harry Potty) and the Twilight trilogy. I suppose, though, that my 5th event will just be living. All of the seemingly unimportant things gradually add up, and I'll see what they become later in '08. But I'm grateful for '07, just because I got the chance to live in it and experience the good things and the bad.

Song: The Prophet's Song ~Queen Because it's my favorite song.


Love and happy (late) New Year,

~~~--Ali

My Extremely Extremely Vastly Late Verse

This is so late that.....wow........I don't know. It's from 2007. The procrastinator strikes again.
Anyway, me verse.....hmmm......well, I couldn't really tell you that. Y'see, unfortunately, I'm not possessed with the ability to see the future, so I can't tell you what my verse will be - who knows which way my life will go? However, so that I don't fail this blog post, I can try to tell you what I'd like my verse to be.

Frankly, I don't think I'm meant for much in this world. I don't think I'll end up rich and famous and donating millions of dollars of charity, and I don't think I'll end up being some fantastic public speaker who inspires the masses to do good things. What I'm hoping for is more of the help-a-few-who-help-a-few-others chain reaction etc. etc. If I ever actually have the chance to donate millions of dollars to charity, then goshdarnit I'll do it, but I'll probably be the sort who volunteers and maybe donates a bit. But one thing I know I'll do is try to smile. Have any of you guys ever smiled at a stranger, and had them smile back? It's a great feeling. Try it sometime - with your friends and enemies too. You never know how much a smile or a hug or a joke can improve someone's day.

Anyway, what I really think about life is that: it's hard. It stinks sometimes. That's why there are other people on Earth - so we can support each other and help each other along. Life isn't always going to be fair or kind to us, but it's a precious gift and we should try to make the most out of it. By leaning on others and letting them lean on us, not to mention trying to help those who need it, we can all make life a bit more bearable. And, my poem for this is: an excerpt from "Dover Beach", by Matthew Arnold! Which was in F451!!!! And also "A Darkling Plain"! (By the way, Mrs. Gaboury, I finished it yesterday and IT.WAS.AMAZING. It is seriously worth reading the entire series just to get to the end of it. The Hungry City Chronicles are now officially my favorite books EVER.) Anyway, the poem (which I am typing from memory) is:

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems,
To lie before us like a land of dreams
So various, so beautiful, so new
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light
Nor certitude, nor peace nor help for pain,
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Thanks to 'A Darkling Plain' by Philip Reeve, that poem is now my absolute favorite.

In summary - help others, because without 'em, we're just a bunch of squabbling idiots.

I don't know if this is exactly my verse - but it's my view on life, which is good enough for me.

--Ali

P.S. To all of you who have never heard of them (and that's most of you), the Hungry City Chronicles is a quartet of novels by Philip Reeve. In order, they are: Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain. They are simply amazing books - one of 3 series that I have ever cried about, the other 2 being Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and Harry Potter. I looooooooove these books!!!!!!

If I Could Switch Places (Sorry for the lateness)

"if you could switch laces with anyone in the world who would it be?" i have been asked that question so many times and every time i have to think about it. i always consider the obvious choices first you know, someone rich and famous, but i always get rid of that option very early in the narrowing down process. i know that if i experienced a week or so in super luxury then when i had to be me again i would never be content. I would always wish that i could have that awesome life again even though deep down i know it probably wont happen. I feel that happiness is comparative to the rest of your life. if you are never sad how do you know that you are happy? if you have everything you want then what is there to hope for?

So to answer the question, i can't think of a specific person who i would switch paces with but it would be someone who was much less fortunate then i am. I feel that living as a teenager in an impoverished county in Africa for a week would really open my eyes to the suffering that is out there in the world. Also when i switched back to be myself i would know what true suffering was and that way i can really appreciate how amazing my life is. how i don't have to do any hard work and all of my basic needs are taken care of and i don't have to worry about any of them.

PS-I am really sorry that this is so late but i missed the class when we did this and it just took my a while to get around to it.

This is my-really-very-late-I’m-sorry-Ms.-Gaboury-blog-post.

2007 was an extremely big year in my life. It seems to me that it was a year of immense growth and maturing. Looking back it kind of seems like I was drifting through life before, but I finally seem to have caught a hold of something. I’ve secured a true group of friends for the first time of my life and things are beginning to click. My forgetfulness is starting to disappear, I can finally begin to put 2 and 2 together, and the world is making sense now. I don’t know, maybe I am babbling on but it seems true to me. “stoner moment” It’s almost like… my consciousness has risen to some higher level, things are like, becoming clear and I’m becoming aware of them. Its also been a very eventful year and I have learned and experienced more than I seem to have ever before. Things like my first real concert, my first r movies, health-consciousness, and the ability to truly think things through have suddenly occurred to me along with many more events over this last year. (On a geeky note, the video game industry is better than ever baby!). I would not only say that 2007 was a good year, but that it was my best year. For this soundtrack thing, let me think, possibly “Land of Confusion” by either Genesis or Disturbed (Disturbed did a remake). This song reflects to me how there are so many people and so many opinions in the world that perfect harmony is no longer possible and everyone is living in a constant state of tension as to what problem will end the world first. However it also talks of hope that the new generation could fix it. I have thought about things like this over the past year and am still trying to work through the hormones and solidify a solid set of beliefs.

2007

I know this is really late, that's because I was out the day before Christmas break, but here it is, so enjoy!!

Number One: Graduating from middle school/ entering high school. I'm not sure that I took this as seriously as some people (no tears for me), but it was somewhat significant. High school for me has been like most of my school experience. I like the scheduling better, and I've met some new people, but it is overall what it has always been; school. This combined with people finally recognizing that global warming is actually a threat makes "The Times They Are a-Changin' " by Bob Dylan a good choice. Global warming is part of #1 not because it has directly affected me so far (except for the lack of snow), but because the first verse of the song is
"Come gather round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
Youll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin
Then you better start swimmin
Or youll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin."
This song best fits #1, but can apply to almost any of the things that have made 2007 stand out.

Number Two: Summer, as always, was amazing. During the first week of July I went to this summer camp. It was super fun, but also helped me to trust people more, and be more confident. There was even one part of the camp that made me, and everyone else there (even the counslers) cry, and not just one or two little tears. I'm talking about bawling, ugly crying, thinking back on it I know it was a good experience for me. Though, I do laugh at the thought of what most people were thinking when a group of crying people were walking around their campus. Besides that my summer was a time of rest and relaxation, just hanging out with friends. Also, this summer we finally got a pool!!!! I've been begging for one since I can remember swimming, so I was veeeeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy excited when we finally got one. However, it was a lot of work to keep up, and it turned green several times over the summer. Another significant part of my summer was that I turned 14, meaning I could get a job. I decided not to get one, why would I when I had so many other more relaxing, entertaining things to do. I enjoyed my last summer not working, and plan to work next summer, though who knows if that is going to happen. For my summer, since it was mostly just about enjoying things, people, life I picked "In the Summer Time " by Mungo Jerry. (I'm not sure if a lot of people will recognize it by its composer or name, but if you heard it you'd recognize it, it's one of those songs that just makes me happy)

Number Three: The Party. So in early December, my sister(17) invited me to a party. It was a Friday night and I had no plans. I was curious about what one of my sister's friends parties would be like, if it was similar to most of the ones I've been to, just a bunch of friends hanging out. So after much persuasion, and against my better judgment I agreed to go. As it turns out, my sister didn't even know whose house we were at, and on the way their I had to lie on top of two people, on the way back someone was lying on top of me. In between it was pretty boring, there was a mediocre band playing in the smoky basement, and upstairs.... well, I won't get into upstairs, except that there were a lot of drunk people, and some that were very creepy. To some of you this might sound pretty fun, but I prefer to spend my time in places that aren't going to give me cancer, with people that aren't complete strangers. Overall, the party was pretty boring, and it destroyed the ideas that I had had about my sister. I had always thought she went to see amazing bands at amazing parties, not mediocre bands at boring parties. I don't really have a song for this, so maybe you can think of one. The main theme should be fallen expectations, but not in a depressing way, it should be more like enlightenment or realization, or really bad parties. I'm sure you can think of something.

Number Five: Christmas. This year, the few days before Christmas, which are usually spent for last minute shopping, cooking and baking,were, for me, spent in bed. I was a little disappointed, because usually we make our Christmas cookies and I stay up with my mom on Christmas eve wrapping the presents that aren't mine. Luckily, I felt much better on Christmas Day, and was able to enjoy the holiday a little more, this was primarily due to the great number of relatives all packed into one small house, distracting me from anything that would have worsened the day. So this song is selected for and dedicated to them, the song is "Blue Christmas" by Johnny Cash, it wouldn't have been the same without them there.

These are most of the major events that sum up my 2007, which, as you can tell, has been a pretty good year for me.

My Verse (Yes, I Know That This Is Late)

My fellow students had done this blog when i was absent, about 2-3 weeks ago. It seems a long time to catch up, but i have a very forgetful mind. I am sorry for the delay.
I'm not too sure what my "verse" is. I would like to do many things in my life, and to be known for them. However, i do not yet know what these famous events will be. The song, "I'm Still Alive", played at the end of Portal, is something that is deeply porfound to me. It is about the feelings and future of GlaDOS, a supercomputer that was made by Aperature Science. The computer killed all of the company's emplyees with a neurotoxin, and tries to kill the player by sending them through increasingly dangerous test chambers. Eventually the player finds broken walls of the test chambers, which behind them are run-down maintenance areas. These areas were the safe-havens of test subjects before you. The graffiti made by them helps you out of the tests and finally to destroy GlaDOS. And, after the explosion which flings you out of the Aperature Science building, the computer sings you this song. Now, i am in no way wishing ti become a psychotic supercomputer, but it does make some valid points. The line, "We do what we must because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake. And the science gets done. And you make a neat gun. For the people who are still alive." With the exceptions of the cake and gun business (if you must know, GlaDOS has a fixation with cake, and tempts you with it constantly, and the gun reffered to here is the Aperature Science Handheld Portal Device, which creates portals whoch you can travel through), i believe that this is a very good mindset. Keep doing something productive and helpful to humanity, and even if you make a mistake, fix it and keep going. Dont linger over past failures.
If i ever do anything note worthy, it will be in this manner. I would like to do something in the field of science. And if i indeed have a verse, this would be it. Here is the whole song, and if you want to listen to it, which i highly recomend(that means you, Mrs. Gaboury), the url is:http://youtube.com/watch?v=-8JatlRwd0s.

Still Alive by Jonathan Coultan and Ellen McLain:
This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here:
HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying
over every mistake.
You just keep on trying
till you run out of cake.
And the science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are
still alive.
I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data
make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are
still alive.
Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay inside.
Maybe you'll find someone else
to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa...
THAT WAS A JOKE. HA HA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still talking
when there's science to do.
When I look out there,
it makes me GLaD I'm not you.
I've experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are
still alive.
And believe me I am
still alive.
I'm doing science and I'm
still alive.I feel FANTASTIC and I'm
still alive.
While you're dying I'll be
still alive.
And when you're dead I will be
still alive.
STILL ALIVE.
Still alive.