I Am Legend

I just finished watching I Am Legend, which I know came out in 2007, but no review is too late, right? Anyway, I thought it was a really good movie. The acting (there weren't very many actors; Will Smith is the last man on earth, after all) was well done. It was depressing, but I think that's kind of obvious if you know the plot.

The saddest part is probably in the middle, when he has to kill his dog. Also the ending, of course, because he dies to save the cure to the disease. But in the end, the disease is cured, and that's good.

Puzzle

My schedule today: Wake up at 8:00 A.M. Work for four hours straight on a half-finished 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Work for at least one more hour total during the remainder of the day. Outcome? Behold the above picture.

May I note that it is also the world's smallest 1,000-piece puzzle? It's true; you can't tell from the picture, but the pieces are actually miniature. My dad completed a regular puzzle with that many pieces, and it's way bigger. Hehe, I'm such a braggart.

Parental Controls

TEACHER: O.K., class, raise your hand if you hate AOL parental controls.

[JAMES raises hand.]

TEACHER: James, why do you hate AOL parental controls?

JAMES: Because they keep messing me up when I try to get into my blog.

TEACHER: Oh, you poor dear. Now stop whining.

The Fifth Chair

Attention, all geometry lovers, introducing the best puzzle ever: The Fifth Chair. As you can see from the picture, there are four "chairs," each exactly the same shape, but of different sizes. The object is to take all four and make an even bigger chair, still exactly the same shape.

I don't know about you, but I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I have solved the puzzle, if you were wondering. It actually isn't that hard, it's just ultra cool. I think I'm going to carry it around in my pocket when I have to wait in line or something, and just solve it over and over and over again. The Fifth Chair is the best!

Christmas

Feliz Navidad! Christmas has come, and nearly gone, and it hath been a good one. For me.

And hopefully for you too. I think if there's anything I should write today, it's that we should all remember to enjoy Christmas for the gifts, but not forget to also remember to use it to grow together with warmth in our hearts.

Anyway, I think my favorite gift was a diamond edition Scrabble game, which I will persistently nag my family over until they play it with me. Most of them don't have my steely, impenetrable tolerance for boardgames.

A Note

NOTE: It is now official, that before I wrote this post I had exactly the same number of posts in November and December. Also, coincidentally, that number of posts was 17, which is, as of five days ago, my age. Oh, numbers.

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! I'm confident that today will be the best Christmas Eve ever, because yesterday was the best Christmas Eve Eve ever. Did you know my birthday is on Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve? Heh heh, maybe that's taking it a little too far. Anyway, it's nice to be able to look under the tree, see all those presents, and know that you can open them in just one more day. Actually, I could go to bed right now, get eight hours of sleep, and wake up past midnight, on Christmas morning, and go open presents. Woo! Bedtime!

Just kidding; that wouldn't be any fun.

Anyway, presents aren't nearly as exciting now as they were when I was a little kid. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love getting gifts, and I'm grateful for them, but when I was a kid it was like I had struck oil. Especially with LEGOs. I guess that's just age for you; childish joy is replaced with teenage monotony. 'Tis a sad world, when we live only to work. Or sit around and write blogs.

untitled

Okay, so I was flipping through all the blogs on blogspot.com, and mine is definitely the best.

Just kidding, but I am kind of proud of my blog. If only I could find a way to get people to start reading it.

Epic Battle

The photo above depicts the epic battle between man and beast. Who will win? My money's on beast, but you never know.

Another Short Story

A long-fingered, gloved hand reached across the table and picked up the dark, wrapped-up parcel. The glove was black, black like the night outside, black like the room Mr. Evans was sitting in.

He was sitting at a little table, across from this black-gloved man.

"You said this is for a good cause, right?" Mr. Evans asked for the fifth time. The man said nothing. Mr. Evans could see nothing. Only that dark, black hand, hovering over the table with the parcel that he was so worried about. The parcel that contained something new, something highly dangerous. Something that could not, at all costs, fall into the wrong hands.

Slowly the hand withdrew, carrying the parcel, and Mr. Evans was alone. But he was not alone. Only seemingly so. Mr. Evans knew better; he could feel the presence of the unseen figure across the table from him. But suddenly, it was no longer there. The figure was moving.

"Hey," Mr. Evans said timidly. "You're forgetting the money you owe me." A pause. The figure had stopped. Somehow, even in this pitch black, Mr. Evans knew it was staring right at him, looking deep into his soul. And then, out of the darkness, it spoke.

"You're a fool, John Evans," the voice said. It was a hideous, rasping voice, the kind only heard by children, in their nightmares. "You've doomed the world to destruction, and all to satisfy your own greed. If you want the money," it continued, "then you'll get it. I'll kill you and drop it onto your cold, dead body. Then when they find you, they'll know who gave me this parcel. And your mouth will be forever sealed, sealed by the confines of Hell. Or you can walk away still living, and forget your money." The figure stayed there, frozen, waiting for Mr. Evans' response.

Mr. Evans looked into the blackness. Suddenly he was horribly afraid, afraid of this figure, afraid of the dark, afraid of his own ignorance. He wanted to keep this deadly invention away from this dark man, because he now knew the man would use it for evil. "P-Please, Sir," he said. "W-What are you g-going to d-do with the p-parcel?"

"Oh, you'll find out," the rasping voice said. "You'll all find out." And then it laughed, laughed the loudest, most disturbing laugh Mr. Evans had ever heard. The laugh permeated the room; it echoed in every corner, every nook and cranny. Its sound was like a dying animal, only worse. Like a dying animal from Hell.

And then the shadow was gone, gone from the room, gone from Mr. Evans' presence; gone in a flash. It was over, and Mr. Evans was left in the dark: literally and figuratively. He'd thrown away his most dangerous possession, and he had no idea where it was going.

Bored

Sigh. I'm so bored. Not that anyone should worry about that. It's all my fault that I'm bored, no one else's. After all, I could get a hobby, couldn't I? Sometimes I just like to complain, that's all.

Microscope

I was thinking, could I look at the snow in my yard under a microscope? That would be so cool. Did you know that no two flakes are identical? Yet they are all fractals; what an amazing world.

Anyways, I'm so going to try that tomorrow. Hehe, my family has our own microscope, as you can see in the picture. :) I'm pretty much the only one who gets excited about that.

Typing In Webdings

Hello, my name is James. If anyone can decipher this, then they are very smart. Seriously, why do they even have webdings anyway?

Loooooooooong Page

Maybe this sounds wrong, but I kind of wish that my whole blog stayed together in one obnoxiously long page. That way, all the posts would always be there. I guess it's better the way it is though; I mean, after all, there is a blog archive right on the side that's always accessible.

Bike Ride

I went for a bike ride in deep snow today. A woman yelled to me as I rode by that I was a "brave boy." Translation: You're an idiot!

Hey, maybe it was idiotic, but I need my bike ride. I've been doing them almost every day for a long time now. If I don't get my bike ride, then I get a little grumpy.

New Commandment

New Commandment: THOU SHALT READ MY BLOG.

Birthday - Cont.

I really am excited about my birthday though. I mean, I'm only one year away from voting rights now. And soon I'll be able to drive.

:)

It also, however, brings forth thought about my remaining years as an adolescent, which are quickly shrinking. If this was Medieval times, I would be an adult. I might even be training an apprentice. And I'd be married. As it is, I don't have much time before college wraps me in its vice-like, educational grip. Queue sinister music.

For now, I'm just going to worry about the present day. That's the best thing to do. And when college comes, I'll be ready; even if it does mean all the fun's over.

Birthday

It's my birthday today. I'm seventeen, so basically I'm an old man.

Boundaries

I'm reading a book right now called Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It's a really spectacular, life-changing book. I mean, we all try to solve problems, to make ourselves better people, but for many of us, the answer was there all along: in an extremely simple concept covered in this book.

For many readers, like me, Boundaries is a way to see how when you don't take responsibility for your own life, you hurt other people. So many of us have been taught that we won't experience the consequences for our own actions - and that our way is always the best way, no matter what anyone else says. This really opened my eyes not only to the truth to that statement, but the fact that when I act that way there are consequences - not only to me, but to other people as well.

But for the readers who really need this book, it means much, much more. It means learning to set limits with others who are harmful to us, learning that there is a difference between loving others - and breaking our backs for them. Boundaries teach us where to draw the line.

So whether you're line is too far in one direction or the other, I highly recommend this book.

Perfect Score

Anybody play Brain Age? Because I just got a 20. FINALLY A PERFECT SCORE. I can officially call myself a genius.

Etsy

My sister showed me this cool website called Etsy, where anyone can make things and sell them online in a little web store. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/. Also check out this really awesome Iphone dock somebody made: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36134149&ref=fp_feat_13.

How I Whip Up Some Readers

O.K., this is how I'm going to get some more readers: Become expert hypnotist. Hack into television broadcasting stations worldwide. Hypnotize every T.V. watcher on earth to read my blog. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Then, I could unhypnotize everybody, and they would still read my blog, because it's awesome. :)

Homework

School is tough, but necessary. We allow for it because it teaches us education. We allow ourselves to be forced from our homes for most of the day, almost everyday, because we know we should be having an education. It's fair. But when the school pushes its rights by giving us work to do at home, out of school, well, then they're just pushing the boundary. Homework is logically an infringement upon the freedom of youthful individuals!!! Give me liberty or give me death!!!

I'm just kidding, but seriously, sometimes I wish we all didn't have so much homework.

Can You Raed Tihs

One tmie I got an e-imal taht siad if the fsrit and lsat lteerts are the smae tehn you can siltl raed the wirintg. Itnriugnig...

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Happy late Thanksgiving all! I, for one, had a good one. NO ONE actually finished my crossword though. But that's O.K. I guess; it was a pretty hard crossword.

http://holydays.tripod.com/thanks.htm Click there to read a very brief summary of the Thanksgiving story.

You know what we all get to do after Thanksgiving? We get to look forward to Christmas! Holidays are the best.

¿Hablas español?

Heh heh, I do. Not fluently though; just what I've learned from taking it in school. No one else in my family knows it, so I like to ask them questions in Spanish and see what they do. My family members that have taken another foreign language respond in their language. Then I don't know what to say.

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra

I saw G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra the other day. It was just O.K. The movie was well done, and enjoyable to watch, but it brought to mind the devastating phrase I thought I would never ponder: too much action? I think watching people fight for like an hour straight can actually get boring. Also, while the adds kind of made it look like a kid's movie, it was much closer to the level of Iron Man and Transformers. Two other movies that were supposed to be for kids.

I think in modern society, movies have been taken over by a need for high-speed, high-tech action. If it doesn't have that, then it's not a good movie. In the old episodes of Star Trek, the action is slow and dramatic, and the plot deals in philosophy and exploration. But you could never get away with that in a modern blockbuster. Indeed, this is evident in the new 2009 adaption of Star Trek. It's not the same show, or movie, anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I still like these movies. Iron Man was one of my favorites. I just think that maybe we've lost something in modern film.

Cool Fact

I learned the most interesting thing in physics a while ago. You see, because of air resistance, every object has what we call a terminal velocity. This means that you can only reach a certain speed - air won't let you get any faster. Believe it or not, most insects and some small rodents actually have such a low terminal velocity that they can fall from virtually any height and be unharmed.

Pretty neat, huh?

Need A Longer Page...

Wow. I've already written enough posts that they don't all show up on my main page. Feel free to look through the blog archive and read 'em all from the beginning. Some of those guys are pretty recent. Besides, even the old ones are good.

Eventually, maybe I'll start limiting myself to one post a day and just make my posts a lot longer. I don't know; that might not be as much fun.

The Great Outdoors

Wouldn't life be so much better if we all lived in the Shire? I would relax, smoke pipeweed with Bilbo Baggins, and live in a comfortable hobbit-hole. Now that would be the life.

Anyways, I wish the real world were that comfortable. Amidst the many changes we have undergone due to technology, life has become a much more high-speed place. I think sometimes we forget about the important things in life, like the real, natural world we have been given, and how to enjoy what's left of it.

Even our houses are too enclosed. I mean, I'm grateful for them, because they make things so much easier, but because of them we are blocked from nature. Maybe someday I'll move out into the wilderness and live as a hermit. Just kidding; that's probably going to extremes. But I'm going to camp more when I'm older. I guess camping is really the only way to seriously get into the great outdoors.

The Importance of Being Earnest

If you haven't read The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, you should. It's very funny, and a short read. Plus, it's the type of book (or play, I should say) your English teacher would commend you for reading.

Pictures

In my short time writing a blog, I've noticed that posting a picture can make a post much, much more visually stimulating. I've also observed, however, that too many similar pictures can make the blog annoying. It's an important thing to watch.

Pumpkin Pie

I told my family that I would bake a pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. Hopefully I can do it without completely making a ruin of the recipe; my mom is going to help me a little. I figure if I start learning to cook now, then I'll be set once I'm older; my wife probably won't want to cook every night. Plus it's a good thing to have in your back pocket.

Above is another picture from Amulet that I thought was pretty cool; wanted to put it in.

Amulet 2

I don't read many graphic novels, but there's one that I think is really good: Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet. He recently came out with book two, and it's like ten times better than the first one. And I already liked the first one. This is an image of the new cover.

The new book really opens up the plot - while before, we really only saw Emily and Navin in a seemingly small, dark world, they are now thrown into the bright city of Kanalis. More characters are introduced, and it has a lot more action. Emily's duty as Stonekeeper is also brought further into the plot; she undergoes training to control the Amulet's power. Overall, it really is taking the series in the right direction, and I enjoyed it very much.

About the Story...

That was a short story I felt like writing. Pretty good, huh? I like to write things in my spare time. It's kind of like a hobby I guess.

A Short Story

The tall, dark man walked down the hallway. His silhouette seemed ominous in the narrow confines of the dark corridor. It was endless; his walk was endless. In monotony he droned on, slowly battling fatigue and hunger. Finally, he came to a staircase. Looking up into its long, elevated slope, he felt that he could not fight death any longer. But suddenly, in the farthest depths of his vision, in a realm barely percepted by his mind, he saw light. A tiny, elusive pinprick of light, far, far away. And this drove him on. His mind was empty, his heart, emotionless. Everything was concentrated on carrying on, on reaching that one pinprick of light, that miniscule hope that lingered, that gave him his last will for life. His back bent. His body shook. He had nothing left. Whatever was making him move, it was an invisible force, one that was not his own. His body was dead, but the will gave it power. And slowly, ever so slowly, the light grew. It grew and grew until it could grow no more; he was there. He had made it. He had risked death to have life, and he had won. And in the light he was renewed, so that he could not pass away.

Homework

Ack, I have so much homework today. It's going to take forever; procrastinating right now. What better way to procrastinate than by blogging?

My neighbors just got a little dog, and every morning before school they play with him outside and he barks his head off. I've been woken up every morning this week. Ah well, they'll probably get tired of taking him out that early anyway.

Homework/raking time. Huzzah!!!!!

First Post

First post here. What to say...

I started this just to have something to write and work on during the day. It's pretty cool; on here I can talk about whatever I want! I can go on forever, and ever, and ever.

I was studying advanced bio today. Even though I'm taking physics, it's an extra class to boost my experience. Plus, I love learning biology. This one is more about the human body, because it's a second year course, so in the first chapter I'm already through mitosis and the phospholipid bilayer. Woo-hoo! In past classes, we've spent way too much time on those subjects. I already could kind of guess the seven levels of an organism that the book teaches, and that was pretty cool. They are organism, organ systems, organs, tissues, cells, organelles, molecules.

Don't worry, I'm not just going to talk about science in every post. I do want people to read this, after all. Too bad you're not all science gurus! If that was the case, maybe I would be the one getting bored after a while. Just kidding; science never gets boring.