Bookworm

24

2010-02-19T21:59:00.000-08:00

The following post happens between 10:03 PM and 10:06 PM

Events occur in real time.

10:03

I've been watching 24 non stop. Best show ever!

10:04

My mom and her boyfriend, Shawn have the first 6 seasons of the show on DVD and I've been watching them all the way through for the past two months.

10:05

Right now, I am in season 5. So far, I think the best season is..... well, all of them. I can't

10:06

think of any one that was better then the others. It is so good!!!!!!!!!!!! Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in terrorists.

10:07

It has so many great twists!!!!!! I never know what happens next!! I can't believe the bad guy in Season 1 was reallly ****. Sorry. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. And anyone who hasn't really should!

10:08

10:09

Jack Bauer is awesome!!!!!

10:10

Ummm.... can't really think of anything else to say without spoiling the whole series.

Victory!!!

2010-02-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

For the last few months, I've had some major writers block in some of my stories. I felt as if they were missing something really important. They all had a good amount of magic in them, and some politics, but I just realized a third thing very important in making these fictional worlds.

Over the last few days, I've been reading Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson. It's very good, and it showed me that third thing I was missing. In these worlds I'd created, there was no religion! There was a god or two, of course, but I was thinking of them in more mythological ways, less as beings worshiped by the people in my worlds. Also, these gods belonged to the same sort of religion. Everyone believed in them. Reading Elantris though, I realized the illogic in that. Everyone isn't going to believe in the same thing! Being Jewish, I can't believe I didn't notice that before. In real life, I see how my religion differs from others all the time, but I never thought to include it in my writing. Adding these religions can help stem tons of new story lines, and much more to write. Thank you, Brandon Sanderson!!!

A whole month!!! Lots of news, good and bad.

2009-12-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Whoa! Can't believe I've been too lazy to post on Blogger for a whole month, nearly two! Lot's to talk about.

First of all, welcome home, Jacoby!

Been really busy for the last month and a half. At school, we've had essay after essay, book after book, project after project! I had to write a 7 page in class essay with no earlier preparation in two hours on the monster in Lord of the Flies, I've got to finish reading 1984 over winter break, and I have to finish a project worth most of my semester grade in the first couple days back to school. We've been working on the same Career project for months!

Earlier this month, I was in my first Fencing tournament! It was awesome. The place it was at was so much more... organized, than the elementary school gym in issaquah, that I go to for lessons. It was a Regional Youth Circuit, and wasn't worth any national points. I did great in the early prelim rounds, winning 2 out of my 4 matches with the people in my pool. Once the real matches started though, I lost my first match to the only other student from my fencing school, 15-14. I had a big lead for a while, but had no concept of clock management and was too aggressive. She took back the lead by one and ran out the clock, while I tried desperately to get back the lead. FAIL. In the end, I got 9th place out of 12, and surprisingly enough, the girl who beat me in my first match, Jade, won in 3rd place. Congrats!

I've read a lot of great books lately. I spent weeks reading through the Belgariad series, and it is fantastic! One of the best fantasy series ever! I started the Mallorean, but just didn't get into it. I finished book one, but then moved onto something new. Today, I went to Barnes and Noble and got three new books. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, Magician: Apprentice (which I'm now reading) and Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist. I've heard it's amazing, and it's pretty good so far. I'll find out I guess.

I've also seen a lot of movies in the last two months. I've watched all of the X-Men movies, including the new one, I've watched Star Trek (twice! In the last two days! Awsome!!!), Up, Sherlock Holmes (Good movie!), Old dogs (ok), and 21, the blackjack one. Most of the movies I've seen have been terrific, and I'm excited to go see Avatar tomorrow. Supposed to be fantastic.

Now for the bad news...

Winter break has been very eventful, although that is not necessarily good. Not good at all. I spent the first week being lazy, playing the new call of duty game and ping pong at my dads. We celebrated our first christmas with our dad's girlfriend, Jackie, and her family. That was fun, but afterward, was when the bad started. We couldn't go skiing Christmas day, because Jackie's daughter, Caroline wasn't feeling well. Turned out that skiing was the worst of our problems. That night, Caroline was even worse, so they decided to be safe and take her to the hostpital. She had a Pneumonia that was resilient to antibiotics and one of her lungs was filled with fluid, and the other was half filled. A few more hours of waiting, and she'd have died. Because they couldn't get the antibiotics to work, the weren't sure whether or not she'd be all right. Last night, the antibiotics began working though, and she's gotten a little better, although I haven't gotten the most recent news, because I've been with my mom the last few days. I'm seeing my dad tomorrow though, so I'll ask then. Luckily, they think she'll live, although she'll have to spend the next few weeks in the hospital.

Well, good luck Caroline.

That's all I've got to talk about for now. Sorry I've been gone so long.

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo starts in about 2 and a half hours! I'm staying up to start writing. My story this year is called Chivalry. It's about Sir Gawain's servant, Roland, who is the only logical mind among a world of chivalry and honor. After Sir Gawain accepts the challenge of the Green Knight, and intends to keep his promise, and inevitably go to the chopping block, Roland spends the year before the confrontation trying to convince his master not to go. And afterward, at the time of Gawain's wedding to the Lady Ragnell, Gawain uses the miracle that happens afterward to try to convince Roland of that chivalry is the way to go, that honor is more important than logic.

I can't wait to start writing. Only two hours to go.

Sick

2009-10-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'm sick with the Swine flu, H1N1. It sucks. I'm missing so much school, and I'm dreading going back. I'm gonna be swamped with work when I get back on Monday. I was already still catching up on work.

On the other hand, I'm very excited for NaNoWriMo, which starts very soon!!! Sadly, I have no clue what to write about. All this sick time should give me time to think about it.

A bunch of family news

2009-09-30T21:09:00.001-07:00

Wow. This week is a big week for my mom's family!!! On Monday, Yom Kipur, My Uncle Mike and Aunt Holly had their second child, Jackson Indy Schaffer. The only problem with this is that they can't come to my cousin Sara McClure's wedding this weekend! I'm leaving for Memphis, TN tomorrow morning, and getting back on Sunday. Congrats to all of them!!!

High School!!!

2009-09-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

The other daywas my first day of high school, and so far it's pretty cool. (Other than my 4th period spanish teacher, Sr. Hovander. He's sorta nuts.) And one of the coolest things, I can come home an hour early almost everyday because for my last period, I don't have a class!!! Sorry about the short post. Homework again.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Bettina and Annette!!!

Happy Birthday, Me

2009-08-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, yesterday was my birthday! I'm 14 now! Whoohoo! I also went to see G.I. Joe yesterday. It was really good with amazing speciel FX. I haven't gotten many other presents yet, although I got this awesome replica of the Marauder's Map from Harry Potter from my dad.

I start highschool in about 6 days; I got my schedule yesterday. I can't wait for that!!! As far as I know though, I have only one class with any of my friends, Griffin. (Spanish)

Internet down

2009-08-23T17:27:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately. One, my friend Coleman and my cousins, Tillie and Sara have been in town, and I've been hanging with them, and two, my internet is down. The desktop is the only computer with internet. I'll post more tomorrow after it's fixed.

I'm back, and covered in bug bites!

2009-08-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

I just got back about 8 hours ago from my mom's boyfriend, Shawn's, family ranch up by the Canadian border. (You can see Canada from the house!) It was a fun place! We went ATVing a lot, and it was beyond awesome. There are trails running all over the property that we could ride on. Even Jordan, the tiny kid that he is, got to ride one. On the last day of the trip, we were riding and saw a black bear! It ran the moment it spotted us, but it was pretty cool anyway. Better than it coming toward us! We also went fishing a bit, although I'd rather not talk about it. Fish feeding was much better. We'd throw in the trout feed and they'd jump up and do flips! It was amazing!

Well now I'm back and ready to be lazy for the next week. Yipee!

Goodbye!!!!

2009-07-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye! I'm going to Canada!

...

Sorta. I'm going up with my family to my mom's boyfriend's family ranch for the weekend. I'll be back to civilization on Monday.

On the other hand, I just got back from a very strange production of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. It was the redneck version, which was very fitting for the show. It was funnier than I thought it would be, although I'd like to see a normal version too. Next Thursday, I'm seeing The Comedy of Errors with my dad. I'd have also seen Richard III this weekend if it weren't for the trip to the Ranch. Yep, lots of Shakespeare lately. In the winter, Dad and I are seeing Twelfth Night and Electra (not Shakespeare. It's replacing the production of Hamlet, which is being postponed.) And in the Spring we're seeing Two Gentlemen of Verona and Henry V, and possibly A Midsummer Nights Dream and Romeo & Juliet.

Hmm... let's see. Oh! I saw the Blue Angels today! They were doing practice flights for this weekend, so my mom, her boyfriend, and I went out on the lake to watch. It wasn't as good as a real show, but it was cool. The water was surprisingly warm, due to the heatwave passing through. It was recordbreaking temperatures yesterday. 104 degrees. How is that record breaking temps! I didn't even think it was hot until I went in and checked the weather. My brothers however, were doing a Lacrosse camp and were sweating like pigs.

Well, I'll see y'all next week!

Ender

2009-07-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

While I was at camp this year, I read a ton of good books! The last assigned book we had for L.A. class this year at school was Ender's Game by Orson Scott card, and I was beyond excited. My dad had read the book to Ezra and I a few years ago, and we both loved it. So, I read it at school, and decided it was the best book I'd ever read. I then read the parallel novel, Ender's Shadow, which was almost as good, and ten times more interesting. At camp, I reread Ender's Game, then read Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets, sequels to Ender's Shadow. I tried reading the final book in the Shadow quartet, but it seemed really boring (and the book got destroyed by water damage!).

For those who don't know, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow revolve around an International Fleet military school in outer space, dedicated to turning the most brilliant young minds on Earth into military geniuses, for one purpose: Defending the Earth from the Third Invasion of the Buggers. And their sole hope is Ender Wiggin, a Third child. Both of his siblings were deemed wrong for Battle School, Peter for his ruthlessness, Valentine for her compassion, but Ender, his birth requested by the government, is the perfect mix. But the hand that is Graff, the "principal" of Battle School, can not overwork or underuse this tool that is Ender. If he breaks him, the human race is doomed. Ender's Game follows Ender, while Ender's Shadow follows his right hand man, Bean: a genetically altered boy, the smallest, smartest kid in Battle School fights the system, determined not to become a tool, for fear of being broken.

The remainder of the Shadow series follows the Battle School students after the end of the Bugger Wars, as the take their places in Earths new government, working toward the end of the wars following the Hegemony's fall from power. Bean also tries to survive many attempts at his friends' and his own lives.

Home!!!

2009-07-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

I'm finally going home!!! After an almost 2 month vacation to the east coast, I'm finally taking a flight back to Seattle today!

TV

2009-07-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Ouch! I'm being eaten alive! The bugs are killing me! Even though I used to live in Georgia, I've gotten used to having no bugs in Seattle! I've been doing a Kayak camp with my cousin, Tilly, and our friend, Yael for the last few days. I'd known I'd been going with Tilly, but I was completely surprised when I heard Yael was coming. We've been going to Camp Judaea for the last 6 years together. She is the daughter of my cousin Michelle's best friend, so that's how she knew Tilly and I. What really surprised me was that she lives in Israel, so it would be an awfully long commute every morning and afternoon. Turns out, she is staying in the US until January, and being homeschooled by her mom.

Anyway, I've been watching more TV lately than I have before. I think it's because I've finally gone to try out new TV shows meant for older audiences than Spongebob. Now, instead of watching those stupid kid TV shows that my brothers watch, I watch some really good shows. The first one I tried out is Lie to Me, on Fox. I loved getting out into some new shows, so I stuck with this show to the end of the season. It's about a guy who can read microexpressions on faces to tell when they are lying. I then tried out a couple of others, including Heroes and Bones. I could never find any episodes of Heroes, so I stopped watching at episode 6. Then I found Bones, and it is the best tv show ever. It is a crime-solving show about a forensic anthropologist who is working with an FBI agent to solve crimes no one else can. I have watched all the way through season 4 in the last 6-7 months, and it is terrific! Sadly, all of the TV shows ended right before I left for camp, so I have to wait until next fall for some new episodes. Luckily, on NBC, I found a new summer show: Merlin. It tells the story of a young Merlin in a Camelot where magic is forbidden by it's ruler, Uther Pendragon. Merlin's duty is to protect the future king, Arther, and often has to use magic to do so. It's unfaithful to the original legend in a thousand ways, but it's still a good show.

Anyway, hopefully I won't get too addicted to TV again. I'll try to spend more time posting instead.

Catching up

2009-07-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

Crap!!! Sorry I wasn't able to write another post the night of my last one. After I got off the computer, my brothers claimed it for the rest of the night, and have since then. The only reason I can write now is because Jordan is still asleep, and Ezra flew to Virginia the other day to visit a friend. Jordan and I are still in Savannah for another week, until this Friday, though.

Yesterday, my Grandmama took Jordan and I to a family reunion, where I was able to meet a bunch of the family that I'd done research on for my family tree, and those I hadn't known existed.

Over the last week, I've seen a ton of new movies. I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and I've gotta say, it sucked. My dad said he felt nauseous afterward, and there weren't even many disgusting scenes.

We also saw Ice Age III: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and it wasn't half bad for an Ice Age movie. A bit silly of course, but it was way better than Transformers II.

And last, but certainly not least, the best movie of the series so far in my families opinion (Tilly, Jordan, and Ezra), HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE!!! Sadly, we weren't able to see it the day it came out. We had to wait until Thursday. The movie was terrific!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They did skip a couple of scenes, but what they didn't skip, they did really well. Especially the Weasly's Wizard Wheezes! Awesome place! Oh yeah, and the Felix Felicis scene was hilarious!!!

I'll probably have more time to write now that Ezra isn't going to be hogging the computer, so I'll write later, although I may not get a chance until tomorrow. I've found a lot of really good TV shows. Maybe I'll write about them.

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back from camp, and I've got a lot to talk about. My brother is nagging me to go on the computer right now (I'm in Savannah, at my grandpa's and I don't have my laptop), but I promise that I'll write about camp, DC, and whatever I meant to talk about before I left ASAP. I'll write a post later tonight.

I'm so glad to be back on Blogger!

Happy birthday, Ezra and Jordan!

2009-06-02T07:55:00.001-07:00

Whoa. Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been really busy with end of the year projects and such. I've got a lot to talk about over the next few days before I leave for camp for a month and a half.

But for now, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my brothers, Ezra and Jordan. Ezra's is today, and Jordan's was on May 26. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Tag! I'm IT!!!

2009-04-16T21:34:00.001-07:00

I got a tag from Bettina to answer some questions about books! This is the first time I've been tagged for something, so tell me if I'm doing something wrong... or right.

Tell me about the book that has been on your shelf the longest...

On my dad's shelves, of which we've got four huge full ones (he had to give a bunch away when we moved to Seattle), I have no idea. We have hundreds of really old ones. He just told me that he thinks that he's had some old copies of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for the longest.

On my shelves, I have a few books of my dad's that are really old, but of mine, I think that they are either The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, the Young Wizard series, or some old Harry Potters. I remember reading Ga'Hoole in 3rd Grade, Young Wzards in 4th Grade, and the Harry Potters are just pretty old, and I'm not sure how long we've had them. Oh, and we've got some old Spiderwick books from when I was in 4th grade too.

Tell me about a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (i.e. a person, a place, a time, etc.)...

Hmm... This is a tough one. I'll go by the examples...

Person: I'm gonna trave back to the Young Wizard series by Diane Duane from the last question. For those who don't know what it is, the first book is called So You Want To Be A Wizard, and it is about a girl who, running into the library to escape from bullies, finds a book called So You Want To Be A Wizard. You know how there are those guide books for little kids, like So You Want To Be A Doctor, or stuff like that? Well, that was the kind of book Nita found. She takes it home, does what it says, and of course, she's learning how to be a wizard. I remember that this book got me into that same habit a long time ago. For maybe a year or two afterwards, whenever I found a guide book about wizardry or stuff like that, I would always get it and try to follow the instructions, hoping that somehow, against all odds, I'd become a wizard. It never worked, of course, but that main character reminds me a lot of myself, and how gullible I am a lot. Of course, it's not gullible if it's true. So, I guess it's only me. ^_^

Place: The Spine, in Eragon. Of course, where I went, it was sort of the opposite. Instead of mountains, it was a ravine. Close to Kathryn's house, if you go down her road, there is a huge ravine, covered in ivy, thorns, and loose dirt. One day, we decided to try to go down there, and it was hard to get there, but once we got there, it was almost like a sanctuary. No people, tons of wildlife, and pure quiet, other than a trickleing stream. That is how I always pictured the Spine. As a place where no one would venture because of the possibility of danger, but upon arival, there isn't much danger at all.

I'll skip time. I can't think of anything for that one.

Tell me about a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used book store, prize, etc.)...

I have a lot of books, and it's very difficult to remember the story of each one. There are a lot I got from my dad, one of his old ones, like the Belgariad, Ender's Game, and Calvin and Hobbes, there are a lot I got as birthday presents, some I had to get for school, and some I just happened to come into possesion of, but I think the coolest way I got a book was the ARC from J Scott Savage for Farworld: Water Keep. I was going crazy over it! I read it three times in a month, and wouldn't put it down. I was just eexcited to know an author.

Whoa!!! There was one other one I forgot! For my Bar-Mitzvah, my friend Alex tried to send out for a signed copy of Warriors from Erin Hunter. He sent her a letter, and thought she'd just passed it off or didn't get it. In fact, she didn't get it until two months later, when she sent back a signed copy of Eclipse (Warriors, not Twilight), and a letter back. He gave me both, the letter which is on my wall with the rest of my book related posters, and the book, which said, "Happy Bar-Mitzvah, Brian! Erin Hunter". I was freaking out over that one. I'm such a bibliophile, or I guess a better way to say it would be to say book fanatic, or book freak. Or Bookworm.

Tell me about the most recent addition to your shelves...

The most recent edition... I haven't been to a bookstore in a while, cause I've been rereading a lot of books lately. It was either Hunt for the Dark Infinity by James Dashner or The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan. Both were terrific, but DarkIn was more story like. It was terrific, by the way, if I haven't already posted about it. (Wow! I haven't!!!)

Tell me about a book that has been with you to the most places...

Like Bettina, I haven't been many place. I'd have to say that Eragon has been the most places. It's been to camp a few times, it's been to NY, Savannah, Atlanta, Seattle, Florida. Being my favorite book, I carry it around a lot. It's never been out of the country though.

Tell me about a bonus book that doesn't fit any of the above questions...

Hmm... I could do my favorite book, which would be Eragon, I could do the book I'm anticipating most right not, which would be Warriors: Sunset (5 days) or The Last Olympian (May 5, I think), I could do most read book, which could be Eragon, Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, or Lost Years of Merlin, there are a lot of possiblilites. I'll just go with all of that for now.

Oh, and I tag:

Anna, (and if they happen to read this, J Scott Savage and James Dashner) ^_^ Everyone else has already been picked!

WASL Testing 2009

2009-04-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) time again. Today, I took the Math WASL, and it was one of the easiest Math Tests I've ever taken. There was only one problem I had trouble with, and that was because I was just being really stupid. Tomorrow and Thursday, I've got Reading WASLs, and on Friday I've got Science. Wish me luck!

Lastly, Happy Birthday Kathryn!!!!!!!!

San Diego - The Rest

2009-04-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the outline of the rest of my trip. I just got back yesterday:

Seaworld - Day 2: We spent that morning at the beach, and hung out with Dan again until about 2:00, when we went back to Seaworld. We rode the Atlantis rollarcoaster (Ok), went to a Pet's Rule show (Ok, sorta lame. The animals were cool though), The Sesame Street/ Elmo 4D show (I can't believe they made me go to that. It was beyond lame.), Rode some Raging Rapids ride twice. You're sorta in a raft, and go through a bunch of water things, like waterfalls, water guns, and waves. You get soaked. The first time we went, I got a little wet, but not too badly, while 3 of the 6 in our raft got wet. The three that didn't, including me and Ezra, wanted to go again. The other's including Jordan, reluctanly agreed. Those three were nice and dry afterward... I wasn't. Ezra was though. We were going to go to another Shamu show that night, but we were too cold and wet, so we went home. I spent the rest of the night watching Batman Begins on TV. It was a pretty boring day. Better than Day 1 though.

Legoland - Day 1: Terrible. Not even gonna talk about it. Lame coasters, long lines. Terrible. The only semi-good thing about it was miniworld. They had lego sculptures of cities around the world, like DC, New Orleans, Vegas, New York, and a few others. Not too bad.

Pool - Day 1: We spent our last day there at the pool of the hotel we were in. It was ok. My eyes were sore after a while, I got a bit sunburned, I played some pingpong. It was pretty fun playing with my brothers. That night we watched one of the funniest movies ever, A Knight's Tale, starring Heath Ledger. Hilarious. I'll talk about that later.

We came home afterward. The first half of the trip was by far the best. Second half was really boring. Since I missed two days of school for the trip, I now have a ton of work to make up. We started reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, we started two big projects, and we started a really important unit in Math that I need to learn. Great.

San Diego, so far.

2009-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

So far, I have mixed feelings about this vacation. The weather has been on and off. It was nice the day we got here, so we went to the beach, it was nice the next day, so we went to the San Diego Zoo, it was supposed to be nice on Thursday, so we went to Seaworld... wasn't so nice, and it was very nice yesterday, so we hung out at the beach again.

Beach - Day 1: We splashed around in the water, chased eachother around, and lay around in the sand. It was okay.

San Diego Zoo - Day 1: Amazing!!!! The Zoo here is huge, and has such amazing animals. They have about 5 Aviaries to go into (lots of birds), Giant Pandas, A really lame Sea Lion show, Giant Tortises, Komodo Dragons, lots of snakes, including a two headed one, an awesome Gharial, or something, and some nonexistant Polar Bears. It was a ton of fun!

Seaworld - Day 1: We spent the morning watching a load of shows. First was the Dolphin show, which was really amazing!!!! We sat in the Soak Zone, so of course, we got soaked. They had 4 dolphins and some wierd whale, that looked like a giant black Beluga. Next, we saw Shamu! We sat in the Soak Zone, (with ponchos this time), and only got splashed once. I'd already seen the show in Orlando anyway, so I wasn't too disappointed. Finally, we went to see the sea lion show. It was a dress rehearsal for a brand new show that was officially opening today, so we got to watch a few scenes over again, due to the messups. It was hilarious! It included two sea lions, Seamore and Clyde, a sea otter, whose name I can't remember, and a huge manatee. It was called Sea Lions LIVE! and was the sea lions and their tamers making fun of a bunch of TV shows. They made fun of Superman, American Idol, Iron Chef, Dancing with the Stars, and Survivor. It was so funny! Sadly, we left right afterward. It was freezing all day, with overcast skies.

Beach - Day 2: There are two beaches. One across the road, which is the Pacific Ocean, and one right by our house, which is a little bay. We went to the bay first, to play frizbee, then we went across the road to boogie board and Skim Board. Ezra and I spent the whole time boogie boarding with a kid from Colorado that we met, Dan. He's Ezra's age. It was a ton of fun boogie boarding. We're planning on going back to boogie board with Dan again today.

Jordan wants me to take him down to the beach for now though, so I'll write about the rest of my trip in a few days.

Spring Break, San Diego, and reads

2009-03-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!!! Today is the first day of Spring Break for me!!!! Wow. There's only a few weeks left of school. Then it's off to camp, then just a few weeks of Summer left, then High School... Wow. Everything is passing so quickly.

I got off really lucky. No homework for my vacation except for setting up a Science Project, which I can't do quite yet. On Tuesday, I'm gonna go to California for the first time with my brothers, My dad, his girlfriend, Jackie, and two of Jackie's kids, Emmy and Caroline, both of which are older than my brothers and I. My friend Marek got unlucky. He's going on a roadtrip with his family for 8 days into the middle of nowhere with his hyperactive little brother and no computer. Kathryn is even luckier than me. She's going on her annual trip to Hawaii. Lucky her. So many kids at my school are going there. I've never been to Hawaii, and I want to soooo badly.

Well, we're going to San Diego. A huge zoo, Seaworld, and best of all, the beach!!!! Warmth!!!! It's been freezing for weeks here on Mercer Island. It's torture. And it's been raining. If it's going to be cold, it should at least snow instead of rain.

I've also got a mission over spring break. Kathryn wants me to read a book called The Shack that she's been going on and on about, saying somthing about it "strengthening her relationship with God." We had a long argument, or well, you can't really call it an argument. It was more like a discussion about religion. I told her I'd read it if I could start it before the end of break. I had already been planning to read The 13th Reality 2 over spring break (finally!) and before that, I have to finish rereading Brisingr. I'm probably gonna finish Brisingr tonight, so I'll be done with 13th Reality in a few days. Does anyone else know about this book, The Shack? It was a New York Times Best Seller.

The Merchant of Venice

2009-03-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I went to see the Shakespeare comedy, The Merchant of Venice, with my dad. It was preformed by the Seattle Shakespeare Company, and they did a TERRIFIC job! This was the first Shakespeare play I've ever seen, and I loved it. (Picture, from left: Lorenzo, Salario (I think), Antonio, and, uhh, I forgot his name.)

****Spoilers****

There were a lot of funny moments, and Gratiano, one of the comic relief characters, did a very good job, but I wouln't call it a comedy. It was funny, but, and this is a lot more visible if you're Jewish, it was a really sad and cruel story. My dad and I had a discussion about this in the car on the way home. Shylock was made into the terrible person he was by the protagonists of the play. They pushed him around his whole life, spat on him and called him a dog, all because of his Judeaism. All he had was his money, his religion, and his daughter. He had no friends or kindness. Then, when Jessica, his daughter, ran away to be with a Christian, Lorenzo, and stealing a large sum of money from him in the process, Shylock went nearly mad. He had lost nearly everything. Now all he had left was his religion and his chance for revenge. When Antonio's ships did not come back, and he could not pay back Shylock, Shylock was ready to take his life after he Antonio was proven guilty. Shylock wanted his revenge so badly, that he refused twice what he'd given Antonio from Bassanio. That's when Shylock literally lost everything. P0rtia came in disguised as a lawyer and lost Shylock his money, his home, and his religion even. They forced him to convert to a Christian. He could either take Antonio's life, and lose his own, or he lost everything. He'd even have to give half of it to his run away daughter and her husband. Shylock really is a sad story.

*****Spoilers over*****

Even through the sad story, I still loved the play. Great acting, especially by Shylock, Antonio, and Bassanio. Oh, and by Jessica. She was played by an intern even.

Invite-Only Private Fencing Program..... I WAS INVITED!!!!

2009-03-12T21:38:00.001-07:00

This is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was at my fencing class tonight (I missed last week because I as sick, so tonight was my first night in the intermediate class) and the instructor asked to talk to my dad. I went and got him, and the coach told us that he was reccomending us for an invite-only fencing program at the Sammamish Plateau nearby. He said that I had a lot of potential as a fencer and wanted to give me some private lessons to see if I should permanantly join!!!! This is the kind of program that gets people scholarships, and even into the Olympics!!! This is so cool!!! I'll tell you more when I know more!

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

2009-03-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

This was an amazing, touching story about a calico cat who is abandoned at the edge of a forest by her owners. The pregnant mother wanders the forest until she finds a sad old hound dog, Ranger, chained to a post by a house in the bayou. He is maimed in one leg, having been shot by his owner, the evil Gar Face, years ago. Now, the chain is all that keeps him there. She sympathizes with Ranger and they are instant friends, living in the shadowed area under the crooked house. When the kittens are born, Ranger is like a father to them. And they are given one rule: Stay in the Underneath. Puck and Sabine respect this rule, until the trickery of a sunbeam gets the better of one of them. As Gar Face breaks up this family, Ranger, Puck, and Sabine must find a way to bring it back together.

Meanwhile, there is magic at work in the Bayou Tartine. A thousand years ago, there lived Grandmother moccasin, an old snake, bitter after the betrayal she felt when her loved one fell for another and she morphed back into her serpent form. She has waited for many years, lonley but for one companion, the Alligator King. Until she meets her daughter, Nightsong. She is a sweet and loving companion, with a voice like sweet honey. They are happy, until another betrayal tears Grandmother Moccasin apart, and she sets out to wreak her revenge and gain a new companion. And she bides her time...

This story was amazing, told by the trees of the forest. It has the perfect balance of mysticism and reality, and a thousand emotions bundled into it. I really loved it. It was also a National Book Award Finalist! It's funny how I learned about it. I really had no desire to read it. I read it to participate in an author chat on Wandsandworlds.com It was a really fun chat. I'll be sure to post the link when it is released.

Work, work, and, uh, more work

2009-03-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

Whew.... I've had so much homework this weekend. I missed most of last week, and had to make up all of the work this weekend. The flu has been going around Mercer Island, and my family caught it. My mom's boyfriend gave it to my mom, who gave it to Jordan, who gave it to Ezra and I. Luckily for me, most of the school was sick too. Over 200 kids were out on Tuesday and Wednesday!!! Even a lot of the teachers were sick.

Well, I just finished (sorta) my massive load of homework. I had 4 math assignments (I only finished 1. My math teacher is very lax on all of that, and said I had a while to do it all,) 2 science assignments, 4 history assignments, 3 language arts assignments, and a spanish assignment. What a load! And even worse, the trimester ends at the end of the week, so I need to make sure everything is in by then! I've also got a huge test on Friday on To Kill a Mockingbird. I'll write about To Kill a Mockingbird once I've watched the movie. I finished the book a while ago, but I havn't seen the whole movie yet.

Sorry I havn't posted in a while. It's not that I've been busy, but I havn't had anything to write about. I havn't seen a movie in ages. No new books to talk about, other than To Kill a Mockingbird. Hmm.... Oh! I do have a book to talk about soon. I read The Underneath by Kathi Appelt a few weeks ago, and participated in an author chat on this chat website. I'll talk about that one soon, too. Hmm... I havn't gotten much work done on The Necromancer Apprentice. Yeah, nothing new has really happened. I'm seeing two Shakespeare plays soon, The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest. I tried reading The Merchant of Venice, but I gave up pretty quickly. It took me 10 minutes to even vaguely get the first page. And these are small pages.

Well, that's all really. I'll post soon. Oh, and to Bettina (and Jacoby. You havn't really talked 'bout them) good luck on the SATs!

New Background

2009-02-19T17:40:00.001-08:00

My new background here is to represent my story, The Necromancer Apprentice.

The Necromancer Apprentice

2009-02-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

Everyone else (aka. Bettina and Jacoby) have been talking about their stories, so why not talk about mine.

My story is about a 14 year old necromancer named Polsvend, who lives with his twin brother and the cruel old man who claims to have rescued them from their evil parents when they were babies. The old man is a master at necromancy, and teaches them both. Steensvend, Polsvend's brother, is adept at necromancy and idolizes the old man for his skills and for rescuing them. Polsvend, however, is a mediocre necromancer, having only successfully raised someone from the dead once, it ending in a miserable failure after the skeleton went berserk and tried to kill them all. They are both maltreated, although Polsvend more so, and Polsvend completely distrusts the old man. However, when Polsvend's suspiscions are confirmed with his brother's murder, Polsvend must go on a journey to find the truth about his family and avenge his brother. This adventure may mean more to the world than Polsvend knows, though. And it's already unlikely chances. How is an inexperienced necromancer supposed to fight an alliance of master's alone?

Oops. I sorta slipped from explaining the book to making it into a synopsis sorta thing. I started writing the story around last September. I just wrote the prologue to get my idea down. Then, I based the whole story off of that. I've been adding to it ever since.

I got the names from a few different things. One of them I named after one of my friends. A bunch were based off of the Dutch language. Some were just words that I morphed, like Literati and Senkor, two countries in the story.

I've had so many plot changes: My original plan was to have the Prologue take place in the past, and the real story having entirly different characters. It then changed to possibly being in the future. And then, it became what it is today, being the present.

I have a lot more to explain, but this is enough for now.

A lot to talk about... but not really/ The 13th Realiy: Hunt for the Dark Infinity Blog Tour

2009-02-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. All last week my computer was broken. It couldn't connect to the internet and had to be erased intirely. Luckily, all my files were saved, including my story, which is now 12606 pages long and has 41 pages. It is lacking subplots though, and is a bit of a bore for a while. I need to have more characters, and more for my character to do in the first few chapters, other than run. I've posted the first few chapters at the critique group section on the Farworld forum under Critisism for The Necromancer Apprentice if you want to read it. Or you can email me to get the prologue. I've already sent it to you, Jacoby, right?

I've got a few short movie reviews to do.

Push -

It really sucked. Don't see it. It was so boring and disgusting that me, both of my brothers, my mom, and her friend said that they should have seen something else. It didn't even tie up all the plots at the end. If your going to leave something open for a sequel, at least make it a good movie.

Pink Panther II -

It was silly, of course, but it was better than Push. If you saw the first one, you should see II, but if not, it's not worth it.

My weekend in movies was really dissappointing.

On Friday though, I had a really fun/funny/guilty time. I went to a paintball (painball) party for my friend, Alex. I got a few bruises, but it wasn't me that got hurt. The big rule was to not shoot someone up close. When you get close, you're supposed to yell surrender. The first piece of guilt was toward my friend, Marek. We were playing a game called Presidential Assasination, and Alex was the president. I killed him, with a paintball to the chest. My turn to be president. My two secret service agents, Alex and his dad, died, and the other team rushed up to me. Marek yelled surrender. I didn't hear, and shot him in the leg from 5 feet away. My friend Sean hit me in the thumb afterward, somehow killing me. Marek had a huge welt, and was rather pissed off at me. It was rather funny though. Next, in the last game, Alex ran in front of me just as I started to fire. I hit him in the back, and he went down. He had a gigantic welt and was mad. I hadn't meant to hit him, so that wasn't funny at all.

That's pretty much all that has happened since I last posted.

Oh, and for James Dashner's blog tour, The 13th Reality: Book 2: Hunt for the Dark Infinity comes out in 5 days!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait, and I highly encourage you to buy it!!! Was that good enough? I don't know what else to write? Also, the Maze Runner is coming out (hopefully) in September. And I really want that ARC.

High School: Class of 2013: Class Choices: Part 1

2009-02-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted here in a while. Nothing has really happened, other than homework and the Superbowl, which everyone's already talked enough about. I was rooting for the Cardinals by the way, and the Doritos crystal ball commercial was the best.

Last night, my mom went to some High School informational meeting, to learn about my class choices. There are 7 periods of the day, and these are the classes she suggested to me:

English 9
ATC English 9
Honors Geometry 9
Honors Science 9 (Chemistry and Physics)
World History 9
Spanish 2 (2nd year of Spanish)

That last one is a free period. I think I'll take her suggestions on this. In middle school, I took some more fun classes, but in high school, I don't think it's about having fun at school.

This Thursday, someone is coming to our school to talk for two periods to us about classes to take, so that may change my answers a bit. I'll post again after that. By the way, ATC English 9 stands for Advance Tecnical Communications. My mom says that it is very useful if you want to write papers or books.

Writing Day #2

2009-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

My writing day yesterday went rather well. I had to spend the morning, until around 1:30 doing homework, and after that I wrote almost nonstop. I finished with about 1000 more words than when I started. Nothing else really to report on it.

Jumper

2009-01-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

I know I've already posted twice tonight, but we went over to my mom's friend, Shawn's, house to watch Jumper. Jumper is a sci-fi thriller about a 15 year old by who discovers that he has the power to Jump, to be able to teleport anywhere in the world in an instant. He quickly becomes rich by robbing a bank and leaves his mean father to live on his world, traveling all over the world everyday. He can surf waves in Fiji, climb Mount Everest, and have lunch on top of the Sphinx in an hour. He can do anything. But the Paladin's don't like that. David is pulled into an ancient war between the Jumpers and the Paladin's, a group of religious fanatics who believe that only God should have the power to do anything. The Paladin's hunt and murder anyone who has this power, and anyone who get's in their way; including David's girlfriend from before he left to travel the world. Suddenly, David and his girlfriend Millie are in a high-speed chase with some help from Griffen, another wise-cracking Jumper who'd been hunting Paladin's all his life. Amazing special effects. It was a pretty cool concept. I'd highly recomend it. It was very cool.

Inkheart: The Movie

2009-01-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Today, I went to see the movie version of Inkheart! It was actually pretty good. They ruined it, but they ruined it well. Wierd, I know. There were a few major changes, mostly in the beginning and end, but other than that, it stayed pretty true to the book.

****Movie and Book Spoilers Below****

They changed the beginning. Dustfinger chased them around a marketplace somewhere snowy, instead of finding them at their home.
Fenoglio had a manuscript of Inkheart in the movie.
Elinor wasn't recaptured after they went to Fenoglio's village. She tried to go home, but instead went back to, with Darius, fight against Capricorn.
Mo and Dustfinger went back to Capricorns village willingly, to try to find Resa.
And the big one was that Meggie didn't finish reading Fenoglio's alternate story for the Shadow, and had to finish it by writing her own ending on her arm, in which ALL of Capricorn's men died, including Mortola and Basta.
Resa could talk again at the end.
Fenoglio asked to go into the book.
Dustfinger was sent home to his wife by Mo at the end of the movie, and Farid stayed with the group at Elinor's house.

They made it so that they could not make a second, but it was still a good movie either way.

Inkspell

2009-01-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

The last time I read Inkspell, I never actually finished. Over winter break though, I finally finished reading it, and it was terrific!!! I loved it, especially the world the Cornelie Funke has created. Although in the book, it was Fenoglio who made it. And Fenoglio is not happy about it. Everything is going wrong: Cosimo the Fair is dead; the Laughing Prince has lately been known as the Prince of Sighs; and the Adderhead is practically in control of the land. However, when Dustfinger, Farid, Meggie and Gwin appear in Inkworld, things my start to get better. Or maybe they won't. Mortola and Basta are out for revenge toward Mo, and when he is shot in the Inkworld, Resa must keep him alive until Meggie can help with her magical voice. I absolutely loved it.

I think that the best part was probably the Spelt Mill. Meggie, Farid, and Dustfinger went to a Mill in Argenta, the realm of the Adderhead, and they are ambushed by Basta. What I loved was that Farid saves the day, attacking Basta and the Slasher, his minion, with fire.

Right now, I am reading Inkdeath, book 3. It is great so far! I can't wait to see how it ends. The end of Inkspell really made me want to read more. By the way, tomorrow is my full day of writing! I'll post on it tomorrow morning.

Virus

2009-01-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't (spelling issues) posted in a while. My computer caught a very bad virus somehow, so I've been partially cut off from the Internet all weekend, since Thursday night. My iTouch has been a lifesaver though. When I get my computer back I'll have a lot to write about.

Full Day of Writing: Day 1: Part 2

2009-01-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

I don't have that much to say about my first full day of writing. I goofed off a little. I watched TV. It was pretty much a lazy Sunday, except that I got some work done. I wrote about 600 more words, and did a few minor revisions. I also thought up some more ideas and plotlines. It was fun though. Maybe I'll schedule a few more!

Full Day of Writing: Day 1: Part 1

2009-01-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm all set to write all day long. The only things that will probably stop my writing today is breakfast, lunch, dinner, and whatever my brothers will need while I'm babysitting them. (Hopefully they'll still be in a good mood after Sunday School at the synagogue.) I slept in a good long time, which is great. (Last night was a good night to watch Saturday Night Live.) So, now I can get to writing. (Wow. Short post.) I may post later in the day, not including night, to say how it's going.

Fencing

2009-01-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

Fencing: An olympic sport which is based off of swordfighting.

Before 1st lesson:

I'm so excited!!! I start fencing lessons at the South Bellevue Community Center tonight!!! I've wanted to do this for so long. Watching Fencing in the Olympics really fueled my entusiasm (I don't usually use that kind of phrase.). And reading ton's of fantasy books really helped. Plus, if anyone has seen The Princess Bride, they'll know how that played into it. I can't wait. I am so jumpy that I decided to use a homework pass on one of my assignments. I wouldn't be able to finish more than 1 assignment because I'm so jumpy. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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There. That got rid of some of my jumpyness. Sorta. I'll post about my lesson after it happens.

By the way, I've gotten a lot of work done on my story in the last few days.

Like Bettina, I'm having trouble ending a post.

Awww... My cat looks so tiny curled up in a ball.

Ok. I'm done.

After 1st lesson:

It was really fun! I loved it. First, we started by learning the footwork: Engard, Advance, and Reverse. Then, we got a sword and learned how to hold it correctly. (The type of fencing we're learning is Epee, which is the French word for sword.) We also learned how to do the footwork while holding the sword, and how to do the basic attack: the Lunge. It was actually very tiring. Not only was the sword heavy, but holding the same bent-knees position for so long while moving hurts. I can't wait for my lesson next week.

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone!!! It's finally 2009, and I'm confident that it will be a good year! (As long as we don't move.) First of all, later this year will be the start of high school! I can't wait to see how it's gonna be. Also, I hope to have finished my book by the end of the year. If many people could write a 50000 word novel in a month, I'm sure I can finish my rough draft with a years work. Only 44000 more words to go... to reach 50000. There are also some reading goals I want to meet. I want to have read some Shakespeare, for one. I'll figure out others later though. One Shakespeare is enough for me... for now anyways. My dad and I are going to see The Tempest in May, so I need to read that by then.

Lot's to do in so little time. A year is shorter than it feels.

Movies: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Marley & Me

2008-12-30T19:02:00.001-08:00

In my opinion, all were terrific!!!

The Batman movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, were both amazing, with terrific acting and awesome special effects. I personally liked Batman Begins better. It chronicled the beginning of Batman, and his fight against, and training with, the League of Shadows. The League of Shadows was a group that destroyed a city when it became to corrupt and terrible... and everyone in it. Their next target was Bruce Wayne, Batman's, home: Gotham City. It was completely run by criminals, and at their head was Carmine Falconie. Batman could have easily killed all the criminals, but was completely against killing. However, he might have to break this rule to fight the Scarecrow, the runner of an insane asylum who takes criminals and drives them insane with a hallucinogen which makes them see their worst fear. Even worse, the Scarecrow isn't Batman's biggest problem when he discovers a plot to drive all of Gotham insane. Sorry if I told too much. Got a little carried away there. Either way, it was insanely cool (literally!) I liked it more than the sequel, The Dark Night. Batman Begins had great acting, especially by the two villains, played by Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy (he was a little wierd.)

It seems that the villains are always played best. Both The Joker and... the other villain were played amazingly, by Heath Ledger, and... another person. I don't want to spoil the identity of the other villain, but I'll say his villain name: Two-Face. Both were beyond creepy. In The Dark Night, Batman is continuing his fight against crime with Liutenant Gordan and the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent. Their newest enemy is, of course, The Joker. His two biggest lines in the movie are, in my opinion, "Why so serious?" as he says before slicing a permanent smile into someone's face, and, the line Jacoby mentioned once, "Madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push." Heath Ledger had his great, and last, proformance.

Marley & Me seems like the complete opposite of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It was also great! Even though it was sad. I'm not a very realistic person. I want to become a bestselling author, although that isn't very realistic. I read mostly fantasy, and unless I'm suddenly in an alternate universe (which also isn't very realistic) those aren't realistic. See? Either way, I don't usually like these kinds of movies. It was hilarious, sad, and heart-warming. Owen Wilson was great in it, but there were a lot of other good actors. Like the many Marley's. The dog, Marley, was played by so many different dogs, because throughout the movie, Marley got older and older. The movie is about John Grogan's life with his new wife, his new job as a columnist, and most of all, his new dog. Marley seemed so sweet at the beginning, at the dog pound, and the couple was even more encouraged to get him with the nickname the owner gave him, clearance puppy, but things started going downhill with the line, "How are you still eating?" as Marley rolled around on the floor, licking up all of the spilled food. Now they knew why he was on sale. As it turned out, worst dog ever. Or so they thought. The movie was much better than I made it sound, considering I went on and on. I loved it, and the end was enough to make me cry. Terrific.

Hannukah in Savannah

2008-12-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took me so long to write this post. When I wrote the title down, I was sitting in an airport trying to access my blog from my new iPod Touch. (Sorry if I start to brag a little. I can't brag in real life without getting punched or countered by my brother, but I can't be punched here. (Maybe countered though.))

Right now, I am on vacation for winter break in Savannah, Georgia. I flew to Atlanta on Monday, and spent the night there. Then we drove most of the next day to Savannah. I spent the first night in Savannah with my friend, Jeremy. He had to leave to go to New York yesterday, though. Today, we went to see Marley & Me in theaters. It was terrific, yet sad. I'll talk about the movie later. We spent the rest of the day cooking, arguing with Jordan, watching an Ice Age 2 marathon, and playing around with my iPod. Tomorrow is my Grandma's birthday, so we are going to a reunion like thing at one of the family farms. I miss all of my friends and family at home though, so I want to go home soon.

Now, on to Hannukah. On the first night, I got an iPod touch (it is awesome!!!) and it is awesome!!! I've been going crazy with getting apps, music, and videos for it. I've realized, that it is much better to have an iPod with a screen, than a shuffle. I've only ever had really bad shuffles, so I'm glad for a change. On the second night, my Uncle Aaron and my Aunt Jenny got us a video game, and a pellet rifle for us to shoot airsoft pellets at the beach. (Don't worry, we won't shoot anyone. And if we did, the airsoft pellets aren't that dangerous. They would sting, but not injure.) Last night, no prestents, but tonight, we got a really old board game that we haven't used yet. 4 more nights to go, and 6 more days until New Years Eve.

Well, that's all I have to talk about for now. I'll write about Marley and Me, and the two Batman movies, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, which I saw recently, soon.

Upcoming Fantasies

2008-12-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

From now on, my other blog, Upcoming Fantasies will be deleted. I don't really write on it, an it has no real point, so it is just taking up space. Bye, bye, Upcoming Fantasies.

Snow Day!!!

2008-12-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Yes! Our first snow day of the year was today. We (my brothers, our friends, and I) went outside for the morning, and then went inside to play. Sadly, this morning, I had to spend a while inside working on homework. I need to learn not to procrastinate. (This isn't really how much it snowed.)

Warriors: The Power of Three: Long Shadows

2008-11-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Long Shadows, the fifth book of the third series of Warriors. I can't say it took me long. I got it after school on Tuesday, the day it came out, and started it that night. I stayed up until about 11:00 reading, and didn't put it down for more than half an hour at school the next day, and read for about two hours afterward. I finished it around 5:00 in the afternoon yesterday, and I loved it! I think that it was the best one out so far. It had so many twists, that I can't mention without spoiling the book, that made it so great, although I was surprised at how little went wrong. The first problem they solved smoothly, the second problem ended well, and only the third big part had some trouble, and I can't say it ended well.

The third series of Warriors is definitely the darkest. (Even the names sound dark. Starting with the second, there is Dark River, Outcast, Eclipse, and Long Shadows. The last was supposed to be called Cruel Seasons, but the publisher thought it was too dark and changed it to Sunrise.) However, in all of the third series, only one cat has died, and not until the fifth book. More cats died in the first book!!! And the authors say that they are always trying to think of new ways to kill the cats. I hope they puts some of those evil methods to use soon.

Either way, it was a terrific book, and I would highly recommend it. Now, I'm reading Inkspell.

The New Haircut: The Weirdest Hundredth Post Ever!

2008-11-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have a positive and a negative, or, in more exact order, a negative and a positive. First, as you can see, I got a haircut. Shoot. I've had really long hair for such a long time, and now, it's all gone. Kathryn was really smug (not sure if this is the right word) about it. She has been trying to talk me into getting a haircut for months. I hate haircuts...

And on a more positive note, sort of, the only good thing about my new haircut is that, it means that this is Bookworm's 100th Post! Hooray!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

2008-11-13T20:48:00.000-08:00

This month is National Novel Writing Month! I found out about it yesterday and decided that this would be a good chance to get to work on a story I'm writing. If you go to the website, you can sign up for the NaNoWriMo challenge. The goal for the month on the site is to have written a 50,000 word novel by November 30. My goal, however, is 10,000 words by the end of the month. Right now, I've got a good start. I'm at 2,856 words. I think I'll be able to reach my goal, especially considering I started yesterday. I'd already had about 1000 words of it done before November, but I've gotten almost 2000 words in the past two days, so I think I can make it. If you want to find out more about my story, go to My Page on the site

Pillage

2008-10-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

Wow. I just finished reading Pillage, Obert Skye's new book. It was a really great story, (especially the dog piling salad) until I got to the end! That was one of the worst endings that I have ever read. I mean, the boy finds out that one of his best friends is a bad guy, and it's like he's not even surprised!!! The guy turns into an ogre thing, and all he says is "You?!?" How unemotional can you get? Then the rest was the whole Star Wars thing, where the crazy uncle is actually the dad. Then they win and they all go in for cookies. Yay (Brian says in a bored voice.

Luckily, the rest of the story was great, so it wasn't a waste of time. Also, the cover looks really cool!!!

City of Ember

2008-10-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Wow. The City of Ember was surprisingly better than the book. Then again, the book wasn't that great. The movie was much more exciting. It's a good thing that my little brother, Jordan, hadn't read the book, else he wouldn't have wanted to see it. The book was way more boring. I think they did really well with it. My favorite character was Doon. He was pretty cool. I liked how he liked to invent stuff and take care of his giant moth. Well, it wasn't that great, so I don't have much more to talk about.

Christopher Paolini Book Signing

2008-10-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome.

I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Christopher Paolini, at Seattle Town Hall. He is the author of Eragon, so I got Eragon, 2 copies of Eldest, and Brisingr signed. I would have gotten just one copy of Eldest signed, but one of my copies was mangled, so we got a nice, neat paperback for $5. Not only was it a book signing, but it was a big party!

When my mom and I first got there, some guys from the Seattle Knights, a group of people who were taught to do theatrical sword fights, greeted us. Then, my mom and I went over to some of the stands, a picture thing, and a "fortuneteller." Luckily, it didn't cost anything. I hope it was right (which they rarely are) and I will do well in school. Then, we went and got some cookies.

For the next part of the party, we went upstairs to watch the Seattle Knights put on a show. It was silly, but the sword-fighting was pretty cool. Afterward, Christopher Paolini came up and talked about the books. Something that he said that his favorite line that he wrote was an Urgal saying, "Die, puny human!" Afterall, what's the point of writing a fantasy novel if you can't say things like that!

After his speech, he started signing books. It took hours for us to get a turn. On each ticket, there was a letter. First, they called A's to line up, then B's, and so on. We were D's. A's took an hour. B's took 45 minutes. C's also took 45 minutes. We had to wait in line for about half an hour. Throughout the wait, we got to talk with some of the Seattle Knights. One of them had 60 pound armor on. Another we talked with talked about the Seattle Knights, training, her armor, and what kind of things like that she did. When we finally got the books signed, my mom was really peed by the wait.

It was a really cool experience, and I hope he comes back someday.

Brisingr

2008-10-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. Brisingr, Book 3 in the Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini, was terrific, awesome, amazing. Overall, it was one of the best books that I've ever read. Two of my favorite scenes in the book were surprisingly, not ones that are spoilers, so I can describe them here!

In the first one, Roran and some of the solidiers of the Varden are attacking an army of the Empire's men who are attacking Surda. During the battle, which takes place in a raided and small Surdan village, Roran is able to find a good place to fight. There is a wall of wagons blocking off most of the allyway, so that only a few solidiers a a time can get through. There are a couple of archers on the rooves of the surrounding buildings that are helping Roran. Roran is getting beat up anyway, but the mound of Empire bodies that he is fighting on is steadily getting higher. By the end of the battle, Roran is beat up, but Carn, the spellcaster with the group heals him and tells him that overall, Roran himself killed 193 solidiers. It was such an awesome scene.

In the second scene, Rorans leadership is challenged by an Urgal that is in the group Roran is leading. The only way for them to settle the disagreement without him offending the Urgals on behalf of the Varden, is for them to wrestle for leadership. Surprisingly, Roran was able to tire him out and he won. It was a great scene.

I loved it. By the way, tonight, I get to go to the Christopher Paolini book signing. I am beyond excited.

More Bar-Mitzvah Gifts

2008-09-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. And I thought that the gifts were done. Today, my neighbor Kathryn got me three awesome gifts. She got me this really cool bendy lamp, an awesome and really soft chair, and a book that I already had. The bendy lamp was silver and you could bend the little stems at the top. There are five stems, each with a light and a really cool light cover. I need to get the right light bulbs before I can use it though. The chair is kinda like a fold up chair, only one where you need to use a duffel bag to carry. Instead of the kind of cover a fold up chair has, it has a circular blue cover that is corduroy and very, very soft. I'm sitting in it right now!!! The book I got was a copy of "The Alchemyst" by Michael Scott. I'm probably the only person who would choose not to take it back and get a different one because its paper back and I only have hardback. That's me, the bibliophile and book collector.

Other than those gifts I got from Kathryn today, I also got $100 from my Aunt Holly and Uncle Mike!

Thank you, Holly, Mike, and Kathryn!!!

Bar-Mitzvah

2008-09-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hi guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy with my Bar-Mitzvah and school. The Bar-Mitzvah was on Saturday, and I got a load of gifts. I got about $1800 , some gear for my bike, an awesome new Star Wars video game, a 14 karat gold Jewish star necklace, and a Seattle Sonics bobble head. I got lucky and more is coming. I especially love the necklace. The kind of necklace has been given to all members of my dad's family at their bar-mitzvah. I've wanted one for a long time.

I'm really glad that the whole thing is over. I've been practicing for months.

Over the Fence Library-Upcoming Fantasies

2008-09-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hi guys. I just wanted to tell you that I've finally decided to get rid of Over the Fence Library (I never posted there anyway) and make a new site, Upcoming Fantasies. There, I'll talk about upcoming YA or MG fantasy books that I'm excited about. I'll also say when their released, and any other news I can find about them. However, after I read it, I'll post more on it here, at Bookworm.

Occasions

2008-08-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. So much has happened in so little time. I'll go through them one by one in time order. I'm to tired to organize it in any other way.

1. We went school shopping last week, so that means that school is just around the corner. School starts for me on Tuesday, the day after I get back from here in Savannah. I'll be three hours earlier. Ugggggghhhh. Why has summer gone so fast.

2. Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Biirrtthhdaaaaayyyy to Brian, Happy Birthday to me. I'm the only one here to sing it to me, so that will have to do. My Birthday was actually a few days ago. I just didn't have time (or the attention span) to post. So far, I haven't gotten many gifts, although the ones I have gotten are pretty good. I got a savings account, 100 dollars, 50 dollars, a cake, a book called Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander, and a promise for a gift that I don't know of yet. No party this year.

3. Well, the reason I am in Savannah is that my best friend, Jeremy, is having his bar-mitzvah this weekend. Plus, I get to see some of my family too. Good luck, Jeremy!

4. Last, my bar-mitzvah is coming up soon. Just 2 or 3 more weeks to go. Its a good thing I brought my torah stuff to practice with. I just hope I remember to . Else I'll end up sick, like my Uncle did on his bar-mitzvah.

Well, thats really all that I have to talk about.

Catching Up

2008-08-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days. I have just been too lazy. I have a lot to talk about though. I'll save the best for last though, so don't skip ahead.

1. The Olympics are so great to watch. I love them, and this is the first year I've paid attention to them. My favorite event to watch is fencing. The other day, the coolest thing happened in fencing. In the Woman's Individual Sabre, the three USA fencers, Mariel Zaguinis, Sada Jacobson, and Becca Ward, all one the medals, in that order. They had won the first 3 medals for the US this year.

2. Today, I went to the only amusement park in the Seattle area, Wild Waves. It was okay. There were two roller coasters that were okay. They weren't that great. Then, on one of the tube rides, I kicked a wall and made my foot bleed pretty badly.

3. This is the most important thing that's happened to me lately was getting tickets to go to a book signing from a very famous author.

[Drum roll.]

[Drum Roll end]

Christopher Paolini!
I saw that there were tickets or sale online. We called right away and the person that answered said that if we ordered Brisngr then, we'd get 2 free tickets. The signing is on Monday, October 1st. I am beyond excited. The signing is also a big party. There will be jousting! I cant wait.

The Bard

2008-07-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. I just found out about The Tales of Beetle the Bard by JK Rowling. Everyone knows of it from Harry Potter 7. A few months ago, JK Rowling had auctioned the only three original copies for millions of dollars witch she gave to a charity. Now, The Tales of Beetle the Bard are coming into stores this December. I can't wait to read it.

Types of Magic

2008-07-25T18:49:00.002-07:00

In fantasy books, there are a lot of different types of magic. Some have names, and some are just called magic. In the Harry Potter world, there are a lot of types of magic. There's potion-making, transfiguration, charms, curses, hexes, divination, apparition, and magical creatures/plants. (If I'm missing any, feel free to tell me.) Some other kinds of magic (with names) that I know of are necromancy, scrying, sorcery, summoning, and, of course, alchemy. Then, there are other types of magic without names, just called magic. There are those dealing with elements, the "will and the word", magical items, concentration/imagination, and science. (If I'm missing any, please tell me. I'm sure I am.)

I want to find out how each of them are different, what they do, and how they work. I need as much help as I can get so if you find any information on one, please email me at briantillinger @ cs.com. I'll post on a type of magic whenever I get new information on one, so please help out. (Wikipedia is actually a usable source when it comes to this kind of stuff, because none of this is really fact.)

A few that I'm most interested in learning about are necromancy, which I think is the reanimation of corpses, alchemy, and summoning. However, I want any info on any one of them.

Also, I'll post a list of the types of magic on the sidebar.

Farworld: Water Keep 2008 Blog Tour Review and Q&A

2008-07-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Part of the Farworld 2008 Blog Tour was to write a review and Q&A. Here is my review.

After reading Farworld: Water Keep by J Scott Savage once, I loved it so much that had to I read it again. I had been waiting for a long time to read Farworld, ever since I first found Mr. Savages blog and was hearing about it. Now that I've read it, I am hungry for four more books titled Farworld… Even though Book One hasn't officially been released.

The characters in Water Keep were really amazing, and it was awesome to learn more about the characters origins throughout the book. Marcus, a boy found crippled on the edge of a desert as a baby, had advantages as well as disadvantages. As he learned about his powers, he was able to cope with his crippled arm and leg. Things only get better for him when he goes to Farworld and finds that he can use his arm and leg more easily. Kyja, a girl without magic in a world of magic, found by the wizard Master Therapass as a baby, thinks that she is a freak and an outcast. However, she learns that her disadvantage is her advantage. While she can't throw balls of green energy at her enemies, the ones they throw bounce harmlessly off. She also learns that she has one, very important power… One that makes her special. Throughout the book these two friends discover that they are two parts of the same whole. Together, they are powerful.

The characters on a quest to save Farworld can't exist if there aren't those trying to destroy it though. The Thrathkin S'Bae, evil wizards who can turn into huge serpents are being led by Bonesplinter to kill Marcus and Kyja. Bonesplinter's evil drive for power starts with their deaths, the deaths that will bring his master's trust and power to him. To make him even more dangerous, he is determined not to fail a second time. Just as dangerous is his master's second servant, the Summoner: A creature with the power to control the living and the dead. With so many enemies, Marcus and Kyja are sure to have some road bumps on their journey.

Marcus and Kyja must find search far and wide to find the elementals, creatures that are the masters of their element. First, they search for the Water Elementals. When they do find Water Keep, they find that convincing the elementals to help them might be harder than finding them in the first place. Each elemental has a different personality, but none of them think the same way as humans do. This idea was something that I really liked about the story.

Another idea that I liked in the story was the idea of the geographic relationship between Farworld and Earth. The concept of the geography in Water Keep was something that really made the story move along. If you are standing in Farworld, jump to Earth, take one step, and jump back, you will be about one step away from where you stood before.

The characters, the plot, and the ideas of magic and worlds really made this a great story. I am itching for Land Keep before Water Keep is even out.

Now here is my Q&A.

For my Q&A, I chose to go to Disney World with Scott. We are on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during the fireworks show.

Scott- Brian, I’ve got to say, you have excellent taste in interview spots. I mean, Splash Mountain is pretty cool too, but you can’t see the fireworks, and getting wet at night can be a bad plan. So what do you say, shall we take the front car or the back?

Brian- How long did it take you to write the first draft of Farworld: Water Keep?

Scott- You know, typically a book takes me six months or so to write, but this book came so fast it was scary sometimes. I finished the first draft in under three months. I had a great time writing it. Well the rides starting. Are we going to see if we can both keep our hands in the air, the whole time?

Brian- Will the game of trill stones play a bigger role in the later books?

Scott- Let’s just say that we haven’t seen the last of trill stones. Oh wow, that last turn was intense. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten three churros right before we got on.
Brian- How do the trees talk? Do they have mouths or do voices just seem to come from nowhere? Do their words just pop into your head?

Scott- Oh, the trees. Tough to hear over the ride. I thought you wanted to know how fleas talked. I thought that was kind of an odd question. Listening to trees talk is a little like listening to a drum beat, but slightly more musical. At least that’s what the trees in the Westland Woods sound like. Other trees have different voices. The don’t have mouths though. At least not that you can see. But they do seem to have faces if you look closely.
Brian- Can magic affect other people from Earth or is Kyja different there too?

Scott- That is a great question. I suspect that we will find out down the road. Look! There are the rattlesnakes. Glad they’re not real. I have a thing about snakes.
Brian- When will we next learn more about the leader of the Dark Circle?

Scott- Very early in the next book. Look up there’s the castle all lit up.

Brian- On the mark on Marcus's shoulder and Kyja's amulet, what is the second creature?

Scott- Sorry couldn’t hear you over the booming of the fireworks!
Brian- Is the mark on Marcus's shoulder a birthmark, or a brand?

Scott- It’s not a birthmark. It looks like a burn or brand.

Brian- Will we ever see Kathleen and Jerrick again?

Scott- It wouldn’t surprise me in the least!

Brian- Did the trill stones turn into real gems or was the pawn shop man right about them being fake? Scott- Uh, oh. There are the mountain goats. That means we’re in for a big dr-r-r-r-o-o-o-o-o-p! Wow! They were real gems. The weenie in the pawn shop was trying to steal the gem.

Brian- I thought so. I was just checking. Last question, why can only some people understand the Dawn Chimes? Scott- Whoo. What a ride! You look far too unruffled. Must be an age thing. I think that understanding the Dawn Chimes is a talent—like learning a language. But I think that anyone can improve at it if they practice. Maybe even Kyja can learn.

Brian- Thanks for answering the questions and thanks for the ARC Scott!

Scott- Thank you for taking part in the tour. And especially thanks for inviting me to Disney World. The rest of my family will be so jealous.

Brian- Thanks for coming. It was really fun.

Get Smart

2008-07-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

Today, my little brother and I got to go and see Get Smart. Sadly, we missed the best part: The Previews. Just kidding. We both loved it. I would gladly go and see it again.

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carrel) is the best analyst CONTROL has. He is good friends with the chief and the top agent (Dwaine Johnson) and always find good information in the most unlikely ways, like from a voice clip in Russian of two suspects of being KAOS members talking about muffins. His biggest dream is to become a field agent, but after his perfect agent-test score and he is refused the job because he is the best at his current one, he is heartbroken. However, when he gets to work and finds that KAOS has broken in and found files on all current agents, a new agent is needed and Max is the only man for the job. When he is paired with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) for a very important mission, she soon finds that he is very smart and very clumsy. He has his moments, and they have to be good if he's going to make up for what happened in his last moment.

Get Smart was a really great and funny move and was completley worth $6. If you get a chance to go and see a movie and this is playing, it is a must see.

Epic: Part 2

2008-07-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

I don't have much more to tell you about Epic, the book I read right before I went to camp. It was a really great book and the last thing I will tell you about the story is that to save New Earth and stop the Committee, Erik and his friends must find a way to destroy the laws and end Epic.

NBC Studio Tours

2008-07-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

On our first day of the New York trip, we went to NBC Studios, near Rockefeller Center, and took the tour. First they showed us a cool video about the history of NBC. Next they took us into three studios. First, a news place for some nightly news. Second, The Conan O'Brien show studio. Last, they took us to Saturday Night Live, where we got to see where they did all of the performances. They also told us that the seats in the studio were actually old Yankee stadium seats. The next place we got to go was the makeup studio, where they showed us how the actors got into costume in less than 60 seconds. Lastly, they took us into a room where my best friend and I got to be a newscaster (Jeremy) and a weatherman (me). Every said it was really funny because I couldn't figure it out because the green screen made every backward.

NBC was a really cool stop and I had a great time. If you go, be sure to add this to your schedule.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum

2008-07-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum was a really cool part of the New York trip. Everything there was life sized and very realistic. (As you can plainly see!) Everything was so realistic that my friend Joey put on glasses and sat on a stool very still and people actually started taking pictures of him, thinking he was wax.

The entire place was cool. Except for the Chamber of Horrors. My best friend, Jeremy, who loves horror films, refused to go in and see his two favorite horror characters, Jason and Freddy. I thought that he was being silly, not wanting to go into a room with some pieces of wax. My counselor, my friend Jordan, and I all went in at the same time. The entire time, my friend and I were clutching at my counselors arm. In the room/hallway, claws ripped through the wall as you came by, live actors dressed as horror people stood still, and then all of a sudden started moving and swung real looking machetes at you, and realistic blood stained the walls. When I got through, Jeremy told me that he'd been through it before and was freaked out. Now I know why.

They had a lot of other really cool exhibits, and I'm glad we went there. If anyone you know goes, warn them about the Chamber of Horrors.

The Lion King

2008-07-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

As I said yesterday, one of the best parts of our trip was going to see The Lion King on Broadway. It had amazing sets and costumes. They did the songs perfectly, and they even included a new song and a song that was only in the special edition DVD. The story was nearly identical to the movie and had a lot of the same dialogue.

The thing that impressed me the most was definitely the sets. They had a very good way of showing the tall grass. They gave actors dirt colored costumes and hats with long, plastic (or rubber?) strands of grass on top. They moved around to make it seem like the lions were walking through it. The best set was the elephant graveyard. They made two separate parts that could spin around and made it look like one part connected by a bridge at the top. In the middle of the hyena scene, both of the parts disconnect and begin to spin away from each other.

The costumes were good too, but the best were the hyena costumes. The costumes for the lions were ok, and Timon and Pumba's costumes weren't original at all. Rafiki was probably the best character in the show, though. He/she (actor was a girl) was really funny in the show.

They also had a lot of good singing in the show. The song they took from the special edition DVD was called, "The Morning Report" and was sung by the character of Zazu, near the begining. It was ok. The song they created for the show, "He Lives in You," was probably my favorite. It took place right after Rafiki helped Simba see Mufasa in the water, getting him to go fight scar.

The whole play was amazing, and I would highly recomend it to anyone with the chance to see a Broadway show!

Lots to Write About

2008-07-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

I did a lot of awesome stuff at camp that I really need to write about. Normally after camp, I wouldn't have much to say, but this year, we got to spend a week in New York City, so there are a lot of different things to write about.

The highlights of our trip were The Lion King (the broadway show), Madame Tussaud (the wax museum), a Mets game vs. the Seattle Mariners, and NBC Studios.

While I was in NYC, my group went to the Apple store on 5th Ave. There I had time to use one of the computers to moderate a comment and read a post from J Scott Savage. While there I also learned how to do a Rubix cube.

As you can see, I have a lot to talk about over the next few days... weeks... you know what I mean, so expect more than one post a day. Don't forget to enter my contest. Please.

Not Quite Home

2008-07-10T14:16:00.001-07:00

I just got back from camp, but I'm staying in Savannah, Georgia for a week until it's time to go home! Now I'll be able to keep posting, so keep checking back!

Ezra

2008-06-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

My brothers are beyond annoying. However, Ezra is the one that can be truly evil. He starts fights with Jordan and I, and sometimes even doesn't listen to my mom when she is trying to break up a fight or get ready for something.

He loves doing stuff just so that my brother and I can't. Here is an example: He is playing his Nintendo DS. Jordan walks up to a toy of some kind. Ezra quickly closes his DS, and picks up the toy Jordan was going to play with. He is pure evil.

One time, I was playing a computer game... in a corner... behind the couch. My brother says he wants to do his homework down there. He sat down next to me. I was being sort of noisy, and he kept telling me to shut up. I got my mom, who told him, "This is a public room. They can be noisy if they want. Go to your room to do your homework or something." You want to know what he replied...

"NO."

My mom was furious. He does stuff like this a lot. However, sometimes he can be a good brother. Usually it's when my other brother, Jordan is being a brat. We usually are on the same page when that happens. Life with siblings is topsy turvy.

Jordan

2008-06-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

This section is about my annoying little brother, Jordan. At this very moment, he is trying to hit my pressure points. He is just as annoying as my other little brother, Ezra, and he was purposely singing an annoying song while I was reading.

In my opinion, I have the most annoying brothers on Earth.

Camp Books

2008-06-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here is my list of camp books:

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
The Lost Years of Merlin by TA Barron
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Farworld: Water Keep by J Scott Savage
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

Also, I'm still finishing Epic. Today is the first day of Camp Judea.

Goodbye!!!

2008-06-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

I am going to camp for about the next month, and they have no electronics. I will be back on July 15th. I'll post on all of the stuff at camp next month. Also, there are a few scheduled post, so keep checking back!

Bye!

Epic: Part 1

2008-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Right now, I am reading a great Science-Fiction book called Epic by Conor Kostick. I found the book at the local bookstore when I asked the lady at the counter about any new fantasy books.

On New Earth, a planet colonized about 1000 years ago when Earth was consumed by war, there is only one law: No Violence. New Earth is run by Central Allocations, and at the head of Central Allocations is the Committee. They govern the world through Epic, a computer game where conflicts are solved in the arena. Everyone has a character and if you lose in the arena, you will lose all of your wealth and you could be moved to a hard job, like one at the salt pans or the mines.

In Eric's small agricultural district, Hope, Central Allocations is neglecting the district's needs. After the Committee learns the true identity of Eric's father after a battle for the district's needs, he is exiled and Eric and his friends begin a quest through Epic to save him. In doing so, they will face enemies, allies, and they will learn secrets of the game that the Committee has been hiding for years.

So far, it is an awesome story. Since I probably won't finish until I'm gone, I'll finish posting a review after I get back from camp.

Lastly, SCHOOL'S OUT!

The Princess Bride

2008-06-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

The Princess Bride is one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen. It is an old family favorite and even my little brothers love it.

The Princess Bride was based off of a book and is about Buttercup and Wesley, two people who have fallen in love. Because Wesley has no money for marriage, he goes off to work at sea, but is killed in a raid by "The Dread Pirate Roberts." Buttercup lost the will to live after hearing the news. After many years, she is chosen by Prince Humperdink to be his bride. Buttercup did not love him, but one day, when taking a ride on her horse, she is kidnapped by three oddballs, Inigo the swordsman, Fezzik the Giant, and Vizzini, a man trying to start a war between two neighboring countries. After a while, they realized that they are being chased by a man in black. After he defeats Inigo and Fezzik, he kills Vizzini in a battle of wits to save Buttercup. After killing Vizzini, he reveals himself to be Wesley, but sadly there is still Humperdink in the way of he and Buttercup's love. Watch the movie to find out how it all ends, and to laugh for about 98 minutes!

Tonight, my neighbor is coming over to watch with my brothers and I. Also, tomorrow is the last day of school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm leaving for camp this Saturday.

Oops.

2008-06-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry about those two posts disappearing. I moved them to June 20 so that my brothers wouldn't see it until I'm at camp. Check back then to see the post.

FARWORLD WRITING CONTEST

2008-06-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading my ARC of Farworld: Water Keep last night and it was phenomenal. I cannot wait for book 2. Sadly, I'll have to.

Either way, now that I've finished, I'll post the rules of my contest for someone to win a copy of Farword from J Scott Savage. Starting today, I'll be having a Writing Contest. Since Farworld is a fantasy book and because I love reading fantasy, to enter, you must write a short description of any fantastical creature. It can either be one that already exists (that doesn't mean that you can copy the description out of the book that the creature's in) or it can be one that you make up (I prefer those. Much more original.) The paragraph that I like the best wins a copy of Farworld. To send me a paragraph, email it to me at briantillinger at cs dot com. (Sorry, just piece that together.) You can send me the paragraph any time between today, June 7th, and some time in early July (I'll post the exact date soon.) You get that long because I'll be at camp for most of that time. In the email, you must also include your name and your blog URL. Also, it would be helpful if you would post a comment saying that you sent the paragraph.

Also, sadly there are rules about where the ARC can be sent. It can only be sent to adresses in the US or Canada. (Those aren't my rules. Scott said that they couldn't be sent to anywhere other than the US or Canada.) Luckily, J Scott Savage also said that he would hold a contest sometime for people in other countries to win one. Well, those are all of the rules. Good Luck!

Random Stuff: June

2008-06-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry I posted this late. I've been very busy.

1. I have decided on my list of camp books. Check back on June 16th for my list.

2. My Culture Project on James Fontaine is finally done. I know that I got at least an A- on it. My presentation was supposed to be at least 10-15 minutes. Instead, it was 19 minutes long.

3. Hooray!!! School ends one week from today. And the last day is only 20 minutes per period. The second to last day is field day.

4. Hooray!!! Again! Next Saturday, the 14th is the day when I go to sleep-away camp. Sadly, starting then, I wont be able to post until early July. :(

5. I will soon be posting on two movies I've seen recently: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls and The Princess Bride. Both are great movies!

6. My brothers have both gotten new video games. It is very distracting when your working on school projects.

7. Speaking of school projects, I have another big project for school. It is a Baseball Statistics Project for school. We were supposed to pick a player and I chose Chipper Jones from the Atlanta Braves.

8. I can't think of any thing else to say.

9. Wait, one last thing. I'm going to have my contest to win a copy of Farworld: Water Keep by J Scott Savage soon, before I go to camp. I'll announce the winner when I get back from camp. Bye!

Happy Birthday, Ezra!

2008-06-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EZRA!

My little brother Ezra is turning 10 today.
Double digits. Congratulations Ezra!!!

Also, Hooray!!! It is June.

Hilarious YouTube Videos

2008-05-30T15:47:00.001-07:00

I have found two really funny YouTube videos. One of them is called "Who's Phone" and the other is called "Kids' Rock." They are both great!

Here are the links:

"Who's Phone"

"Kids' Rock"

Hope you like them!

Warriors: Eclipse: Cover

2008-05-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Cool!

I just found the new cover and release date for Warriors: The Power of Three: Eclipse. (As you can see from all of my Warriors posts, I really love this series.) It's set released date is on September 2, 2008. I can't wait for it!

Happy Birthday, Jordan!

2008-05-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN! Today, Jordan is having his 7th birthday. In fact, soon Jordan will be going to sleep away camp for 5 days. Good luck Jordan!

PS- I am typing this post on April 5th on Blogger Draft. I hope this works!

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

2008-05-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

First of all, hooray for a four-day weekend!

Now, more importantly, I have just finished Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and it was amazing! It was full of details, was very original, and was very fun to read. Fablehaven is about two siblings, Kendra and Seth, who are sent to live with their Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson while their parents are on a 17-day cruise. However, Grandma Sorenson is away, visiting a dying family member. They have plenty of things to do there, like painting, swimming, and for Kendra, trying to solve a puzzle that their Grandpa has given her. (No, I don't mean a jigsaw puzzle, although they have those to do, too.) However, Seth's weakness is the rules that Grandpa sets down, with the punishment of staying in their room for the rest of their stay. When Seth breaks the most important rule, and goes in to the forest, he sees someone that he wasn't supposed to. Luckily, when Kendra solves the puzzle, and opens their eyes to the world of Fablehaven, the rules lessen a little, although that does not stop Seth from breaking the remaining rules. Seth goes a little to far one night, and accidentally causes Grandpa to get captured by some of the more evil creatures of Fablehaven, and Kendra and Seth have to find out where Grandma really is, and save Grandpa. It really was a great book. Now I'm focusing on The Alchemyst by Micheal Scott.

The Key to Reading Two Books at Once: Part 2

2008-05-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

To get some stuff out of the way, I went to see Prince Caspian last weekend, and it was pretty good. It had a lot more action than the first, but it wasn't quite better. It was a little rushed. My Grandma has gone back to Chicago and my brother and Dad are back. I just finished my Culture Projects rough draft this morning. (I had to miss the bus to do it, too.) I have a four day weekend and I deserve it after such a long (or short) week. That just about all going on with my life.

Right now, I am reading two books at once, and once again, I am reading one more than the other. I am reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and The Alchemyst by Micheal Scott. I think that I am reading Fablehaven more than The Alchemyst because of two reasons. For one, I started it a few days before The Alchemyst. Two, although this kind of relates to one, I am far into Fablehaven and not very far into The Alchemyst. I am, therefore, more excited to see what happens in Fablehaven. So, another tip for people trying to read two books at once, try to start at the same time and to keep a steady pace, switching of every chapter or two, or something like that. So far, I'd highly recommend Fablehaven, but I can't yet say the same with The Alchemyst, considering I'm only in chapter 2.

Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Battle of the Labyrinth

2008-05-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

1. Sorry I haven't posted in the last week. I've been really busy with stuff. I have a culture project to do. I have Karate lessons. I have bar-mitzvah lessons. My Grandma Alice is visiting. Plus all of my normal homework.

2. Today was amazing!!!

We went to see Cirque du Soleil: Corteo. For those who don't know what Cirque is, it is a huge French circus group that does amazing stunts in a very theatrical way. It was so cool! My favorite acts were thier trapoline act, thier person in a wheel act (I don't know what it was called,) thier human trapeze act, and their juggling act. The rest of the show was still amazing!

3. Finally, today I finished Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan. It was great! Now, there is only one more book in the Percy Jackson series, which started with The Lighting Theif, which I read again 3 days ago. 2 days ago, I finished it. Yesterday, I got Battle of the Labyrinth. It was a great book, but had a really twisted ending. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I'll give a little synopsis. In the 4th book, after being chased by deamon cheerleaders, meeting an old human aquantince, and finding out that not only the lost god Pan, but the key to Kronoses victory over the gods might be hidden in the labyrinth, Percy is thrown back into the war, fighting for his life through an unsolvable maze. The gods face more betrayal and need Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover to find Deadalus, the inventor of the labyrinth before Luke does. Also, Annabeth is given a mysterious prophecy about the quest and Percy is having more dreams, about Luke and Kronos, Nico, son of Hades, and Deadalus and the truth of his past. This book is even more exciting then the other books. I can't wait for the next book!

4. Tomorrow, I am going to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

5. I hope my brother Ezra is having a great trip! He is taking a trip to Virginia to visit his best friend, Brett.

Vizu Poll

2008-05-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

I have decided to take J Scott Savage's example and use Vizu to make a poll. It may have been a little more complicated, but it turns out much better than the Blogger polls. I did my first Vizu poll on James Dashner's "The 13th Reality." (If your making a Vizu poll, avoid using the " sign. I doesn't turn out well. I had to redo my poll to fix it.) I highly suggest using Vizu polls instead of Blogger polls. They work and look much better.

Farworld: Water Keep by J Scott Savage

2008-05-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

Author J Scott Savage has just released the cover and 1st 2 chapters of his new book, Farworld: Water Keep on his website. Click here to visit his post. His book will be released this September. I am so excited to read the 2 chapters. Don't forget to sign up for the Farworld Blog Tour to win an ARC of Farworld: Water Keep.

Lastly, Ezra (and I) are still sick from Saturday. It's probably the Stomach Flu. That's going around here on Mercer Island. I hope we get better soon. I'm missing so much school. Catching up is going to be almost impossible.

Random Stuff: May

2008-05-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I'm 2 days late with this. I'll get the hang of it in a while. Either way, even though I'm having a bad day, here is this months random stuff floating around in my head.

1.) Crud. My brother just threw-up again. This time it was on the carpet. Poor Ezra! At least my dad's pulling into the driveway now. Now my mom won't have to help Ezra alone.

2.) I hope we can go and see "Iron Man" next week. We had just gotten to the big, intense scene at the end when Ezra started barfing up his Icee. (Sorry. I've been repeating my earlier post all over again.)

3.) I have finished Warriors: The Power of Three: Outcast by Erin Hunter and I'm back into The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, both of which I've/I'm enjoyed/enjoying.

4.) I need to delete my 2 polls. Then I'll need to think of a new poll to make. Do you guys think I should use Vizu polls? I hear they're pretty good.

5.) My culture project is going great! I completed the outline Thursday night. It is 2 1/2 pages long, which is way longer than anyone else's outline.

6.) OUCH!!! My cat just cut my finger. That hurt!

7.) Crud. AGAIN! Ezra threw-up again, this time in his closet. Mom and Dad are angry that they'll have to pay to replace that carpet now too. That's pretty much every carpet in the house.

8.) I can't wait for J Scott Savage, Author of the upcoming Farworld series to post the cover of Book 1: Water Keep. I especially can't wait for him to send out the ARCs.

9.) I am tired. It's been a long, bad day. I think I'll go upstairs with dad to watch a movie.

If anything else random pops into my mind, I'll post it here, but I'm to darn tired right now to continue. Good Night! Crud. I think Ezra's throwing up again. I hope he gets better.

Iron Man: Part 1

2008-05-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

This kinda stinks. Here was my schedule for today:
1. Jon and Ben's Bar-Mitzvah
2. Go and See "Iron Man"
3. Jon and Ben's Bar-Mitzvah Party
4. Go to Bed

Now, here was how my day turned out:
1. Jon and Ben's Bar-Mitzvah
2. Go and See "Iron Man"
3. Watch my brother Ezra throw-up during the movie
4. Come home.
5. Start to feel sick.
6. Not go to Ben and Jon's Bar-Mitzvah party

I was going to post a review of Iron Man, but since I didn't see the whole think, I can't. However, my dad got passes from the manager to come and see the movie again. I think we're going next week. I'll post a review then. This stinks.

Memoirs of a Huguenot Family by James Fontaine

2008-04-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

My Culture Project at school is going great!

I am doing my project on my great x 11 grandfather, James Fontaine. He had an amazing life and cool family history. His great great grandfather was a member of the royal court in France in the early 1500s but was assassinated after he became a protestant and resigned his position on the court. James had trouble with the French because of this and fought French Pirates to defend his home in Ireland. If you want to read what really happened with him, his book is on the web. Click Here to go to it. Some of the parts are boring, but some are really unbelievable.

I am writing a 5+ page fictional story about him, focusing on the two pirate attacks he faced. Right now, I am outlining it. The outline is due this Friday, May 2nd. I'm actually pretty confident about this project. (Okay... I'm still worried about the speech part.) This isn't one of those boring school papers. This is an exciting story about something that really happened to my own ancestor. (Okay, that sounds a lot more fun when you say it that way.) I am about halfway through the outline already and I started it today! I have a feeling that I'll do fairly well. Wish me luck!

New Warriors Books

2008-04-26T17:27:00.001-07:00

Hooray!!!

Warriors: Outcast is finally here! I had pre-ordered it and it came yesterday, along with Warriors: Warrior's Return, Eragon, Fablehaven, and The Sword of Shannara (I know I spelled that wrong!) I read all of Warrior's Return on the drive to a Mariners game last night (they were out of Free Ichiro Bobble Heads when we got there.) I started Outcast on the drive to the ski slopes today. I am really excited. I've been waiting for a while.
I am still reading The Hobbit and I have just finished the chapter "Queer Lodgings." It was a really good chapter! I can't wait to see why the next chapter is called "Flies and Spiders." I have a pretty good idea though. I should have a post saying that I've finished Outcast (or The Hobbit) in a day or 2.

Passover and a Hobbit

2008-04-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Passover!!!

Passover is a week long Jewish Holiday that started last night. It is one of my favorite holidays. For the first two nights, we have a Seder, which means "order." We eat all sorts traditional foods, like gefilte fish, charoset, and hard-boiled eggs. (Ok, the hard-boiled eggs aren't a traditional food.) Last night, my brother had some bitter herbs, or maror, and his face turned beat red. I was laughing my pants off. Tonight we have cousins coming and we have another cousin coming on Thursday. This is such a great holiday!

Also, the other night I started The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I had no idea the group faced the trolls that early in the book... in chapter 2! I heard that The Hobbit is a lot easier to read then LOTR. Can you guys post a comment confirming or un-confirming what I've been told? Thanks.

Future Fantasy

2008-04-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have just finished Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia. The actual battle took up a lot of chapters. It was a great book.

Today, I'm going to talk about upcoming fantasy books that I am jumping out of my pants to read:

Fantasy author T.A. Barron has just released the cover and description of his upcoming trilogy, Merlin's Dragon. Merlin's Dragon is set right in-between The Lost Years of Merlin and The Great Tree of Avalon. To visit his website, Click Here. If you haven't read any of his books and you have no idea what I'm talking about, your missing out. Both The Lost Years of Merlin and The Great Tree of Avalon are amazing stories. If you have read them, post a review (if you want) here. I want to here what you think of the book. Also, if you have read The Adventures of Kate by T.A. Barron, tell me how it is. I'm thinking about reading it.It is being released in Fall of 2008.

Another fantasy book I can't wait to read is Warriors: The Power of Three: Outcast. This one is a little closer than Merlin's Dragon. It is coming out on April 22, 2008, a few days from now. This is the 3rd book in The Power of Three series. I've been waiting for it to come out ever since the 2nd book came out. On the same day, I'm pretty sure two other Erin Hunter books are being released. They are Warriors: Manga edition: Warrior's Return and Seekers: Book 1: The Journey Begins. I am a little less excited for these two. To visit the Warriors website, click here. If you've read any Warriors books, pick your favorite and post a small review here. (If you want to.)

Next, Charlie Bone and the Shadow by Jenny Nimmo is being released this Fall 2008. Jenny Nimmo has also posted the new cover recently. A lot of people haven't heard of Charlie Bone, but it is a very good series. If you have read it, once again, post a review here on your favorite. (From now on, their all if you wants.) To visit Jenny Nimmo's website, click here.

Wow!!! I just found out that Ranger's Apprentice: Book 5: Sorcerer in the North will be released in the US in November of 2008. Just a few more months! If you have read any Ranger's Apprentice books blah blah blah, blah blah. You know what I was going to say. To visit John Flanagan's site, click here. To see the cover of book 5, US edition, click here.

And then of course, there are the upcoming books we all probably know about. There's Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan, and mot importantly, Farworld--Water Keep by our friend J Scott Savage. Sheesh. I just listed out almost all of the books that I'm dieing for. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

By the way, WASL testing days: 3 down, 3 to go.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia

2008-04-16T07:30:00.001-07:00

I have just started reading Ranger's A.... whatever, I'm just going to say the second part from now on... The Battle for Skandia. So far, I'm on page 109, and the main characters have escaped from some enemies, been captured by new enemies, almost escaped, saved by old friends, discovered a plot to take over at least 4 other countries, and have found that the enemy has already secretly moved their entire army into Skandia, one of the countries they plan to conquer. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 294 pages. By the way, in Australia, this book is actually titled "Oakleaf Bearers" instead of The Battle for Skandia. Cool huh. This is such a great series... even though it is such a mouthful. Well, I have to get ready. Writing 1 WASL today. Wish me luck!

Karate + WASLs

2008-04-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, WASLs ARE HERE!!!! I just took the reading 1WASL today. I think I did pretty well. Here is the WASL schedule (as far as I know.): Reading 1 (done,) Writing 1, Reading 2, Writing 2, Math 1, and Math 2. Tomorrow, I have to take Writing 1! Duh duh duhhhhh. Here comes my doom, so wish me luck.

Second of all, Great job Ezra! Today, he passes his belt test (I didn't even know it was testing day) to advance to blue belt. Since Jordan and I took an extra week of karate camp, we were blue belts already, but since we weren't ready to test yet (the blue belt form is hard,) Ezra will finally be the same belt as us. Congratulations Ezra!!!

The Icebound Land + My Annoying Little Brothers

2008-04-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am almost done with Ranger's Apprentice: The Icebound Land. I have about 30 pages left. Then I can begin book four, The Battle for Skandia. There are actually 7 books, but only books 1-4 are released here in the U.S. yet. The rest are all released in Australia though, so if you ever take a trip there, take your chance and get books 5, 6, and 7.

Next, MY BROTHERS ARE SO ANNOYING. They woke me up at 6:57 AM... ON A SATURDAY!!! SO THAT THEY COULD WATCH SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS LOUD ENOUGH! Tomorrow, we're going skiing, so I won't get to in then! Now I have to wait another whole week! They are in for a rough day... and I'm in for a rougher week. WASLs!!! Oh well, at least Ezra has them too.

Poll Closed

2008-04-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for voting on my poll. The question was

Have you ever visited any of the links on my blog?

80% (8 people) voted for Yes, I have.
20% (2 people) voted for No, I haven't. (It was actually supposed to say, No, but I will.)

WASL Testing

2008-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here in WA, at school, our standardized testing is called the WASL. It stands for Washington Assessment of Student Learning. I am getting kinda stressed out. I am confident in almost all of my subjects except for Writing. Ironic, huh. The kid who reads almost 24/7 and is thinking about being a writer when he grows up is not very sure of himself in writing. Usually, when it comes to school writing, I stink. However, when it comes to writing for fun, I'm actually OK. Why can't they just make school writing seem fun? Wish me luck on the testing. It starts next week.

The Icebound Land

2008-04-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have just begun Ranger's Apprentice: Book 3: The Icebound Land. I am only a few pages into it and there is already a huge adventure underway. Will and his new friend, Evanlyn, are trapped on a wolf ship by some Skandians. They are now in the middle of "the mother of all storms." I can't wait to see what happens next. This is a great series.

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy!

2008-04-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'd just like to say that I have just finished Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge, and I'm in the process of convincing my mom to take me to a bookstore to buy The Icebound Land. The Burning Bridge left me hanging big time.

Second and most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (even if a few days late) TO GRANDADDY! Tonight is his party. He turned 70 on Wednesday. This party is practically a family reunion. We've already seen most of the family though. This will also be a good opportunity to get more info for the family tree. Luckily, the party is only a 3 minute walk away. I still need to shower...

Family Tree

2008-04-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

My family tree research is going well. Last night, my grandma and I were adding more stuff into the tree and finding more stories about certain parts of the Brewton/Fontaine family. We found that there was also a book called the Memoirs of Jean de la Fontaine. It might have been Jacues de la Fontaine. Right now, a 40 something page long paper is being printed with lots of names to put into the family tree. Uh oh! It just ran out of paper.

2 minutes later...
I found the paper.

2 more minutes later...
Ok. That was a pain. I think I loaded enough paper to finish. (I hope.) Either way, the tree is really good. We have info on ancestors all the way from about the 1400s! For the project, we have to do a paper, a speech, and a visual display. I think I have the visual display covered. I'll do the time line and some pictures. I have no clue what I'll do on the other two though. Once I get the full rubric, I'll post some more info here. I have a feeling that I might need your help with thinking of ideas.

Random Stuff: April

2008-04-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

To start off the month, I am going to get a lot of random stuff out of my head.

1.) APRIL FOOLS!!! I really am going to say a bunch of random stuff though... I guess that was one of them.

2.) I have just begun Ranger's Apprentice: Book 2: The Burning Bridge. I like it so far.

3.) I love being back here in Savvannah! It's warm. There's lots of family here. My best friend, Jeremy, lives here.

4.) Boy do I love Snow Crab! My mom and I went to a seafood restaraunt in downtown Savannah last night, and the snow crab was beyond good!

5.) I am working on a family tree/ family culture project for school. My grandma showed me a family tree she'd been working on, and it said that we had a very distant, but possible, ancestor who was in the crusades! Jon de la Fontain (I know I spelled that wrong.) How is that for cool!

6.) My other grandma said that she was working on another family tree, from a different part of my family. She says it's hard because my great great grandpa or something moved from Austria around the late 1800s so it's hard to track. However, she said that she found a relative who was on the side of the Confederates during the Civil War who was buried in a graveyard in this very city. My grandpa never even knew he existed!!!

7.) My brothers are so dang annoying!!! They always "have" to have the computer. I am beginning to wish that I had brought my laptop.

8.) The other day, my brother found a Nintendo DS game, The Sims 2: Pets, on the street! He is beyond lucky. (If only I still had my DS. 'sniff' sniff' I lost mine on a plane last summer. Oh well!

9.) I'm running out of random stuff to talk about.

10.) I can't wait to go to Camp Judea this summer in June. It's a sleepaway camp in NC where we stay for a month. Amazingly though, this will be the first time in years that I've gone to camp without having to leave school early. They've always overlapped. Sadly, there are no computers at camp for me to blog on.

11.) I really need to make a new poll.

I am completely out of random stuff to talk about. Hope everyone has a "foolish" April Fools day!

So many posts!

2008-03-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post of March (or so I think.) I have reached my 29th post this year and my 47th post overall! Not really that much, but it's a lot for me!

Ranger's Apprentice: Part 1

2008-03-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have just begun reading Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan.(I'm almost done!) So far it's very good. It is the story about an orphan boy, Will, who is worried that when it comes time for him to be made an apprentice in a craft, no one will want him as an apprentice. However, he is made the apprentice of Halt, the Ranger who ended the evil Morgarath's war 15 years before. However, Morgarath is gathering his Wargal (completely copying Eragon) hordes and is preparing to attack the kingdom, so Will and Halt must be ready to fight back, and to stop Morgarath's new monster, the dreadful Kalkara. So far, this has been an amazing book. Not only does it have that sort of air of destiny around Will, but it shows the aspects of Will's life. So far, it is an amazing story. I'm not even done yet and I can't wait to read the next book.