Almost Summer

  In these last intense days of studying and testing, my salvation will be the reward of a 2.5 month break, summer. Summer is the most exciting and relaxing part of the year. I will catch up on sleep, go to camp, go on mission trips and many other things. I especially look forward to spending lots of time at Edisto.
  Since we have just gotten our summer reading assignments, I still have the excitement of starting new books. This excitement will gradually dwindle away over the first 15 pages of the first book I open. My summer reading this summer consists of The Razor's Edge, The Godforsaken Sea and The Great Gatsby. Thankfully these books are shorter than T.H. White's The Once and Future King and Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo which I had to read last summer.
  I have a lot of studying to do for my upcoming exams...so bye!

Carowinds Music Festival

   The Hammond Band recently participated in the Carowinds Music Festival. We performed three songs at the Carowinds theater for a panel of three judges. We were unlucky enough to have one of our songs written by one of the three judges. During this particular song a breeze blew my music off my stand! Since I am the first saxophone, I am right in front in clear view of our entire audience. I had two stare at my stand for the remaining two lines of the song.  The band played great, though, despite the judge who had written our song giving us some "constructive" criticism post-performance. We scored a 1 from all of our judges. A 1 is the best score out of five. This is called a superior. We have never gotten a superior rating before, so it was a great start to our day at Carowinds.
    We went on many rides at Carowinds including the Intimidator, Vortex, Carolina Cobra, Afterburner and Thunder Road. My favorite was the Vortex because we were standing up. My least favorite was Thunder Road because it was wooden and very bumpy! My head was constantly banging on the lightly padded sides. My group of four enjoyed many "complimentary" cups of water which seemed like the best water in the world every time. This is due to being very thirsty. I also treated myself to a blue berry ICEE. I had not had one of these in a long time. It was a very refreshing snack.
    I had a great time and look forward to returning next year. I am very proud of the band for our Superior rating!

To Kill A Mockingbird (the Movie)

  During our English unit on To Kill a Mockingbird, I watched the To Kill a Mockingbird movie. It was very good despite the lack of color. Something interesting is that when I think back to the movie I remember it in color. My favorite movie character was Dill. I thought he was adorable. He was always wearing church attire in contrast to Scout's overalls. The Radley house looked exactly like I had pictured it. Some parts I wish they could have kept in but did not are the house burning and the visit to Calpurnia's church.
  Atticus was portrayed particularly well. I now understand why he is an iconic symbol of justice. He was such an authoritative, intelligent, and understanding character. The trial was very sad. Eventhough I already knew the outcome, I was rooting for the defense. Mr. Ewell was despicable as he could be. From his looks to his language to him spitting on Atticus he was completely unlikable.
  The movie was very good, and I am thankful for finally being exposed to this classic of southern literature and film.

Cruise Memoir

  For my mom's big birthday coming up, we decided to give her a surprise cruise. We told her about it a week before our departure at Garibaldi Cafe. We were super excited that we could finally show are anticipation of the trip. We left for our week-long cruise through the Caribbean from Cape Canaveral.
  This was my family's first cruise, so everything was new to us. We are no strangers to the ocean and water sports, but we were unseasoned to the pampering and food associated with a cruise. Since my brother and
I fall into the 12-14 age range, we were part of the Circle C Club. These group oriented activities were certainly not on the top of my list of fun things to do, although Isaac seemed to enjoy them. The age group was a little too awkward for dancing, which was about the only thing planned for us, and a little to apathetic for trivia games. So I found other ways to entertain myself. I spent a lot of time laying out in the sun from which I did get some serious sunburn (that has now has turned to tan). The ship had three pools and several hot tubs.
  Concerning the other passengers, well...it was kind of like the South Carolina State Fair. All different kinds of people.
  We periodically stopped at ports including Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Belize. My favorite stop was Roatan because there was a beautiful beach. I did, however, get ripped off on a t-shirt that changes color in the sun. The store employees forgot to mention that after washing and drying the piece of clothing, it no longer changes colors.
  The most memorable part of the cruise was probably the water park aboard the ship consisting of two water slides. I specifically like rewatching the video of my dad going on the Drainpipe. The Drainpipe, which my family called the Toilet Bowl, had a short water slide that opens up into a bowl in which the sliding person usually slides around the sides usually one time. My dad went around 4 times. There are stairs in the middle of this "bowl" that you can stand and videotape your dad going round and round.
  The food was AMAZING! There was 24 Hour free (prepaid for) fresh and delicious pizza and soft-serve, self-serve ice cream. Dinner was also delicious. I had melting chocolate cake every night. Melting chocolate cake is a chocolate cake with a hot chocolate batter center. Ice cream comes on the side. Our waiters and waitress were awesome as well.
  Overall this was a grand experience, especially for a first time cruiser. Hopefully more fun times with cruises are in store for me.

**Spoiler Alert**: The Vow

   Last Friday I went to go see The Vow. It was great! Prior to watching it I had heard mixed reviews with most of them being negative, but I loved it. I thought the plot line was very similar to The Notebook with Paige going back to her family and old boyfriend and then returning to Leo at the end of the movie. There was a really funny wedding scene, as well. The only people there were Leo, Paige, and a couple friends who were videotaping it. It was in a museum, and a security guard came up right before he "pronounced them man and wife". They quickly said the words and ran away. It was really sad that she never remembered the couple years before the wreck. It's hard to believe that something that crazy can really happen! I can't imagine forgetting three years of my life. There was a major twist when Paige discovers why she had left her family, and they were taking advantage of her memory loss. I was really happy when Leo punched Paige's ex-fiance because he was really annoying and unattractive. Overall...great movie!

30 Hour Famine + A Very Busy Weekend

   Last weekend I participated in my Trinity Cathedral's 30 Hour Famine. The 30 Hour Famine is an event sponsored by World Vision that  is used to raise world hunger awareness. The main part of the event is the 30 hour fast that begins Friday night at 12:00 and ends Sunday morning. On Saturday night we sleep in cardboard boxes in the Cathedral's courtyard, and yes...it is very cold! We wake up bright and early the next morning and eat at the homeless breakfast that our church provides for those that need food. The breakfast is a very enlightening experience because you get to have real conversations with people that you would normally never talk to. The two men that I stood in line with were very nice, and they were very interested in our service project. The two men that I sat with for the meal asked us what we were currently studying in science. This conversation went on a tangent to subatomic particles, Einstein's theorem, and evolution. These experiences really give you a new insight into the issue of hunger and homelessness. Clearly, these were very smart people who had just been put in a bad situation.  Our youth group raised around $25,000 through people sponsoring the participants in this event. We will also receive a 6:1 matching grant which will greatly increase this number. This was my third time doing the famine, and I hope to continue doing it every year.
  Now, for my explanation on why my weekend was so busy. Friday afternoon, I left school with the math team and travelled to College of Charleston for a math competition. Saturday morning we woke up and went to breakfast (which I could not eat since I was fasting). We then proceeded to the math competition. I participated for about three hours. My dad picked me up from Charleston, and he brought me back to Columbia so I could participate in the famine's activities such as building our cardboard house and going on  a scavenger hunt in the Vista. I did the famine, went to the homeless breakfast, and went to church. I had to leave right after communion because we had to book it to Irmo for the last two games of my soccer tournament.
Now that's a busy weekend!

The Sweet, Crazy, and Always Full of Surprises: Lulu

  I have two dogs. One of which is fairly normal the other is crazy! Lulu is the crazy one, hence the name. We got Lulu from a friend on my club soccer team whose family felt that she didn't get enough attention because they had 5 other dogs. They had gotten Lulu from the side of the road and think she had been a trucker's dog which would explain her street smarts.
  So, We took Lulu as we were looking for a companion for our golden retriever, Josie. The couple weeks were pretty hectic. It was almost impossible to get her inside because she hated walking on hard wood floors. Almost everyday we would come home to some sort of disaster such as extension chords being eaten two dog beds being ripped apart, the stuffing in quilt being extracted and and a never-ending supply of stuffed-animal fluff covering our yard. There were also several nice pillows shredded to pieces.  Although it is possible that Josie's puppy habits had been brought back with the excitement of her new friend, we blamed all this on Lulu.
    A more recent example of her craziness was when she "played hit by a car". The neighbor drove by our house and saw Lulu laying on our driveway with her head hanging limp over the curb. She knew that Lulu had a history of escaping from our porch and thought maybe she was just tired from running around all day. She went to go pick up her daughter from school and returned home passing by Lulu who was still in the same position. She got out of her car and went over to the pathetic looking dog. She tried to touch her paw and Lulu pulled it away. Then she tried to persuade Lulu to get up, and Lulu ignored the commands as if she was unable to move. She then proceeded to pick Lulu up (assuming by now that she had been hit by a car). Lulu tensed up like a statue. Then, she went to my other neighbor to ask for assistance in getting the dog into the car to take her to the vet. They got her in the car and told my mom. Mom texted the rest of the family the news and rushed to the vet. Meanwhile I am at soccer practice trying to stay calm at the fact that my dog has been hit by a car. My mom has to wait in the waiting room for a while until the vet comes out. Lulu is fine.
  To any person with a normal dog, Lulu's behavior would have signaled hit by a car. But the behaviors when displayed by Lulu were perfectly normal. No one at the scene would have known this, though. I do appreciate the genuine concern of both neighbors because if the situation had been real, it would have been very important that Lulu get to the vet.
   Ooh Lulu!