Random Inspiration

Two More Routines by Oksana Omelianchik and Emilia Eberle

2010-04-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

They were both featured in "Who Did It Better" a few days ago, and they both have one other floor routine that I absolutely love...

Oksana's "Birdie" routine is basically a gymnastics legend. Love the music, love the dance, and the tumbling is hard, too!

I'm curious to see if anyone likes this next one... I originally found it when someone posted it as one of their favorites of all time, but a few days later someone else said it was one of the worst attempts at choreography! Click HERE to watch it, and let me know what you think in the poll on the sidebar.

Three More to Compare...

2010-04-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

Here's three more routines to the same music as the routines in yesterdays post. I think the music might be called Ballet Russe. Please don't quote me on that :) If anyone knows for sure, leave a comment.

In chronological order:

Mary-Lou Retton

Oksana Omelianchik

Allana Slater

Allana's routine wasn't nearly as good as the other four. It could have been much better had she used the music a few years later. Mary-Lou's wasn't as fun to watch as most of the routines from the 80's, but it was still much, much better than most of the routines we see today. Oksana's was beautiful. Teodora's is still my favorite, but Oksana's and Emilia's are pretty close :)

Who Did It Better?

2010-04-14T20:59:00.000-04:00

Two gymnasts...
From the same country...
Same music (although different cuts)...
Who did it better?

My vote is for Teodora, although I love both of them! :)

Watch Teodora Ungureanu HERE.

Emilia Eberle

I love how they both do the flip to straddle thing. It's very cute.

By the way... Does anyone know what the music is called?

FUN floor routines!

2010-04-14T20:43:00.000-04:00

If at least one (more like all) of these doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will.

This first one I just found today. If you are one of those people who thinks that old gymnastics isn't fun to watch, this should change your mind.
GRRRR. Embedding disabled. Click HERE. You won't be sorry.

This one is an example of my favorite kind of choreography. I LOVE it.

And this one is... Just watch it :) Nina got the chance to perform it on live national television when she competed at the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup back in March.

Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

It's nice to know that some gymnasts can still dance... (Obviously not in reference to the first one, but the other two are both from this year. Now if only elite routines were that entertaining...)

Spirit of the Moon (my new project/an awesome e-zine!)

2010-03-20T21:17:00.000-04:00

To all of you wondering why I haven't posted in more than a month... I just haven't "felt" it. I've decided that from now on, I will make NO MORE promises about posts. I'll post when I have something to say AND have time to do it. I might post a recap of the Olympics/preview of figure skating worlds tomorrow, but I have a lot of work to do, so I might not.

The other reason why I haven't been posting, is because I've been working on an AWESOME new project!!! It's an e-zine by and for girls ages 9-14, and we just published the first issue yesterday!!! So head on over to spiritofthemoon.wordpress.com to check it out! Even if you're not a girl between the ages of 9-14, it's still pretty cool :) Feel free to forward the link to your friends, or post the link on your blog. I want to make a blog button, but I don't know how. Can anyone tell me how/make one for me?

Sorry for the long absence, but again, please remember that I will only be posting when I have time, which it seems is not often. I still love all of you!

If Everyone Cared - Nickelback

2010-02-12T12:12:00.000-05:00

Amazing song, amazing video, what else can I say? Makes you want to stop spending your life on the computer ;)

Or HERE.

One year...

2010-02-12T08:45:00.000-05:00

One year ago (exactly, check the time) I published my first post. Since then, my writing (on the blog, at least) has gone down hill drastically. Check out THIS post to see what I mean. Now, I'm still in love with blogger, and I think that my writing is getting better again :) Over the last few days I've made quite a few changes to the blog, and I will continue to improve the blog over the next year. You can help me do that by telling me what you like and don't like about the blog.

And now it's 8:44 AM so I had better publish if I want the time to work out :)

Impossible is nothing...

2010-02-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

"Using the internet, I am now in more than two places at the same time. I have just done the impossible!"

That's what popped up on the "motivational quotes" gadget on the sidebar, and I just had to share...

Swim - Oh No Ono

2010-02-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

Odd song, and even odder music video. But I am loving it :)

Or HERE.

Music + New Background!

2010-02-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

I added a playlist! Do you like it? More songs will be added all the time. If you have a suggestion, leave it in the comments!

I also changed the background. I think I'm going to get a custom background soon, but I'm still trying to decide exactly what I want. I also don't know how to make one, so I'll probably have to ask someone else to do it. If I can figure out how, I'll do it myself. Does anyone know how to get HTML code if I make something on PhotoShop? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Poll - What is your favorite inspirational color?

2010-02-10T11:10:00.001-05:00

What color inspires you? Which one makes you want to be as awesome as you can be?

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

PURPLE

PINK

BROWN

BLACK

WHITE

Any shade... for example, turquoise and navy would both be under blue. Cream would be under white. A purple so dark that it almost looked black could be considered black... or purple if that's how you think of the color.

If you like, tell everyone what shade you were thinking of and why you think it's inspirational to you!

I voted for red :) A nice, deep, bright red...

Random INSPIRATION

2010-02-09T21:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've changed the name of my blog. I think that the new name accurately reflects what the blog will now be like. I will basically post about whatever inspires me. Expect to see a very wide, seemingly random variety of topics :)
A new feature of the blog will be weekly polls. I'm brainstorming ideas tonight, and I'll put the first one up tomorrow. As always, if you have something that you would like me to post about, leave it in the comments section. If you don't want everyone to see it, choose an old post.
In the coming weeks, expect to see a lot of Olympic themed posts, as they start on Friday. Friday also turns out to be my blog's first birthday. I'll have to think of something exciting to celebrate :)

To start of the inspiration, here are two pieces of music played by an amazing pianist. Also, check out the motivational quotes on the sidebar.

Or HERE.

Or HERE.

How To Report The News

2010-01-31T20:16:00.000-05:00

SO funny!!!!!!!!!!!! And very true.

Or HERE.

I'm feeling inspired to...

2010-01-29T20:10:00.000-05:00

Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes! (From Ms. Frizzle)

http://www.societyforscience.org/Page.aspx?pid=497

http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/

Nastia Liukin - HEART OF COURAGE (lovelovelove this!)

2010-01-27T13:24:00.003-05:00

Best montage ever.

Or HERE.

Music is Heart of Courage by Two Steps From Hell.

Ladies Free Skate Live Blog!

2010-01-23T21:03:00.021-05:00

I'll be updating as it happens :) NBC will be showing the final 2 groups of skaters LIVE.

Fluff on Sasha:
"Ice is slippery"
"I want to be my best. I want to be a better skater at the Olympics."
"I'm nervous... at nationals, this is the one that counts."
"I want everything to be perfect."
"It would be so fulfilling to come back and go the Olympics for a third time..."
"...Everybody watching me... It makes me feel alive."

Caroline Zhang: 11th after short. Nice dress! Falls on first jump... Stumbles on 2nd jump, a triple lutz. Nice double axel. Pretty spins...she's not doing "The Pearl," I asume becuase of her back. Next jump combo nice, and next jump, and next combo! And next combo! That's including a lot of stuff that she fell on earlier.. Gorgeous spiral sequence! Last combo spin was amazing! Looks very disappointed :(

I'll use this commercial break to remind everyone that Mirai Nagasu is in first, Sasha Cohen in second, and Rachel Flatt in third. The three of them are separated by less than a point, and are essentially the only skaters with a realistic chance at making the Olympic team (the US can send only 2 ladies this year). They are the last three skaters tonight.

Caroline is currently in 1st.

Bebe Liang: First combo was beautiful! And next! She's very dynamic :) Stumble on next jump... Nice spin. EASY next jump. Another great jump. She looks excited! Spiral sequence... Singled a triple lutz. Still going strong, last combo was great. Final combo spin. She looks disappointed, but pretty happy. 1st place.

Allissa Czisny: 7th after short. Very nice dress. Fall on first jump. I like her music. Second jump was nice. I think she fell on the last jump but the tv got messed up... nice spin. 2 more jumps... combo? I am liking her skating way better than last year! Stumble on triple lutz. Fought for the next combo! Her spiral still annoys me. Next combo was nice, but she wont get credit because she had already done 3 combos. She is reminding me why I love her spins so much! She looks *mostly* pleased with her performance. Don't know what place?

Emily Hughes: 7th after short. They show her sister Sarah (2002 gold medal at the Olympics) First bunch of jumps were great... combo spin... falls on next jump. triple? lutz. falls again. footwork. She's going after this program! I think I like her music... combo spin.. triple toe... spiral sequence. ends with combo spin.
Sorry, my cat jumped on my keyboard and deleted what I typed at the beginning, which is why it now just says "first jumps were great." I don't remember what they were :)

Allissa's in 3rd.

Alexe Gilles: Cute music! She's smiling! Yey! Triple flip was nice. Jump combo right on. I love that she's having fun! Next jump good! Interesting combo spin. Spiral sequence. Another great jump! falls on triple flip. Hand down on next jump, but still makes it a combo! falls on next jump. But she's still performing! Combo spin to end. That was a fun program! She looks a disappointed.

Alexe's in 2nd. Final group is warming up.

Just realized that Emily's in 4th!

Mirai's looking good in warm up. Sasha looks nervous and isn't jumping much. Rachel looks good.

Amanda Dobbs: Sparkly dress! Great first jump! She does pairs and singles... wow! falls on triple flip. next jump was amazing. combo spin. jump combo. another spin. beautiful 3 jump combo! falls on next jump. next jump was great.. stumbles on double axel. messes up on something else... spin. She says "Not bad." :)

Amanda's in 1st.

Christina Gao: Triple toe triple toe combo! Great! 3 jump combo, great! Triple salchow double toe combo. Combo spin. I love her! Another great combo spin. Another great jump.. triple lutz! Spiral sequence. Great! Double axel.. barely hung on to the landing. Falls on triple flip. Cute footwork! Double axel, stumble. Combo spin. I really like her!

Ok, I think that Emily's not actually in 4th? (or that would be 5th by now) The results page on icenetwork is only giving rankings for the long think...

Christina's in 1st! Yea!

Ashley Wagner: 4th after short. OMG I really don't like her dress! I love her music! First combo was nice.. Triple loop was great! Combo spin is great! I am loving the music! And her spiral sequence! Great jump! The dress works with the program! Triple salchow, two footed. Triple loop double axel combo was great. Triple flip, hangs on to double axel. Last jump is great! She's such a better skater then I remembered! Great spin to end! She looks VERY happy with it :) She definitely has an outside shot a making the team!

Ashley looks so happy and nervous in the kiss and cry! 1st place by loads! She's so excited!

Sasha Cohen: Can she do it? Can she do it? Triple lutz double toe.. step out. Another combo... Triple loop.. 2 footed. Nice jump. Spiral sequence. Beautiful! Very pretty spin! Falls on next jump. Sad. Next jump was good. And next! combo spin. Footwork is great. Combo spin to end. Gorgeous! She looks pretty happy, though :)

Still looks happy in kiss and cry. 2nd place!!!???? She's not going to the Olympics... Ashley looks so excited and nervous!

Rachel Flatt: Double axel, very solid. Triple-triple, barely hangs on. triple lutz, nice. Combo spin. Very solid jump. triple lutz in combo. Spiral sequence. 3 jump combo! Last triple was great! She looks so excited! and happy!

Ashley still looks so nervous!

Rachel looks nervous in kiss and cry.. then she gets a huge score and is soooo excited! I have a feeling that she is going to the Olympics... Ashley's nervous!

Mirai Nagasu: Love her music. 3 jump combo to start!! she's got great choreo. great combo! another great jump. spin... another spin.. pretty! Nice spiral sequence! Great triple lutz. and 2 more great jumps! and another! triple toe loop! and now she's having even more fun :) footwork is fun... combo spin...really nice! THAT WAS AWESOME! She looks SO excited! And even more happy! Her coach looks so happy!

Ashley looks kind of sad and nervous :(

So who's going to win... Rachel or Mirai? I think Mirai... Rachel looks nervous. And Sasha's yawning?

Mirai's saying pleasepleasepleaseplease... and she's second! Rachel's first! Mirai looks happy! Ashley looks disappointed.

Rachel interview with Andrea Joyce. Pretty boring but she looks happy! As always!

That was awesome! So much better than last year! It probably won't be official until tomorrow, but I think that it's safe to say that Rachel and Mirai are going to the Olympics, and that Ashley will be first alternate.

Goodnight!

Ice Dance - Free Dance Live Blog

2010-01-23T16:33:00.019-05:00

Replay of original dances first.

Belbin and Agusto: Not sure what to think so far... they're having fun, and I think they've hit all their elements so far. Crazy choreo... is that normal for OD's? I haven't seen many.

Davis and White: I love her costume! Idian dance themed... very original choreo! THAT WAS AWESOME! They look so happy in the "truth booth!" Meryl is talking about stuff they can fix :) I love this team!

Samuelson and Bates: I don't know this team well. American folk theme. Cute choreo, but I've decided that everyone has cute choreo in OD's! Sorry I don't have much to say about them.. they do seem to be hitting their elements! They look excited when they finish :)

Going into the free dance, Davis and White are in first, and Belbin and Agosto are in second by less than 2 points. Samuelson and Bates are waaaayy down in third by more than 10 points. I didn't see the names of the 4th place team, but they're *pretty* close to Samuelson and Bates. 5th place is way behind them.

They just showed a cute fluff piece on Davis/White and Belbin/Agosto.

The final group is warming up... commercial break! ugh! Now we're back. They warm up is still going on.

Belbin/Agosto: Her costume is waaay over the top. But it is ice dance... Mucis is Ave Maria. Cool flip thingy on his arm :) His shirt has wings :) Is she singing to the music?? I don't think so... but she's definitely moving her mouth a lot. Very cool spin! Their skating is definitely dynamic... They look happy with it! Edit, very happy! 1st for now, 218.51 total score. Don't remember their free dance score. they look happy.

Navarro/Bomentre (they're the 4th place team): Music is by U2. WOW she was just upside down over the ice and he was skating with her across the rink! I actually like these costumes :) Spin looks good. I like them. I really like their choreo! Correction: LOVE their choreo! Sad cuz they probably wont make the Olympic team :( They looked pretty happy though! The comentators are showing where they'll get deducted and where they'll get points. 186.42. 2nd for now.

Chock/Zuerlein: Slower music then other teams... I don't know this team well either. They're skating really well! They have more elegant choreo than most of the teams. They looked like they had fun! 177.48. 3rd for now.

Davis/White: Bollywood inspired program. I've never seen it, so I'm excited! It's supposed to be awesome :) Music is Phantom of the Opera. Starting with a spin, looks good! Cool lift sequence. I love this music :) Great performance so far :) OMG they had better win!! They look happy and relieved. Their coaches are happy with it :) The commentators can't stop praising them during the replays :) 222.29! They'll win :)

Samuelson/Bates: If they don't mess up, they'll get 3rd and go to the Olympics. I like her dress! Pretty choreo at the beginning! They're doing great. I have a new fave team :) Yikes, she's flexible! Pretty spin :) They look happy! As they should be! The commentators liked it too. Their coach is crying :) 93.73 for the free, don't remember their total, but they're 3rd! I have a very strong feeling that they're going to the Olympics :)

Interview with Davis/White: Not much to say. They still look happy :)

Interview with Samuelson/Bates: Again, boring. Have I mentioned that I don't like Andrea Joyce? (She does the interviews for skating AND gymnastics)

Ladies Short Program, liveish Blog

2010-01-23T16:17:00.016-05:00

Not really live, since I'm writing this as it's *starting* to end, and it actually happened 2 days ago!

Ashley Wagner: Looks like she's ready to give a good fight! Nice combo.. falls on triple lutz. I like her choreo! very pretty spin. nice spiral... they just said triple axel!!! but i think it was a double? i'll see if i can tell on a replay... they didn't show it on the replay. 4th place. Looks happy! Sounds happy in "truth booth," said her goal was to go for everything, and she definitely did!

Emily Hughes, LIVE thoughts! looking good so far! First jump combo looked good. Doubled a triple lutz, next jump good, nice spiral sequence. Very determined! Pretty spin! LOL was that an imp face?! Looks exited during footwork.. Nice ending. Looks pleased and happy! A bit disappointed as she leaves the ice. looks semi pleased with her scores... 7th place. (8th after everyone went)

I'll keep updating below the dots with my thoughts on what they've already shown, and above if they show anyone else.

* * *

Allissa Csinzy: Don't know why, but I've never liked her skating. Tried to keep an open mind today, though :) I definitely see why she's considered an artistic skater. Her spins are great! I guess her spirals are nice, but I feel like her leg is way out to the side. She fell :( She looks so disappointed! Sad. She's smiling, but not a happy smile. I feel bad for her. Placed 7th.

Christina Gao: OMG she looks so young! She's 15, but will turn 16 soon so she's eligble for the Olympics. I love her spins! I don't love her choreo, but it's better than a lot of stuff we see these days. Her jumps are amazing, but she doesn't hold the landings as long as most of the older skaters... I bet she'll look way better in a few years, and if she can stay healthy, she should challenge for a spot in 2014. She looked so thrilled when she finished! 5th place.

Rachel Flatt: I didn't watch it on tv, but I did watch it yesterday online, so we'll see if I can remember :) She looked like she was having fun, and her jumps were solid. Spins were nice... spirals were nice... sorry I don't remember much! A bit hesitant until the jumps were done, then all out. She's in 3rd.

Sasha Cohen: I now know why I haven't enjoyed the ladies event much for the last few years. Need I say more? She looked great, and her spiral sequence was amazing! :) 2nd place.

Mirai Nagasu: She did great! This is how she skated in 2008 (she was national champ then), but better technique! She looked SO HAPPY at the end! 1st place! She looked THRILLED!

Caroline Zhang: She was great at the beginning, then fell on her second jump and it fell apart :(

They just showed a clip of Sasha Cohen practicing her long program yesterday, and it looked AMAZING except for a fall.

They're doing a preview of the ladies long... one of the commentators likes Sasha :)

I'll try to live blog the ladies free skate tonight. It starts at 9.

Future City Competition

2010-01-18T14:47:00.002-05:00

Well. I haven't exactly been posting recently. Sorry about that. The reason is that I have been preparing for Future City regionals for the past week, and haven't had time to do anything else. I would wake up, work for about 7-9 hours, go do whatever "extracurricular" stuff I had, then come home and work another 1-3.
So anyway, here's a little background on the competition. Each team consists of 3 7th or 8th graders, one teacher, and one engineer mentor. The challenge is to design a city that is at least 150 years in the future, and it has a different theme each year. This year it was "Affordable green housing for those who have lost their homes due to natural disaster or financial emergency." The teams have to design a city on SimCity 4 (100 points), write a research essay on the years theme (70 points), write a narrative describing the city as a whole (20 points), make a scale model of part of the city (120 points), and give an oral presentation (90 points). What is really annoying, is that the simulation has almost nothing to do with the rest of the challenge, yet it is still worth a quarter of the points.
My team was me, Wren (I worked with her on straw bridge last year), and another homeschooler named Harrison. My mom was the teacher, and our engineer mentor was Steve. We named our city Perfectus Amicus Oppidum, which means Perfect Friendly City. I don't remember when we started, but I think it must have been in October. Some of the first things we did were play around with SimCity to get the hang of it, and brainstorm ideas for the city, mostly for the green housing. We settled on a high rise with the floors getting smaller as you go up. We also started researching futuristic technologies.
We figured out pretty quickly that Harrison was way better with SimCity than either me or Wren, so he started to take the lead on that. Wren took the lead on designing the layout of the neighborhood for the model, and writing the narrative. I wrote the essay and did most of the final research and made final decisions about the high rise. As we got closer to the week that the simulation, narrative, and essay were due, I think we all started to wonder if it would get done in time. Steve gave us tips on how to make more money in SimCity, but Harrison felt that many of them would destroy key features of the city. Wren had a good layout on graph paper, but was having trouble getting words on paper (or the computer, for that matter), and was hovering just below 300 words (the narrative needed to be 300-500 words). I was also having a bit of writers block on the essay (700-1000 words), and even once I started writing, I was having trouble writing what needed to be in it. It didn't help me that all three were due the same week as my high school application, and I was more than a little stressed! In the end, we submitted a less-then-perfect simulation. I pretty much took over writing the narrative about 48 hours before it was due, and Wren and I had some fun creating the city's history and school system. I think the narrative we submitted was the absolute best we could do, and probably one of the most memorable for the judges (I mean, where else are you going to find an annual cabbage festival? You can download the PDF's of the narrative and essay at the bottom of this post). The essay could have been much better if I had another week to figure out what they wanted to see, instead of just writing what I though of.
Pretty much right after that, we had to stop for Christmas. I had though that we would only have about 1 or 2 weeks off, but it turned out we didn't meet for almost a month. When we finally did, we started working on the model. Steve told us to use a 50 scale (50 feet equals 1 inch), so we figured out how much we could put on the model, which couldn't be bigger than 25" by 50". We used Wren's layout as a base for starting. Harrison had to go to Florida, so Wren and I made most of the final decisions for the model. We needed at least one moving part, two for full points. We designed three for safety. We had a windmill, a geothermal gizer, and growing cabbages. The geothermal was next to the extinct volcano at the edge of the model. The windmill was originally going to be on top of the mountain, powered by a handheld fan under the mountain, but with 3 days to go we decided to just put the fan on the model as the windmill. It went on the opposite corner, and as an explanation for why the base was so big, we said that the power being generated was stored in a liquid battery in the windmill. Not all of the windmills had them, but we didn't have room to put the rest of the windmill farm on the model.
We were not allowed to spend more than $100 on the model and oral report combined. Thankfully, they didn't count the cost of materials that never made it onto the model :) Because of this, most of the buildings on the model were made from cardboard that would have otherwise been thrown in the recycling bin. The buildings were rather messy until we figured out some techniques, and even once we did they weren't perfect. We ended up making some of the smaller buildings out of foam core, even though it cost way more than cardboard. We though it would be easier to work with, but since we were using 1/2" foam core we were definitely wrong! We did figure it out eventually, but only after getting advice from about 3 different people :) Most of the paint used in the model was house paint that we bought about six years ago, and it was pretty obvious! The paint was so lumpy that we gave it a $0 value in our price sheet. We also used acrylic craft paint that was just as old a lumpy. We bought gesso (kind of like primer, but more waterproof) to use as a base on the cardboard buildings. We also ended up using it to mix lighter colors of paint. We couldn't find any black paint, the only black we found turned everything purple! We used black ink to mix the darker colors, but because of this the model turned out slightly more pastel themed than originally intended.
Wren and I were told to write Harrison's part of the oral report and send it to him to memorize, so we did. We also chose the topic for him :) He talked about the layout of the city, Wren talked about the history and school system (Read the narrative. You won't be sorry), and I talked about the details of the high rise. Thursday, two days before the competition, was the first time we saw Harrison since the week before. We worked some on the model, and also tried the oral report, which we had to have completely memorized. Harrison had the whole thing memorized, but it was shaky. Wren had barely started memorizing, but it was pretty good for where she was at. I hadn't started at all. It was better than what I thought it would be, but that doesn't mean much :) We were going overtime, so my mom cut down the words for us.
On Friday, Wren had to leave early, and Harrison had to come late. We ended up having only about 10 minutes together. We practiced the oral report with a flip chart for the first time. It wasn't great, but we got through it. After Harrison left, I kept working on the model, finishing things that hadn't been done when Wren and Harrison were there. I don't remember what time I went to bed, but it was probably about 2 hours before I got to sleep. I also woke up early, and was to nervous to get back to sleep. When we got to the competition at about 8:15, Harrison was already there, and Wren was just arriving. We got our awesome t-shirts, which were designed to look like tourist t-shirts from the cabbage festival. Only 10 teams were competing, even though more than 25 registered. They announced that the Maryland region was still sending a team to nationals, since we had enough teams register. We started the day as the first team to go through best engineering judging, although we thought at the time that it was model judging (model judging is more important, since it gets counted toward your final score. Engineering, transportation, and disaster readiness were special awards that were judged separately). It went well, and the judges seemed reasonably impressed. As the day went on, we had many sets of judges come by our table, and we did pretty well. We found out that Harrison is extremely good at making things up on the spot, and that helped us a lot. He was able to make up a whole water system, and it even sounded feasible! We ended up using that one at least 3 times through the day. When the disaster readiness judges came, he made up about 5 technologies on the spot. I don't remember most of it, and I doubt he does either, but it sounded pretty good at the time! The oral report could have been better, but I think we did pretty well. We all actually remembered what we were supposed to say, and I think the props worked. I was most nervous for the questions, but it turned out they were all pretty easy. The judges were just reading the questions from a book, which annoyed me. Boring questions get boring answers. When we finished the oral report, we had transportation judging. Again, Harrison came to the rescue and made up a whole system. Afterwards, we though we were done with all of the judging, and relaxed. About 45 minutes later, more judges appeared at our table. They were judging the model, which meant that their score would be counted in out final score. We weren't prepared for more judges, and didn't do our best job. After they left, I started to get increasingly more nervous until the awards ceremony. There were 9 special awards, as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, so we were fairly certain we would win something. We ended up winning disaster readiness, which surprised all of us. Harrison kept that award, of course :) We also won 2nd place overall. If we had been 1st, we would have gone to nationals, and I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or relived that we didn't! Because we won disaster readiness, we are invited to the Engineers Club for dinner. It's a gorgeous building, I've been there once before. We're going in February, for education night. The Superintendent of the Maryland Public schools will be speaking, as well as other education-type people. I find this hilarious, since our entire team is homeschooled :) It should be a lot of fun!

Here are some pictures of the model. The oddly shaped building near the center is one of the high rises where those who would otherwise be homeless are housed.

Ok, I can't seem to figure out how to make link to download PDF's right now. I'll try to get that sorted out in the next day or two. In the meantime, look forward to a review of the men's and pair's events at the US figure skating nationals, which double as Olympic trials this year. It should be up by the middle of tomorrow at the latest. I will also be post a picture of the t-shirts that we wore to the competition later today.

The United States of Pop, 2009 version

2010-01-04T16:08:00.001-05:00

AWESOME mix! (Thanks Rachel!)

Lyrics:
I know you want pop
You want dance
You want rock & roll
You want it, boom boom
This years remix, got some phonics

Oh, I got pop
I got dance
I got rockin electronic
Raw, Beats!
I got hip hop music
With the future flow

So dont worry, even if the sky is falling down
Down, Down
Gonna be okay, when it knocks you down, down, down
So baby dont worry, its alright, a-alright
When it knocks you down
When you go down, when you go down, down
No need to worry, just get back up
When you are tumbling down, down, down

Its like Ive been awakened
(Every step Im taking)
Every rule I had you breaking
(Every move Im making)
The risk that Im taking
(The chances Im taking)
With a big smile on my face, and it never feels out of place

Blame it on the, pop
Blame it on the, dance
Blame it on the, rock and roll
Blame it on the, rumba
So in sync, with some phonics

I like that, pop
I like that, bass
I like them rockin, electronics
Raw, beats!
Blame it on the, hip hop music
With the future flow

Baby dont worry, its alright, a-alright
When it knocks you down
Somewhere far along this road
Stressed out I wanna let it go
I feel, down, down, down

Oh, Ive been travelling on this road too long (too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (back home)
The old me is dead and gone, dead and gone

I got a feeling, I found god.

Blame it on the, pop
Blame it on the, dance
Blame it on the, rock and roll
Blame it on the feeling, of the music deep in side your soul.

We got the, pop
We got the, dance
We got the, rockin electronics
Raw, beats!
We got the, hip hop music with the future flow.

People in the place
Put your, put your hands in the air
Now put your hands up, oh oh oh, oh oh oh!
Forever united here,
Blame it on the p-p-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face

So live your life, (Hey!)
Lets live it up, (Ho!)
If you wanna get down, (Hey!)
Down, down (Ho!)
Hey! Ma ma ma ma, Ho!
I wanna get down, down, down.

So baby dont worry, its alright, a-alright
When it knocks you down
When you go down, when you go down, down
No need to worry, just get back up
When you are tumbling down, down, down

Blame it on the, pop
Blame it on the, dance
Blame it on the, boom, boom, boom
Gotta get get, rumba
Blame it on the, 808
With the boom, boom, boom

Gotta get get, pop
Gotta get get, dance
Gotta get get, boom, boom, pow
I gotta get, I gotta get
This years remix with the future sound.

I got a feeling, and I never really had a doubt
That tonights gonna be a good night
That tonights gonna be a good night
And I say the same thing every single time
You know that I could use somebody

Open up your plans and then youre free
Look into your heart and youll find, love, love, love
Down, down, down
Cant you see, love, love, love
Isnt this easy, feeling love, love, love

Down, down, down
Its like Ive been awakened
Cant you see
Every step Im taking
Dont be afraid
The risk that Im taking (cant you see)
Ive had a little bit too much
Feeling, down, down, down
Cant you see (every move Im making)
Every rule I had you breaking (isnt this easy)
Feeling, love, love, love
Well make it out of this mess (change your mind)
Baby just say, yes
(Da,da,da,da,da,da)

I'm so 2010...

2010-01-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I always thought that the lyrics were "I'm so 2008, you're so 2000 and late..." but apparently it's 3008, which I didn't realize until I was finding a video for this post.
So ANYWAY, I was going to say that it's now 2010, and 2008 is a "long" time ago, so the lyrics don't make sense anymore. My brilliant idea was to change them to "I'm so 2010, you're so 2000 and then..."
Actually, I'm going to suggest that change anyway :) The only problem being that in a few years, it won't make sense anymore... Oh well!

I have a dream

2009-12-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

I love this song...

blah

2009-12-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

So tonight I am icing my ankle, because I hurt it at gymnastics, writing 2 essays, because they are due tomorrow, and trying to send my awesome roommate the pics from the last night at camp... and this time they might actually send! (UPDATE -- they did send!)

Umm... Wow!

2009-12-14T17:38:00.005-05:00

*Eyes pop out*

How many times do you think she fell on her head while learning to do that?

Once Upon A December!

2009-12-08T14:28:00.001-05:00

I love this song :)

The Russian version is better.

Inspirational Speech From a 12-year-old

2009-12-06T20:29:00.002-05:00

A Few More

2009-12-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

Just a few more pieces that I found. The Typewriter Song is still the best, though :)

The Typewriter Song!

2009-12-05T19:06:00.000-05:00

A bit of awesomeness that I found today...

ooops...

2009-12-05T12:52:00.000-05:00

Hi, sorry that I haven't been posting recently... I won't say that I haven't had time cuz I'd be lying, even though I have been really busy. Since my last post, Donny has won dwts (ugh), and the Grand Prix Final has happened. The US won ice dance and mens!
Right now it's snowing outside (!!!), and because of that my concert today was cancelled :( (we were going to sing outside). We've still got the "big" concert next week, and we might be performing at Camden Yards the week after!!! *please please please* And if we do, we'll get a bunch of money for it, which we NEED cuz the choir's barely surviving :(
Right now I'm sitting here on my mom's computer listening to loud music (don't you luv it when no one's home???) and getting mad cuz whenever I try to download something it doesn't work (wmv IS a movie file, right?).
That's all for now... more posts later, promise!

DWTS

2009-11-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, the finals of dwts are tonight... actually I guess they've started already :) Anyway, I'm really mad that Joanna and Derek were voted off last week, because Derek would have choreographed an awesome freestyle! Plus Joanna (and Derek) is just awesome. The ONLY reason they're gone is because Kelly and Donny got pity votes... I was going to do a "Why To Love Joanna" post this week, but I guess now I'll just do them with the finalists.
So now the finals will be pretty boring... Mya's freestyle will be amazing, IF Dmitry doesn't mess up the choreography. Donny's will be entertaining, but the technique won't be great. Kelly's will be boring. But Donny and Kelly (and Dmitry) could still surprise me and be awesome.
I can't wait to see all the stars that got voted off at the results show :) Does anyone know if ALL the stars are coming back, or just some of them? Because if it's all, that's a LOT of stars, and some of them can't dance all that well (and that's putting it mildly...)
That's all for now... This is completely random, but I have a Christmas carol that we're singing in choir running through my head non-stop right now. It's a really annoying song, too. Oh, and I'm shadowing at City College tomorrow (It's a high school, if you didn't know that). And one last thing... Is anyone reading this doing NaNoWriMo? Leave a comment if you are... OK, bye!

Gymnastics Worth Watching 1 - Men's Rhythmics?

2009-11-13T16:57:00.001-05:00

When you think of rhythmic gymnastics, you don't usually think of men... but these Japanese men are amazing. The dance, the elements, the synchronization, everything.

Can it even be considered rhythmics, though? There's no apparatus, and there seem to be a few elements taken from acrobatics, as well as some difficult tumbling.
Whatever it is, it's still amazing!

A Few Reasons To Love Aaron Carter

2009-11-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well, Aaron Cater got voted off dwts, just as I predicted (along with the rest of the world). Here are a few of my fave dances...

Week 2, quickstep (must watch)

Week 6, waltz

Week 8, foxtrot (not so sure about what Karina's wearing, though!)

Just Because...

2009-11-11T10:19:00.002-05:00

40 years of Sesame Street...

2009-11-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Sasha's out...

2009-11-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Sasha Cohen withdrew from Skate America (because of the same injury as before), and Emily Hughes will take her place. This means that nationals (the qualifying event for the Olympics) will be her first competition since worlds in 2006.
Just wondering - does this mean that Emily will be automatically qualified for nationals?

DWTS final 5

2009-11-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

Out of my original final 5, Natalie and Mark got voted off, but everyone else is still here... I'm MAD that they're gone. Especially Mark, because that was NOT FAIR!

So, having not watched this weeks dances, but having read a review, here is my prediction for where the final 5 will place.

5. Aaron and Karina
4. Kelly and Louis
3. Donny and Kym
2. Mya and Dmitry
1. Joanna and Derek

Places 3, 2, and 1 are temporary predictions, but I wanted to get something out there.

Oh, and congrats to Mya for getting the first perfect 30 of the season!

Tired

2009-10-24T20:18:00.000-04:00

I'm tired. Life is good. Angora Nachos are good. Spaz!

Nastia + Twilight?

2009-10-11T18:08:00.001-04:00

I am completely obsessed with this video! It's amazing! Just watch it!

(sad) skating news

2009-10-11T14:54:00.002-04:00

Well, Kimmie Meissner has withdrawn from her Grand Prix events because of an knee injury, which means that her whole season is already over. She had a bye to nationals because the qualifying events are the same time as her grand prix events, but now that she withdrew she would have to qualify. The Baltimore Sun had a longer article on it then I've seen from them in a while... Not that I read that paper much :-)

Kimmie 2006 Worlds WINNING LP

Sasha Cohen also withdrew from her first grand prix, but is planning to compete in her second, Skate America. This means that she can't qualify to the the grand prix final, which gives her a total of one major competition before nationals...

B-day, future city, gym, Olympics, etc...

2009-10-06T10:03:00.003-04:00

I turn 14 today! *does happy dance* *spazzes* yep :)...

Rio got the Olympics. Chicago was out in the first round of voting. It's the first time South America is hosting the Olympics, so I think they'll try pretty hard and make it awesome :)

The US teams for the gymnastics world championships (in just about a week!) have been named. Ok actually the mens team was named a while ago but the womens team was just named on Saturday! The team is Bridget Sloan, Becca Bross, Kayla Williams, and Ivana Hong. Chellsie Memmel withdrew, which means a medal on bars is pretty much not happening... I'll be surprised if any of the girls are even in finals. But Bridget and Becca could both medal in the all around, Ivana might be able to medal on beam, and Bridget and Kayla could both qualify for floor. AND Kayla is planning to compete an Amanar and laid out Rudi at worlds, which she could definitely win vault with! So yeah :)

I'm competing in the future city competition this year! The team is me, Wren (yea, Wren!), and a boy I haven't met yet but I'm very excited to get the whole team together and start working! This is definitely going to be harder then straw bridge, but I'm up for it!

DWTS started a while ago... I'll post my top 5 later but I just have to say, Mya is amazing!

I'm going to post a short story soon, probably sometime this week.

I'm also going to post some vids soon...

Yeah :)

COMMENT!!!!!!!!!

'kay thanks.

Skating Worth Watching 1 - Johnny Weir 2004 Nationals LP

2009-09-18T15:49:00.001-04:00

gym update

2009-09-16T13:43:00.002-04:00

Well, Sam Peszek has officially withdrawn from the worlds selection process. My new prediction/dream team (yes they are the same thing lol) is:

Becca Bross

Bridget Sloan

Chellsie Memmel

Kayla Williams

Alternates:

Jana Beiger

Ivana Hong

Kytra Hunter

If Chellsie's not ready, then Jana will probably be put on the team, and either Cassie Whitcomb or Mackenzie Caquatto will be alternate. Or they could just have 2 alternates, but I don't really think that's going to happen...

Nationals... was a long time ago.

2009-09-07T13:37:00.002-04:00

But I can still write about it.

Bridget Sloan won with a 117.550, Ivana Hong was 2nd with a 117.250, and Rebecca Bross was 3rd with a 116.600. If you erased the falls (which are now a full point deduction), then Becca would have won by 0.05. You can watch the entire senior women's meet HERE. Day one has no sound.

OMG Becca is FAST on beam and bars! And the first two tumbling passes...wow.

Sam's beam was AWESOME. Her floor music annoys me a little, but i like the routine. Great tumbling as well.

Ivana's gymnastics is nice... she and Nastia have almost the exact same skills in their beam routine :)

Kayla Williams has some awesome tumbling! She won level 10 nationals a few months ago, and now she might be going to worlds :)

There's also a level 10 national champion on the junior side... Lizzy Leduc! She fell on day one and didn't make the national team, but here's her floor routine :) Right after nationals she switched to WOGA! WOGA's been getting a lot of new gymnasts these days... you can read about it HERE.

Another junior, McKayla Maroney, competed an Amanar! As far as I know, only 4 gymnasts competed that vault in Beijing.

Kyla Ross was the junior national champion.

Their were so many gymnasts injured that only 3 events were competed at a time in the senior women's competition. Inside Gymnastics even made a disabled list a few days before the competition.

Chelsea Davis hurt her back.

Mattie Larson sprained both ankles.

Sam Shapiro needed ankle surgery.

Corrie Lothrop tore her Achilles.

Olivia Courtney broke her ankle.

Jordyn Weiber sprained her hamstring.

Kamerin Moore had a torn Labrum.

Sam Peszek also has a torn Labrum, which she plans to get surgery on after worlds. In the meantime, she's still competing everything but bars.

So who's going to worlds? Only four on the team this year, since there's no team competition.

Nastia isn't going.

My guess is that Bridget and Becca will be the all-arounders. If Sam Peszek went, she could compete floor, beam, and i think she has a second vault. Then maybe Sam Shapiro could go as the bars specialist. That's my dream team :)

Or Kayla could go as a floor and vault specialist. With maybe Sam Shapiro on beam and bars?

The first world selection camp is coming up soon. The second one will be later this month, and they will name the team then.

I love this video... :)

New Layout

2009-08-22T11:26:00.001-04:00

Is temporary. If you know where to find cute templates (Probably abstract, but anything goes) leave a comment!

cool skating

2009-08-22T11:08:00.003-04:00

I LOVE this girls music! I'm blanking on what the first song is, but the second one is the can-can :)

And OMG you can't even tell when she's about to do a jump!

lolcats and fail blog

2009-08-05T15:54:00.005-04:00

Watch or die!

Shh Shh Shh... You Talk To Much

2009-08-02T20:09:00.004-04:00

I'm not expecting anyone except for Amaris to get the title...

Anyway, this post is about MARS!!!!!

For those of you who don't know what MARS is, it's Mathematics And Related Sciences camp, and it is AWESOME!!!!

It was 2 weeks long.

I was in the middle school session.

I miss Swetha (my roommate)

I miss Rachel and Selena (my spazziest friends ever)

I miss Amaris (my awesome friend in class)

I miss Danni (my councilor)

I miss dead fish and mazes (LOL Tushar, who will probably never see this but Amaris will)

I miss - wait a moment, I don't miss this one. What is chicken? LOL Geoffardy.

I miss solving the P.O.D.

I miss having major spaz moments.

I miss E-primes. (Not that I can't work on that by myself. Actually, I think I'll prove my major geekiness and do a post explaining them sometime this month. Maybe I'll also post about bizzare number systems. Not that I even took the elective...)

Sooo.... you're probably wondering what's with chicken, what Geoffardy is, what's the P.O.D., and what E-primes and bizzare number systems are. Maybe you're also wondering what' that stuff about dead fish and mazes are about. I'm not saying anything except that we didn't have any real dead fish. As for E-primes and bizzare number systems, wait and see. P.O.D. = problem of the day. And then there's Geoffardy...

Geoffardy was this act that the teachers did for the talent show. There's two Geoff's (pronounced Jeff) at the camp, Geoff Akinston (teaches Math and Art) and Geoff Birky (Everyone calls him Birky, and he teaches Math Mind (my class!) ) So anyway, they did a hilarious take-off on Jeopardy, with the 2 Geoff's competing against each other (score: 0 to 0).

Some sample questions and answers:

Q:A good way to get some sleep in the evening. A:What is go to evening program?

Q:The average MARS camper does this twice each session. A: What is take a shower?

Q:This is often served fried at lunch. A:What is chicken?

Q: This is often served fried at dinner. A:What is chicken?

Q: This is often served fried at breakfast. A:What is chicken?

Q:This is wet and green and served with chicken. A:What is chicken?

Q:This is the most popular ice cream flavor at MARS camp: A:What is chicken?

LOL

The teachers also did "The Jackson Twelve" for the talent show. Also Hilarious.

Me and Selena did an act where we walked up on stage, sat down, stayed there for 30 seconds, and walked off. All without laughing or smiling. Except I messed up really bad, which was annoying because I could always beat Selena when we practiced.

I also sang "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.

THE SECOND WEDNESDAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the morning, in class, we did this really confusing stuff that I love about infinity and the number of numbers... it broke my brain but I loved it! Then at afternoon announcements I won math award! And I didn't think I was going to win it because Amaris had already won it the week before so I thought it was going to be a boy from our class. Then we had elective, and I was in newsletter both weeks, and I LOVE newsletter! Then in afternoon class we did RSA encryption (maybe I'll do a post about that too, because it's just so cool!) And then that night was talent show, which is always AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, best day ever :) I have to go now... I'll continue this post later.

So...

2009-07-17T18:17:00.002-04:00

Well...I'm horrible at updating. As if we didn't know that :) Anyway, I'm going to MARS with 2 of my bffl's on Sunday, access I wont have internet while I'm there :( I'll be gone for 2 weeks, but after that I'll really try to update a little more often. So I can't think of anything interesting to post right now that won't take a really long time to write, so I'll end this post now :)

Sarah Palin Resigns

2009-07-05T18:25:00.002-04:00

Was anyone expecting this?

Here's the announcement. If you can make sense of what she's saying, well, that's a LOT more than I could do.

Here's a condensed version...

All I can say is WOW.

Michael Jackson (plus some gym and skating)

2009-07-04T12:04:00.004-04:00

Interesting idea for a montage... but it turned out amazing. But are they saying that it's the coaches or the public that doesn't care if they don't do well? Whatever it is, amazing montage, plus it's Michael Jackson.

And check out this hilarious floor routine to thriller.

Love this one.

The cover-up at the end of this one is cool.

Thriller music vid!

Watch HERE.

Cha-cha-cha to PYT

Michael Jackson's best dance moves.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T11:28:00.005-04:00

Most blogs have 1 vid or 1 pic for the 4th... This one has 5 of each, so take your pick! Normal stuff at the top, funny at the bottom.

The sing-a-long:

The monument:

Jordin Sparks:

Crazy fireworks:

Amazing anthem:

More crazy fireworks:

Muppets:

Crocs:

Floor routine: (she's from Romania...weird music choice!)

lol:

Diversity wins!

2009-06-03T11:43:00.004-04:00

Apparently I chose well for the first talent video, because they won BGT! I already linked to their audition, but I'll link to it again HERE. I don't like their semi-final as much, but you can watch it HERE.

And here is their final! Absolutely amazing...

Gym meet!

2009-06-03T11:41:00.002-04:00

It was great! I was competing advanced, which is the highest level, and is also the only level where we get to choreograph our own routines. Cat (yes, that is how you spell it!), who is in both of my classes, was also competing advanced. Catherine and Rebecca (not my sister, and different Rebecca) were also advanced. Catherine comes on Thursday as well, but we're in different groups. I've never been in the same class with Rebecca, but I've known her for about a year. The only girl I didn't know was Jessica, who is with Catherine and Rebecca on Saturdays. Most of the girls are trying out for team this Saturday. I know Jessica and Catherine are, and I think Rebecca is. Cat, are you? (leave a comment, Cat!) Ms. Heidi was our coach. First we went to tramp. I don't remember how everyone did on tramp, but I messed up and still got a 6.00! (the highest score you can get is a 6!) My routine was definitely not perfect, but I got bonus because I had 2 "upside down" skills. Jessica fell on her dismount, but still got 5.95! And then they changed her score to a 6 after everyone had gone! Our scores were proof that the judging is horrible, but who cares...

Cat volunteered to go first on beam (you're crazy!), and she did the routine I choreographed for her! *does happy dance* She scared me on her candlestick, because she was so close to the end of the beam I thought she was going to fall! Then I went. It was good(ish) but it could definitely have been better. I was the only person to get a spot on my cartwheel, but I was also the only person who never fell. I made my forward roll! You'd think that if you can do one on the ground it can't be that much harder on the beam, but not the case! It is so easy to fall on those! btw, we all used the beam with the squishy mat under it :)

Our next rotation was vault and bars. We had some epic fails...

Cat went first on vault, and, um, it was, um, interesting? um. Her first vault (handspring) she didn't really get enough power, and she couldn't get over. Ms. Hiedi was just trying to keep her from falling while Cat was trying to get over... I don't remember how this vault ended, but it was funny! (sorry, Cat) For her second vault she did a handspring instead of the half-on, and this time it worked. Then Rebecca went. I think what happened was she tripped right before she reached the springboard, and then she did a bellyflop over the vault. Luckily, they didn't count it. At least Ms. Hiedi didn't, I don't know about the judges! Then she did her handspring and half-on, and this time it worked! I don't remember who went next, but we'll pretend Catherine did. She did 2 good handsprings. Then Jessica did a handspring and a half-on. They were great! I was last, and I did 2 handsprings. On the first one I took a huge step, then almost sat it down, and then took another step. The second was a bit better. I watched the video, and omg I need to work on form! Then bars. I think Cat went first again? It was pretty good. I was second, and it was fine until my back hip-circle! I went around with a bit to much power, and end hanging from the bar is some sort of weird position. Time for pullover #2! Then I went to the high bar, and did some stuff up there. And I stuck the landing! Lets just say Jessica went next. She was great, but did the exact same thing in her back hip! Except that her arms were straight when she "fell" and mine weren't, so she had a harder time getting back up! Catherine did great! She did a kip (!) with a spot of course. If it was without, that would be amazing! Rebecca accidently went around twice in her stride circle.

I told you we had some epic fails!

Then floor! Cat was good! I did pretty well! I got a spot on my kickover (urgh!). I did it the week before at open gym, but then I couldn't do it on Tuesday. :( then I went to close to the edge of the floor near the end. But it turned out ok. Rebecca was good. The number of walkovers in that routine was scary! Catherine was impressive! She had forgot her routine paper at home, and she didn't know her routines. She got through the other events, but she was totally improvising on floor! It was actually pretty good! She forgot some of the requirements, but it was still impressive! Jessica's floor was amazing!!! Ms. Nikki choreographed it, and it was the only routine with real dance choreography! (that would be the one thing in choreography that I have a hard time with) Not only was it the best choreographed routine, but she also had the hardest skills! Her back tumbling pass was a roundoff back-handspring! The only other person to do a back-handspring was Catherine, and she got a spot. The routine got a 6, which definitely did not surprise me!

So then awards. We were last. Of course. :) Tramp, me and Jessica tied for 1st with our "perfect" scores. Rebecca won beam. She was really surprised! I was 2nd. Vault I also got 2nd on. Jessica won. (unsurprisingly, since she was the only one who didn't mess up and did the half-on)

I don't remember who won bars (either Cat or Catherine, I think) but I got 4th, which surprised me because I thought I would be last! Floor Jessica won (obviously), and me and Cat tied for last. :) Good job Catherine!

I didn't actually see any of Rebecca's (now we're talking about my sister) routines at the meet, but I watched the video, and here's how she did. btw, she was competing novice. Vault: Pretty good! She messed up a bit on her second vault, but it was ok. Bars: A few mess-ups, but good! Floor: I don't know why, but she had to start the routine 3 times! Wrong music? Once she started, it was great. Tramp: Some mess-ups, but as always, an amazing straddle jump! Beam: Was great! Sorry, I don't know any scores or placements. (Rebecca, leave a comment!)

So for me, this is how it turned out.

Tramp: "perfect" 6! 1st place

Beam: I think a 5.75. I had this written down somewhere, if I ever find it I'll update. 2nd place.

Vault: Either 5.1 or 5.2. 2nd place.

Bars: 4.75 (I think. It was in the higher part of the 4's) 4th place.

Floor: Somewhere between 5.1 and 5.75. Yes, I know that that's a huge range! 4th place.

I can't wait for the next one!

UPDATE: Bars might have been a 4.8 not 4.75. And beam was 5.75.

UPDATE 2: I watched the awards, and Catherine got 2nd on floor! For an improvised routine thats really good! If anyone actually wants me to post the full results (no scores, just placements) just comment on this and I will.

Sorry!

2009-06-02T20:49:00.002-04:00

My goal is to post every day... that obviously didn't happen this weekend. It's not that I don't have ideas - I have plenty - I just never got around to it.

The spring gym meet was on Saturday. I will be posting that soon, probably tomorrow. No vids, sorry. If anyone wants to watch it, either come over to my house, or I can email it to you. (it's an imovie)

After the meet we went to the youth dreamers open house. I will be posting about the youth dreamers sometime in the next week.

Sunday was the last day of hebrew school. Yey! Oh, and we had graduation on Thursday, which was actually kind of fun. Maybe I'll post about that to!

Then we had our last D&D session until August. It was a wrap-up from our first adventure, but we're already heading into our 2nd!

In the next week or 2, I'll be having a few polls (or I might do it in the comments section, I'm not sure yet) about what you like on this blog, what you don't like, what you want, etc. I'm also going to write a post about why I love comments, which will hopefully be up by Friday. It should be amusing, and please read it because I'm actually going to be saying something. (instead of just laughing)

So, until then, I'll leave you with this awesome video! I absolutely LOVE riverdance!

Week 7

2009-05-28T17:20:00.003-04:00

Don't forget the men! Seriously...there's some cool stuff in this vid! Click mute if you can't stand the music (mom).

The music that starts at about 1:45 is pirates of the caribbean, which is my floor music for the meet on saturday!

See-ya-hum-bug...

2009-05-28T17:06:00.006-04:00

See-ya-hum-bug-koo-koo-ninny-queen-kos-see-ya-hum-bug-koo-koo-ninny-queen-kos

That's not how you do it, Rebecca!

Try this.

Awesome!

Permission to fly

2009-05-27T10:38:00.012-04:00

"Permission to fly
Nothing it can measure
Inspiration is forever
I dont need no ones permission to fly"

I LOVE THIS SONG!

Freeze in Grand Central - AWESOME!

2009-05-26T15:33:00.001-04:00

I wish I was there!

There's a thing called TALENT... (1)

2009-05-25T11:00:00.002-04:00

This is awesome! BGT (Britian's got talent) is awesome! Diversity rock on!

Embedding disabled, so click HERE.

gym week 6 - china

2009-05-23T17:33:00.005-04:00

Well. I'm a bit late this week. To bad...

This week is a montage of Chinese gymnastics by Nade00. I chose it because I think it really shows how beautiful gymnastics can be. Plus I love the song :) Ok, don't ask me why, but I just tried pasting into this post, and it worked, so I guess I'll embed it. Enjoy!

And the winer of dwts is...

2009-05-20T13:29:00.003-04:00

Shawn Johnson!

Yea!

I'm on my dads computer so that i can paste. So, here is her perfect 30 freestyle!

You can see the paso doble HERE. Watch the judges advising the stars HERE.

And here are the results!

happy happy happy! happy spaz happy happy!

oh and i'm annoyed that gilles was ahead of mellissa. cuz mellissa rocked!

Let the countdown begin...

2009-05-18T16:10:00.003-04:00

The school year is almost over, and summer is coming up fast...

2 weeks until end of hebrew school + gymnastics

3 weeks until the end of school (yes, I know I'm homeschooled, and yes, I know I'm probably going to do stuff over the summer, but WHATEVER! 3 weeks left of school)

4 weeks until we leave for Maine.

5 weeks until MICA starts

8 weeks until GS camp with Rachel and Selena!

10 weeks until MARS... with Rachel (and her friend Rachel) and Selena and loads of other awesome friends!

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Last concert...

2009-05-18T16:03:00.007-04:00

The last concert of the season was yesterday. It was actually really good. And fun :) There's still the cabaret left, but I'm not performing because it's the same night as the gym meet. It's been a long season, with 4 concerts. We've been working since January. And now it's over. And I'm sad. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( in the very unlikely chance that anyone from choir ever sees this, I MISS YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lizzy Leduc!

2009-05-18T15:27:00.002-04:00

You might remember that the week 4 gymnastics vid was a floor routine by Lizzy Leduc. Well, that was from about 2 years ago when she was level 8, and just last weekend she won level 10 nationals for her age group! Congrats, Lizzy! (lol, even though she'll never see this) Oh, and this means that she made the JO national team!

Skating news

2009-05-18T15:04:00.003-04:00

Most of this is old news, but I'm guessing most of you don't know yet (probably meaning you don't care, but I need to dump my useless knowledge somewhere). So here goes.

SASHA COHEN IS ATTEMPTING A COMEBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good new for US figure skating... bad news for all the skaters trying to make the team. But who knows, maybe she won't make it very far. Her ankle is currently injured, and she's starting training in June. Because she was a silver medalist in the Torino 2006 Olympics, she is automatically qualified to nationals. (She also competed in 2002, and placed 4th) She has said that she would except an invitation to compete a skate america. Skate America is part of the Grand Prix, which is a series of 6(?) competitions from which the top 6 skaters are invited to the final. Skaters hoping to take part in the final compete in 2 events each. Since Sasha did not compete last year, she will have to be invited by the organizers. Skate America seems likely, if only for the TV ratings. A 2nd event is less likely, but not out of the question. Assignments will be given at the end of this month.

Kimmie Meissner is keeping her short program from last year. Her new long program music will be Romeo and Juliet. (love you, twitter)

Emily Hughes is taking the year off of school to concentrate on skating.

Ok, now I've said something about each of the skaters on the 2006 Olympics team (the ladies, that is) and I can't think of anything else, so we'll leave it at that. FYI, for ladies and pairs the US has 2 spots at the Olympics next year, and for men's and ice dance we have 3. (3 is the max)

UPDATE: Michelle Kwan sounds like a maybe for a comeback? Those tweets sound a bit like hints... Click HERE.

dwts

2009-05-14T12:51:00.003-04:00

Well, for those of you who don't know, Shawn Johnson is on dancing with the stars. And... she made it to finals! Her partner is Mark Ballas, who won with figure skater Kristi Yamaguci in season 6. So, while we (or maybe you guys don't care, and i'm the only one waiting. lol) are waiting for Monday and Tuesday (when the final is), here are all the dances she's done so far!

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Ivana Hong! (week 5)

2009-05-14T12:45:00.002-04:00

Click HERE. Ivana Hong has the best form in the country for an elite gymnast, as far as I'm concerned. With a possible exception for Samantha Shapiro. I think that most of the clips in this video are from when she was 12 and younger. Watch an around 0:25 to see a really, really cool transition to the low bar.

OWWWW...

2009-05-14T12:39:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. I got braces on tuesday. OWW. And they don't even have colors :( But one cool thing about them is that if i drink something cold, the tension goes away for a little bit :) so that's good. on the list of foods i can't eat, they say doritos, but they don't mention chips! weird weird weird. so yeah. i'm in pain.

Lizzy Leduc fx is week 4!

2009-05-04T15:48:00.002-04:00

CUTEST floor routine ever! Plus she was only 10 in this video and those skills aren't exactly easy! She's 12 now and a level 10, and I think she's going for elite either this season or next! I also leove her music. She won't be old enough for 2012. 2016 maybe?

btw, fx is floor exersise.

Enjoy!

AND COMMENT!!!!!!!!

Concert!

2009-05-04T15:32:00.003-04:00

Hey all, concert yesterday was good! We got to use music for the German song :) We forgot most of the dynamics though. The rest of the concert was AMAZING!!!!!! The 4 soloists were REALLY good. After the concert the Handel choir gave everyone in the children's choir goody bags and creamsicles lol. They also gave us a standing ovation when we were done singing which I don't think we deserved. Still made me happy though cuz it meant we didn't sound bad. We've still got rehearsal today... :) I don't mind though. Big concert in 2 weeks from yesterday!!

random random random

2009-05-02T18:14:00.004-04:00

3rd concert tomorrow... german + italian+alliluia OFF MUSIC ugh why why why missed dress rehearsal this morning at tovi's bar mitzvah. he was great. julia's next week. me and julia went down during the sermon and used the magnets on the arts and crafts cabinet to write mazel tov tovi after lunch when julia left i changed it to good luck julia have fun and i'll change it to mazel tov julia during the service next week. only me and tovi came to hebrew school on wednesday and only me megan julia week before. people only come on sunday now. wednesdays are more interesting. just had dungeons and dragons. it was good.only got hit once so far this encounter. adams character died so his new one is a half elf that thinks its a dwarf. was a flowermart yesterday. painted a water barrel for parks and people. it was fun.then went to kivas for takeout chinese shabbat. it was good. played a board game with kiva rebecca and kivas friend. chicken soup for the kids soul. boring but funny. heres something to try. all the circles have to add up to the same thing. i haven't started yet.i'm bored. dinner soon. doing advanced for gymnastics. need to get a bunch of skills. missing everyone from mars and 3 ring and wanting to be at mica. i wish summer would get here. listening to random stuff on itunes. hungry. typing whatever i think. had to do ashrey and pass out candy and tovi's bar mitzvah because they had no on else. doing same for julia because she asked me. small class a hebrew school tomorrow. tovi and megan not coming. julia is. dont know about other 3. sundays stink. have to finish our thing for the bulletin board. maybe it wont be to bad. think rebecca just broke something. maybe not. sounded like glass breaking. did again. i dont think so. she said something fell. whatever.im bored if you couldn't tell. leave me comments. i don't care what about. i have something like 10 total ever. need more. and follow. thanks. going to end this post now. comment follow comment. bey.

These kids are good!

2009-04-29T12:59:00.002-04:00

A bunch of elementary school kids singing VIVA LA VIDA and MAOZ TSUR. Just one question... what happened to looking at the director?

HILARIOUS

2009-04-29T12:54:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately, this is for real. I feel bad for those 2 guys. REALLY funny though. Click HERE to watch.

Week 3... RHYTHMICS!!!

2009-04-29T12:44:00.003-04:00

This weeks gymnastics vid is a montage about rhythmic gymnastics... and it is amazing! For all of you who don't know what rhythmics is, you do now! And for those of you who think rhythmics is for wimps, you are WRONG! Watch and be amazed!

Click HERE

Don't even try to tell me it isn't cool. Freaky I'll except. But...WOW!!!!!!

Gymnastics, week 2

2009-04-23T12:27:00.004-04:00

Well I was planning on posting gym stuff early in the week...that didn't happen. So here is your week 2 of gymnastics! This week it's a montage that includes both mens and womens artistic (that's what most people think of when you say gymnastics-why it's called artistic I don't know), rythmics, trampoline, and tumbling. I don't feel like typing out the whole embedding code like I did last time, so I'll link to it HERE.

Enjoy!

a lot of stuff...

2009-04-19T17:42:00.002-04:00

Wow. Yesterday was long. First I had the first concert of the season. We were singing at the CityLit festival. It was a REALLY bad performing space. We didn't have microphones and it was really loud, so bad combo. Of course, it meant that no one new when we messed up :) Oh and grandma came for the weekend :) :) so she go to hear me sing.

Then, me and mom were off to Columbia for homeschool stuff! Science fair + high school. First was the high school workshop. The kids session was led by Jean, who is the director of the high school program. It was really useful and interesting, and maybe convinced me to homeschool all the way through. Then was the science fair, and WOW long day. I talked to so many people! I was showing the straw bridge stuff, which meant that I had zero work to get ready :) Good thing, because I only knew I was doing it a few days before. But it's a good thing I had water with me!

I don't know if anyone cares, but Georgia won NCAA gymnastics nationals. (Yey!) This was their 5th straight year winning! (I think that's a bit crazy) Their coach is retiring after this year, so thats a pretty nice goodbye present :) Also Courtney Kupets won the all-around for her 3rd year! (She missed last year with an injury, so that means she won every single year she competed!) She also broke to many records for me to count, so I won't even try.

So that's what's been going on with me. I know I'm not that great at updates, but I try. Really. Yeah, I know you don't believe me. Oh well...

Oh yeah, I have another concert next week, and then another the next week, and then a week off (still have rehearsal though) and than another concert! And then the cabaret is going to be sometime after that, but I don't think I can perform :( Again. :( :( And then the spring is almost over!!!!!!! Ahhhh the year is going by fast!!!!! Oh well, can't wait to see everyone from MARS again :) and 3 whole weeks with Rachel and Selena :D :D :D But OMG then it will be next year!!! Help...

Week 1 of gymnastics!

2009-04-13T11:16:00.002-04:00

Ok, I've decided to do a weekly gymnastics feature. I'll post montages and routines that I really like. The only thing is that I can't paste into my posts, so embedding videos is a real pain. So I'll normally post links to them until I figure it out.

This weeks video is a montage of Shawn Johnson by AshleyakaFlipper. It's one of my favorite montages EVER. Since it's the first week, I'll type out the code to embed the video and hope I don't mess up:)

So people, watch and comment comment comment!

followers?

2009-04-12T14:56:00.002-04:00

well i know i have 3 public followers. and at least 2 private followers. if you follow privately, please leave me a comment (anonymously if you must) so i know how many followers i have. and please consider following publicly. because it makes the blog look a lot better. and comment comment comment. thanks.

Braces...and other stuff

2009-04-11T18:15:00.002-04:00

I'm getting braces in a few weeks :(

They might be the kind without the colored bands, but if they are colored i don't know what to get. So vote in the poll! If you have specific suggestions leave a comment (now Icy Reactions).

And I've added this "what do you think?" thing below each post, so use it!

btw, in my last poll I only had 7 votes, but 4 people said they read my blog because they found it interesting:) 2 said I made them come here and 1 said they have no idea why they're wasting their time, but that was my little sis, so I don't care.

Anyway people, COMMENT, COMMENT, COMMENT! Even if it has nothing to do with the post, COMMENT ANYWAY! And suggest posts for me to write. Current events, old events, future events(???), animals, sports, books, art, music, random questions(!!!!), anything else you can think of. And COMMENT!

Also, I added Olympic picture of the day below connect 4. And Icy is cool/awesome/wow.

BYE!

COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over 10!

2009-04-11T14:03:00.002-04:00

Well I have more than 10 posts! This would be the 13th (aahhhhhh! the monsters are coming!). I know that's kind of depressing for almost two months :) btw, Ilona just got 50!

Connect 4

2009-04-11T13:58:00.002-04:00

I am REALLY obsessed with connect 4 right now! I added my fave connect 4 gadget at the bottom of the page. Just to warn you it's pretty good. So have fun playing!

awesome video

2009-04-11T12:49:00.003-04:00

ok, so i can't copy and paste when i write posts (any help on that??????) which means i cant embed videos. So i'll link to this really awesome music video that you should all watch. if you read Ilona's blog you might have already seen it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-04T16:42:00.003-04:00

So the straw bridge challenge was today and...

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

+ best written report!

Yey!

Out of 30 points for the written report we got

29!!!!!!!!

I was really scared that our bridge wouldn't hold up, but it did!

Barely.

It was scary!!!!!!!

Our oral screening was whatever. It was really weird though, because 2 years ago the asked us how building under the roadway can make the bridge stronger, and today the asked us how building above the roadway can make the bridge stronger! Weird.

So then we got into the oral report, and we were first. It was... good. I think. It wasn't bad.

So then we had almost an hour, so we went outside a bit, then we came in and saw a blacksmith working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which was awesome. Then we went over for awards, which they said would be at 1, and were actually at 1:20. But I thought the were going to be at about 2 or 3, so it was really fast compared to last time.

There were some really interesting bridges today.

Like there were some

with arches,

with really tall trusses on the top,

with ramps down to the roadway,

with really tiny triangles everywhere,

with quintuple (or maybe more)-enforced roadways,

with loads of straws going down the the lower ledges,

that weighed 1.1 oz.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So it was a fun challenge. But there were a lot of bridges that looked like they were supposed to fit in the hazard differently, so now I'm wondering if their hazard was different then the specs they gave us.

Ours didn't fit exactly right, but it wasn't as bad as some of the others! It was scary.

Oh yeah, and basically half the teams were from Fredrick! They all had the same t-shirt and everything.

We were the only team to qualify for the oral report that wasn't from Fredrick!

So I'm going to end this post with a huge shout-out to my awesome team-mate and friend,

Wren!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You were amazing Wren!!!!!!!!!!

Athletes lying about ages

2009-03-12T11:56:00.003-04:00

How did I know this was going to happen? At least 20% of Chinese athletes lied about their age, according to a scientific study. Read about it HERE. My guess is that at least one of the Chinese gymnasts was younger than 16. I also think that we'll know within 10 years.

Barbies in China

2009-03-05T13:08:00.003-05:00

I just read THIS article from my google alert on China. I don't know why I find it amusing, but I do.

update!

2009-03-05T10:47:00.003-05:00

Hi! I just added a blog list on the left, so please check them out! I will most likely be adding more blogs soon, but for now enjoy the 4 blogs listed!

I will also be writing more posts soon. I am very obsessed with China right now, so expect posts about China. I also realized that most of you probably had no idea what I was talking about in the gymnastics post, so I'm hoping to either get videos of me, or link to other videos that have the same skills so that you can understand a little better. Also, the title of that post was Gymnastics, part 1. Part 2 was going to be about the American Cup (an international meet that happened the same day), but I have decided to not write that post. I might write something about girl scouts soon, but it's likely that I'll decide not to. I am also going to write a post (hopefully a series of posts) about the straw bridge project that me and Wren are working on.

That's it for now, please check out the blogs I linked to! And also if you guys would follow my blog, and vote in my pole if you haven't already, that would be great! Thanks!

p.s. Icy=awesome/cool/wow

gymnastics, part 1 (me!)

2009-02-22T11:00:00.007-05:00

So last weekend was the gymnastics meet! (Sorry it took so long for me to write this post. I actually started it on Sunday) For those of you who don't know, it's not much like a meet because we get a spot on skills we can't do and we compete on tramp and if we forget the routine they tell us what to do. I was a bit nervous before the meet, mostly for beam because I've been having a lot of problems on beam. And also for tramp and bars because I didn't want to fall. So we got there pretty early and me and Rebecca went into the locker room, and there where a lot more people than I thought there would be, because I didn't think everyone would be early. So we got ready, and then it was 5 minutes before the meet, but I still couldn't find Anna, and I thought that she wouldn't come. But then she came and she had been watching the dance and thought that I wasn't coming. So then she had to change really fast, because we all had to go out and watch the last dance routine before we warmed up. The routine was good, but the music and costumes were cheesy. The music kept stopping, but when it came back on it would be in the right place, so it was like the volume died and then started working again. So then I was worried that the music would do that during my floor routine. I think the girls in the dance were on MDL, so it was some of my friends from last year because 2 girls from my class last year went to MDL.

So then we warmed up, but we didn't do splits, and when I asked Mr. Jake why he said that we didn't have time! But it would have only taken 2 minutes! So then they called the groups and me and Anna were in Intermediate C. Our coaches were Mr. Jake and someone who I don't remember the name of, but she was really nice. We were rotating with the advanced girls, and a group of boys. There were a lot of people competing, so we had 2 sets of beams being used, and a girl and boy would do there floors at the same time since boys don't have music.

So first we went to floor, and the music was working again! The person doing the music started it to early for the first person, but she kind of jumped in and it worked out. But she forgot to do the backbend kickover, so that might have been because of the music. And then the next girl started to close to the edge of the floor, and when she did her back straddle roll she almost went into the pit!

So then it was my turn, and it was really good! I just watched the video, and my kickover went to the side a bit, and my leap is HORRIBLE and my wolf jump is pretty low, but other than that it was good! Except my full turn wasn't all the way around :( but it was close so that's ok. And my score (out of a 6, not a 10) was 5.85!

After everyone had gone, the advanced girls went! There were only 3 of them, but I was exited to watch them because they get to make up their own routines! First Rebecca went, and it was REALLY good! the beginning reminded me of spring for some reason. It kind of looked like a flower opening its petals. And she did a one-armed front walkover, which was really cool! The other 2 girls had the same routine, and I don't know their names but I was helping one of them on Thursday. They both did good and the routine was really cute!

I thought that we would go to beam next, because that was the rotation order a the last 2 meets, but I guess they had to change it because they had so many people, because we went to tramp. First the boys went, and then our group. My routine was... ok. My back handspring wasn't my best, but I didn't fall on my head like I did at the last meet, so that's good. And then my swivel hip was definntly not a half-turn, and I had way to many bounces in between jumps during the whole routine. I was a bit worried about my front tuck, but I made it! But then when I landed it I jumped forward, and I couldn't stop so I went for my dismount (dive roll) but because I was a bit out of control, I couldn't stand it up, and I had to use my hand. :( but I guess the judges thought is was good, because I got a 5.45. Then Anna went and she tried her front layout, but it was piked. It was a REALLY good pike though! She got a 5.50.

Next we went to beam. Normally for the meets they use the beam with the resi mat, and the beam next to it, but this time they also used the other 2 beams and put mats under one of them. I didn't want to use those beams, because the one with the mats is sharper then the others :( But we got to use the resi beam so that was good. Anna volluntered to go first, and it was good! Because she went first I had to go last. We had Mr. Jake because the other person was somewhere else, I think with the boys. So I started my routine, and my squat turn was good! I've been stubbing my toe when I do that, so I was happy. Then my scale was good, and my handstand was about as good as I've been doing. Then Mr. Jake spotted me on my cartwheel, and it was a bit fast and my leg kind of jammed into the beam when I landed, but it was a lot better than last spring when I went way to slow. Then I did my kick-swing turn and jumps without wobbling, but I forgot to think about connecting the jumps and getting hight. And then I did my side handstand dismount, and it was pretty good! Before the routine, I thought I would probably get a score in the 4's, but I got 5.85!!!!!!!!!!! It was probably a bit high, because I felt like the judge wasn't really watching us carefully. But still... 5.85!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then Advanced went...and Rebecca got a 6.00!!!!!!!!!!!! She had a few tiny (well actually a lot, but really really tiny) wobbles, but she hit her handstand, and did a split, which is a lot harder than it sounds on the beam!

Our last rotation was vault and bars. We went to bars first. I'm happy to say that I did almost all the bonus! First it was kip with a spot, which was ok-ish. Then I did my back hip-circle, but I went around to far and I had to pull myself back up. Then I skipped the shoot-through and just put my leg around, and did mill-circle with a spot. (it would have been bonus without a spot) But I couldn't get around all the way, so I had to switch my grip and pull myself up again. Then I brought my leg back around, and our coach told me to do birdie-pirch. But I thought I was doing a front hip-circle, so I told her, and she stepped to the side, and I'm like, I need a spot. So she spotted me on my front hip and it was pretty good. Then I did my dismount, which was birdie-pirch (that just means you climb up to the bar instead of casting) to sole-circle. And I was really happy, because it was only the second time I did it without a spot, and it was way better then before, because I didn't take like 5 steps, I only took 1!

Then, when I sat down, I noticed that my thumb was bleeding! I have no idea why. One of the team girls (I think her name is Megan?) was with our group so she tried to find me a band-aid, but she could only find miny ones. So I used one of those, but I had to keep pressing it down so it wouldn't come off. While I was getting the band-aid, Anna went so I didn't see that, but she told me it was good.

Then our last event was vault. We were vaulting onto stacked mats, instead of the table. I volluntered to go first. I was just doing handstand flat-back, and both of them were pretty good. I got 5.50. Then Anna did her first vault, same as mine and it was a good one. Then she went for the half-on (which is bonus) for her second vault, but she kind of flopped/crashed into the mats.

After vault, we went out to the floor for awards!

In one of the novice groups, one girl won every event! She needs to move up...

And there was one boy who was the only person in his level. There was supposed to be someone else, but he didn't show up. We got very bored, and started talking about salutes. People, when you salute, do it with you legs together. And at least pretend to keep you arms straight! No floppy arms, and holding on to your wrists. I could go on for a while, but I won't.

So when they finally got to our group, I got first on beam and floor, tied for first on vault, third on bars, and second on tramp! And Anna got first on tramp! So alltogether I did a lot better then I thought I would!

And for the spring I REALLY want to do advanced. Because I want something harder, and also I'll get to choreagraph my own routines! And that would be a LOT of fun because I love choreagrapy! So hopefully whoever my coach is then will let me do that! But anyway, it was a fun meet and I'm happy!

Videos to possibly come, or maybe not.

2 poems!

2009-02-14T19:04:00.002-05:00

Poems by me and my awesome friend Ilona, whose awesome blog can be found here.

The first poem is by me.

Time is like an illusion...

Time never stops.

Time keeps on going,

Like a river flowing by.

You try to capture it,

Try to hold it in your hands.

But like holding water,

It just slips through.

Time is like an illusion...

Doesn't slow down,

Doesn't speed up.

Sometimes it feels like it does,

But it's not true.

It's just an illusion.

Time is like an illusion...

Milliseconds, seconds,

Minutes, hours,

Days, weeks,

Months, years.

Those are not real.

Just made up by us,

to try to harness time.

It doesn't work.

It's just a well formed illusion.

Time is like an illusion...

Because you can't always tell what it is.

Real time is nature time.

The seasons, the moon, the waves.

And real time is life.

Friends, family,

Love anger,

Birth, death.

Those things aren't illusions.

But time is.

Time is like an illusion...

Because it won't stand still for us to see what it is.

Time. Illusions.

Live your life. Time won't wait.

What does your life hold? No one knows.

Only time...

Will tell.

And this is Ilona's poem!

A White Persian Cat-Cloud,

Eyes shut tight,

Creeps along the stars at night

Like silver pebbles set upon

Rich velvet vanishing at dawn.

When it reaches the moon, brimming with milk,

It laps it up with tongue of silk.

It does this until

The moon is empty, for someone to refill.

The milk is replenished a bit at a time,

Then garnished with a wedge of lime.

The cat is pleased, and then, only then,

It stalks back towards its starry den.

Happy national handstand day!

2009-02-14T14:15:00.004-05:00

And also today is Saturday the 14th so that means that yesterday was Friday the 13th!

just pretend this is the first post

2009-02-12T15:02:00.006-05:00

Welcome to my blog!

I have 3 basic goals while blogging:

Amuse everyone who reads it
Inform everyone who reads it
Amuse myself

The last one should be the easiest.

The second one shouldn't be to hard.

It's the last one that I'm worried about. See, if I don't amuse you, you have no reason to come back. And I want you to come back. Because if I have no readers, there is no point in blogging. So I'm going to try number one. But you guys have to help me out. I just don't know how yet...but I'll think of something.

Ok, so the web address is whatifeellikewritingabout.blogspot.com. Note the first part. "What i feel like writing about." And the name of the blog is Random Things. So you can probably guess that this blog is not about any one thing. The things that I will most likely blog about the most, are:

Straw bridges
Gymnastics
Poems
Possibly story's
Random things not connected to anything else
Things that confuse me
Stuff that you guys (and gals but I'm just going to call you guys because it sounds better) like
Random stuff that makes a impression on me

And now, just to see if it works, I'm going to put in a picture.

That is a bridge called the Dinosaur Bridge. I think it's pretty cool.

Now I'm going to try a link. I'm going to link to this craziness. It's called parkour, and it. is. awesome.

ok, end of third post. oops, i mean first. don't forget to vote in my poll!

POLL!

2009-02-12T08:56:00.003-05:00

I have a poll! Vote! Lame poll, but it should be amusing...

It ends in one month one minute before noon! (I wanted to have it end at noon, but I always forget if that's AM of PM. Any tricks to remembering that?)

So what are you waiting for? Vote!

(sorry that I'm being so weird right now. I think blogs do that to people)

Lame first post

2009-02-12T08:45:00.002-05:00

Hi. I can't think of anything to write right now. So this is the end of the first post.

Lame....

Interesting posts later, I promise!

Random Inspiration

Two More Routines by Oksana Omelianchik and Emilia Eberle

Three More to Compare...

Who Did It Better?

FUN floor routines!

Spirit of the Moon (my new project/an awesome e-zine!)

If Everyone Cared - Nickelback

One year...

Impossible is nothing...

Swim - Oh No Ono

Music + New Background!

Poll - What is your favorite inspirational color?

Random INSPIRATION

How To Report The News

I'm feeling inspired to...

Nastia Liukin - HEART OF COURAGE (lovelovelove this!)

Ladies Free Skate Live Blog!

Ice Dance - Free Dance Live Blog

Ladies Short Program, *liveish* Blog

Future City Competition

The United States of Pop, 2009 version

I'm so 2010...

I have a dream

blah

Umm... Wow!

Once Upon A December!

Inspirational Speech From a 12-year-old

A Few More

The Typewriter Song!

ooops...

DWTS

Gymnastics Worth Watching 1 - Men's Rhythmics?

A Few Reasons To Love Aaron Carter

Just Because...

40 years of Sesame Street...

Sasha's out...

DWTS final 5

Tired

Nastia + Twilight?

(sad) skating news

B-day, future city, gym, Olympics, etc...

Skating Worth Watching 1 - Johnny Weir 2004 Nationals LP

gym update

Nationals... was a long time ago.

New Layout

cool skating

lolcats and fail blog

Shh Shh Shh... You Talk To Much

So...

Sarah Palin Resigns

Michael Jackson (plus some gym and skating)

Happy 4th!

Diversity wins!

Gym meet!

Sorry!

Week 7

See-ya-hum-bug...

Permission to fly

Freeze in Grand Central - AWESOME!

There's a thing called TALENT... (1)

gym week 6 - china

And the winer of dwts is...

Let the countdown begin...

Last concert...

Lizzy Leduc!

Skating news

dwts

Ivana Hong! (week 5)

OWWWW...

Lizzy Leduc fx is week 4!

Concert!

random random random

These kids are good!

HILARIOUS

Week 3... RHYTHMICS!!!

Gymnastics, week 2

a lot of stuff...

Week 1 of gymnastics!

followers?

Braces...and other stuff

Ladies Short Program, liveish Blog