First off, for all of us new, or maybe even experienced drivers... There is nothing worse than driving in precipitation... especially when it is torrential or blizzarding. I was driving home, yes I drove for all six hours, from my cousin's camper/ hotel room. Then when we got near my home city, a downpour started, and I couldn't see 10 feet in front of the car. This was nearly almost my first experience with rain, so I was clutching the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles were turning white.

For 45 min, in the pouring rain I drove through puddles that when splashed went ten feet in the air, everyone was passing me, and my dad was about ready to grab the steering wheel out of my hands. The trip back from the cousins was almost disastrous. All the way through my home state, there were cops that were actually pulling people over and they would keep sneaking up behind me, and I was afraid that I would be caught speeding before I even was licensed to drive.

Then, at a rest stop, my family went in to go to the bathroom, and when we came out, someone had backed into our car, and then just left. In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How Rude!" Then the rain began. It was like I was experiencing the seven plagues of road trips.

When we were at my cousins, it rained all the time, so we couldn't go out in the boat. I spent my entire weekend driving and playing cards, including Frustration, NERTS, Speed, and Whist. I also spent countless hours playing 3 different types of solitaire, and my dad and I played Gin Rummy- he beat me 26 to 14 games. I didn't have a chance. Then, at the hotel that we were staying at, there was a wedding last night, so there were a lot of drunk people, and my eldest cousin spent some time with some people that he knew. As a senior, he's taking the classes that I'm taking next year. How sad.

Anyways, from my vast depths of personal experience which even YOU are not privy to, I put an idea with another and came up with a post topic, however cliche it may sound: Family. Usually, when you think of family... you think of those who are genetically very similar to you... although apes are also very genetically similar to you, so that theory doesn't exactly work.

For those scientists out there, a family is part of the biological classification system, right above species and genus names i.e. Fat, in Kings Play Cards On Fat Green Stools.
For me, who has a relatively (relatively being the key word here) normal life, I often find myself questioning who my family is. I have people who are genetically quite similar to, who I haven't probably ever spoken to, and others who are right now supposedly "cheating" me out of what is rightfully mine.

Then there are the people who I talk to regularly, and who are interested in my life, not because they have to be, but because to them, I am important. They spend more time, and care about me more than my "real" family, yet... I'm constantly told that I should put "blood" first. It's sort of like the quote, "Blood is thicker than water." Well... that may be true, but does that mean that I should feel loyalty to people that I don't approve of, and who represent and do most of the things that I don't want in my life. To these people, I'm supposed to be loyal?

Then I go to dictionary.com, and read that it is a group of people who have the same goals, and live under the same roof. That means that my sister and I are apparently not family then because we definitely do not have the same goals for our lives. Then, I go to school, and they talk about our community as being a big family, in our middle school, they even resort to calling homeroom, "small family groups."

Now, this is where it gets a little tricky. At my school, there are definitely people who have the same goals as me, and I think that some of them know me better than members of my own family. But there are also those kids, who like my only family, that I mentioned before, act and do things that I find despicable, and they take things away from me whether it is inadvertently or not. I think that using that name for homeroom is also not correct, because after that year of homeroom, those kids will rarely if ever speak to their so-called "parent" again, and the kids are definitely not a family because they don't have the same goals or even live in under the same roof.

So, what is the point of all this? I am simply trying to figure out what a family is. I guess, if you think about it, we all have the same basic goals-food everyday, safety, want to be loved, and if you consider the sky to be a roof, then we do all live under the same roof. I know, I know, how pathetic does that sound?

But as I think about it, a family is a group of people who are connected in some way. This way may be that they hate each other, or they all like Star Trek, but nevertheless, they are a family. You may hate some of the people in your family, just ask some of the kids in my grade, but they are still your family. You may not know them very well, but they are still your family. Yes, even us poor speechies can be considered a family, as loose-knit as we may be. In the words of my English teacher, we are all part of a big sea of stories, that is very similar to a weaving pattern. We are all interconnected, and one is not possible without the other.

As sad as that may sound, without our worst enemy, we wouldn't have the characteristics that make us who we are. Final Question: Who would you consider to be a member of your family? BL. NP.

I've started my last couple of blogs with okay, such a strange word. I just went to dictionary.com and was amazed by the origins of this seemingly extremely significant word. Apparently, in Boston around 1830, it was considered fashionable to abbreviate phrases and then explain in parentheses (another good word to look up). It was considered "funny" to misspell the abbreviations. So, O.K. was created to mean all correct, the joke being that neither letter was actually correct. (please insert pity laugh here) Then, Martin Van Buren, during his election campaign used the initial, O.K., to refer to his nickname Old Kinderhook. Since then the word okay, has become common venacular in our language and it is now widely used throughout the English speaking world.

Just think, without English, we would never be able to say something was mediocre, without actually saying mediocre. It's sort of the same as without Japanese, we would have to call really big tidal waves, really big tidal waves instead of tsunamis. Languages are so great, aren't they? Actually, parentheses has a very boring origin... Latin. Although, as next year, I shall be an avid follower of these parentheses-creating people, I guess I had better learn that those Latin people love their grammar.

Now onto the real reason I blogged. Can't really remember, except to ask the world what is the point in knowing anatomy unless you chose a scientific career. It can only lead to evil. For example, if you go to the doctor and he tells you that you are dying of pancreas cancer. Because of your Biology class, you are now able to know what is killing you, and what is the point in that? Also, unless for some completely bizarre reason, you happen to be looking at the inside of a person, then there is really no point. Also, I really do not want to know exactly where that wonderful piece of chocolate cake goes throughout my body. Not a pleasant thought.

I think I was supposed to rant about the inequalities present whenever standardized testing occurs, but think about it. If you go to a private, prestigious school, and don't mind a little bit of cheating, then you should have actually no problem, at all. It is actually beneficial to us to take these tests because then the school can use these high scores to promote themselves and normally average students have the ability to become above average. So, LT, I apologize, but I have no heart to complain about the tests that basically allow our acceptance to college. I apologize. Okay (thank you Van Buren for this wonderful phrase) guess I'm done. BL. NP.

Okay. May I just say that I ABSOLUTELY HATE change. I thought that blogger was my friend, the constant companion that will never change. I enjoyed going to the homepage, and seeing the completely primary, and may I mention, hideous color scheme. Where have those "beloved" colors gone.

Today was a very interesting insight into the type of teachers awaiting me next year. I don't think that I have anything to fear, but... do I? Our teacher had to leave early because she had a lacrosse game, so this teacher that "hates" freshman comes in, and in the 15 minutes that I was in the class, it was the quietest most well-behaved class we'd ever had. People would make a noise, and their piercing eyes would glare right at you, as if they wanted to read your every thought, and that by making you feel totally uncomfortable, they will find out exactly what your ulterior motives are.

Anyways, it started me thinking about perceptions of other people. Broad topic I know. I may never stop, and HP awaits me, so I'll only analyze for a few minutes. The first way that people learn about you, before they have ever met you or had any contact with you, is through your reputation. I remember in detail the abject fear, and dread that filled my heart when the words "High School" entered my ever expanding vocabulary. I had never actually been there, but because I had heard from a "reliable" source their opinion about a topic, then I immediately agreed with them. I was trying to fit in with the elusive bandwagon that seems to dominate our culture.

I remember one time in particular, that there was a teacher that I now think to be one of the best teachers I ever had, that when I first met said teacher, I made fun of him, because the people I sat with didn't like it at the time. I often say my opinion, and if someone's differs from mine, I will often say, "Yeah.. I guess you're right", when I feel the EXACT opposite.

One day, long before school started, I was sitting with the kids who unfortunately have to get to school WAY too early, and I made a comment about something that I truly believed, or... had I heard from a source that influenced me, and I'm simply a very effective parrot that can recite ideas that others have as my own. Anyways, this comment was met with extreme hostility, and I soon found myself being bombarded with question after question, and I got very defensive, and found myself trying to justify what I thought, and prove that I wasn't some evil human who is malevolent, and wants to harm others. Now, it has become a constant joke amongst them, and I soon found that there were warring sides with very vocal people on both sides.

Anyways, what does this have to do with perceptions... well think about it... When people act differently from what other people expect or want to hear, doesn't hostility usually result. For example, some of the most famous people in the history of the world were people who challenged the cultural norms that they lived in. It was because of their dissenting views or alternate views that they became famous. If they had decided to stay at home and play monopoly, then I doubt that they would have a day named after them.

I.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Now I'm sure that there are people who believe that people like King merely act as a public face that people can identify with a cause that has actually been going on for a long time, but never recognized because they have never had a voice, but I don't care. This is my opinion.

So, this relates back to the teacher, and our perception of said teacher. The one who came into our class. Because of a few brief minutes in the hallways, and whispered rants from kids who have had them as a teacher, we automatically judge this person. It is so memorable to kids of my class because they do things that are against what we wants. It yells at us, wants us to pay attention in class, and wants to be able to walk down the hall. In the process of trying to accomplish these goals, the teacher has earned an infamous reputation, and we still don't know if said teacher has done anything to deserve this.

We are basing our perception of teacher by what society, and other teachers have told us that a teacher should be like. If anyone, coach, teacher, janitor, defies the very specific rules of what a child wants at our school, then the "defier" is immediately indicted with the crime of expressing his position, and usually gets in trouble. Although, even I will admit that there are definitely things that are not appropriate, like talking about politics in MATH class.

Anyways, the point of this you may ask... Think before you prejudge someone or something, because you may be completely wrong... but never let the fear of what others will say stop you from doing what you want. I'll be the first to admit that that is an extremely high goal for most people, and its hard when your entire background and culture believes something else. But it is usually those few select people who dissent from what is expected that have the greatest impact on the lives of people around them. BL. NP.

Okay I'm bored. Great way to start a post, I know. It's tutorial and for once I have nothing to do. I guess I could start studying for the three tests I have next week, but I really don't feel like it. I guess I'll be like Phenol, and "lull" myself into believing that I have no work. That I live in an universe where homework or devoirs in french is unknown.

There have actually been many studies that show that homework is actually negatively affecting the youths of today. For example, it is definitely lowering the amount of time we have to spend with our friends, or leisure time in general. It is basically a mechanism that our school uses to extend the time we have to devote to school. Let's say you have an hour of class a day, and then an hour of homework. Basically, that means that each day, you are spending two hours in a class, when you should only be spending one.

Homework does have its benefits though. It is a way to help prepare you for that pop quiz the next day, and provides you with a study guide for that major test that you have coming up.

However, the goal of any teacher or education in general is to get people to learn something, right? So if a student goes home and doesn't do their homework because they don't have the time, then what are they learning? All we are teaching students today is how to "bend the rules", and only do homework that they know will be checked. I heard from another girl that she does her homework in other classes, and never does it at home. If the goal is to learn, and she is spending all of her class time doing homework, then what is she learning?

On a news program a few years ago, there was a survey of middle school parents, perhaps elementary, who were doing their kids homework for them because the kids didn't have enough time for it. Elementary school is essential for learning the fundamentals that kids use for the rest of their life. If their parents are doing their homework for them, then all they are learning is that if they ever get in trouble, then there will be someone to help them out of the situation.

So, basically, I think that schools should evaluate how much homework they are giving kids, and at what age level. They need to realize that the point of getting an education is to learn something, and they should be careful of what they are teaching the "impressionable" youths today. I think that was a very successful rant.

I don't have much else to say, except that I am extremely glad that school is almost over. My summer plans may not be finalized, but that is okay. I'll figure something out.

Gym will definitely be fun today though because we get to walk or "power walk" as my teacher calls it, and go and get ICE CREAM. Sounds a bit hypocritical, but that's my teacher for you. I don't see a problem with this, but that's mostly because I'm feeling sick, and the soft cool feeling of cookies N' cream running down my throat, and the desire for that overrides any objections to the fact that during a PHYSICAL EDUCATION class we are going to eat non-healthy foods. Although, there are some good nutrients in real ice cream. I think. Okay, ice cream awaits. BL. NP.