A Poignant Christmas

    Things were quiet around my house since my mother had passed a week ago.  My family wasn’t planning to get presents because they were still grieving over the loss of my mother.  I have been playing in the snow for the whole afternoon.  Even though my entire body was wrapped in winter garments, the frosty breeze still had broken through.  My father poked his head out of our doorway.  “Daniel, it is time for supper,”he called from his position.  
    After dinner, I got myself ready for bed.  I washed up, brushed my teeth, and slipped into my slumber clothes.  As I climbed into bed, I pulled my blanket up to my neck so it could hug me throughout the cold night.  

    I was falling deeper and deeper into a sleep with the help of the cool breeze from my open window.  A tapping noise came from my window.  I first ignored it assuming that it was a branch from one of the trees near my window, but when the tapping continued, I went to my window to inspect the situation.  Outside on my lawn, I thought that I saw a figure of a women near the snowman I had made earlier.  I suspected that she was a figment of my imagination from lack of sleep.  

    When I turned away from the window, I felt a sudden chill in my bedroom.  I spun back around to the window, and there I saw the woman from my lawn.  She looked so beauteous and elegant that she could have been Miss. America in a beauty pageant.  She had a long, ivory-colored dress that shimmered in the light of the moon.  The hue of her silky hair reminded me of  the color of chocolate milk.  The woman seemed genetically perfect.  

    Daniel, the woman’s voice spoke in my head as if she was talking.  Her voice was as sweet as an angel’s.  I wondered how she knew my name, but her next words answered my question.  I am your mother.  

    That couldn't be possible.  My mother is dead, but where the woman stood outside was exactly where my mother was buried.   I thought that it might not be impossible for this  woman to be my mother.  She handed me a Christmas card that on the outside read:Have a Happy Christmas.  On the inside it read: My dear Daniel, I will always be with you.  Mom. When I looked up from the card, my mother could no longer be seen, but I could still feel her presence.  

What Venus is Really About

     Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty is and Earth's sister planet.  Venus is also known as the Morning and Evening Star.  This planet is the second planet from the Sun with an average temperature of 867* F.  

     The planet's shape is similar to Earth's.  It's diameter is 95% of Earth's and its mass is 81.55% of our planet's.  The range of the planets suface areas is 10%. 

     Although the planet's shape are incredibly similar, they also have some important differences.  Venus rotates much slower than Earth and does not have a satellite.  These are just some of the points that make Earth and Venus different. 

     Venus is made metal, and liquid & solid rock.  Its atmosphere is dense and cloud-covered.  The clouds are made of sulfuric acid droplets and sulfur dioxide(instead of water). 

My Declassified School Survival Guide

     The best and most important thing that I've learned in school is how to survive.  When I entered middle school I was panicking thinking how will I survive.   Well, I've been in school for 1 quarter and survived with an "A" average.  It was pretty tricky, but I did it with a few simple tips. 

1. STAY ORGANIZED!
2. Keep your locker clean (it will be easier to check if anything falls out of your folder or book bag)
3. Take papers that you don't need out of your folder every week(it won't overflow with papers)
4. Make sure to write your homework in your planner (you can check off the homework that you did)
5. STAY ORGANIZED!
6. Study for quizzes and tests(even if they are super easy)
7. STAY ORGANIZED!

      So by following these steps you should be find going into your new middle school enviroment.

At the Last Second

     Monday started my fall break.  During my fall break, I was required to make a Power Point Presentation for Social Studies and present it the day we got back.  For the first 1 and 1/2 days I typed up some of the information.  I also played my Wii and caught up on my reading.  Then, my grandmother called I haven't seen her in a while, so I decided to go see her(not the best choice). 
     I spent the rest of Tuesday, Wednesday, and half of Thursday over at her house.  I spent about 3 and 1/2 hours on my project, but that was enough to get a majority of my work done. In addition to making this bad decision I had to suffer through my grandmother's nail appointment.  I'm not the type of person that would even look at a nail salon, let alone be in one. 

     Late Thursday, my father had called me asking two things: "do you want to go to soccer practice" and "do you want to go to sleep over with your friends".  Of course, I chose sleepover.  It wasn't the best decision because it wasn't half as good as I thought it would be.  Everyone but me was asleep at 12:30A.M. I, on the other hand, was left awake until 4:30A.M.  I had trouble sleeping with my feet frozen from the cold because I had forgotten my sleeping bag.  Plus, we were sleeping by the back door with an open window.  Friday morning I was relieved when my dad had come to get me.  

     Now I only had about 3 days to do my project, and if my week wasn't going bad enough already the rest of Friday I didn't get home until way past 10 o'clock that night.  Now I was in the panic zone. 2 days to finish my project, I thought I would never finish. HOORAY! I did it and I think it's well done considering the time I put into it. 

    

The Awesome Tool That Is Blogger

     In school, I have been learning about different tools on the Internet that can be used to enhance our learning in English.  My favorite tool that we learned about is Blogger.com. Blogger is a website that enables you to set up your own blog, express your opinions, and answer comments about your posts. You can customize your blog by making a one-of-a-kind name for your blog and adding lots of gadgets.  You can also read other people's blog and comment on those.  So don't just sit there, start blogging! Comment about your favorite tech tools and give a brief description about them or questions you might have about Blogger.com.

Out Late on Halloween Night

     2010 Halloween was a blast for me.  I love going door-to-door collecting free candy.  It's a great way to spend time with your friends and get candy. 

     The first Halloween was celebrated by the ancient Celts who lived as long ago as 800 B.C.  It was meant to celebrate the end of harvesting season and the beginning of winter when the Celts believed the spirits of the dead returned to earth.  Now we celebrate this holiday by dressing up and eating candy. Isn't it weird how customs change?

     My Halloween involved a lot of different events.  I was dressed as the Mad Hatter for Halloween.  Two other people in my group were also dressed as the Mad Hatter. We all had different versions of the costume. 
     The cop that lived next door to my friend house, the trick-or-treat host home had on a scary mask and some kind of "weaponry" was in hands. He walked in his driveway and in front of his house slashing his "weaponry" together. SHING!SHING!

     The Celts lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Northern France.  In ancient times sacrifices were made the day before Halloween and people would dress up in animal skins and pelts.  The real Halloween is said to have started in England during the eve of All Saints' Day when beggar children went door-to-door asking for "soul cakes" in exchange for their prayers for the dead.  Please tell me some facts you know about Halloween and leave a comment.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

     One of my favorite books is The Great Gilly Hopkins.  I read this book over the summer of 2010 for a reading assignment.  Galadriel(Gilly) is a foster child going to her third home in less than 3 years.  When she finds out that she's expected to stay with a very religious woman, a young boy that can barely defend himself, and an old man, she tries to tell her birth mother how miserable she is.  But, the longer she spends with the woman, the young boy, and old man the more she likes them.  Will she end up with her loving mother or stay with her foster family? Please leave a comment telling me your prediction.  If you already read the book I would like to know if you thought the book would end the way it did or thought something completely different would happen. 

Are You 'Series'-ous?

     I'm just about to complete the second book in the Inkheart Trilogy, Inkspell.  I was wondering if any of you liked to read books in a series or individual books and why you prefer one over the other.  I like reading books in series because it makes an extended version of the book with new and old characters combined. 
     In the suspenseful and transfixing fantasy,Inkheart, the first book of the Inkheart Trilogy, Mortimer Forchart is a bookbinder that can read the characters out books.  When he reads out of the book, Inkheart, three characters come out and his wife goes in.  Later in the book, they find out that there's still copies of the book left but, they are in the hands of Capricorn, a fire raiser read out of Inkheart.  During the rest of the story, Mortimer and his daughter, Meggie search for the book to read Meggie's mother out of the book.

     In Inkspell, which cleverly mixes joy, pain, suspense, and magic, 10 years have passed after Meggie's mother had been devoured by Inkheart.  Fortunately, she was able to escape the jaws of the book.  With 10 years of memories, Meggie's mother brings back much to tell about the faeries and fire elves of the Wayless Woods and now Meggie can't go a day without thinking about Inkheart.  Until one night she does the impossible with her silver tongue and reads herself into Inkheart.  Mortimer follows her into Inkheart with his wife and gets shot, but does not die. The Inkworld, the world of Inkheart, has changed alot. Especially because the peasants' beloved Prince Cosimo has been dead for a year.  So when Meggie finds how much the Inkworld has changed she searches for help so she can read this place back to peace.

     Please feel free to comment on your favorite series to read.

My Frenzy Fish

     At home, I have three goldfish.  I got three from the pet store and one from a carnival.  One of the fish died only shortly after I had gotten the three fish from the pet store.  They started out as about 1in long and 1cm high.  Now, they are about 5-7 in long and 2-3 in high. 

     When the three fish get hungry, they will either gather up in the back-right corner of their tank or they will start jumping up and splashing until you feed them.

     Sometimes when I feed the fish, I like to tease them by pretending to feed them.  So today after my soccer game my dad and I had gotten slurpees.  I went over to the fish tank to feed the fish and I started teasing them.  So when I had stepped back, the fish swam to the top of the tank and quickly spun around making a bunch of water splash out of the tank.  Since I was holding my slurpee, the fish's dirty water got into my slurpee and I had to throw it away.  Yuck! I felt so annoyed when they did that.  I think that the fish did what they did on purpose, do you agree? 

     Watch this feeding frenzy and see if you agree.  Cast your vote or leave a comment.

Amazing Abstract Art

Art is one of my passions. I like to draw cartoons when I'm bored but, my favorite kind of art is abstract art.  Abstract art is art that isn't really supposed to be anything so, it can be anything that the observer thinks it is.           



This painting is an example of abstract art.  When I focus on the triangles in the picture, it looks like broken, colored glass. But, when I focus on the circles in the picture, it looks like a person spilled a lot of paint into a pond and skipped a rock across the pond so it has ripples.  Please respond and tell me what you see in the picture.                                                                            

Dancing With The Stars: Season 11

Season 11 of Dancing With The Stars began Sept. 20.  Actors, singers, and athletes get paired up with professional dancers to "dance it out" all the way to the Mirror Ball Trophy. The competitors are the lovely Audrina Patridge from the Hills; the football player Kurt Warner; Disney Channel star from Cory in The House Kyle Massey; former L.A. Lakers basketball player Rick Fox; comedienne Margaret Cho;Grammy winner Brandy, Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaskan Governor,Sarah Palin; from the classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, America's favorite TV mom, Florence Henderson; Grammy winner Michael Bolton; Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino; Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey; and David "The Hoff'" Hasselhoff. You have until Sept. 21, 2010 at 11 AM to vote for your favorite stars. Visit http://ABC.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars. If you missed the show tune in at 8pm on ABC tommorow for a recap and the DWTS results; where one person will be eliminated. Feel free to comment on your favorite stars and don't forget to vote to keep those people in.

A Loss for the Team

Today, Sunday, September 19, I had a soccer game.  It ended 1-3, we lost.  The one goal that we scored was crossed over to the other side and tapped in.  I tried very hard to get a goal when  I played forward.  I had three breakaways, but no goals.  The first time, the ball  just slightly missed the net going a little too much to the right.  The second one, I came up the left side with the other team's defense sprinting behind me.  Once I got centered, I shot the ball to the right. When I shot the ball, the goalie fell in front of me. This time the ball didn't miss, it stopped right at the goal post.  I jumped over the goalie to get the ball, but the other team beat me to it and they towards our goal.  The third time, at mid-field I jumped between two girls from the other team and stole the  ball from them.  This time I sprinted right up the middle.  No one was around me, it was just me and the goalie.  I shot the ball into the lower right corner, the goalie blocked the ball as she again fell in front of me.  I stumbled against her and fell over her.  Down on the defensive end we had an own goal, which means a goal scored by your own team.  I was sitting out at that time so there was nothing I could do.  But, overall there were a  lot of good passes.  I think we still need to work on trapping, long distance kicks, and making better decisions.  Please respond if you have your own sports blog or any advice for me or my team.

  

Plunge Into The Pages

     Sometimes in my spare time I like to read.  When I read I feel like I melt between the pages to another world where magic, mayhem, and mystery is around every corner, every flip of the page waiting for my return or entry.  Magic, mayhem, and mystery are my favorite things to capture in a book.  When I flip the page, I like to hear the crinkling of the crisp paper because it means the book is continuing to unravel its story.  But when I'm doing something besides reading one of my favorite books like Inkspell, I can hear the characters inviting me back for more.  What books you like to read? Please respond.

Welcome To Nikki's Notes

Welcome to Nikki's Notes there will be a wide variety of topics including art, sports, writing and more.  Enjoy my blog!