Climbing the Walls

Its nearly here, my next big fear...Philmont. Now I'm sure many of you are asking what is Philmont? The answer a place extremely famous among Boy Scouts in New Mexico. You hike up Mt. Baldy to reach the peak, then you come back down. The place is filled with wild animals, your out there for a total of 12 days with a backpack on with everything you need. Ive been told on average it weighs 40-50 lbs. All in all its a total of 80 some odd miles. On a lighter note...I've found a great new manga!!! Although I've been reading it since before school ended. I'm currently on chapter 115 out of 167! Again though its one where the main character can't choose the girl that he likes which really gets on my nerves. It has been really good though, that I will give it credit for. Not much else to say, just been sitting at home playing on the computer, oh, just cuz I didn't get to tell her at church I'll put it in here. Happy Birthday Naomi! Man if I'm not careful I'm gonna get bored and start climbing the walls.

"I can't talk I gotta go Don't call me back I won't get the door Got to focus on the job cause I got a new job climbing the walls"-Climbing the Walls by They Might Be Giants

Jesus He Knows Me

Another great song by the infamous band Genesis. Well today was the last day of 8th grade, which is both frightening and amazing to me. So many friends are leaving, I'm sure many people are coming to Westbury so theres a chance there will be new friends to make. Even some of our most beloved teachers are leaving. I think the most influential of the teachers leaving are Mr. P and Mr. Semanek. With Mr. P we liked the same things and he made me think in ways I never have. Mr. Semanek has been more of a positive aspect in my spiritual life and I hope to be more like him when I get older, but I also consider Mr. Semanek a good friend of mine. Frightening to me because next year I will be in 9th grade which means the work only gets harder! Not to mention I might not even make it to 9th grade considering I'm going to Philmont! I don't know why but to me my life is lived in series of worrying, I'm always in 3 stages of life: Worrying about something, doing that something I'm worried about, Have absolutely no worries. (These are few and far between) However I think I may be changing my ways, I saw a bible verse I think that said "If it is not worth praying about, then it is not worth worrying about" I've already tried applying it to life and I think it works! I'm excited though because next year...FRESHMAN!!! Jeez though, Its amazing that the year is already over, it feels like it just began. Honorable mention, its the 3rd anniversary for one of the best mangas I have ever read, To-Love-Ru (It means trouble in Japanese) Today our last exam for the day was Bible. I've been wondering how I did on all my tests. I don't know about them...but Jesus, he knows me. (Heh I didn't know what this song was even about until I looked up the lyrics)

"Jesus he knows me, you know"-Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis

Say Anything (Else)

So much to say. Well we'll start with manga, of course. Today I found out that this is around the 3rd anniversary for to-Love-ru, which means trouble in Japanese. Happy Birthday To-Love-Ru!!! Its a really great manga, and I will blog about it when I finish the series, so far its got 148 chapters and running strong with no end in sight. Next up is the manga I'm reading now, called Ichigo 100% (The alternate name for it in English is Strawberry 100%) Like nearly all manga I read its a comedy romance where the main character is totally clueless. The boy is currently heartbroken from being dumped by his girlfriend. However a new character has been introduced who was his childhood friend. I can see a love triangle about to sprout up from this. Excluding his ex and childhood friend there are two girls that Manaka likes (the main character) one is named Aya (who he likes more) who is a smart and attractive girl but he just doesn't know what to say around her. The other girl is named Kitaooji, she is very attactive and outgoing. So far a very predictable but still good manga. Sadly there have been no updates on several other mangas I've been reading, most and foremost of all is Ai Kora, someone needs to upload it please!!! However the most important thing that happened today is that I told my crush I like her. I don't think it went amazingly well, but hey, what can I say, when it comes to me I scheme and my plans go to crap. Only good scheming my brain is good for is military tactics...Maybe if love was more like war?...But then there is Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar...I didn't even think about putting that for my song quote...Hey I went off topic here!! Anyway I guess I want to get it out why I like her. I'm constantly asked by my closest friends whom I have told why I like her. Its not for her brains (Not calling her dumb) and its not because of her looks (I think shes cute, but thats not the reason) it has more to do with whats inside. When I've been around her I haven't heard her say a bad thing about someone. (unless its someone I would have said the same thing about) And from what I've seen I think she is a very kind person. We were once on a school field trip and this one girl was being left out of the group. I had just stood up to go over there and talk to her when I saw my crush go over and talk to her. I made a mental note of this. There have been other times when acts of kindness have shown, but I can't bring any others to my memory. Actually, I think I'm just really happy I was able to tell her, even if the answer is no (which I fear it is) I'm still happy I was able to get my feelings out in the open about someone. Last day of school tomorrow. I'm so proud of myself. (not in a bad way though)

"Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this'll make you proud I know, I know is never good enough"-Say Anything (Else) by Cartel

Superman

Well, if I said I had one goal I wanted to achieve while living on Earth it would be to make a difference. For a long time, the only thing I've wanted was for people to think that I'm a good person. I think its working. When I'm gone from this place I just want to know that I made a difference in someone's life. I suppose thats a lot of the reason why when I grow up I want to become a history teacher. I'm not sure if history teachers have all that much effect in a student's life, but even if only one is changed because of me (for the better) I will be happy forever. I think this goes along with a pretty well known short story about starfish. I'm just gonna paraphrase it, it goes something like this: A man was walking along the beach when he saw a girl also walking along the beach, sometimes he would see her pick up a starfish and throw it into the ocean. The man tells her there are miles and miles of beach and thousands of starfish, so really she isn't making a difference. The girl replies to him, "it makes a difference to that one." I suppose thats all I really want...I'm that girl (don't anyone dare think a single word) and the starfish are like future students (If I really do become a teacher) When I go I don't want to be remembered for my money or political power or being some great athlete (Ha, as if) but as being someone that made a difference in the lives of those around him. I guess you could say I'm really trying to be a superman.

"So here I am doing everything I can holding on to what I am pretending I'm a superman"-Superman by Goldfinger

The Iron Giant

I really want to write about this manga I just finished reading but it will have to wait for something I deem even more important! Talking about the movie The Iron Giant!...Yeah I know what your thinking right now but!...Well...Theres no excuse. The Iron Giant is one of my favorite movies. The movie is about a giant iron robot that crashes into the Earth and meets a young boy named Hogarth Hughes, I won't go into the entire movie, that would be very tiring to type out! However there are a few key points in it I would like to cover. One of my favorite serious scenes in the movies is when the iron giant sees hunters shoot a deer. The giant does not understand death so Hogarth explains it to him. "I know you feel bad about the deer, but it's not your fault. Things die. That's part of life. It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die." I think this is very important in life, dying is a natural part of life, it can't be avoided. Later on in the story the Army is trying to destroy the giant. Hogarth stands underneath the giant's arm which is not a giant laser that is powering up to fire and says "It's bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don't have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be. You choose. Choose." The iron giant than cools down and enters his usual peaceful self. However the main antagonist Kent Mansley orders a Nuclear Missle shot at the giant, which is standing in the middle of a town in Maine. Everyone prepares for the worst to happen. The giant though takes off to destroy the missile before it hits Earth when Hogarth tells him what will happen if it does. While the giant is flying to the missile he thinks about when Hogarth told him he is who he chooses to be. Just before he hits the missile he says aloud "I Superman" (something that is mentioned several times throughout the movie) and then collides with the missile. Months later a staue is erected in the town that the iron giant protected. Hogarth recieves a jaw screw from the iron giant sent by the general of the army that was trying to destroy the giant but realized that the giant was ok when not being shot at. (the general is NOT the same person as Kent Mansley) The screw is thought to be the only remaining part of giant. That night Hogarth awakes to find that the screw is trying to get out of his window. He opens the window to let the screw out and then goes back to bed. The final scene in the movie shows the giants head with an antenna sticking out of his head beeping. Coming towards him are several of his parts, such as his arm and a leg. Then it ends. One of my favorite funny scenes in the movies is when Kent Mansley leaves the Hughes home and while driving in the car thinks of Hogarth's name. (I'm just going to paraphrase this) "Hogarth? What kind of name is that we may as well call him Zeppo...*he looks at a broken BB rifle found earlier in the movie the rest of the rifle is missing so the only words you can read are Hog Hug* Hog Hug?! Hogarth Hughes?!" I don't know why but the Iron Giant is just one of those movies that you really get something out of...to me at least. Thats what I've come to believe and I think thats enough.

"Things die. Thats part of life. Its bad to kill, but its not bad to die"-The Iron Giant

Fireproof

Yesterday at approximately 8:30 I got home from Washington D.C. My plane landed at 5:30 and I won't forget that the first thing I felt when I got off the plane was this sudden blast of...Heat and humidity, Houston's welcome to me. Well I wanted to blog before I left for D.C. however I never got the chance due to timing. Well my trip to D.C. was full of many memories and I also regained some memories from my prior trip to D.C. Great times. We went to go see Jamestown, Williamsburg, the presidential memorials, the war memorials, some museums, the White House (from the fence), the Supreme Court, and the Capitol. My favorite part of the trip though was going to the World War II memorial. Not only is it amazing to me because of my history knowledge but also because of seemingly embedded people and memories in it. When I was there I felt like it wasn't really a memorial to people long ago, but that they were still there. I guess most of that feeling came from a man who had fought at the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest. At the memorial there was a fountain-like area that had on the edge all the major battles of the Atlantic or Pacific front depending on which fountain it was. This former soldier sat down on the wording "The Battle of the Bulge" when I saw this a cold chill ran through my spine. This man had been at one of the most famous battles of World War II...This man had been part of perhaps the greatest war in history. However this was not my first run in with a World War II vet. My other run in also happened at the World War II memorial. This man had flown carrier planes (I cannot remember what kind but I'm leaning towards Dauntlesses) in the Pacific Front. How great that I would meet two World War II veterans, on two occasions, who had fought on different fronts. I bet that during their time...They were feeling pretty fireproof.

"I know where I stand and what'll happen if you try it I am fireproof I know my heart and I just can't deny it I am fireproof"-Fireproof by Pillar