So, with finals coming up, I was trying to figure out which one was more annoying, homework or tests. And, since I was bored and didn't actually want to study for those finals, I asked around.

Laurel likes homework better, since she thinks it's less "arbitrary," and because, with homework, you can control where you stand so long as you work at a steady pace. Whereas with tests, the teacher can throw in some random question that you're not as prepared for, and it can become a huge part of your final grade.

And Rachel disagreed, because doing homework is even more boring than taking a test, and it ends up being about doing busywork all the time rather than showing what you know at the end of the year. She said she'd rather have an hour of really intense work every once in a while than a steady stream of dull work that never gets finished. She said she liked projects, though, even if they could be considered homework if you got down to it.

I tried to ask Jess, but she said she didn't care. But she was reading a magazine at the time, so I probably shouldn't have bothered asking anyway.

As for me, I'm not sure which is worse. All I know is that they're both annoying and a bane on all our lives. I guess we have to learn this stuff, but they should really come up with a more accurate and less painful way of figuring out how much we've learned.

Although I am devoted to Blenheim, I wouldn't normally visit the MySpace during spring break. But this is SERIOUS.

Today, before I went volunteering, I decided to peruse the New York Times. And I saw this staring back at me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/education/30brfs-harvard.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I have only just begun to breathe again. But, really, the only mature thing to do is to stare that 91% rejection statistic in the eye and try that much harder. I have a few ideas of ways that I can mold myself into a more well-rounded individual. Perhaps I should even place that article above my desk, lest I succumb to the temptation to slack and lose any chance of admission to Harvard.

Alex and Jess were ignoring me at lunch today, which makes me sad. I don't know if I did something wrong, but I wish they didn't act so mean.

I thought that maybe it was like that Pyramid Syndicate Go! comic where everyone's ignoring Horus, but it turns out that they were holding a surprise birthday party and they were being mean so that Horus wouldn't find out and ruin the surprise, so they were actually being nice by ignoring her. But my birthday is in October, so that can't be it. Then I thought it might be for a surprise half-birthday party, but my half-birthday is still almost two months away, and that's kinda long to plan anything. Besides, my friends aren't that good about remembering birthdays anyway. So I guess they're just being mean.

It could be that Jess is mad at me because of the Rome Project we're working on. We're doing an aqueduct and I said we should use blue jello for the water and she said that was gross and that the bugs would eat it and that we needed to do something normal. But I don't get why she'd be mad enough about that to ignore me!

Laurel and I won that contest, only the prize wasn't a trip to the Oscars, but something called the Wickas. I guess they give out awards for comics on the Internet, or something.

We got to present, which was kinda cool. The presentations were recorded and posted online, so you can see us here.

As I'm sure most of you have heard, the English Department has opened up a contest for sixth graders. Students have been asked to pair up and write a one-page critique of a work of literature or art, which has been defined broadly enough to include mediums such as film and music.

Rachel wanted to be my partner, and I agreed to join her; however, it has been difficult to agree on a topic. She is adamant about writing a critique of the "poetry" in High School Musical, whereas I would prefer to discuss a cannonical piece of literature. I suspect that we may have to compromise; she seems amenable to writing about classic movie musicals, which would at least be an improvement over what she wants to do.

The teachers weren't entirely clear about the prize, but I believe they mentioned something about attending the Oscars. That would be quite exciting, and I could even potentially write about the experience in an article for the Owler!

Today seems extra long, and I really really really want school to be over right now. Even the skits for English were boring and slowed down the day, and were also embarrassing, since my partner and I didn't get enough time to practice (not my fault).

I would like to do something fun to relax, but it's like everyone has got some dumb afterschool activity, so I'm stuck alone with my homework. At least there's always TV and the Internet, I guess.

So, I have a free period, and I'm in the computer center. I can work on my Spanish project, play some computer game about the Gauls, or type in this MySpace. So MySpace it is!

My hands are covered in glitter from this cool English project I'm working on, but I can't say any more, because it's a secret! I think everyone will be amazed, though.

After this, I just have math, and then I'm so very free! Well, I still have Volleyball, but I don't have to listen to teachers or anything. And then I get to go home!

Well, I'm off to play Minesweeper. Bye!

I don't know why the school is putting together a MySpace. I haven't been around too long (6th grade), but I guess they're trying it out as a way to keep control over MySpace and Internet stuff but still be cool and with it. But really, I don't see what the fuss is about. I think that, like, 80% of us can handle ourselves, but the immature people, like, say, Eileen, might get upset or not be able to handle creepiness, so we're all encouraged to do this stuff through a generic "school" page rather than our own MySpaces (is that a word?).

I guess it's better than nothing. I hear a lot of schools just block stuff, which is way annoying.

I'd say something about it being the FIRST POST, but that's kinda lame, so I won't. Oh, wait.