GamemasterJT

Important Events of Late

2011-05-03T13:32:00.000-06:00

Last week was the wedding of William, Prince of England, to Catherine "Kate" Middleton. It was a really big deal in the world, people have been making an excitement for weeks now. It's like a fairy tale, a commoner chosen by a handsome prince and getting married in a beautiful church.

Granted, I heard that the first time Prince William saw Kate was at a beauty pageant where she was wearing a see-through dress... XP

On Sunday, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the Al Queda terrorist organization and the man behind the attacks of 9/11, was killed in a compound raid by a United States Special Forces operation. Obama made the announcement to the American people.

God bless the United States of America!

The Little Car

2011-03-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Once there was a car. He was owned by a family with two little boys and a little girl. They liked to call him "The One Eyed Beast" because he was missing one headlight.

"But my name is Alfred!" The car would always complain. But nobody heard him, because as we all know, cars can't talk.

Every day, the oldest boy would stand outside his middle school, and when his mom pulled up, he would laugh and say to his friends, "Look! It's the One-Eyed Beast!"

"But my name is Alfred!" The car said. But nobody heard him, because as we all know, cars can't talk.

Then they would drive to the Elementary School, and the second boy would giggle and say to his little sister, "Lookie there, it's the One-Eyed Beast!"

"But my name is Alfred!" The car cried. But nobody heard him, because as we all know, cars can't talk.

One day, though, the little girl got into the car and said "Be nice to him! He's not a beast! He drives all of us to school, and to church, and to the grocery store, every day!"

The car's spirits lifted. It felt good to be appreciated.

The brothers didn't know what to say. Finally the older one said "You're right. We should give him a name!"

The little car felt so good, he wished his headlight worked so he could beam with both of them. "My name is Alfred!" he pronounced.

"Let's call him Georgie!" The little boy said. They all thought it was a wonderful name, and agreed to call him that forever.

"But my name is Alfred!!" The car wailed. But nobody heard him, because as we all know, cars can't talk.

Things I do have...

2011-03-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Since I seem to be constantly wishing that I had more things to advance myself and wishing that we could afford such things, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on some of the things I have...

I have good Picture and Video editing software in Photoshop and Premiere Elements 7.

I have a nice little camera, and it's BLUE.

I have a good Hard Drive that I can use for lots of things.

I have an acoustic guitar that I love.

So yeah. That's my short little post.

Hi Again

2010-12-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been an absolute FAILURE at blogging. That's really something that I shouldn't fail at, in my opinion. But I'm back, and I hope to keep this more updated. We'll see how that works out.

What's been happening with me? Well, I won't go over everything. The big things that took up the entire month of November was that I got to be a part of Hillcrest's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. I had an absolute blast, met tons of new people at Hillcrest, and got to be a part of an amazing show. Hillcrest is known for their performing arts, especially for the musical they do every year. And I get to do this for two more years!

I have a new group of friends, as mentioned in my last post, and they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Andrea, Alisa, Addie, Annika, Darci, Emily, and Torrey are such special people, and I don't know how to tell them enough. And McKayla, Taylor, Sarah, Elizabeth, Erin, and any of my new friends who I'm forgeting, I love you all. Jacob and Dane are awesome! And all of my old friends... I still love you all. :) Especially my fivesome, the Wonderful Rebekah, the Beautiful Rachel, the Amazing Daniel, and the Wise Evan. (Yeah... I decided I had to choose an adjective for each of them. :) ) I could go on and on and on, but it would take a while... so if you're feeling neglected, come talk to me. I'm sure I have a list of positive things to say about you.

Life at Hillcrest is awesome. I love it. I'll try to keep up to date from now on. Good day everyone!

16

2010-09-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

I am 16 years old. I can't believe it. I feel so old. It's like 16 was a thing that I always looked forward to, but now that I'm actually here, I can't believe it. It's odd.

I had a wonderful birthday. It started the Friday before, when Grandma Hall came down and took me to see Pirates of Penzance at Hale Center Theater. It was kind of a wacky play, I must say. They were all very silly. Mr. DeHaan was in it as the pirate navigator, and he did a very good job. I enjoyed spending the night with my grandma and learning more about her.

Saturday I had a bunch of people come over to my house before the Region Dance. We ate dinner, hung out, met new people. I tried to take some pictures with my mom's camera, but no one would let me. Then we went to the dance, and had fun.

Thursday was my actual birthday. I have some amazing new friends at Hillcrest. I walked in that morning and went to my locker to find a big sign on my locker that read

Happy 16th B-Day Jerom

You are awesomely epic!

<3 Alisa

My name will forever be a plague. :P By the time I got there they had made attempts to cross out the e and put an a. But it made me laugh.

But the surprises weren't over. I opened my locker to find that king sized cookies and cream Hershey's bars had been taped all over my locker. :D Those things are AMAZING. There was also a note hanging there and two cards from Alisa and Andrea. Who are also AMAZING. (As well as Darci, Addie, Attica, Emily, and everyone else in my new group! :D )

Aaaand... I GOT A NEW CAMERA! Yes my pictures are back in business... Assuming I actually remember to take it places and take pictures. :P

Sunday I was ordained a Priest! My grandparents as well as Megan and Bobby got to come and visit. We had this big dinner. My mom makes this delicious pork that she cooks in liquid smoke. Mmm...

Grandma Norris gave me a $25 ITunes card... Which, combined with the $15 each from Evan, Daniel, and Kat, plus the ten that mom owes me, gives me $80 in ITunes money. :D :D :D Jarom is one happy music lover right now.

(P.S. I spent $50 of that last night. :D )

So all in all it was a good birthday. I'll try to keep you guys more posted! Loves and Hugs!

Wow...

2010-09-13T14:06:00.000-06:00

Two Months?? TWO MONTHS?!? Wow, I fail.

Hey, all, (If there's anyone left...) Sorry I suck at posting... And reading... And just blogging in general... Yeah, I don't know why I just plain haven't gotten on here in so long.

What's been going on lately? Well, I've been working on my new story (Slowly, when I have time on the computer.) I've been working on music and tweeting poetry (Yes, yes, I know some of it is depressing.) I've been spending time with Amazing friends and coming to terms with my mind. (Finally.)

So I'm going to try and post more often now. Thanks to you who still read this... Though after such a spectacular fail, I don't know if there are any.

Jeremiah Pena

2010-07-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

JeremiahPena.com

Hey everyone! Check out the awesome music by my good friend, Jeremiah Pena! He's a very talented boy who composes his own music using software on his computer. I quite enjoy listening to his music, and I think you will too.

End Of June

2010-07-05T14:49:00.000-06:00

Review the last week... I should post more often then once a week, but oh well...

All right, let's see... Driver's Ed is over. I still have to do some more road drives, though. I went on one, and he told me to come back after I had practiced more...

Tuesday we had a burning at Evan's house. We were going to use our ceramic firepit, so Dad asked me to clean it out. While I was cleaning it out, I set it down on the grass and it shattered... Not good. So we went and bought a new metal one and used that. So I need to get the money to pay for that. :( But I had fun at the party. We burned our old homework... Well, some of it... And sat around the fire listening to music and what not.

Wednesday was Dad's birthday. I got him a pin with an Angel Moroni and an Argentine flag, cause that's where he went on his mission.

Thursday was my parent's anniversery. We went as a family and saw The Last Airbender. //SPOILER ALERT\\ We've been watching all the shows lately and getting ourselves psyched for this movie. I was really excited. And thusly I was disapointed. The movie moved too fast in my opinion, and the fighting moved too slow. They all looked really awkward when they were doing their bending because they would move as if in slow motion, and the elements moved just as slowly. Yes, it was a cool movie. But definately not my favorite. They pronounced all the character's names wrong. I mean, I can sorta understand that if you're doing it from a book or something, but this was based off of a TV show. All the names were clearly defined. But instead of General "eye-row" It was General "ear-oh". Instead of "Sock-uh" It was "Soke-uh". And instead of "Ang" it was "ahng". If my prononciation guides make any sense. Also, in the movie, firebenders couldn't create their own fire. Except Iroh. And when he did it, everyone was totally shocked. It was embarrasing.

Friday we had a party at Ty's house. It was a blast. We played Brawl, Imaginiff, Honey Do You Love Me?, and Guitar Hero. It was a blast.

Saturday we wend and saw the parade. Some things were kind of funny... Like they had this women running for congress in it, waving a purple lightsaber. Following her car were Luke Skywalker and Jabba the Hut. They also had the Wendy's Jazz Band. And, of course, The Copper Hills Marching Band and Color Guard! Woot! I saw Nick playing his drum, Garrett dancing with his Saxaphone, and Rachel dancing with the Color Guard.

That night we went to West Jordan Park for their big thing... I met up with Aerin and Steph there and we watched Flushed Away on a big screen they set up in the park. Then there were fireworks and stuff. So it wasn't very long, but it was fun.

Sunday morning we got up and drove off to Aunt Megan's church for the blessing of her new baby boy, Evan Robert Porter. Then we had brunch at her place and took pictures and stuff. I kept getting all sorts of compliments from people I didn't know.

So those have been my adventures lately.

First Weeks of Summer

2010-06-25T18:30:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know I suck at this. I'm sorry.

So, the first day of summer I rode my bike down to Copper Hills (Biking is something I do during the summer, so I thought it worked to kick it off...) then I thought I'd make sure that I knew how to get myself to Jeremiah's house, since we were trying to plan a band practice for that weekend. So I stopped by his house... And we decided to have the practice right then. Which, as always, we got little done and ended up trying to film a new movie anyways. We only got half done with that, though, before I had to go home. (Jeremiah still needs to finish the other one we filmed months ago!)

So that night was Kayleen's dance performance, which also included Brielle, Jaden, and Lia. After that we drove to Grandma's house and stayed the night. We went to the Chico Reunion with them the next day. Chico, California, is the town where I was born, and where my parents grew up. Most of the people that lived there now live here in Utah, so every year they have a big reunion. Me and Kayleen went to that with Grandma and Grandpa Norris and represented the Timothy Norris Family.

Next week was the beginning of Driver's Ed. It's actually just "Here's a packet and a textbook, do whatever you want as long as you get stuff done and don't distract the teacher." And we watched movies every once in a while... Like driving videos. But I met this cool kid named James who's been home schooled most of his life. He's really funny. (I should go find his e-mail and message him... K done. =D )

Umm... what else have I done? I spent an afternoon at Skye Park with Garrett, Ryan, Jeremiah, Maya, Elizabeth, and her friend Dayne. Then near the end Bekah showed up, limping and with a brace on her knee. I had to support her as she hobbled down the stairs... Poor Bekah. This is going out to all of you... DON'T HURT YOURSELF. It makes me feel... bad... Like "AUG! My friend is in pain..." It puts me in pain, okay? So don't do it.

But she was doing fine, because the next day Evan invited her, Daniel, and myself to go to the temple and do baptisms, and then we took her home and Rachel K. was there, and so we actually ended up having a party at Bekah's house with the five of us. And I must say... MAN OH MAN THAT WAS A BALL! I love those guys. =D

So I've been biking to Copper Hills every morning... And my mind likes to wander while I'm biking. So I've actually written two songs while I've been biking. It's kind of funny.

What else have I done... I hung out with Quin. That was fun. OH YEAH. I've decided that MFA was not only a total copyrighting issue, but it was poorly written and... Well it just crashed. So I'm scrapping that. I am, however, beginning writing a new story that I've had ideas for for a long time. It does not have a name yet... And I hope to be better with this then with MFA.

There was also Big Event. That was fun. We went Shotgun shooting, and it was my first time shooting a shotgun, and I hit 5/5 birds. I tribute it to the timing I've built playing video games. =D We also went repelling, which was fun. It was kind of funny cause the helpers at the bottom weren't paying attention when I was going down, until one of them said "Oh, here comes another guy." And then I heard "Jarom Norris." And I landed on the ground and to my surprise, there was Xander. He was working at Big Event at the repelling wall. We went Rock Climbing, too... I made it 3 feet off the ground before I couldn't go any further. The things were too small and my feet kept slipping off. I couldn't climb. So that was a fail... I saw Jonathan C. there, too, and he told me that Jacob V. and Samgee were there somewhere.

Monday was Evan's birthday, so we (Daniel, Bekah, Rachel, and myself) went and kidnapped him... That was interesting. Then we went and had a party at my house. That was even more interesting. I love that group...

Oh, and Raechel injured herself. Biffed it on her bike, scrapes all over, stitches on her chin. I went over to her house so I could talk to her and make her feel better. And then Robby showed up. And then we went outside and Calvin came over. So we ended up having a party instead of what I had planned... But oh well.

Umm... I think that's about it. I'll come back if I think of anything.

Goodbye, Midvale...

2010-06-14T16:50:00.000-06:00

Well, as you can see, I suck at this. Annoyingly enough, this layout will not let me show you the date of the post... but that last one was on May 31. Today is June 14. Crap... Why do I have the feeling like there was something important on June 14th? My calender says nothing but Flag Day... Which reminds me to go see if our flag is out... Surprise Surprise, it's not. Nor is it in the closet where we keep it... Umm... Strange. Why would anyone take that anywhere but to the flag post without Mom knowing?

Random thought - Don't you love little things that you know only you would notice? Especially about your room. I always know when someone's been in my room. Like this morning, I was sitting on my bed, and I realized... That Rubik's Cube was green side up yesterday... and now it's orange side up. Hmm... Or the other day there was a piece of paper that I hadn't even seen in a while that is now mysteriously on the ground where I put my phone and wallet every night.

Anyways, lots of things have happened since my last post... the first one I believe would be Lagoon Day. That was epicly awesome. I got to spend all day going on rides hanging out with Jeremiah and Ryan, the Choir (Including Mr. and Mrs. Smith!), and a whole gaggle of my other amazing freinds! I had a blast. The next day was the last day of school, and we had the talent show, that was good... And then a drawing, in which I kept my tradition of never winning anything... And then we had a time to sign yearbooks and say goodbye... And that was it. The school year is over, and we've left Midvale behind... Such a sorrowful parting... Anyways that night we had a year end party at Classic Skating, with Rachel O. and Allie and Bekah and Jessica and Evan and Daniel and Lucky. I had a lot of fun, even though I fail at skating... I had fun just being with them.

Concert Week

2010-05-31T21:03:00.003-06:00

Okay, this was an interesting week. Tuesday I went to the West Jordan High School Choir Performance. Kat and Sam Boldrin and Justin Cook and Tanner DeHaan are all in those choirs, and let me say those choirs are amazing. It helps that they have a choir director who really knows what he's doing- Mr. DeHaan, who lives in our ward. Quin and Jason will both be in Choir at West Jordan next year. I'm going to do choir at Hillcrest. I'm currently signed up for Mixed Choir, but Aerin says that Sophmore guys can sign up for Concert Choir, cause they need more guys.

Thursday was out Combined Choir Rock Concert. Midvale Middle's two choirs and Mount Jordan's two choirs combined to make one big combined choir, and along with a live band called "The I.B." We created the most epicly awesome Middle School Concert of the YEAR! We were rocking out all night to Beatles and Queen, along with other rock songs like "Kiss from a Rose" and "Heartbreaker". I got to do a Solo for "Here, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles, as well as do my own part during the finale, "Hey Jude".

Away from Concerts, Friday after school was the Ninth Grade Dance. It was kind of lame, cause it was only an hour long and they only played two slow songs, and only like 30 people showed up, so the gym was empty, but that made it kind of cool too, cause we had like half the gym to ourselves. And Gregory showed us just how good of a dancer he is, which was a little surprising, though not much.

After that, Evan invited me and Daniel to go to the Blaze game. So we went, and we got the stadium, and they told us that we had to stand in the Box Office line to get our vouchers turned into tickets, so we were all like "Where's the line?" And then we saw it... And it wrapped around the parking lot... It was HUGE. So Evan's dad was like... "Let's go to a movie." So we went and saw Iron Man 2. Interesting movie, not one of my favorites, but I liked it.

Saturday was boring...

Sunday evening we had Raechel and Calvin over and we played games. It was pretty fun. I love those guys.

Today we went up to Brigham City, went to visit my Grandpa at the Cemetary, and then went to Aunt Joelle's house. Megan had her baby today, so I have a new baby cousin.

This Last Week

2010-05-22T19:39:00.000-06:00

So this last week has been interesting... I talked about the Talent Show and the Guitar Performance in my last post, both went well. I need to find a way to record some of my songs... Except we have no digital video camera. And no sound recording stuff either. Oh well... We're doing an Environmental Summit in Spanish, that's going well... We're playing Assassin at school. If you don't know what that is, you can find it here... or our wikispace here. You can only play if you go to Midvale, cause that's where it takes place... My brain feels melted. So that's my week.

Days Go By (Part 4: Music)

2010-05-17T22:30:00.001-06:00

Oh, wow, were do I start? I've been getting really into music lately. Listening a lot more to music that I've liked sorta in the back of my head and never really bothered to actively listen to. I"ve got a playlist of such songs playing right now, and I think I'm going to post each new song as it comes on. :D (Hey, Soul Sister. Daniel's Song!) Ah, crap, my headphone's are wigging out... Rearranging the cords... Okay, that took longer then I would've liked, but oh well. (Now we're on to the next song... You Belong With Me. Athena's Song!) Okay, quick thing on this song, I LOVE the music video for this song... I was watching it... and I was like "YES! YES! YES! This is how it should be! I especially like that at the end they're at prom, and the girlfriend is in this bizzare dress that's like totally immodest, and Taylor walks in wearing this really pretty modest dress, and he chooses her over his girlfriend. :D :D :D

Okay, then... Guitar class! We had our school performance, which only had three songs, but I sung for "This Train". It was... interesting. (I sang it an octave too low.) (Best Days of Your Life) And I'm actually working on some homework while I do this... (Why? I should just do one... I dunno. Thanks for the Memories) I've been working on figuring out new things on my guitar, including trying to play some of my songs I wrote a while ago and could never figure out. I kinda want an Electric Guitar, just because there are some things that you can't do with an acoustic. Electrics make a very unique sound... (Apologize) (100 Years)

Wednesday we are having our Combined YM/YW Talent Show. I'm going to perform a song I wrote called "Sky" (I'll post the lyrics sometime...) Robby want's me to play the guitar for him while he sings "Fireflies", so I'm trying to create an arrangement of that for him... Thursday is our Guitar concert, and I tried out for a solo for that and got it, so I will be singing "Sky" there too. (Don't Stop Believing - Sam Tsui Version) Have you ever listened to Sam Tsui? He's really good. I really like him. For those of you who don't know, my new hero is Adam Young. Not only do I love his music (He's more commonly known as Owl City.) But with his first few albums, he did all the music himself. So he's good at singing, keyboard, guitar, and music editing. I so wish I had his talent.

Now on to Choir! Our Rock Concert is coming along. A week ago was Solos week, where we went through all the songs and whoever wanted a solo could try out. I tried out for almost all of them, just to try out and see what I could do. And I ended up getting the solo for "Here, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles. Mr. Smith said I did amazing at that solo. It wasn't actually in my top three that I wanted, but it was the one I did the best according to him. I'm really excited for this concert. Today was our first combined rehearsal, because for the concert we'll be combined with mixed choir and Mount Jordan Middles' two choirs. (Time After Time - Quietdrive Version) And we'll be playing with a live band. Today's rehearsal was a bit of a... disaster. Our combined choir is HUGE. We couldn't all fit on the stage, our little group was actually right off the stage behind the curtains. And (Mr. Smith said this was just because the Mt. Jordan sound system sucks) none of the soloist could even hear themselves. I'm like I'm singing right into the mic, but I can't hear myself sing... The band was really loud. :P But they're really cool. I wish I had as much talent as them. (American Ride) Also, for a while me, Cory, Jason, and Brandon, would sit in the back, and at the end of "Hey Jude" wear they go "Na na na na" we were all singing background lines that we had made up. So Mr. Smith mentioned that he might like to have some people doing random solos during that part, so the four of us went to him and showed him what we'd put together, and he told us we could do that. So now I guess I'm doing two solos! That concert will be next Thursday, the 27th, at 7 at Midvale Middle School. (Crush)

Ha ha! Another Funny Story (Which might clear up some things if this ends up happening weird...)(If Today Was Your Last Day) So While Mount Jordan were doing the songs that only they are doing, we we're sitting in the audience, and I had Tesya sitting next to me, and Tyler on the other side of her. Tyler, being his normal self, was annoying Tesya to no end. I, also being my normal self, was attempting to defend her from him. (Hmm... I do that a lot with Ty...) (Savior - Adam Young Remix) So at this one point I reached around her to punch him in the arm, and right at that point Tesya turns to me and goes "Look! Smile!" And I turn and smile right in time for Mrs. Otto to take our picture... with my arm behind her reaching towards Ty... So it totally looks like I have my arm around her. :P Yeah... I think that yearbook pictures were already due though... So that picture's not going anywhere. (Crap, why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?) (February Air)

So, I think that's all I've got right now... I love music. I've been feeling more and more involved in my music. It's definately something I want to do. I want to be better at guitar and piano and learn to sing better. (Vanilla Twilight)

Days Go By (Part 3: Mother's Day)

2010-05-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

So the day before Mother's day, our aunt Anna Hall came down from California with Linc, Hari, and new baby Marle. (See here for Anna's blog post about Utah...) We spent Saturday with them, and then they came to church with us... Hari is like the perfect little angel! He just sat there on the bench with his Book of Mormon in his little lap, looking cute and perfect. He showed Robby up in terms of reverence. (Here's the cool part... I think he rubbed off on Robby!) Then Mom held Marle for the whole time, and it was very interesting... A couple of people did double takes at her, others were fawning over the cute little baby, and Mom was loving the attention. :D

After that we drove up to Brigham City, where we spent the day with Grandma Hall. Also there were Megan and Bobby Porter, and JoElle and Josh Derieg. We had fun, we ate lasagna, we rolled pigs... (Pig Rolling post on Megan's blog) Megan is due to have her baby boy pretty soon... That should be exciting.

I got Mom and Grandma little ornaments with phrases on them. They really liked them. I like these moments when I can show my mom how much I love her, even if sometimes I don't feel it on a day-to-day basis. I still really appreciate her.

Days Go By (Part 2: GRRR....)

2010-05-17T19:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, because this is on my mind right now, I'm going to post it... In this case, italics is thoughts...

So I get home from school today, and I get a text from Daniel's phone (That he shares with his sister, Bethany.) It says "Hey do u know where daniel is?"
...What? "Didn't Evan's mom take him home?"
"When/where did u see him last?"
"At the library."

So I text Evan... "Is Daniel with you?" "No" "Did you drop him at his house?" "Yes"

Back to Bethany... "Evan says he dropped him off at his house."
"I know, we r trying to find him. Thanks for the info."

Kinda freaking out now... Has he run away? Did he just wait until Evan's mom left and then walked away? Or is it just the Bethany is looking in the wrong places and can't find him?

At the time I was talking with Kat, so I told her about it, and she had the wonderful idea that we should say a prayer to make sure he was okay... so we did so...

A few hours later, I text back... "Have you found him yet?"
"Yes, he was slightly eaten though."
What the heck?!? "Are you pulling my leg?"
"Would i ever do that?"
"Yes."

Well, Daniel just got on chat, set the whole thing straight... Basically, Bethany decided to bug Daniel by freaking me out... and it worked... Grrr.....

So then Daniel asks me to chastise her... yeah, well, I discovered I suck at that... So know overly I'm just annoyed.

Days Go By (Part 1: AP Human Geography)

2010-05-17T19:31:00.002-06:00

As I am becoming more and more of a music lover in all (well, most) forms, I thought it appropriate to use a song title as my blog post. Plus it fits really well, because, well, I have many days that have gone by which I must now cover. Because of AP, I have not been allowing myself to get on. (So I wasn't being lazy, I just was in Lockdown Mode and wouldn't allow myself to post.) But now that AP is over, I find myself facing the massive task of covering everything I missed. Are you ready for this?

... I just realized my posts don't have dates on them... Daggett. This code that I'm using is actually a lot harder to edit then I thought. Despite my ability to edit many of the things involved, I still cannot fix some things... But I can see that my last posts were the ones I posted during that day in the Computer Lab. It was right after the last region dance, so that would make it... April 23rd. Are you kidding me? Geez... (For the record, today's date is May 17th.)

... Yeah, I can't think of how the heck I'm going to cover everything... Maybe if I had PICTURES! Stupid Camera. Let's start with the first thing that came to mind, the most prevelant thing in my recent life, AP Human Geography. After much stress and everything, the test is finally over. And that means, AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY IS FINALLY OVER! I NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS CLASS AGAIN! (Sudden impending doom feeling... Why do I feel like saying that is going to jinx me?) The test went well, some of the questions were easy, some were... interesting (The wording was kind of confusing...) For the first time ever, my brain almost went into a panic mode during a test, because I looked up at the clock and had 10 minutes left, and still had like 20 questions... (That may not sound like a problem, but do the math... It had taken me 50 minutes to do 55 questions...) Time ran out with four questions left to go. Hmm... Then the essay part, it was like as soon as she said go, everyone opened the questions, and you felt the room relax. "We know these! We know what these questions are talking about!" Everyone thinks. :D

Poor Jonathan, though... (I hope he doesn't mind me saying this...) We got back to class, and he was like "They didn't talk about the Demographic Transition Model at all on the test!"
I, confused, ask "... Did you do the essay part?"
"Yeah. Did they talk about it on that?" (As if trying to see if he just couldn't remember it...)
"Yeah, the third question was all about it."
"... There was a third question?"
At this point a look of horror crosses my face.... Ah, crap....

Let's go check my grade in that class... Hmm... Okay, he hasn't put in any of the assignments I've turned in. The good news is, I don't think my grade can actually go down from the D that it's at. (That's good news?!?) So I'm going to pass... but probably with a B if I'm really really lucky. :(

Hilarious Videos

2010-04-23T08:09:00.001-06:00

These made me laugh so hard! Hope you enjoy!

SolarFlare Productions

2010-04-23T08:02:00.000-06:00

Okay, I finally made up my mind. I am changing the name of JTN Productions, because I decided it wasn't creative and maybe a bit egotistical. The new name of JTN Productions is now

SolarFlare Productions

As such, and since I really fail at graphic art as of now, I'm going to have a contest. I'm going to try to enter too, though, so you have to make something I like more then what I make. (That shouldn't be hard...) I want everyone to try and make me a new logo for SolarFlare. Try to make a simple logo (The kind that might be shown when you turn a video game on.), a Desktop background, and a flag I can put at the bottom of this blog. The prize will be to have your name featured as the winner in a post on the blog, as well as having it permanantly placed as the artist for the banner that will be at the bottom. (I know that's not really much of a prize... But this is a challenge, to beat everyone else.)

Thanks!

Happenings of Late

2010-04-23T07:51:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday was a Region Dance. Kimber just turned 14, and so this was her first dance. I got her a nice necklace for her birthday and gave it to her at the dance, and she really liked it. (She also liked how it tinkled when she jumped and moved. She's so funny.) Maya was also there with Jeremiah, and Rachel O. was there with Allie because they had spent the day together reviewing APHG stuff. (If you're uninformed, APHG = Advanced Placement Human Geography. Or AP Human Geography. Or APHG. Whatever floats your boat.)

Monday was my mom's birthday. I got her a canvas thing that said "When I count my blessings, I count you Twice." After school we went to see "How to Train your Dragon." I really liked it. It was cool. I'm thinking I can do some research on how much of the movie was based on research, and how much was just popular and fabricated ideas. But there's actually not much known about the vikings and stuff, as most of their mythological records were destroyed, so who knows.

Tuesday we had a field trip to the Zoo. It was pretty fun. For an assignment, we were observing the Gorilla, and this zookeeper comes out and says "I'm about to feed the animals. Anyone want to help me?" Naturally, our group jumps on that. She gave Cory a big burlap sack and says "Just chuck that in there over by the gorilla, sorta up the hill." So he does, the gorilla hears it plunk and grabs it. Then he drags it up to the top of the hill and dumps out a ton of vegetables, like lettuce and broccoli heads. She gave the same thing to Riley to throw to the Orangutan. She also gave them a bottle full of frozen water with carrots suspended in there. (I think they were carrots... They were orange, at least.) She told us that the gorilla would wait until it melted, drink the water and eat the carrots. The orangutan, on the other hand, would rip the bottle open and then break the ice, picking out the carrots and sucking on ice chunks. So I had fun going to the Zoo with all of my friends. :D

Tuesday night was the Honor Choir Concert. On the way over there, I get a call from Jason (Who had left in the middle of the school day) And he frantically says "Jarom! I totally forgot about the Concert! Can you give me a ride??"

How do you forget about a concert you're in?

So we went and got him, and of course ended up in traffic on the way there, arriving 15 minutes late. (West Jordan Construction Traffic... Geez.) But everything went really well.

Wednesday night we had mutual, but I had planned to leave early to get some stuff done. After all, we were just playing basketball. But I convinced myself to stay for one game, and promptly slammed into Carl as he was turning around and landed badly on my elbow, hip, and knee. So I limped home, and I still have a little bit of a limp (Not too much) and it hurts to put my elbow on the counter.

Good Going, Jarom.
Hey, you be quiet. I thought I'd get some exercise, you know. It wasn't like I was playing basketball when I should have been doing homework becasue I wanted to, I decided I should stay with my quorum for some exercise because I've been skipping out on them lately because of how much homework I have.

So yeah. That's my happenings of late.

Career Day

2010-04-23T07:37:00.001-06:00

I'm in the computer lab at school right now, because Evan needs to retake part of the Computer Tech Test-Out (That I already passed. I was the first one! Yays!) And I wanted to come work on my Final Cut that I never got to work in Bradfield's Lab, but for some reason they are now taking the test in the computer lab. (We have five labs- the Tech Lab (Bradfield's) The Shop Lab (Cuavas') The Computer Lab, The Writing Lab, and the Library Lab.) So I'm in here doing this. Maybe I'll read my APHG book. After this.

So what's happened lately? Well, Friday was Career Day. It started with a thing in the auditorium, where we had Roger Malaga come and talk to us about his career. He is a dancer and actor, and he was the coreographer for High School Musical. He had a dance off, with some of the best dancers in the 9th grade- McKayla Whitehead, Maya Arzola, Marissa McQuinn, Diego... something, and Jacob Virgin. He did it to show us sorta what Auditions were like. And the winner was... JACOB! Yeah! You can see him dancing in this low quality video from last year's Talent Show.

After that we spereated and went to different classes. My first one was Computers, and that wasn't really that interesting. Then was Engineering, which was cool because he showed us a bunch of things that he worked with, like special metals and plastics and such. Then was Military, and a woman from the Air Force came and talked to us. She was a recruiter, so obviously she showed us all the advantages of joining the Air Force. It was pretty interesting.

Españolandia

2010-04-22T17:05:00.000-06:00

Just because my camera broke is no reason to stop posting. (By the way, my watch broke too... :( )

Since I suck epicly at this, let's start at last Thursday.

Last Thursday was the BYU Language Fair. Every year, they do a fair where they have activities for foreign language students. I know they do Spanish, German, and French. The Spanish kids, being the coolest, get the Wilkeson center and the buildings around the courtyard. They had a bunch of different events we competed in, such as Show and Tell, Skits, Language Bowl, Humorous Stories, all in Spanish. My events were Poetry and Impromptu Conversation. For poetry I had to memorize this poem and recite it:

Lázaro, por Jose Asunción Silva

"¡Ven, Lázaro!" -gritóle
el Salvador, y del sepulcro negro
el cadáver alzóse entre el sudario,
ensayó caminar, a pasos trémulos,
olió, palpó, miró, sintió, dio un grito
y lloró de contento.

Cuatro lunas más tarde, entre las sombras
del crepúsculo oscuro, en el silencio
del lugar y la hora, entre las tumbas
de antiguo cementerio,
Lázaro estaba, sollozando a solas
y envidiando a los muertos.

It's a strange poem... Here's what it means with Jose's lining, which I don't like all too much, but oh well.

"Come, Lazarus!" cried out
the Savior! And from the black seplechre,
the corpse rose among the shroud.,
he tried to walk, trembling steps
he smelt, he felt, he saw, he felt, he gave a yell
and cried with joy!

Four moons later, among the shadows
of the dark twilight, in the silence
of the place and the time, among the tombs
of the ancient cemetary,
Lazarus was weeping alone,
and envying the dead.

Yep. I got an "Excellent". Upstairs was Españolandia. For those of you who are uninformed, that roughly translates to "Spanish Land". There were a bunch of booths where you got stamps. We've been preparing for a month so we would know what to say no matter what they asked us. It was really fun.

So our Language Bowl team, which consisted of Hannah, Lindsey, Riley, Isaac... and someone else... daggett... anyways, they got first place. WOO! Then at the very end of the fair they counted up all of the Superior ratings that each school got and gave out trophies. And guess what? WE GOT THE GRAND PRIZE! That's right, Midvale Middle School won the whole Language Fair. To sorta let you know how much that means, we had High Schools and Middle Schools from all over Utah, plus a few from Idaho, and one from Oregon. YAY FOR MIDVALE!

Sadness!

2010-04-14T19:25:00.001-06:00

MY CAMERA BROKE!

Epic Sadness. :( :( :(

Isn't it funny how we don't actually realize how much we like something until it's gone? I'm cameraless, and each moment I'm without I'm missing an oppurtunity I could document... (Not that I haven't missed oppurtunities before... I'm kinda bad at that. :P )

It's symptoms are somewhat strange, actually. Everything is working just fine... except the shutter button. That's right, the button that takes pictures isn't doing anything. I'm not getting an error message, the camera just doesn't know I'm pressing down the button! It's so strange!

So, yeah. I'll get back to you on that...

YAY!

2010-04-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

Guess what?? My dad just told me... He talked a little about it earlier, and I said I was interested, but I didn't think he'd actually do it! He signed me up with a group that's going to Spain for a month, so that I can try to improve my spanish. He's going with us, because he's a fluent speaker. I'm really excited! But I'm also kinda nervous, because I'm supposed to be speaking only spanish for the whole month, and I still can't speak fluently. I have to think about each phrase and congagate each verb before I say it... so I'm really slow. :P So I'll be doing that in July. Yay!

A Month, Gone Missing!

2010-04-01T14:59:00.001-06:00

Now that my blog is officially out of date, I thought I'd do a post... and for the record, yes, my title is actually one I've used before.

So... I don't know if I actually want to go back and review it all. Couple of key things, I guess...

Been doing lots of Choir stuff. We had our concert last week, where we did our festival songs (O Magnum Mysterium, Duerme Negrito, and Hold On!) and our Disney Spectacular. I've had a lot of fun so far in choir. For our next concert we're doing a Rock Concert. We're going to have a band, and we're combining Midvale Concert and Mixed Choirs with Mount Jordan Concert and Mixed Choirs, because Mr. Smith teaches both schools. Some people aren't so happy about that. Should be interesting... Anyway, most of the songs we're doing are Beatles songs. The problem with doing a rock concert is that he wants us to do it at about the same level the songs are originally in... which means falsetto. Either I'm doing falsetto wrong, or it's normal that I can't sing more then two songs without feeling dizzy. This is going to be interesing...

It's Spring Break, and their snow on the ground outside. Oximoronic? Maybe. Welcome to Utah. Greatest Land on earth, even if it's not the greatest weather. Oh, sunlight, where are you?

Okay, I actually just went and opened the blinds, and it's sunny outside, so hopefully the snow won't stay for too long... Yay for sunlight!

I'm going to try to post more often, so that I don't have to skip so many things again. There's just so much homework to be done, I just felt overwhelmed. But I'll try to keep you all updated.

Marlene Hall!

2010-03-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

The second.

Sorry I haven't been posting, I've been doing homework.

Just thought I'd make an announcement- My Uncle Geoff and Aunt Anna just had their new baby last night. Her name is Marlene Hall, named after my grandmother. (Geoff and my Mom's mom.)

As my mom says, they're not as cute when their brand new...

Congradulations! One of my mom's (and Geoff's) sisters, Megan, is also pregnant, and I believe she's due in the next few months. So new cousins! Yays!

A Good Day, I S'pose...

2010-02-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

You know how we're supposed to be writing in a journal? Hasn't the prophet told us to do that or something? Well, I was thinking, I suppose this is mine... I mean, I write in my paper one every once in a while, but it's almost easier for me to say things here. I hope, nay, plan for this thing to be around in 50 years. We'll see how that works out.

So, anyways... Saturday was a good day. I spent the first half of the day finishing up an essay so I could have fun the second half. But I got it done. So afternoon comes, and we all dress up all nice and we go pick up Raechel and Evan to go to the temple. But, turns out, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple was closed for cleaning.

Blessing Number One- We all laugh and say "Oh well. Let's go to the Jordan River Temple!" Where else can you do that? I love living in this valley. If only it snowed less...

Blessing Number Two- The Lord definitely knows what he's doing. The timing, the Oquirrh being closed, everything had to happen exactly the way it did for what happened next to happen.

So we get to the Jordan River, and we go and get changed, and we sit down in the chapel. I'm talking with Raechel, and I look up as a girl comes out of the locker room. I sorta did a double take and then looked away, and thought "That girl looks awfully like Sam..." And so I kept quickly glancing at her, because I didn't want to stare in case it wasn't her, but it sure looked like her, and she seemed to be giving me the same glances. (I didn't realize until later that she normally where's glasses, and she wasn't...) But one of the ushers comes and moves our group along, and she was just sitting there by herself cause she didn't have a group, so he puts her in our group, and I end up sitting right next to her. Turns out, it was my friend Sam, who I barely ever get to see!

So I got to talk with Sam. She's usually a really hyper person, but she was actually really calm. She talked about how the temple helped her to calm down and focus, and how she loved the temple because that's where she could organize her thoughts. She helped me to feel the spirit while I was there. She also showed me her scriptures, which have markings all over them. She showed me her favorite scriptures and we talked about what they meant to us. I showed her a cool thing that Brother Michaelis showed me- If you look in 2 Nephi 12:2, which some people call the Utah Scripture because it says that the Lord's house will be established in the "Top of the Mountains" an Utah is a Ute Indian word for "Top of the Mountains". Anyways, if you look in that, you can look at the second line, at the U in the word mountain... directly beneath that is the T in established, and below that the A in mountains, and below that the H in hills. UTAH.

Pretty cool huh? Well, I showed her that, and topped it off by saying "The church is true!" She laughed, and marked it in her scriptures, then wrote at the top "Jarom: The Church is True!" So I was like "Now I can say that my name is in your scriptures." She laughed again, and then I thought, and was like "Wait... my name was already in your scriptures" "Yeah, you have your own book." The Book of Jarom. Ha. =D

So that was my awesome temple experiance. Later that night, I went to a Region Dance with Daniel, Evan, Jeremiah, Ryan, and Garrett. I got to meet Jeremiah's friends Cailey and Lia. Lia was really nice, and I hope I can hang out with her and Jeremiah sometime. We could have a party. =D

I've never had so much fun dancing YMCA... oh, wait, that was totally random. I danced that with Daniel and Evan, and it was pretty fun. Don't really know why.

Well, that's basically my Saturday.

Talent Show

2010-02-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was the talent show. I was in it. I played my guitar and sang Make My Day. I was sitting there before it started, talking to Hannah and Lindsey, and Lexi goes "Jarom?" "What?" "You're shaking." "What?" "Hold your hand flat." So I did, and sure enough, I was shaking...

(Thanks to Lexi for the pictures.)

I did some editing to get this. I thought it looked pretty nice.

So everyone seemed to like it, I got a lot of people that told me it was good and they liked the song. So it was good. I wish I had some better pictures. But it's hard to take pictures in that Auditorium.

Why I Love My Friends, Even Though They Drive Me Insane

2010-02-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's still quite entertaining.

Elizabeth: Girls are so afrakten
me: Afrakten?
Elizabeth: a political view
me: Meaning?
Elizabeth: to share civil potatoes
me: Civil Potatoes.
Elizabeth: yessery
me: You're becoming as random as your brother.
Elizabeth: lol it's real though
me: ?
What is it?
Elizabeth: a political view
me: No, a Civil Potato.
Elizabeth: a potato that was in the civil war
me: And Afraktins share those?
Elizabeth: no
people that are afracten
afrakten
me: Oh.
Afracten. Sorry.
Afractens share Civil Potatoes?
Elizabeth: with a k
afrakten
me: Crap.
I cannot pay attention today...
Elizabeth: me niether these afrakten always get in the way
me: Afraktens share Civil Potatoes?
Elizabeth: no
me: You said that Afraktens believe in sharing Civil Potatoes.
Elizabeth: afraktens means to share potatoes
afrakten people are potatoes in sharing
me: People are potatoes.
Elizabeth: no
afrakten people in sharing
afrakten is a plural verb noun
me: A verb noun.
Elizabeth: afrakten has many meanings
me: So it's a verb, and a plural noun?
Elizabeth: most importantly civil potatoes
but also a plural verb noun
and if you want to eat the civil potato than you have to go through the afrakten people in sharing
sharing is a place
no it's not
i meant it was a civil potato
no sharing is sharing
me: You have to go throught the people in the civil potato to get to the civil potato.
Elizabeth: no
you have to go through the afrakten to get the civil potato in sharing so that the potato is a verb noun
so the afrakten is a civil potato in sharing
me: The potatos is a verb noun only if you go through the afrakten.
Elizabeth: yes and I am an afrakten if you don't mind me sharing
me: The Civil Potato is in Sharing.
You have to go through the Afrakten People to get to the Civil Potato.
And if you get the Civil Potato, then potato is a verb noun.
Elizabeth: no
the potato is a verb noun, and you have to go through the afrakten people to get the civil potato in sharing
me: But you said potato was only a verb noun if you go through the Afrakten.
Elizabeth: not if you go through sharing though
sharing is a civil potato
me: But the Afrakten aren't in Sharing, right?
So there is a way to get to Sharing without going through the Afrakten?
Elizabeth: the ritual in in the sharing secret of the potato sharing
you may also be a civil potato in sharing
me: I don't think I'm a potato.
Elizabeth: in sharing
me: A potato in sharing is different from a potato?
Elizabeth: yes, because its a civil potato
me: What's a potato in sharing?
Elizabeth: from the civil war
me: It's still a potato.
Elizabeth: it's a afrakten people
me: But it's still a potato.
Elizabeth: well not nesasarilly
me: But it's a potato.
Just it's from the Civil War.
It's still a potato.
Elizabeth: oh well
I got to go be frakten
see ya
me: One more question.
Elizabeth: ok
me: WHAT THE HECK IS A VERB NOUN?
Elizabeth: no clue ask the senator
:)
me: *Facepalm*

Amazing Piano

2010-02-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

So part of Solo and Ensemble was a piano compition. We had three people do Piano solos, Josh, Breanna, and Jane. Josh went first, and he was really good. Like, he's REALLY good, and I really liked his piece. But it wasn't really... jaw-dropping, you know? Breanna went, and she was good. Then Jane went. Her piece was beautiful, and the way her fingers flew across the piano, hitting at least ten notes a second, was truly amazing. So I've decided to add Jane Raty's Piano Skills to my Amazing list.

Here's the list again:

Mikayla Whitehead's Dancing
Aerin Loizos's Singing
Rachel Kirkland's Spanish Spelling
Rachel Davis's Drawing
Jeremiah Pena's Music Composing
Jane Raty's Piano Skills

Congrats, Jane! You've earned it!

Solo and Ensemble

2010-02-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

She's like the Swallow
That flies so high.
She's like the river
That never runs dry.
She's like the sunshine
On the lee shore.
I love my love,
And love is no more.

It's out of wild roses she made her bed.
A stony pillow for her head.
She laid her down, no word she spoke.
Until this fair maid's heart was broke.

She's like the swallow
That flies, so high!
She's like the river
That never runs dry!
She's like the sunshine
On the lee shore!
I love my love,
And love is no more.

I love my love.
And love is no more.

Results of Solo and Ensemble. It was really fun, I love hanging out with the choir. The best performance from our school, the judges chose, was Lindsey. So congrats to her! Also, the best pianist from all the schools was our own Jane, so good job to her! All the numbers were beautiful. I ended up getting a 2+ on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the lowest. So pretty good for someone who's never done this before. :D

Hi's.

2010-02-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

(I think that's how you pluralize hi... It doesn't seem grammatically correct, but His doesn't make sense and Hies lookes wierd.) It's been too long since I've posted, so... Yeah.

In these two weeks- that's 9 days- I've been to Science class 3 times. (Or will be. I'm counting the rest of this week.) It's kinda interesting, but everything is during 3rd period...

Oh yeah! I haven't mentioned how Solo and Ensamble went! So, I mentioned that the original plan was to do and duet with Paige and do a solo, but Paige still has no voice. (Actually I think by now it's mostly back.) So she canceled most of her numbers, except for one or two. So that was off... But I still tried out my Solo, and it made it on to District! So that's where I'll be on Thursday.

On Friday we have the talent show, and I'm performing "Make My Day" with my guitar. I'm excited, and a little nervous just because I'm not sure how good I really am, and I'm afraid I'm not going to do the song credit.

I got to go to church with Aerin and Steph on Sunday. It was awesome. I love those guys...

Sickness, Where is thy Victory? GAG COUGH

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I pride myself (inwardly) that I rarely get sick... but I guess that just means that when I do get sick, it hits pretty hard. :P So, I've been home all day, I missed school, which sucks a whole ton that I can't even express it, and, yeah. Life is miserable currently.

And yet I'm in a smiley mood right now... (Which is differant then a good mood, or a hyper mood. Strangely enough...)

So, here's my depressing story.

It all started yesterday. Yesterday was supposed to be one of the funnest experiances of my life. I was on the road singing with the Concert Choir, with awesome friends like Ty, Rachel, Paige, Jason, and Matthew, all day. It was going to be grand. And for a while, it was. I did the first performance fine. Somewhere between the first and second, however, I formed a small stomachache. I did the second performance with this small stomachache, and it became slightly more painful. During lunch, we went to the mall, where I had hoped to be having the time of my life, but instead I was sitting, drinking flavorless slush because the thought of eating something didn't appeal to me, hoping that if I rested then it would go away and I could perform again.

(Funny Story Break... So I got this thing from DQ called an Orange Julius... which was like a half-slushy thing that was more juicy then a regular slushie... And for some reason the juice and the ice in mine never mixed, so I ended up drinking all the juice (Again, no idea how that happened) and all that was left was this flavorless slush... so I'm just slowly drinking this stuff, and I'm walking around a bit, and I find Josh and Jason and Melissa, and I tell them my sad story, and Melissa's like "I love flavorless slush! Can I have it?" And so I think for a minute, and just think "Heck, why not?" And give it to her... so now I'm weak, miserable, and slushless... But the look on her face was priceless. :D )

So, anyways, third performance comes, my mindset is "I'm going to do this. I'm not going to quit. I'll be fine. It's just a little pain, that's all." I so wish that was true... So we're performing, and we're halfway through "Chim Chim Cheree" When my vision goes black. Fight of Flight kicks in and I think "I have to get out of here or I'll pass out in the middle of the performance." So I turn to Jason and say "I'm gonna pass out" and walk off the stage. (Luckily, I was on the sides, out of sight from half of the audience anyways, so I just slipped off.) Jason sneaks over during one of the numbers quickly and says "Hey, did you have a partner in anything?" And I'm like "Umm... yeah, I'm supposed to Waltz with Hailey..." "Ah, crap..." So now Jason has to find Hailey a waltzing partner... (Because he's already waltzing with someone else).

As the performance gets to "Heigh-ho" The girls walk off the stage and notice me sitting on the stairs... and are all immediately concerned. (Especially Hailey, because she's like "Wait... what am I supposed to do?") So after a quick "Are you going to be okay? Are you sure?" They all go back to dance "Some Day my Prince will Come" And the waltzers step up (I'll tell it how Hailey did... "I thought I wasn't even going to do it, but then I counted and there were six guys...") So Jason got Gregory to fake a waltz (It wasn't that hard...)

After the performance, I walk out with everyone else, and Mr. Smith comes out of the back of the Auditorium going "Where's Jarom? Was Jarom on stage?" (As I walk past him... he he...) So I go "I'm right here... My vision went black, so I stepped out." And he instantly looks concerned. (Strange... I don't remember what happened next... Just that people were concerned on the bus...) Then the fourth performance came around, and I decided that for the good of my health (and the show) I just shouldn't perform... So I took my camera and recorded it instead.

Afterwards, I got some interesting comments... Lindsey walked up and said "You're feeling better?" and I said "Just a little bit" and she said "Yeah, you were really pale. You have some rosiesness back in your cheeks." Then Tesya asked me what happened, and I told her about how my vision went black, and this look of shock comes over her face (Especially because I have a small (I'd say kind of weary, but still) smile as I tell her.) So, yeah, I had people like Tesya and Melissa, who I rarely seem to talk to, it seems, giving me hugs and telling me to get better. (Or in Melissa's case, "I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!" I've been talking to her more lately. I hope to become her friend.)

Little did I know that the worst was yet to come...

So I get home, and I feel tired, so I go, and instantly fall asleep on my bed. At least, for twenty minutes... Then Steph and Garrett start texting me. But I stay in bed until Mom gets home, when I realize, I really don't want to (I was going to say can't, but that would be an exageration) get out of bed. So I decide to just lay there... until Mom comes down, takes my temperature, and tells me I don't have a fever, and asks if I'm going to the Globetrotters game... So I decide to try walking around. That's when I needed to go to the bathroom, and let's just say I got rid of a lot of waste out of both ends...

I stayed home from the game.

(Crap, I just lost the game...)

So... I mostly rested while they were all gone, but at one point I got up to go to the restroom, and as I'm washing my hands, my vision again goes black, but this time I fall over... Luckily, I hit my head against the bathtub, which gave me enough sense to stumble down to the couch before I fall again. (I hit that armrest pretty hard, though...) Then I fall asleep again, wake up half an hour later, and walk down to my bed, change into my PJs, and zonk out for the night. :D

So... I didn't go to school today. I really hope I didn't miss too much. (Which means I hope I didn't miss more then all of the stuff I know that I missed that I shouldnt' have. :( )

Yeah...

... Is it?

2010-02-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

So, I was talking with Jonathan earlier today, and he mentioned my shirt (I was wearing my "Gamemaster J.T." T-shirt that Robby made for me) and so we were talking about my blog, and Alex (I should really learn her last name...) who's sitting near us says "You have a blog?" I'm like "Yeah..." And Evan says "They're not that hard to get." And so she's like "Is yours one of those rambling blogs?"

So my question is... is it? And is that a bad thing? Help me out here.

THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...

2010-02-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

POST

NUMBER

100!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, I have now done 100 posts on this blog! (That's this main page, not the Gallery or the Poems or anthing else.) YAY! The first milestone has been hit, with hopes of more to come. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog. :D

Happenings of Late

2010-02-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, let's see... Things that have been happening lately.

Concert Choir is still the best class of the day. Guitar is going well, but it's mostly review right now.

Spencer got his Arrow of Light. (He'll be 11... in 12 days...)

We're going over to Midvale Elementary tomorrow to do presentations (in spanish) about Health. Our topic is Hygiene... There's just one small problem. Paige is sick! She's in our group, but she's been sick the past few days, so we've had to improvise for our rehearsals, and I haven't been able to practice our duet. I really hope that she's feeling better tomorrow. :(

I went with Ryan and Garrett to see Avatar on Friday. It was pretty cool. Really Epic. I liked it.

Aerin is finally ungrounded! YAY!! Maybe now I can finally do something with her and Steph. (Or at least talk to her. :P )

Umm... I think that's most of my random rambling for today. :D

Catagorized

2010-02-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

Okay... So I decided I was going to start using those weird labels things, because I figured they were going to come in handy. I have this dream... that I will still be using this blog regularly 20 years from now. So I went back and tried to label all of the posts I've done since number one. I decided a couple things as I looked at older posts.

A. Alot of them are totally random. Like, there are only one or two labels that fit because the post was pointless. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but still.
B. It seems like people read my blog more regularly then. I got comments on almost every post from people like Daniel who never read this anymore.
C. Some of them have pictures... he he... some people looked weird a year ago... (Of course, they didn't actually look weird, just not like they do now, which seems weird to us.

Yeah... also, I took some posts and copied them over to my gallery, since I thought that's where they should go.

Maybe I just need to stop worrying about this... But who reads this? Please tell me if you do...

7 Days is too long... Says I.

2010-01-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in 7 days, so I need to.

Let's see... what's happened this week? Not much, really... and yet so much, really.

Last night we had a dodgeball tournament against the fifth ward. Before it even started, when Brielle heard about it, she said "Oh, you guys are getting creamed." Thanks for the support... I think she jinxed us. We only won one game... And Tori and Brielle were shocked when we told them that. :P But it was SO much fun.

Today we had the Power in You assembly. As ambassador, I got to run across the stage with a chalkboard that we had taped the Power in You banner to. :P But we'll actually get to plan and conduct the next few assemblies. We had Chris (Crap, what was his last name?) From Real Salt Lake come and be our MC. We had this guy from Ghana come and play and sing a song with his bongos (I think it was traditional from Africa... the language sounded African, but I don't know for sure so I don't want to say that I do... but I'm pretty sure.) Then talk about how he overcame trials. The Power in You is all about having confidence in yourself, and all you need to succeed is the Power in You.

For Solo and Ensemble, which is in 3 weeks, I'm doing a duet with Paige. Some of you have already heard about this. But we decided what song we wanted to do- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It's really a beautiful song, one I've always liked. We went over it for the first time today. Paige is really a beautiful singer. And of all things, while we were singing, she said I had a great voice! I laughed. Anyways, I'm thinking this is going to be really beautiful in the end.

The highlight of my day today was Seminary. We decided to have a testimony meeting today, just randomly, and it was really spiritual. People were crying everywhere, the people who didn't like doing things like this were getting up and bearing their hearts, it was all very deep. Afterwards I was so full of love, and telling everyone how much I loved them. I was standing outside the building talking to Roscoe, and Paige just walks up and gives me a hug. Paige is really sweet. It just makes me think of how great my friends are.

There's one particular person I need to raise my hat to, today. So here's to Roscoe!

You are awesome! Thanks for being such a great friend, an awesome person, and a great spirit. I think you really have a gift- you have a strong spirit, and you can use that spirit to make people happy, make people smile, and make people laugh. Thank you for your awesome testimony. I am so glad to have you as a friend.

I love you all!

I Think that Made Up for my Crappy Weekend... Maybe...

2010-01-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Heyo, all! Bytheway, my weekend wasn't all crap, because I finally got my Learner's Permit! After standing in line... for 3 housr... Thanks to all of you who kept me entertained via texting. :P

I'm feeling quite good today, because I had an awesome day yesterday! First was my first day of Guitar. I have it with Prachi, one of my friends, and Claire Kirkland, who I hope to make my friend. (Rachel laughed at me when I said that...) And Kia, who no longer hates me. Actually, when she saw me she was like "Hey! Are we going to be on better terms this year?" and I laughed and said "I'd like that."

In seminary (Which was actually before guitar, because it's 0 period) I got kicked out of my seat because by the time I showed up, Marrissa had taken it. I liked that seat... not only was it the prime seat (Right in the middle of the first row, right in front of Brother Staples) but I had gotten to like sitting next to Paige. She's such a strong spirit. But I got the seat next to her in Spanish. I don't really get to see her spirit as much... but at least I get to see her smile.

Next up was Biology, which I now have a ton of friends in. 4th is Geography, which is now kind of boring because we have half as many people and it's really quiet... Oh yeah, that reminds me! My new enrichment homeroom is Study Hall with Mr. Stucki. There's 70 people in that class. I sit on the floor next to Rachel. It's quite entertaining...

Lunch, Saunders, Language, all the same... Well, actually, on Friday I met this really nice girl named Alex, who apparently is in ALPS and in all the same classes at me, just at differant times... and we both felt kind of stupid because even though we're both 9th grade ALPS, neither of us had even heard of the other one... But now I have homeroom and Language with her. So I'm looking forward to becoming her friend.

7th period, best period of the day (For now, at least. Guitar hasn't even taken off yet.) Concert Choir! It is SO fun! Ha ha... although I didn't start it off really well. I was feeling all hyper, and I sat next to Matthew, but then I noticed that Paige was sitting in the corner by herself. She smiled at me, and I got up and tried to jump over Matthew's bag, and my foot snagged on my jeans, and I went down on my knees, and I could hear Paige go "Oh!" but I just jumped back up and smiled and walked over and said "Hey!" And she's like surprised, and like "Umm... are you okay?" "Yep. Why you sitting over here? Come sit with us!" It was kind of funny. But apparently we have 2 performances in the next two weeks, and I have to memorize all the music that half the class already has as well as some dances. Yay! And one of the performances is for a assembly that I had no idea about... That I'm supposed to be helping to PLAN...

Speaking of planning, the teacher's were in charge of Combined last night, which means I was in charge. We gave each group a scripture and made them find the meaning and then make a skit applying the meaning to real life. It was way fun. I invited Kimber and she came with Raechel, so we had a lot of fun. Afterwards we were walking home, and then I suggested we go to my house, but Kimber said her mom might not like that, so we stopped at a corner to talk about it. We ended up just spending half an hour hanging out at that corner... And it was one of the funnest things I've done this year. (All 21 days of it.)

So, Tribute time! Here's to Kimber!

Thanks for being such an awesome friend! You're so nice, and so sweet. I really enjoy talking with you and hanging out with you. Thanks for everything you do for me!

I would do one to Raechel too, but I already have. http://gamemasterjt.blogspot.com/2009/12/raechel.html I added a little to it, though, and she made me change the picture. She didn't think the last one was good.

Thanks to both of you!

2010-01-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

Finishing up my Qs, I was thinking about the poetic lyric thing I mentioned a while back. I thought I might do it again. This is one of my favorite songs- More, by Kenneth Cope. I basically took his words, and alligned them, adding punctuation, all to maximize the meaning of the words. Enjoy.

More Steady, More Sure.
More Trusted, More Pure.
Some say it doesn't matter.

More trained and more aware,
More aim to get me there.
I climb this far,
You raise the bar!
You want my heart.

More Fierce Desire
To Stand against the wind!
More Blazing Fire
When Dark is closing in!
A more love-inspired change within,
So there's more and more of me to give.

More words to learn and know,
More etched upon my soul.
Some say it doesn't matter.

More Trite,
More True.
Less me,
And much more You.
I stretch this Tall!
You sound the Call!
You want my All.

More Fierce Desire
To stand against the wind!
More Blazing Fire
When Dark is closing in!
A more love-inspired change within.
You keep
Reaching out, you're calling out to me!

For more strength in shoulders,
To Face the War with sin!
More wise and bolder,
To Save the Souls of men!
A more Faithful Soldier to the end!
You want more and more of me to give.

More and more of me to give.
More, More,
More and more of me to give!

More Love!
More Light!
More Purpose!
More Serve with all my Might!
I need more Hope!
More Faith!
More Patience,
Each day I Pray for More,
More and more of me to give!

More Fire!
More Zeal!
More Spirit,
To know what's real!
More courage!
More joy!
More!
More and more of me, to give!

More Grateful!
More True!
More Humble
To trust,
And do you call?
I hear!
I walk the path that's set in stone,
My heart is fixed on getting home!
And what on earth could ever matter more?

More and more of me, to give.
More.

Random, but okay.

2010-01-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, but you know, the bad guys just have this certain tangy flavor to them, a kick. I think they taste so much better then those goody two-shoes who come around waving magic swords or light coming out of their faces.

Yeah, but you know, the good guys have this certain uberness to them, this infinitely epic quality. I prefer them to those punks who think themselves all bad.

Yeah, sometimes the baddies are lacking in epicness. But that makes them easier to catch, right?

I s'pose.

Assassin

2010-01-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

It is my privilege to be a part of a Jeremiah Pena film, Assassin.

I thought I would use this place to share some fun secrets about the film.

1. You'll notice in the first scene in the basement, as the Assassin is trying to get up from the ground, the package from "Code Name Tiger" (The stuffed tiger) is sitting there against the desk.

2. Since it's not as obvious as we tried to make it, the Assassin's accent changes through the film.

3. In the first chase through the kitchen, their are only the two people. However, in the second on (With the backup assassin and the wanted man) there's another person, sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. It's Jeremiah's Dad!

4. Yes, the guns are made from blocks. The first time Ryan (the kid) threw the big ball at me, it hit the gun and shattered it. It was pretty epic.

5. The scene were he jumps out from behind the curtains screaming was actually not in the plan. In fact, we had no idea how he was going to get out of being surrounded. But during the first take, Me and Elizabeth ran into the room and he wasn't there. Jeremiah was confused, too. "Ryan's supposed to be on the scene!" Then he jumps screaming out of the curtains, we all jump, and we decided to put that in the movie. Of course, we re-did the scene because we were laughing too hard. (And because Elizabeth went all "Flying Ninja" on me at first.)

6. If you look really, really closely (Maybe more so then is possible) the order of blocks in my gun changes because it keeps braking.

7. The cell phone that Ryan uses is the same one that he uses in the film "Bounty Hunter"

That's all I can think of right now. It was awesome making this!

AMAZING!!

2010-01-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

IT'S OFFICIAL!

The music created by Jeremiah Pena has now been put on my Amazing List!!!!

It's a bit differant then the others, because it didn't literally make my jaw drop. But I just couldn't let that get in the way of it, especially after his newest song, "Overtaken". I listened to this song, and it just filled me with emotion. Tragedy, Anguish, it was absolutely amazing. I ended up writing a peom to it, just thoughts that came as I listened to the song, and I think it's pretty good. You can find it on my poems page, under the name Overtaken.

The list so far:

1. McKayla Whitehead's dance.
2. Aerin Loizos's singing.
3. Rachel Kirkland's spelling. (It's wierd, but true)
4. Rachel Davis's drawing.
5. Jeremiah Pena's music.

ALWAYS BE AMAZING! That's one of my mottos. And Jeremiah definately has achieved it. Good work with everything, and continue to create your wonderful music!

Daggett...

2010-01-07T16:43:00.001-07:00

I hope I don't get back into the habit of not posting. That would be bad. No bueno. Me gusta que yo puedo hablar espanol poco bien. Y yo nesicito hablar en espanol con mi padre antes manana...

Yeah. So. Anywho.

I can't believe I haven't been posting, especially this week when there were things to post!

So... Winter Break, IN REVIEW!

Monday, we went sledding with Tami and Scott and Connor. (My relatives from California, if you haven't been following this since July.) And then we went to Grandma's house.

Tuesday, after a day of homework, I went to Kat's house for a party with her, Quin, Sam, Justin, Nick, Max, and Sadee. It was fun. I need to hank out with some of them more often. :P

Wednesday, again with the homework. I was going to go to mutual, but instead we went to Grandparent's one more time.

Thursday, homework, and then NEW YEAR'S EVE DANCE! Woo! It was Jeremiah's first dance, and he had a lot of fun. He he... he didn't expect to dance with anyone. But 6 girls asked him! It was pretty awesome.

Friday... I think I only did homework on Friday... but I got a lot done.

Saturday, after finishing Dracula and my paper on it, I went Ice Skating with Elizabeth, Jeremiah, and Calvin. It was fun... even though I failed... And it didn't help that they were all really good. But then we went home and played Mario and Sonic... and had a 1 1/2 hour game of curling because Calvin decided we needed 4 end matches. :P

Sunday, first Sunday of the year. 9:00 church, the fast offerings, then going home, then band practice for wednesday, then going home, then Dead Prophet's Society, then going to bed.

This week, I had a Young Men's Recognition dinner on wednesday, where I had to play my guitar and... I kinda failed... Brother McEntyre is supposed to upload the video of it to YouTube, then I'll post it maybe.

So, yeah. That's my life. How's yours? Joyous, I hope.

Sometimes I Wonder - Arrangement by Jeremiah Pena

2009-12-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

I sent the tune of Sometimes I Wonder to Jeremiah, and he created this arrangement. For those of you who don't know, I wrote the basic tune (And lyrics, but you can hear those) And Jeremiah wrote the acompaniment and created this sound file. Isn't it beautiful? If that doesn't work... go here... http://www.archive.org/details/SometimesIWonder

Here's to Jeremiah!

This is my own picture from seventh grade...

And this is one he sent me... but it's a little too dark. Not the best picture. (No offence, of course.)

You are TOTAL AWESOMENESS. (Despite what Sam says about some girl in Morgan.) Thanks for being such an awesome friend! You're always great, funny, random, and someone I can trust. I hope you know you can trust me.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

(One day late... Oh well)

Heyo, All! I hope you all had an absolutly wonderful Christmas! I know I did, spending time with all of my family. I had a great time. I got a bunch of great gifts. I feel bad I wasn't able to give more. Maybe next year...

I got some pretty cool things, though. Kayleen made me a pillowcase with flames and dragons on it. Spencer made me a pencil holder with a ton of long words on it. (With suprisingly short definitions...) And Robby made me a Gamemaster J.T. t-shirt. It's awesome.

I also got something totally unexpected... Unlimited Texting! Starting next Monday. I was totally surprised when I opened that. Thanks Mom and Dad!

And something totally awesome, if maybe a little expected...
(Drum Roll.........................)

I FINALLY GOT A WII!

That's right, the Norris's finally have a game system that they make games for. Thanks, Santa!

Well, I've got to go hang out with my cousin and my aunt and uncle. I'll see you all later. Here's hopes to a fabulous Winter Break!

One Day...

2009-12-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stopped to think, really think, about the words to these Christmas songs? Have you ever taken away the pretty music and just thought about the pure poetry of the lyrics? I've been doing it lately, and the words just keep hitting me, impacting me. Why is it that I find these poetic words more meaningful then others? I'm not quite sure. But here's a few Christmas songs to think about. Read the poems, and forget the music for a moment.

O Come, all ye faithful!
Joyful, and Triumphant!
O Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him
Born the king of angels!
O come let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

God rest ye, Merry Gentlemen.
Let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day!
To save us all from Satan's Power
When we had gone astray
O, tidings of comfort and joy!

Christmas Bells!
Those Christmas Bells!
Ringing through the land!
Bringing peace to all the world
And good will to man!

What child is this
Who, laid to rest on Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
And shepherd watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ, the King!
Whom shepherds watch and angels sing:
Haste, Haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary!

Hark! how the bells, Sweet silver bells,
All seem to say, "Throw cares away!"
Christmas is here, Bringing good cheer
To young and old, Meek and the bold!
Oh how they pound, Raising the sound,
O'er hill and dale, Telling their tale!
Gaily they ring, While people sing
Songs of good cheer, "Christmas is here!"

Two Days...

2009-12-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Christmas time is something special
Something that just warms your soul.
Something that fills you with peace
And always surrounds you with joy.
Sounds of Christmas, oh how joyous
Hear them everywhere you go.
Silver bells, their pretty ringing
Christmas songs, their wondrous sounds.
Friends surround you, laughing, smiling
Rejoice in their beaming joy
The feeling you get when giving
Is the brightest in the soul.
May we feel the joy of Christmas
May we laugh and love more now
Sing the praises to the highest
Happy Birthday, to my Lord.

I felt like writing a Christmas poem. So I did, just now. There's my improv, how do you like it?

Anyways, I'm having a great Christmas week so far. Just wanted to share my joyous activities.

Monday, I went to West Jordan High School for their Choir Concert, which Kat is in. So are a few of my friends that I know from being friends with Kat- Emma, who I didn't actually get to see, and Sam, who I met at a region dance. She's a really good dancer. Anyways, the concert was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful...

Ha ha. I wonder what she's going to think when she sees this... "Jarom's such a dork..."

Last night, I went to Hillcrest High for Aerin's Choir performance. It was absolutely beautiful. Aerin has the best singing voice of anyone I can think of. Dagget, I wish I had remembered to take my camera to that... then I would have pictures of Aerin and Steph, two of the best friends in the whole world! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!

I have the best friends.

2009-12-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hello, all you non-existent readers. I'm waiting for the Gel for my Cell Model to harden a little so we can stick in the organelles, and working on a Croatia paper, and I thought I should do a post. Ug, I know way more about Croatia then I ever wanted to. But I was looking at the countries we have when it hit me... If I don't get on the Security Council representing Croatia, I'll have to do something similair to this again on whatever other country Stucki gives me. :P

So... yeah. I've been doing so much homework lately, and I've felt really stressed. The wierd thing is that randomly during the day or on certain days entirely I'll just have this wave of gloom. It's like this dark feeling in my heart that just makes me mellow, and I can't shake it because there's no sunlight. (I know that's a lame excuse... but the other day I had it, and then the clouds moved and the sun shone down, and it totally disapeared. It was awesome. I love the sun.)

You can see the results of these such days by looking at this poem I wrote during one of them: http://gamemasterjtpoems.blogspot.com/2009/12/gloom.html. I actually wrote one half while I was feeling down, and then the second half when I was feeling better.

Well, through this whole thing there have been a few really great friends that have helped me through. I was thinking about them, and most of them already have their own tributes, like Mandi, Kat, and Paige. But there is one that I haven't done.

Here's to Rachel! (Yes, another Rachel. I know 5 of them. ^_^ )

Thanks for being such a ball of sunshine when I can't see the sun. Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for giving me hugs when I really need them, and not even thinking twice about it. You may be trying to prove to me that you're really mean, but more often then not you're just too nice. ^_^ Thanks for everything!

Raechel!

2009-12-16T21:47:00.001-07:00

Number Two- Here's to Raechel!

Thanks for being a great friend. You're a really nice, really sweet, and really intellegent person. Thanks for being my friend when I think I'm going to die of boredom. ;P Thanks for being such an awesome person. I really enjoy being around you and talking with you! Remember that you can always find a friend in me. You're the best.

Paige!

2009-12-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working on fixing my Qs, but I thought that I should really post. Plus, I have some great friends and I felt like I needed to do a tribute to them. So here's two great friends of mine.

Number One- Here's to Paige!

I've known Paige since 1st grade, but I never really bothered becoming her friend until lately. Funny how you discover just how nice people are in ways like that.

Thanks, Paige. You're such a nice person, and you're really a spiritual giant. Thanks for your smile, it's helped me more than once. Thank you for just being a good person. Always remember that I'll be here for you whenever you need anything.

Wow, Really?

2009-12-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, November ends and I stop posting? Really? Stupidity. :P That's me.

Monday night, we went to Temple Square with the Michaelis's. It was fun. I decided I was going to mess with Photoshop today, so I used some of the pictures I took.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, too. Take a picture of myself, and mess with it a little, and make it look really nice. I just have issues with that. So I finally just kicked myself and said "Jarom, you have to stop thinking you look like an idiot every time you see a picture of yourself." I messed with a picture of me to see what I could do. Here's the result:

Have a good day, everyone!

Final Status

2009-11-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Final Status of my Thankfulness for the month. I know I missed some things... somewhere... there's just way too many things to be thankful for.

GRAND GRATEFULNESSs:

Family
Technology
Women
Gospel
School
Friends

Tributes:

Steph
Daniel
Robby
Mandi
Mom

Random Thankfuls:

Quotes
Programming
Peanut Butter (Oh my stars...)
Randomness
Summer
Animals
Things to Strive for
Batteries
Candy
West Jordan
Blogging

Other Thankfuls:

Christmas Spirit
Books
Food
Writing
Dances
Mythology
Music

I'm thankful that I had this month to focus on the things I'm grateful for. I know I missed a few things, like I'm thankful for seminary, I'm thankful for pictures, I'm grateful for movies, pencils, all that good good stuff. I'm grateful for everything that I'm blessed to have. I hope that you all have been able to think of what you've been grateful for.
Love you all!

ARE YOU READY??????

2009-11-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

It is here.
It has come.
Soon it will consume everything.
Nothing will escape it's influence.
The world will bow before it.
It will be everywhere.
Are you ready?

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!

And I am excited! The Christmas Spirit has never touched me so strongly so early... It's like I can't wait to sing Carols and see all the joy everywhere, even if it is snowing! What could make me feel so christmasy? I have no clue, but I love it! I'm thankful for the Joyous Spirit that Christmas carries with it. I'll be doing many a post on Christmas and the Christmas Spirit!

Thought for today: Smile, it makes you look so much prettier.

ANNIVERSERY!!!!!

2009-11-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting all month to do this GRAND GRATEFULNESS.

TODAY IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSERY OF MY BLOG! My blog was started on 11/28/2008 at my grandma's house. (Which at the time was Thanksgiving, I think.) This is my 80th post on this blog in the past year. YAY! Wasn't it 50 at the beginning of the month...? *Laugh* This month has really upped that. You know... I think I should have a hundred by the end of the year. Will that happen? Probably not...

Wow, I'm looking at some of the old posts... Some of them are really funky... People visited my blog a lot more back then!!

I'm thankful for TECHNOLOGY! Internet, Microsoft Word, Blogger, Gmail, Google Talk, The Awesome Forum, Kongregate, Nintendo, Xbox, Microwaves, Oven, Refrigerator, Alarm Clock, Car(!!!!), GameBoy, MP3 player, Cell Phone (That's more trouble than it's worth at times, but still helpful), oh, and my computer. (Don't forget that...) I love technology. (Being the computer nerd that I am) If it wasn't for Internet and Word, I couldn't do homework. If it wasn't for our car, I couldn't go to my school. (Which is six and a half miles away from my house) If it wasn't for Chat, I wouldn't be able to talk with half of my really good friends because they live in bizarre places like Kentucky and Washington. (No offence to those places or the people there, obviously.)

So, HIP HIP HOORAY for this blog and for technology.

Steph!

2009-11-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tribute time! Here's to Steph!

Thanks for being such a happy, fun person! You're a great person, I love being your friend. Thanks for coming with me today! We need to do this more often :P Love you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a superfantabulousderfulicious thanksgiving! I had a lot of fun up in Brigham City today. We went to my Grandma Hall's house for the afternoon. Then we went to Chuck-A-Rama... that place was PACKED!

I've been saving this one all month for today. GRAND GRATEFULNESS! I'm thankful for Family!

Aunt Jeneil (??? that's how my dad said to spell it...)
Uncle Jared and his wife, Crystal (Who I just met today... how sad is that? I seriously didn't know who she was when I saw her.)

Aunt Megan!

The whole family cooking dinner...

I got a picture of Grandma Hall! It's not the best, but it works.

I love my family! You are all totally fantabulous! I don't know what I would do without you.

Books!

2009-11-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for books today!

They're making a Lightning Theif Movie... so excited for that...

I love reading books. It's relaxing and it's always interesting. Well... almost always interesting... I don't really like it when I have to evaluate the book or anything like that....

Reading is great, isn't it?

QUOTES!

2009-11-24T20:19:00.001-07:00

"Speak not of such things, for they are but bad memories. Come, my dear, and smile for me, for that will be the memory which I will want to keep."

"Sometimes a smile in a person's eyes can be worth more than any words that they can say."

"I am the type of guy who will not only defeat you, but dance around and laugh and sing while doing it."

"My brain isn't moving slowly, it's moving at a lightning fast pace- in the wrong direction."

"Please give me your name, so I can properly tell you to shut your mouth."

"You know... this is a good lesson for all of us. You never know who's in the chicken suit."

Don't you just love quotes? All of these above are quotes by me. I like to write quotes, it's one of the things I write, along with my poems and songs. But I also like quotes from other people.

"Death would look AWESOME in a chicken suit!" -Elizabeth Pena

"Intellegence comes with fear of failure."- Samgee

"Don't worry eighth graders, there's a special place in my foot for you." -Kip Saunders

Here's some Stuckiisms!

Stucki: You guys should really take notes of things I say.
Riley: Should... Take... Notes...

Stucki: (Getting a note from the office.) Rachel, you need counsling.
(Getting another note from the office.) Alex!
Samgee: Does he need counsling, too?
Riley: Maybe... he sits behind Rachel...

Stucki: Las Vegas... is a waste of real estate.
Ty: How? It's in the middle of Nevada.
Stucki: No, it's on the edge of Nevada. Everything in Nevada is on the edge, because there's nothing in the middle.
Anastasia: Cactuses refuse to live there...
Ty: Okay, but still. It's in Nevada.

Stucki: Oh, by the way... if your essay has a hole in it, it either means it bugged the crap out of me... or it was under one that bugged the crap out of me.

Stucki: Don't put "hopefully" in your essay.
Ty: There is no hope in Stucki's class.

Samgee: How do you spell "Takami"?
Stucki: I-D-I-O-T

Stucki: For all you know, Saunders is a big dork.
Jarom: There's nothing wrong wtih being a dork.
Stuck: Says the dork.

Jarom: Okay, am I just completely stupid or what?
Everyone around: Yes.

Paige: Mr. Stucki, if I wasn't such a Molly Mormon I would really want to flip you off right now!

I'm thankful for Quotes!

Long Gratitude...

2009-11-22T20:01:00.001-07:00

I feel so hyper and thankful.

Yesterday in Priesthood we were supposed to have a lesson on the value of woman, but Brother McEntyre wanted to have a lesson on Gratitude, and we only had 15 minutes and no lesson prepared because Tate bailed at the last moment... so we went around and named things we were grateful for, with focus on the women we were thankful for.

I decided there are three groups of women I am very grateful for. You could say this is a grand gratefulness, or just a bunch of small ones but together. Take your pick.

1. My Mom! She could go in the next category, but I think she deserves her own. My mom is the best.

Wow, I really don't have many photos of her... so here's one from her birthday...

2. All the other girls in my family. I have awesome grandma's, a weirdo fun little sister, cool aunts and cousins...

Grandma Norris... Daggett, I can't find any pictures of Grandma Hall... lame sauce... I'll have to get some on Thursday...

And here's a picture of my beautiful little sister... I think this was right before she was baptised.

This is my awesome aunt Megan and her dog Stintson (??? on spelling) She's my mom's youngest sister. Oh, and she (and my aunt Anna) is having a baby! Yay for cousins!

And this is my cousin Summer. She's really cool. This and the picture above it were taken at our Family Campout this last summer.

3. All my fabulous friends! I have friends in my ward, in my school, and across the country!

My friends at school. Rachel, Bekah, Mikayla, and Allie. He he... I love my friends...
Here's Maya! Funny how the only good pictures I have of Maya (besides the one of her in her Halloween costume) all have Quin in them...

Kat, at the dance on Saturday. Wow, what fun...

Lisa, my best friend in Kentucky! (Okay, so she's only one of two friends in Kentucky... one of which I don't know very well...) Here's her at Ed Week.

So, here's a big YAY for all of the terrific women in my life! I love all of you!

Daniel!

2009-11-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tribute time! (I feel kinda weird sometimes when I say that because sometimes it makes me think of the tribute as in sacrifice...)

Here's to Daniel!

You're a great friend! It's funny how when it comes to little things I feel like I can't trust anyone, but when it comes to bigger, more important things I can trust people like Daniel to not tease me or anything. Thanks for coming with us to the dance last night!

Feast

2009-11-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

I've always thought that word interesting... I don't know why. It's sort of a majestic, kingly word, don't you think? That's what it reminds me of. Am I weird?

Of course.

So, we just had our thanksgiving dinner. Dad won't be here on Thursday until later, and we're going up to Brigham City for most of the day, so we did dinner tonight.

So I decided I was thankful for food. Food is such a fine thing... it keeps us all alive. And if we didn't have that...

Yeah. Happy thoughts!

My Master's Soldier

2009-11-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Time for a big GRAND GRATEFULNESS!

I'm thankful for the gospel. I love the church. It brings so much happiness and understanding to my life. I love the feeling of the spirit. I love knowing that I am a child of God. I love knowing that he loves me. I love how everything just fits together.

I wrote a poem the other night. You could call it my standared, my title. It's posted on my poems blog. Some of you already heard it in Seminary class.

Love you all! I gotta go get ready for the dance tonight, now...

Programming

2009-11-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

The other day, as I was working in the HTML for the blog, it reminded me why I wanted to be a programmer... becaue I really like figuring these things out!!!

SO... I was thinking about maybe programming another game. There are a few things I need, though...

First of all, I suck at Computer Graphics. I can't make good sprites, backgrounds, etc.
Second, I might ask Jeremiah to help me with the music.
Third, I actually need ideas for what to make!

This is all if I even do it. I kinda have a lot of projects I'm working on, so... yeah.

I'm thankful for programming today.

Peanut Butter

2009-11-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

Umm.... Umm... UMM.....

What am I thankful for today...

I'm thankful for... Peanut Butter. I like peanut butter. It's good in candy.

Now I have to leave. Bye.

New and Improved Blog!

2009-11-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I've finally weaseled my blog into something I like.
I love being able to know how to do things like mess with the HTML code. I'm especially proud of that code that I did to get my page links up at the top of the page.

And then I go and talk to Tim, who is writing some program from scratch...

So anyways, tell me what you like and think could be better.

Also, I posted one of the poems on my poetry section. Go to my Gallery (there's a link at the top, now) and then through there to my Poems.

Love y'all!

Poetry

2009-11-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

As you can see, my blog is now new and improved. Jeremiah thought that my old template was ugly. And I decided it needed to be changed anyways. So It is.

We'll see how this works. I'm in somewhat unfamiliar waters with this one, and it's all wierd. But I've worked the HTML a little to how I like it. Almost....

So for English class we have to find a picture and a song and write poems about them. I'm currently listening to some of Jeremiah's songs to write a poem about.

I am grateful for poetry, and for writing in general. I like writing, and people tell me I'm really good at it.

When I finish this, I might post it.

TAG!

2009-11-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

We are BACK ONLINE!
Holy Fire-Breathing Chickens, that was nuts. My communications totally died, and I couldn't talk with anyone by Jeremiah and Mandi. Kat totally freaked, Mandi laughed at me, and Jeremiah was frantically trying to help me. I'm really worried about all these computer failures.

Anyways, I got tagged by Kat! (Don't remember what that means? It means that if I tag you at the end, you have to fill out the same thing I did!)

Favorites
Candy/Sweet: White Chocolate or Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
Movie: Umm... That's hard... I like Battle for Terra, and I really want to see Lord of the Rings!
Color: Sky Blue!
Accessory: Glasses, Watch, and CTR ring!
Piece of Clothing: Jacket (My mom made me get a new one... it's okay though)
Thing to do: Write, Hang out with friends, play video games.
Quote: "I have a desk." (That's subject to change soon. It always is.)
Food: Umm.... I dunno. See the first one, I guess.
Book: The Lightning Thief, Eragon,
Word: SUPERFANTABULOUSDERFULICIOUS!
Name: Hold on, let me find the conversation we had on this... Ah, here's my list! (Yes, I have a list. It's probably not complete, though.) Dawn, Summer, Skyler, Maya, Aerin, Katlyn, Tyraneus, Darius, Seth.
Piece of Jewelry: Umm... CTR Ring!
TV Show: Wipeout

I tag Elizabeth, Jeremiah, Matthew, and Mom!

RED ALERT! RED ALERT!

2009-11-17T18:06:00.001-07:00

THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Our communications systems are breaking up! We can't chat with anyone but Mandi and Jeremiah! Kat and Cailey and Garrett are also online, but our systems say that they're not! Our systems have been going haywire!

(I'm grateful when things work...)

TOTAL RANDOMNESS

2009-11-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

What am I thankful for today?

Well, seeing as I'm being kind of insane today, and I'm going to be logged off by parental controls in 15 minutes, I'm thankful for Randomness!

Being Random can be really fun sometimes. Really interesting sometimes. Really annoying sometimes. It's all random, you know?

Hmm... maybe tomorrow will be a random hug day.... HMMMM....

ALJFALS;JDROUWQEOPNVQWREMZVZ,.XCNVADRFJWEFJWOPEJFQWOPMLEQWVML;JASDFJISN'TRANDOMNESSJUSTTHEBEST?

Why am I feeling so punny today, really? I have no idea. Did anyone even get that last one? Of all the random things....

November 15th

2009-11-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

Needed to post today (Kat missed a day! And she'll miss two if she doesn't post soon...) But couldn't think of anything deep to say especially because I'm getting off pretty quickly, so I'd thought I'd just say

I'm thankful for Dances!

Funny how and the beginning of August I honestly had no desire to go to a dance. Then came education week. All of a sudden I want to dance. Why? I honestly haven't the slightest clue. But all of a sudden I want to go to one.

So I did. And I loved it!

Last night I went with Kat to her region dance. Her region is a lot smaller than ours... there was actually a lot of space to walk around and to do the wild "Swing Dance" that Sam taught me. *Laugh* I met Kat's friend Sam Boldrin (Kat says she doesn't know her real last name... apparently it's different at School and on Facebook, so I'm going to use her school last name...) She really knows how to dance. Every time I looked to find her she was teaching someone new some new dance! She taught me how to swing and how to dip. I danced with 7 girls, which brings my average up to 5 girls per dance. (Yes, I keep track... that's how my mind works, okay?)

A HUGE Thank-You to Kat for inviting me to the dance. I had a TON of fun.

Total Awesomeness. That's all I have to say.

Let it burn, Let it burn, Let it burn...

2009-11-14T17:25:00.001-07:00

I decided today that I was very grateful for Summer. Why?

BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING COLD OUTSIDE!

I love the summer. It's bright, it's warm, you can go outside and play, or just read a book...

Winter, not so much. They always say "Well, in winter, you can go inside and sit by the fire."

Which is all fine and dandy, except that our only fireplace is outside. On the snow covered patio. Nice.

I was actually really worried that Daniel and Evan were going to show up Monday after school with snowballs, yelling "Get to the Van... or else."

Then I remembered that snowballs are banned at school.

And to think I used to hate that policy... Hallelujah.

I was shoveling the drive today... and Spencer walked by... and for half of a moment I thought about throwing snow at him... but then I realized that there was a fine line between being a playful older brother and being a total jerk, and that was two miles on the wrong side.

Especially because I just KNOW that Daniel and Evan are now waiting for the first opportunity to throw snowballs at me. Stupid Snow Demons....

So, yeah. I'm a sunshine person. I walked out of my house this morning, and you could practically feel the dreary weight of how grey it was. Blech.

My mom's a meany. (And paste won't work on my blogger for some reason... grr...)

norrisnewsandnonsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/shoveling-snow.html

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

2009-11-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's Friday the Thirteenth, and Evil is in the air!

(Except the air inside the seminary building... I found that interesting. *Laugh* I muttered something about doing some rituals to ward away spirits, and the look of horror on Paige's face was priceless...)

Has evil touched you yet? I should hope not. Where the heck is mine coming from??

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I feel like Dr. Jackel and Mr. Hyde right now, seriously. I feel evil. Which is wierd for me. But it's starting to get more common... Evil Fiends! Begone!

You know what I just really wanted to do today? Wear my cape. I said "To Sheol if I look like a fool. I'm going to put it on and then take pictures of me with it on!" Of course, saying to Sheol if I look like an fool didn't change that I look very foolish. Especially considering I'm wearing jeans under said cape.

(That's supposed to be an animated gif I created. Does anyone see it that way?)

I am grateful for Mythology. For those of you who don't know, I am a big mythologist. I specialize in Greek Mythology and Dragonology, but I like almost all forms of mythology. And yes, Friday the Thirteenth is part of a branch of mythology (I'm not entirely sure the name of the branch. Some mythologists call it "Popular Mythology" some call it "Western Mythology" and some call it "American Mythology", none of which I think are completly suiting names.)

Beautiful Flow of Sound

2009-11-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today's been a rather musical day (Wait a minute... side thought, I'm listening to Christmas Music... We must be getting close to December.) Why? I'm not sure. I've had this one song stuck in my head all day, and been humming it to myself. I keep taking out my MP3 player to listen to it. (Between classes, that is)

So I decided to do that I'm grateful for Music! Music is such a great thing, isn't it? It's very enjoyable, and it's a good form of expression, an art, a culmination of rhythmic flow, aesthetic sound, and meaningful poetry.

Plus, I write songs. I gotta at least appreciate it for that, right?

Teaser: I'm actually in the middle of a few songs. He he. Be looking for those.

School

2009-11-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Has anybody else noticed that the "Blogs I read" thing on the side bar doesn't work anymore? I mean, it tells me when Kat and Mom post, and that's it. Everybody else it says hasn't posted in a while, even though they have. This is happening on other blogs to. It kinda bugs me to see that people's blogs say I haven't posted in a week when I've been posting every day. Urk.

So I noticed today that I got a lot of compliments from my teachers. In English class, we were sharing ideas, which I usually do, but I felt like I didn't really have anything to add today, but Mrs. Thurnau said "I'm still wanting to hear from a few of you... Josh and Jarom, what are your thoughts?" I was kinda surprised. After I shared what I was thinking, she said "The reason I picked out a few of you is because you're more of the Creative Writers."

Even my English Teacher thinks I'm a creative writer. I should start listening to people when they give me compliments.

In Math, Mr. Saunders said I have "A lot of good points." About the random things I commented on throughout the class.

That's high praise from Mr. Saunders. He doesn't like my name. "Jarom? That's weird."

In Gym, we played football and I ran down the guy with the ball. Coach Mikel was like "I cannot believe he just caught you... Jarom, I had no idea you were so fast!"

I told him that that speed lasted for ten seconds before my side hurt and I was out of breath. (And lo and behold, that was exactly what happened to me by the end of the game.)

So, I decided to do one of my GRAND GRATEFULNESS's. I'm thankful for SCHOOL!

School is awesome. I get to go and hang out with my friends and learn things and laugh at teacher's for 8 HOURS A DAY!

The only down spot is homework.

(P.S. I updated the Mandi Post with some pictures she sent me.)

Boo!

2009-11-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

SOOOOOOOO I couldn't think of something unique today, and didn't want to think too hard, so I went to my list of things I've been putting off because Kat keeps taking them and picked something.

I'M THANKFUL FOR ANIMALS. Especially cute, playful, cuddly ones. And doubly especially this one right here:

This is one of my best pictures of him... if only I could rotate it...

Can you tell that we have more pictures of him than anyone else? That's because he's the easiest to take pictures of, especially because he's a dork and so he'll do something wierd and we'll be like GO GET THE CAMERA!

So, yeah, this is my cuddly bundle of fun, Boo. Isn't he just the most cluelessly adorable thing you've ever seen?

Things to Strive For

2009-11-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for things to strive for. Things to work for. Things to work and strive to become. Here's a few of the things that I am always trying to be.

A better person! I always want to be better. There's always some way I can improve.
A good friend. I want to be a good friend to everyone. I want people to see me as a good friend.
An intellectual. A wise man. Someone who knows what they're talking about, someone who always has good advice and a good view of things, who can use his knowledge and wisdom to help people.
A gentleman. Many of you know that that's something I really want to be. I want to be the one of whom people think "Wow... he's so nice. So courteous." (Plus I have a really big pet peeve for people who aren't courteous.)
A servant. I love to help people. It just brightens up my day. I want people to know that when they need help with anything, weather it's a math problem, an opinion, or they just need something carried for them, they can always count on me.
A shoulder to cry on. This goes with the previous one. I want to be the person that people know they can count on. The person that my friends know cares about them, a lot. The person that people know they can go to, because I'll always care.
A pillar of strength. An example. Someone that somebody can look to and see a hero, a role model. Some who is strong and is always willing to share his strength.
A spiritual giant. Someone who has a deep spirit, and you can tell when they talk. Someone who can bring the spirit into something, and who always has it with them.
A fountain of joy. An exciting person. Someone who just radiates happiness. Someone who you look at their smile and you can't help feeling happy yourself. Someone who people enjoy being around because he's never dull or boring.
Remembered. I want remember me as all of the things above. I want people to think of me and think "He was one of the kindest people I knew. He was a good friend, a great person, and he always wanted to help me."

Maybe I'm a rambling lunatic. But that doesn't matter. What matters is how people will think of you. And it doesn't matter if they don't like your clothes or they think you're ugly. But it does matter if they think you're a jerk or a gentleman. I hope to be the person that people like simply because I was the person who brightened their day.

The Little Freak just got Freakier.

2009-11-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Yep, you got it. Today is Robby's Birthday. Yeah, the little weirdo who gets on my chat and tries to pretend to be me, but always fails because he can't spell. ("What? I thought 'Maybe' was spelled 'm-a-b-e-y'!") The little weirdo who come to mutual with me and makes CARL cover his ears. The little weirdo that carries invites to parties from my friends at Sunset Ridge in return for being able to come to the party.

But here's the weird thing: Today he turns 13. Yep, he's a teenager! O.o (He he... I've never used that smiley before.)

So, my little weirdo is now a priesthood holder, middle-schooler, teenager.

*Laugh*... When he went into middle school, I asked a couple of my friends to befriend him. One of them was Raechel's little sister, Elaine, but I asked Raechel if Elaine couldn't stand him yet, and she said "Yeah. She couldn't stand him from the start." One of the other one's was Jaden, and she said "Robby's okay... I just don't approve of his friends." I freaked out a little at this, but then I was like "Who does he hang out with??" And she said "That Michealis boy..." (For those of you who don't know, that Michealis boy is Jaron Michealis, who I used to carpool with. Jaden can't stand him. Then again, neither can I sometimes.)

So, Here's to Robby, my little weirdo, my little buddy!

I got him this poster... These Book Of Mormon Hero Posters are really cool! His heroes are the Army of Heleman. Mine is Captain Moroni.

Thanks for being a fun person. Thanks for being my little weirdo. I hope that we can be friends- After all, I have a lot to teach you as you're going through Middle School!

Mandi!

2009-11-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

I, uh, found this post that I wrote on tuesday and meant to post on wednesday, but I kinda forgot. Heh heh...

And I quote:

"4th of November, here's a tribute to my friend Mandi!

These are pictures she sent me from her birthday party. Oh... Miss ya lots, Mandi!

Thanks for being such a great friend. You're always really nice and really funny, and I really enjoy talking to you. You can really make my day sometimes. We need to hang out again sometime! (Next time you're, you know, in the state ;) )

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Yeah. It was her birthday on Wednesday. So here's your late birthday wish!

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

2009-11-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

I FORGOT TO POST YESTERDAY! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(And to think, I was about to laugh at Kat for missing a day.)

ER....... Yeah. I lost.

So here's yesterday's post.

Guess what I did today? I spent the entire day going around the school and hugging all of my friends! Yep, ALL OF THEM. Well, I might have missed a few. But oh well.
It started kinda funny. I was walking before school, and I was like "Hmm.... I think I'll give out hugs today." Then I told Ty. He he... oh Ty. Me and him are "The Gansta and the Gentleman." (Not respectively. He's the gangsta. Hmmm... maybe I should write a story about that.) So anyways, I told him, and he instantly took it to his advantage. "You should give Landon a hug!" So I did. Why not? Once Ty saw that I was serious, he dragged me around for the rest of the day telling me to hug everyone we passed. Some people seemed really happy, some people were like "Okay... there goes insane Jarom." And some were too shocked to move. (Cory started hyperventilating...)

So here's one of my GRAND GRATEFULNESS! (Meaning something that I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really thankful for!

I AM THANKFUL FOR FRIENDS~!

Friends are the most awesome thing ever. Friends are what make me happy every day! Friends are what give me the joy and energy to start randomly dancing, or to just hug everybody!

So... now we've all got to start hugging more often. Yay!

Power Cells

2009-11-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to do that I'm thankful for Music, but that's what Kat did yesterday. :P She beat me to it. (I'll probably do it, just not right after she did.)

I'm thankful for batteries.
They're like tiny little containers of POWER! So much electrical energy within this little cell... It boggles the mind. Whoa... am I going poetic about a battery? You better believe it.
I'm doing a research project on batteries, too.
So I'm thankful for those little things that power all my little gadgets, all our little technologies. I read that the average American throws out 8 batteries a year. My camera has used at least twice that since summer started. It drains those suckers.

Insanity. I've got a lot of it. Want some?

Candy!

2009-11-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

You know what I was thinking today? With candy, there are like two catagories. Friuty, and Milk. (You know- chocalate, caramel, etc.) And I noticed that in that catagory, it seems like the lighter color it is, the better it tastes. (Just me, though) Like the best is White Chocolate, which is better than caramel, which is better than milk chocalate, which is better than dark chocolate.

Random? Good.

So, with that, I'm thankful for Candy! Also Random, especially because I don't eat that much. But I did eat more than usual today, because I had a ton in a box and was bored and falling asleep. (Not that the cany helped with the falling asleep, that still happened.) So... yeah. Love you all!

West Jordan!

2009-11-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Oooh... What to talk about today... I'm thankful for so many things, but which one...

*Snap*

I'm thankful for the place I live. I'm working on a Geography Project about West Jordan and Salt Lake County. I'm so glad that I live here, where I have so many oppurtunities, so many great friends and neighbors.

Thanks, Mom!

2009-11-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Day Two. I think I'll double this and make it a tribute, too. Here's to MOM!

Thanks for everything that you do for all of us. Thanks for your service, your advice, your love, and all you do to try and keep our family happy. You're the greatest!

Thanksgiving Month

2009-11-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Heyo! My mom does this thing where every day of November, she posts about something she's grateful for. I decided I was going to try that. Seems like a cool tradition or something. So here's November first.

So guess what? This is my 50TH POST! YAY! Also, and November 28th I'll be celebrating the 1 year anniversery of this blog! Yay! I'm very grateful for this blog. And all my friends blogs. Blogging is so fun!

So yeah, some of these grateful things will be wierd, some will be random, and some will be very deep and thoughtful. I'll probably do several tributes. Stay tuned!

Halloween!

2009-10-29T19:02:00.000-06:00

Yep, the evil spirits are out again. I've been feeling evil lately... which is wierd.... for me...

Anyways, first of all is Spanish Halloween. NO ONE SENT ME ANY PICTURES! Until the last night, that is, when I'm scrambling and begging people for them on Chat. I guess I should thank Rachel and Jeremiah for giving me them then. :) Thanks, guys! (P.S. I got a B on that project.)

Anyways... Today was the day we wore our costumes to school. Yay!

There's me. God of Festivals.

Sara - Zombie Princess

Matt - This isn't a costume. He's actually a ninja with a black belt. No, this isn't a joke. I'm dead serious.

This was one of the most popular costumes in the school. I mean, look at it. Waldo? That's just freaking genius. Cool costume, Josh!

Bekah as the Cat in the Hat.

SOO.... I wrote a halloween story for English, and I'll post it on my Gallery when I get it back and type it up.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY! Don't let the spirits of the dead add you to their ranks...

Diagnosis

2009-10-29T19:01:00.000-06:00

I made up a bunch of fake diagnoses for myself. Yep. I have ADHD, Aesthetic OCD, (Meaning that anything that isn't Aesthitic bugs me.) And Pseudophobia (Meaning I'm afraid of things that are illogical to be afraid of- like every single time I knock on a door, I'm afraid it's the wrong house. Or every single time I dial a number, I'm afraid it's the wrong number. Doesn't matter if I've done it a thousand times.)

Region Dance #2

2009-10-29T18:34:00.000-06:00

Hey, all! Been doing a TON of homework lately. English Essays. Science Essays. Geography Essays. You know what I've learned about essays? I stink at them. I can write a decent song in five minutes, but I cannot write an essay for the life of me. Introductions are one of the biggest parts. I just don't know how to start the essay.

Anyways... Last Saturday, I went to the Region Dance again. I took Kat with me. I invited Aerin too, but she couldn't come because she was with her grandma. Anyways, I also met her friend Natalie, who is in her Region but came to our dance. It was at my stake center this time, so I knew a lot of the chaperones. I have a few funny stories from that night.

Let's see... So me, Evan, Kat, and Natalie were talking, and the dance right then was a swing dance, and we were talking about how me and Evan sorta knew the West Coast Swing, but nobody else knew. Then President Hansen comes up to Evan and says "Do you know how to swing dance?" And Evan said "Sorta."
"Then you can dance with this fine young lady right here."
"Wha- I don't really know the dance they're doing."
"That's okay, she can teach you."
So he learned to swing dance while the three of us watched him and kept talking.
Later on, we're in the same four, and the DJ stops the music and says "Okay, we've had a girl's choice dance, we've had a guys' choice dance, now it's time for a Chaperone Choice Dance! Get ready to be paired up!"
Evan instantly exclaimed "Refreshment's Table!" and bolted.
So I laughed at him, but then I looked up, and there is Brother Astil looking right at me.
Uh-oh.
I figure, there's no point to run, I'm going to get paired, might as well be next to someone I know.
So he comes over and pairs me with Natalie.
Halfway through the dance we're talking, and President Hansen shuffles by us, dragging Kat by the arm.
We laughed.
Turns out, though, that she got paired with a friend of mine from school that she didn't know, Jacob Virgin.

After the dance, I walk through the crowd and run into Brother Astil.
"So, how was the dance?"
"Good."
"You met someone new?"
"No, I actually already knew her. I probably would have asked her to dance eventually anyways."
"What! So all I did was speed up the process?"
He he... got ya there.

Joyous!

2009-10-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

Saturday I went to a party at Kat's house. It was awesome seeing her and Aerin and Steph again! They're all awesome. (Quin too, but I see him every day.) I had a ton of fun! I have the best friends.

Time for another tribute! Here's to Kat!

Thanks for being such a nice friend! Thanks for your smile. You always have a way of making me smile. You're the best!
Love you all! May your sword be sharp and happiness follow you!

Spanish Halloween

2009-10-14T17:10:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I have a project I need to do for Spanish class, and for it I need pictures of people in their Halloween Costumes! I would be very appreciative if you guys would dress up and send me pictures. I'll be putting them in a slide show and talking about each of the pictures as if it's a fashion show... no, it's not original. That's the assignment. Funny, huh? Anyways, Please and Thank you!

Random Speakings

2009-10-13T17:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a funny conversation I had with Jeremiah and Garrett the other day...

Jeremiah: So how is everyone doing?
Garrett: okey dokey, you?
Jeremiah: good
Garrett: that's good
Jeremiah: Yep.
Jarom?
me: Yes, my liege?
Jeremiah: liege?
me: Is that spelled wrong, my lord?
Jeremiah: lord?
Garrett: I do not believe so
Jeremiah: So now I'm some sort of awesome person?
Garrett: Your master requires your answer to how you art.
me: I am quite well. I am moved that you shouldest care.
Garrett: My master will not lower himself by talking to you, therefore, I will be his mouth
Jeremiah: who's he?
Garrett: You master welcomes you, and asks, are the people feeding you right
Jeremiah: wtm?
me: They are feeding me well enough, sir. It woud be appreciated if they would give me a slice of their pig or a drop of their grape juice once in a while.
Jeremiah: You guys are completely confusing me.
We are in the 21st century, not the 15th!
Garrett: Your master will send a serving man soon, and discuss this matter. Your master wishes to know what your position is in this keep
Jeremiah: AAAAH!
What is going on?
me: I am over the men who gaurd the easternmost wall.
Jeremiah: This is some sort of time warp occurence! With alternate universes!
Garrett: Then you should get more of the food stuff. This is a puzzling matter. Your master wishes to know if you need anything
me: I get little food because the commander of the keep often forgets there is an east wall.
He's actually a rather forgetful man, sir.
He forgets to pay me, but I darest not complain.
Jeremiah: What is going on?
Garrett: I believe a flogging is in order. yes yes, a flogging is in order, and we shall have you elevated to his position. You seem a man of intelligence, so you will do well there
Jeremiah: NO! NO! NO!! STOP! 2009! IT"S 2009! Not 1498!
me: Oh, Thank you, My Lord!You are the most gracious master a man could ask for!I am forever in your service!
Jeremiah: 2009!
Garrett: You master aknowledges your thanks, and ask, how sharp is your sword
Jeremiah: 2. 0. 0. 9. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me: My sword is sharp and strong, and it is ready to serve my liege at a moment's notice!
Garrett: Good, the spies have reported that the enemy is in motion, get your men ready, and torches brighter, and the men more alert
Jeremiah: hi
me: Oh, yes, your eminence! At once!
Jeremiah: Stop please
aah
Garrett: Good, and when your through with that, come back and guard his royal
me: I will gather together the bravest of the men, and we will form a gaurd that will be the envy of the land! Garrett: Good
me: May Health and fortune guide his majesty! I will return!
Jeremiah: bye
Garrett: We're done now
Jeremiah: ok
me: His Majesty Spoke to me!
Jeremiah: what was up with that?
me: So what's up?
WHAT'S UP WITH YOU??
Jeremiah: All I have to say. WHAT IN THE WORLD!
me: I dunno. What?

Reminder

2009-10-08T17:52:00.000-06:00

Hey, all! I just want to remind you to check my Gallery! I know I don't post very often, but I put a bunch of new songs and poems on it. Thanks!

Hey.

2009-10-02T16:58:00.000-06:00

Hey, everybody. I'm posting this from my grandma Hall's house. I decided I should post more often, even if it's just a random post like what Rachel does. Today was crazy, I've been up here all day helping my grandma move today. I just set up her computer and her internet (With some help from Mom) and so I got on for a little bit. Hope that you've all been having a good Fall Recess! Love you all, and Atra Esterni Ono Thelduin!

~~~ JT

Conversation with my Brain

2009-10-01T18:28:00.000-06:00

"You know, I haven't blogged in a while..."
"Jarom!"
"Ahh! What??"
"Aren't you supposed to be doing your CEL essay?"
"... Maybe..."
"What are you doing?"
"Blogging... look, I just can't focus!"
"Well, let's try to focus. First, change windows..."
"Maybe somebody can help me."
"Jarom...!"
"Let's see... only Garrett and Jeremiah are online. They probably can't help me."
"Right. Now sign out of chat..."
"Maybe Garrett can help me. He usually gives me good advise."
"Jarom!"
"What??"
"You're being distracted again, aren't you?"
"Uhh..."
"Back to your essay."
"Hey, look! Mandi's on! Maybe she can help me!"
"Mandi doesn't go to your school, Jarom. She won't even know what CEL means."
"Oh, yeah..."
"Now, close the chat..."
"Hey, she's talking to me!"
"JAROM!"
"She's offering me her help!"
"But you're getting distracted!"
"Maybe... Dagget, she logged off."
"All right... now let's think. What's the topic of this essay?"
"I have to answer "What is the impact of population density on a given area?" The problem is, I can't write a good essay on only that! I'm too structured."
"If it wasn't an essay, how would you answer it?"
"Umm... More populated areas are poorer. At least, I think that's what the text book said. Let me go see..."
"All right, I'll wait..."
"Oh, crap... I totally read that wrong! It says population density is unrelated to poverty! Not related!"
"Hmm. That's something new."
"Yeah... Hey, Lexi's on!"
"Jarom..."
"And Lisa! Cool!"
"Jarom, you need to..."
"Oh, I rarely get to talk to Lexi and Lisa!"
"That's because Lisa lives in Kentucky."
"Exactly!"
"JAROM FOCUS ON YOUR ESSAY"
"Okay, okay.
...
Garrett's offering to help."
"*Sigh*"
"He usually gives good advice..."
"What if he distracts you?"
"He just told me how to start!"
"Good! Now how about you START?"
"Okay... Okay..."

Anybody else confused? The weird part is, I can't figure out which of my Seven personalities is talking to me in this particular conversation... Actually, I imagine it being a girls voice... Wait, I have a girl personality? That's a little weird. Can you tell that I am trying to focus on my essay but I really want to do anything but? This is a problem. Oh well, it's not due for another week and a half...

Parties, Dances, and Fireflies.

2009-09-19T14:02:00.000-06:00

I had an AWESOME weekend!!!! It's Monday now, and I am still happy and elated from it!!!

Friday night was my big Birthday Party. A bunch of friends came (I wanted to invite more, but I decided 20 was chaotic enough. And lo and behold, I was right. Except "chaotic" was an understatement.) It was lots of fun. We played big group games like Murderer and stuff, and we had lots of fun! It was kinda funny to see the clash between my Nerd Friends and my church friends (Or as they call them, "The Girls" because the two guys that came from my ward fit right in with the others, meanwhile the girls sorta made their own group at one end of the circle.)

He he... One of the games we played was where you had to close your eyes and find someone and guess who it was based on their head. I thought this picture was pretty funny. That's Roscoe trying to guess Rachel.

This picture made me laugh. John is standing there looking like an idiot (he's not, but he looks like one) and Brielle's look just screams "Who the heck is this loser?"

This is Brielle trying to get Jaden to smile. We played "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile!" Which was basically where you tried to get another person to smile for you. Of course, all the guys took the title literally and ended up actually acting as if they did love the person, which made everybody laugh! Brielle, of course, didn't actually want to try to do that with one of the nerds, so she settled for her sister.

So then Saturday night I went with Evan to Region Dance at the Oquirrh Stake Center. This is the first dance I've gone to willingly. "Big Steps." As my friend would say. *Laugh* Anyway, I had TONS of fun. It was way awesome. I can't believe I haven't wanted to go to one of these until now! We danced and ran and laughed with all our friends for 3 hours!! I got to dance with Tori, Rylee, Brielle, and Lexi C. I also saw Kyrstin, who I haven't seen in at least 2 years!

Something I thought was kinda cool, was that I got to dance with Tori to one of my new favorite songs! It's called "Fireflies", and it's by the band Owl City. I hadn't heard of either of them until last week, when my friend Cailey told me I should listen to it on YouTube. I did, and I loved it.

All right. Well, that's my awesome weekend. I hope you guys had some fun, too!

Tribute

2009-09-11T22:46:00.000-06:00

I realized just now that I haven't done a tribute since Aerin. So here's another one.

Here's to Evan!

(Pictures have been removed because Evan is afraid of somebody doing something with them or Google or the Government using them.)

Thanks for being a friend. Thanks for being supportive, and always being right behind me, even if it's just to smack me on the head when I do something stupid. Ever heard the phrase "Opposites Attract"? Evan and I are proof of that. Thanks for everything!
(P.S. Evan is Mister Tery.)

Patriarchal Blessing

2009-09-11T22:31:00.000-06:00

Sorry about lack of postage. I'm looking back on what I have posted, and thinking "Wow... Jarom posts some weird stuff." Who reads my blog and thinks that? Who reads my blog at all? Maybe this is for my posterity or something... "Guess what!" "What?" "I just found Grandpa's blog from when he was a kid!" "Really??" "Yeah! He was a weirdo!" (Hopefully I still am a weirdo by the time I have grandchildren. It will make their lives funner!)

So last night, I had the opportunity to go and receive my Patriarchal Blessing from Patriarch Hofhiens (Dang... is that how his name is spelled???) It was a really cool experience, and really spiritual. I've been praying about this for months, but I kept feeling like the time wasn't quite right yet... Then I started feeling better about it, and a couple of weeks ago I got the final impression like I should do it. (It was actually when I was told something else... which I cannot divulge now but will probably on a later date.) So now I've heard what the Lord wants to tell me. I could barely even speak for 10 minutes afterwards because I was just overwhelmed... In modern terms, IT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME. (He he... I'm so laughing I write that...)

~~~
Love ya'll!
Atra Esterni Ono Thelduin

A Month, Gone Missing!

2009-08-29T19:14:00.000-06:00

Auuggghhhh!!!! I'm a horrible poster! I hope you all don't hate me, but if you do, I see it your way. I did a ton of things the past few weeks... We went to the Annual Hall Family Reunion Campout (You did what without me??- Summer Derieg), then we went to Hope of Isreal camp, (Team Teancum! Over the Wall! Into the Tent! Mission Accomplished!) Then we went to Education Week (It's a Magical Night, Anything can Happen! - John Bytheway) And I got to be a mentor and help all the seventh graders on Orientation day! (I'm going to eat you, you little Sevvies! -Evan Perez) And then we went back to school. (I wish I could steal peoples' souls by looking them in the eyes... -Mr. Stucki). He he. I love quotes.

~~~
Atra Esterni Ono Thelduin!

Teton High Adventure

2009-07-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

Heyo! I'm back from Wyoming, where I went to the Teton High Adventure Base for our Stake Varsity and Venturing Scout Camp! How's that for a first line? Anyway, it was really fun. First, we got there after a 5-hour drive and had a River Orientation. Then we had Lunch. They had surprisingly good food there. We had Chicken Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Meatball sandwiches, Egg Rolls, French Toast, Steak, (This was over the course of three days, not one meal!) and more. After lunch we went to White Water Rafting. That was fun! We had eleven people in a raft, 8 rowers, one guide, one person that just sat in the middle, and one person that got to sit on the very front of the boat and take all the rapids head-on. (Or Legs-on, as they were the parts that hit the rapids.) We all took turns doing that. We had a really cool guide. We called him Captain Jack. One part of the Rapids was called the Champagne Rapids. There were all these bubbles in the water after them, and he told us it felt cool to stick your feet in. 3 people did, and then he snuck up and pushed them off the edge of the boat. It was really funny, especially because one of them was someone we were trying to get to get in the water anyway. We all jumped in of our own accord except him.

The next day we did what was called a C.O.P.E. Course. (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience, I think.) First was the Lower Cope course, which included this one challenge where there were ten tire swings between two platforms, and we had to get 20-something people across, but at one point we had to have everyone on a tire. That meant that we had to have 3 people on most of the tires! It was difficult, but it was fun. Then there was the High Cope Course, which was a bunch of metal wires strung between tall, wobbly poles, and we had to go across each of the different challenges on these metal wires. Did I mention that the wires were 50 feet in the air? (Honestly, That's a guess, not a fact. They were pretty high.) That was way difficult. But I had fun doing it, even if my legs couldn't stop shaking... My mom asked me if I learned anything about myself on the Cope Courses. I said "Yeah, I have almost no Upper Body Strength!" I guess I'm more of a kicker than a climber... I can kick a football or a kickball pretty far, but I can't climb up a pole! And apparently we now have a motto. Every once and a while Brother Astel (??? on spelling) would say something like "If you had died, it would have been a glorious death!" And then we'd all yell "Glorious Death!" It was funny. I changed it a bit to make a summary of the camp. I got the first part from the guy who did Orientation, and though he never said it, he might as well have.

"Fifty Percent of you won't come back alive. Fifty percent of those won't even come back dead. But If you die, it will be a Glorious Death! Glorious Death!"

The last day we got up early to go to Canoeing. That was fun, but it wasn't my favorite. We had to kneel in the boats for maximum stability when going through the rapids, and my legs were really, really sore by the end. I was also deathly afraid of falling or swamping into a rapid, so I was freaked out. One of the other groups went through a big rapid, and their boat filled with water. I looked and thought "Two boats swamped on that one... Wait... Calvin and Brother Nelson are still in their boat!" It was funny, their boat was totally submerged, and they were still sitting in it. Kenyon and Marshal hit a rock and knocked one of their screws loose, so they had a small hole in their boat the entire way. Good thing we brought out own Bail Buckets!

That afternoon we went on a hike, which was pretty boring considering what we had done the past two days. On the way down, we met a guy in a wheel chair being pushed and carried up the rocky trail. We helped him up the next ridge, and then continued. We knew with all the steep rocks, he probably wouldn't make it to the top, but we didn't want to tell him that, did we? Too bad we didn't meet him on the way up, then we could have helped him to the top.

So all in all, I had a lot of fun.

Random Quote from Camp! (Read with a french accent)
"Twenty-Nine people go into ze water... Twenty-Two people come out of ze water... Ze ice-cream man, he gets ze rest..." -Adam

~~~
Atra ilian tauthr ono.

Harry Potter and the Lightning Theif

2009-07-24T14:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday, July 18th: We went and saw Harry Potter 6 today with my grandparents. It was really good. I thought it was funny, and my mom laughed through the whole thing. They left out one of the coolest parts, where Dumbledore's Army and the Aurors come to Hogwarts and Fight the Death Eaters! They just had the Death Eaters show up, kill Dumbledore, and leave. It was kinda lame.
I almost missed the first part of it, though, because I was so excited for the Lightning Thief Movie!!

I loved that book! I recently read The Last Olympian, and then my friend Brielle asked if she could borrow it (and then return it to the library). I took it over to her house, and then later that same day, I got a call from Sister Michaelis asking if she could borrow it! "It's a wanted book." She said after I told her Brielle had borrowed it. (If your name is spelled wrong, sorry.) I can't wait for the movie. Another funny story: The other day, I told Brielle about the movie, and the first thing she said was "They better not mess this one up!"

Aerin's Baptism

2009-07-24T13:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I have done a horrid job of blogging Because of the California pictures. But I'm going to try to pull it back up. This post was actually written a week or so ago, but It's just being posted now.

Saturday, the 11th of June, I had the privilege of seeing my good friend Aerin's Baptism. (And her sister, Steph, who I kinda know.) I was really excited for it ever since I learned she was getting baptised. (I keep wanting to spell Baptised with a z...) It was kinda funny when so many of her friends from Midvale showed up they had to move us into the Chapel. Besides me, Trevin, Luke, and Riley, showed up, along with a bunch of ninth graders that I only know as faces and names. We took up a whole pew.

It was really spiritual, even (and especially) when Steph couldn't think of what to say as she bore her testimony. Afterwards a line formed as Aerin gave out hugs and received gifts. I held back to wait until there were less people, and by the time I got up to her, she had so many gifts she could barely hug me and take mine. But she did, and then kept receiving people. I followed the other Trojans to the other room, thinking she'd be behind us. Five minutes later, she had barely moved five feet! Later she said that was because "Everybody wanted pictures!"

So I'll do another tribute here. Here's to Aerin!

Thanks for being such a fun friend! Thanks for your testimony, and your excitement, and the spirit you bring, especially when you sing!
And Thanks for the new motto. This is something I think I knew all along, but you helped me realize it.
Purity is

BEAUTIFUL

GamemasterJT

Important Events of Late

The Little Car

Things I do have...

Hi Again

16

Wow...

Jeremiah Pena

End Of June

First Weeks of Summer

Goodbye, Midvale...

Concert Week

This Last Week

Days Go By (Part 4: Music)

Days Go By (Part 3: Mother's Day)

Days Go By (Part 2: GRRR....)

Days Go By (Part 1: AP Human Geography)

Hilarious Videos

SolarFlare Productions

Happenings of Late

Career Day

Españolandia

Sadness!

YAY!

A Month, Gone Missing!

Marlene Hall!

A Good Day, I S'pose...

Talent Show

Why I Love My Friends, Even Though They Drive Me Insane

Amazing Piano

Solo and Ensemble

Hi's.

Sickness, Where is thy Victory? *GAG COUGH*

... Is it?

THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...

Happenings of Late

Catagorized

7 Days is too long... Says I.

I Think that Made Up for my Crappy Weekend... Maybe...

More

Random, but okay.

Assassin

AMAZING!!

Daggett...

Sometimes I Wonder - Arrangement by Jeremiah Pena

Merry Christmas!

One Day...

Two Days...

I have the best friends.

Raechel!

Paige!

Wow, Really?

Final Status

ARE YOU READY??????

ANNIVERSERY!!!!!

Steph!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Books!

QUOTES!

Long Gratitude...

Daniel!

Feast

My Master's Soldier

Programming

Peanut Butter

New and Improved Blog!

Poetry

TAG!

RED ALERT! RED ALERT!

TOTAL RANDOMNESS

November 15th

Let it burn, Let it burn, Let it burn...

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Beautiful Flow of Sound

School

Boo!

Things to Strive For

The Little Freak just got Freakier.

Mandi!

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Sickness, Where is thy Victory? GAG COUGH