So in my courses lately, I've been studying a lot about Language. The way we use language, the way language influences what we do, the way language changes. I've found it very interesting, actually, much more so than learning about literature. These past few weeks we've been talking about internet languages. We read a couple of articles written on the pros and cons of socializing via new technology. One of them started to make me think. This article, which was written by Tamar Lewin in the New York Times in 2008 and can be found here, talks about the benefits of using social media sites. It talks about how using Social Media sites help kids learn the technological and social skills that are needed in the real world, like "how to manage a public identity". But what really caught my attention was when they talked about how new media is being used to "explore new romantic relationships". I started to think about this. Being an interconnected teen, I can say that this certainly rings true. Sites like Facebook and Twitter and Gchat have changed social relationships a lot. Not only that, they've changed the very way we use language a lot.

Think of it this way: In the real world, face-to-face communication, we have certain rules. You don't mumble when you're talking to somebody. You don't look at someone else while you talk to them. You generally face them and make eye contact. You use body language to communicate, like facial expressions and hand motions. The language and tone you use fits the occasion, whether that be respectful, patient, argumentative, accepting, or jovial. Face-to-face has its rules. Then we developed the telephone, and with it came a whole new set of rules. When you talk on the phone you generally start the conversation with "Hello?" the person that made the call then assures that they are talking to the right person. Once that is confirmed, they confirm who they are for the person on the other end. The conversation then can proceed. These are rules that we follow when using one form of communication that we don't follow using another. So it's only natural that, as more forms of communication have been created, the rules would also change. The rules, the mannerisms, and the structure of language that we use on a Facebook post is different from an email, which is different from a text message, and so forth. For example, if I had a lengthy idea that I wanted to put to my friends to discuss, Twitter would not be a good place to do that. Instead I would want to use my Facebook page, or if it was really lengthy, this blog, and then maybe I would link it to my Facebook or Twitter page. That's an unspoken rule of internet communication. If I had a little quip that I thought was funny or insightful, then Twitter or Facebook would be a good place to do that, and a blog would not be a good place for it. Commenting on other people's thoughts is also a totally different experience. On Twitter, a comment or reply is stated in the form of a new post, which minimizes the possibility of conversation or discussion. On a blog, you can actually post a comment that is directly connected to the post and able to be easily seen by everyone reading the original post. The same applies to Facebook, but we can also just press "Like" if we want to. This simple action of Liking a post or comment sends its own message and tone.

Tone is also a key aspect of online communication. Without the use of facial expressions, body language, and voice inflections, we've had to find new ways to create tone. Consider the great difference between these three phrases in an IM Conversation: "Okay then." "Okay then. :)" and "Okay then. :(" The first could be indifferent, agreeing, or accepting. The second could be agreeing or accepting, but it could also be an attempt to please. The third one is totally different, it sounds resigned. Things such as emoticons, action asterisks, ellipses, and acronyms can change the tone and mood of something completely when you're using internet languages. Also consider the difference between these two statements: "Idk when ur going 2b hre lol we r w8 ing 4u." As compared to "When are you going to be here? We're all waiting for you." Maybe it's just me, (being the kind of person who has to have capitalization, punctuation, and spelled out words) but I find the first message to make you sound more rudimentary and less intelligent then you might actually be. In my mind, the tone of the whole message can change dramatically just by using the word "u" instead of "you".

These new forms of communication and the rules and structures that go with them have changed the entire way that we conduct our relationships, just as Lewin said. People act differently online. People interact differently online. People communicate so differently online. And as new technology develops, that language and language structure will continue to change. Let's just hope that change doesn't involve a "Dislike" button.

I found this post on Pinterest. You find all sorts of these kinds of things on Pinterest. But I wanted the same thing from a guy's perspective. So I came up with this:

I hope that one day a girl like that will come along and see who I am.

  I remember a time a couple of months ago when I was sitting outside a bowling alley waiting for some friends. Next door was a skate shop, and for some reason or another a large crowd of teenagers were gathered outside. They were loud and obnoxious, yelling things and talking trash and being, well... Skaters (or is it Sk8ers?). And I thought about stereotypes, and how each stereotype really does have some kind of basis. But at the same time, there's always some kind of exception.

  Last Saturday, I was at the library. I put my stuff down on a chair in the study section, and at the nearby table sat a teenager. His face was riddled with acne, his hair was spiked, and his ears were studded. And maybe if I had seen him walking down the street or hanging out with other kids like him, I might have judged him a little harshly. But he sat at the table with his two little sisters, both much younger than he was, reading magazines to them. And something about the way his eyes looked, and the way he talked to the little girls, made me trust him. So I asked him to watch my laptop and my backpack while I went to the restroom. He looked a little surprised when I asked him, but nodded and said "Yeah, sure." I went to the restroom and then went to look at some books. He came and found me in the shelves, to tell me that he had to leave, but that my stuff was still there. I went back to my chair and finished my studying by myself.

  So where do we draw the line with stereotypes? There's no doubt that they can be very hurtful. I often feel like a victim to stereotype sometimes, and I hate it. But making judgements is necessary, sometimes. For example, not all Muslims are terrorists. I know several who are intelligent and sensible. And it's not fair to discriminate against them. But despite it's unfairness, is it perhaps reasonable to the common good? After all, Al-Qaeda is based on extreme Islamic values. Which, unfortunately, puts statistics against anyone who is a Muslim. So do we tighten our securities against Muslims, and discriminate the good with the bad? Or do we try to treat them fairly, and be more lenient to the bad as well as the good? Neither choice is ideal.

  The other question I've pondered about stereotypes is this: Do stereotypes affect people as much as people affect stereotypes? For example, let's say the stereotype is that male fashion artists, stylists, and hairdressers are gay. Let's even say that this stereotype has an original basis in that many stylists came out and said they were gay. But now that the stereotype has been established, do men that want to be hairdressers think they must be gay? Or do men who think they are gay feel like they should go into those fields? Are there people that are driven to certain beliefs about themselves because of what society thinks about the group they belong to? I think it happens all the time. But this only makes things worse, because then the number of people proving the stereotype only increases, which drives home the stereotypical belief. It's a continuous cycle that will never stop until the entire culture decides it wants to be different.

  So ponder on these things, but make sure that, if it is at all possible, you get to know how someone really is before you slap a stereotype on them.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 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)

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.

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.

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. :(