TEE--EYCH

Day 4! The day we got ads! Yes, we have ads now.
 Anyway, I just read Kendall's two posts for yesterday and today and I feel the need to react:
LIAM HEMSWORTH, a.k.a. MILEY CYRUS' EX-BOYFRIEND, AS GALE?!?! Unacceptable.
I don't support Gale-Katniss--I'm on the baker's side (he makes awesome cakes!)--but Gale is a fine young man who doesn't deserve this treatment! I approve of the choice for dear Peeta Mellark. And Katniss Everdeen? Hmmm, she seems a bit old to me but dyeing her hair would solve that problem.


The Malta post was great. It really was. Green-worthy, even. 


Moving on, I felt like I should tell you about something I witnessed today. I have a free period 8 (second period of the day this week) and I went to W-Lab to type up a Spanish composition. There was an English 9 class inside but there were a couple of computers free so I sat down at a computer and logged on. Other older students were also in there working papers or whatever. Just as I opened a new Word document, however, two more freshmen that belong to the class that was officially using the lab that period came in and there was only one computer left. The teacher kindly asked for one of the students not in her class to give up a computer for her student.


There was a pause. Not a short one, not really, but one of those that seem to be longer than it really was. All the older students inside the computer lab slowly looked over their shoulders at their fellow upperclassmen, including myself, waiting, even daring, the others to move from their seats. No one would look at the teacher. No one spoke. And to my surprise, every single head slowly turned back toward the computer screens, confident that someone else would stand up and give up their computer. I admit, I thought the same thing, too. But it was quickly followed by another thought: If we all thought to ourselves, "Hey I'm working on something important so I'm not leaving. Someone's bound to leave, right, but it won't be me," then no one would leave.


I also turned back toward my computer screen, just like the others. But I logged off. 


"I'll go," I said.


I'm sure I heard the faintest of sighs from behind me as I said that. And I walked out of the W-Lab with the greatest disappointment that I have ever felt for my school peers.


School is hard. And we all have homework that require the use of a computer. It's great to see students so keen on working, putting so much effort, thought and, most importantly, value into their papers and projects. As students, we should value the products we turn in to our teachers because of the amount of time and effort we put into them. And these upperclassmen, I understand, had every right to feel "protective" about their free time spent on working. 


What we forget, however, is that school is also a community. And in a community where everyone believes that someone else will do it eventually, what gets done? Who ends up doing everything or anything at all? We have to somehow stop that reflex in our minds that say, "I don't have to do it 'cause I'm sure someone else will do it." How are you so sure? Who is this "someone else" that everyone seems to trust will do everything in due time? Because, let me tell you, that "someone else" doesn't exist. That "someone else" should be you.


Taking pride in your work and making sure that you do all of it to the best of your ability isn't considered selfishness. But when your doing so affects someone else's efforts to do their best, it might as well be.


TODAY.......
I really loved...JAW.
I smiled because...I did better than I expected on my Physics test.
Lyrics playing at this very moment as I type this portion of the blog:
"...my sweet, sweet Madeline. Every time I look into your eyes, I feel like I'm alive..."
(Hello by Hawk Nelson)
Hours of sleep last night: 5 hours, 20 minutes
Times it got COLD today: 5 (that's a record?)
Friend(s) of the day: Winney and Adrienne (tie!)


--Jen :)

What the Eff is Malta?

So Blogspot has this nifty thing where they can track all sorts of different statistics from our blog. Such as, how many views we have, from what internet browser they are from, what link brought them here, and also, from what country they are from. Of course, the majority of the views are from the U.S. but there are some from other countries. The other countries are all under 100 and most of them are big, well established countries around the world. Recently, I found myself looking at this list and found one country that seemed a tad bit odd. It was called Malta. Now, I have never heard of the country of Malta so I did a little bit of research on the subject. 


The Republic of Malta is an island nation of the southern coast of Italy. Now I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking the exact same thing: "How is there a country in Europe that I haven't heard of?" Well, there are actually quite a few European nations that we don't hear from that often. Malta is one of the most densely populated countries in the world because it is only about 300 km squared, and it has about 300,000 people. They gained their independence from the UK in 1964 through "intense negotiations." The origin of the term "Malta" is unknown, but it is thought to be derived from the Greeks. I wish I was around in Greek times. It would be cool to go there, like, Doctor style.  


Now get this, I found something that completely caught me off guard. The main language of Malta is Maltese. There is a whole new language that I have never heard of. An entire dialect that thousands of people speak, that I never knew existed. [If you want to know what it sounds like, start at around 1:15. CLICK HERE :) ]


So, why did 18 people (or one person 18 times) venture towards our teenage, angst-ridden blog? Could it be because 1.6% of the population of Malta are British, and British people are effing cool? Maybe. Or it could be because Maltese people know how to party? You know those Maltese people, going from club to club, partying Jersey style. (Like, the original Jersey, not the New one.) Or it could even be that the freaking Danielle Fishel is Maltese. You know, freaking TOPANGA from Boy Meets World?!?!?! TOPANGA!!! I posted about a Boy Meets World video back in the day, they could have been here to see that, right? Although the most likely possibility could be that they just wandered to this blog by accident and then immediately exited. Yeah, that's what most likely happened.


All the time we hear that we Americans are ignorant towards the rest of the world, and don't really realize what else is out there. I would always think that I am a culturally diverse person, to a certain extent, and that I know what's outside of our industrialized and fast-paced lives. But there's so much out there that we don't notice. I have never even heard of this entire country until a few days ago. 300,000 people who suddenly just appeared in the world, that weren't there before. As a country, we are very different from the rest of the world. We do a lot of bad things that are for our personal gain that hurt others or the environment, but we also do a lot of good and what we have works. We may be a country of lazy, ignorant, different, powerful people and that's okay, we should just be more aware of what's outside of what we are used to. 


Awkward Moments: 2
Pages Read: 53 (School stuff doesn't count)
Jen's Titles: EN-DEE KEY-III EFF-ARR