Who am I?

I am an inspired young writer.
I am a poet.
I am a thinker.
I am a dreamer.
I am a girl trying to positively change the world.
I am who I am.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

NaNoWriMo

Hey,
I haven't been writing much recently because 1) Final Exams were last week and 2) NaNoWriMo started a little under a week ago! I'm really excited about writing my novel, and I'm SO glad exams are over!


For NaNo, I set my word goal at 30000, but since I'm already at 8000, I have a vision that I may increase that goal. Still, this weekend I haven't worked on any homework so far, so that's why I was able to write 4000 words in a day, whereas that won't likely happen at any other point in NaNoWriMo this month :(.


Last year, I was writing almost nothing at this point. My word goal had been set to 10000, so I basically wrote the minimum to reach that goal every day. Then, in the week of Thanksgiving, I suddenly had a wealth of time on my hands, so I jumped past my word goal of 10000 and began racing towards 12500, then 15000, then 17500, and finally 20000. I ended up on the last day with 21212 words, which was quite far off from my original goal of 10000!


Therefore, I decided to reach high this year. I was going to go for 20000 or 25000, but then I remembered how little I had been writing at the beginning of the month. I had to shoot high this year. So, 30000 it was. And I think I just might get even higher. I have high hopes that I can start the adult program next year! :)


Just wanted to check in. :)
-Cora

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Journal Entry from Olin: October 15, 2011

If I could go back in time and change anything about what happened today, I wouldn't change anything. We had a nice breakfast at our hotel this morning and then we went to Olin to check in. While my parents had an interview, I sat outside at the Oval and relaxed and read a bit. It was a wonderful feeling, just sitting peacefully on the bench, watching Oliners ride around on their self-built recumbent bikes. What's so awesome about Olin is all of the diverse, nerdy people who are just like family. Family who share common interests, a common motivation, and, most importantly, a common drive to do well and succeed. I love it here.

Dad and Mom came after a while and we met up with Julian, who got his laptop and showed us his latest project. This was some amazing stuff- breadboards hooked up to his laptop, connected by an array of wires in all the right places. It all fit together to make a cool racecar game in which two players each controlled a spinning arrow and a button which would allow the cars to race each other to the finish. It was all beautiful in a way that's hard to explain- it all fit together so well, so perfectly, with all these intricate pieces coming together as a whole, like a butterfly, its wings decked with separate, unique scales, but all coming together in a gorgeous pattern.

We headed to lunch; first, we checked out a restaurant we've been to before, but it was closed, so we went to Petit Robert Bistro instead. It's a quaint, little, French-American restaurant with great food; I had a yummy French baguette sandwich with Jambon ham served with some slices of tomato and some French fries. Good stuff :)!

Later, the four of us went to Wellesley because it was one of the colleges I liked most from what I read in a college book. It was pretty old and it had a nice setting, but it was a lot bigger than I had expected, so it was hard to find our way around the place. It was also kind of imposing, not really the welcoming environment I had been hoping for.

After an hour or so of walking around the campus in a circle, we went to a small coffee shop nearby and sat down outside. An old man who was sitting on the bench next to us kept on talking about the ambulances and police cars that were driving by.

My dad got me some hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant. We sat there drinking and eating and talking, mostly about the classes Julian's taking. He told us that he is taking 24 credits worth of classes, though the maximum is 21, and two more classes that he won't get credit for at all. As he said, "I don't take classes for grades."

Later on, Dad drove us to the movie theater, where we watched a pretty good movie called "The Ides of March." The plot was really interesting, and the movie was quite dramatic at times. :)

We ate dinner at Solea's, a really wonderful restaurant with tapas, little dishes that we shared as a group. I had some delicious calamari, French fries, and some baby lamb chops. We went there last year for Family Weekend, too, so since we all liked it so much, Dad and I decided to make it a tradition. :)

In the car ride back to Olin, I had a really enthralling and inspiring conversation with Jules about nerdiness and college. I asked him where he learned all of the things he showed me today, and he said that most of it was at Olin. According to him, there's almost no time when you need to know something about engineering and no one knows the answer. That, I think, is amazing.

I told Julian that I do extra work all the time, and that everyone calls me an overachiever, but I'm proud. Julian replied, "There's no such thing as an overachiever- just someone who does what he should do." Then, as an afterthought, he said, "You can quote me on that." I smiled. "I probably will." And so I did. :)

With that note, he left and we told him that we'd see him in the morning.

And now, as I lay here in my bed at our hotel, I feel inspired. I feel nerdy. I feel awesome.

DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome),
Cora

Blowing my Mind (written on October 10)

Science class impacted my day quite a bit today. We were talking about the flow of energy and how energy is passed from consumer to consumer, organism to organism. With each transferral of energy, a bit of that energy is lost as heat energy and is unusable for organisms to do work: but that's natural and normal. It's called the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As this heat energy is released, the order of the universe is reducing and the world is slowly moving towards chaos and entropy. Literally. Complete disorder. Just because of energy loss.

This kind of blew my mind. I had this huge connection to the whole world. Everything is SO interwoven and connected, and life is such a huge whole of which we are such a small part. But if we are so insignificant, why should we care? Why do we do what we do every day? What's the point, if we'll all eventually succumb to the disorder of the universe? Most likely, no one will be there to remember us, or anything that we did. It is quite possible that everything that happened on this Earth will vanish into oblivion. No one will ever know, care, or even wonder what could have happened. What we perceive as so much is in reality so little.

That, of course, brings up the questions, "Why do people live if (chances are) nothing we do will change anything in the grand scheme of things?" and "What is the point of human existence?"

I'll leave on that note. Just mull over it. Gaah. Still blowing my mind.

-Cora

Steve Jobs (written on October 6)

Today, I re-watched a speech by Steve Jobs that he made during the 2005 commencement ceremony at Stanford University. It is an absolutely brilliant speech. It's only fifteen minutes long, but what he said was extremely inspiring. Here's a quote from the speech that particularly impacted me:

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html)

Wow. It takes a little for the weight and the power of those words to settle in. If I were to die tomorrow, what would I do today? It's a really thought-provoking question. It really makes you think about what you want to do in life and what you value. It's also a difficult question for me to answer, because I really don't know much about what I want to do in life. I only know that I want to be happy. I want to love the world. I want to share something with the world. I want to make a difference, because I feel like that would make my life successful.

On that note, I'll conclude this journal entry. I realize that it isn't very long, but it has a lot of abstract concepts that I need to think about. I need to live a worthwhile left- it seems like it's some sort of unsaid duty I have to fulfill. Something else to think about.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for posing questions that will riddle my mind for the rest of my life. Thank you for inspiring me and so many others to do great things. You will be remembered.

-Cora

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Change

Written on 9/6/11

I had a huge revelation today.
I've changed a lot since middle school.
I've completely changed my clothing style. I actually wear jeans now- but in middle school, I wore jeans exactly once in all three years. I also wear skirts and tank tops with cardigans, which are also new additions in my wardrobe. Part of this is due to new dress code rules at school banning sweatpants and athletic wear, which basically was the extent of my "style" previously- simple and comfortable.
I've become more of a nerd. Happily. I enjoy being a nerd. I listen to Hank Green's music (as well as some other indie-style music), I love geeky TV shows like Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel), and I also watch a countless number of Youtubers (such as the vlogbrothers, Charlie McDonnell, Karen Kavett … shall I go on?) as they spend their amazing lives staring and vlogging into video cameras.
I've continued farther on my path to becoming a writer through new writing ideas I've come up with.
As to more of a general standpoint (away from the specifics for a bit):
I've discovered more of my self identity. I feel like I know more about my place. Not necessarily my place in the world- I'm not that far yet, though I wish I knew that- but my place in society, especially at school.
I've decided that though I'm changing a lot about myself, I'm never going to stop being me.
Most importantly, though, I've decided to accept myself. I accept who I am and where I belong. I have best friends by my side to support me, I am relatively liked and accepted by most people in my grade, and I even got asked to Homecoming by a guy I like :).
But none of this matters, in the grand scheme of things. In terms of the world, I'm just a young human being. My troubles don't change anything. Nothing I worry about really matters to anyone except me. So I'll just live the rest of my life striving to be me. That young human being in a huge universe. And I hope that I'll be better for it.

-Cora

On My Mind

  1. High school- it's new, it's exciting, and I'm doing well, even though I'm playing tennis and I'm taking the hardest classes offered to me. I've joined two clubs: Amnesty International and our school's newspaper. I'm thinking about joining Chess Club. I'm also continuing my position as a student ambassador, which means I get to tour new families around the school.
  2. Tennis- I'm really enjoying playing it at school with my team as well as watching and obsessing over the U.S. Open.
  3. Writing- I have several writing projects going on right now. I have a dystopian novel that I've been working on, and I've decided to revise Keep Running (last year's Nano novel) more. I've been researching tips on revising and rewriting.
  4. Change- everything that's happened since middle school. More on that on another blog post coming soon. By the way, sorry I haven't been able to post frequently. :/ I'll try to be better at being more consistent.
-Cora

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Tennis

Thinking about tennis camp this week, I came up with an analogy. Tennis, in a way, is like chess. At first, you learn about the strokes and technique and how the chess pieces move, and it seems like that's the main part of the game in both cases. Then, strategy plays into it. You need to figure out when to move where, what your opponent's next move is likely to be, and how to be ready for anything coming your way. You need to be on top of your game from the very beginning, because a few double faults or a poor opening could determine your performance for the rest of your match or game. Tennis seems to be more of a physical sport, but as I gain more experience, I realize that the mental aspect is just as important. Strategy is a huge element in tennis, and at tennis camp this week I'm trying to improve my positioning and strategic tactics.

I'll write more soon,
Cora

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Travels in Austria... Belated entries with pictures!!

I just posted some more of my diary entries from when I was in Austria in spring on my blog at http://corastravels.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

China

I left China only a week ago, but it seems as if the whole trip happened months - maybe even years - ago. The pictures I took, the souvenirs I purchased, and the diary entries I wrote serve merely as memories of a world that seems so distant now. The food, the people, the customs and traditions ... everything was so different. I'm not always operating on a busy schedule, which I enjoy tremendously: I love the feeling of waking up in the morning without a wake-up call and not having to worry about having to pack up my suitcase and move hotels every other day. There's a lot that I miss about China, like speaking Chinese, but a whole lot that I won't miss, like the smog and pollution and people smoking everywhere and bumpy train and plane rides during which I had trouble sleeping. China was a great experience, but I'm really glad I'm back home with my family and friends, relaxing to the best of my ability until school starts again.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A Letter ... and Treasure?

This morning, my mom showed me a three-page letter that one of our friends from Austria bought from E-bay. It was dated back to 1875, and our friend believed it to be written by an archaeologist. He said it might even include a location of a hidden treasure. The letter was in English, written in an old writing that was difficult to read at times, so he wanted some help deciphering it, so my mom printed it out and we worked on trying to discover what word each scribble meant. It was pretty fun and we did well at figuring out what the letter said, but there were still a few illegible words.

It turned out to be a letter about a Reverend thanking someone (presumably a friend or another acquaintance). I did a bit of research online, and it turned out that the Reverend had written many other letters about the parish and church. It is not quite clear why the author of the letter was thanking the recipient, and some of the letter made absolutely no grammatical sense, but what was clear was that it was definitely not a letter about hidden treasure.

Despite the dismay about the treasure (or maybe because of it?), I came to think about the time during which the author wrote the letter - and what he would have changed knowing that someone would read it and attempt to decipher it, if he would have changed anything at all with that knowledge - rather than the content of the letter. The thought that someone might read his letter 136 years later most likely never even began to enter his mind. Even if he did know that someone would read it all this time later, would he have known anything about what the world would be like after 136 years? Would he have written anything else or would he have written in a different manner? I believe that these questions will probably remain unanswered, and that belief is strengthened even more when I think about the gap between then and now. There's so many differences that I begin to wonder what I would do in a similar situation. If I knew that my words would be read in over 130 years, would I write anything differently? I'm not sure if I could, since I have no idea what the future will bring, since I know that everything could - and probably will - be different: our lifestyle, our technology, our handwriting (as seen when I thought about common modern handwriting compared to his) ... maybe even the language we speak and write.

Back to the treasure ... I was thinking about the power of words and what strength they seem to convey through their meaning and age. Maybe everything contains a bit of treasure in its own way. Maybe when you see a picture of darkness, there's a speck of light somewhere in the distance. Maybe if you see a painting of a desert landscape with a hand reaching for a seemingly empty water bottle, there's a few little droplets left inside. Maybe words, no matter their content, always contain a little bit of treasure and a little bit of hope - like that speck of light and those little droplets of water - although we might not see any at first. Maybe the treasure is right in front of you, and maybe you just have to dig around a little to find the X that marks the spot. Maybe - just maybe - all words carry more of a treasure than they seem to carry. As the saying goes, things aren't always what they seem.

It's Been a While ...

I would say that the reason that I haven't been writing recently is that I've been really busy recently, but that's not necessarily true. Before summer started, I went to Pennsylvania during Project Period with my grade at school, where we studied history in Philadelphia, The Quakers, and The Amish, with plenty of fun-time in between in which we bought heavenly pretzels at Amish stores, jumped into hotel pools, played cards with friends, goofed off during bus rides, took plenty of awesome pictures, and spent almost an entire day in Hershey Park and Hershey's Chocolate World. When we got back to school, we watched The Witness, printed out pictures, made scrapbooks of our many journeys, and had our 8th Grade Graduation, in which we received awards and 'diplomas', watched a slideshow with pictures of us from all the trips we took together, and said our goodbyes to friends and teachers.

So, even though you could say a lot had been going on in my life before summer started, but since our graduation, I've spent a lot of time simple having fun and enjoying my summer so far and simply relaxing. It's a good feeling, being able to have plenty of time to read, solve Rubik's Cubes and try to beat my best time (which I've failed to do so far - sometimes I can get within three seconds, though!), brainstorm writing projects, play computer games in the basement, reminisce about old times by working on making a Time Capsule, and - of course - eat the occasional ice cream! :)

This Thursday, I'm going on a trip to China, so I'll have a lot to do over the next few weeks. I'm just going to try to have a lot of fun and learn as much as possible! You'll definitely hear from me after China, but I might even write another post or two before I leave. :)

Talk to you later! Bye!
Or, as they say in China, 再见!
~Cora

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

In Passing

This afternoon, I passed by a plain white car. A young woman was driving and calming her children down at the same time. This mother, a complete stranger, drove by and I smiled at her. It was a hopeful smile, and an attempt to brighten up her day a bit, and she smiled back. I could tell she was truly happy, and it made me feel happy, too.

-Cora

Friday, May 20, 2011

Nostalgia

Nostalgia.
The last weeks of school this year.
The last days of middle school.
The last hours of homework,
The last minutes of classes,
The last moments before ...
The last time I hear those sweet sounds.
The last time the children tap their feet in anticipation and stare at the clock, and, when the time comes, jump up and scream.
It's the last time they are children.
We'll all be older next year,
expected to be more mature,
to behave properly,
to not be childish.
The last time we steal each other's lunch boxes,
The last time we lay in the Commons and stretch,
The last time we jump down from bleachers,
The last time we have fun at the playground,
The last time we have a middle school dance,
The last time we're all together,
All of these last times …
Nostalgia.
Will I ever forget?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Read to Me

read to me
read to me
distract me from this pain
pain
pain
pain
take me away from this pain
pain
pain
pain
take me away
please take me away
just like a dreamscape,
a lullaby
that you sing to me
that you speak to me
that you read to me
read to me like the rays of a sunset
shine down on me
while i stay afloat
but when the sun falls down
when i start to sink
when the sun slips down
everything will be at peace
i close my eyes
my eyelids fall
my eyelids sink
my eyelids slip
i close my eyes
everything will be at peace
i go to sleep
fall
sink
slip
fall
sink
slip
good night,
good night,
i go to sleep.

In Memory of Mrs. Henry Lafayette-Dubose. RIP.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

A Pocketful of Happiness

-openness
a wave from far away
the hugs of warmth, the warmth of hugs
welcome signs and welcome mats
-equality-
words written and words spoken
answers questioned, questions answered
from far away a wave
closure-

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Conclusion (Days 7 and 8)

Never again ... that was what people decided. Never again.
Never another holocaust, never another genocide.
Never.

But ... it did happen again.
Again and again and again.



Never forget.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Day 5

This week, I've been thinking a lot about making a difference. I've been thinking about different charities, and what makes each cause unique and worthy of awareness, attention, and/or action. Many organizations in the world have compelling causes that need others' support, but I think that though awareness is important, it would be nearly impossible to donate and commit to every single important cause in the world. There's so many different ways to help out, and trying to choose is often hard, but I think you and I and everyone else, when faced with the question of what, whom, or where to help, should ponder about what affects us as individuals and what we care about. I guess it all comes down to trying to making whatever difference you want to make.

I'm thinking about this because the theme of this year's Holocaust Remembrance Week is "What have we learned?" (http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/years/detail.php?content=2011&lang=)

Other than lessons of ignorance and hatred, we see other lessons that branch out from the Holocaust. Some people did fight for what they believed in, even in such troubled times as World War II, and I think that commemorating them is just as important as remembering the victims. Remember those who made a difference in the world, and learn to do the same in your own way.

-Cora

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Day 3

Helen Katz
a life cut short
too short

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?MediaId=2110

Monday, May 2, 2011

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Day 2

Do you remember me?

beyond recognition
you only know my name
like a shell
containing me

an infant's short life
the love in a child's life
all reduced to
a picture
no further knowledge

Do you remember me?

http://rememberme.ushmm.org/pages/child/jadwigaschwlikowska-30/

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Holocaust Remembrance Week: Day 1

million
million
million
million
million
million
million
million
million
million
million

hearts
paperclips
People

gone

don't forget them

Friday, April 22, 2011

Quick Blog Update

I just posted another diary entry from when I was in Austria on my travel blog. Go check it out at http://corastravels.blogspot.com! :)

-Cora

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thoughts on Acts of Good

I've been thinking a lot about my Acts of Good project, which has lasted more than a hundred days so far. Sometimes, it seems like I'm trying to find them and make up an excuse for what I could write as one, but when I think back to when I thought of this project on January 1st of this year, that wasn't my original objective at all. I wanted these acts to be from my heart, and I wanted this blog to chronicle those acts.
However, this project has evolved and strayed from its original purpose. I didn't think that this blog would end up being a long list of simple things I've done. I realized that even without this project, I would still do the things that I do every day that are good. I would still try to compost, recycle, and be kind to people.

If I accomplish something good that's worthy of writing, I will write it, but this is the end of the project. The Acts of Good project as we know it is over.

With that said, this blog will continue to serve its original purpose and also allow me a place to write about things I want to write about instead of a meaningless list. 

I really think that this is the best step for me to take now. I'm ready for a new start and a new approach.

-Cora

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Act of Good #105

I smiled and said hello to an old man at tennis today. He seemed to appreciate that. :)

Friday, April 8, 2011

Acts of Good #96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, and 104!

Note: I'll try to keep more up-to-date in the future, but I've been really busy recently with make-up work, Script Frenzy (if you haven't heard of it, look it up!), etc.

April 4: helped tidy up some things and sent birthday greetings to an old friend
April 5: my leg started feeling really sore abruptly today, so I couldn't fully participate in gym, but I tried to cheer on as many people as possible while playing kickball
April 6: composted stuff!
April 7: I helped around the house and finally finished my video diary of my time in Austria! (note to self: finish written diary...)
April 8:
  • I posted my first Austria diary entry after procrastinating a bit... check out my Travel blog! (http://coravec.blogspot.com/)
  • I gave a gift to Mollie that I got for her in Austria! :)
  • Mollie and I accomplished a lot of Script Frenzy together! Four pages! *cheers*
  • I composted a LOT and recycled the leftovers of our ice cream party dishes! I felt really good because it did take extra time to wash out everything, but it was worth it. :)
-Cora

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Clothespins


They hang,
in a row,
they suffer,
they wait,
night after night,
and rely
on a thread
to stay
afloat
in the sea
and the time
of no light.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Update and Acts of Good #84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, and 95!!!

Sorry that I haven't written in a long time: I've been in Austria for Spring Break. I've had limited wifi for a while, but I've been writing my diary while I've been staying here, at my grandparents' house.

So... acts of good!!!

March 20: Did some chores and helped around the house.

March 22: Gave lots of gifts to my cousins

March 25: Made a movie for my cousins

March 27: Played piano for my grandma :)

March 27: Studied for English and Mandarin

March 30: Helped my grandma with groceries

March 30: Bought some gifts for some of my friends

March 30: Carried some of my cousins' stuff inside that they... neglected....

March 30: Helped my grandma and one of my cousins bake cake for dessert!

March 30: After a BUNCH of procrastination, I finished my last Boston diary entry on my other blog (http://corastravels.blogspot.com/)

March 30: Tried to smile and greet as many people as possible on the street

As well as all of that, I picked up my cousins from school a few times, which made them really happy. :)

Friday, March 18, 2011

Act of Good #83 and an Update

Act of Good: Today, I helped out my mom with some chores. :)

An update: My birthday's coming up! It's this coming Friday, March 25!
-Cora

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Acts of Good #81 and 82

  1. A few days ago, I helped my mom cook lunch- really fun!
  2. I cleaned up a few things in the kitchen today. :)
I would write more, but I have to continue trying to catch up with my homework. Write to you all later!
-Cora

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Boston Trip- Day One Published!; Act of Good #80

After a long time of procrastination, I just published the first part of my journal on my other blog at http://corastravels.blogspot.com/. It accounts the first day of my trip to Boston in February. Check it out! :)
-Cora

Surpassing Limits

What do I want?
-to be-
when I: grow
up^
A balloon
always rising
surpassing limits.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Acts of Good #75, 76, 77, 78, and 79

Since I've been sick (and I still am), there are a lot of acts of good to catch up on!
  1. I helped my mom make pancakes a few days ago and clean up when we were done: an act of good and a delicious meal!
  2. I've been collecting compost, even though I was sick.
  3. I continued making a gift that I had planned to give to my Oxford friends.
  4. I stopped procrastinating printing out a few birthday cards for other friends.
  5. I finished formatting my novel- the word document is officially finished!
-Cora

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Act of Good #74 and Update (Sick Again!)

I finished editing my NaNoWriMo today! I feel really satisfied with it, and I'm almost ready to get my free copy from CreateSpace.

Just when I thought I was recovering, I became sick again with a horrible stomachache, nausea, and a sinus infection. This time, I had to skip nearly a week of school, so I hope that I'll be better soon!

-Cora

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Acts of Good #73 and #74

Though I've been sick, I helped my mom clean the dishes today- though it's a relatively small act of good. :)
I also have been working really hard on writing my book, and I almost finished editing the whole thing!
-Cora

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Acts of Good #71 and 72

  1. I collected a lot of compost to give to Mollie yesterday and today. :)
  2. I've been working hard on my novel! I just finished editing Chapter 11.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Acts of Good #68, 69, and 70

  1. I've been procrastinating the project of finishing my NaNoWriMo, but I've finally decided to take the next step. Last night, I worked hard formatting my book, and I continued (and finished) in the morning. 
  2. I made the final cover for my book, accounting for bleed, spine size, etc. So, I'm almost completely finished!
  3. I'm editing the writing of my NaNoWriMo as well, and I'm on Chapter 4! *cheers*

Friday, March 4, 2011

Sick

I'm sick. I had a sore throat, a cough, etc. etc. etc.
I just wanted to let you know why I haven't posted in a while.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Acts of Good #64, 65, 66, and 67

I haven't posted acts of good in the past few days, so I wanted to catch up with the ones that I haven't recorded yet, so here we go:

  1. I've been talking to a lot of old friends and making sure to let them know how much I miss each of them, even the ones whom I didn't speak to often.
  2. After being asked for my parents what I want for my birthday (which is coming up soon), I asked them for something that is definitely an act of good, and they agreed. I'll announce it later on closer to my birthday, and it's extremely exciting!
  3. I gave two amazing friends birthday cards (and I gave one a present), though the cards required a bit of patience and effort, but their joyfulness made it worthwhile.
  4. I've been an advocator of recycling even before I went to my new school, as that was one of the jobs that the student government representatives at my old school would accomplish, but after meeting Mollie (one of my best friends), I've become so much more, and I'm happy to say that I've been trying my best to recycle (and compost now as well) as much as possible, and trying to be more eco-friendly. :)
-Cora

Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Leaf

As you can probably see, I changed my blog's background to a picture that I took in Oxford. :)
Please note that this is lower quality than the actual picture because the large file was taking a long time to upload.

-Cora

The Nature of Trusting Others in Our Daily Lives

I brought up the following topic at the dinner table, and the conversation that ensued really got me thinking.

Does everyone realize how many people you have to trust to live a normal life? Of course, many people regard their family and best friends as the ones that they trust the most, which is usually a very good thing, as those are the people you most likely see quite often and who you are closest to. At first, it might seem as if trust ends there. However, think about it. Unless every moment of your life is spent in a self-made cage that you made from scratch, without any tools or materials, eating absolutely nothing, the chances are high that you trust a LOT of people. Every time that you buy something from someone else, you're trusting them not to put something toxic or dangerous inside of it. Every time that you ride in someone else's car, or bus (or other vehicle), you're trusting them not to crash or do something wrong, and even if you're driving the vehicle, you trust every single other car on the road not to crash into you. If you're an average person, you probably trust every single person that you see in your daily life (what if you were afraid that every single person you crossed was about to throw a punch at you, or worse?)- to a certain extent- people some more than others, of course, and rightly so.
Though this requires people to be reliant on so many other people, this is not a bad thing. It means that there is definitely good in the world, and an abundant amount, because otherwise humans would not- and should not- trust others as much as they do.


I realized how many times I post poems on here about something depressing like death, so I thought about life and happiness instead. That was a bit of a rant up there, but I hope you still liked it! :)

-Cora

Acts of Good #61, 62, and 63

  1. Yesterday, I jogged for an hour and twenty minutes (with a few breaks in between). I really don't like running or jogging, but I figured that I would do it just to get some extra exercise. :)
  2. I did extra (and probably unnecessary) Mandarin studying for a dictation quiz, which will definitely help me in the long run. :)
  3. I organized my bathroom with my Mom today, which REALLY helped. I'm extremely glad that I did it, and it'll make everything easier to find. (I have a lot of drawers and cupboards that were SO cluttered!)

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Following my Blog and Receiving E-mail Notifications

If you want to receive e-mail notifications on this blog to know whenever I post something here, just tell me (by commenting to this post or by other means if you know me personally). If you click "follow," that does not mean you subscribed.

Just wanted to let you know! :)
-Cora

Act of Good #60

I got second in my grade in a math competition! Part of it was probably just luck, but I feel like I did really well for what I expected before I took it. I just wanted to commend myself for that. :)

Friday, February 25, 2011

it burns.

it burns.
no more dreams
crush crush
crushed
no more laughs
laugh laugh
laughter
all just going
going going
gone
no more songs
sing sing
sang
no more peace
fight fight
fighting
no more life
lie lie
truth
cold cold
ice
burn burn
burns
skin skin
skin
die die
dead

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Carry On

Staring
blankly
down.
Unmoving,
Unhurting
yet inside
dying,
dying,
dying,
dead.
Death
eerily
silent
A shake,
a question,
a hug,
a sigh. It's
Nothing
in the end.
Still staring,
yet now-
dying,
dying,
dying,
dead.
It's gone.
Forgotten.
Carry on.

A Short Note

A short note/analysis about the poem above: it's another poem about Night, and I've been looking around for it a while because I lost it, but I found it again! Anyway, it's a response to the Holocaust. The main lesson is that after depressing and horrifying events, people just have to move on sometimes. It's tragic, but true.
So, carry on, my friend.
Carry on and look past the death.
Hope that works out for you.
It didn't for me.

No, I will never forget.

Acts of Good #56, 57, 58, and 59

1) Today, Mollie couldn't come to school because her plane was cancelled, so I took the time to email her the homework, though it was quite a tight squeeze with Student Government, and I was actually a bit late to the meeting, but I'm still glad that I wrote her. :)
2) Speaking of Mollie, she usually announces for people to remember to compost, so I took over that role for her- though now that I think about it, I'm not sure if anyone remembered to even bring the compost bin out... *sigh*
3) We took a math contest during math class today, and surprisingly (since I hate those things), I think I did pretty well, and I made sure to take my time in finishing it up, though the other people in my class had already left to go to our next class (which happened to be Gym). It made me late compared to everyone else, and I took much longer to run the laps required of us, but I dealt with it. I actually ended up coming out on time, and it worked out fine. I'm glad that I spent an extra few minutes trying to finish it up to the best of my ability.
4) We have some kids who are younger than us in our gym class, so I took the opportunity to try to socialize with them a bit, but I'm not sure how well that worked...

Monday, February 21, 2011

Acts of Good #53, 54, and 55

I just came back from Boston! I'll probably post some pictures later on, most likely on my other blog for traveling, http://corastravels.blogspot.com.

Yesterday, I went to the Science Museum and it was BRILLIANT! I LOVE science museums. xD
My first act of good for this weekend was that when I was in the museum's bathroom, there was a little girl (probably about 2 or 3 years old) and her mom, and the girl was impatiently dancing around and whining. I wanted to let them go ahead of me, but I wanted to teach the girl patience. Then, I realized that she would almost definitely not remember that moment in time, and she wouldn't realize its significance in the future, so I went ahead.

My second act of good was over the whole course of the weekend, and it's on more of a green note: Whenever possible, I searched for recycling bins to discard my recyclables and I made an extra effort to turn off lights, use hand dryers instead of paper towels for drying my hands... etc. Our city's airport doesn't have recycling bins, which makes me really upset. I'm going to see if I can change that somehow... I'll bring it up at our next MAD club meeting.

I performed my third act of good today, when I was in the airport back home in the second flight, and during the whole flight, I did extra math homework. :) I ended up actually completing two days worth of homework and I just finished the second assignment within a minute of touching down, because my mom had challenged me to see if I could get it done, and I did! Yay! Over the whole course of this weekend, I've completed all of my math homework for the rest of the week, so my next assignment will be due Monday- and I think I deserve some sort of prize for doing that, so I thought: "What's better than an act of good?"

So, I'm back home, and I hope to update you soon on all of the other amazing things I did this long weekend. Talk to you later!
-Cora

Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Tension of Opposites

I just finished The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride. It is SUCH an amazing book. I was completely attached to it, and there was absolutely no way anyone could tear me away from it. I think I devoured it. ;)

McBride has created a beauty. Her characters are real and imperfect (not like one character in Twilight- *cough* Edward *cough*- sorry, that's just my opinion), which is how characters should be, like the real people that they seem to represent. The plot is catchy- it's always changing and exciting- and I always wanted to read on to know what would happen next. I felt like I was actually in the story- and it was such an exhilarating experience! It was also really inspiring- I've written a novella in the same genre, and McBride's book reminded me of it. They're both slightly dark- yet cheerful at the same time- and the characters in both of our books are in similar environments. My book isn't nearly as good and needs a lot of improvement, but as I mentioned before, The Tension of Opposites was a great source of inspiration. I'll definitely look back at this book as a source of motivation whenever I need it. Kristina McBride accomplished her dream of publishing a book, and I hope to do the same in the future.

-Cora

Act of Good #52

Hey, everyone! I'm in Boston right now, writing from the hotel room. I'll talk more about my day soon, but for now I just wanted to post an act of good quickly, since I really have to go. My mom and I were at Au Bon Pain, and I was waiting in line and I let a guy in a hurry in front of me. Yes, it was pretty small, and only took a few minutes of my time, but he was really, really grateful for it, and I was grateful that I could make that difference, no matter how small. :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Act of Good #51

Though I probably would have done these things anyway without this act of good program, but I want to award myself for helping out others and myself today. I did a few extra chores around the house, and I did extra math homework, which benefits myself. :)

I'm going to Boston this weekend, so I might not be able to post very much from tomorrow until next Monday. Tomorrow, we don't have school because our teachers are finishing our grades and comments- it's the end of Winter Term already!- and on Monday, we don't have school, either, because it's President's Day! So my family is taking advantage of the weekend and going to Boston to visit my brother at college. I'm really excited! :D

-Cora

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Acts of Good #48, 49, and 50

Happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone! Yesterday, a guy in our grade gave every girl a flower. Isn't that really nice? Anyway- by the end of the day, someone's had shriveled up, and they threw it away, so I took it over to the compost bin.
I also made an effort to help as many people who were younger than me as possible with their homework during study hall, which made me feel really good. I guess that's one of the benefits of doing acts of good!

Today, I made a sandwich for my mom and went shopping with her. I don't usually go shopping, since I really dislike the activity, though we were looking for toys for my younger cousins, so it was a technique to persuade me to do something I didn't want to do.

That was my 50th act of good! Yay! I think I'm going to do something nice for the 100th that I do.

Anyway, now I have to go do homework. Talk to you later!
-Cora

Monday, February 14, 2011

Blogs and an Awesome Author

I follow my best friend's blog, http://gollie-worldofwords.blogspot.com/, and I saw Mollie's post that she wrote about Kristina McBride. Mollie actually reminded me that I had wanted to write a response to the amazing author's visit (but I got sidetracked with working on my NaNoWriMo), so here it goes:

As Kristina McBride mentions on her website (http://www.kristinamcbride.com/), and as she also told us, it takes a long time to get down the road of writing and finally get published, as that is the final goal that every author dreams of. It's what I dream of (among other things, such as happiness :)), and it's what I admire about McBride. She persevered through writing several manuscripts of several novels, most of which received too many rejections to count. These are struggles similar to many other writers out there- but this author carried through with her ideas, and she let them speak for themselves.
Though I haven't gotten into the book yet, I can tell that it's going to be brilliant, and I can't wait to start reading! I loved meeting her, especially because I saw part of me in her. For example, I haven't written one piece of writing that I believe is good that doesn't have some level of depression or darkness to it, and I love to watch dark crime TV shows (like Bones and Castle), and McBride seems to have a similar dark theme evolving in her previous novels (the ones that weren't published), and her latest book regards a kidnapping- and she also loves criminal TV shows!
Another thing I really love about her is her extreme enthusiasm. She was so engaged in what she was talking about, and it gave me an extra burst of motivation. I felt drawn in, and I felt ready for the journey to becoming an author. I was ready to meet my characters directly and to interact with them personally. I was ready to make time to write. I was ready to work on my previous works (which I did- Mrs. McBride inspired me to finish my NaNoWriMo formatting and continue writing poems, and ideas, and simply writing!) and start new ones. I was ready, and I still am.
So, thank you, Kristina McBride. Thank you for the motivation, and the inspiration. I'm really excited to read your latest novel, The Tension of Opposites, and I'm also excited to see what experiences the path of writing throws my way.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Cora

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Act of Good #47

I just finished chatting with an old friend of mine from Oxford, and finished a present that I want to give to her and a few of my other Oxford friends!

The Passage of Time: a Thoughtful Remark

The passage of time ... is it the act of time passing away- anxiously tapping one's foot in annoyance, or the clock ticking indifferently as time continues- or the moment that you missed because time had elapsed, washed away before anyone could stop the tide from erasing all memory of the message engraved on the sandy beach? Or is it the journey time must take to reach the end of the road, the end of time, and the end of its lifespan?

Just something to think about, as the passage of time increases, every second a second more, and as time runs away, counting up, not down, to the end.

My NaNoWriMo Novel- an update

I told you earlier that I would tell you about this, so I will: I wrote a NaNoWriMo novel in November (look it up if you don't know what it is!), though I used the Young Writer's Program, because I wanted to start out without pressuring myself too much, since I have SO much to do around that time of the year. I started with a word count goal of 10,000 words, though I had no idea how fast I could write that much, and I ended up with 21,212, and I finished the novel! It wasn't very long, but I concluded it and I'm really proud that I actually accomplished that, since it's often hard for me to complete something that I've started.

Then, I heard that CreateSpace was offering each NaNoWriMo winner a free, self-published copy of his or her novel, and I was extremely excited. I had already self-published a book before, though I wrote it in 4th grade. Needless to say, it wasn't very good, but I guess it was okay as a book for kids starting to read. To make matters worse, I made the mistake of sending all of my friends copies (and by friends, I mean relatives, teachers, family members- basically everyone), and I ended up with a limited number of copies left, with my name on the cover of a book that represented writing that wasn't my own after the passage of a few years.

Anyway, I was thinking about majorly editing and revising my NaNoWriMo novel, but I decided that I want to use my writing just from a month in my free copy. I don't want to have a polished novel that I've worked on for 7 months after November. I wanted a one-month showcase and memory for myself. I want to be able to remind myself, "I did this in a month," with only a few changes, and keep it like that.

Yesterday, I made a temporary cover for my book using CreateSpace, and I started formatted my book. I'm on the way to finally having it done!

-Cora

Acts of Good #45 and #46

Yesterday, I helped my parents out a bit with cooking, since we were inviting guests over for dinner. I've also been as diligent as possible with working on my NaNoWriMo novel (more information coming soon).

Friday, February 11, 2011

ORA Diary/Cora's Travels

To those of you who are currently following my ORA Diary blog, I have changed its web address to http://corastravels.blogspot.com/ in order to include my further travels- including the excursion to China that I'll be making this summer.

To those of you who haven't heard of my blog, I suggest that you check it out. The blog accounts my diary entries, with pictures, from when I studied in Oxford University in the UK for a two-week academic course on experimental psychology and creative writing at Oxford Royale Academy (ORA).

Thanks for checking it out if you do!
-Cora

Acts of Good #43 and #44

Yesterday and today, I helped my teachers by unstacking chairs efficiently before class, and I took an extra effort to bring in leftover banana peels and apple cores for the composter.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Holocaust and 9/11

After finishing Night, by Elie Wiesel, today, I wrote a poem (if you haven't read it yet, see below), and I've written other poems as a response to the book before (look at the "poem" tag).

Then, a thought came to me- how much worse, in terms of the number of deaths, was the Holocaust than 9/11? The Holocaust has an unknown number of fatalities, but I used the rough estimate of 11 million (as used in the documentary Paperclips and on about.com in an article I found that contained holocaust facts)- 6 million for Jews, and 5 million for the other groups persecuted against, including homosexuals and gypsies.
6,000 people died in 9/11. 11 million divided by 6,000 is roughly 1833. To honor 11 million people, one would spend a minute of silence 1833 times a year, which equals to be about 5 times a day. Compared to 5 minutes a day, a minute a year seems like nothing. That is the difference between the Holocaust and 9/11.

If a person made 100 pencil marks on a piece of paper a day, one mark per fatality, 9/11 deaths would be covered in 60 days, but the Holocaust deaths would take a person 110,000 days, or more than 300 years. It would be an impossible feat to carry out in any less than 3 lifetimes.

What does this tell us? That there are so many things around the world that aren't taken account for. Yet we must value the things in life that are beautiful, because there are too many depressing things in life to think about. I feel like I need to do something to honor this belief, but nothing is coming to me. For now, this blog post must suffice.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Composting!! (Act of Good #42)

Today, I volunteered to bring empty lunch trays to the cafeteria after student government, and I saw a stack of about 15 trays, all disorderly and stacked incorrectly. After further inspection, I observed that the reason causing this was that almost all of the trays had scraps of food in them. Grumbling out of annoyance that other people didn't care about what happened to their leftovers, I cleaned off each tray. I knew that I shouldn't have to do that, but I did. I guess it's a fact of life that most people simply don't care. *sigh*

Silence: A Poem Inspired by Night, by Elie Wiesel

No more light.
No more warmth.
Cold?
No.
Silence…
Eerie.
A corpse.
Look at me.
This is not me.
It’s different.
It’s horrible.
A figment of madness.
Of death.
Of pain.
Why?
Quiet.
Staring.
I can’t look.
I can’t see.
It’s not there.
Nothing.
But- shoes.
Piled.
Lying there.
Empty.
Without souls,
For they have been
Taken away.
Still there?
Gone.
Monsters.
Nothing comes.
Death.
Silence…

Monday, February 7, 2011

Acts of Good #40 and #41

Today, I tried to help out: I composted food, I turned off lights, I recycled a bunch of paper (and protested against other lazy people who didn't feel like doing it), and I also helped teachers stack chairs. I'm going to count those as two acts of good in total.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

50th Post!!!! (And Acts of Good #37, #38, and #39)

Today, I: 1) organized my bookshelf, 2) recycled a bunch of old magazines, and 3) set apart some books that I don't need any more... though a plan of action for what to do with them will have to come later...

Other than that, the only news I have:
This is the 50th post! I feel like doing something special for it... if I think of something, I'll let you know!

Act of Good #36

Despite feeling completely tired yesterday morning, I actually went to tennis and played with my dad for 1.5 hours. At first I was really upset because my bedraggled self was playing horribly, but I made it through. Yay for exercise!

A Tribute to the Mad Hatter

Carted away on two pairs of wheels
To others, merely a hat and a bright orange wig
A part of my soul sucked away
But his spirit will live on.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Acts of Good #34 and #35

Yesterday, at the opening night of the play, I gave people a lot of encouragement and compliments and composted a lot of leftover grapes!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Update and Acts of Good #32 and #33

Acts of good that I did recently:
1) I collected a bunch of leftover food from home and brought it to our school's compost bin: three cheers to Mollie for setting that up!
2) I turned off a lot of lights today, around the house, and at school. Yay!

Anyway, a short update:
  • Our school play is going to have its opening night tomorrow, and I'm kind of scared because a lot of people aren't ready since we missed two days of school because of the snow.
  • Umm, I kinda touched on that up there ^. We had no school for two days because of our weather- thick black ice, drifting snow, etc.- and power outages.
  • The end of this trimester at school is coming to an end, so I have a feeling that I'm going to have to start bracing myself against the tests that will probably come rushing my way- which means that I might not be posting as often as I usually do, so just a heads up on that. Is that phrase even proper grammar?
  • I'm reading Night, by Elie Wiesel, in school, and I'm extremely depressed about it. By the way, if you were wondering, the poem that I posted on here earlier, the Other side of the world, was inspired by that book. I'm also going to probably post something else that I wrote today as a response of Night.
  • On a happier note, we're having an advisory- which, in case you don't know, is like a small group of students from different grades that basically hangs out twice a week together and has a teacher who is basically the head of it who you go to with any questions or concerns you have- ice cream party tomorrow!
So... I have to go for now, and this weekend is going to be extremely hectic... so, I'll write to you whenever possible!

-Cora

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Going Green Link: London 2012 Olympics

You know what's really interesting? The path one's mind takes and the journey from one thought to a different one, seemingly completely different until you see the track.

For example, what's the connection between Rafael Nadal, the #1 tennis player in the world, and going green?
Read more to find out. ;)
I was looking at Nadal's Facebook site, and I went to the Facebook page for Tennis to make sure that I had "liked" it already. I had. :)
While on that page, I read something about Tennis being an Olympic Sport. I knew this before, but it led me to go on to the next Olympic Game's website, London2012.com so I could see when exactly the games would take place.

And then, lo and behold, an article about how the London Olympics was trying its best to go green. *cheers*
Here's a link to the article that I found. Hope you like it!

http://www.london2012.com/making-it-happen/sustainability/index.php

-Cora

An Icelandic Lake

Below is a picture I took this summer on vacation when I was in Iceland.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

the Other side of the world- News!

Please go to the following link. It's my poem, the Other side of the world, on TeenInk! Please rate it so that I know how you think you did. If it's rated high enough, it might be published in their magazine!
Thanks,
Cora

the Other side of the world

Monday, January 31, 2011

Acts of Good #26-#31 and Another Update

Here's what I did today: (Note: LOTS of acts of good today! Yay!)
I went to school and performed a Chinese song for the lower school and came up with a melody with Mollie and Claire for a song we're writing together for music class.
Next, I got my blood taken- which I believe to be an act of good, since the results will benefit me, and I have long had a fear of needles that is really hard to ignore. After that, I went back to school and pursued my studies. :)

During today's rehearsal for our play -it's tech week, which means 3-hour rehearsals! I'm soooo glad they're not longer, though, since I've been in theater productions with rehearsals that lasted about 7 hours the last few days- I had a lot of food, which was nice.

Today, I performed many acts of good by 1) holding doors open (both at rehearsal, and at the blood test lab), 2) extracting recyclable paper (with Mollie!) and a water bottle from the trash bin and putting it in its rightful place, 3) turning off more lights, 4) writing a poem for my best friends during the car ride to the blood test lab, and 5) smiling at people, whether they be close friends, or strangers xD, and complimenting them. :)

I hope these things make an impact.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

This is for You.

You needn't reply
if the words aren't there.
I know.
This is for You.

If I feel like the world is dead,
I turn to you,
and you understand.
This is for You.

After we read a depressing book,
we look at each other without true smiles,
and we both write.
This is for You.

If I feel as if been drowned
by my own condemning thoughts,
you lift me up, and I lean on you.
This is for You.

I was lost; yet now found.
I know not what else to say,
the words have slipped away.
This is for You.

The words are now gone.
They taste of melted ice.
Water that I swallow.
Escaped.

Acts of Good #23, #24, and #25

I did more acts of good this weekend
1) Continued talking with an old friend
2) Sent a cool e-card to my friend for her birthday
3) Tennis acts: picked up extra balls and turned off the bathroom lights by the tennis court

Friday, January 28, 2011

Act of Good #20, #21, #22, and #23

Today, I did several acts of good:
1.) I opened doors for many people.
2.) I gave some people compliments, giving praise to some of my fellow peers who I don't talk to much.
3.) I carried out good deeds for other people: carrying their things, offering to help a boy who had dropped all of his books at school, etc.
4.) I turned off the lights in the bathroom at school multiple times, which I hope to spread awareness about.

I feel sincerely wonderful doing these things. :)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Mirror: A Short Reflection

The poem symbolizes that you can have your interpretation of what the poem means, while I can have my interpretation. We both have reflections of what a mirror stands for, and those reflections are in the mirror. Our reflections on the poem may be similar, but always slightly different. As two brains process things differently from each other, two people never look exactly the same.

However, that's just my reflection on the poem, and yours will always be slightly different.
I am I, and You are You.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A Mirror

The Reflection of Me,
The Reflection of You,
We.
Us.
Them.
Together.
We may be similar,
but we will always be
forever different.
I am I,
and You are You.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Studying: An Update, and Acts of Good #18 and #19

Just letting you know: I've been really busy recently with studying for tests and quizzes and I had a migraine and fever yesterday, so I might not post for a while.

I also sent miss-you wishes to an Oxford friend and helped a teacher at my school by taking down extra chairs. Small, yet worthy acts. :)
-Cora

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Act of Good #17

I couldn't sleep knowing I hadn't written this, plus I have a headache. I'll try to make this quick.

I recently was selected as a student ambassador at my school, which basically means that I show people around and tell them everything that's great about the school I attend and tour them around on special occasions- for example, today was Open House. It was a really organized event- a few faculty members and high students at our school made speeches, most of the teachers were there, and we all got official printed name tags.

I led around a group along with Mollie. It was just a boy and his mom wanting to know what our school was about. I really loved the experience of talking to them and taking them around to all of our different classrooms and showcasing everything that I love about my school. It was great, and I really felt like it was an act of good. By this student making this choice of switching to our school, if he follows through with it, it will make a difference in his life, no matter what happens, if he likes it or not. But I absolutely adore my school, and I know that it was an act of good simply by going to the school- making the effort to even go to the school, though my weekend was completely hectic, with tennis, SAT, homework, and rehearsal. On top of that, the Open House event seemed a bit strenuous, but I made it work.

It felt like an act of good to me, one that I hope will benefit others as well as myself- for I certainly learned a lot from talking to other people about the place I spend a lot of my time in. It's not just a school for me. It's so much more. As I talked more and more, I realized exactly how passionate I am about my school and what aspects I enjoyed the most- its small, nurturing community, the closeness of the people around you- friends, peers, teachers... the list goes on. I'm thankful for that, and that I was given this wonderful opportunity.

Thanks for reading this, and good night!
-Cora

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Act of Good #16

Today, I did some extra chores around the house and opened doors for people outside. I love the feeling when you see someone smile at you and thank you for such a small deed as opening the door for them. :)

-Cora

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

the Other side of the world

The time has come for it to die.
The world has collapsed.
A collapsing world
filled with fear;
filled with pain;
filled with ignorant laughter,
the greatest sin of all,
for it is merely for
the sake of disregarding
the Other side of the world,
the side which people fear,
the side in which people feel pained,
the side which is dying.

But it's at the Other side of the world.

She calls out, but They calm her down.
"Listen to me!
There is fear,
and there is pain,
and there is death!"

"Don't worry, you'll be okay.
You're safe from the fear,
you're safe from the pain,
you're safe from the death.
Worry only about yourself,
and those nearest to you.
Protect yourself and them,
and you'll be okay.
The fear,
and the pain,
and the death-
they are present,
but they're at the Other side of the world."

And she weeps,
and she cries,
and she feigns laughter.
It is heartless laughter,
without a smile,
without feeling,
without hope.

She pretends to go along,
she pretends that she fits in,
and she pretends to laugh.

She is mimicking ignorant laughter,
just like the rest of Them,
just like the rest of Us.

She is the only one who knows.
She knows;
the Other side of the world
is still a side of the world.

Philanthropy- Pressure, or from the Heart?

As I'm a tennis fan, I've been keeping up to date on the Australian Open. It's really exciting to watch and cheer on my favorite players, Rafael Nadal (I liked him over Federer even before he was #1), Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, and Samantha Stosur. I really admire not only their amazing tennis, but their philanthropy as well (I know this particularly of Nadal).
Which brings me to the point of this post.

Volunteer work and other forms of philanthropy should not be something that one should do because one feels pressured to do it. One should do good because they feel the need to- see a need, fill a need, as the expression goes. If one really commits themselves to an important fund, then fulfilling that commitment is the true meaning of philanthropy.

Nothing against famous people or tennis players or the above specified players at all. It was just a segue into the topic.

I know many people who have done community service, volunteer hours, etc., but it doesn't matter to them. They just want credit, money, or publicity from it- but I really, sincerely hope that there are a lot of people out there who are doing acts of good because they have a strong passion for it.
That is what I am attempting to accomplish through this blog, and at the moment, I don't need credit, and the only money or publicity I would want would be for funds to a charitable organization, or in order to raise awareness for causes. The main causes I feel passionate about are stopping poverty and hunger, because for me, they are obstacles that must be removed in order to lay the basis for a successful life. I want to help children who are alone in the world, without hope. I want to brighten lives that are suffering from starvation and lack of sanitary water. I want- no, I NEED- to do this. Because I am a philanthropist from my heart. I hope that you are, too.

-Cora

PS: I realized that I introduced myself in the top as a philanthropist and an author, and I realized that I haven't showed you much of the latter side. I'll post writing soon, don't worry. :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Little Green Toy Box and Tests

Two orders of business to discuss:

1.) Here's a link to a blog that one of my friends, Erin, just started. Her first post is a beautiful poem that she wrote that is simply amazing. Check it out!

2.) I've taken a lot of tests recently- a history test, multiple mandarin assessments, etc.- and many others coming up, which got me thinking...

Why are tests conducted, anyway? Why are we assessed to discover our knowledge (or lack of it)? Is it simply to figure out who will lead their lives by continuing on to what kind of lifestyle? Would it be beneficial enough to know that there are geniuses out there in the world, or do we need to select them and nurture their talent to help them develop on it more? Do people need a reason to assure themselves that they will succeed in life by the results of their test? Do people need to be assessed and told of how knowledgable they are? Or is there another underlying reason?

Just something to think about.

Anyway, I have to go. I have a tennis match to watch! ;)
-Cora

Act of Good #14 and #15

In the past few days, I've just been doing small things- giving spare change to charities, helping out where I can, and lending my hand in an open gesture, waiting for acceptance.

I've also helped around the house more than I usually do. :)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Act of Good #13

Today, I wrote a few messages on Facebook to a few friends from Oxford telling them how much I miss them and how amazing they are. :(

My Laptop




This is my laptop. My brother had to take it apart in an attempt to fix the keyboard.
-Cora

Act of Good #12

I sent birthday wishes to a few friends that I barely know, which I guess qualifies as an act of good. :)
-Cora

How Are You?

How are you?
It seems like a well-meant question. It should show that the person asking has a level of caring at what the person in question feels. Though I've realized that our responses are extremely automatic. I saw a friend today that I don't see very often, and she asked me. "Oh, hi! How are you?" And I was about to go with the standard, "good," or the educated reply, "well," but I realized that even though that's what my friend probably expected, I didn't feel well. I didn't feel bad, either. Just mediocre. I went to school for the first day in a week, and I felt accordingly a bit down. So I merely shrugged and said, "I'm okay."

And she took a double take. I'm not sure if she realized it, but she looked at me differently for a moment. Though then she said, "Yeah, I'm tired." And I thought about it- if you're not feeling 100% yourself, then why should you expect a "good" from someone else?
So in a way, "how are you" is a rhetorical question, yet an automatic response is expected ... there should be a word for that kind of thing.


-Cora

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Update

I've been sick all week- that's why I haven't been writing. In addition, my laptop's keyboard broke, so it's hard to write. Anyway, I'll try to get an actual post up tomorrow, it's just been hard so far.
Talk to you all later,
Cora

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tags

Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that I added a few tags under each post that let you add a reaction. I had "interesting," but it was too long, so I shortened it to "cool," though those two words don't really mean the same thing. Using these tags, you can easily express your opinion quickly. Thanks! :)
-Cora

Monday, January 10, 2011

Glee

I've heard a lot about Glee, so I wanted to check it out. I watched a few episodes, and I really like it. The actors can sing extremely well, and I love how it's all about building a team. It's a really great show.

Here's a link to one of my favorite songs on the show. Even though this isn't from the actual Glee Club, it's still great! Hey Soul Sister is one of my favorite songs as is by Train, but this version is beautiful!

Hey Soul Sister by Train; sung by the Warblers (Glee from Fox)

-The Still-Sick Cora

It's the Cycle of Sickness... or is it?

I'm still sick. Luckily, I actually slept 8 hours instead of the 6 and a half I slept on Saturday night.
I still have a fever, and a horrible cough, so I figure tomorrow will be another school-less day. Just perfect, because I have a math test I have to do. And quizzes in almost every subject. Great.
That was sarcastic, if you didn't notice.

Imagine this:
You feel the desperate helplessness of lying in bed all day, half-crying from pain, stress, and boredom.
The boredom often comes when you want to do something fun and entertain yourself, but you know that doing something that is fun and entertaining often strains yourself and makes your head beg to implode from aching. Doing something fun when you're sick is a sacrifice- have fun and risk a migraine, or stare up at the ceiling, hoping that you'll be cured sooner or later, and you're just waiting for the time to pass by.
You're so feverish that you're both hot and cold, and you're shivering and trying to wear a short sleeved shirt at the same time.

And then you feel so bad for hating your state of being sick, because you know that people around the world experience much, much worse fates all the time.
And you have a sudden surge of hope, and then it's dimmed by the utter helplessness you feel, and the sacrifice you have to make by putting boredom over a cure, and you're so feverish, and then you feel bad for others all over again.

It's the cycle of sickness, my friends. It's the Cycle of Sickness.

In short, I feel bad for not doing acts of good recently, but I guess (a.k.a. I hope) that this is enough of an excuse.

Or is it?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sick

I'm sick. It's a horrible feeling to be in bed all day, but that's the fate we've all suffered at one point or another, sadly. Has anyone not been sick, ever? Is that even possible? I mean sure, if you're a baby, or even a toddler, it might be true. But other than that....
Anyway, I'm sick, so that's why I'm not writing more right now. If I can't sleep and I'm feeling a bit better, I'll blog tonight. Last night, I couldn't sleep properly until 4am. :(

Talk to you later.
A Coughing Cora Who Couldn't Go To School The Day After She Wrote This Post Because She Had Fever, Coughing, A Sore Throat, And Other Disgusting, Ickish-like Symptoms.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Basketball, Sports, and the Strange Tendencies of Humanity

Warning: Everything I say below is my opinion, and my opinion only. I am not attempting to advocate this opinion whatsoever. If you disagree, then you disagree. That's your choice.

I watched a basketball game yesterday.
Almost every student in my school came to watch, because the game was during school.
Our school is pretty small, so everyone can fit in the bleachers of our gym.

Our team did really well, and I only knew that by looking at the scoreboards. I was completely amazed to see that only after two goals- ummm, do you call them goals in basketball? Or do you say hoops?- the score was 2-2. And in the middle of the game, our score jumped from 39 to 41 suddenly.
Until I remembered that for every goal- hoop, whatever- you can get more than one point, depending on how far away you are. But for me, keeping track would be confusing.
Actions in sports like basketball don't make much sense to me.
Numbers do.
Thank goodness for scoreboards, or I would be completely lost.

The game lasted almost an hour and a half, and my opinion about it was mixed. I wanted to support our team, because they're from my school, and it's a human tendency to want to support those that you have things in common with. However, I'm not much into sports at all. I don't dislike sports, I just don't really care.

As you can probably tell, I'm a nuisance at sports. I can't throw a ball and have it reach its destination. I'm okay at catching, but in most sports, if you want to play it, you have to be more than okay.
I'm mediocre at tennis. I can't serve, though.

Why do people play sports? Why are people so negative against the other team that they're not cheering for? Why do shouts in the stadium- is that what it's called? A basketball stadium? Or is that football? Ugh, I'm clueless- include "BOO!" and "MISS!"?

It's probably because we have a strong will to win at all costs, no matter what. We want to feel good, and in order to do that, we think that our opponents need to feel bad. We win, they fail.

Our feelings should not affect whether we do well or not. We should just be able to play sports and win if our abilities surpass our opponents.
And yet they do. Our feelings have a very strong effect, and they carry a lot of weight in the result of everything we do.
Humanity has a tendency towards feeling strong emotions. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.
It's good because feelings give us an opinion and make us unique and special, which is important. It makes us human.
It's bad because sometimes it closes off our minds to what other people think, or feel.

The bottom line? Emotions are confusing.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Act of Good #9, 10, and 11

Today, I did three things that made me feel good. There were others, too, but none of those are things I wouldn't have done without this project, and they're pretty minor.

1. I recycled two bottles, one of which was lying, abandoned, on the bleachers in my school's gymnasium. I fished out the other one from the trash can, just a few feet away from the recycling can. Really? Really?
2. One of my best friends, Claire, was coughing today and she was having problems with it being really loud in the cafeteria, and she left, and I accompanied her because I felt bad for her.
3. There's one girl who's kind of left out and different who's a few years younger than me. We didn't have a real conversation at all, we just said hi and exchanged smiles. It was one of those moments where you meet someone's eyes and you have this little mutual connection with them that seems like a conversation in itself.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Green Schools Alliance

I'm in the MAD club at my school (which stands for Make A Difference, though we may be slightly mad as well ;)), and the teacher who leads it showed us a great organization called the Green Schools Alliance. I think it's a wonderful way to unite people from schools that are all over the world together for the cause of going 'green.' Check it out!

http://www.greenschoolsalliance.org

-Cora

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Homophones and other annoying quirks of the English language

Homophones bother me. Well, some of them do.
Here's my theory:

The ball in the basketball game is nothing like the ball in which people dance.

I'm okay with the fact that the word 'ball' is used in different ways.
However, consider the following sentences.

Santa is fairly plump around his waist. Suzy threw away her half-filled water bottle, and it was such a waste!

The spelling of waist and waste bothers me. Why are they pronounced the same? Why would different spelling be required? It bothers me that there can be multiple spellings of a word that is pronounced the same! It would make sense to have them both pronounced the same way. To people like me from a non-English speaking country, it becomes a burden to attempt at pronouncing these words. (Though I have personally lived in the US for such a long time that I'm fluent in English.) What if I pronounced knight as "k-night" with the 'k' sound distinct? I still pronounce some things incorrectly sometimes.
Every letter having one pronunciation would make a lot of people's lives easier, and that's that.

And sometimes, these things have rules in order to attempt at making these things slightly easier. However, what aggravates me even more is that there are SO many exceptions!!!! It's ridiculous! I have yet to find a language that fixes these annoying things.

Well, that's my opinion, anyway.

Act of Good #8

Again, this'll be in two parts.

1.) I helped my mother with bringing groceries back to the house.
2.) I walked around the school waving and saying "hi" followed by their name to make it a bit more personal to a lot of people that I wouldn't normally talk to that often.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Act of Good #7

I picked up almost a whole court worth of tennis balls from the two little kids who played before me. They looked like they were fairly tired, and I just wanted to help them out. :)

A Neighboring Ghost Child's Swing

Across from my house, like a neighbor, there is a plain, wooden swing tied with ropes to a tree above it. The tree branches stretch out like fingers on a hand- the hand being the tree's sturdy trunk.
During an after-school lunch break, I saw the swing rock back and forth from the wind. Though instead of wobbling back and forth in the hesitant breeze, this swing was swinging perfectly up and down flawlessly. It was as if a child were in it, attempting to climb higher and higher into the sky, as if he or she could then manage to soar above the clouds, too young to understand that such a thing is not yet possible.

However, there was no child in it. It was merely carried by the wind, yet it seemed as if a ghost child was occupying it.

It was a neighboring ghost child's swing.

Act of Good #5 and #6

These are pretty small, so I decided to combine them into two acts of good.

1. I was standing in line at school today to talk to my teacher during Study Hall, and there was a student a few years younger than me who looked really nervous to get back to wherever he came from, so I let him go in front of me. :)

2. I loaned out a few pencils today, which I usually don't do because I prize them since everyone, including me, seems to lose them so often. Luckily for me, they were all returned!

3. I wrote happy birthday wishes to one of my ORA friends, and he was pretty happy afterwards.

Monday, January 3, 2011

How often will I post here?

Well... it depends on my levels of stress (which has luckily dropped significantly since last year), schoolwork, etc. I'll try to post at least once a week. I hope I'll be able to write at least three times a week or so. Maybe later, I'll get more structure-oriented. During breaks, I can usually post a lot more than usual. School and the ample homework that accompanies it occupies a lot of my life, and on top of that, I have tennis, and piano, and theater rehearsals, which are time-consuming activities.

So there's not a definite answer to that question, sorry.

-Cora

Acts of Kindness/Good

I have decided to change the title of my kindness activities from "acts of kindness" to "acts of good," because I realize that what I am essentially doing is good, not kindness, though they can at times be slightly interchangeable. I am actually performing good- I am helping out, doing things for others, and, at times, I hope I will do good for myself that will benefit other people or other things in the process, though that might not be classified as kindness. For example, if I do something for the Earth, it would be helping the Earth through good, but it wouldn't necessarily be an act of me being kind to anyone.

I also realized that in doing these acts of good, I will not be going through a day thinking, "Oh, I need to perform an act of good today- what should I do?" I will be simply going through my life normally, attempting to do these acts of good naturally, and then at the end of the day remembering the events of the day and finding something that was an act of good. If there is none, then so be it.
-Cora

My Day

You know those days where you're doing a sport or practicing something and you do horribly, and you're not into it at all?

Today, fortunately, was not one of those days. At tennis, I played the best I've ever played so far, and I'm really proud of that, even though to say that I improved isn't saying much since I only started to play this summer. I was pretty exhausted during it, but I kept on going, and I actually was having a lot of fun in the process. My grandparents, my mom, and Claire (one of my best friends) were all there, and I think part of why I played better than usual was because I had their support. Love you guys!

Anyway, after tennis, I was really excited to go home because I had a bit of a headache, but we had to stop by our local grocery store. I stayed in the car with my grandpa, and we didn't talk much, so I made the best out of the situation and people-watched. Now, the activity of people-watching is usually fairly entertaining, as it's interesting to see people who you don't know and guess their story, but I found out that it's much more fun at a large international airport, when the people are from all over the place and you can guess where they live, where they came from and where they are travelling to. However, at a local grocery store, the people are most likely... living locally in the area. So therefore, the only thing you can guess is what street they live on, or perhaps what they're buying from the store and what they'll use it for. But it's not quite as fun to guess that someone's going to buy a pumpkin pie for his or her family for Thanksgiving than to guess that, for example, a man from Guatemala is traveling to Hong Kong via Washington D.C. (for example, though I have no idea if there's actually a possible flight booking) for a business trip for his company.
That's my opinion on that matter, anyway.

I'll talk to you all later!

-Cora

PS: I typed this out on my iPhone at first, and it looks like so much more text on there! Wow...