Awesome.

Today, I took a math quiz on boring functions and linear combination with three variables. Ugh. One of the questions was about writing a system in which a tortoise and a hare rematch (from the famous story, "The Tortoise and the Hare") and how the tortoise gets a 30 minute head start. And then, we had to find out when they are at the same place, and how far from the starting point would that be. It turned out to be some random two-digit number with something like 7/11, so it was basically like, yeah, at 42.2464646464 seconds, they were at the same place. I was very worried, because algebra problems usually have very normal numbers, such as 42. Or better yet, 50. Here I was, getting repeating decimals, and I was just thinking... well, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?????!!! And then the teacher said, "Okay, hand your tests up." And I did. So much for that.
Then, I just checked OASIS, and I got a 110/100!!!!! I wasn't really listening when he was explaining the test before he started, but my mind usually pays attention when a teacher says "extra credit". I feel so happy right now. I guess it's little things in life like that that really makes life worth living :) Especially after moving away from all your friends right before high school... And it also helps if your calculator can solve systems of equations with 2 or 3 variables. But I didn't cheat! I did every little step and wrote it out because we had to show our work (obviously). I'm just saying, it's helpful...

I get the "Offical SAT Question of the Day" thing sent to me and I'm really failing the English... Stupid random vocab.

Does anyone actually read this?

This morning, it was freezing outside for anyone who had on a sweater, which was everyone... Then, by the afternoon, it was back to about 80 degrees. Crazy.

I got my report card for the first "nine weeks"!
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.25 because some of my stupid classes are even stupider (general), like Art and Spanish and Personal Fitness. Basically, half my classes, which makes sense, because honors classes are 4.5, and general are 4.0, so I'm right in the middle. I hate my classes.

I really need to get my Rubik's Cube time down. It's still a pathetic two minutes. I think. I actually haven't timed myself, but it's probably even higher, since I don't really go near it now.

I complain too much.

First of all, it is back to unbearable, humid, hot weather. It's OCTOBER. It shouldn't be happening to me. I'm used to walking along the sidewalks with dried, orange leaves everywhere, feeling the cool breeze as I smell the nice, autumn air.
The day before yesterday, it was extremely muggy, and rained, and the next day, it was STILL humid! After it rains, the world is supposed to feel better. Not here.
I must find time for math, piano, violin, and homework. Unfortunately, I want to do at least an hour per day of the first three, but I'm not sure if it's possible. Plus, I procrastinate for hours each day, and I'm typing this. I sound just like any other stereotypical Asian- math, classical music, homework, parents who are never satisfied...

I took the PSAT yesterday. The first and third parts were critical reading. I did all the problems because I wanted to know how low my score would go if I answered everything. I'm obviously not a junior... The second and fourth parts were awesome. Math, of course. The fifth part was surprisingly easy, compared to how this one guy described it. I probably failed it anyways. The person next to me kept finishing amazingly quickly, but I later found out that it was because he didn't know any of the answers. He probably got a better score than me on the critical reading, though, thanks to the 1/4 point deduction for each incorrect answer, so you can't get lucky.

One more week until the strings concert! Being concertmaster gives you a nice feeling of power. It's happy, unlike a lot of the rest of my days here.

And now, I'm about to start on more past math tests in my study book. Notice how I said "start". You can infer from this that I can't actually finish any of the tests, being too stupid to understand how to add logs with different bases... *sigh*

1st Quarter Grades

Plgebra II honors: 100.14%
Personal fitness: 99%
English I honors: 98.8%
Spanish 2: 99%
Art 2D: 99.3%
Earth/space science honors: 98%

Notice how my favorite subject is the highest :) Although, it has a lot to do with the easy-ness of the class and how the teacher's really easy...

I fell in love with

The Art of Problem Solving. It is the best math series ever. If you have any idea how math will positively affect your life, buy it. If not, buy it anyways.
I hope I can get a copy of Vol. 1 soon, but it's kind of expensive...

Andi: To clarify things, I can start learning how to drive (by actually driving) when I'm 15. Yes, the driving age is 16, but that means when you can get your driver's license. However, you have to have a learner's permit for one year, and if you don't get it right on your 15th birthday, you can't get your license as soon as you turn 16.

I have straight A+'s as of today! (Notice how easy my classes are.) YES! The quarter (or "nine weeks"... stupid Floridian language) ends tomorrow. I just need to get a 98% or higher on my science test to guarantee it. I wonder why the 8 is so high up... 1234567890 Very interesting.

Mohs Hardness Scale (again)

We're identifying minerals in science, and one of the properties we're using is hardness. I have much to complain about Mohs Hardness Scale.
The easiest test is using fingernails. If you can scratch it, it's a 1-2. However, some people have really, really sharp fingernails! In fact, someone's very sharp fingernail cut me today, and I started bleeding a lot more than I had expected...
Next, there is the copper penny. What if the school you went to was so poor that they couldn't afford copper pennies for everyone? Or, what if you didn't go to school in the US? How could you get your hands on a COPPER PENNY? A lot of smart countries don't even HAVE pennies. Like China. They also don't have more than one time zone, which is even smarter.
The next test would be the steel file. However, we used a nail in our experiments. The point of a nail is very sharp. But it wasn't a file. It was a nail. Nails aren't files, and files aren't nails.
Now comes the glass. MHS mentions "glass" and "hard glass". Again, different countries probably might not know how the US judges "standard glass". In China, the paper bags are incredibly thin, and so is the paper. I'm glad we don't use bags and paper to measure hardness...
And, finally, quartz , topaz, corundum, and diamond. They probably couldn't find any extremely hard "common items", so they had to just use minerals. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't have any quartz, topaz, corundum, or diamond lying around at home.
This is probably why we're doing the mineral lab at school, but it's still incredibly difficult to measure the hardness, and hard to tell if it has cleavage/fracture for some of them. Even the color is inconsistent, and most of the streaks are white. Luster hasn't helped me at all.
If my lab partner hadn't licked the halite, I don't know what I'd do for mineral #5.

Goldbach's Conjecture

Every integer greater than 5 can be expressed as the sum of three primes.

IKEA

I got one of those red-fish-children's IKEA-baskets from my mom(who was somewhere else for a few weeks), and I don't know what to put in it.
It might be a laundry basket, but it's too nice to hold dirty clothing. I am at lost for ideas. Right now, it's in the corner of my room, just sitting there...empty...

Yesterday was the Chinese Moon Festival! I went outside to see the moon, but I couldn't really find it, seeing as how the roof of our house was too high, and I was too lazy to walk farther from the front door. I could've gotten extra credit in science class for taking a picture of it, but the digital camera was with my mom, and I couldn't draw it because I couldn't find it, which brings me back to my original problem.

Sometimes I feel like I have no life. I go to school like everyone else, and when I'm bored, I either play the piano or solve my Rubik's Cube. All these other people GO places and DO things. I'm just sitting at home, typing this, realizing just how bored I am. I really need a ping-pong table. ^^ And a car. Because I need a car to drive to Sears and get a ping-pong table.

Well, if you have any idea what I can do with the basket, please post a comment! Thanks!

Mohs Hardness Scale

1. Talc- easily scratched by fingernail
2. Gypsum- can be scratched by fingernail
3. Calcite- barely can be scratched by a copper penny
4. Fluorite- easily scratched with steel file or glass
5. Apatite- can be scratched by steel file or glass
6. Feldspar- scratches glass, but does not scratch steel
7. Quartz- scratches both glass and steel
8. Topaz- scratches quartz
9. Corundum- scratches topaz
10. Diamond- scratches everything
11. I wonder if I'm going to be able to memorize this in an hour...

Buy candy now!

To everyone who can: Buy MAO candy now!!! They're $1 each, and we really need the money!!! THANKS!!!!!
To everyone in Mad City: If you want to buy candy, you'll have to come and visit me. Sorry.

I have actual homework today! YES!