My Pencil!

Don’t you love the simple joys in life?  I have just realized some thing makes me really happy and optimistic.  It’s kind of odd, but here it is: a sharpened pencil.

I love having a sharp pencil!  It makes me so happy!  I feel like all of my assignments, quizzes, tests, etc. go better when my pencil is sharp.  I also think it makes the pencil look so pretty.  A point makes a pencil look very elegant, with its sharp tip, beautiful wood, long thin, colorful barrel, and pink eraser.  I have pencils that are different colors, such as red, navy, lime green, and purple.  They’re some of my favorite colors, and put on a pencil, it makes them even better!  Every morning, before first period starts, I sharpen my pencil.  It’s like I’m starting out with a clean, fresh slate.  This is often because I have lost my pencil from the day before.  On average, I go through about two pencils a week, though I’m doing much better than I used to.

Do you want to hear a pet peeve of mine?  It’s people who chew on pencils.  I don’t mean sucking on them, because I have been guilty of sucking on the eraser at times, but people who literally chew them.  It makes me sick to look at a pencil with teeth marks in it.  That lovely pencil has been completely wasted, because who really wants to use a beat up and nearly eaten pencil?  I think it’s very disgusting!  It also seems that these pencils are always the ones you find on the floor in the halls and classrooms.  Is it because all of the good pencils get picked up, but these are too nasty to even look at?  It must be…

Just so you know, I really don’t care that much about pencils, but I’ve really been thinking about it this snowy afternoon, while I’ve been doing homework.  My sharp pencil inspired me.  Merry Christmas!    

Count Your Many Blessings

Have you ever noticed how blessed we are?  We had a lesson, in seminary, about service, and some things really hit me.  One of the statistics my teacher read was this, “If you have money in your pocket, money in the bank, and money, even change, sitting somewhere around your house, you’re in the top 6% of the richest people in the world.”  It makes you really step back and think about how great our lives are.  We live in such an affluent community, and we often don’t remember those who have it off so much worse than us.

Can you even comprehend how bad some people have it?  I don’t think that our worst nightmares are as bad as some of the things that go on.  Imagine this: you have to watch for snipers as you walk to school, you don’t know if your house will still be there, when you get home, or even if your family will all make it through the day.  This seems kind of ridiculous, but it is a reality to many people.  There are many other examples of difficulties people face.  Some examples of these are: disease, death, prejudices, and not having enough money to even cover basics, such as water, food, and shelter.  

It is amazing to live in this wonderful country.  We are free to act as we choose, able to worship as we please, and go where we want.  There are so many people who can’t do this.  They don’t know what it’s like to be able to do things like this, and yet, we often take these things for granted.  We don’t notice that we’re using electricity or we’re drinking safe, clean drinking water from a tap, inside our house.  I love America, for all it stands for and for all the things we have.  I believe that there are many who don’t show gratitude for these things. It’s probably a big reason that other countries dislike Americans.

We’re also able to go to school.  I want to yell at people who complain about how awful school is.  I mean, it isn’t always very exciting and it does involve work, but it’s much better than most people have.  You get the opportunity to get an education and learn things that will greatly help you later on in life (I was bugging my mom about when I would ever use some of the difficult math formulas, and she replied that she uses things like that all the time).  Looking at charts, that show pay depending on education levels, it’s hard to believe that the amount of pay high school drop-outs receive is still many times higher than people in third-world countries.

So, the next time you feel like complaining about how awful your life is, step back and think about how much worse off you could truly be.  You’ve got an amazing life.  You live in a free country, you get to choose what you want to do and what you want to be, and you don’t have to constantly fear your safety.  All these small things may seem insignificant, but they are great blessings and we need to learn to be thankful for them.

PS- Mr. Thompson- I’m going to be gone next week, and I was unsure whether I would be able to write a blog for next week, so please count this as next week’s blog.  Thanks!

PPS- I just realized that next week is Thanksgiving!  I didn’t even do that on purpose.  I guess I’m just in tune with the seasons….

Sleep

Okay, it really bugs me when people go on and on about how annoying teenagers are and how they’re so happy when their kids finally leave.  Why do we get such a bad rap?  I mean, some people are truly unbearable, but as adults and children, they still do the same thing.  I have discovered one thing that really bugs me about teenagers, though.  I’m not meaning to be hypocritical, but I’ve started to notice this a lot lately, and I believe we need to change.  The topic is sleep.

I love to sleep.  I love getting into my bed and then falling into blissful unawareness.  I know that I don’t get as much sleep as I should, but I still do okay.  I hate it when teenagers are obsessed with sleep.  If you don’t go to bed until two in the morning, that’s your fault, and you should take your medicine and still get up.  Why do people think it’s okay to sleep in until late in the day???  I’m not meaning sleeping in until 9 or 10, but those people who don’t get up before 11:30 (every single day in summer!!). It wastes so much time.  When you sleep in, you feel highly unproductive all day.  Sleeping in makes you lazy.  Also, if you get up, even after a late night, you will want to go to bed sooner the next night.  You’ll learn from your mistakes, but if you continue to sleep in, it will never get any better.

Here’s the reason I’m so bothered about this:

Last Sunday, a group of girls were going to visit another girl.  We had called and set up an appointment two weeks before.  The plan was to go over to her house at 11.  They arrived, knocked on the door, and her mom answered.  It turns out that she was still asleep, and the mom didn’t think it was worth it to wake her up.  Do you realize how incredibly rude that is???  We had plans with her, but they were thwarted because she was too tired to come talk to us.

On the same day, another girl had slept in.  She was supposed to be at a meeting, but she had been up late.  She wasn’t there when the meeting started, and we called to remind her.  Her mom didn’t think that she should be woken up.  She figured it would be better to let her get some more rest.  That is another case of rudeness!  Being tired is not an excuse to slack off on your duties.  If you really are so tired, take a nap afterwards, and then go to bed!!  

Now, you make think, as you read those stories, that it is the parent’s fault for not getting them up. I won’t deny that it is partially their fault, but most of the blame lies on the girls.  They could’ve gotten up, brushed their hair, and been fine, but they “couldn’t” because they were too tired.  People who do this are very selfish.  They don’t care that you’ve made plans, in your very busy lives, to be there.  They just think about what will make them most happy.  It is very inconsiderate.    

Get more sleep!  Go to bed, and then get up in the morning!  You’ll feel better and be healthier.  You’ll feel more productive, and you’ll see more accomplishments.  The saying, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise” is very true!  Smart, healthy people don’t sleep in until all hours of the afternoon.  They get up and get on with their lives.  So, remember this and don’t be an annoying, selfish teenager!  

The Piano

I love playing the piano!  Over the weekend, I have been practicing a lot.  I’ve been learning to play a bunch of Christmas Carols, such as Angels we Have Heard on High, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Joy to the World.  It has been so exciting, and it has really put me in the Christmas spirit.  It makes me laugh to think about how much I’ve been practicing.

When I started to take piano lessons, I loved to practice.  I thought it was so cool to be able to play songs, simple as they were.  Then, I started to dread practicing.  I would put it off, often until the day before my lessons, and then I would have to practice for hours to make it up.  It wasn’t a very good system.  Usually I got the things done, but I didn’t do it in the right spirit and probably didn’t get as much out of it as I could have.  I took piano for two and a half years, and then my teacher had a baby and never started up again.  I decided that I was going to be done with piano.  This did not turn out to be the case, though.

It’s very odd that this next part happened, but it did.  As soon as I stopped taking lessons, I would practice a lot.  Maybe it was just because I didn’t have to practice, but I got to choose when and how much.  The “how much” part turned out being a lot more than normal.  I also started to fly through my piano books.  I had a book of classical pieces that I had been playing in for a year.  During that time, I passed off 4 songs.  Given, they were difficult, but now that I was really working on them, I could play 3 more, with ease, in a month’s time.  I also began to learn the hymns very quickly.  It amazes me all the things that I can play now, but when I quit, I thought would be forever out of my realm.

Why is it that not having a dead line causes us to either do much better or much worse?  To contrast my story, my brother was taking during the same time as me.  He never practices anymore, and it’s caused him to become worse, and now he cannot even play some of the things that used to be easy.  I’m really glad that I kept working on piano.  It has given me so many experiences that I would have never had, otherwise.  I think it’s important for us to keep working on things, even though they don’t seem fun or easy.  I believe that there are many things in our life that we may have loved originally, but started to dislike when we had to practice of work on it.  Try picking those things up again, and maybe you’ll find something that you are truly good at and love!

The One

This is the poem that I did for my writing contest.  I thought my last post would be short, so I added this to help supplement it.  The other one ended up being longer than I anticipated, but you still my poem.  It’s called, “The One.”

The cool, crisp days of autumn, all the leaves falling to the ground.
How would it feel to be a leaf rustling with a quiet sound?
It’s not as if anyone notices it amidst all of its friends and brothers
But in ignoring it, could we miss the one that may be different from the others?
A leaf may seem like a simple thing not very flashy, it just seems there
But it has its own importance as it waves slowly in the breeze, so fair.
It truly is individual holding itself with much poise and beauty.
Even though it’s surrounded by many, individually it’s important to the tree.
This is how we are in our lives; sometimes feeling like no one sees us or even cares,
And we are just not flashy enough to pull others from their busy affairs.
This goes against all reason, as is shown to us by the tree.
Each person is just as good as another and each life has individual beauty.
It is not most people’s lot to become president of a company.  
For most of us, it is our job to be a friend and treat everyone equally.  
All together, we don’t seem too different, mostly the same to the common eye.
But everyone has his own beauty and strengths, and all must consciously try
To see the individual “leaf” on the tree and see what it can become.
Accept, praise, and help it, for it is an important one.
As we look at others in this world and see the goals each achieves,
We will learn to look at the forest and see its beauty because of its leaves!

    

Perspectives

On my birthday, I was able to attend that amazing Jazz game.  It was so cool to watch.  I also had some thoughts about different perspectives and about how funny people are.  

At my dad’s work, they have season tickets for many places in the Delta Center.  A couple examples are front row, third row, and the 17th row.  On certain occasions, I’ve been able to sit in these seats, and it’s been such an exhilarating experience.  On Wednesday, I sat on the third row.  Included with the seats were tickets to a restaurant that’s in the Delta Center.  My parents went to eat there, and I ate food from one of my favorite restaurants.  I was waiting for them, and I was sitting up in the nosebleeds, three rows from the top.  I could see my parents eating while I was up there, and it was that everyone down on the court looked so tiny.

As the game began to start, I sat down in the 3rd row seats.  It was amazing!  As I walked on, by way of the court, I walked past Greg Ostertag.  He was standing in the corner, and being next to him made me feel very short.  All of the basketball players are so tall, and sometimes it is hard to see that when you’re up high.  

Another interesting thing I noticed was: many of the basketball players have matching shoes.  If you think about it at school, there are very few kids that have matching shoes.  Nearly everyone has a different pair and a different style.  This is not the case for basketball players.  Just counting the starters (10 people total, 5 from each side), there were 4 out of the 5 people guarding each other that matched with the people they were guarding!  Then, to make it even odder, some of the pairs matched other pairs, too.  These must be the new cool shoes in basketball.  Everyone person on the court had white shoes with blue stripes on them.  I can understand that it was probably required to have blue and white, but to have the shoes match was really surprising.  That’s one thing that you’ll never notice if you’re up high.

One of the refs was very funny.  He must have had extra muscles in his mouth, because he would move his whistle back and forth so quickly!  It would fly from side to side, even while he was running back and forth.  I wonder if it sounded differently from one side or the other.  

It makes me really happy that are pleased to see others do well.  Every time that the Jazz scored, a man stood up and gave everyone around his high fives.  It was so funny to watch.  At first, you could tell that it annoyed some people around him, but eventually his enthusiasm started to wear off, and many others started to stand up with him.  It amazed me to see that this man’s positive attitude changed how many others looked at the game.

Now, talking about the game, it was the most amazing game I have ever been to!  There were a couple of miraculous buzzer shots. On my personal favorite, Williams shot it from behind the half line, right on the buzzer, and it went it perfectly.  It was so cool to watch.  The whole arena absolutely erupted.  It was cool to see everyone so excited for him.   After the game, Williams said that he hadn’t really expected it to go in.  He said, “I just knew that I had to get rid of the ball before the buzzer rang.  I dribbled a few times, and then just threw it.”  I believe that he was as surprised as the rest of us.  Another shot was made by “Memo.”  The shot clock was running out, and he literally threw the ball backwards and over his head.  This shot also went it, and we were all awed by it.

It was also funny to see what people thought of the cheerleaders.  There were some that sat with rapt attention every time they came out, but I was happy to see that many didn’t approve.  Those cheerleaders are so indecent!  I can’t believe that they aren’t mortified at just being out there, in front of thousands, in those skimpy outfits, not to mention the awful dances that they do.  That was one thing I wouldn’t have minded being farther away from.  It absolutely disgusts me to even think about!!

The Jazz game was amazing, and even though my favorite part was watching the fun and exciting sport of basketball, I also learned a lot about people, and I had a good time being able to see some interesting mannerisms and ways people thought and interacted with others.  It was a wonderful birthday present!