HOLIDAYS & vacations !

Everyone loves holidays! (I haven't met anyone who hasn't anyway) But the best holidays are vacations, when you get to go overseas or to a different place. I L O V E going overseas! It is my most favorite thing to do in the whole world, so an overseas vacation is absolutely GREAT. Here's a list of reasons why I love holidays / vacations overseas...

1. The feeling. There's a feeling you get inside for every country, and they are all completely different! I remember them long after the trip is finished. The feeling I have when I'm in the States is so different to the feeling of being in Thailand.
2. Everything is new and different. New customs, new cultures, new tastes, new smells, new sights, new sounds and it is so exciting! And all are so different to New Zealand, making it seem like the most boring country in the world (which everyone would think about the country that they are living in probably).
3. Meeting new people. I have made quite a few friends over the years, from different hotels. But it's always sad saying goodbye to them, cause the chances are you're never going to see them again. It's also fun meeting the different taxi drivers, some are completely crazy and act like you guys have been best pals for years! (this is really funny when it happens in places such as Singapore, Malaysia or India).
4. You can do a n y t h i n g you want to do. You're not going to see these people again, and you don't know any of them, so if you want you can walk around like a duck or a mentally retarded person. It's really fun : ) ! Because nobody knows you, in countries in Asia, they all assume you're really rich so you can just waltz right on into all of the designer shops and try on garments which cost MEGA BUCKS!
5. SHOPPING. Overseas you're going to find things that nobody else has back home, and everything is different so it's a great time to shop!
6. Staying in hotels and resorts. There is nothing better than staying in hotels and resorts, all the staff are so friendly (especially in islandy resorts) and everything is just so nice looking! The beds are incredibly comftorable and the MEALS!!! Every time I go away on vacation I swear that I put on at least 10 kilograms! There are always so many different restaurants to eat at in this one hotel or resort! With buffets of endless dishes, desserts and all. It's hard to tell yourself when to stop! The swimming pools!
7. Going on the airplane. When I'm on the airplane (Singapore airlines is the best!) and am on my way to my destination I am so excited! I have my whole vacation ahead of me! But the way back is another story.. I am always completely depressed it's over and CANT BELIEVE how fast it has gone!
8. Eating out! When you're on vacation you eat out alll the time, because you don't have a kitchen and your mum doesn't get boring old food from the supermarket! So its restaurants galore! ! And overseas they always have interesting and cool ones, some being food from their culture and some being food from other cultures.

I L O V E travelling !

What I'm looking forward to RIGHT n o w

This is what I'm looking forward to right now : (in order from most excited to just looking forward to the event)
1. S U M M E R - Everything about summer! Walking to JENNA'S after school : ) JUST wearing a t-shirt and roman sandals to school, not ten million layers! Not being F R E E Z I N G when I get out of bed in the morning or at school. Summer Holidays!! Spending full days outside under the BURNING HOT summer sun! Getting the blackest tan the world has ever seen! Listening to Tash and Elise fight over whose tan is blacker. Christmas ! Going to the manly cliffs and jumping off them. Not having any set plans. (There is so much more!! I'll add some when I think of them)
2. Suburban - this weekend a whole bunch of people are going to suburban this weekend and then some of us are staying over at Cerise's afterwards. It's gonna be fun : ). Me and Tash are gonna probably stick together (in case its .. weird).
3. Furniture ! - I'm f i n a l l y getting some new furniture for my room ! ..soon hopefully
4.Coming Home from school after the day is finished
5. Seeing the pictures from me and Bree's ASIAN THEMED BIRTHDAY
6. Taking the next bite of my breakfast
7. Abby coming to New Zealand next year ! ! ! (if she does)
8. The weekend
9. Soccer this weekend : )
10. Waking up on Saturday morning, knowing that I don't have to get up

Lemon Meringue Pie !! Yumm

I love all sorts of desserts, cakes, pies, squares, slices and muffins. Sweets = d e l i s c i o u s ! One of my favourite desserts is lemon meringue pie! It triggers all of your taste buds, the sweet base and meringue and the sour of the lemon. Here is a recipie of this absolutely scrumptious treat (try it!!) :

Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.
Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

Winter

Winter gives me the blues. There is almost nothing good about winter. I h a t e it. I think that we should just skip winter and have summer all the time. Here are the bad things about winter :

1. Rain - it rains all the time in New Zealand, during the winter period. When we are at school and are wet, it is not very plesant to be walking around soaked through. When you are standing outside in the rain, there is just something about it that makes me insane. When I am in the mood to play around in the rain and get wet (which is only fun if there is a change of clothes waiting for me afterwards!) then it is good, but it is not very often that I am in this mood. One time when I was, i really regreted it afterwards when i was sitting in English and having to lift my cold skirt off my bare legs. It is absolutely horrible and makes me feel yuk, and gets me sick!! If it is winter, then it should snow, not just rain! It is pathetic!!

2. Cold - with winter, obviously comes the cold. When the wind is blowing, and you are at school, there is nothing you can do apart from hudle up and complain about how cold it is! When it is cold, the heater is good, but there is nothing worse than when you have to pull yourself away from the wonderful device. Getting out of my warm bed (heated by my electric blanket!) is also horrible, the cold hits me like a slap in the face! And similar to this, is when stepping out of the shower..

3. No sun = no tan - in the winter, it is almost always grey and the clouds are covering the sun. This also makes it very cold, and just having a grey sky seems to keep everyone down. Nobody is happy. With no sun, that means there is no tan. As summer fades into winter, so do our G L O R I U S summer tans. I almost cried when I noticed my tan fading. It's almost a crime.

So to sum up winter is bad because there is bad weather, which means bad mood. Everything is just bad bad bad. (ESPECIALLY if you're at school!)

Kim Possible

Kim Possible is a great show on Disney Channel, made in America (and is set there, in Middleton). It is so great, and loved by many, that it is an Emmy awward winning American animated television series. It stars Kim Possible who is a teenager that fights crime. Every day she faces challenges of saving the world, with family and normal school issues. Kim Possible is always on the go, so it is of the action genre (and is suitable for kids =]).

Kimberly Ann Possible is an adventurer, and deals with supervillians every day. The main supervillans that she deals with is a monkey man, a scottish man, a crazy trucker dude and Draken and Sheego (who are her main enemies). The main characters in the show are Ron, Mom, Dad, Tim and Jim, Wade, Roofus and Bonnie. Ron is her best friend, who is a boy that is a complete dork. He never does anything right, and is a wimp. Kim's Mom is your typical Mom, who is a doctor and her Dad is a scientist. Tim and Jim are her younger twin brothers who are always inventing things and get on Kim's nerves. Then there's Wade who is a super genius and tells Kim what to do, where her missions are and gives her the equipment. Wade does this all without leaving his room, and contacts Kim Possible with a comunicator. Roofus is a naked mole rat, who sits in Ron's pocket all the time (because he is his pet). Roofus is quite smart, even though he is a little rodent, and is one of Kim's sidekicks and goes everywhere on her missions. Bonnie is not that much of a main character on the show, but she is the mean popular girl who is on Kim's cheerleading squad.

There have been four seasons of Kim Possible, and six DVDs are available to be purchased, there are also six Kim Possible video games. Kim Possible is now very popular all around the world. It has been aired in China, in mandarin, in Dubai, in arabic and in France, in French.

They have a catchy theme song!!

Me and Emelia's India Presentation!

In Social Studies our class is studying Brazil, all about the country, but it is mainly focusing on it being a developing Country. Mr V. wanted us to extend this even further, by getting us to choose our own developing country and make a presentation on it. There was no major outline, only one rule, that the presentation HAD to include one multimedia aspect. For this project we had to get into groups of two, and I went with Emelia. We chose.. India!!

The first period that we were given time to work on our presentation in class, me and Emelia decided to categorize and figure out what we were going to research and talk about. We made five big headings, which was 'Culture', 'The People', 'The Land', and 'Way of life'. Under these categores we talked about the following things, food, clothing, religion, population, government, geography, India as a developing country, economy, plants, animals and the weather.

We weren't given very much time at all to do this! (less than a week!). Due to this fact, me and Emelia decided that it would be a good idea if Emelia came to my house on Saturday and do some work on it. We thought that we would be able to get this over with in a couple hours, max. But boy were we in for a wake up call! We were no way NEAR close to finishing after working cold flat the whole time. She ended up coming to my house on another Tuseday (after I had spent.. L O A D S of time on it) and we finished most of it up.

We had so many pictures to print, I had three inches of paper filled with pictures! I was cutting for hours on end and organising when we had to show the next picture or hold up the next title.

On the day we weren't nervous at all, but we had NEVER practiced it, and Emelia didn't know how it worked, it would be a complete gamble. When we started, it was all going well (we played Indian music when we were showing the titles). It went really smoothly and I think it looked like we knew what we were doing. We had a lot of different things that we passed around the class. The only thing was that we went WAYYYY over time, because we had SOO MUCH WORK! We ended up having to speed through the end, but I must say, it all went quite well. =]

Poetry

Today we have started a new unit in English, at School. It is poetry, which pretty much falls underneath the creative writing and writing category. Ms Wilson says that she doesn't like it very much, but some people say it is the most intellegant way of writing. There are so many different ways for people to interperate a poem, they can take from it what they like, which is a main reason why lots of people like poetry.

When we were little, poetry was just a bunch of rhyming sentences crammed together on different lines (which are actually stanzas). Then it was so easy to write them, so simple. Now, poems can be one of the most difficult things to read and understand in the whole world! (I think at least..) Depends on the type of poem, they can let you make it into what you want it to be. Lots of times there is not really any right or wrong answer. It really depends on the personality of the person, and their intrests, to see what they will take from it. For some people it is really light thinking, and they just think black and white, the obvious answer of what it is. Other people go into really deep thinking, and come up with COMPLETELY different answers of what things mean. But like I said before, there really is no right or wrong answer.

I personally don't really like poetry that much, I don't understand the things that some people can get from it. Although I prefer writing it much more over creative writing. I can never finish my creative writing stories, because they will be too long, and I think that a good piece of creative writing has to be of reasonable length.

Rainbow's End

On Sunday, Me, Tash, Bree and Cerise went to Rainbow's End for the day. The day started off when Tash and Cerise (Tash's mum) picked me up from my house at 9 am. Then we went to Bree's house and picked her up. Now we were on our way down to Rainbow's End. The weather was and looked really bad, it was grey and spitting and windy. This would probably cut down a lot of the rides that we would be able to ride on. But Tash had texted her Dad in the morning, and he lives near to Rainbow's End (on that side of town at least) and he said that it was clearing up there. This lifted our hopes! We were all so excited to go to Rainbow's End, even though it is really small and lame and very kidish. But it still seemed like we weren't actually going, it's one of those things that we all plan and say we are going to do, but never actually do it.

At the entrance we didn't know what to say, 'Can I have a ticket?', 'Can I have a pass?', 'I'm fourteen..'. None of us wanted to go first because after that first person we could all just say oh I'll have the same please. Bree ended up going first and she just said blankly 'I'm fourteen..'. It was so funny, then we all did just say same afterwards. Then Bree did something stupid to her pass and the lady couldn't put it on right. She BIT it (the lady did!) off Bree's wrist and got her a new one. (This is just one of the very Breeish things that happened to Bree on the day).

When we entered we got a picture with Rain and Bow, the picture is DISGUSTING! I hate it. The first thing that we did was go to the rollercoaster, and sat in the very back. We ended up going 11 times in a row, but went more times throughout the day. My head really hurt, because at this one part your head just gets tossled around and bangs into the sides. I can't remember the order now of the rides we went in. But we ended up going on the power surge a lot of times as well (Me and Cerise went on it two more times than Tash and Bree, cause they felt sick and went on the log flume).

We all sat on the log flume together three times, I think, and we did stupid faces when they take the picture at the end. Me and Tash rocked the log and Cerise got all scared and annoyed, it was funny. Then Tash kept throwing leaves on Cerise and she was like 'woah leaves actually keep falling on me' and I'd go 'yea I keep seeing them fly across my face!'. She only realised at the end it was Tash. Bree and Tash ended up going on the Log flume more than Me and Cerise because it was too boring for us, but they loved it. Haha joking, we just went on the power surge instead.

We weren't going to go on the Fear Fall, because we were all quite scared of it the first time. But I definately wanted to go on it the whole time! I forced Cerise to go on it with me, and once we were up there it seemed a lot smaller then it was last time. It was so fun that we ran around and went on it again, and again, and again. We met this funny as asian instructor person, called Duncan! He let us just stay on it at times in a row. Then we forced Tash and Bree (Bree we had to LITERALLY, she was holding onto Duncan!) to go on the Fear Fall. But once they had done it they wanted to go on again, and again, and again. So it ended up at Me and Cerise went on it 14 times, and Tash and Bree went on it 6 times. Duncan was really really pro and hardout at dancing by the way, he showed us some of his moves!

Then we went on a lot of more rides.. a lot more.

We left at 3.30 and were so tired on the way home! I was dreading the fact that it would be school the next day.. We went to Burger King and carried on home. It was a great day, but every time I stayed still for a while it felt like I was on the Power Surge. I slept really well that night. =]

Ball season!

Whangaparaoa College is having their first senior ball this year, for the year twelves. It is gonna be really exciting for everyone, to see how it turns out. Because there will not be any year thirteens stomping their parade, they will be the oldest and the first to experience it.

I love the ball season (which I have learnt so far) because I have Hayley who can tell me all the latest news with everyone in year twelve. This includes who is going with who, who is wearing what and who has asked (or is going to ask) who, and if that person wants to go with that other person. I'm not going to say what's going on with Hayley and the ball because she probably wouldn't want me saying.. =] but I think she's quite happy. She is on the ball comittee for the school and is helping to design and organise it. The theme is New York, of which I have no idea how they are going to portray that with their decorations. It is going to be held at the North Harbour Stadium (which is a rugby feild in Albany). She said the sight is really cool, and I can't wait till she comes home on the night (although I probably won't be awake) because she said she will tell me.. things.

On Saturday I went ball dress shopping with Hayley, because my soccer game was down at three kings so we decided to go shopping since we were down there. We ended up going to Takapuna, Silverdale, New Market, St. Lukes, and I can't remember what else. The dresses at New Market were by far the most expensive! To start off I knew that this would be a hard find because Hayley is quite picky with her clothing, and it is hard to find something for her that she really likes. But she knew that she wanted a short one, either blue or black (the long ones are disgusting and make people look very short). At all the different shops I was the errand girl, I would run back and forth between the shop and the changing rooms. I basically found new dresses and got different sizes, or asked the shop clerk where there were different sizes. It doesn't really sound like that much, but it was. I didn't relly mind though because it was fun looking at all of the different dresses. In the end Hayley didn't get any dreses, but the search has been narrowed down to two dresses (of which one I found!). My highlight of the day was forcing Hayley to try on the most disgusting pink dress in New Market. It was completely covered in frills, complete with a little overcoat. Haha =p !

Deal or no Deal !

Deal or no Deal is a popular game show, made in the United States (originating in Los Angeles). Deal or no Deal has travelled to many different countries (25 countries!), and then adapted by them, adding some of their own ideas. Countries including Australia and New Zealand have taken Deal or no Deal, but it is not as big as the American one, with the highest amount of money much smaller.

The American Deal or no Deal is hosted by Howie Mandel. On the show contestants play and deal for a top prize of o n e m i l l i o n dollars (USD). The show makes people risk it all, at pure random guess. One contestant, from the audience, picks one out of 26 breif cases, which one they think has the big money. They can keep their breif case at the end, or dealing it for another amount, as they eliminate amounts, unfolding breifcases during the show. The contestant has to eliminate the remaining 25 breifcases by choosing people on the stand to unfold them, reveiling the amount of money that he does not have in his breifcase. If the high numbers still stay up on the board, the banker will offer higher and higher amounts, because they do not know if there is a high amount of money in the contestant's chosen breifcase. As long as a large amount of cash hasn't been opened, the banker's offer will go higher and higher.

Here is the credits from the American show :

Host: Howie Mandel
Executivve Producer: Scott St. John
Creator: Dick Derijick
Co-executive Producer: Mashawan Nix
Director: Alan Carter
Executive in Charge of Production: Jack Martin
Set designers: Anton Goss and John Ivo Gilles
Lighting designer: John conti
Wardrobe designer: Dina Cerchione
Music: Groove addicts
Graphics: Fish Eggs
Origination: Los Angeles
From: Endemol USA

Straightening your hair, it's a no no =[

People have been straightening their hair since way back when. In those days, people used to iron their hair, of which some people still do today if they don't have the right eqquipment. Both boys and girls do it to straighten their curly locks or even quite straight hair. I know, it is the most frustrating thing even to have a slight wave in your hair. It should either be dead straight, or curly, definately not in between. Nobody is ever satisfied with the hair they have!

But why do people straighten their hair? Not only for the dead straightness of their hair, but theres something about straightened hair that makes it look shiny and perfect. The thing that really triggers us to want to straighten our hair is what we see in magazines and on T.v. Everyone seems to have perfect hair, unless they are the bad guy or something. Seeing this on T.v, then we want that. And this goes for everything else we see on T.v, it's why girls want makeup and boys want muscles.

There are quite a few different straighteners available for people to buy, but the most people are the ceramic hair straighteners. These straighteners don't get too hot and so are better for your hair. GHD's are the best on the market, and are probably the best for your hair. There are ways to permanently straighten your hair as well, by putting chemicals in it at hair salons. This is incredibly bad for your hair and permanently damages it.

The truth about straightening is that, eventually it will make your hair fall out. By putting direct heat on your hair like that, it is really damaging your hair and will cause split ends. Depending on how far up your hair you straighten till, all of that will get split ends and your hair will break off. This can give the illusion that you have cut your hair, but really your hair just keeps breaking off because it is so unhealthy. Using hair treatments does definately help, if you are straightening your hair every day you really need to use good hair products. Overall it is just better to not straighten your hair, who cares if its not perfect! Magazines are fake, nobody's hair is naturallly p e r f e c t.

Toybox - Tarzan and Jane

Toybox is a Danish pop group (similar to Aqua), who formed in the 1990's. The band consists of only two members, Anila Mirza and Amir El-Falaki. Toybox's first album was called 'FanTastic' and included the songs, The Sailior Song, Super Duper man, Best friend, Teddy bear and Tarzan and Jane.

Today the band is not together, Amir is a dance teacher, music video choreographer and trains F.C Copenhagen's cheerleading team. Anila has changed her name to Aneela, and tried to go solo but was not successful.

In India I used to love the band Aqua, and some of Toybox's songs. Their style is very unusual, almost techno. My favourite toybox song was called Tarzan and Jane, it has a really funny music video. Here are the lyrics to Tarzan and Jane..

Deep in the jungle,
in The Land Of Adventure, lives Tarzan

Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Jane, and I love to ride an elephant

My name is Tarzan, I am Jungle-man
The tree-top swinger from jungle-land
Coke, baby come
I will take you for a swing
Let's go, honey, I'm tinkeling

Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong
He's really cute, and his hair is long
Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong
So listen to the jungle-song:

Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Tarzan from jungle, you can be my friend
Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Jane, and I love to ride an elephant

When you touch me, I feel funny
I feel it too, when you're touching me
Come to my tree-house to my party
Yes, I'll go if you carry me

Tarzan is handsome, full of surprise.
He's really cute, and his hair is nice
Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is trong
So listen to the Jungle-song:

Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Tarzan from jungle, you can be my friend
Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Jane, and I love to ride an elephant

Go Cheetah, get banana
Hey monkey, get funky
When I am dancing, I feel funky

Why do tyou keep ignoring me?
Tarzan is here, come, kiss me, baby
Oochie coochie kiss me tenderly

Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong
He's really cute, and his hair is long
Tarzan is handsome, Tarzan is strong
So listen to the jungle-song:

Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Tarzan from jungle, you can be my friend
Oo-ee-oo-ee...
I am Jane, and I love to ride an elephant

And so they got funky,
but will Tarzan have Jane?
Stay tuned to find out

Trumpet! (The Ice cream)

The good old kiwi trumpet (ice cream!) you gotta love it! They are absolutely delisimo!! =]

The trumpet™ is a kiwi icon, and has been able to be purchased from all over the country since 1964! The ice cream was extremely popular when it first launched and since then, all New Zealanders love it. It still remains one of the top ice cream brands in New Zealand. O N E M I L L I O N trumpets are sold every year. That's enough to line them up from the bottom of the South island to the tip of the North island twice!!

There are three classic trumpet flavours, chocolate, boysenberry and VANILLA! But recently a new flavour has been added to the classic trumpet flavours, which is also a kiwi icon.. the jelly tip trumpet! These are all regular trumpets, but there is also something a whole lot bigger called the COLOSSAL cone! These trumpets are t w e n t y - f i v e percent bigger than the regular trumpet!! The colossal cone comes in the following flavours, butterscotch caramel crunch, creamy chocolate almond, and cookies and cream. Trumpets also come in mini sizes, but can only be purchased in sets in boxes.

I just ate one, which is why I felt the need / was inspired to write a blog about the fantastic ice cream.

Here's how I eat my trumpet :

1. Take off wraper
2. Lick off chocolate off wraper (don't want to waste any!)
3. Eat nuts and chocolate off top of trumpet (have ice cream with it, otherwise chocolate is too overpowering)
4. Lick way to cone, pushing the ice cream down, so that you have ice cream throughout your whole cone.
5. Eat some cone, then ice cream, then cone, then ice cream. Repeat this until at bottom.
6. When comes to the bottom chocolate tip of cone, eat very slowly its the last you're gonna get. Make it last!

Cleaning.. depends on how I feel

Cleaning. Why do we do it? Because it leaves us feeling.. well clean. Feeling clean, and being in a clean enviornment gives a person the feeling of being fresh, pure and crisp. To me, when I am in a clean place (aka my room has been cleaned) a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, because it is one less thing that I have to do and I just feel good overall. The thing is that it has a price, and its very big.

Time.

Cleaning costs time, alot of time and it is just a real pain in the butt having to clean. It is one of the most boring things in the whole world, picking up things, scrubing things, soaking things, washing things it is all incredibly boring. The smell of cleaning products and detergents do not appeal to me at all, they have very strong smells and they make my hands feel all weird and give a weird texture. Also it is not nice when my hands get all the dirt on them, because if you are cleaning up mess and dirt you are bound to get it on you somewhere.

90% of the time I absolutely hate cleaning and think it is the most boring thing in the world, but sometimes when I have my ipod and I am in the mood, it actually isn't THAT bad!! For example last Saturday (And it was after soccer!!!) and I was cleaning my bedroom, of which I didn't find too bad. I had my ipod playing and I was just gernally quite happy. I ended up cleaning the bathroom upstairs as well, because I seriously just felt like it! It was absolutely crazy, when I get in that mood of cleaning I really get into it. The same happens with organising and sorting things out, normally I HATE it and can't be bothered, but that one time that I can be bothered I'm really on a roll.

So to sum up cleaning.. it depends on how I feel.

Baywatch

Baywatch is a famous T.v show about some lifegaurds who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles. It's genre is considered drama and action. The American series aired from 1989 to 2001. During this period, it was loved by so many veiwers, that the Guiness Book of World Records named it the most watched show of all time, with 1.1 B I L L I O N veiwers.

Baywatch first started up as a lifegaurd motion picture project, created by Gregory J. Bonnan (who was a lifegaurd himself). It aired on NBC in 1989. Unfortunately at this first attempt, the show stopped after one season for the reasons of high cost in producing and low ratings. David Hasselhoff later thought this show had potential and tried it again in 1991, investing his own money. He became the executive producer and starred as one of the (or THE) main lifegaurds on the show, Mitch. The show became so successful nationally and internationally that two movies were created off the series including 'Baywatch Nights' and 'Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding'.

In 1999, Baywatch casts travelled to Sydney to create another Baywatch, 'Baywatch: Downunder'. In season ten of Baywatch, the setting was again changed to Hawaii and the show was changed to 'Baywatch: Hawaii'.

Baywatch casts many people including David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderrson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, Parker Stevenson, Michael Newmen, Jeremy Jackson, David Chokachi, Gena Lee Nolin, Traci Bingham, Erika Elinak, Billy Warlock, Carmen Electra, Donna D'Errico, David Charvet, Nicole Eggert, Brande Nicole Brodderick, Michael Bergin, Jose Solano and Mitzi Kapture.

The show has become a trademark, and is mocked in many shows and movies. Everyone knows about baywatch, and the two main stars who were created from it, David Hasselhoff, Carmen Elektra and the famous Pamela Anderson. I personally love watching the show because it is incredibly hilarious watching how cheesy it is. Watching the very early episodes I can see they are extremely old and the acting is so bad. Good old Baywatch =]

I'm in a magazine!

One Sunday, after my whole family was up and had gotten dressed my Dad told us that he wanted to take some pictures and get some quotes from us for World Vision. We later found out that it was about telling your family, and keeping your family in touch with sponsering a child from World Vision.

Firstly I could not be bothered doing this, and seeing the pictures because, as lame as it sounds, I was having a really bad hair day. The last thing that I wanted, was to be reminded of what it looked like with twenty seven thousand pictures. He set the four of us (Mum, me, Hayley and Curtis) around the end of our dining tables and gave us some World Vision booklets and letters from a sponsor child to "pose" with. We all had absolutely no idea what to do, to smile looking at it or what? What could we actually do, it was meant to be like a parent was showing the family about sponsoring a child. If in real life Mum or Dad was showing me something, I would just be thinking in my head things and have a blank face with no emotion. You could tell that Dad was getting frustrated with our 'modeling', it was hopeless.

Then he got into it, and when he did, you could tell that it was alot harder than he thought. There was really nothing to do! In the end we all did fake smiles looking at a silly little booklet. I looked through all of the photos with horror, not one looked remotely good. But nobody i knew would be looking at these pictures.. hopefully.

Then Dad asked us about what it has helped us with, and we did the usual thing, telling him what he would probably want to her. And tell him the material he would want to have in the magazine, that didn't take too long. But Curtis, Hayley and I pretty much all had the same thing to say. =s.

Today we got the magazine and HAHA it looks so horrible but OH WELL! And my quote has been altered. haha

Sneezing with your eyes open pops your eyes out!

If you sneeze with your eyes open your eyes will pop out! True?

False!!

When you sneeze, your body is getting rid of bad things in your nose, things like bateria and germs, and other things your body does not agree with. For example, when you smell small black peper, you will sneeze because your body (nose) does not agree with it.

When a person sees a bright light, for example turning on the light or looking at the sun, sometimes you will feel like you need to sneeze. One out of three people sneeze at the sight of bright light. That one person is called a 'photic sneezer', seeing as photic means light. This trait is passed down from a side of the family, so you could inherit it from your Mum or Dad.

Naturally, nobody sneezes with their eyes open, because it is a reflex to close your eyes as you sneeze. But some people do have the ability to, and some people just don't. You have no control over the fact if you can open your eyes while sneezing or not. It is not known exactly why we shut our eyes when we sneeze, everyone has their own theories. Most doctors agree on the simple fact that it is a reflex and we have no control over it. Some evidence that could add to say as to why we do is that the nerves serving our eyes and nose are closely intertwined, and so one triggers a response to the other. It is still not really known though.

So, the big answer is no! No your eyes do not pop out when you sneeze with your eyes open. There are muscles (that control the movement of your eye mainly) and the optic move that hold your eye in place. Just because your eye lids are open, it doesn't mean that your eyes will pop out. The eye lids do not even do that much for the eye. It is known that your eyes do buldge out a bit, but it is also known for one hundred percent certainty that your eyes do not pop out when you sneeze with your eyes open.

It's annoying being ignored

It's annoying being ignored! It is probably one of the most annoying things in the whole world. Everybody has been ignored during their life, and I'm sure everyone knows it's not a very nice position to be in. Being ignored leaves people feeling worthless, unimportant, not cared for and invisible. If you were feeling down and everyone ignored you, how would you feel? If you were at a new school and are ignored, how would you feel? If you got an incredibly good looking hair cut or wore a new shirt and was ignored, how would you feel? The answer is bad, you would feel pretty bad.

The simple way that we can stop this from happening is take notice, take notice in change of people. If someone is not talking as much as usual, ask them if theres anything wrong. If someone wears their hair in a different way, tell them it looks nice. If someone works hard on a project, praise them for their work. If someone slightly overweight and is looking 'trimmer', tell them they are looking nice and skinny. (note: you might not one to tell someone if they have gained weight, or are looking a bit bigger). It's amazing what the simple word of a person can make someone feel.

When I think this, one person especially comes to mind.. my Dad. He c o m p l e t e l y ignores me half the time when I am talking to him. If the golf is on the T.v or he's reading the newspaper, or thinking aloud (which is practically all the time) he is off in another world. When I ask him a question, there is no reply, then again no reply. By the fifth time I have asked he is quite annoyed that I have asked him so many times and he replies with 'I heard you the first time!'. This doesn't make me feel hurt because it is only my Dad, it is just frustrating that he doesn't reply when i want to know something (or whatever the case is).

Birthday anticipation!

It's my birthday soon!! Coming in just under three weeks, June the 28th is going to be the second most fantastic day of the year (after christmas). The only thing is that it is going to be on a Saturday, and birthdays on the weekend are quite boring because it is not gauranteed that you will be seeing all of your friends.

Last year my birthday was on cross country, and it was super fun because i got chocolate =]. Every year I have spent at Whangaparaoa College, something out of the norm has happened on my birthday. There was something in year seven, I'm sure! But its slipped my mind.. In year eight we all went to snow planet and went skiing! It was so much fun, i went down from the top. And as I said, last year (year nine) was cross country on my birthday. Most people would think that would be a stupid birthday, but it was really fun because when you think about it all you have to do is run for about thirty minutes and then you get practically the whole day off. There was a big blue house poster hung up by the blue house tent, and on the back of it said happy birthday Courtney! Loads of people ended up seeing it, and a ton of people wished me a happy birthday, it was great.

I think that the counting down to my birthday is better than the actual day. When you are waiting for the day to come, you always think it will be wonderful and exciting and absolutely amazing. I play the birthday in my head so many times, waking up, opening the presents, getting birthday girl privaleges and all. By the time it is my actual birthday, I have had the equivalent to around thirty birthdays.

The best thing about my birthday, being on June the 28th, is that it is in perfect unison with christmas. Six months presents, six months presents, six months presents, six months presents. When I feel like I haven't been given presents for quite a while, it comes time again that i will get some. It is absolutely fantastic!! I wouldn't have it any other way.

I LOVE my birthday!! =]

The Best Releiver

I chewed down on the half consumed brunch bar in my mouth. It was morning tea nad everyone was happy, talking to eachother or mingling in the handball line. As it normally went, one by one people started heading to their next class. i always left when the place started to look empty, or huge stampedes of people passed by.

You can almost tell what class they have or what type of person they are by the expression on their faces. If they were happy or annoyed, longing or dreading for their next subject. As for me, I was annoyed and dreading my next class. It was science, with Mr. L. Nobody knows his full name, its impossible to pronounce. I heard rumors that it was Licksaphakau.

Mr. L is the worst possible teacher you could imagine, I don't think I have learnt one this this year. Or at least one important thing, all the time he rambles on about back in 'the day' when he was a hero. And it's not what you're thinking, he wasn't in the war, he was the rubbish boy in his village, in Guam. I know he must have something up there, in his brain, if he worked his way up from that job to this, being a secondary teacher in Australia. i'll give him credit for that, but thats about it.

Normally teachers help you, because thats their job, to teach you, but not Mr. L. If an arm shoots up in the air.. well you wish you hadn't.

These thoughts flooded my mind as I trudged to the old building at the back of school. Coming closer and closer to the place I would be inmprisoned for the next one and a half hours, I wondered what we would learn today. Not about science, about his village. Walking into the old classroom with my head hanging low, my friend nudged me and excitedly said "look!". I lifted my head, of which felt like 1000 pounds, and a smile crept across my face...

Creative writing - Bull picture

I looked down at the hot concrete beneath my bare feet. It felt as though I was walking on a stove. The blisters forming on my feet were being tortured with every step I took. The walk to the small shop took so long, it was a journey I had to take twice every day.

Up before dawn, I had been walking for two long hours. The sun was now high in the sky and beading down on my dark hair. I looked in the window of fancy pastry shops and bakerys. The cakes and deserts frosted and moist, a mirage, something I could see but would never experience, never taste. I was hungry.

Thinking back to my small meal this morning, I realised how drained of energy I was.

a bullfighter lead his bull across the road from where I was standing. Probably for publicity, the big bullfighting competition was to be held in a couple days. The whole city gathering there, watching in anticipation, amaezment and awe. But not I, I would be going to the shop. i would be working. I wish I could see just one bullfight before i died.

At this moment I heard a lady scream, followed by many others. then I realised, the bull had gotten loose. Charging everywhere the bull was a free spirt, an animal not meant for a place like this. Not to be in captivity.

I met eyes with the creature and it stopped in its tracks. Studying the bulls enormous black frame and sharp horns I strangely didn't feel indimidated. This was soon to change. The animal seemed to change its feelings toward me because it was comming right for me. My reflexes never felt so quick in my life, I had turned around and was running the other way.

Looking around, I was frantically looking for a place to run ...

Mat Kearney - Breathe in, Breathe out

Mat Kearney is an American singer and songwriter, born on Decemver 1, 1978 in Eugene, Oregon. He is now based in Nashville, Tennesse. Kearney's major label debut, Nothing Left to Lose, has received a widespread recognition with songs including breathe in breathe out and nothing left to loose popular in countries all over the world. His songs have been on the T.V many times, including Dirty Sexy Money, Kyle XY, The Unit, Without A Trace, Laguna Beach, The Hills, Bones, Jericho, Friday Night Lights, Wildfire, What About Brian, South Beach, 8th & Ocean, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, The Closer, NCIS and especially Grey's Anatomy. Mat Kearney has toured many times with people and bands such as Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow and The Fray.

My favourite Mat Kearney song is Breathe in, Breathe out. These are the lyrics..

Breathe in
Breathe out
Tell me all of your doubts
Everybody bleeds this way
Just the same
Breathe in
Breathe out
Move on and break down
If everyone goes away
I will stay

We push and pull
And I fall down sometimes
I'm not letting go
You hold the other line

Cause there is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes

Hold on
Hold tight
If I'm out of your sight
And everything keeps moving on
Moving on
Hold on
Hold tight
Make it through another night
Everyday, there comes a song
With the dawn

We push and pull
And I fall down sometimes
But I'm not letting go
You hold the other line

Cause there is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes
There is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes

Breathe in
And breathe out
Breath in
And breathe out
Breathe in
And breathe out
Breathe in
And breathe out

Look left
Look right
To the moon
And the night
Everything under the stars
Is in your arms

Cause there is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes
There is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes
There is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes
There is a light
In your eyes
In your eyes

First encounter with Ms. Davids

A teacher rambles on in the prison-feeled room. Ros of tables are neatly faced towards an almost blank whiteboard, reading only her name. Ms Davids. Her voice, high pitched and carrying a thick South African accent, is far from people's thoughts. The way she speaks is far from monotonous and uninteresting, it is all over the place and almost exciting like a roller coaster, you don't know whats next. But she only had me captured for the first two minutes, it had been forty minutes. The stories she is telling, unheard by the 28 daydreaming students. As for me, I am staring aimlessly. The walls of the classroom concrete and cold with few posters acting as splashes of colour in a sea of grey.

One side of the room is glass. A window to freedom, a freedom we had soaked in for a long time. But now the holidays were over and only a taste remained. I thought back to my summer holidays.

Beaches, warm, sun

Outside summer is still apparent, it is sunny with no clouds in the sky. But this much loved season is only lingering on, winter just around the corner. It feels as though I have hit with two blows in a row. School, winter.

Now I was stuck in a classroom, I am stuck in science. Still Ms Davids is talking to the class, I decide to listen. Maybe frozen time will defrost.. "An island is an island, not a dog" Ms Davids says with complete confidence. I begin to laugh, and look over to Emelia and Tash to see if they heard they same thing. And they did. I felt a laughter begin roar from inside me. Most of the class had heard this as well, just switched on to hear that one little phrase. Ms Davids couldn't understand what was so funny. Maybe it was because we had only picked up one part of her story or she was actually crazy.

Who knew what the year of science would have in store for us.

Banana Cake!

Elise Cuff thinks that Bananas are the most vile thing ever. It is one of her, or possibly, most hated food. She has actually only tried it once when she was little and she says she couldn't swallow it. Her brother would make smoothies for Elise and the first thing she would ask is 'does it have any bananas in it?? ' he would say no but sure enough there would actually bananas in it. She says she can always taste it.. But as we grow older our tastes buds change and we realise that we find a love for foods that we once hated and hate foods we once loved. I used to love mushrooms and now I can't stand them! I've told Elise this, but she simply doesn't listen, she is real stubborn.

Another food that everyone loves apart from Elise Cuff is cake. Everyone loves cake, everyone apart from Elise Cuff. She is crazy, I think that her taste buds are broken. There is no particular reason why she doesn't like cake, she just doesn't. Because she hates banana and cake, of course Elise thinks banana cake is the worst possible thing alive. But everyone loves a good old banana cake =]

This banana cake recipie is dedicated to Elise Cuff!

Ingredients:
2 Large bananas
2 cups of S.R. Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 180 :C.
Beat bananas on fairly high speed put aside.
Cream butter and sugar add eggs one at a time and beat well after each.
Pour in milk and vanilla mix well till combined.
Add flour, salt, & mashed banana beat slowly for about 3minutes.
Pour mixture into 8inch sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes.
Cool and fill with whipped cream.

Sidetracked

When I'm doing something that I NEED to do, that absolutely HAS to be done I am pretty much always gauranteed to get sidetracked. There are four main elements that get me sidetracked communication with others, food, or entertainment or just plain sleep.

Communication with others is hard to stop myself from doing to keep myself on task. The main things are my phone, msn (including emailing) or even bebo. When someone sends me a text it is very hard for me to ignore, and is also quite rude so I half feel obliged to reply (haha). For example if they are asking a question that needs to be answered I have to reply, to help them! Otherwise it would be mean. When I have to do homework on the computer now I never log onto msn or go onto my emails or bebo because it will d e f i n a t e l y get me sidetracked. Sometimes getting sidetracked even means just talking to Hayley.

Food gets me sidetracked because for start, choosing what to eat is a big thing, that probably takes the most time. Preparing it can take alot of time as well, depending on what it is and then theres the main part of eating it. If it tastes really good, which it probably does because I chose to eat it, then i will mostly concentrate on the food not on what I'm meant to be doing. And then theres the, i can't do it because I'm eating.

Getting sidetracked because of entertainment basically means watching T.V or communicating people, because its fun talking to friends. When it comes to T.V there are so many different things on, and I'll tell myself ok I'll do whatever I need to do once this show finishes. Then another show comes on and another and another. And it goes on..

Sleeping gets me sidetracked for the simple reason of when I am meant to be doing something I am just way too tired!

When I get sidetracked my whole time managment gets out of the scheme of things and everything is done last minute. It turns out to be alot of trouble =s

The World is a tiny speck in the crack of another World

When we think about sizes, being big and small it is easy to imagine. But when it comes to extremes in sizes it is hard to picture. So small that we cannot see or too large that we cannot see. For example tiny microrganisms or the gigantic universe. With this topic could come the question of is the world a tiny speck in the crack of another world. Our whole universe could be the size of the nucleus of an element of another world (microscopic!) !!

This thought was explored in the Doctor seuss movie 'Horton hears a Who'. In this movie a big elephant named Horton, lives in a jungle and hears a small cry from a speck of dust on top of a flower. He decides to protect the flower, and later finds out that living on the speck of dust are the Who's, who live in Whoville. They have no idea, and don't believe the fact that their whole world is a tiny speck of dust in another giant world!

There could be one thounsand billion trillion katillion million worlds in our world, and we could be a tiny speck in the crack of another World!

Everyone's a Robot

In our life we will only ever know what life is like from our own prespective. We never really know what anyone else is thinking or how they look at things. We never know what people are doing all the time either, for example it is one of the strangest things to imagine what a teacher is doing on the weekend or outside of school. It turns out they actually have a life, or at least that is what they let on. Once I saw Mr. Moss at a rugby game, and that was pretty crazy. He probably set it up so I would know that he actually did go out and had a life..

When I was little I used to think that people would turn off when I wasn't with them, like all life would stop. Because for all I knew (and still know) everyone switches off when I'm not there. In a movie I have seen the whole life a man is set up and is a show. When he finds out that his whole life is fake and was set up he is completely crushed, everything he knew was a lie. Sometimes I think that could be what has happened with my life. Another theory I had was that everyone is a robot, nobody actually has feelings or is actually people but they act it.

The thing is we will actually never know.

A cloud can be what you make it

Clouds. Clouds are everywhere, and all are different. not one looks the same. Clouds appear in the sky in all differrent shapes, sizes, shades and even textures. With a cloud comes all sorts of weather. A cloud is a mass of water droplets collected in the sky. They form because the air has become too cold at that height to store water as invisible vapour.

There are different types of clouds, using names derived from latin words. The name of a cloud is determined at what height the cloud is formed and the shape of the cloud. The layer of clouds that form near the ground are called stratus clouds. They make the weather look very grey and can someitmes cause rain. Cirruc clouds are clouds that form much higher and look like whispy curls of hair (my favourite type of clouds!). Clouds that look like fluffly balls of wool are cumulus clouds. When cumulus clouds grow much bigger they form to be cumulonimbus clouds, these clouds are the reasons for big outbursts of rain during thunderstorms.

People often stare at the clouds, which is meant to be very relaxing and calming. Lots of different shapes can be found in clouds and different people find different things out of clouds. Depending on the personality of the person and imagination determines what they can find out of a cloud. People with little imagination tend to not find much out of clouds, where as people with a wild imagination can almost find anything. In the end a cloud can be what you make it.

A long entry

I realised that I just wrote a very very V E R Y long entry! I never knew that I could write so much before, and it didn't even take me that long. So for doing such a great long entry, I thought I would dedicate a nice short entry to it. With an acrostic poem. Here we go ..

A - long entry

L - usciously long
O - ver written
N - uscence to read!
G - eeze hurry up and finish

E - xtremely long
N - ice sized entry (just for a change)
T - ime of mine was wasted reading that
R - apidly I read that... NOT
Y - ay I finished it!

(a short entry dedicated to the long entry below)

Waiheke Island!

Seven twenty-five, s e v e n t w e n t y - f i v e a m marked the start of the day. It was the time I had to be ready and in Meygan's car to get to Devonport. Today we were going to Waiheke Island for a soccer game.

Friday night I would normally look at my watch and read nineoclock thinking, its early, I can't sleep for as long as I want tomorrow. But this friday night was different, at the sight of nineoclock I knew that it was time to go to sleep, I wanted to be bright and fresh for my soccer game tomorrow. I set my alarm clock for seven knowing I would have to get ready fast. In my mind, getting ready for bed, I kept telling myself that I should get all of my stuff together tonight. But who knows where that thought went, I woke up in the morning with nothing ready. I didn't have a clue where half of my things were. Scrambling around my house, eating toast, my Dad caught eye of me and tried to start conversation. I really didn't have much time, of which I told him over and over again, except he didn't really mind too much, he had all the time in the world. It was a pretty one sided conversation, my reply was 'Dad, I need money'. Eventually he gave in and I was ready just as Meygan knocked on the door.

In the car it was pretty silent, you could tell everyone had just woken up. I was the first person from the team to get picked up. The next stop was Sally's house, which was where Elise and Sally were. They piled into the very back seat, after alot of fuss trying to figure out how the seat folded down. Once getting in Elise realised she had forgotten her phone in Sally's room, but it was too late. She had to survive without her phone. We drove to Holly's house, but no one was home and she wasn't answering her phone. It was a mystery where she was, because she had said that she was definately coming to the Waiheke game. After waiting a while we had to leave, otherwise we'd miss the ferry and the game. Henesse was at the school for the 40 hour famine party, which meant we were going to school early on a Saturday morning. It felt crazy and weird. Now we were finally on our way down to Devonport. The ride seemed to go quite fast, with everyone in the car quiet and tired.

We were the second to last group to arrive at Devonport. All of a sudden Holly shows up and tells us this long story of where she was and how she got here. It turned out she was staying at a friends house, hadn't looked at her phone (which is a very Holly thing to do) and caught the bus here from Devonport. Devonport wasn't even on the bus' route but Holly had started crying because she was so scared and thought she would miss the game, so the driver drove her right to the ferry. Waiting for our ferry to arrive was quite boring, we looked to see what the different skyscrapers in Auckland city resembled (Holly found one looking like a toilet, with an open toilet seat). A team of little boys, who played rugby, were also headed for Waiheke. They had discovered a broken vending machine which had toys in it. It was funny watching them, they thought they looked like such little rebels stealing bouncy balls instead of paying a dollar. We really wanted a bouncy ball to play handball, but felt to bad to steal. Holly only had a two dollar coin so we went around the few open shops and got turned down about three times with the same not very clear exscuse of 'they had just opened'. In the end a nice man from a shop called 'un petit croissant' exchanged the two dollar coin for two ones. We got the two balls we wanted and played outside, right by the water. We knew it would happen, and it did, one ball fell into the water and then the other did. A little boy from the rugby team saw what had happened and stole a ball fromt the machine and held it out for us to have. It was a nice gesture, this time we didn't loose it.

On the ferry, the girls of our team filled up two tables. There was a dancefloor that had a mirror above it so, as Holly said 'you could see the move you cranked out'. We bought winegums and went up to the very top outside of the ferry to eat them. On the lookout for penguins, our hair was completely munted but it was still fun. When the ferry had stopped we all agreed we couldn't be bothered playing soccer, it didn't feel like we had a game on today. Piling off the ferry some girls from the Waiheke team were waiting for us. Holly and I were taken to the feild with a man, lady and girl from the team we were versing. They could name almost everyone we saw, driving past, it was a small place with only two primary and intermediate schools combined and one college. It was akward at first, but the tention eased as we started talking about soccer and the Papatoe team. A couple weeks ago we had versed the big, black team and they warned us of the 'agressive' waiheke island team. The people in the car told us their version of the story, the goalie from the Papatoe team (who had two kids!) had started a physical fight with a girl from their team. People from the sideline could hear the Papatoe team saying who they were going to take out next, it was whoever they felt threatning to making them loose the game. In the end the Papatoe team reported the innocent (probably not completely innocent) Waiheke team for doing absolutely nothing. They said they were the first team to not stay for morning tea. It would have been one uncomftorable ride to take their players back to the ferry.

The field was in the best position I had ever played at. It was right in the middle of a valley, with farming and vineyards surrounding it. It was so peaceful. Doing the warm-up before the game I had it certain that I did not want to play today. I was also partially scared of our oposition, we had no trouble with the Papatoe team, these guys must have done something pretty bad. Craig, our coach, said that we had to win today, we didn't come all this way to loose. Now I was hyped. A couple minutes into the game I could see that it would be an easy game, we would beat these guys. I played right back for majority of the game and some right midfield. Elise was the star of the game, she scored five goals, of which all were incredible. The end result of the game was 7-0. We were victorious.

Having morning tea was fun, Sally stuck a cucumber on my back and I chased after her with some food. It resulted as everyone chasing after everyone with food. Holly and I rode back with the same people, who dropped us off at what they called 'the shops'. A tiny stretch of shops. Some people bought food and we continued walking down to the ferry, of which they told us was a fifteen minute walk. Holly had so many bags, because it was all her stuff from staying at her friends house as well. People dumped her bags onto eachother, so she wouldn't have to carry them the whole way. The bags were heavy. I was walking fast, for no reason, at the front. Elise kept telling me to slow down and at the end me, Sally, Elise and Anna were at the very end. We ended up running to the ferry and were the last to arrive.

On the journey home on the boat everyone was really tired and we didn't go outside. Nothing much happened, and the same of which happened in the car. When I got home I was completely zonked, but it was a fun trip and a great game!

Bill

The cold car is silent. A humming engine only to be heard. Someone carrying no emotion stares aimlessly out out the window, that person is me.

The sky is grey.
The road is grey.
Feelings are grey.

Dark trees and lines on the road are a blur. The rear veiw mirror catches my eye, a sad, empty face is reflected from the passenger seat. The firm grip of a hand on my knee interupts my thoughts. It is Dad. He says nothing but I can feel him comforting me, telling me "Courtney, its ok. It's ok to cry". And i hadn't, not yet, not ever. There was no need to. For a person to cry meant something painful, tragic or upsetting to have happened. Nothing had happened.

I looked down at my muddy socks, shoes and shinpads on the floor. It was a normal day, we were on our way back from my soccer game. And it was a great game, I scored. We should be happy, I am happy. But that is where we heard the news.

A ringing phone breaks the uneasy silence. It's mum. She is calm, content. Who am I kidding, no, no she's not. The trauma in her voice is unsettling, please don't mum, please don't. She does, she begins to cry. And like a growing storm the leaking of her heart becomes stronger, heavier. The few words that I catch say it all.

Bill, Christine, Body.

New baby born

She confirmed it. It had happened. I feel my throat begin to swell up, tears starting rolling down my cheek. Harder and harder now, it's difficult to breathe. I can't breathe! Bill is dead! He's gone! Forever! What about Christine! How will she cope, it was always Bill and Christine, Christine and Bill! It's like taking the choclate chips out of chocolate chip cookies! My mind is as twisted and busy as the spaghetti junction we are winding around. My crying hasn't stopped, it won't stop, I can't stop.

Dad hangs up the phone and tells me in a hushed tone it's alright. Curtis turns around with two dry eyes and flashes me a look of sympathy, he doesn't speak for the rest of the way home.

My crying begins to stop. I picture Bill's smiling face in my head, he had the best smile. I will miss that smile.

Today Bill died.
Today Bill left us.
Today Bill left his newborn grandaughter.

A friend.. NATASHA RISHWORTH

C R A Z Y is the one word that sums up Tash. She is the funniest person. If Tash is ever there she will find something funny to say. She has a way of looking at things different, in a funny aspect. She always says things in a crazy accent or tone of voice, for example calling out my name. Tash makes the most hilarious faces. It is almost as like she carries a million different characters with her. She is always laughing and makes me laugh. Tash is always talking. She talks about how she is hungry, or she really Really REALLY feels like butter chicken. She stresses the word really and uses it alot, so it sounds like reeeeeally. One of her favourite describing words is heenis (meaning disgusting or gross). When she doesn't like or feel like doing something, for example doing a subject at school.. you know about it. You can count on her to speak her mind. But she can be very quiet and shy at times, for example when she is meeting new people. She also keeps quiet about her secrets, you are extremely lucky to get anything out of her. Tash is really good at art and drama ( THE ARTS =] ) and is smart. She is a really good netball player, she is in the top netball team of year ten. When she wants to she really puts the effort in and can achieve a lot. She is a very organized person, which is shown in her room and handwriting. Tash is very tidy. She is a very picky person and comments on her hair looking bad (heenis) alot. Tash thinks her little sister is a right brat and its funny hearing her tell stories of her. She is a really nice person if something is wrong she will try to make you happy and laugh. I'm really lucky to have her as a friend!

Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme are hands down the best doghnuts ever tasted. You don't know what a doughnut is until you have tried a krispy kreme. Krispy Kreme is a famous doughnut shop in America (originally) and Canada but is now starting to spread internationally. These delicious melt in your mouth doughnuts are now an icon in the States. My first experience with the taste from heaven (they're that good) was in Alabama, when I was in America one year for christmas.

There are so many different varieties but their most known is the original glazed. At each store there is a big glass window where you can see rows and rows of doughnuts being made and glazed. There are twenty-eight main different types of doughnuts, ranging from dulce de leche, a latin American Doughnut, to New York Cheese cake and Caramel Kreme Crunch. More doughnuts come and go with different seasons, for example at thanksgiving pumpkin spice doughnuts are sold and at christmas snowmen doughnuts are up for sale. You never knew there could be so many different types, all coming in different shapes.

On July 13, 1937 Vermon Rudolph bought a secret recipe from a French Chef in New Orleans for delicious yeast-raised doughnuts and rented a building in North California. He began selling them to local grocery stores and they became so popular people asked to buy them freshly made. In the 40's and 50's more branches started to be made and were ran by members from the family. Sales were not always consistant though. in the 60's and 70's krispy kreme was becoming more well known and moved out southeast across America. The founder, Vermon Rudolph died n 1973. Krispy Kreme was buzzing in the 80's and 90's, everyone knew about them and grew to love the doughnuts. Today it is amazing how far they have come, there are so many stores worldwide. We just need one in New Zealand.

Go to the site www.krispykreme.com and see for yourself =]

Chocolate, Now you see it, Now you don't

Everybody in my house is in love with chocolate, Cadbury chocolate. But who doesn't, you would have to be mental to not like chocolate. So it's good that everyone in my family likes it, or isn't allergic to it because there is always some chocolate available (most of the time).

There are four main times of the year when I get a lot of chocolate, at christmas, my birthday, easter and Hayley's birthday. At christmas there is always little chocolate santas with marshmallows and elves with crackling candy in stockings and random presents. On my birthday I get chocolate from my friends, last year it was cross country on my birthday, that didn't go down so well. I was so full of chocolate. Easter is the obvious time for getting chocolate, ever easter I always feel sick. The best thing is waking up in the morning and going downstairs seeing three separate piles of our easter eggs laid out for us (the three kids in my family). Still the thought of a creme egg makes me feel sick from easter. When its Hayley's birthday it is chocolate galore, she literally had boxes of whole blocks of chocolate. We had so many different types of chocolate in the house. It was so great.

A problem with chocolate in my family is they are all pretty boring and just like the same old flavorus, dairy milk and caramello basically. My favourite is fruit of the forrest which doesn't have any fruit in it (I don't like chocolate that has fruit in it). It has little pieces of delicious jelly and cookie. It's not boring at all, jammed pack of jelly and cookie goodness.

When a block of chocolate is opened and you take a couple of pieces, next time you go back its gone. We have a bunch of chocolate munchers in my house, or maybe its just magic.

Dad

My dad is probably the most sarcastic person you could ever meet (not in a bitter way). The only problem is you don't really know when he is being sarcastic or not. It is kind of his form of humor, it is a very dry sense of humor. When you are doing something he told you not to do and you go ahead and do it anyway he'll use reverse psychology. He will tell you to do exactly that thing you weren't meant to do so many times in a certain voice. You can tell when he's teasing you about something with the tone of his voice and even the look on his face, he's not directly saying it but you know he is. When he's reading the newspaper or watching golf and you ask him a question it goes right through one ear and out the other. It probably doesn't even reach one ear. And when you ask him for the ten millionth time he simply says 'Yes I know. I heard you the first time'. But when the tables are turned and a question isn't answered in a fraction of a second.. He can be the most serious man and the most stupidest and silliest person. He is so LAME and always cracking jokes. When he feels like you aren't talking to him enough he'll grab you and talk in a tone that is him trying to make you feel sorry for abandoning him. He is really loving and giving, which is shown in his job (he is the 'Director of International Programs' for World Vision in New Zealand). I know that if I was ever in trouble he would take care of me and stick by my side no matter what. He has a lot of faith. He believes it is important to give, especially to those who are in need of it (for example money), and to not be greedy. He thinks one of the worst things you can do is to be selfish, he is very selfless. Family is really important to him. He is very encouraging and really praises anything good that is done. When he is angry at you, or you are in trouble he doesn't say much to you, but that is the worst thing he can do. He is very tidy and organized person, everything has to be immaculate and he doesn't like lateness. He says he doesn't like the cats very much, but I know he does. He is always right (according to him).

'But it was ok'

It had come to this. An eternity of sweat and pain.
Try. Fail. Try. Succeed. Try. Fail.
The ongoing battle with myself had kept me practicing for hours on end, all for this event, this very moment. And the final result, leaving me with the most exultant or empty feeling. It would be success or failure.

I could see the faces, their eyes fastened on me, expecting something amazing. I could feel it with my eyes closed. The expectancy, a ponderous weight on my shoulders, forcing me to question my ability. I tried to look brave, proud and unafraid but inside I was no lion, I was the lamb. At this moment I caught the eye of a boy, no older than seven. He was wearing a cheesy shirt that had my face on it that matched the wide grin he wore on his face. I knew I was his heroine. I winked at the boy, flicked my shirt and was off.

My calves were jelly, peddling my bike had never felt so hard in my life. I could see the first ramp coming up, it looked so small from the distance I was at. Coming closer and closer to the wooden curve was exhilarating, now I was so ready for my first trick. Feeling myself getting higher in the air I leaned forward at great speed, then was on the ground again. I had successfully flipped my bike. A smile as big as the small boy's came to my face, a bigger ramp was coming up and I knew I'd nail it. Up and off the ramp I was almost in the clouds, I jumped off my seat and did a handstand holding onto my handle bars. Landing, a huge roar came from the crowd. I looked to the humming sea of people, I had a spell over them, I laughed to myself. Then out of nowhere felt something on road make me loose control of the bike and I was in the air and 'thump' on the ground. I didn't see my life flash before my eyes, or have that feeling in my gut, so I knew I was alright. I looked down at my ankle, my foot was hanging limp facing the opposite way it is meant to. Next thing I know I am in hysterical laughter, it had come to this. But it was ok.

Surreal Running

Tonight I went on a run with my Dad, but it wasn't the usual scorching run in the sun. Day light savings had finished so we left with a pink sky and ended up coming home in darkness. Today our route took us along Whangaparaoa Road, to Big Many Beach and looping back around Manly and The Circle, through the Manly Bowling club and up the steep Browns Walk leading back again to Whangaparaoa road.

Running down on the beach there was a pink sky with swirls of white clouds. The pink from the sky reflected on ocean creating a calm sea of pink. I didn't feel tired at all running, it was as though i could go on forever. The usual sun wasn't out blinding my eyes and shinning on the water. The whole scenery felt so dream like, it all felt so surreal, like I was in a trance.

Continuing to run around Manly it was getting dark and before I knew it, it was pitch black. Street lights scattered here and there and the tiny glimmers of stars were the only sources of light. It felt like I was back in India, when me and my best friend would go to the park at night time.

When I reached home and finally stoped I didn't feel that tired, it was a very bizarre run, surreal running.

The 'misunderstood' Hairstyle

Dreadlocks. Most people look at them and think 'eww', 'yuk', 'why would they do that?'. I used to be one of these people, but after looking up about the hairstyle I realise that you 'can't judge a book by its cover' and can't assume things. It turns out there is actually nothing disgusting or gross about the hairstyle, it just looks different. There are many rumors about dreadlocks and these are the truths I discovered behind them.

1. Dreadlocks are meant to be dirty, they are never washed.
This is completely wrong. Dreadlocks need to be washed because clean hair locks up faster and easier than oily and dirty hair. Dreadlocks need to be washed with residue free soaps and shampoos though because the residues, found in most cleaning products, prevent the hair from locking up.

2. You can get dreadlocks just by not brushing your hair.
This is true, but only one way to get dreadlocks and it is called the 'neglect' method. By not brushing your hair at all over several years dreadlocks will form, but not many people use this method for it takes too long. It is easier for people with African-textured hair to form dreadlocks using the 'neglect' method.

3. Only black people have nice dreads.
It is easier for black people to have nice, smooth and tight dreads because of the texture of hair, it is possible for people of all races to have nice dreads if they put some work into it. The first month is pain, as they tighten but when the dreads mature they are basically maitenence free.

4. If you no longer want dreads, you have to shave your hair off.
This is not true, although you do have to cut your hair to get rid of them. At least its not your whole hair! This is why girls should really think before deciding to have dreadlocks. It would be impossible to comb them out once you fully have dreadlocks and they are muture.

5. Mayonaise, Toothpaste, Honey, Glue, Rubber Cement, Mud, Chewing gum, Peanut butter, Shave butter, Candle wax and hair gel are great for staring dreads.
Some people will do this, but they have had no experience or prior knowledge. There are good ways that are saffe for your scalp, clean and healthy.

There are many different ways to get dreads including
- Backcombing
- Wool Sweater or Wool hat rubbing
- Neglect
- Twisting
- Dread perm
- Rub things in your hair!

So next time you see someone with dreads don't think EW, YUK. Their hair is completely clean, they just prefer that sort of hairstyle!

First game of the Season

Saturday the 5th of April was to be the first soccer game of the season. I hadn't played soccer in such a long time and was worried that I had forgotten how to kick the ball. To add onto that fear this year we were being put up into 17th grade. We were going to get thrashed. These thoughts hovered my mind for days, and when the day came I was so nervous.

The team met at the Plant Barn in Silverdale, which is what we would do last year, and find the feilds together so if one of us got lost so did everyone else. There I got given my soccer strip. Which is not even a top, its more like a dress, a giant ugly dress. How would I ever play in this? We made our way down to Western Springs in a chain, which broke off many times, being seperated by other cars. When we got down to the feilds I was practically peeing my pants. The team we were up against was already down there and practising and they looked big and they looked scary. I had the horrible feeling in my gut that I always do before games. The feeling would come and go as i worked myself up and calmed myself down when we warmed up.

The first thirty seconds after kick off was nerve racking but after that it felt like I hadn't left the feild at all. Our team was playing really well and taking main possesion of the ball. We scored two goals and our confidence was up. Then they scored a fluke and we scored another goal. When they came back on after half time we had lost some of our spark and they had the drive of wanting to win. The last fifteen minutes I was completely dead, the girl I was marking was as well, we were talking the whole time and couldn't wait till the game was finished (even though she was loosing!) They scored another goal and started going hard for at least a tie but as the whistle finally blowed the game was over! We had won!

Teeth

Humans need teeth because they grind up food to be digestible. Teeth are the very start of the digestive system, chewing and biting food. There are different types of teeth including
- Canines, teeth which rip and tear up foods such as meat
- Molars, teeth that are wide and flat to grind and mash up food

Apart from the obvious reason of eating we even use teeth to show beauty and even to make certain sounds. Not very many people naturally have perfect sparkling white, straight teeth but this is what is desired. If someone was to have a beautiful face but they opened there mouth to a full set of brown crocked teeth they wouldn't be considered as pretty. Hollywood would have a big part to do with this, in every movie every movie star has perfect teeth, but it is seen as normal. If an actor playing a normal person on a film came on with not so perfect teeth they would be critisied and the audience would think it was part of their character to have those teeth. In Countries like Canada and the U.S you will find almost everybody had braces when they were young and now have perfect whitened teeth. But not so much in other countries where appearance isn't such a big deal, for example New Zealand.

Going to the dentist is something dreaded by all children, sitting in the waiting room looking around at all the different posters of teeth, smelling the distinct smell and hearing the drills is a terrifying experience. The dentist is mostly all around feared because of the fear of pain. Today there are injections to numb the gum and all sorts of fancy gadgets but in the past the dentist was a simple place with just tweasers and cotton buds. Back then there were no crowns or anything, once a tooth fell out a wooden one would be its replacement. The appearance of teeth weren't such a big deal back then, unlike today. Even in movies of the past where they had brown rotten teeth, movie stars have perfect pearly whites. I think teeth shouldn't be such a big deal, but how can one person make the change.

When a baby is six months to one year old its primary teeth will start to come through the gums, all together there should be 20 primary teeth. Commonly from the ages of six to fourteen these teeth will start to fall out and be replaced with 32 permanent (or adult) teeth. Later come the wisdom teeth which appear at 17 to 21 years of age, these are known to cause alot of pain and many people end up taking them out.

The Pregnant Man

Watching the news the highlights showed of the first ever pregnant man. I was so amazed, how was it possible for a man to have and carry a baby. I thought 'science has come so far, would the next thing be a time machine?!'. I waited in anticipation for the miraculous story to come on, but as it did i was let down.

It turned out that a Thomas Beatie was to be giving birth to a baby soon, but the catch was he was once a she. It was only a woman who had a sex change but decided to keep his/her reproducing organs. My Mum's Dad had always said that the first man to have a baby would be rich, we still don't know if he was right because it hasn't even happened.

Different people share different opinnions on the story but personally i beleive that it is very unfair to the child. Imagine growing up and being teased by being brought into this world by your Dad. And technically your parents are actually both woman, that would be a hard enough fact to grasp as it is. The child will be scared and chances are won't have a very pleasant or normal childhood. Already the media is swarming around her abnormal family.

The parents beleive that they are just a normal family even though in fact they are far from it and i beleive that they should have thought this through carefully. They are just being selfish and should think about the baby first. The transvesite (Georgina) parliment MP commented on this and thought that it would grow up a normal child with a normal childhood but I think this is just what she/he wants to beleive. There has been alot of commotion against her already, what would become of a child who was born from its father's stomach.

Shape the Eye

Eyes are very important. They can show emotion, beauty, connection (eg conversation), and give us the ability to see. They are a very big part people, and their faces. They come in all sorts of colours, hazel, green, blue, brown but people don't tend to notice as mcuh the shape of the eye. There are many different eye shapes.

Wide-Apart eyes: eyes are quite far apart on scale to the face, this gives the face an open look and youthful look.

Close-set eyes: eyes that are spaced out closer than one eye width are considered close-set eyes and are said to look dramatic.

Evenly spaced eyes: eyes that are evenly spaced with eachother on the face, one of the most common eye shapes.

Small eyes: eyes that are in proportion to the whole face are quite small, giving the other features more attention and the impression they are bigger.

Almond eyes: eyes that have an upswept lift at the upper corner, they are considered to be in perfect proportion, and are the most desired eye shape.

Prominent eyes: eyes that are set far foward in the face and are dominant over facial features, the eyelids are said to be very or too pronounced (noticed, or big).

Hooded eyes: eyes that are set back in the face that the crease of the eyelid is not so easily seen, also making the brow bone more noticable, said to give an aluring look.

Deep-set eyes: eyes that are far back into the face, the eyelids seem quite big but the crease is not noticeable.

Oriental eyes: eyes that have very little lid and a very distinctive lift at the corner of the eye.

What shape eye do you have?

Gucci, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton!

When I watch shows like 'The Hills' which show of Paris and the elegant fashion shows I wish for their items could be my future clothes. Watching thin girls with absolutely no expression parading down long runways doesn't amuse me at all but watching what they wear is fun. I would never wear what they make at this age but when I'm older I would love to dress in those intricate wearable peices of art, thousands of dollars a peice.

Recently when I went on holiday to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur, we stayed in a hotel oposite the Petronas twin towers. At the bottom of the towers is a shopping mall with all designer shops like Gucci, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton. Going to these shops i wished that i could say that I own one of these peices, but sure enough Mum wouldn't get one for me. Looking through the racks of garments I realised that I actually don't really like most of the clothing. I just like them for the name. But this didn't stop me from wanting them, i will just have to settle for wishing them to be my future clothes.

American Idol

American Idol is a singing talent show done by 'FOX' in The States. The very successful television show seeks to find the most talented young singer in the country. It started off in America in June 2002 and hit off. The show originally was Pop Idol, in the Uk, but creator Simon Fuller brought it to America. It is hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

The show goes through three main different stages, auditions, Hollywood and preforming on the two main stages. Auditions take place in many different states throughout the whole country. Millions try out, of most which couldn't sing to save their life. People all over tune in to watch these people make a fool of themselves on national television and get critiqued by three judges, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. The nice, sweet judge is Paula, Randy is the cool fifty fifty judge and Simon is by far the hardest to please. For his mean comments the world laughs and loves him, he has a large crowd of followers, including some maniacs who sit through hours of waiting to audition and see him. It is many peoples favourite part of the show. Another stage is Hollywood, if they are lucky enough to get through auditions they are to go to Hollywood and go through different tasks there to show off their singing. During these few days the contestants can get very stressed and lash out, and all is revealed on the camera which many find quite amusing to see. People also forget their words alot and like to blame other people for what they do wrong. Then the top 24 make it to the stage of American idol and everyone preforms solos. Now the public can vote by either ringing or txting for their favourite preformer. After twelve people are eliminated the twelve contestants left sing on the big stage which is when people start singing two songs and the competition gets really intense. The judges are still there to give feedback but the country are who decides who stays and goes.

Quite often the show turns into a popularity show rather than a singing talent show. But those who have talent and are on American Idol are exposed to different agencies who might want to sign with them, so in a way almost everyone gets somehting out of the competition. For example Chris Daughtry came sixth in American Idol but is now very successful with his band. In this way it is a show full of many oppurtunites and can give alot of people their dreams.

The winner of the whole show receives a contract with SONY and always goes very far.

Knocked Up Movie Reveiw

'Knocked Up' is a movie about two completely different people getting together to have a one night stand and falling pregnant. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a responsible young woman who's career is on the fast track at E! but runs into a 23 year old bum, Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) at a bar. There they get blindly drunk and go back to her place, which is a pool house at the back of her sister's house. When Alison wakes up she realises what a mistake she has made and decides to get rid of him as quick as possible. Later at work she continuously is sick and finds out she is pregnant. She decides to keep the baby and tell Ben. Together they have to work through their differences and become happy with an adorable baby girl.

I thought that it was a really good movie and had a nice ending. When I had heard of the movie I thought that it didn't sound like a very good movie, it seemed like it wouldn't have a good story line and would leave me feeling disgusting and yuk. I continued to think this throughout the movie, whenever Ben would do drugs or mess up and Alison freaked out I could feel her pain, worries, doubts and regrets. Which makes for a good movie, making the audience feeling as though they are being taken through a journey with the characters. I had a very strong feeling that it wouldn't turn out rainbows and daisies but they turned out to be happy and i beleive they had, or will have, a happy life.

Overall I think the moral of the movie was that sometimes life is hard but we need to suck it up because it will be worth it in the end. Don't give up without a fight, or without trying.