English

I'm sitting in English right now. I shouldn't be doing this. Oh well. Like I care. I could blog all day if we didn't have an assignment to do. My friend Briana, who's doing the assignment, isn't here right now, so I have a chance to blog. She's asking a question to someone. Ciao!

uh....

we talked about journals today in sunday school. a blog counts, right? i mean, i chronicle pretty much every stupid little thing i do on it.... lightbulb! does facebook count as journaling? i mean, come on. twitter should count, too.

Book Review: Cleopatra's Daughter

This was a very exciting and captivating book. It begins in Alexandria, the capitol of Egypt, where Cleopatra (Kleopatra) is playing a game of dice (a form of play gambling) with her children, Kleopatra Selene, Alexander, and Ptolemy. When Octavian starts his siege on Egypt, Kleopatra tells her maids to tell her husband, Marc Anthony that she is dead, hopefully resulting in his trying to escape. She takes her children and hides in her unfinished mausoleum (library). They try to wait the battle out, but soon one of Kleopatra's maidservants comes running to tell her that her husband has committed suicide. Kleopatra rushes to the door of the mausoleum to see that her husband has slit his own throat. Marc Anthony gives her his last dying words, leaving a depression-riddled wife and children. Octavian, emperor of Rome, captures them, and keeps them imprisoned in their own house until he can take them back to Rome to show them off in his Triumph, which is basically a victory march. However, that night, Kleopatra commits her famous suicide of having a poisonous cobra bite her. Her 3 young children, Selene, Alexander, and Ptolemy are left orphaned, scared, and alone. On the voyage back, young Ptolemy, only 7 years old, dies of a disease similar to a bad cold. Selene and Alexander, 10-year-old twins, are forced to find their way in Rome, which is strange and unfamiliar.
This book was a very good read, but it has some "adult themes" in play. You won't find it in your YA fiction section of your library, that's for sure. It's not horrible, like Meg Cabot (if you read her books, be scared. Be very scared.), but there's some mature themes.
Rating: PG-13, for adult/mature themes, such as homosexuality (definitely not a lot), and some graphic details, mostly of blood and gore.

Might as well get it over with..../Book Review

Sigh... well, I might as well get it over with: it's my birthday. there. happy? Well, I figured I might as well do a book review while I'm on... here goes.

The Heir Trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima
These books are very interesting. They are based off the English Civil War, the War of the Roses (White Rose vs. Red Rose. Yeah). If you read these books you'll want to look into it. It's cool. Well, except for the whole brothers-killing-brothers part. Yeah..... In the book, the Weir, gifted people, have a special stone that they are born with. This determines what "magical person" you are: warrior, wizard, sorcerer, enchanter, or seer. The legend is that the Weir first obtained their stones when 5 brothers/sisters stole the stones from the dragon. Naturally, the dragon wanted the stones back. To protect the stones and themselves, the brothers/sisters swallowed them. Thus, each Weir member is born with a stone. Non-magical people are called Anaweir.
The first book, The Warrior Heir, centers around Jack, who finds out that he is Weir. His mother, Becca, is Anaweir, but his aunt, Linda, is an enchanter. Jack was supposed to be born a wizard, but he was born without a stone. Without one, he would die Jessamine Longbranch, a wizard working for the White Rose, travels from England to implant a stone. But, instead of implanting a wizard stone, she implants a warrior stone, intending to use him as a warrior for the White Roses. So, things spiral out of control, and... yeah. Read to find out what happens.
The second book, The Wizard Heir, centers around Seph (Joseph) McCauley. Seph is an orphan, but his foster mother was a sorcerer. He is an untrained wizard, and sets off rogue magic wherever he goes. He goes to a private school, the Havens, where he meets Leicester, an evil wizard working for the White Rose, who tries to get him to join the White Rose. Seph refuses, and his classmates suffer. He also meets Jason Haley, who is also a wizard and becomes his first trainer. You see some characters from the first book, and you find out who Seph's REAL parents are.
The last book, The Dragon Heir, revolves around Jason Haley, who Seph met @ school, and Madison Moss, Seph's girlfriend. Jason travels to England to spy on the Roses, and finds the mysterious Dragonheart. He brings it back, and Madison feels it's call to her. Madison is an Elicitor. Elicitors are Anaweir, but they can absorb magic used against them and store it. Madison absorbed an enormous amount of dark magic from Leicester, who was trying to kill Seph. She is constantly leaking dark magic, and she believes that the Dragonheart can get rid of it. She is, however, afraid that it's enormous power will destroy her completely. As she struggles with this, she is also struggling to make a HUGE decision whether or not to sell her grandmother's house. The Roses know that Madison can get the Dragonheart for them, so they kidnap her younger brother and sister, promising to give them back in exchange for the Dragonheart. In this last book, it's an epic battle between life and death, good and bad, and right and wrong. And, at the end, there's a FREAKING AMAZING dragon. It's cool.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed these books, and I would recommend them to you. Seriously. Go. Read them. If you have, well then, read them over. Seriously. Go. Now.

I AM FAMOUS!!!!!!!!!

Well, not technically, but check it out!!
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700029378/Letters-Learn-from-mistakes.html
Don't read the comments, though. I haven't, and I'm kind of scared to.....

Poptropica

Poptropica is this online virtual fantasy website. Kids can create their own avatar from a randomly generated name, and complete challenges. There are currently 12 islands, where kids can solve mysteries, play games, and obtain virtual items. The newest island is Mythology Island, where players go on a mission to obtain objects for the Poptropican Zeus.
Kids can decorate their avatars with the "Costumizer" feature. This enables kids to use various elements of clothing, such as hats, shirts, pants, skirts, hats, hair, etc. to change as they please. As a reward for finishing each island, players get 100 credits, plus a virtual wearable medal. You can use these credits at the Poptropica store, where you can buy costumes and fun features.
There are virtual chat rooms, where players can talk using randomly generated question/answer speech bubbles. The game doesn't make any sounds. Seriously. If you try to listen to it by turning your speakers all the way up, all you'll get is white noise. Your can make your character communicate by clicking on other avatars (non-player generated). Sometimes the character has only one thing to say, but if he/she is influential in the game, then your character will form speech bubbles with phrases. My suggestion is that you go through them top to bottom. That way, you'll know what's going on.
You move your character by clicking. You move your mouse in the direction you want to go, and a transparent blue of green motion arrow will pop up. When you click, the arrow becomes solid and your character moves. They can jump, duck, walk, run, jog, etc. Basic human movement. No, they can't do cartwheels or jumping jacks.
The basic website is free, but you can get previews of new islands if you become a member for $3 a month.
Here's my avatar that I created. I copied the clothes from a girl on the new "Mythology Island."



The very first time you log on, you create an avatar, and then you are transported to an island- any island you choose. There, you do whatever, and when you want to save your game, you click on the blue "SAVE" button in the bottom lefthand corner of the play screen. Here, you choose a name and password, and then it's saved under that name. Every time your log on after that, you press the "Save and Exit" button. It will take you to a page that says "Your Game Has Been Saved", and then you can choose to return to the game, or log off.
This virtual world is very fun and is made for kids ages 6 to 16. It's kid family, doesn't permit sharing of personal information, and is fun and easy for smaller kids, but is harder for older kids. I think it's very fun. So do my brothers, so I think that this site is family-friendly.
Ciao!