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@Hex & pangolin
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@Hex & pangolin
@Hex & pangolin
hey guys!
sooo i believe we've been paired together! what have you guys been up to recently?
submitted by Tsuki the Skywolf
(February 22, 2023 - 8:37 am)
(February 22, 2023 - 8:37 am)
hey Tsuki and Hex! I'm so glad we got paired together -- i would really like to get to know both of you better! :)
(February 23, 2023 - 12:53 am)
Hi! I'm excited to get to know y'all too.
That's cool you're on vacation. I'm just staying at home being bored :) and snowwww it's been years since I've seen snow. I can barely remember what it's like. Cold, I suppose.
I love puzzles, although crosswords aren't my favorite. I've even made a crossword and I'm thinking of submitting it to the New York Times but it probably won't get chosen, it's pretty bad.
I have an essay too... I'm in the Model UN elective at school, and we have a conference coming up, so I have to do an essay for that. It's due tomorrow :( but the conference is in New York and I've never been and I'm actually really excited even though we won't have time for any sightseeing except a Broadway play—we're seeing the Book of Mormon. :D I'm kind of terrified but also really exciteddddd :D
Your story sounds cool! And the postcard thing is interesting. Did you find anything that surprised you?
Honestly, I'm learning a language as part of my school curriculum, so motivation isn't an issue. I've tried learning a language outside of school with duolingo (I've tried Spanish and Latin) but I don't always have the time and it's not going so great... so no advice there, unfortunately.
Do y'all go to a school or are you homeschooled?
(February 23, 2023 - 1:50 pm)
Hey! :)
No snow is relatable -- there's barely any snow where I live, and the temperature is unusually warm for February. I don't think we got any snow last year, either-- if we did, it didn't stick. So I'm appreciating the snow while I'm on vacation. Probably the last time I'll see snow this year. :/
ooh, you made a crossword? That's awesome! You should definitely submit it, I think -- there's always the chance it could be picked and that'd be so cool :) what other kind of puzzles do you like? I love word puzzles -- anagrams and word ladders are fun, and I've been trying to draw out some ambigrams which is challenging but very fun (although I'm convinced my irl name is impossible) :)
Model UN?! That sounds so cool. My current school doesn't have clubs/electives like that, but I'm really excited to do that sort of stuff once I get to high school. Do you do any clubs/sports/whatnot?
Your trip to New York sounds really fun (I live there [not in Manhattan tho], so I'm biased, but it is pretty cool, even if you won't have time for sightseeing). You're going to a Broadway play? I'm sure that will be awesome. I've never seen the Book of Mormon, but I just started listening to it. It's pretty good :D I love musicals -- Hamilton, Assassins, SIX, In the Heights, Rent... Would you consider yourself a theater kid? Do you listen to a lot of musicals? Um but yeah I'm sure it'll be really fun, and good luck with your conference!
Thanks! :) The postcards are mostly generic postcard stuff..."Arrived safely--went bathing immediately" and the likes. But the post script of one from 1928 reads: "The mysterious lady comes to [redacted b/c that's a really specific location and close to where I live] this week." and I mean that just leaves so many questions -- who exactly is this "mysterious lady"? It makes me want to write a short story about it, honestly, but I already have too many writing projects right now XD
my school unfortunately doesn't offer languages (I cannot wait for high school asfgjklhfsadghbh) but it's cool yours does! :D
yeah, to answer your question, I go to a school -- it's not a bad school, but it really doesn't academically challenge me enough :/ it's got a focus on social and environmental justice tho so I guess it's good for what it is.
so what kind of music do you guys listen to?
(February 24, 2023 - 7:06 pm)
It's snowing in the foothills near-ish to where I live, and I can see it on the distant mountains and it's really cool! I can't remember ever seeing it before. WE WERE SO CLOSE TO SNOW THOUGH it even rained and if it had been a few degrees colder, maybe... but noooo we just got cold rain and wind (I mean, I love that kind of weather too) and I froze my hands off during soccer practice...
Yeah, it would be really cool, although pretty unlikely. There was a fellowship thingy to try to get more diversity into the creation of crosswords, but it ended before I got around to checking it out so I'll probably just submit the regular way and hope for the best :) My school does a thingy where every year from 8th grade onward you have to do a yearlong project of your choice—it can be basically anything! I'm creating puzzles, which is fun because I usually just solve them.
Yay puzzles! I'm really bad at anagrams, but they're still fun. I like word ladders too. My favorite kind of puzzle... hm, hard. I like some visual ones like slitherlink or masyu (both Japanese). But also word ones. IDK all kinds I suppose. Huh, I've never heard of an ambigram but I just looked it up and NOW I AM OBSESSED I'm going to try my name later...
I'm also excited for high school! There's soooo many more cool electives... I could list like 10 I want to do but I only have 2 slots freshman year... I'm especially excited for drug design, neuroscience of addiction, epidemiology, intro to shop, mechanical engineering, and there's this research one that I think is cool. Wow, that was more choices than I meant to put down... Outside of school, I mostly do club soccer, but I take voice lessons and play piano as well. Do either of you play an instrument?
I'm really excited for the trip! Okay, and terrified, but still. It's in like 2 weeks... I wouldn't call me (grammar oops) a theater kid, but I've done my school musical once and I used to be in a choir, if that counts. I like watching musicals, but I haven't seen very many. I'd like to see more.
Whoa, a ~mysterious lady~? That sounds interesting! I hope you find out more about her! And yeah, I'd like to write a(nother) story too but I don't honestly have the time or motivation :(
My school offers Mandarin, Spanish, and Japanese. Basically all my friends take Spanish, but I chose Japanese because I thought the culture and language would be the coolest. AND IN 8TH GRADE (which I'm in right now) YOU GET TO GO INTERNATIONALLY TO A COUNTRY THAT SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE so I'M GOING TO JAPAN later this year for school :DDDDD I'm really excited, especially because I haven't gone anywhere in years bc covid, but also because like JAPAN AAHH YAY :D
I feel like a loooot of people on the CB are homeschooled so that's why I was wondering. My school's pretty focused on justice as well, although not specifically enviornmental.
For music, I'm not sure what "kind" ig I listen to. It's all over the place. I like louder/upbeat music, so that I can tune the world out. I also have a playlist for when I'm trying to focus that's mostly classical and in other languages. My top artist from this year is mxmtoon, which I suppose is accurate. idk, what about y'all?
Whoa, this is looong...
(February 24, 2023 - 10:50 pm)
yay snow! it still hasn't snowed here, sadly. :/ oh, you play soccer? That sounds really fun :D I've never played soccer, but I kind of want to learn -- literally everyone at my school plays soccer. I used to play softball, I'm pretty good at badminton and I love ultimate frisbee but other than occasionally playing the latter at parks or whatever, I don't really do any sports. Well there's snowboarding, I suppose, but I only get to go a few times a year.
Ooh a yearlong project? That's really cool! What kind of puzzles do you create -- just crossword or do you do some logic puzzles, etc?
I've never heard of slitherlink or masyu -- wait, I just googled them. I think I've seen them before but didn't hear/didn't remember what they were called. Both seem really fun (challenging, but fun!) I'm definitely going to try them later :D
yess I am so excited for electives! The ones I'll take depend on the school I get into, ofc, but some of the electives I'm interested in are TV production, forensics (because yes), psychology/sociology, earth science, and there's also one about the psychology of fairy tales which sound really cool. Yeah so a lot of electives, basically XD
ooh you play piano? My sister plays piano. I don't really play any instrument...I experiment with the guitar, steel tongue drum, banjo, and piano a bit, but I've never really learned to play any of those instruments, I just pick up whatever's laying around. In 3rd grade I was in the school band (it was a really small school) and I played the xylophone (or the bells, I guess it was called). So that was basically 7 year old me lugging this huge xylophone bag back and forth to school every Wednesday, my grandma forgetting to pick me up half the time, and these decrepit mallots with warped rubber... I just went off on a tangent, didn't I. my apologies :P
i wouldn't really consider myself a theater kid in the sense that I'm into, like, actually being in plays or musicals or whatever. I would gladly join the stage crew tho -- I'd love to do sound or lighting or something like that. And I listen to a lot of musicals, like I mentioned in my previous post. What kind of role did you play in your school musical?
yes the ~mysterious lady~...the post card has an address, ofc, so I've been able to use the full name and town of the recipient to find them on the censuses from 1915 and 1925. So perhaps my creepy-stalking of historical people will bring forth some info about this mysterious lady
Ooh Japan! That sounds awesome!! I've always wanted to go to Japan -- are there any other places you've always wanted to visit?
You know, I've never really listened to mxmtoon, even though her music is really popular in here. I've heard a few of her songs, I think "wallflower" and "almost home" and maybe another one -- but I do like her music, from the little that I've heard. What are your favorite of her songs?
My music tastes are constantly changing, but here's some of my favorite artists (I'll put some of my favorite songs by then in parentheses~
Daughter ("Youth," "Winter," and "Landfill," but really all of their stuff)
Gabrielle Aplin ("Night Bus," "November," and "Take Me Away" but again all of her songs are good)
Billie Marten (okay, I've just started listening to her, but I really like "Out of the Black" and "Heaven")
Sara Bareilles ("Brave" and "Cassiopeia")
Elina ("Free" and "Paper Planes")
Ack, this really long, sorry!
(February 26, 2023 - 12:48 pm)
This is getting squished...
yayyyy I love ultamite frisbee! My brother's played frisbee on a few competitive teams but I never have—still, I used to go play at a clinic thing every so often, although that's stopped since covid. None of my friends really play, but I do sometimes anyway.
Honestly, I kept it open in case I wanted to do whatever. I've made a crossword, but I've also done some number puzzles (cryptarithms mostly) and some other word puzzles (I did a vocabulary quiz and some other random things).
yessss forensic stuff is so cool :D
lol, I tangent too (that should be a verb—it is now). In 5th grade we had to learn the recorder. Can you imagine a roomful of screeching recorder-kids? It was awful... and then we went on zoom and it was like 30 seperate roomfuls of laggy screeching recorder-kid...
The musical I did was Aladdin, and I was a shopkeeper—I was in the background for most of the scenes, but I only had a few lines (actually the opening ones of the play, after the first song).
Whoa you sound very good at "creepy-stalking of historical people"—and that's a compliment, I'm pretty sure.
Honestly, I've always wanted to travel but not anywhere specific. My parents are very protective and strict, so traveling anywhere without them and being trusted on my own/with my school feels awesome. What about you? Anywhere in particular?
Yeah, I only started listening to music a lot recently, so the CB's overall music tastes have definitely shaped mine—that's probably why I like mxmtoon. My favorite song by her, I'm not sure. I like the playlist "rising" best. The song that gets stuck in my head by her most often is "learn to love you" but idk about favorite.
Cool! I'll check out those songs.
What are your favorite movies/books? I don't watch a lot of tv (parents again), but I've watched the owl house (tv series) and really liked it, which I believe Tsuki likes (Tsuki? :D). Favorite book is an unanswerable quesiton, but I like fantasy and scifi best.
(February 26, 2023 - 7:07 pm)
Hey! Sorry for the late reply -- I didn't have a lot of time and wanted to give this my full attention :)
yess, ultimate frisbee is so fun!! I used to belong to a gymnastics organization so there was a lot of very intense ultimate frisbee playing whenever we'd travel to different gyms for competitions or whatever (mainly in parking lots which is probably not very safe :P). but yeah, since covid, I haven't been able to play that much. But you have a brother? Is he older or younger?
Ooh, cryptarithms look really cool! I've never done them but they look pretty fun. and vocabulary quizzes sound fun to make (to make -- I hate actually doing them [mainly because I hate to take a vocabulary quiz literally every week in elementary school {argh catholic school (hey look at all these nested parentheses)} so yeah they're kind of ruined for me] but it's really cool that you make them!)
haha your screechy recorder story made me laugh :) I remember having to learn the recorder in...was it 3rd grade? (and I say "learn" but there was no learning, only screeching haha)
ooh, Aladdin! that sounds awesome! The shopkeeper sounds like a fun role to play :D
Do you have a favorite Disney movie/soundtrack? I really like the Encanto and Moana soundtracks (coughcoughlinmanuelmirandacoughcough) but I'm not really sure about my favorite movie.
haha, yeah, that's probably a compliment :P I recently had to do an exhibit on a historical event for Social Studies and that required many primary sources, but it was such a struggle to find them -- so that definitely improved my research skills. What's your favorite subject? mine's probably Social Studies or ELA (mainly because I find my STEM classes boring :/)
I already said Japan, but other than that, probably somewhere in France -- Paris or, like, Burgundy, or Mont-Saint-Michel (it looks so coool). I'd also like to go to Edinburgh, Scotland. And places I've been but would like to return to -- Amsterdam, or where my relatives live in South Holland, or other places in the Netherlands I haven't been. Ireland, because the two times I've been there were for weddings (I have relatives there too -- opposite side of the family though) and it'd be great to go without having that stress :P Ireland is so pretty -- I love the Aran Islands, the Burren, all the castle ruins, and i'll stop there because this post is already way too long to be filling with all the places I like in Ireland haha
I feel you on the protective parents thing -- my parents are overprotective, but not really strict? it's weird. :/
ooh, I just started listening to "rising" -- I really like it :D
hmm, I don't really watch a lot of tv, but I've seen the Owl House (I think there's new episodes out? but I haven't seen them yet). my favorite movie is uuhhhh probably The Princess Bride.
My favorite book genres are fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery (but I don't like fantastical mysteries because I don't like when the mystery is explained by supernatural elements or whatever). My favorite genres to write is fantasy, although I do a bit of sci-fi or realistic fiction if I'm writing short stories. Do you have a favorite genre to write? My favorite books are the Aurora Cycle, the Illuminae, Six of Crows, the Truly Devious series, and a lot more but I'll stop here :)
(February 28, 2023 - 6:26 pm)
You're good! And squishhhhhh
Yeah, I have a brother—he's older. He just started college this year, actually, which is kind of an odd feeling. I don't miss him that much because life is busy but sometimes it's strange. Do you have any sibilings?
Honestly, all disney songs are surprisingly good. I haven't heard many of them, so I couldn't say in particular.
Oh yeah, primary sources are a hassle. In humanities right now, we're starting a 6 week, 6 essay project called STARPAP (Science, Tech, Architecture, Religion, Philosophy, Art, Politics) where we get a time-period and a city that's in the country of the language we're studying (Japanese, for me), and research a looooot. I'm kind of stressed but also it's really interesting! I got Kyoto in the 13-17th centuries, and there's a lot of samurai and battles and temples as far as I can tell (lol the project started today and I know nothing about my city yet). Humanities might be my favorite class. Writing's okay, but we're always doing analytical essays and that's not my favorite style. I don't like math this year, and my biology teacher alllllllways lectures, which makes it hard for me to pay attention.
Whoaaaaa I want to go to all of those places now...
Huh. My parents are overprotective and strict...
Yeah, I like fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery. And you're right—supernatural explanations are annoying. Like after all that, it was just a ghost?? I've read Six of Crows, the first Aurora Cycle (I've been meaning to read more but I never quite got around to it), and the first four Truly Devious (pretty sure there's five, idk why I haven't read the last one). They're all really good! I've never read Illumnae, but I've heard good things about it. It seems like our reading tastes align :)
As for writing, it's been a while—at least a few months—since I've written anything on my own time. I'm pretty busy but I think the main reason is I'm struggling for inspiration... but I definitely prefer fantasy short stories. Poetry is okay.
What pet peeves do you have? I hate double spaces, bad grammar/formatting (did you know that March 4th is National Grammar Day? :) I'm gonna celebrate...), the sound of things rubbing against carpet, and fake pockets. Probably more that I can't think of right now lol.
Nox says {oxzdr}—oxidizer?
(February 28, 2023 - 11:43 pm)
aah squishhh
Oh cool! I also have a sibling -- a sister, younger by two years. She's kind of annoying, but what can you do :P we get along fine though, and she likes writing too so we collaborate on writing projects some times :)
Whoa, that actually sounds like a pretty awesome project. The city you got sounds really cool! I feel like I would enjoy researching something like that, but alas we never really get to do much research on our own at school (that project we did was an exception). Yeah, I don't like analytical essays much either. I don't mind them, really, but they're really boringg. And I don't really like math or biology ("Living Environment," they call it) this year, either.
Ooh, you've read those books too? Favorite character(s) from each?? From Six of Crows, I mean I love all of them, but I gotta go with either Inej or Nina. I also love the worldbuilding :D (have you read Shadow and Bone or the other Grishaverse books?). From the Aurora Cycle, I'll say Finian or Zila -- certain aspects of them both I find relatable, and I enjoy their character development. And from Truly Devious, either Nate or Janelle -- Stevie, too, I guess, I really like all of the characters! :D
Yeah, I struggle for inspiration too sometimes. :/ Fantasy short stories are really fun to write! I've also experimented with poetry, but I prefer prose. I do enjoy writing poetry though!
Hmm, my pet peeves are basically everything you said, as well as people saying stuff like "you'll understand when you're older" or "you can't be tired--you're young!" or otherwise assuming that I don't have problems just because I'm not an adult, whispering/weird mouth noises like smoochy noises, people crowding me, people copying my answers, people not listening and making me explain things multiple times, people walking really slowly in hallways (and walking in the middle of the hallway so I can't get by), people :P
I will definitely be celebrating National Grammar Day!! I'm gonna tell my ELA teacher about it, if he doesn't already know (he's crazy about grammar, which I suppose is a quality of a good ELA teacher) :DD
Okay, new questions -- do you have any pets? What's your favorite food/type of cuisine? Do you have a favorite historical period/era?
(March 2, 2023 - 5:09 pm)
squiiish :)
Oh, hard choice! From Six of Crows maybe Inej. Yeah, the worldbuilding is awesome in those books! Aside from that duology, I've read Shadown and Bone book 1, but no others. From Shadow and Bone I like Genya, I think, but all of her characters are relatable... I like Zila too. And definitely either Nate or Janelle.
Yesss I share all your pet peeves... especially the "you'll understand someday," it's so infuriating. And definitely people. People. peopleeeeeeeee
...I totally forgot about National Grammar day lol I was telling everyone about it on thursday/friday, but I forgot about it yesterday! OH WELL HAPPY LATE NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY :)
I have a dog. She's adorableeeee—a black labradoodle. She's like 2-ish, but she's still full of puppy energy and she's really naughty. She's a pickpocket and she steals things from people's pockets. She'll kind of cosy up to them and be all cute and angelic like pet meeee and then she'll JUMP UP and GRAB THE TREAT BAGS from their pocket and RUN OFF. It's so cute but also kind of awkward... What about you? Do you have any pets?
Favorite food... uh... idk I'm not super picky. My default answer for this question is pie but idk really. I haven't had very many cuisines, although I'm working on it, but I'm not sure about that one either. What about you?
And huh historical periods... I'm not sure! I guess I like medieval/early medieval best, but idk. wbu
More questions: favorite color? Favorite day of the week? Favorite plant?
(March 5, 2023 - 2:30 pm)
squisshh we should probably make a new comment soon before this becomes too squished :P
I've read all of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and I really like Genya too! I also like Zoya. I really want to watch the Shadow and Bone TV show, but alas, no one else in my family has read the books so I can't watch the show.
What book (or, if you're like me, books) are you currently reading?
Yes, people can be quite annoying. I love the CB because people are just really...wholesome?, I guess is the word for it? I mean, there's sometimes disagreements, but it's overall resolved in a respectful manner and people don't put each other down. The people I'm surrounded by in school are the complete opposite of that -- they make offensive jokes (mainly sexist/homophobic jokes) which are NOT funny but they seem to think are, and just generally put people down. :/
Yes -- Happy late National Grammar Day! :DD
Aw, your dog sounds so cute and nAuGhTy! I also have pets -- two cats. They're siblings, and we've had them for about...2 years, I think? Since the pandemic, anyway. They're both incredibly evil and favor their treats above all else. They're cute though :)
Hmm, my favorite food...I like gyozas (vegetable or shrimp are probably my favorite types), but I don't know if they're my favorite. I agree with you, pie is really good :D my great-grandma also makes this dutch food bitterballen for us when we visit her around holidays which I love.
Yeah, I like medieval periods but I don't really know that much about them, besides what's shown in the media. I'm not sure if I have a *favorite* period, but I know a lot about the 1800s (especially the late 1800s).
Favorite color...hmm, my go-to answer for this is pigeon gray (which is like bluish gray), but I really like all shades of blue and green, as well as sepia tones. What about you?
My favorite day is either Saturday (because it's the weekend but I still have a day to go 'till school) or Thursday (because it's almost the weekend but my classmates aren't hyper like they typically are on Fridays). What about you?
Ooh, favorite plant, that's a good question. I really love all types of trees, especially weeping willows, silver birches, American elms (especially in fall!), and ginkgos. Mangrove trees are also really cool, although I've never seen any in person. My favorite flowers are probably hyacinths and crocuses because I associate them very strongly with spring. I also like cattails, honeysuckles, ferns, and moss. Lichen technically is a fungus, not a plant, but I'll include it here anyway because it's really pretty, and Pixie Cup Lichen are the most beautiful & precious thing ever (I have pictures of some I found! I'll attatch the pictures in a seperate comment if you'd like to see :D). Uhh that was kind of a lot of plants, so I'll stop here -- do you have a favorite plant?
More questions: I know you write poetry, but do you read a lot of it? If so, favorite poems/poets? Do you have any favorite words? Do you like to draw (or make some other type of art)?
(March 6, 2023 - 5:34 pm)
Yeah we should probably start a new one but I kind of want to see how small it'll get :)
I'm currently reading Aurora's End (you got me re-interested in the series) and next on my list is some Agatha Christie (Sparkling Cyanide, Sad Cypress) and some Terry Pratchett (Equal Rites). What about you?
I know what you mean. Everyone on the CB is so respectful and open to other people's opinions. And we have a lot in common, too.
Awwww cats—evil and cute sounds awesome :) I've always wanted a cat. They seem so dignified but kind of cuddly? And way less work than a dog.
Ooh I like gyozas too. I've never had bitterballen but I looked it up and it sounds delicious.
idk about my favorite color. I like navy blue, dark green, and dark gray. They're all kind of soothing.
That makes sense. I like Tuesday and Thursday classes at school better, but I have soccer on Monday and Wednesday. So I'm not sure, although I'd probably say Tuesday because Thursday is so far into the week that I'm exhausted.
Yes I like trees too—although not cypresses for some reason, they look so scraggly and sad. But I like willows and birches and gingkos and whatever else you mentioned :) And yeahhh cattails and ferns and lichen and everything else. You have good taste in plants, my friend (never thought I'd say that). I'd love to see your lichen photos! My favorite plant... idk. I like maples, particularly Japanese maples. I also like gingkos, aspens, and jacarandas. For favorite flower, I'd say plumerias (the colored gradients are so pretty, especially when it's not just white and yellow). I also like fernsssssss (yayy ferns :) (I never like ending a parentheses with a smiley face (like thiss :) (except not that because I added this set of parentheses (and another, are you also getting confused? (and now we'll end with this one—o shoot I think I lost track I'll just add a few extra on this side just in case :)))))))))), it looks weird...)) and lichen.
I don't read a lot of it, but I like Maya Angelou and Amanda Gorman out of the minimal amount I have actually read. What about you?
Favorite words is such a hard question! Right now I like cynanthropy (AND I FINALLY GOT TO USE IT IN A SENTENCE A FEW WEEKS AGO :D), interpunction, ataraxy, pyx (so swooshy and pretty), zuz (so fun in bananagrams), and absquatulate. But it's really hard! What about you?
I mean, I like drawing, but I rarely do it. I'm pretty bad tbh. And I usually stick to quick pencil sketches and stuff, nothing complicated. I like origami, I do some of that. And sometimes I crochet (but NOT knitting). What about you?
I'M GOING TO NEW YORK TOMORROW FOR A MODEL UN CONFERENCE AND I'M REALLY EXCITED I'VE NEVER BEEN TO NEW YORK :DDDDD You live there, right? I can't quite remember lol. Okay tbh New York seems like waaaaaay too many people in one crowed space, but it'll still be really interesting & fun, I hope :D
Questions: what song describes how you feel rn? If you could only eat one certain food for the rest of your life, what would it be? What age do you want to be most? Favorite punctuation?
(March 8, 2023 - 1:42 pm)
aah I'm here! I technically got back Sunday night but I couldn't post until today.
this is getting very squished, but you're absolutely right, I've always wondered how squished CB replies could get. So, let's continue in the name of sCiEnCe!
ok, so I promised I'd explain the cardboard sled race, so I'll do that first. So my dad's friend and his two kids (who are about the same age as my sister and I) live upstate from us, and a ski mountain near their house hosts an annual cardboard sled race in march. Technically, it's a cardboard sled derby but whatever. People build sleds using nothing but cardboard, tape, glue, and paint, and then hurl themselves down the mountain inside their sleds. There's prizes awarded for fastest time, best crash, and best in show. My dad, my sister, and I have competed twice and won first place best in show both times. Last year we had a viking ship and dressed up as vikings with cardboard helmets and everything (I don't know how we fit it all in our car for the six hour drive upstate XD), and this year we were slightly less extravagant: our sled was a log and we were lumberjacks with plaid shirts, cardboard axes, and a cardboard chainsaw. My dad's friend and his kids places second best in show...we're not invited back next year /j
Ooh, Aurora's End! :D Glad I could get you reinterested in that series. Oh, I've always wanted to read Agatha Christie but never got around to it for some reason. And Equal Rights sounds interesting. :D Right now, I'm reading Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (aaalmost finished) and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (barely started) -- I'm trying to read all the gReAt cLaSsIcAL LiTeRaTuRe before high school.
yeah, I love cats and they are certainly a lot less work than a dog, although I've always wanted a dog. It's just not practical because I live in a city, alas. A lot of my relatives have dogs though so I do get to interact with dogs a lot :) do you have any relatives/neighbors with pets?
ooh yes, aspens and jacarandas are so pretty :D I'll post the pixie cup lichen photos in a seperate comment so they don't get cut off. :)
I like Amanda Gorman and Maya Angelou too! I haven't read a lot of their poetry, but we occasionally read their work for school, and I really like what I have read. (PLUS there are Hamilton references in The Hill We Climb [which is an absolutely amazing poem with many iconic lines btw]) I read a lot of older poetry -- my favorite poet is probably Edna St Vincent Millay. I especially like here "Renascence," "Interim," "Spring," "City Trees," "Elegy Before Death," "Song of a Second April," and "Recuerdo," but really all of her poems, I have yet to dislike a poem of hers.
Ooh, I like all the words you mentioned! Hmm, it's hard for me to choose a favorite word. I feel like petrichor is a kind of generic favorite word at this point, but it's really pretty, both the sound, spelling, and meaning! I have a whole notebook full of words I like, so I'll just flip through and name a few: opalescent, austere, solivagant, and quintessence.
Crochet and origami are really cool! I draw a good amount, mainly cartoony figures (I draw my OCs and AEs a lotttt) :)
Yep, I live in New York -- there are indeed a lot of people, it is certainly quite crowded, and I find it interesting and fun (there's a lot of museums, and theaters, and FOOD [of all the foods in nyc, my favorite is the warm honey roasted almonds you can get from pushcarts in the wintertime and I'm not sure what that says about me lol]. SO HOW DID YOUR CONFERENCE GO? that's so exciting and I'm sure you did great!
The song that describes how I feel right now...uhhh, I'll go with "Why Am I Like This?" by Orla Gartland because I, too, am replaying all the awkward conversations and mistakes I made today in my head *cries* /hj What about you?
If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, (and this might be cheating but) I'd choose salad, because you there's chicken salad, there's macaroni salad, there's potato salad and pasta salad and fruit salad and salad salad -- you can basically cut up whatever you want and throw it in a bowl or on a plate and call it salad. What about you?
The age I'd want to be the most would be...er, just older than I am now. I feel like I'm frequently underestimated (there's this one teacher who aLWAYS assumes that I'm wrong even when I'm correcting her mistakes and it's asdfghjkk so frustrating), and also to circle back to the pet peeve I mentioned before, people are always telling me I'll understand when I'm older, and that I don't have as many problems just because I'm younger. What about you?
And favorite punctuation mark is the Oxford comma because it is important and necessary and I shall die on this hill. Do you have a favorite punctuation?
Alright this is really long (sorry Admins and Hex) so here's new questions: favorite landform/enviroment/biome/whatever its called? favorite beverage? dream job?
(March 14, 2023 - 5:16 pm)
iN tHe nAmE oF sCiEnCe!
whoa! the cardboard sled race sounds really fun :) congrats on your win(s)! your use of the word hurl was sliiiightly worrying... in one of my classes, we're building wooden derby racers and we're going to race them down a hill at our school. my group's making a goldfish car—if you look up images, it's beautiful. we're going to have matching goldfish hats and even bribe people to vote our car as best decorated with goldfish :)
nice. I don't have the patience for the Great Classics™ lol, but it's cool you're reading them. I finished Sparkling Cyanide and Aurora's End (haven't started the other one oops) and I just started The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. it's really good so far! the first sentence got me hooked: "Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine." idk if it's good yet, but I have faith.
there's a few people in my neighborhood with pets—although I mostly know of the dogs, because we meet at the dog park sometimes.
ooh, I didn't know 'solivagant'—it's so prettyyyy. I learned a new word yesterday. 'pleonasm.' it's when you describe something with more words than necessary—like "see with my eyes" or "I myself" or something. I also hate words like that—like 'irregardless,' which is the same as 'regardless,' or 'ravel,' which is the same as 'unravel.' it really annoys me...
my conference went pretty well! me and my partner did okay, I think—nothing outstanding, we didn't get an award, etc, but I think we did pretty well. I was the youngest in committee... my school got an award, though, which was really exciting! we got the best research award :D
what song I'm feeling rn... uh... maybe Numb by Linken Park? idk
I'd choose something similar. burritos. you can stick basically anything an a tortilla and call it a burrito... salad's interesting, I never would have thought of it!
also same kind of—high school/college seem like they're full of opportunities, and I'm sure they'll totally suck at times but also I'm tired of being not-allowed to do things... and that teacher sounds really annoying :/
I SHALL DIE ON THE HILL WITH YOU (if that's not intruding, ofc :)) I like using em dashes the most—so satisfying lol—but interrobangs are also pretty good, right‽ I also just learned that 'interpunction' is a synonym for punctuation, which I like.
favorite landform... uh. I definitely know lots about landforms. absolutely. idk, maybe mountains? snowwwww. I like cold/rainy/windy weather best. what about you? favorite landform/biome/whatever? favorite weather? my favorite beverage—uhh maybe the mango smoothie thingy my mom makes sometimes. I'm not crazy about tea or coffee. you? dream job... IDKKKK I always thought it'd be cool to do something with forensics or infectious diseases or become an astronaut or some kind of scientific fieldwork or be a writer or olympic athlete or maybe even a teacher or something with science like chemistry maybe—so as you can see I have no idea what I want to do :) what about you?
SORRY THIS IS SO LATEEEEEEEEEEE I'm really busyyyyy but that's no excuse
bonus questions: do you have any sibilings? what's a word you can never spell? pet peeves?
(March 22, 2023 - 5:35 pm)
aaaah this reply is so late!! life has been really busy for me as well -- we got our high school results back & I got into two high schools so now I'm doing sO mUcH rEsEaRcH to decide which one I want to go to -- do I want to learn Spanish or French, do I want to go to a big school or small school, do I want to try fencing or softball? PLUS I have an open house for one of them tomorrow so my mom's making me think of all the questions I want to ask when we get there. argh, it's really stressful, but I'm still trying to make time for the CB :)
Whoa, your wooden derby racer sounds so cool! And the goldfish car...I have no words. Being awarded "best decorated with goldfish" would be an honor. XD
The Rook sounds really interesting -- excellent first sentence!
Ooh, I like 'pleonasm' too! The number of times I've heard "fellow colleagues"... Yeah, I definitely share that annoyance.
Oh, congrats on your conference! I've always found research really annoying, so it's awesome that your school got the best research award! That whole conference sounds really exciting -- I probably would've been too nervous about public speaking but it still sounds really awesome!!
I've never thought about burritos for an answer to that question -- that's genius :D
YES OXFORD COMMAS-- yess I love em dashes! My computer doesn't automatically correct -- to an em dash, so alas I cannot use them in CB posts :') Ooh interrobangs are fun too! And I will definitely be using 'interpunction' now to sound fancy~
I completely agree -- cold/rainy/windy weather is superior. I have zero heat tolerance, so I HATE the warm months. Hmm, my favorite landform/biome/whatever would probably be a forest, which sounds kind of basic, but I really do love forests -- especially in upstate NY on my aunt & uncle's property...it's so beautiful <3
Favorite beverage…probably earl gray tea, but I really like any kind of tea (I fully blame my grandmother for my love of tea -- she’s an Irish immigrant and SERIOUS tea drinker haha) I’ve also experimented with making my own bubble tea! Homemade tapioca pearls are HAAAARD. They looked a little strange but tasted good…
Yeah, I don’t really know about my dream job either. Something with forensics would be cool, but so would being a writer, a director (for plays/musicals or movies), or some sort of scientist who works with animals or nature…yeah, I have no idea either :P
Yep, I have a younger (11 year old) sister! She drives me crazy :P You have a brother, correct?
I can never spell ‘onomatopoeia’ -- I had to copy + paste that. One time on April Fool’s Day, my teacher gave us a fake spelling test that included that word, and I panicked until I realized it was a prank. Speaking of April Fool’s Day, do you have any pranks planned?
Questions: what fictional place would you want to travel to? what’s your favorite animal? favorite holiday?
(March 30, 2023 - 5:04 pm)