mardi 27 avril 2010

It hasn't hit me yet





I'm so excited about graduating that it hasn't hit me yet that all my friends are going to be going their seperate ways. Everyone is leaving either for montreal or quebec and I am going to be left alone in Oshawa. I'm a little bit upset that none of my friends are staying home for school because I am going to become very lonely. We're all going to make new friends and who knows if we will stay in touch with each other. I'm a little nervous that I have to meet new people but I will get over it. I think graduation and prom is when I'm really going to realise that we're all leaving and starting our own lives. Everyone says that they will keep in touch but a lot of the times it never happens. I really mean it when I say I want to keep in touch with most of my good friends. I just hope that they feel the same way.



Two more months

I am getting really excited and anxious for high school to be finaly be finished. Six years at Garnier is long enough for me. All my stress is completely gone. I'm not too stressed for exams ( the only exams I will have will be french and english ) which is a little bit hard to study for. I already accepted my program for college. I'm actually really excited for next year and I am not scared at all. Everything fell in to place perfectly and I can't complain. I have money saved up for next year too. I'm done stressing about school and now all I have to look forward to is prom, wasaga, my birthday and college.

mardi 20 avril 2010

That Extra Half an Inch

I spent numerous hours searching for a book at chapter, but I finally ended up finding a book to do my project on. At first, I wanted to get a biography about someone interesting. I couldn't find anyone I wanted to read about. I decided to go in to the fashion section of the store and I found a non fictional book written by Victoria Beckham called that Extra Half an Inch. The book is pretty much all about fashion, what to wear and what not to wear. What types of outfits to put together, shoes, accessories, makeup and hair. I started reading it and it's pretty interesting. The only thing I don't like about it so far is that most of the stuff she's talking about I can't afford anyways. I wish the book was more about her life ( back in the spice girls days or when she met David Beckham ). I can't complain I guess.

Here is what the back of the book says:

'I've always been a girls' girl. And I know from experience that making the very best of yourself is something any woman can do. I was never the six-foot-tall pin-up ...I've always been the girl-next-door who got lucky. I've come a long way in the last ten years, but this book isn't my attempt to tell you what or what not to do. It's just to share some of what I've learned.' Whether you've got GBP20 to spend in Top Shop or GBP2,000 to spend at Gucci, looking good isn't about money, it's about style, and style never goes out of fashion. "That Extra Half an Inch" is a revealing and practical book on fashion, beauty and style. Victoria shares her secrets on dressing for special occasions, everyday wear, accessorizing, holiday tips and making the most of your wardrobe.

jeudi 15 avril 2010

Chapter by Chapter

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Chapter by chapter

Note: The chapters in this book are all in pair numbers

Chapters 2, 3 & 7: The story begins when the narrator, Christopher Boone, finds Wellington, Mrs. Shears’ dead dog in the front lawn. He realizes that the dog had been impaled with a large garden fork pinning him to the ground. The narrator decides to pick up the bloody dog and pet him. Mrs. Shears comes running out of her house cursing and accuses Christopher of Wellingtons death. In chapter 7, Christopher states that this is a mystery story. Siobhan is Christopher’s aid teacher and helps him threw all his problems and he explains to her that he wants to write a mystery story.


Chapters 11, 13 & 17: The officer arrived and grabbed Christopher’s arm (Christopher can’t stand being touched) and without thinking he hits the officer. The officer asks him if he meant to hit him, Christopher states yes because he doesn’t know how to explain himself clearly. The officer arrests him for assaulting a police officer.

Chapters19, 23 & 29: In chapter 19, Christopher decides to write his chapters of his story all in prime numbers. Christopher is put in a cell and the officer allows him to call his father. He wonders how he would escape if he was in a real mystery novel. Christopher describes how people are confusing because they use metaphors and Siobhan gives him examples of how people’s behaviours can have meanings.

Chapters 31, 37 & 41: Christopher can tell his father has arrived at the police station because he hears him yelling and cursing. Father holds up his hands, fingers spread a part because Christopher doesn’t like to be touched or hugged. They are both taken to a room to discuss the incident with the police officer and weather or not he killed Wellington. Christopher is given a caution. His father asks Christopher to stay out of trouble and to mind other people’s business. Christopher insists that he finds out who killed Welling but father gets extremely angry.

Chapters 43, 47 & 53: Christopher sees four red cars in a row, which means that he is going to have a good day. He explains that when he sees three red cars in a row that it’s going to be a quite good day, five red cars in a row is a super good day and four yellow cars in a row is a black day. Christopher’s mother dies two weeks later and his father never allowed him to go visit her in the hospital before her death. His father says that she died of a heart attack. Mrs. Shears comes over to cook for them and tells his father “we’re going to get threw this”.

Chapters 59, 61 & 67: Christopher goes behind his fathers back to try and find out who killed Wellington. That night, Christopher knocks on Mrs. Shears’ door and tells her that he is going to find out who killed her dog. Christopher asks her if she knows but she slams the door on his face. He then decides to do some detective work. He decides to investigate the lawn and looks threw the window of Mrs. Shears’ shed and sees a fork that looked like the one that was in Wellington. Mrs. Shears’ comes running out of the house threatening him that she was going to call the police. Christopher decides to do some more detective work even though he is afraid of strangers. He rings everyone’s doorbell on the block to find out more about Wellington’s death. On his way home, he concludes that the person that killed Wellington must have been someone that doesn’t like Mrs. Shears, such as Mr. Shears. He decides to find out more information about Mr. Shears.

Chapters 71, 73 & 79: Christopher gets called names such as “special needs” and “stupid” and he wants to prove them wrong by taking his A level math and getting an A grade. Father approaches Christopher and says that he received a phone call from Mrs. Shears and reminds Christopher to keep his nose out of other peoples business. Christopher tells him that Mr. Shears is his prime suspect but father only gets angrier. Father tells Christopher not to mention Mr. Shears’ or Mrs. Shears name in his house.

Chapters 83, 89 & 97: The next day Christopher tells Siobhan that his dad wouldn’t let him do anymore detecting and that he could no longer continue his book he was writing. Siobhan says that he should be proud of his book. He tells Siobhan that his father and Mr. and Mrs. Shears are no longer friends and she doesn’t know what to tell him. The next two days Christopher witnesses three yellow cars in a row, which meant that it was going to be a black day. The third day he decided to keep his eyes shut the whole way to school because he is allowed to do that after two black days in a row. Five days later he sees five red cars in a row, which meant that it was going to be a super good day. He run’s in to one of his neighbours, Mrs. Alexander and he thinks he could find out more stuff about Wellington or Mr. Shears without directly asking her so that his father wouldn’t be mad. He decides to risk getting in to trouble by doing detective work because today was a super good day. Mrs. Alexander tells him that Mr. Shears was sleeping with his mother and that is why father hates me. She makes him promise not to tell his father.

Chapters 101, 103 & 107: Mr. Jeavons, Christopher’s math teacher, explains why Christopher likes math so much. Siobhan tells Christopher that his story should be more descriptive. Christopher talks about how much he likes Sherlock Holmes and how he wants to be a detective like him.

Chapters 109, 113 & 127: Siobhan asks Christopher if he’s upset about what Mrs. Alexander told him. He says no because mother is dead and Mr. Shears is no longer around anymore. Christopher comes home from school and places his book in the kitchen. His father comes home, finds the book and asks Christopher about his conversation with Mrs. Alexander (which is stated in his story). His father, frustrated because he put his nose in to other peoples business, grabs Christopher’s shoulder and without thinking Christopher hits him. He blanks and after he hears father open the trash can and close it again.

Chapters 137, 139 & 149: Christopher’s father apologizes to him and brings him to the zoo. When he returns from school the next day he retrieves the key to the shed where he heard his dad throw away his book. He looks in the trash can and doesn’t find it. He decides to search everywhere in the house to find his book. He finds his book in a shit box under his dad’s bed, along with a bunch of letters from his mom. He takes one of the letters and is super confused because his mother is supposed to be dead.

Chapters 151, 157 & 163: Christopher wants to take more letters from his mom from under his dad’s bed but he doesn’t get the chance to for six days.

Chapters 167, 173 & 179: Christopher finally takes more letters from under his dad’s bed. He throws up all over himself when he reads them. His dad comes in and sees that Christopher had discovered the lies about his mother. His father feels extremely guilty and wants to regain Christopher’s trust and tells him that he is the one that killed Wellington. Christopher is terrified of his father, sneaks out of the house and hides behind his shed in the backyard. In the morning, his father is looking everywhere for him and once he leaves, he comes out of his hiding spot.

Chapters 181, 191 & 193: Christopher takes his dads wallet that he left on the kitchen counter and decides to go find his mother in England. He eventually leaves his house to go find the train station. Christopher is scared because there are too many people around and decides to sit down at a random cafe. A police officer asks if he’s OK and tells him where he can buy his train ticket.

Chapters 197, 199, 211: He finally gets on the train and sits very still. He hears someone calling his name and it was the same police officer that helped him get his ticket. The officer explains to him that his father is at the station and Christopher assumes that he had been arrested for killing Wellington. Then the police officer tells him to sit with him so that they can get off at the next stop. Christopher asks if he can go to the washroom and hides in a luggage shelf where the police can’t find him.

Chapters 223, 227 & 229: Christopher is able to get off the train in England without anyone seeing him. He gets directions and eventually finds his mothers house. His mother wasn’t home when he got there and he decides to hide in the garden. His mother is in huge shock when she sees Christopher and he tells her how his father told him that she was dead. Mr. Shears gets mad that Christopher is there and wants him to go back to his house with his father. Christopher doesn’t want to see his father anymore and is terrified of him.

Chapter 223: His mother tells Christopher he can stay for as long as he wants. Mr. Shears is extremely mad. His mother takes Mr. Shears’ car and drives her and Christopher back to his father’s house. His mother ends things with Mr. Shear and his father slowly starts regaining Christopher’s trust and by buying him a new puppy.

My Book Report

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The behaviours and demands of adults are mysterious and confusing to most children. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a funny, gripping and touching story that is narrated by a fifteen year old autism child. Mark Haddon, who has worked with autistic children, has created a unique narrator to tell this story. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a fictional book that allows people to understand an autistic child’s understandings and misunderstandings of how the world works.
Christopher Boone, the narrator and the main character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time, is a fifteen year old autistic child that has been attending special school for most of his life, lives with his father and is a wiz at mathematics. Christopher calms himself when he gets nervous or scared by doing math problems in his head or by counting prime numbers. At the beginning of the book, Christopher is extremely scared of strangers and doesn’t like taking risks. Near the end of the book, Christopher escapes from his comfort zone to reveal the mystery of who killed Wellington. Christopher does the right thing when he decides to do detective work to discover who murdered his neighbour’s dog because he not only finds out who the murderer is, he also finds out a family secret that will change his life. I can identify myself with the character because I like taking risks to find out more information on things, like Christopher does in this novel. Siobhan, Christopher’s counsellor, encourages him through out the book and helps him through all of his problems. She teaches him about life and helps Christopher feel better when he’s down. She explains to him different types of behaviours that adults have and how to recognize people’s emotions by just looking at them. Christopher’s father is a heating engineer and during the beginning of the story, he has been living with Christopher as a single parent. He is usually very patient and understanding with Christopher, but he gradually becomes uncomfortable with his son’s investigation. Christopher becomes extremely scared of his father when he discovers that he killed Wellington and that he lied about his mother’s death.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is set in Swindon (United Kingdom) where he lives with his father, Ed Boone. The story takes place at Christopher’s house where he finds his neighbour’s dead dog in the middle of the lawn with a garden fork impaled in him. The setting makes the story exciting because right from the beginning, there is action that happens. The setting of the book is modern and helps easily put the reader in to the narrator’s shoes. It is harder to create a vision in the reader’s head when the story is older unless it has lots of description.
In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the author is trying to say that the more you take risks and discover new things, the more you will discover things that you weren’t expecting and that are important. The theme of this story is determination. Christopher does not stop searching and playing the role of a detective until he discovers the mystery. Even when his father tells him to mind his own business, Christopher doesn’t stop. What I learned from this story is to follow your dreams and to not let anyone tell you not to do something you want to do. You will reach your goals and discover new things if you follow your heart and never let go. An example of a problem in the book was when Christopher accidentally hit the police officer. This problem was solved when he told the police officer that he didn’t mean to hit him and that he was sorry. The police officer gave him a caution.
Threw out the story, Christopher had to by pass several obstacles to discover the mystery of who killed Wellington. The first event that happened in the story was when Christopher found the dead dog, picked it up in his arms and got accused for its death. When the police arrived, they grabbed Christopher’s arm and, without thinking, he hits the police officer and has to go to the police station until his father bails him out. The second obstacle in the story would have to be when his dad tells him to mind his own business when Christopher try’s to discover who killed the dog. He went to several peoples houses and took risks to find out more information on the suspect and one of the neighbours threatened that they were going to call the police on him. The third event in the novel is when his dad takes the book that Christopher wrote. Christopher not only finds where the book is hidden but he discovers that his mother is not really dead ( his dad told him that she died of a heart attack but his mother actually cheated on him and he didn’t want her in his or his son’s life anymore). The fourth event is when his father feels bad that he lied to him and to regain his trust, he tells Christopher that he’s the one that killed Wellington. Christopher gets scared and wants to go find his mother in England by taking the train. The fifth event happens when he gets on the train and a police officer finds him and Christopher hides in a small luggage compartment and is able to escape in England without anyone seeing him. The sixth and last event of the story takes place when he arrives to his mother’s house. His mother tells him that he can stay for as long as he wants but his Mr. Shears (his mothers boyfriend) wants him to go back home with his father. Mr. Shears and his mother get in to a big argument and him and his mother take Mr. Shears’ car and drive back to his father’s house. At the end of the novel, Christopher’s father buys Christopher a new puppy so that he can regain his trust once again.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was a delightful story and it is very different from most novels. It has a different perspective and it allows people to understand the point of view of an autistic child. I couldn’t stop reading the book because it was highly addicting. It was very funny because they had little pictures from time to time to show what Christopher was thinking through out the story. I like the way Mark Haddon wrote his story and put himself in the shoes of an autistic child. The overall story was good but it could have been better. Haddon should have put more events to make the story more suspenseful and exciting. He didn’t describe a lot of things in depth; therefore it was hard to put an image in my head. The story was extremely clear and easy to read. It was easy to believe and it was very realistic. It makes me have more pity for people that have disabilities, such as autism. The story was not very predictable because I wasn’t expecting him to discover an extremely important family secret. This added a very good twist to the novel and I was extremely intriguing. This story was not only fictional, but it’s also based on a reality. The ending could have been better but overall it was a happy ending. Mark Haddon could have put a more interesting event instead that made it exciting to keep reading. I definitely recommended this book because it’s highly addictive and different from any other book.

My Mystery Story

Life In Prison
By Jessica Parrott

It’s been almost ten years and I know deep down that I shouldn’t be here. Everyday, I wake up surrounded by enclosed steel walls and a solid door that locks from the outside. After the 5:00am count, I stumble out bed in to the cold darkness of the cell, three steps to the toilet. I try to be as quiet as possible so that I don’t wake up my cellmates. I’ve got used to my days being repetitive, I usually spend them either sitting in a small corner next to my bed or writing in my journal and wondering where my family could be. When I was about one or two years old, I got departed from my country because of a war and separated from my family. I have no vivid memory of my parents and I’m not even sure if I have any siblings. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if they were around.
I’ve been put in this cage for a crime that I have never committed nor witnessed. Numerous people described me as the person who committed a vicious murder ten years ago; therefore investigators accused me of first degree murder for stabbing a young man in a parking lot. They told me that they have possession of a surveillance tape from a local drug store near by that captures images of my face. This is highly impossible because I know for a fact that I never committed that murder.
One late night in December, I was awakened by the sound of my cell door opening. As I opened my eyes quickly, I saw two large police officers with black masks covering their faces standing at the foot of my bed. I knew they were officers because the front of their jackets had a cop badges and they said “police officer” on them. Before I could even think, they grabbed me and threw me to the floor. Each taking their turn, they punched me over and over again until I could feel warm blood pouring down my face. When they were finished, they rolled me over on my side and started tying my wrists together with a rope. They tied the rope so tight that it started cutting my skin. I had never felt so weak in my life; I thought I was about to die.
They took me out of my cell and threw me in a large old rusty black van with no windows. One of officers got in to the drivers seat and the other one was riding in the back with me. I think I fainted at this point because I can’t quite remember the entire ride. When we arrived, I got woken up by a painful slap in the face. They viciously grabbed me and brought me downstairs under a small building that almost looked as if it could have been abandoned. Tears starting shedding down my face uncontrollably as fear filled my body. The place that they brought me too was extremely dark and chilly. They threw me in an old wooden chair and starting lighting a few candles to brighten up the room. Then they started questioning me.
“So, my friend… how did you do it?” one of the officers said while lighting up his cigarette.
“I don’t know what you are talking about” I replied nervously.
“You bloody bastard! You damn right know what I am talking about! Now tell me how you did it before we kick your ass once more”
I didn’t know what to do or say at this point. I decided it would be best to not say anything at all.
One of the officers stood up in front of me and spit in my face. Then he said “So you’re telling me that you didn’t escape your cell and murder another poor victim? Because we have a video of you knifing a cashier and robbing a convenience store you bastard”
Then I said “How is that even possible if I have been locked up in a prison cell for over ten years?”
One of the officers walked towards the other end of the cold room and then he vanished in to the darkness. A few minutes later, he came with an old beat up television and a VCR that looked like it hadn’t been used for a long time because it had layers of dust. He plugged the television in to the wall, put in a tape and pressed play. The tape replayed the robbery and the murder at the convenience store. When I looked at it closely, the murderer in this video looked exactly like me. I thought to myself, how can this even be possible?
Then I spoke up and said “That’s not me. No, no, no … it’s impossible, I wasn’t there.” The officer laughed and said “You damn right were. You will regret your decision if you don’t tell me how you did it”.
“I didn’t do it” I told him
“Alright then” one of the officers said laughing. Then they stood up and grabbed me, my arms still tied up by the rope. They threw me in to the rusty old van and drove me back to the jail. When we arrived, they brought me down underground, where I had never been before. Then they told me that I was being placed in solitary confinement because I am too harmful to society. They said that were going to go inspect my old prison cell from top to bottom to figure out how I committed the crime.
A few days had passed in solitary confinement. My cell is one of eight in a long hallway. From inside, I can’t see anyone or any cells. This is where I eat, sleep and exist for most of the day and I get the privileged of going out in to a small concrete yard alone for an hour a day. The only noise I hear during the day is the sound of a toilets flushing, keys retelling and inmates shouting to each other from cell to cell.
On the seventh day in solitary confinement, I woke up to the sound of two officers talking to each other. I try to make the less noise as possible so that I can hear their entire conversation.
I heard one of the officers say “It’s impossible, we checked high and low and there is no way he could have possibly escaped his cell”
Then the other officer replied “We’re going to have to reopen this case and do a little more investigation because this crime doesn’t make any sense at all”.
On the 15th day in solitary confinement, two officers, without masks, came down to my cell to talk to me. They told me that they investigated the convenience store and found finger prints that don’t match up to mine. I didn’t say anything at this point. He told me that he was going to do a little more investigation and then he would release me if everything went well. Before he left, he asked me if I had any siblings that I knew about. I told that I have no vivid memory my parents because I got separated from them when I was about one or two and I don’t even know if I have any siblings or not. Then the officer left without saying anything.
Two weeks had gone by and I was starting to lose hope. On the 35th day in solitary confinement, a man that I had never seen before came down to talk to me.
“Hey.” He said “I wanted to come down here personally to apologize. You probably don’t know who I am.” He said. Then he paused for a second and took a deep breath “I am the president of this jail, and I know that your life has been extremely unfair and that you never deserved to be here in the first place. After several DNA tests and investigations, it turns out that you have an identical brother that looks exactly like you.” And this is when I lost my mind. I have never been so mad before. Then he said “We should have done more tests at the beginning….”
And at this point, I had way too much adrenaline built up inside of me and, before I knew it, the conversation was over then I had to spend another ten years in solitary confinement.

Multimedia and Deisgn Program

A few days ago I finaly picked the program that I will be attending this September. I just don't know if it was the right decision. I picked the Multimedia and Design program over the Advertising program. The thing that worries me is that the program I picked is still open for people to join and is a non-oversubscribed program and the Advertising program had a waiting list and it was considered over subscribed and apparently 400 people apply and only about 30 or 40 get in. Maybe the Avertising program is a better program and I really hope I don't regret my decision in the long run. This is what I'm going to be doing in the program I chose:

• Web and CD-based flash/shockwave games;
• Speaker support presentations;
• Sales, marketing and promotional packages;
• Dynamic content driven websites;
• Video, visual effects, and motion graphics;
• Audio editing;
• 2D and 3D animation, illustration; and
• DVD authoring.

And theses are the employement opportunities:

•Corporate communications departments;
•Television pre and post-production studios;
•Internet and web service providers;
•Graphic design firms, departments and studios;
•Animation studios;
•Advertising agencies, departments and firms;
•Government communications departments; and
•Training and education departments and firms.

I just really hope I made the right decision!

vendredi 9 avril 2010

Wasaga Beach


This year just keeps getting more and more exciting for me. I didn't know grade 12 would be this fun, I thought it would be way more stressful. I come back from my cruise and then we have our Quebec trip and now we're planning to go to Wasaga Beach after our prom. We plan on going the may long weekend along ( which is the day after our prom ). I really want everyone from our grade to come because it's honestly going to be the last get together with all our friends and schoolmates until we all seperate and go our different ways. Wasaga is going to be one of our last highschool memories and the more people that come the better it will be. I can't wait until that weekend because it's going to be a weekend of a lifetime. I will never ever be able to relive it. I really hope the weather is nice because every may long weekend it seems to rain for some reason! I'm just going to keep my fingers crosses and pray for beautiful weather. Anyways, everyone please come! :) It'll be alot of fun I promise!

I got my prom dress!

On wednesday evening, I finally found the perfect prom dress. It wasn't easy though. I tried on way too many dresses. At first, I really wanted a yellow dress therfore, when I went shopping I was really closed minded. After trying on a ton of yellow dresses I figured out that yellow just wasn't for me. I started trying on other colors such as pink, white, red and purple. I found the perfect dress at Classic Boutique in the Pickering Town Centre. I didn't get the traditional long dress but I got a shorter dress. The color of the dress I picked was purple ( at the beginning I didn't even want to try on a purple dress). It's tight at the top and it gets a little poofy at the bottom. It is a little hard to describe though. I can't wait to buy the perfect pair of shoes to go with it. I'm way too excited. Here is a dress that is a little bit similar ( the style ) but not completely the same:


jeudi 1 avril 2010

Easter Weekend


It always feels like I'm on vacation. March break just ended and now we have another four day weekend. I love it. It's april first and it's already weather for shorts and sandels. I'm very upset because easter is one of my favorite holidays and I have to work at 4:00 at night on sunday. Easter is one of my favorite holiday's because my entire family gets together and we celebrate by having a huge turkey dinner (like most families) . This year is going to be even better because it's extremely nice outside and most of my family will probably be outside having fun when I'm stuck at work, making pizzas for thoses who don't celebrate. I told my mom that she better save me a plate and a piece of cake because I will be really upset if she doesn't. Anyways, I'm off to start my weekend! I hope everyone has a good easter! :)

Why do I go to school?

Sometimes I don't see the point of going to school. I usualy end up arriving at school, looking at the white board situated in the foyer and noticing that I have a spare. Somedays I end up having two spares. I feel like I waste half my time sitting at school rather then being in class learning. Teachers should tell us in advance if they are not going to be there, because we are humans too and be have the right to know when we have class and when we don't. Imagine if a teacher came to school and got sent home because their students never showed up and they had no one to teach. I come to school everyday, prepared for a test, or a project presentation and then they end up being absent. I understand that, YES, people do get sick, it happens. But I have teachers that know that they are going to be absent and are too stuburn to tell us. I swear they do it just to make us mad. It's frustrating to come to school at 8:30, and be done at 11:00 and have to wait for the bus for 4 hours. It's happen to me numerous times. Anyways, as a student I usualy take advantages of my spares and work on homework. But there are somedays that I have completed all my homework and I have nothing to do at all. Anyways, I'm not saying all teachers are like this or anything. It's just a huge piss off!