Happy Year of Doom

It's 2012
in less than 8 hours!
Isn't that exciting?
What I love about the 21st century, is that this is when Ray Bradbury and all that start setting up their sci fi!
As in we're in a year SO BIONICALLY AWESOME that writers can barely COMPREHEND what awesome technology might be ruling our universe!
Okay, disclaimer. As far as I know, no Sci Fi was actually that far out set in 2012. As in flying ships and intergalactic travel and whatever. Teleportation.
There is a bunch of sci-fi written about 2012-end-of-world whatever. Movies. Etc.
But that's currently besides my point.
Think with me. Think what ALL THOSE people thought this year would be like. 2010's. A century ago. Think of how bizarre the sci-fi writers must have pictured our world ten years from now. Think of what the world might actually be like. I mean seriously. Voice command, artificial intelligence, automatic EVERYTHING. But all those kids in our day who picture the 3000s and wish they were there? I'm sure people dreamed of the stuff they wished they could do in the future in the 1950's. AND WE CAN.
Perhaps I'm not portraying this in the best way.
But when you really think about it.... doesn't it make you feel so AWESOME? Haha George Washington. You may tell the truth. But can you ask a small metal box to give you directions to a desired location? And then have it answer back? AND DRIVE THERE IN ANOTHER METAL BOX IN LIKE THREE SECONDS?
I feel so smug.
So let's all join together in a moment of universal smugness at those a century ago.
HA
HA
HA
[Yeah, I am aware that these same magical little boxes are leaching the Earth of resources, causing 4 species to go extinct every hour, and screwing the global thermostat. I know. I know. It's new years. DON'T POP MY BUBBLE.
Trust me, I am aware. I'm just trying to enjoy my last hours of 2011.]
In this post, for my 2012 New Year Fest, I want to focus on three main points.
1) Technology
2) The Apocalypse
3) The Old Year

NUMBER 1: TECHNOLOGY
Just for kicks I have some homemade pics of cool technology, which I invite you all to guess at what year we might be witness to these scientific feats, if at all.

 Mind-reading software.... decoding brain frequencies or whatever. Any takers?

 Teleportation! Which, I BELIEVE is already being experimented on with atoms, using spooky action at a distance - using the mysterious connection between atoms to transfer one's....data or whatever to another, disintegrating to original. But objects? Humans? Huh?

 Floating hover cars and all that. In the neon bubble realm of your wildest dreams. I bet this could happen in less than ten years, definitely, if scientists put their minds to it. You could instal a magnetic grid underground.... And do all sorts of related stuff in the same blast.

 Movies that are ACTUALLY 3-D.... in books. .... No real theories on this one.

Cloning! Yeah, cloning is already possible. People do it all the time with sheep and stuff. I hope you all already know that. But I'm talking about BLAM insta-copy. Not going through the whole identical - baby stage. Although I don't think that's been done with humans... (there is sci-fi though... there's always sci-fi). The thing is, that's the current solution to teleportation. You copy all the atoms to exact copies of the original. Exactly the same. Thing is, the original is then INCINERATED. Plus their brains would be the same. Same memories, same instincts.... So perhaps that doesn't qualify as a clone. What do you think?

And I won't get into time travel... yet. There's just too much to say, and I'll save that for a future post.
Now, let us consider the sidewalks. In various ideas of sci-fi novels in future settings, I've considered the idea of voice activated sidewalks.
So there are like, moving sidewalks.
COMBINED WITH VENDING MACHINES
AND COMPUTERS
They're voice activated.
Programed to your voice (if you have a SideSlide account).
You can ask the sidewalk for a map. Or directions. Or a dictionary.
You can ask it for food. You say "Cherry Coke". Your voice command causes a bottle to be moved mechanically from a storage area underground. It then pops out of the ground at one of the holes nearest to you.
Do I actually find this idea that awesome? Well, the map idea is neat. But no, not really.
What I find cool about this idea is that it could probably actually HAPPEN in the near future. With the technology available now? No prob.

NUMBER TWO: APOCALYPSE
Aaaaaah.
2012.
Oh no.
Aaaaaaah.
So, as I'm sure all of you know, 2012 was predicted by the Mayans to be the end of the world!
Not in January, guys. Next December. The 21st.
So I was thinking about this. Then I was like "Well HOW is the world going to end?"
I have some theories, but I want outside input.
Once I have some COMMENTS pertaining to the end of the world, I'll make a little doom post.
In the mean time, gear up!
Consider using items from the following list:
-goggles
-inflatable rafts
-umbrella
-fire extinguisher
-motorcycle helmet
-spray bottle
-ACID
-parachute
-sacrificial knife (you never know)
-sledge hammer
-pillows
-trampoline
-eggs
-inhaler
-radio
-signal beacon

I recommend the acid. Seriously. PRIORITIZE.

NUMBER THREE: THE OLD YEAR
So.
Big whoop.
NEW YEAR.
But 365 days (and 6 hours) from now, we're gonna be tossing 2012 in the bin right after 2011 saying "Wow, that sure went fast."
I considered making a little cartoon for 2011's benefit, but that exceeded my allotted frame limit.
Instead, let's just all make sure that 2011 has a nice last flare.
FIREWORKS PEOPLE!
2011, this is for you:
"Hey. I know it's rough being kicked out by year of the dragon. But don't take it too hard. We've all been there. And yeah, we're celebrating your demise. That's harsh. But you can make it 2011. You've given me Spain. I'm giving you hope. GO 2011!!!!"
And then, here's a little song I wrote. I want to put it up, but it's up to YOU to decide how:
a) soundtrack for cartoon
b) music video
c) with pictures
d) just write the lyrics
and I'll do the best I can with the majority vote.

Alright, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I'll find ways to spiff up this post as soon as possible...

P.S. I am stockpiling "timeless" posts right now, in case I'm too busy to post at a later date. Things that don't really pertain to any one day? If you feel things are going slowly and you want one, ring a bell!

Festival of Lights Interrupted by Imperial Agent

And the holiday comes to an end!
I hope everyone enjoyed there respective holidays. What did everyone get?
COMMENT.
(Also, what was X-mas like in Asia, Alex?)
Anyways, total stock of presents comes to a close.
Thank you to everyone for the books and other stuff! Especially the ear muffs, Benj. Love the ear muffs.
I got a yad yesterday! Yads are Jewish tools. Yad means hand in hebrew, and we use them to keep our place while chanting torah. This one was hand painted in Israel with blue swirls and birds. Yads have little metal hands on the end. Mine came with a beautiful stand. Yay! On the topic of Hebrew-related presents, I also got a CAT MITZVAH shirt.
That's funny because it's like Bat Mitzvah, but with cats, and I'm volunteering with cats for my Bat Mitzvah! It has a cat wearing a tallis, a kippot, and holding a yad in front of the torah. I found this hilarious.
Plus tonight I got a beaded kippot. Kippot are those little hat things we wear on our heads.
And then tonight I got like TEN CDs!!!! YAAY! There was Dvorak and Tchaikovsky and Suk! And Smetana! Hooray!
I dedicated each of my candles to someone. They got all globby and melty and I felt a little bad.
ANYWAYS.
It's time for....
WEIRD DREAM!!!!!
Last night I had a really weird dream. Not especially weirder than the norm, but still. So we were in a lunch-room. For lunch. By "us" I mean me, Clarissa, Emma, Alex, and a ton of other kids. And I was at the front of the line, but then I had to go up this slide (like a water slide with a raft that was being moved up and down) to put a pipe in place that would give me spaghetti. I was pleased that I was ahead of you guys (sorry) and didn't want to loose my head start, so I started pushing the raft up the slide.
Apparently there was a problem, though, because this other part of the pipe-works on the slide needed a part or it would short circuit and everything would blow up. A bunch of kids were protesting and stuff, but the teachers wanted to wait for this repair trolley to come from Africa so they could use their express Africa-trolley coupons for better deals. I was freaking out on the raft, not knowing what to do. Luckily, Kaitlyn grabbed a pipe part from Alex and dashed up the slide to put it in place.
Thank you, Kaitlyn! By then we had all forgotten about lunch, and school was over anyways, so we were all leaving. I was driving Clarissa home in a taxi-thing (Alex, you were sitting in the trunk playing on a DS) except all these "guilt-ghosts" kept popping up. Guilt ghosts were weird cars that would veer strait towards our car and then disappear at the last second, making us spontaneously confess our sins.
We learned to deal with these (by ignoring them) except then a bunch of guilt ghosts became all solid, cornered the car on that intersection with Amsterdam and North Highland, and tried to kidnap us. We all ran.
I was caught first. By these goons with sun flower masks. They put me in a back seat of another EVIL taxi. I decided to pretend to be all dead to impress you guys when you got kidnapped. That got uncomfortable, so I was pretty glad when you showed up, Clarissa, and I could get on with the act.
We had been kidnapped by Jezrek (who, in case you don't remember, is Dad's other SWTOR character - the EVIL one). For a while we fooled around in the back, except then Jezrek turned around and was all-
"You girls should sober up and resign to the Christmas spirit" or something like that. Implying that I celebrated Christmas! Of course Clarissa started cracking up.
I decided to start dropping hints.

Me: Are we almost there yet?
Jezrek: No.
Me: Well, I'm kind of concerned. Because it's like 9:00, and I'm missing the last. Night. Of. CHANUKAH. Because you kidnapped me in your smelly taxi.
Jezrek: *grunt*
Me: Do my parents even know about this?
Jezrek: Yeah.
Clarissa: What about MINE?
Jezrek: No.
Clarissa:....
Me: Did mine AGREE to this? Since, you know, it's CHANUKAH and all.
Jezrek: Yes.
Me: ....

Anyways, he dropped us off in this yard with a swing set. Then this bulldog with piranha teeth came and started trying to maul me. I screeched and started running. The woman who owned the swing set was all:

Her: Oh, don't worry.
Me: What?
Her: Just let it calm down.
Dog: GRAAAAAAUGH!!!
Me: And then it won't *pant* bite me?
Her: Oh, it will. But you better let it now.
Dog: GRAUGH!!!!
Me: Why?!
Her: Because it will hurt much more once you're on the swing!

Luckily I woke up right around then.
Thanks a lot, Jezrek.
Sorry this post was so random, I hope it occupied you all the same.
See you! :)

Everything Shall be Made Clear...

Okay, so everyone was confused about that whole "Riava" thing.
And yes, Clarissa, it is a computer game.
You would not find results for Riava on any search, however, because she is our personalized character.
So. What computer game is this?
um...
Star Wars.
...
So, I am not a huge Star Wars fan.
Why am I playing a Star Wars computer game and making a deal about it on my blog?
First of all, the game is awesome and funny and entertaining. But how was I even EXPOSED to it?
Let's skip back to Thanksgiving weekend.
Did we get this game around thanksgiving?
No. We got it Wednesday. It came out Tuesday. So how could it possibly be connected to Thanksgiving?
Because that is when we first played it.
???
That's right.
We were part of the BETA TESTING. Ooooh.
Dad told me that he had been selected to participate in the beta. Which I though would be extremely cool for any computer game, even if it wasn't my type of game.
But I did like the game so everything was fine.
Then they shut the whole thing down at midnight on monday. :(
And then Dad bought it for Chanukah and everything was fine, even though we lost Riava and all her accomplishments.
(For whatever reason, we got to keep Dad's imperial agent "Jezrek". Wahoo. Unfair.)
Anyways, we made a new Riava nearly identical to the old one and I took pictures of her and posted them and waited for you guys to get confused.
So, now it's time for:
ABOUT THE GAME!!!!
What is this Star Wars game all about?
Well, it's called Star Wars; the Old Republic (or SWTOP). It's based off of an older star wars game, Knights of the Old Republic, which occurred about 300 years before this one on a Star Wars timeline. Both games are about 1000 years before the movies, or something like that.


The set up: so this game is actually like a server. One of those games like World of War Craft or something like that. The graphics are really advanced. So are the scenes. Most of the time you're walking around on a planet (there are different servers you can use with different story lines) and you can see the other characters walking around too. With their names. There's a little chat box you can open in the corner, but we keep it closed unless thanking someone for saving or helping us.


The characters: There are some main characters who persist throughout the plot. Evil guys, like Darth Malgus, who work for the Sith Empire. Or good guys, who work for the republic and support the Jedi. There are different species. Like those things with scaly skin and little tails coming out of their heads? That's a horrible description. I'll try to find a picture. Anyways. Teachers are a bunch of different species. So yeah. There are a bunch of extras, who don't say or do anything except meditate and add to the environment or whatever. The voice acting is spectacular.


Us: As Jedi, we get to design our characters. There are about 5 species. And then you could be a Jedi Knight, a Jedi Consular, and two other thingies. We chose to be female. Then you get to design yourself. Different body shapes, tons of different face shapes, hair styles, skin tones, eyes, that stuff. You start out on level one, than progress with experience. Old Riava reached level 12. We're on level 9 right now. Again, great voice acting. For good decisions you get Light Side points, bad decisions get Dark Side points. We don't have any Dark Side. Yet. So you can work for the empire or the republic. Jezrek is evil, and can thus be impudent and betray people and get dark points.


Conversation: When conversing, you normally have three options. For example, upon meeting a giant iguana ally named Qyzen, are choices were basically:
1) Nice to meet you.
2) It is a great honor.
3) AAAAGH YOU'RE A FREAKY GIANT LIZARD!
There is normally one quite insensitive (and yet hilarious) response. But those get us Dark Points and we're to scared to choose them.


Battle: Okay, so I know some of you are kind of fazed by the "Star Wars Computer lingo" or whatever. I'm sorry. You are under no obligation to read all of it, although some of it is interesting. But if you have skipped over it, here are some powers we have as Jedi Consular that I've illustrated. I find them pretty cool. What's your favorite?
[Note: Picture mechanism temporarily out of order. I'll just describe them.]
-We can do slashes with out light saber (which we only just made)
-We can pelt the enemy with small rocks
-We can lift huge hunks of metal and rock or whatever from the ground and hurl it
-We can lift our enemies into the air
-We can stun them
-We can daze them
-Best of all, we can jump and create this huge force wave to wipe them out
Yay.

Plot: I'm not really going to tell you much about the plot. We have a main objective and storyline, but we can also accept other quests from people along the way to get credits. Credits help us advance a level. We get more training with every level.

Chat box: There's a little toggle chat box in the corner that we keep minimized, but every time someone helps us or we help them, we send a little "thanks" or whatever. Ty. You know.

And finally, here's a little trailer thing to give you a vague idea of the story line. It's slightly violent. No, it is violent. But it's also kind of cool. The awesome girl is Sitia. She's awesome.

Okay, hope all that stuff didn't go right over your head.
Bye!
~Julia

New Computer

Yay!
I have a new computer now!
It's a Mac Mini or something. Yay!
The benefits of this new computer:
- iMovie
- Finale
- Photobooth
- A bunch of games
- Bigger Monitor
- Faster
Plus it looks cool. I was feeling happy about that, so I just decided to make a post. I know it's random. I would spruce it up with a bunch of pictures, but Bamboo is currently not working on this computer.
:(
Anyways, when I was sweeping up my computer (which had scary gigabytes) to be transferred, I found a bunch of old videos on crappy iMovie! I watched them. Then crushed them into QuickTime files to be transferred. It was cool.
This computer is so much faster. It's satisfying.
ALSO...
I went to Furkids today!
Furkids is a no-kill cat shelter with adoption centers. I volunteer at a center at PetSmart every other Saturday, and then help out at the main shelter once a month.
I clean litter boxes and sweep and mop and stuff. There are no cages, just rooms with a bunch of structures and beds and things. I brought my camera, to make a video for you guys, but the good camera was out of batteries, so I had to take the less than good camera, which had tiny memory.
Although I do have some footage, I just decided to wait until next time.
Sorry!
But, I will show you a little video of me rambling, just to give you an idea.....

As soon as this finishes loading I'll post!
See you!
~Julia

UPDATE: My new computer has this updated version of skype. It's weird. Like, all my friends have it, but I liked the old one better....
I'm still getting used to it. This one is a lot more complicated. Skype me so I can try it out!

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Hi Emma!

Yay!
So my current status on your animation is that it has been assembled on iMovie and is currently exporting. It's taking a while. I'm not sure if it'll post today. Plus Dad's installing a new computer. Not sure how that'll work out.
Right here is where I will post the animation as soon as I can:

[If you're reading this, it obviously hasn't worked!:( Working on it!]

So. Back to your birthday!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Woo.
So you're either 13 already, or will be very soon. I don't know the exact time.
Since it's debatable whether I'm actually going to manage to post your animation today (BLEH), I wanted to do something else special for your birthday. So this post is my present to you - Emma's Birthday Packet of Fun!
First we some birthday cards. Here's some that I found on line:

Yaaay.
I got kind of on a roll concerning birthdays when google imaging.... So here's some presents and party hats!

Isn't that hat adorable? Look, it's smiling!

Then, of course, came cake...

Woo, it says happy birthday!

It's like a combination of presents, badminton, dalmatians, cake, and Picasso!

This is like my favorite. Wacko snail cake!

Greenish...

And I had to throw in the bride-shaped wedding cake. Yum.

Then I decided to find out some stuff special about YOUR birthday. So I googled December 23rd and came up with some interesting factoids that you may or may not appreciate!

Well, it's the 357th day of the year. And it's zodiac is capricorn, like me! Our list of strengths are:

-Responsible

-Patient

-Ambitious

-Resourceful

-Loyal

Cool!

Then we have some events on December 23rd...:

-George Washington resigns from commander-in-chief

-Hansel and Gretel (the opera) is first preformed! Wow! I would find that extremely neat, but you probably didn't worship the opera like I did growing up...

-Australian troops arrive in Egypt during World War 1.

-Bell laboratories first demonstrate the "transistor". 

-The World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the world.

-Dedication of the Tokyo Tower.

-6.5 magnitude Earthquake in Nicaragua.

You have the same birthday as:

-Duke Luis the First

-King Frederick Augustus 1

-Tsar Alexander 1st of Russia! Wow!

And a bunch of other important people. Too many. Look it up on Wikipedia. It's cool.

So yeah!

Alright Emma, I hope you enjoyed your birthday post. Hopefully I'll get the animation up soon!

Welcome Back, Riava!

It's good to be back.

Chappy Chanukah!

Hi!
Today was the first night of Chanukah!
There's a lot that I could say about Chanukah. But I got started with this post so late that I'm just going to publish it with the update and the promise of a better post on Chanukah tomorrow.
However, my blogging instincts cannot resist the urge to tell you stuff.
First, some clarifications about Chanukah:
1) 8 days, 9 candles. If you don't know why (and you should), look it up.
2) The date changes from year to year because it's a lunar calendar.
3) Yes, Jews are aloud to go outside. And no, we don't have to purify everything with onions. I'm not even sure how you made that up.
4) We light to candles on the first night, than one more each night.
5) We use one candle to light the others.
Second, I have good news- I'm making a Chanukah video thing! That I may or may not post! If I did, I would definitely consult Mom! To be posted (maybe) on the last night of Chanukah.
Third, here's an awesome song. I found it last year. It's called candlelight.

Technically Mom found it, but I WATCHED it. And I'm now showing it to you!

Fourth, I did get presents! I got three books tonight. I just started Ender's Shadow, and I'm about a hundred pages in! It's really good, I recommend it. 

Benj got a box set of the Eragon series (you know, dragons...) that he loves. He's really excited, and is probably reading them under the covers right now. [Yeah, I see you. Go to bed.]

We also got Harry Potter Lego Wii years 5-7, which sounds really lame, but it's awesome. 

You can see Harry, Hermione, Nagini, Ron with the sword of Gryffindor, Ginny in her new outfit, Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, and burning Hogwarts in the background. Oooh.

I'm happy about this present because:

1) Years 1-4 were awesome. They were funny, the animation was great, and there was tons of stuff to do even after you finished the plot.

2) Bellatrix Lestrange comes in in this one.

3) The characters look more mature, meaning:

a) Lego-Hermione actually looks somewhat FEMININE. Her hair is darker and styled to look like something besides a hunk of plastic.

b) Ron has a cool hair cut and is not as dorky (although I'm sure he's just as clumsy and clueless in the animation.

c) Ginny has wavy hair and a headband, :)!!!!

4) Wii is fun.

5) I love how they make the plot more kid-friendly. You'd think that might be lame and boring, but it isn't. I wonder what Hermione did with the thermometer...

SO YEAH

Chanukah has STARTED!

More detailed info to come when I'm not about to pass out!

~Julia

UPDATE: I dreamed about both Lego Harry Potter Wii and Ender's Shadow. And a similar situation concocted by my own brain. In an airport. It was intense.

Bases vs Basketball

Hey! Blogger was being annoying yesterday, so I couldn't post this. Sorry for the delay! Let's just PRETEND that this was up yesterday. Don't worry, I'll be posting a lot this week! ~J

Today we were having a little holiday fest at school. 
Some MUSIC.
Some dancing.
Some slideshows. 
And some basketball.
DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUUUM
(Foreshadowing - woop!) 
Let's start with the music.
I play viola. Actually, I play violin. But I play viola in school orchestra to occupy myself. Just as a clarification, violas are BIGGER than violins, okay? Not smaller. I'm not even sure where anyone heard that. They probably didn't. Violas are BIG. They have a C string rather than an E. 
They are not mini-violins!
*scowl*
Anyways. Viola. So, we (meaning the orchestra) have these five pieces we polished for the official concert on December 8th. We played four of them for each grade. The same four.
Last year for the holiday whatsit, each grade had a similar program.
1) Singing performance group in auditorium.
2) Theatre arts semester class for that grade
3) Band/orchestra/chorus
This year, our program was like this for each grade:
1) Orchestra pieces (wahoo)
2) Jazz band pieces
3) Basketball (shudder) contest thingy
4) Slideshow
5) Dance contest
6) ?*
*I left before this point so I wouldn't miss Social Studies. Did we do anything here, peers?
ANYWAYS, I was not looking forwards to laboring under the same old boring pieces. Thrice. But it turned out okay. I felt bad for the jazz band having to listen to us over and over again.  Well, then the basketball thing happened. 
Teacher: Let's give it up for the Inman Jazz Eagles and the Inman Eagle Orchestra!
Nice kids: Yaaay! Go orchestra! You guys did great!
Irksome Kids: WOOO! LET'S MAKE NOISE CUZ WE'RE A BUNCH OF APES!
Teacher: Yay! And now, we have a special treat!
Coach: Come on up and chuck LARGE HEAVY EVIL basketballs at our orchestra and their instruments!
(Actually, he really said something like this:)
Coach: When we call your section of the bleachers, anyone who wants to can toss a basketball at either one of these two hoops [RIGHT OVER THE ORCHESTRA]!!!!
Ms. Shields: WHAT
Ms. Shields 2: WHAT
Me: WHAT
Coach: Everyone come line up...
Kids: WE'RE BLOODTHIRSTY! MUAHAHAHA!
Orchestra: AAAAGH!
Violinist: CLOSE THE CURTAINS!
Cellist: Then we can't see our impending doom!
Violist: EVACUATE!
Kids: VIOLENTRAGEOFEVILBALLS!
Us: Waaaaugh!


So, to those of you who might be confused about the layout of the auditorium, here's a little map:


So the basket ball goal is right in front of the stage. Us musicians improvised. We barricaded the stage with the basses, then stacked the cellos on top. The violists were shoved on top to hit the balls with bows.
No, we didn't actually do that. Still, it would have been impressive. We could have marched out, bows in our fists, and annihilate the entire grade!
In reality, all we did was panic.
We quaked each time the ball rebounded. I'm indignant that we were not consulted as a bunch of 7th graders were about to POUND US TO MUSH WITH BALLS!!!
Luckily, we were not injured by the seventh graders.
But then the eighth graders came.
DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM....
At first everything was fine.
But then a ball came SOARING from between the backboard and the supports, plummeting into the first violin section!
What I should have done:

What I did:

Self preservation!
Anyways, although it did nearly topple several chairs, nothing was directly harmed. 
I then joined a brigade of violists who sat on the edge of the stage, then battered down the onslaught of basket balls missing the hoop. 
It was terrifying.
Moral:
Basketballs and basses do not mix. In fact, basketballs rarely mix with anything. Especially me.
~Julia

Music to the Soul

So!
Music!
I am a musician. I also listen to music with actual QUALITY. Baroque. Romantic. All those styles.
And I have dedicated this post to exposing you to this quality.
First, there's the music that I play.
I play scales. Major, minor, arpeggio, three octaves, two scales daily. I play etudes. They are boring.
And I play pieces.

The following pieces are ones that I either learned recently, am still learning, or will soon learn:
-Bach A Minor, which is too big a file to be uploaded onto this blog, so I'll post a link late...

-Dvorak Four Romantic Pieces:

My status on the above:

First Movement: Learned a loooong time ago.

Second Movement: Was polishing when I broke my arm- postponed till January

Third and Fourth Movement: Not planning to learn in the immediate future.

-Paganini Cantabile:

This will be my first piece from book 7, although I've strayed from the books.

Then there's Fiocco Allegro, which I learned about a year ago:

That's one of the top violinists in the world....

Wow.

Also, here are some pieces that I LIKE:
Romance (which Dad has arranged to be played in quartet form on my Bat Mitzvah - stay tuned!):

I'm not a HUGE fan of the soloist, but it still sounds great!

Suk (He's Dvorak's nephew!):

Although my recording at home is much better, this will do...

Barter's Bride (Smetana):

Again, home recording is better. But whatever. This was THE PIECE I danced to when I was three. Every day. Running around in circles. :)

Oh, and guess what? Yeah. Those are all Czech composers. The best.

Then there's Fuchs, who was a German composer. He wrote some duets and trios that we play at home. I couldn't find any good recordings of the right pieces, so no video for now.

Anyways, that's your first music exposure. REAL music.
I will give  you another lesson soon.

Hope this posts with all the videos!
~Julia

P.S. My brother has just announced with great excitement that he can create headaches by hitting himself in the head with various objects. Let's give him a hand!

Portals to Amnesia

Not really.
What am I talking about when I say portals to amnesia?
Doors.
I'M KIDDING.
Mostly.
Because guess what I just found out?
Walking through doors makes people forget things.
So, I was reading Scientific American, which is this really awesome science magazine on modern scientific discoveries and experiments.
All the articles are really cool, so I recommend subscribing!
Anyways, I was reading this article. And it was talking about doors. The opening example went something like this:

Basic Summary: You see your mug is empty, bring it to the counter, walk through a doorway to the kitchen, stand around confused, walk back, see your mug, scowl.

When I read this example, my reaction was: "I get what you're saying. But that's kind of a stretch - I'm more likely to just get distracted and pour myself some water then forget completely what I was doing and sit down with the mug in my hand."
Except then I thought about it.
And I realized that that actually does happen a lot.
Not when I'm putting things away especially. But if I'm getting socks and go upstairs. I'll go in my room, see my book, pick it up, go downstairs, try to put on my shoes, and curse.

In fact, I have friend to which the following happens all the time:

This friend is instructed.
She goes into that room.
She stands around mildly confused for about a second.
Decides it's not worth her attention.
Zones out.
And remembers some random thing she wants to do with pipe cleaners.

Then I was really confused. What did doors have to do with it? They're not especially distracting...
The article had descriptions of an experiment scientists had run. The scientists set up a computer game. In the game, you would pick up an object. The object would not be visible unless in use while you held it, as though in a little pocket.
You would pick up an object from a table, walk a certain distance, and be quizzed on the object.

Subjects having gone through doorways showed much more hesitance or would even forget.
They tried this on real subjects in actual environments too. Same results.

Why is this? It seems that when you leave a room, your brain minimizes whatever document you were working on and files it on hold while it opens a new one for the next room.
Apparently this is a method that works quite well dealing with though overload.
Except when it doesn't and you forget what you're doing.

My question is:
ARE DOORWAYS BEHIND MEMORY LOSS WITH OLD AGE?
Could the shutting of memory spaces accumulate? Are doors dooming us to a forgetful existence in a nursing home? Do the doors build up? Like radiation?
Can we prevent it?


Please leave your opinions and advice in the comments BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
Or, you can just walk through a door and forget this entire thing.
Not really. But still.
Sorry this post took me so long!
~Julia

P.S. Emma, I haven't forgotten about your number theory thing! I'm still trying to arrange it so it's interesting to everyone else reading this blog.