The Wonderful Wiz

The Original "The Wiz"

On Thursday, November 21st, I went to see my high school production of "The Wiz." I usually don't watch live productions because they aren't cheap. (When they are though, I am all over for the production!)  "The Wiz" is a production of The Wizard of Oz. It's not any version of "The Wiz." It's the "soul version" of the Wizard of Oz!

I really enjoyed the show. The cast did well. Not only was there a lot of good music and dancing, but there was also a lot of good humor and acting. The main leads did an amazing job portraying the characters. I loved all the characters-- Including the Wicked Witch of the West.

As I watched Dorothy and her new friends travel on the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, I felt as if I were on the adventure with them. I was always hoping for the Lion to gain his courage, Tin man to gain his heart, and scarecrow to gain his brains. It was also a little nostalgic because I always remembered being afraid and also loving The Wizard of Oz when I was little. It just kind of made me happy to see everything I watched as a kid on TV, coming to life by mypeers.

Dorothy's slippers were originally
silver until the 1939 movie of The
Wizard of Oz made the slippers ruby
to take advantage of "Technicolor."

I went to not only watch the production, but to also support my friends who are in the musical! Although they didn't have any lead roles, they did an amazing job as part of the chorus. They spent days after school rehearsing for the musical. Even if they have small roles, they change the mood of the auditorium quickly. I
was so proud to see them perform.

♥Petpet

P.S. I feel that my favorite character now has to be Lion and Tin Man. I never really liked them until I saw them on stage. The actors portrayed them so well that I fell in love with them. (I also fell in love with the Good Witch of the South: Addaperle. She was so optimistic and quirky that I loved her. Glinda used to be my favorite witch but that might have changed....)

Pictures belong to rightful owner!

My Awesome Still-Life

I have drawn (or at least attempted to draw) a still-life before this year. The result? Let's just say... it looked nothing like a still-life. In fact, it just looked like a black and white charcoal outline of random objects.

So this year, I had to draw another still-life for Drawing 1 class. We could either bring a picture of the still life to class or choose from our teacher's collection of photos. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do so I chose something random from my teacher's collection. (None of them were easy.) My instinct was 'I'm going to fail.' Of course, I didn't want to fail so I spent about 9-10 hours total on my still-life.

It could have improved much more but that's all I wanted to do since I spent so much time on it already. I turned my project in and received a 98%, which I was proud of.

Earlier this month, the school announced that they were displaying student artwork at the front of the school in front of the auditorium. MY STILL LIFE GOT DISPLAYED! All the other artworks displayed were original still-lifes and only my friend's and mine was from the teacher's collection.

I'm usually proud of my artwork but this is one of the best ones I've had yet.
❤Petpet

I MISSED POCKY DAY?!

For those of you that don't know, I am huge fan of Japanese culture. Last year, when I was really getting into Japanese culture, I learned that November 11th was Pocky day! I didn't even know that something like that existed but it did... which I was so excited about. I promised myself that I would remember it this year (2013)... TURNS OUT I FORGET!

So, what is Pocky? It a thin biscuit stick that is covered in chocolate or different flavors. This is a common snack for Japanese teenagers but most people like pocky because it's such a light snack. Pocky can be addicting though.

The only flavors I've tasted are strawberry and chocolate but in other countries, they have dozens of pocky flavors. (I really want to try them all someday!) You can usually find these in Asian supermarkets and they are usually pretty cheap.

Since there's a holiday to celebrate Pocky, there must be a game with Pocky too, right? I've heard of the "Pocky Game" many times but I've actually never played it before. It seems kinda fun though:

The only "problem" with the Pocky Game is that your face is literally less than a foot away from your friend's face. I guess another point of the Pocky Game is to also get two people close enough so their lips touch and they kiss. (The things Japanese teenagers play!) I guess it's a good way to get two people who like each other together but, it's not my type of thing. I learned a way to win the Pocky Game without kissing though. Don't even take it slowly. You just go and bite the middle in one big swoop and intimidate your friend. (You can't both do it though or else everything won't end well.)

Or you can just do this and not play at all:

Well, that was your education on Pocky for today! Hopefully next year I won't forget about Pocky Day! I really want to try and make my friends eat some Pocky and have them try the Pocky Game. 

Until next time!

♥Petpet

All pictures go to original owner! I just wanted to share about Pocky and wanted to use these images as a reference. I take no credit with ownership of the pictures.

Hallow's Eve 2013

Happy Hallow's Eve everyone! (Or Halloween if you prefer it.) I hope you had a good Halloween if it ended for you already! If not, I hope you are having a good one so far!

How's my Halloween been? It's been pretty decent. I saw a whole bunch of costumes at school today but not too many. I saw a Slenderman, couple of cross dressers, a Minecraft creeper, couple of Mary Poppins, lots of animals, couple of superheroes, vampires, a lot of video game characters, and more. I didn't wear my pirate costume because I didn't feel like wearing it all day and I'm afraid of getting it dirty. 

Even though I have a costume, I'm not sure if I'm going trick-or-treating because my it's going to be weird going with my little sister and our neighbors... Who are all younger than me. I guess I haven't grown out of trick-or-treating yet so might as well while I can? I'll see.

Even if I don't go trick-or-treating, I still have a Halloween party with my new neighbor! That's still something to look forward to. The only problem with Halloween is that teachers still expect you to do all your homework. So I have to get as much homework done before the party... Which is going to take awhile. Why can't we just have a day off after Halloween? That would just make everyone much happier.

Anyways, enough of my rant. I hope that you guys all have/had a good Halloween! I haven't gotten a good scare this Halloween but I might later tonight... Stay safe and eat lots of candy! (Especially your favorite candies.)

♥Your pirate girl, Petpet

People like me?

This is really random but yesterday, something really strange happened to me.

So I was standing outside of school with my friend. We were waiting for our rides home and we were just talking about different things. Then all of the someone, a Hispanic guy I don't even know comes up to me, taps my shoulder and said, "Hey. I just wanted to say that my homie here," he pointed to his 'homie,' "likes you."

At that point, I was thinking to myself:

This is a guy I have never seen before in my life and he said he likes me? My only response was an awkward "Okay," because I was in a heated discussion with my friend... And I just didn't know how to respond.

It just kinda took me by surprise because it's rare for someone random to just come up to me and say "He/I like(s) you."  Since this was a guy I don't even know, then I'm guessing he's saying I'm attractive?... Whaaaaat?! (If my friend or someone I knew came up and said that to me though, then I know they are talking about more than just looks. )

So now, I'm thinking "maybe they were just joking around. My friends and I do that sometimes." I didn't really pay attention to their facial expressions because, I was in a heated discussion with my friend. Maybe if I did, I could tell of they were joking or not... (Plus, he wasn't that attractive either... Just saying.)

Either way, hearing someone say that to me is so rare that I had to tell someone!... So why don't I just post it on the Internet for thousands to see...? (Hooray me!)

Has this ever happened to you? I want to hear stories if you do! :3

♥Your shocked high-school girl, Petpet

P.S. I know people like me because I hang out with many people (even though I'm extremely quiet sometimes) but I'm just shocked that a random stranger liked me.

My First Husky Howl

So yesterday, I went to my first high school Halloween dance. (Our school calls it Husky Howl since our school mascot is a husky... and Husky Howl sounds cooler than "Halloween Dance.")

To be honest, I didn't like it compared to Homecoming. I think the only reason because I prefered Homecoming more was because of the groups of friends I went with. This time, I didn't feel like I belonged with everyone, unlike Homecoming.

But the dance itself was very enjoyable. The whole place was themed around "Night At Hogwarts." I have to admit, the club in charge of the dance did an amazing job with decorations. Everyone was sorted into different houses and every hallway was a "street" from the series. It was a perfect theme for the Husky Howl. The music that the DJs played was slightly better than Homecoming's but still, I felt that it wasn't as fun.

To me, the quality of the dance depended on who I was with. The dance itself was amazing. It was just the group of friends I was with that I disliked. (That sounds horrible but it's true.)

Since it was a Halloween dance, I dressed up. I wore the same pirate costume I wore 2 years ago (yes, it still fits me!). Since no one has seen me with my costume, I re-wore it. I forgot how short the skirt was though.

So that's the Husky Howl for me. I don't know if I will go again next year but I still had fun. Be safe this Halloween!
♥Petpet

Poptropica: Poptropolis Games 2013!

Earlier in 2013, I posted about Poptropica's new island, "Poptropolis Games," sinking back into the ocean once again. (Read my post on it here.) Everyone was devastated to hear that the new island was no longer playable.

Until recently, the Poptropica Creators have announced that the Poptropolis Games are coming back! "How though?" you ask. "I thought it rises every 100 years and it's only been 10 months!" It does rise every 100 years, my dear reader, but the Creators have found a way to rise it earlier.

We. Dig.

That's right. Every Poptropican is going to keep digging until the games can rise once again. You can go dig now by going to Poptropica and clicking where Poptropolis island once was. You don't dig very much but you can go down and dig as many times as your heart desires. Even though it sounds tedious and difficult, there's a prize to digging. Every time you dig, your Poptropolis tribe receives a point. Whichever tribe has the most points will be honored in Main Street once the games rise again. So go dig.

So if we can keep digging, we can raise the games back again in early by 99 years!... That seems a little risky but if we can raise the games, I don't think I can complain. (I feel like things are going to go out of balance but we can fix it... right?)

There's a trailer for Poptropolis Games 2013 as well. Check it out! (If you haven't already.):

As you can see, once we raise the island, there's going to be 2 new competitions: Volcano Race and Octopus Volleyball. With two new events, that allows even more chances to compete and find a new favorite event?

Well, the Games should be coming back before 2014 so be excited for that! Other than the new events, look forward to the music, sounds, and bigger screen in Poptropolis Games 2013!
Until next time,
~Speedy Wing~

Want Better Memory?

Being a student, it's hard to remember everything that you learned from class. Why is it that no matter how long you look at your textbook, you just can't seem to memorize the material! You are so confident to ace the big exam and then BAM, you forgot half of the things you studied for hours.

There could be many factors in why you failed that exam. Maybe it was your study skill? Or maybe it was because you weren't studying the right materials? Whatever it may be, it is not your memory's fault. Your brain is very capable of memorizing many things. The only problem is that you don't do things to remember better.

So here's 3 tips on how you could improve your memory. (Memory skills and study skills are different.):

1. You didn't pay attention in the first place or wasn't interested.
Sometimes, you think you paid close attention when you didn't. You can catch onto little details sometimes but there are other times when you just forget. Or maybe it's because the subject wasn't that interesting for you. If it's something you don't think you need to know, then you're going to forget it. If you have a boring class, you are going to have to try harder to keep yourself interested in order to memorize everything.

2. You didn't have enough repetition.
Your brain loves repetition. You tend to remember things if you repeat it over and over again. That's why it's good repeat what you write so you can memorize things. When you repeat things over and over again, you are telling your brain that it's important to keep in your brain. If you stop repeating what you've just learned, then you forget it right away. So if you've ever broken up with someone, it's a lot harder to forget them if you keep remembering them because you are making your brain remember it.

3.Other things interfere with your memory.
When you take a test, there are usually tricky questions that can mess with your memory. For example, there's those questions with "All of the above," "Both A&B," etc. Just the thought that it could be more than one of those answers interferes with your memory. That's why questions like those are always harder to answer (unless you know exactly what you're doing.) This is hard to avoid but you just have take all outside information away from your memory in order to improve it.

Well, I hope some of these tips help to improve your memory. Hopefully you can ace the next test with these memory skills.

♥Petpet
(P.S. I learned these skills from Psychology class.)

I do not own the picture. Picture belongs to rightful owner!

A Little Sonnet by Me

I had to write a sonnet for English class. I finished it and I am so proud of myself that I'm going to share it. (Why not?)

It's a Shakespearean Sonnet so it's in iambic pentameter, 14 lines, and follows the specific rhyme scheme (ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG.) Let me tell you, writing in iambic pentameter is a very tedious thing to do! It took me forever to get the "stressed" and "unstressed" syllables just right. This is why Shakespeare is a genius. I had to use the dictionary and thesaurus to write my sonnet... He only had his writing skills.

Anyways, here's my sonnet! (It's based off of the anime/manga Angel Beats! so if you've watched it, you can probably relate to it better.)

Faith is unfair

Our past lives ended brutal and unjust.

We lived for a short time, lives incomplete.

Our bodies altered to debris and dust

The past left us with nothing but defeat

We were alive without a goal in life

Then we found something priceless to protect:

Career, loved ones, band, music, future wife.

But death came before things could take effect

We can't move on because of our regrets

Faith is unkind to steal our dreams away

She took our wish; a crime we can't forget. 

Is it wrong to say that we were betrayed?

Faith is not always kind, for she's unfair

And all she did was put us in despair.

--Petpet Wing

This is probably one of the deepest piece of writing I have wrote in a while... All I hope is that I get a good grade on it. (Even if I don't, I'll still be proud of it!)

I think this turned out so well because I was trying hard to add the characters of Angel Beats! into my sonnet. I really wanted to express their feelings about their previous lives. Their emotions are so strong that I could somehow connect with them.

If you haven't watched Angel Beats!, you need to. I promise you, it changes your life...
♥Petpet

Artwork: Pikachu Couple, Music Girl, and a Vocaloid Sketch

...I was bored this summer so I drew a bit. Here are some random artwork done by me.

Pikachu Couple:
One of my favorite pokemon is Pikachu. So I decided I would draw a couple in Pikachu hoodies. It doesn't have much detail as I would like but it turned out pretty well. My picture was inspired by the pikachu couple picture below my drawing.

Media used: Colored pencils and sketch pencils

Music Girl:

I wanted to draw something like myself so I drew a girl (that somewhat looks like me). The background is really weird because I drew this on a scratch piece of paper.

Media Used: Pen for outlining, colored pencils

Vocaloid Sketch:
This is a quick sketch I did during class one day. I was trying to draw Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid but it didn't work out.

Media Used: Sketch pencil

So those are just a few drawings I had. Maybe if I draw more, I can post a couple of drawings every month? I dunno.
♥Petpet
(I had those watermarks so no one would copy my work and so people can reference to me with a drawing app I use.)