Gattaca, for real?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/sports/30genetics.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

A test to see what sports a kid will be good at. Jesus, that's scary.

I mean, what's next, determining the intelligence gene? Genetic manipulation is scary enough, but testing two-year-olds to see what sports they should be playing?

The world is really screwed up.

One week.

Buried in my CR workbook and grammar study guide.

Sounds like fun???

Barron's Practice Test

I'm thinking that at least part of this is lack of attention during the first three sections...I was distracted by my desire to watch The Office online...but still. Seriously?? Jesus.

11/28
CR: 720
Math: 740
Writing: 630???

Total: 2090

An ambiguous question increases CR to a 730. (Ambiguous being determined by myself, my homeroom teacher, and my father.)

So, 2090 on Barron's corresponds to what in real life, exactly??

Dear Google,

I love you, like everyone else, despite the fact that you're taking over the world.

I especially love my shiny new Gmail theme. It's called Zoozimps and there are little people in my inbox. There are more little people in the spam and trash folders. It's terribly exciting.

But here's the thing. I love Google Calendars, too. Except for when I try to change the color of a calendar. You have 21 colors available. Would it kill you to have some that aren't ugly?

Love,
Postscript

mm exciting research project

I officially chose a topic for History Day. The theme is "Individuals in History: Actions and Legacies" or something like that. I am going to write about Sam Adams, and how he was not a propagandist, but a legit statesman. Or, the other way around, depening on how I'm feeling.

There's this book I want to use DESPERATELY, but the nearest available copy is in the city. So I'm thinking that I will take a little field trip at some point. I've always wanted to actually have a legitimate excuse to study in the New York Public Library, and now I do :)

Of course, I either have to go by myself, find a friend who's willing to sit and watch me read about how terrible a guy Sam Adams was for hours, or bring my parents. I would prefer to just go by myself. I mean, we're talking broad daylight here, in places I've been multiple times. And seriously, the walk from Port Authority to the library will take about five minutes, and is in the heart of the touristy section of the city. But I still don't think my parents are going to let me go by myself. I need to find someone who has no life to come with me and be bored.

This ignores, of course, the fact that I have no time for such an excursion. Argh. Maybe the Saturday before Christmas? But traffic will be terrible.

Away

Away for model UN until Sunday.

Don't expect any posts.

Tomorrow's the big day.

Math and chem tests.

Okay, poll of internets:

Is it fair for a teacher to hand out a grading plan at the beginning of the year and then not follow it at all???

Check

Position paper done. Only about half BS, I think.

Next: Math, then chem and physiology references in front of a house rerun.

My parents went out for dinner tonight so lil sis and I got pizza. Now she has CCD so I am going to take advantage of the big-screen tv :)

I never got dressed today. I went ouside twice--once to bring in groceries, and once to take out the recycling. I was wearing pajamas, hot-pink polka-dotted socks, and lime green flip-flops. Lovely, right? (Don't even ask about my hair today...)

I just lost four days.

I thought my position paper for the Model UN conference I'm going to on Thursday is due tomorrow night at midnight, not at the start of the first committee session.

To-do:

By Monday:

• References for physiology paper.
• Review chemistry notes for possible quiz.
• Write position paper.
  

By Tuesday:

• Study for chemistry final.
• Study for math final.

Then I have to start my physiology take-home test, which is due the day after I get back from the conference (guess what I'll be doing while everyone else is at the dance or sleeping. FUN!).

Then I have to study for the biology test on Thursday. Which is the last class I have before we leave for the trip. I have such wonderful luck.

Then I have to figure out why I'm failing at critical reading.

Sigh. Every time I think I have a handle on things, I end up overwhelmed.

SAT.

I find it alarming that College Board has put up ads for the SAT on Facebook. Seriously? I can't even procrastinate without being reminded that I have twelve million things to do?

I registered for the December test last night. Shudder.

My sister is driving me crazy.

I had a fight with my dad about this this morning, which led him to kicking me out of the car at my bus stop and making me stand in the rain for ten minutes. But then he didn't make me walk home. But then he said we need to talk.

My little sister is such a pain.

Gotta love gmail ads

I'm writing a paper about endoscopy for my physiology class and have emailed it back and forth to myself several times. Of course, I used my gmail, because my school account has room for like two emails before the memory quota is full.

So you can imagine the kinds of ads I'm getting. They're very charming. And honestly, somewhat alarming. I searched one of the links on google (so my handy little McAfee Sitechecker would warn me if it was evil), and discovered a couple pieces of wrong/outdated information.

On a somewhat related note. Three people have visited my site recently after searching for "learningfuck" on google.

One for "bought my first suit now what".

One for "barnes noble learning section".

And two for "dealing with jerks". Ha.

(Oh, and ps. My dad just let my sister build a fire. Bad idea.)

I want this t-shirt sooo badly.

It's theobromine! Aka chocolate!!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/sciencemath/8f6f/

Wow, that hurt.

My mom called me a godless heathen today and I was not bothered in the least.

You would think she would have figured out by now that me refusing to go to church doesn't mean that I heart Jesus.

University of Chicago and Northwestern

Some more detailed thoughts about the two schools:

UChicago was great. I loved the neighborhood and the atmosphere around campus. There was stuff going on and so many different types of people around. All the buildings were nice. I loved the library--trust the engineering kid to be fascinated by the stairs!

I also felt like I could fit in with all the people I saw there. A friend of mine has a T-shirt that says "2+2=5 for extremely large values of 2". I LOVE that T-shirt. And there was someone wearing it! I pointed him out to my dad, who proceeded to laugh at me for being such a nerd. But seriously! I could make friends with people who find thast shirt funny! Nerds like me! Yay!

And then there was the bookstore. Seriously. I literally could have spent all day in there. I think the best way I heard it described was a "labyrinth of books". Man. I could live there.

Northwestern. It was okay. But just okay. And the students reminded me of the ones who go to my town high school. For all I know, they could be as nice as they pretend to be. But do I want to take that risk? Evanston was nice, too. It almost reminded me of my town. Weird.

One last random thought: I played tennis today for the first time in weeks. My first shot, I framed the ball completely. My second, I MISSED THE BALL. Epic, epic, fail. But then I won my match, which would have been good, except for I only beat her because I have more match experience than her, so it's not really a true win.

Next time I contemplate not playing tennis for any extended period, stop me please.

A fun-filled day ahead of me.

1. Tour guiding at the open house for my school. Pre-frosh are HILARIOUS.
2. Dinner with the conservative side of the family. Sounds superfun, yes? I should start practicing my not-talking skills now.
3. Bed.

Simplifying life is kind of depressing.

Latin at my school

My school is a magnet school that's supposed to produce the leaders of the twenty-first century, or something like that. We have an electron microscope, with a second on the way, and more computers than students, and plasma TVs lining the hallways that play what are essentially infomercials about our school. We've won awards and gotten many, many grants and are actually too smart to be included in the Newsweek high school rankings. (No joke. We feel very excluded.)

But the curriculum office has decided to phase out our Latin program, and offer Mandarin instead. (Viviana has a post about the meeting the principal held with our angry parents.)

I nearly cried when I heard about this. The curriculum office made their decision without asking the students what we thought, and they made the wrong choice.

I love it when people say, "Oh, you go to [your school], you must be so smart!" It's awkward and a pain a lot of the time, because, seriously, how do you answer that? (Say yes and you look arrogant, but say no and you're being kind of dishonest. I just smile and laugh usually. People don't know how to respond to that.) But I love that people recognize that our school is a great place to get an education, and I'm proud to represent that. Sometimes people tell me about their niece or nephew or friend who didn't get in. I rarely hear about kids who got in and decided to remain in their home districts. Not because there aren't many of them (remember my sister??), but because that's nothing to brag about.

Next year, when people start saying to me "My son/daughter/niece/nephew/friend got in, but didn't go, because they don't offer Latin," I don't know what I'm going to do. All I know for sure is that I won't be proud--I'll be ashamed.