Riddle Poem: Red, Red Rose

I am a red, red rose,
Blossoming on the horizon
Dyeing rippling blue soil
Crimson.
I unfold slowly
But wilt away
Swifter than I came.
Dew drops glimmer
On my blackened petals,
And a single thorn sparkles
Silver.
What am I?

(Highlight below to reveal answer.)
I am a sunset fading away into the night.

If you guessed right, congratulations! *Passes out cookies*

What If? Poem: Teardrops Were Rain

What if
Teardrops were rain?
Angels would cry down on the earth
Every other day.
The cherubs would take all drought
Far, far away.

Eighth Grade Project & Choir

Hi everyone!

A lot's been going on lately. I switched block classes, joined choir, and have begun working on my Eighth Grade Project.

Choir has been going really smoothly. We've sung songs from a lot of different places - from Africa and Mexico to Russia. We have "free" days on Fridays, when we bring in our own lyrics. It's a lot of fun and, believe it or not, challenging. We've all ready learned to trust each other.

For my Eighth Grade Project, I'm writing a novel called Grace. So far, I've written two chapters and the prologue, which is (all together) about 5,000 words out of my 50,000 word goal. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a long time, and I'm finally getting to it.

Grace is about a girl named Arella, who woke up from an "accident" with no memory. She does, however, remember all of her family excepting her brother and father. She has a twin sister, but Levana completely ignores her at school, trading Arella for friends. When Arella's quiet, ignored existence becomes a chaotic mix of tragedy and tears, there's one person to comfort her, but she doesn't even know his real name. All she knows is the meaning: melody.

Yup, so that's pretty much the summary of this novel I'm writing. I can never figure out how to summarize this kind of stuff. :P That summary seems okay, though. Anyway, I'm really, really excited about this. I came to the conclusion that it was inspired by a song called Lauren & I (Celtic Thunder, written and sung solo by Keith Harkin) that I heard this summer. Other stuff eventually compiled into this whole idea I have now, like a house we pass everyday that has a huge wrought iron gate (I absolutely love that kind of metal work). The house behind it is enormous, and I've heard tell that the "house" is really just the garage. *Jaw drops*

That is some kind of crazy. I doubt that it really is the garage, but it's still a beautiful house.

There was one line in that song, Lauren & I, that made me blink. It's a sweet song, but sad as well. It went like this (it was actually more than one line, now that I think about it):

"And the seasons pass away,
And I still sit here lonely each and every day,
Wondering what's gone wrong,
'cause I don't remember
Seasons lasting oh so long
Oh so long..."
-Celtic Thunder, Keith Harkin, Lauren & I

It immediately got me thinking. It still does, in fact. I love this song. It's one of the few you can learn in minutes without it getting boring after a few days. Evanescence and Paramore are also good bands. Like You, Taking Over Me (Evanescence), and Stop This Song (Paramore) are my favorites. :)

I think that I've gone on about this long enough... I'm done.

~Cassie

Boston Massacre Trial

In my English/Social Studies class, we watched the trial scene of the HBO version of the Boston Massacre. In this scene, John Adams was the British soldiers' lawyer.

John Adams was Sam Adams's cousin. Sam didn't approve of what John was doing (standing fo the British), but at the end of the scene, he smiled and bowed to him. I think that by doing this, Sam showed that he still respected the law, and John's decision to protect the innocent.

In the courthouse, there were two lawyers (John and someone else) that asked questions of the witnesses. The witnesses said a number of things, and some of what they said made the other witness' word false. For example, one witness said that the mob of people that were attacking people were only throwing ice. but they did have clubs in their hands. Another witness said that they were throwing their clubs. Captain Preston said that the order to fire came from behind his men, and not from him. This very much contradicted what a previous witness had said, and worked with what a respectable witness had said.

If that makes sense, it was the reason that the British troops were decided to be not guilty.

A Mockingbird Just Sings

(Scout and Atticus Finch)

I watched To Kill a Mockingbird in my English class the other day. We were then asked to write a response to the movie, to make connections between the movie and its title, small town life, or any connections we saw between the movie and today.

Here's my response:

To Kill a Mockingbird was, first of all, an interesting movie. Most of what I remember about the movie has to do with Tom Robinson's trial and Scout and Jem's skirmish with Mr. Ewell. Tom Robinson was an African-American on trial for raping a girl. He was found guilty because the jury was most likely a little bit racist. Nowadays, however, it would be much different: Tom would have been given fair trial, and he would have had a jury of his peers.

Tom was later shot and killed when he tried to run from where they were keeping him. I think that this sent a shock through my classmates in me; we all believed that he was innocent and that the police officers would never dare to do something like that.

When Mr. Ewell tried to kill Jem and Scout, Boo saved them. Mr. Ewell was found "with a kitchen knife under his ribs." I'm pretty sure that Mr. Ewell was the plaintiff in Tom's trial. When he and his daughter took the stand against Tom, I was sure that Mr. Ewell was beating his daughter, and that that was the reason for her black eye and other bruises.

At the beginning of the movie, Atticus Finch (Jem and Scout's father) said that you should never kill a mockingbird because they just sing, and they don't harm the other birds. He told Jem and Scout that blue jays kicked the other birds' fledglings out of the nest, doing harm. In this case, when Boo saved them (and most likely shoved the kitchen knife under Mr. Ewell's ribs) he became the mockingbird. When Mr. Ewell beat his daughter and tried to kill Jem and Scout, he became the blue jay. I think that this is how the story relates to the title.

That's really all I have...

Bye!

~Cassie

A Passage from Johnny Tremain That Relates to My Life

Here's a passage from Johnny Tremain that relates a little bit to my life... In other words, I can relate to this passage and understand how Johnny feels in this piece of text:

The womenfolk had spent all day paring apples, threading them on strings preparing to dry them for the winter. Even Mrs. Lapham looked tired. The lazy apprentice bursting in, happy for the first time in two months, irritated her. Then she saw his new shoes.
'Johnny Tremain,' she cried, 'what have you been up to?'
'What?'
'You wicked, wicked boy! Oh, I declare, you are going to bring disgrace on us all.'
He did not understand.
'Them shoes!' she roared. 'You never got them honestly. You've taken to thieving. I'm going to tell your master. He'll call a constable and then see if you darest not tell where you stole them. You've just gone from worse to worse. Your going to get whipped for this - set in the stocks. Your going to jail. You'll end up on the gallows.'

This passage reminds me of an incident that included my brother losing his retainer. He blamed me, though I never even touched the case. When my mother started to believe him, I began to get irritated. I'd had a retainer before; they're no fun. So why would I want another one? That's right... I wouldn't want another one.

And the ending to that story is that he pushed it off the top of his dresser and it landed in a drawer, which he closed later. Problem solved. Basically, I was blamed for something I did not do, just as Johnny was.

That's all for now, folks!

~Cassie

Band, Teen Rally, and Other Stuff

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to give you a little (okay, not very little) update about what's been going on lately! Recently, I've been doing quite a few things around the Island, from Camp Casey to our school. And it has been stressful (in a good way. I'm not one for self-pity), exciting, and fun. Most of the events/activities I've been helping with are school- or 4-H-related.

Christy and I are starting a band here at the LMS. Not just an instrumental band, like the kind we have, but a band with vocals, guitars, drums, and keyboards. If you want more information, talk to Christy or me. We'd be happy to answer any questions, as long as they aren't asked at an inconvenient time. (Please ask me at school, not by commenting on the blog. I probably won't notice you comments. Sorry ahead of time.)

I'm also a member of the Planning Team for Northwest District Teen Rally '08. There's an announcement in the bulletin, so listen hard! There are also brochures in Student Services, and you can talk to me as well.

A writing group will be forming at the end of the month for students interested in the Scholastic Writing Contest. Mrs. Kizer will be helping with that.

Yep... And if you want to check out my rabbits' website, click here.

That's all I really have time to type out, so...

Bye!

~Cassie

Morning

The sun began to rise slowly, leisurely, turning the gray sky lavender. A golden rooster crowed, for once on time. His hens clucked and ruffled their feathers, not wanting to wake. A pair of dogs barked and growled at a doe and her twin fawns. A cat slept on one of the three beds in a house, stretching lazily and meowing in her master's ear.

Three alarm clocks went off in the giant, three-floor house. One alarm stayed on, the country music blaring loudly, trying to escape the closed door of the light purple room. One alarm was slapped twice, for the first slap missed the 'sleep' button. One was turned off with a gentle touch of its owner's hand after it played for fifteen minutes.

A dark Russian blue cat carefully placed a paw full of unsheathed claws on her master's cheek, and curled her long claws. The girl yelped and leaped out of her bed, the feline hissing. This was not a good way to begin the morning.

Bleary-eyed, she walked down the fir-wood hall, careful not to dent the soft wood. Making her way to the laundry room, she dressed slowly, not wanting to go into the kitchen. Going into the kitchen meant dealing with them.

She reluctantly left the warmth of the laundry room and went into the gloomy, dark kitchen. The bowl-shaped light wasn't on in the dining room, where a a boy with reddish-brown hair was eating Cheerios out of a gigantic bowl. "Doesn't anyone ever turn the lights on in here? Aren't you tired of the dark?" she said as she slid her finger under the light switch and flipped it so it said on in little letters on the bottom of the light switch.

A blond-haired, blue-eyed man roamed about the kitchen, carefully putting sandwiches in plastic baggies. The girl had the same blond hair.

"Morning, Daddy!" she said, trying to sound cheery.

"Hi, Cassie," her father said blandly.

"Hi, Jacob!"

"Leave me alone," the boy eating cereal replied.

"Fine."

And the rush to catch both buses began.

First Day Reflection

The first day of school made me feel as if I was coming home for the first time in a very long time. I loved being able to breathe in the crisp air on a cool morning; being able to see my friends in person for the first time in three long months. I almost felt like someone had knocked the breath clean out of me so I could take in the scent of my homeland. It just felt right to be back on the grounds again.

Throughout the day, I saw people I had not seen in ages: some had just moved back to the district, others had just enrolled in LMS. A few were brand new to the state of Washington. I met up with some of my old friends as well, and discovered that I, surprisingly, liked every single one of my teachers.

My schedule was convenient; my classes mostly took place in the eighth grade hall, where my locker was. And my new science teacher completely changed the views I'd acquired from the year before, when I'd had a science teacher that wasn't really the best personality match for me.

And as I got on the bus to go home, I realized that I loved my schedule and my teachers. And I knew exactly what I was going to say to my mother when she asked how my day had gone.