In which we all breathe a sigh of relief...oh, wait, not yet.

Konbanwa, minna-san!
In case you were wondering, I just spent the last three hours writing an exam review for Science. Why? Well, Mr. Pourkhatai asked us to. Or, well, no, he assigned it for homework. I feel sorry for whoever gets mine. Ha! They'd better appreciate it, because right now, I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open!

Tonight everyone is scrambling to finish their Culminating, including my group. We are basically done; all we have to do is add in the exercises and finalize everything. So far, there have been ten versions of the manual, all of them with major differences.

A few problems we had were the screenshots and the answer keys. It took forever to write the answer keys; probably because no one wanted to take the time to do work that seemed like homework. Well, I ended up writing the answer keys for the quizzes and part of the exercises. As for the screenshots, we had to remake them because the file name was "Unnamed #1". According to Mr. Arkin, it wasn't professional. There was some confusion about that, but I ended up making all of those as well. Hmm.

I think we should modify our page on the VPCA Wiki so that it's more specific as to who did what. Honestly, I can't remember every exact detail, but I'd like to give a guideline so Mr. Arkin will have a clearer idea of how to dole out the marks. Right now, it just says "collaboration" if more than one person worked on it.

Tomorrow is the last day of Semester One. Can you believe it? It all passed so quickly. Exams are next week, and after that, Semester Two will begin. I won't see Mr. Pourkhatai, Ms. Fisher, Mr. Arkin or Mr. Vretranos anymore; and that saddens me. To tell you the truth, I really disliked Mr. Pourkhatai at first, but now, I'm actually okay with him. He's pretty funny! I will miss Mr. Vretranos a lot - he's my favourite teacher at VP (Sorry, Mr. Arkin!). Next year, I plan on taking Latin, so if that works out, I'll get him as a teacher again. Hooray! *smile*

It was a great year--er, semester--with Mr. Arkin. Although Mr. Vretranos is my favourite teacher, ICS is my favourite class because I have so much fun in it! It's where I met Zarin-dono, and we're really good friends now. (By the way, her birthday's tomorrow. I'm going (attempt) to draw a bishie for her. Shhh! It's a surprise!) Mr. Arkin is also pretty funny, and he can teach much better than most of my other teachers. I'll miss him, too.

As I sit here writing this blog entry (and arguing with Andy about whether tea or coffee is better), I'm also reflecting on the past five months. This start to high school has been amazing, and I'll never forget it.

---

Current Music: Nishiki no Mai - Gakupo Kamui and Gakuko

In which Pearl struggles to write a code

Konbanwa, minna-sama.

As usual, I'm feeling very tired and lethargic. Add in some stress because the majority of my classes are "behind" the other Grade 9 Pre-IB classes of said subject, and you have the perfect formula for exhaustion. If it's possible to get more than 7 hours of sleep a night in the next few days, I'd like to take advantage of that. Otherwise I might really fall asleep in Science. (And no, I absolutely cannot afford that!)

I think my overall average went down a lot, and it's got me worried. I already knew that my Science mark would drop, I just didn't expect it to drop so much. I'm even dropping in ICS, and I feel horrible, especially after Mr. Arkin gave his speech about expecting us to get over 80% on the recent programming test. I made stupid mistakes...very stupid mistakes...

Anyways, today we continued working on the "Follow the Bounce" program. Last night (this morning?), I had gotten a large part of it done. The only problem was that there were (I'm exaggerating here) a million loops, so that even I got confused - and I was the one who wrote the thing! So, yes, when Randi came over and told Zarin and I that the program only needed to consist of one loop...I...cried. All my hard work, gone! Well, it's nothing to lose sleep over.

By the end of the period, I had gotten a pretty good idea of how to do it. Of course, that included a ton of desk checking (in my head, because it would take too long to do it on paper) and tracing the execution (with the computer). Now, I only need to fix a little glitch and it'll be perfect! Of course, I could never have gotten this far without help! Thank you to everyone who helped me, you know who you are!

I really like this program (staring at it is fun!), so I'm going to create an executable for it. I want to send it to my mom so she can see it (and maybe even show it off to her colleagues at work). Teehee.

For homework, I need to start on the "Window-edge Tracker" program. I have a pretty good idea about how to do it, but I don't want to spend an excessive period of time on it, since I have a big essay for English that I need to finish. I also agreed to editing Zarin-dono's essay (and I'm perfectly happy doing so - I don't mind at all)!

So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-sama!

In which Pearl works on Repetition Assignment 8

Huh...I almost forgot to write this...
After I got back home, I started reading Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian, since it is due on Monday. I wanted to finish it tonight, so I could spend the rest of the weekend working. Unfortunately... I almost always read lying down, and most of the time I fall asleep either in the middle of doing so or right after I finish. And lo and behold, I woke up (just in time) to do this! *sweat*

Although today is Thursday, there's no school tomorrow, as it is a PD Day. Mr. Arkin calls it our "undeserved" long weekend. Heh.
I wonder why they call it a PD Day? In middle school it was called a PA Day, which stood for Professional Activity Day. I think. So what does the "D" stand for? Hmm...

Anyways, back to computer class. Today we were assigned a new project, one that (surprisingly) has to do with HTML. Because we all had problems with getting our codes printed on time, Mr. Arkin is asking us to do a research project on at least two different types of printers and present our findings in a table. Of course, it's much more elaborate than how I just explained it.

The web page with the instructions makes the aforementioned assignment sound pretty easy, but - and yes, I'm speaking from experience - I know this will probably be what I'm working on for the majority of the weekend. *sigh*

On another note, we were supposed to do a modified version of Repetition Assignment 8, but I finished that in class. And I managed to print out the code - just before school ended, too!

Ah! I just realized...because tomorrow is a PD Day, we aren't going to have Studio 218! What a sad thought...

Have a good (long) weekend, everyone! I won't be writing again until Monday.

In which we vigorously worked on our Repetition assignments

Haha...I was so hyper today...
Maybe because I was using the names of the characters from Durarara!! to test out the program for Repetition Assignment 3? Hmm...probably, yep.
I think I freaked out Zarin-chan. Hee. I love freaking my friends out. *innocent smile*

Well, today was a work period for our repetition assignments. Zarin and I worked together (sort of) and got to Question 4! *wince*
But that's okay, right? Because we finish the rest at home? *sweat*
Honestly, Question 3 was...frustrating. At first, I thought everything was fine; but then Mr. Arkin stated that we shouldn't ask the user whether to continue or not. Then I felt like "What? All my hard work - gone down the drain! *cry*" Yep.
Then I remembered one of the examples we did in class on Friday (was it Friday? I think it was Friday) and used that format. It should be right now. I even made sure the greeting was distinctive! As in, I made the background colour navy blue and the text colour white. So it's visible.

I also finished the basic part of Question 4, but I need to tweak it. Yes... Look forward to seeing that.

Oh yes, before I forget! We finally had Studio 218 today (it's been a long time) even though it's Monday, not Friday. Out of all the songs on the playlist, I know...about three. And two of them were ones I suggested. *sweat*
It's not my fault! I just don't listen to English songs anymore! Wait...then it is my fault. Derr...
But YouTube kept playing commercials, so Mr. Arkin didn't let us listen to the playlist anymore. *cry*
It sucks. I was watching Durarara!! the other day (on YouTube, yes, because for some stupid reason...CrunchyRoll wasn't working. Grah...), and I had to endure...thirty seconds...of commercials before it started. Argh!

On another note, Mr. Arkin posted up our midterm marks this morning. I won't say (type?) out mine here, but let's just say... I'm extremely happy with what I got. ...Heh.
Hopefully I can keep it up.

Anyways, I'm going to finish the rest of my homework now.
Until tomorrow,
Ja ne, minna-san!

In which we tie up loose ends

Ah, how I love baths... So warm and comfy...
They're a welcome distraction from the large amount of homework that I have to do after. Then again, so is manga...

Anyways! Today, we continued working on the poster we started last class. (See my previous blog entry for more information on that) My group...didn't cover all the sections outlined in the Programming Guidlines...But we did our best, and hopefully that will count for something!

Then, Mr. Arkin surprised us with a pop quiz! I missed the first one our class had, since I was at a X-Country meet, so I was quite anxious and nervous in the...five-ish minutes...he gave us to clear our desks and get out a pencil and an eraser.

When we got the quiz, I was extremely surprised! It just seemed so...easy! And it was! Even after I handed it in, I had the uneasy feeling that I missed something important - I mean, it couldn't have been that simple! Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing it. I probably am...

On another note, we missed Studio 218 again! It's so sad... Nevertheless, on Monday we'll...have a great time! *wink wink nudge nudge*

Haha, well, I'm off now! Time to go procrastinate by reading fanfic~ I need to catch up on Acerbus-chan's fics! (Er, I highly doubt that anyone knows who I'm talking about, so I'm providing a link. Just a warning though - she writes shonen-ai.)

Ja ne, minna-san!

In which Pearl tries to better her Superpower Assignment

Aw, man, trying to convince my mom to let me go to Anime North is hard. *wince*
But I'm going to do my best! I really want to go - it's that important to me. I'm even willing to pay for it out of my own pocket! ...If I even have that much money...

On another note, Mr. Arkin was away today. So, we cleaned up our Super-power Assignments. Or, well, I did. And, God, did I strain my eyes. I feel really stupid...because I forgot a lot of important stuff about HTML. Like, for example, where to find the "Website Design" page. *shot*

But it should be fine now. I made sure I corrected every aspect of it (that I could find).
I still can't believe I put "were" instead of "we're".
DAH. I'm a shame to all Grammar Nazis! *cries*

Well, on the weekend I have to write my Programming Glossary and upload it. Fortunately, it's not that hard - just time-consuming. Then again, it means I don't have to work on my Science, so I'm okay.

There's not much left to say... We didn't have Studio 218 (again). Is it because there was a supply teacher? I still don't know.

Hallowe'en is this Sunday! I'm going trick-or-treating. Yes...it never gets old. Besides, I like Hallowe'en because I get to dress up (and people won't give me strange looks if I walk around with cat ears on!). Ha...I can't wait until it's May. Anime North! I still have to convice my mom to let me go, though...

I want to write a Hallowe'en fic/story and draw a "spooky" picture. No, scratch that, I can't draw scary stuff. But hey, I write angst, so the writing part will be easy! (Self-promotion time!) Look for me on deviantArt: my username is chibikarin22. Or click here. That works too.

Well, I'll shut up now. Have a Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!

Ja ne~!

In which Pearl runs out of breath.

Okay, so today I missed yet another day of class due to (yet another) X-Country meet.
I feel bad, because my science teacher seemed to be a little mad at this. *wince*
Moreover, I didn't place well...at all.
But! I'm proud that I even made it to Metros. I didn't make it to OFSAA (no surprise there!), but I'm still content with how far I got.

So, I was told that my class had a pop quiz today. I'm wondering whether I should study or not...since it's supposed to be a pop quiz...
Nevertheless, I think I'll review my notes, just in case...>_>

On another note, I finally finished the Selection Assignments. I was having trouble with them until Cinye told me that there is a space in "endif".
*slams head into wall*
The webpage covering selection doesn't say that! Why is that so? *cries hysterically*
And I was spazzing, too...

---

Hopefully we'll have a DJ this Friday for Studio 218. I don't have a YouTube account, and I don't plan on making one anytime soon...so I doubt I can be the DJ. However, I suggested two songs! My friend has recently gotten me obsessed with Sweet Serendipity by Lee DeWyze - she loves him - and one of my favourite songs lately is I Like it ft. Pitbull by Enrique Iglesias.

If I were to be the DJ...then Class C would have to listen to japanese music for the whole period. And, though I prefer it over English music, I'm not sure if the rest of the class agrees with me.

Ah, well, I should review my notes now. Until tomorrow:

Ja ne!

Party Over Here!

It's party time!

Today, all the Mr. Arkin's ICS2O classes had a party to celebrate the end of the HTML unit! It was awesome, because we got to relax and socialize for a whole 70 minutes!

In addition, Class C had CS last period, so we got to have the other class' leftovers - in other words, more food for us! It was great...I binged on chips and popcorn...

On Tuesday, we're going to go back to our normal routine. Good or bad, I'm not sure; but I know that I'm happy we had a party today.

Thank you, Mr. Arkin!

Am I a bringer of bad luck?

Okay, so Mr. Arkin figured out the problem I had with my superpower assignment. And, it turns out that someone else had put their assignment in my folder. When I found out, I was filled with a mixture of relief and anger. Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularily angry at the person who did that, whoever it was; but it would've been nice to have known that a few days ago. I actually lost sleep over it...

And now, I tried connecting to FileZilla, but apparently the username and password were incorrect? How could that be? I tried all the different combinations possible, in case I got it wrong...but it still doesn't work. I guess I'll have to talk to Mr. Arkin...oh wait, I'm not here tomorrow. ARGH!!! I guess I'll have to email him about it.

Why am I so unlucky?

Anyways, today we continued working on the Class Glossary. Thankfully, one of my classmates put up a list of glossary terms - about 34 in all. Apparently, it's due at 10pm, but...yeah, I'll have to email Mr. Arkin. Well, I plan on finishing it before nine, because a new episode of Criminal Minds is airing at 9pm on CTV. And I'm not missing that.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning: Lab 218 got a sign! It has everyone's name on it, no matter what class they're in! I found myself staring in awe at it for a full ten seconds...or so.

As for Studio 218, I don't know what we're going to do! I guess I can borrow a CD from the library tomorrow, but I'm not sure...

Anyways, I'm off to work now!

Ja ne!

Could it really be? I have nothing to do! Read on!

Q: What do you do for an hour and ten minutes when you already finished everything the day before?
A: Write your blog entry so you don't have to do it on the weekend!

Yes...It's Friday, and the Superpower Assignment is officially due. All around me, my classmates are scrambling to put the finishing touches on their work and upload it. Me? I'm calmly typing this out while pandaemonium is happening around me. See, this is the benefit of finishing everything before the deadline. (Haha, actually, I was pretty much finished by last week! These past few days were spent putting the finishing touches on my web page, as well as marking my partner's work and making sure mine was marked.)

Hm, you know what would make this even funnier? If I suddenly whipped out a cup of tea and daintly started to sip from it! (Haha...the influence manga and anime have over me...)

Ah...well, I'm trying to pass the time with this, so bear with me and my horrible sense of humour.

Mr. Arkin said that we had to have everything up by 10pm tonight. Well, this doesn't really affect me, but my partner has to uploaded a revised version of the Peer Marking Scheme. I'm not worried, though - I fully believe that she won't disappoint me.

Update! She's almost there! Come on, come on...

Sometimes I feel like connecting to FileZilla is like a day at the New York Tax Exchange (is it that one? I can't remember...hopefully I'm right.) Everyone's trying to be heard, and it's almost like a full-out war.

Update...er, number two! She did it! Hooray! *jumps up and cheers*

What else is there to say? (For those of you actually spending your precious time reading this, I love you! Haha...maybe you could also devote some of that time to reading...my fanfic? *nudge nudge wink wink* Make sure you leave a review!)

Oh yes! It's Friday today, so that means we're in Studio 218, not Lab 218! Hooray! Our class put together an amazing playlist, which can be found here. Right now, Bad Romance is on. Haha...such good memories come back...I miss my friends from middle school...

Maybe next week I can bring in a japanese CD! I know the library has Ayumi Hamasaki...but I wish that they had anime OSTs. Anime songs are epic. *grins*

Anyways, I should shut up now. I probably wasted, what - ten minutes? - of your time already. Since my mind is already on  manga and anime, I'm going to pull a language switch and say:

Ja ne!

P.S. Google it if you don't understand. Google's awesome like that. (You probably won't find it on any japanese-english dictionary websites, it's slang...sort of)

A short blog entry? No! It's killing me...

Mm...today's blog entry will be incredibly short. (To my dismay!)
It saddens me. I love long blog entries, stories/fics, series, news articles, letters, etc.
Maybe because of my inability to shut up when writing? I even try to make my fics at least 1000 words long!
...Is that a bad thing?

Well, like I said, I finished my superpower autobiography yesterday. And...
I lied. I'm sorry. *seppuku*

I actually changed some things in it today. Again. Heh...no one's perfect, right?
Well...yeah, as to what I changed: the margins of my web page. Mr Arkin said that margins are usually written in percentages. So I had to alter them.

Then...I waited for Randi to finish fixing up her autobiography. When she was finished, we finally got to the peer marking stage! I was actually pretty nervous. I absolutely despise getting marks. I mean, what's wrong with doing this just for the sake of learning? There don't have to be tests! They just stress students out!

Come on, I'm not the only one saying this! ...Right?

Anyways, that's all for today. (Look how short it is! *cries uncontrollably*) Tomorrow's friday, which means...Studio 218! I want to contribute...but I have no way of knowing if the music I have is..."good"...or not. Lisa, one of my friends (in another class) said that she volunteered to be the DJ - and she's playing the Sr. Band CD from last year! (We went to the same school five years in a row, and we're still together even in high school! Can you say "BFF"?) Ha! My response: "Self-promotion! Yay!"

Right. I'll shut up now. Okay! I can't wait for Studio 218!!!

Studio 218 - What a surprise! (And a good one, at that)

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I DID IT!
I fixed that horrible problem I had yesterday!
I'm not sure how though. I just reuploaded the file I had backed up my USB.
Ha, sometimes I feel a little stupid...

Anyways, I'm working on centering everything now and (hopefully) making my images visually integrated. I heard that you have to include the source of the image as well, so right now I'm looking for the URLs of the images I used.

He also taught us about "special character entities". Apparently...we're supposed to use those. So, instead of just typing in the straight double quotes ("), we have to put in the code (“ or ”). Not that I mind, but it will get kind of tedious if I have to go over my whole super-power assignment...replacing all of them...
Nevertheless, I find them pretty cool. I never knew that there was a difference - I didn't really have a reason to notice!

Oh, before I forget! Today was awesome! Mr. Arkin told us that every friday from now on, our classroom is transformed into "Studio 218". What does that mean, you ask? Well, we get to do our work while listening to music! I could feel the smile grow on my face as he continued explaining this. Today, Mr. Arkin was the DJ, but next week it will be one of the students! The only rules are that the music must be legal and non-offensive to anyone in any way.
If I had my way, though, I would make a playlist containing only japanese music (even some from anime!). Unfortunately...I don't think my classmates would like that.
However, there's a page for Studio 218 (especially for my class!) on our Wikispaces page. I'm checking that out right now! Hmm...it seems that there are three options: have two DJs per week, have the class create their own playlist, or let Mr. Arkin be the DJ. Personally, I prefer option two. But...I wonder if my classmates would consent to music in other languages?

My goals for this weekend is to finish re-editing my Super-power assignment (on top of my other homework) and catch up on reading Mr. Arkin's blog.

Ah...I can't wait until next Friday!