Vincent's Blog

When I first arrived in August, I expected tons of homework and teachers mean to the core(I’m kidding about mean teachers). But I soon realized that I didn’t have that much homework, even though there is and obvious increase from 6th grade’s homework(especially math). By October, school is really nowhere near as difficult as I thought it would be in sixth grade. Eventually, I figured math was the class that gave the most homework. Fortunately for us, we get time in class and don’t have to do all of it at home.

In seventh grade, I learned that high school math isn’t really that difficult. Even though the homework amount isn’t one of the advantages, it is still challenging and will even be useful in real life. This morning, I used it to simply solve how to split 113 years into 24 people for a history project. Additionally, I learned that writing this year is considerably more difficult than 4th grade. Adding on to that, I had always tried to slow down on STAAR tests. However, this year, I slowed down too much and had to rush through the second essay on the second day. Even as I write this post, I am wondering about the grade of my essays.

Near the end of the year, I am thinking about how I can improve upon tests and end the procrastinating habit  that has been haunting me for as long as I remember(But, I’ll break the habit next year…or the next…or the next….). If I had to do it over again, I would make slight improvements to how I organize my homework and notes. It was definitely better than sixth grade, but there are still – and always will be – room for improvement.

For those about-to-be-seventh-graders out there, take your time on those tests(just not too much time)! I know it’s a pain to sit for four hours, but why finish a test in one hour when you can use 3 or 4 and get a better grade? Either way, you have to sit in that chair for four hours, so why not make good use of that time? Also, for those who are grumbling about how there is going to be so much homework in seventh grade, just wait until 8th or high school, and it will make 7th grade look like a piece of cake. If you are about to be seventh grade and you are reading this(I know you probably won’t be a sixth grader), good luck next year.

I can understand if most of the people out would prefer playing a first person shooter and killing zombies rather than think over a puzzle for a long time. There are many types of stratagy games: Minesweeper, the move-the-red-box-out kind if puzzle, and even the famous game of Bloon Tower Defense. However, the most challenging of all(in my opinion, of course) is – and you guessed it – chess.

Unlike any other games, chess is not a game you can just “beat”. There is no definite way to win. The possibilities are almost endless. There are some estimates about all of the possible positions and they ranged from 10^40-10^80 possible combinations. Therefore, very rarely in your life, do you see two games that are played exactly the same way. For example, counting to one billion(10^9) at the speed of one number per second would take about 31 years, non-stop. Imagine how hard it will be to figure out all of the possible combinations in chess. Unlike many strategy games, you can’t say “I beat all the levels!” to chess. No matter what, there is always moves, tactics, and openings to improve on. I have been playing for years and years, but every single game, I can find some mistake- whether it’s a minor one or major- to improve upon. If you are someone who thinks that there are no strategy games that can challenge you, try playing chess.

Backward Bill

By: Shel Silverstein

Backward Bill, Backward Bill,
He lives way up on Backward Hill,
Which is really a hole in the sandy ground
(But that’s a hill turned upside down).

Backward Bill’s got a backward shack
With a big front porch that’s built out back.
You walk through the window and look out the door
And the cellar is up on the very top floor.

Backward Bill he rides like the wind
Don’t know where he’s going but sees where he’s been.
His spurs they go “neigh” and his horse it goes “clang,”
And his six-gun goes “gnab,” it never goes “bang.”

Backward Bill’s got a backward pup,
They eat their supper when the sun comes up,
And he’s got a wife named Backward Lil,
“She’s my own true hate,” says Backward Bill.

Backward Bill wears his hat on his toes
And puts on his underwear over his clothes.
And come every payday he pays his boss,
And rides off a-smilin’ a-carryin’ his hoss.

I’ve read this poem a long time ago. All of Shel Silverstein’s are really good, but this one jumped out at me. I thought this poem was pretty funny and the rhymes were really creative. I hope you enjoy this poem as well!

Note from the person who posted this video:”Things starts to get freaky at 1:53″

Note: The yo-yo is actually spinning really fast even though it may not look like it. Second of all, the yo-yo is not attached to the string by any way(no glue, staples, etc.). Even though it seems like this kid is doing something impossible

I have lived in china when I was really young. One of the many things that is very memorable to me is actually the Chinese yo-yo.
Unfortunately, I have never mastered it(because I was so young and too little) but I have always found it marvelous how people spin this hourglass shaped object on a thin piece of string. People near my neighborhood would spin the yo-yo by furiously pulling the string up with each hand, alternating. They were not like the kid- who is apparently some kind of yo-yo prodigy- but some can throw them in the air and catch them and do simple things like that.This isn’t really a self-explanatory sport like actual yo-yo’s because it’s difficult to get the hang of(at least for me it is). What perplexes me is how they keep the yo-yo spinning for so long. When I tried to imitate, without success, the rapid alternating hand motions, the yo-yo didn’t spin. I probably will try to master it later in my life, but first, I need to find one…

Note: I am assuming that we have to write a expository for the student blogging challenge. If I am wrong- which I probably and usually is-  please comment.

No matter where I go in Austin, I can always see some kind of vegetation nearby. Austin is a great place to live.

I think Austin is awesome because of its environment. I’ve visited many places: Shanghai, Qingdao, Hangzhou, New York…However, unlike those places, Austin is a bit, no, A LOT, quieter, and by quieter, I mean by comparison. For example, the ratio of Chinese people to Americans are over 4 to 1. Imagine that everyone you know is actually 4 people, you can imagine how crowded and how there is so much more noise in China. Continuing on about the noise, there was a news post that stated: Chinese people use car horns 40 Times as much as Europe. Absurd? Absolutely not. If you really don’t believe me, you can seriously go to China or simply look it up yourself.

Above all that, Austin is one of the cleanest and least polluted place I have ever been. Plus, the weather in Austin is actually fairly tolerable. I know we have hot summers, but at least it’s cooler than Houston(A bit) and the winters are nowhere near as cold as New York or Wyoming. If you have never been to Austin, feel free to visit. However, if you are in Austin and think Austin stinks(which I hope you don’t think that), there ahve been worse places…

I have been playing chess for sometime now. Chess is a really fun game and it’s really challenging, and sometimes frustrating. In chess, there is very rarely ever a game with the same moves made. In the first two moves(white moves, black moves, is one), there is already 400 combinations, so chess can’t really get boring. I’ve found this cool website about chess puzzles. Some are really simple but others might take you a few minutes and are really confusing. If you are a ardent chess player, try out some of these puzzles. Good luck!http://chessok.com/?page_id=359

We are doing an expository writing lesson in english class. Me and Mike chose a topic that we both- and everyone should- believe: How falling can be harmful.

Here it is(Me and Mike’s versions might be a little different):

As you walk down the stairs, you suddenly slip on a banana peel, falling head first down the stairs and fracture your phalanges- Only one of the many scenarios of how falling can be harmful.

First of all, falling can always hurt yourself. For instance, falling from a tall building will hurt you pretty bad and haunt you for the rest of your life – if you were lucky enough to survive. Plus, If you fall on someone, it will hurt you and the others and probably will kill.

Furthermore, when you fall anywhere(like the stairs at your school), you will look like a fool. Adding to that, you will be embarrassed for life- assuming you lived after the fall. For example: you have the soccer ball, and it’s you and the goalie. You hear the roaring crowd and you know you will make this shot. You are 10 yards away, stepping back to kick…. But you slipped! Now, you lost the game  and become one of the most hated players on the team. Of course, this is only a fake scenario that emphasizes on how falling can harm you and will hurt you both physically and mentally.

Because of the dangers of falling, you should always take precaution. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Stairs, tall buildings, and even soccer balls-can make you fall- so take precautions against falling so you won’t be injured.

My cousin and my aunt came to United states for the first time two weeks ago. In China, their winter break is slightly longer than ours- theirs is about a month – but their summer break is a whole lot shorter, only about 2 months. When we got the call that my dad missed the plane, my mom was pretty distressed, mainly thinking about how to make through LA’s security and find the right gate at the right time. We were really surprised they got through all the securities no problem without knowing any English. My dad got on another plane a day later, and still made it.

In United States, the air is a lot cleaner than the air in China with all that pollution. We went hiking, the Alamo, shopping(for some reason), and other boring stuff that is…well, boring. For them, there isn’t really much to do in US due to fact that they can’t speak english.

Unfortunately, she’s leaving tomorrow, and I hope she enjoyed the stay(I hope that the snow days are not gonna ruin her trip) and is welcome anytime.

My second period is Graphics and web design and this is my first and only semester. We do all kinds of things like using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, and more. Out of all, I enjoy coding the most, even though it may be very simple and sometimes frustrating because the computer is glitchy. We all go on this website called www.codecademy.com.
However, coding does take a long time and a space in some codes will probably mess up lots of things. In code, there is a lot of fun things to do that probably can’t be done in the “visual” tab. So far, I don’t know how to make games or anything. I can only make paragraphs, add pictures, and other extremely basic stuff.
However, I did find something really cool.
If you go into any website, and click view source, you can see all it’s codes. It’s probably not huge news, but you can actually copy and paste it. For example, you can go to your own blog, right click, click view source, copy all of it, and then paste it into the text tab of a post. You will see two posts overlapping and I think that’s kind of cool.