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i can't blog about anything except video games

How To Draw

Lots of people constantly complain around me- the comments include such sentences such as 'My drawing is terrible!' or 'How do you draw so well?' and, though I understand that it's a compliment in some ways, it doesn't make me feel very comfortable.
Drawing is a great hobby. It allows you to pick up a pencil or pen and literally create any world, any character, or any story, without any words. It is, however, a skill, and like all skills, it requires practice.
If you aren't happy with your drawing skills, the only way to improve them is to practice, and it can be a lot of fun to do that practice, too!  I cannot describe the joy I have found in drawing- it is a really rewarding feeling when you create something you're proud of!
As such, I wanted to create a short little guide to teach you how to improve your drawing skills. It'll work- trust me.
Alright, first, just draw something- anything will do! Make sure it's something you like to draw and can do over and over again without getting bored of it. For me, this is any type of animals.
The next step is simply practice. Every day, draw something. There is literally no day within the last few months that I haven't drawn anything on- whether it may be a little doodle or a full-scale drawing!
Over time, compare your new drawings to your old ones. You will see improvement. I promise.
For some extra tips, go on websites such as DeviantArt and find inspiration from other types of artwork. I incorporated a type of eye into my drawing thanks to a video game, and I think it looks pretty good!

:P

Anyway, I bet that was pretty boring, but I hope it was helpful.

The Stock Market

I'd first like to apologize for not posting here recently, things have been hectic.
Anywho, I figured I would talk about one of the ongoing projects in our classroom- the Stock Market Project.
The first thing you need to know about this project is that it takes up the span of six weeks and is the equivalent of spending over 60 hours on a project that isn't even that interesting anyway.
Every day you need to 'invest' money in the stock market. Not ACTUALLY investing money, of course. You're pretending to put money into the market, and you can track it with a digital chart. It sounds easy enough, and that's what we all thought too.
This project is a living nightmare (though not as bad as the History Fair.). What seemed to be a simple assignment turned out to be a really difficult project.
Every week, you need to create a screenshot of your chart. Then, a graph needs to be made of every chart from that point in time. THEN, you need to gather articles for every company you invested in (I had over 65 pages worth!) and write about each of them! Afterwards, you need to put it all in a binder and send it on it's way.
Wish me luck I suppose?

In other news, we got over 30 pageviews from a Russian dating app. (Привет, Pycckий!)
That's a little strange, but sorta cool! Thanks for checking us out.

Bye, everyone!
~Sam

Pre-Halloween

I think it's pretty funny there's even a holiday for this.
I mean, holidays have their roots in togetherness and tradition. I can confirm that there is very little 'tradition' involved in Halloween.
Halloween started out as 'Sahwin', a "holiday" celebrated in Ireland that was pretty much an excuse to say up late and have a bonfire. When I looked up Sahwin, a source stated that the fires supposedly attracted bugs that bats ate, in turn sending swarms of bats toward the villages.
Why this would be beneficial for the villages I don't know.
Today, "Halloween", or "All Hallows Eve", is an excuse to stay up late and have bonfires, but with the added benefit of getting candy. There is no tradition hidden within the folds and I simply have no idea why we even celebrate it.

Rant over.
~Sam
P.S, Annie, a bunch of drafts got deleted today, and I don't know what happened. Might've been my fault, I'm not sure.

A Seemingly Pointless Anecdote

This might sound like it's a bragging post, but I swear it's not.
So, a while ago it was brought to my attention that I "broke the MAP test," courtesy of Mr. Virgen (haha). I got a 295 on the math portion of the test in fifth grade, which apparently is really good.
Now that I go to a different school, I've had opportunities to meet many new people who are much better than me at everything.
There's a bunch of seventh graders (like me) who play the flute and were put into the Wind Ensemble at my school. There's a guy named Mish (obviously not his real name) who got a perfect score on the math portion of the MAP test. There's a girl named Cat that's already on pointe (I'm going on pointe next year). And while I may possibly be the best artist of my age group (at my school), there are many other high schoolers and eighth graders who are so much better than me. Probably the only things I can count myself as good for my age group in are piano, art, and math.
What's the point of this seemingly endless anecdote? I'm here to advise you all to pick one thing and stick with it. I dance, play the flute, draw, play the piano, do math outside of school, and write, but I'm not good at any of them. You could say I'm a Jack-of-All-Trades. If you want to get into a good college, pick one talent and become exceptional at it. Don't quit. Practice for at least an hour every day. Don't overschedule yourself and leave some room for the other interests you have, but prioritize that one thing over everything else (except schoolwork).
"Wise" Advice done,
-Annie

Upcoming Project

I really like to use visual programming languages. I love the concept of being able to look at blocks of code and actually create something out of seemingly meaningless pictures.
I wanted to do a big project in the coming months, and my mission is to create a text-to-speech software that will eventually include triphones and different voices. I don't know how it's going to work out, but I hope I finish it!
You can view my Scratch.mit account at : https://scratch.mit.edu/users/-tobor-/ . I don't have any projects there yet since I unshared all my old stuff. I've been using the software for 3 years now, since I used to have a different account.
I just wanted to put this out here! If you have any questions or recommendations about this project, let me know!

Bye!
~Sam

A Thank You

I happen to play a game called Animal Jam, an MMO created by WildWorks Interactive and is one of the coolest things ever. It's a very casual game that I have enjoyed for 5 years now, which is crazy. I really appreciate everything they do.
Anyway, a while ago, I was tricked out of a few items that I really really liked. I got over it in time, but it still made me angry. I emailed their support line with the players username and the items they took.
They actually replied and sent me back a document that asked me to confirm my player information. I did, and they gave me an awesome gift.
In-game, there's a 'premium' currency called Diamonds that can get you some really awesome items. It's hard to gain many diamonds since you get them on such a slow scale comparing to the regular currency, Gems.
In that final reply, they told me they added 50 free diamonds to my player account. I was absolutely stunned. In US currency, this equates to a cost of 50 dollars if you buy them on a gift card.. They gave me the equivalent of 50 dollars in-game.
Wow.
I feel so honored that they would actually do that. It can't replace the items I lost, but the fact that they actually did that was absolutely amazing.
Fellow AJ players: Please do not attempt to lie and cheat to get 50 diamonds out of AJHQ. It is a really vile thing to do, and nobody would be appreciative of such behavior.

~Sam
Thank you.

Science Tests

I really don't like Science Tests.
At all.
I don't mind Reading or Math tests. Social Studies tests are painful but straightforward. Science tests, however, are pretty bad.
I will call my science teacher Virgen, since that's what he calls himself when he play the Pokemon TCG, I believe. This results in some pretty hilarious insults, but I have no reason to insult him, really.
Anyway, Mr. Virgen really likes precision of speech. I no longer raise my hand because if I get a word wrong it doesn't really go through his brain properly and register "Oh, hey, this guy got the question right! Good job Sam!" It mostly just makes him go "Meh, that's decent. Next person."
Socrative and CK12 are the embodiment of this frustration. These are both computer programs for testing, grading, and homework that take short-answer responses from students. This means that if the question is:
"What is the freezing temperature of water in Celsius?"
You would put in 0, right?
Well, the computer program doesn't know that. It thinks that "zero" is the right answer, but not "0". In other words, it's only programmed to take one answer.
This is catastrophic when you have to take a test. I just finished the one for today, and I'm really anxious. I hope I make it, and I'm sure I will...
I think.

~Sam

Gifted-ish

Im typing this on the bus as we go to school, so expect grammar errors

Anyway, I happen to go to a gifted school, which can be weird to talk about when you're in a conversation. You can't say "I'm a gifted student", because that makes you sound like a total douche. You also can't talk about the fact that you ARE, in fact, smart, or perhaps mature for your age, but you don't want to talk about that either. It's embarrassing.

I remember one of the weirdest moments of my life was when some parent said something along the lines of:

"Oh, yes, she goes to a gifted school. We were very suprised."

See what I mean? It doesn't really want to make you talk to that person again.

Well, the fact of the matter is the following:

1. Gifted kids don't consider themselves to be superior to the kid across the street.

2. Gifted kids can seem awkward to talk to for a while since they occasionally use a big word that you've never heard of before, or are perhaps working on something a year ahead of your math group

3. We typically hate the label

I don't really know how that sounded to an outsider, but that's really all you need to know. If you keep those things in mind we can actually mention it without sounding like total egotistical jerks. And if you're okay with those things, we'll be completely happy talking to you whenever you'd like. 

The end. Thanks for listening to me rant.

~Sam

Faith In Humanity

A lot of people on the internet say things along the lines of 'Humanity Faith Lost' or 'I think I've finally lost my faith in humanity.' 

Well, today, I think I finally learned how those people feel when they say those things. Not only does it sound like a story straight out of the YouTube comments section it feels like I made it up. I swear, it is that surreal.

So, today I was talking to my younger brother who I will refer to here as 'Tiger'. (For future reference, every real name and location here will be censored for privacy reasons. If you're clever enough, you may  figure out the real locations.)

Tiger walked into the kitchen and told me that when he was Agar.io, somebody was named 'Squeeble'. This is something that a kid across the street says quite often. My brother figured it might've been him.

"Well, why don't you go and ask him?" I ask.

"It's because I don't have his text." Tiger replies.

At this point I'm a little concerned, but I press on.

"So why don't you go across the street and ring the doorbell?"

"Yeah, but who does that anymore?"

I stare at him and walk out of the room.

Faith in humanity lost.

~Sam

Welcome

Welcome to 'Team Firefly', a place for rambles, vents, and thoughts.
This is a website run by two 7th graders who initially created this as a more creative way to keep in touch. This is a no-judgement zone, and we are always here to listen if you have anything to say yourself.
I really hope you enjoy this website. Remember to press the follow button if you'd like to be notified of future posts!

See ya,
~Sam