Facebook

Facebook, it’s even in the dictionary now! It would be correct to explain what Facebook is, but if you don’t know then you are living in a different century. Everyone has Facebook these days, even my mom, and she I must say she is not a very modern or trendy person. Facebook was launched on February 2004, and at first it wasn’t so famous, but now… over 500 million people are active users of Facebook, meaning one of every fourteen people in the world have and use Facebook. It was founded by three Harvard students who were roommates, Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. I mean it would be awesome to become a millionaire by inventing a website. Of course at first it started small, they made it for Harvard students only, later they moved onto letting other Ivy league universities use it, then any university students and now the let anyone who claims to be over 13 to use it. But what goes up must come down, and there have been some privacy issues on Facebook, where peoples personal information was leaked, resulting in some bad thing. They even banned it in some countries such as, North Korea, Syria, Pakistan, and People ’s Republic of China, Vietnam, Iran, and Uzbekistan. But even with these glitches and bannings, people still use Facebook ALL the time.

Universal Studios/Adventure Island

So here’s the thing, if you like big roller coasters and adrenaline rushes, Island of Adventure is for you, but if you like more visual rides and more traditional Universal Studios movies, go to Universal Studios. Island of Adventure can really give you an adrenaline rush, it’s got the Incredible Hulk Coaster, which is extremely fast and does lots of loops, Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall, where you literally fall, the RIP Saw Falls, Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge. But they also have multiple rides for little kids and shows, like the whole Seuss Landing park, The lost Continent Park, some rides on Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park. This park is also very visual, as each park has its own theme and idea which are all very well built, especially The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which they made exactly like in the books and movies. Seuss landing was also beautiful with many of Dr. Seuss’ characters and the theme was portrayed really well. Overall whichever part you go to, they really make it look real and if it’s from a movie they make you feel like you are part of it. Universal Studios is similar in the way that it makes you feel like you are in the movie yourself, but their rides are mostly like helping the main character save the DID (Damsel In Distress) or the other characters that need help. They also have more traditional themes like E.T., Barney, Nicktoons, Woody Woodpecker, MIB, Mummy, Jaws, Terminator, and the Simpsons. So if you like adrenaline rushes, go to Adventure island, if you like more traditional things go to Universal Studios.

The Secret of Peaches

This is a sequel to the book Peaches, and must say this book was not my favorite, but I definitely liked it. It was about three girls, Birdy, who lives on a peach grove and was brought up very casual, Murphy, who is very wild and loves attention, and Leeda, birdie’s cousin who was brought up very proper. who had become friends over summer by working at a peach farm. At first they didn’t like each other at all, but as summer passed went through many ups and downs, and eventually became inseparable. Now they are back to school and they have to start making hard decisions about where they are going to go to college and what they are going to do with their lives. Murphy has always thought she was too big for such a small town, and the only school she applied to was NYU. But she still has her boyfriend, Rex, who she tries to get to go with her, but he decides his life is there, in the small town. Then there is Leeda, who has spent her entire life trying to please her mom, which pays no attention to her and constantly lets her down. Leeda decides to do one last thing to get her mom to like her, she becomes pecan queen, as her whole family has been, but her mom lets her down once more, and she finally decides that pleasing people is not what she wants to do anymore, she wants to live for herself and she begins to drift away from Birdy and Murphy. Last of all there is Birdie, she is trying to make her long distance relationship work with Enrico, and has her whole life planned out already. But when Enrico comes over for thanksgiving and they get a little too close, she is scared God will punish her and so when her dad gets her tickets to go see him in Mexico she tries to waste all the time she has with him. If you want to know how everything turns out, read the book!

Disney's Magic Kingdome, Orlando

So people always say that Disney’s Magic Kingdome Park is for little kids and its super boring. And I guess they are right if they just like to go to parks for the rides. But it’s the original Disney, and if you’ve been to the other ones, but not Magic Kingdome, you can’t say you have truly been to Disney. But I used to go there all the time when I was little, and for me it’s still great to go there. Mostly because seeing all the little girls dressed up as princesses reminds me of how I used to do that. Disney also just has a positive vibe, all around there is music and people smiling and yeah, sure, the rides aren’t as fun as the ones on the other parks but there are still a few that are enjoyable, such as, Space Mountain, or the haunted house. I went in October, and they have a Halloween party, because, of course, it’s Halloween. If you like getting to be a little kid again, it’s great! Everyone dresses up and there’s a Halloween parade instead of the usual one, and they give you lots of candy. So really Magic Kingdome is for little kids, but if you like remembering how you were and all the good memories and maybe getting to relive some moments, it’s fun.

Moving

Well, I really couldn't think of anything very recent to write about so I decided to write about having to move. Let’s start from the very beginning. The last week of school everything was going great, I had my next two years all planned out in Malaysia and I was extremely happy. I had a go-away/surprise birthday party planned for my best friend 2 days before school ended and I was super excited for summer to start. Three days before school ended I came home and went upstairs to my room. About an hour later I heard my mom come home and she asked me to come downstairs. I went halfway down the stairs and asked what she wanted, but she made me walk all the way down and sit right next to her on the sofa. At that moment I knew something wasn’t right. I heard her say “that going away party is going to be for you too”, but it took me a few seconds to really understand what she was trying to say. As soon as those few seconds were over, the confusion struck – why? What is she talking about? – Then, came the disbelief – no she has to be joking, that’s not possible. – And finally, came the defiance and shock – No! I am not going to move! They can’t make me do this! – But I tried to keep my cool. I asked where they were moving us to and as soon as my mom said Caracas i just couldn’t hold it in anymore. I protested and made completely sure that there wasn’t at least a ten percent chance that we didn’t have to move. She explained that they had already sent the letter and the date was set for the movers to come and pack everything up. I couldn’t take it, so I went up to my room and started talking to my friends. It soon hit me how much I would miss them and how much I would just miss everything so began to cry. I cried for about five minutes, but I convinced myself it would be ok. But after about another five minutes I started cry again and I cried all afternoon and all night. It was just too shocking and sudden, even my friends though I was joking. They were all convinced that it was a big joke and I was just trying to scare them. But as they days passed it became more and more real. The school started sending papers to sign, forms to fill, and packets of information. A lot of my friends left for summer late, so I got to spend some extra time with them, but they gradually left, one, by one, and finally the day for the house to be packed cam, it was well into summer, mid-July. Every day there was something to organize, separate and pack up. And each day the house got more and more filled with boxes, until it was like a maze. The moment I remember the most was sitting at the bottom of the stares staring at the maze of tan boxes and wondering how this could be happening already. It was horrible staring at those boxes and then they began to be emptied out of the house, until all that was left was the wall sized mirror, the unforgettable view and the sadness lingering in the air. I moved into a hotel, that didn’t help me cheer up much either because it was the same hotel I had stayed at when I first got there, the same hotel I met my best friend and the same hotel that I had wanted to move out of so badly and now wanted to just stay in so badly. The last few days I spent as much time as possible with my only friend that was left there. We went to the movies, hung out at the mall, went swimming and just had the most fun we could. And then came the awful day. We said goodbye to everyone we knew and climbed into the taxi, tears in our eyes and luggage in our hands.