The Amazing Power of Photoshop

Wow...It's been some time since I last blogged. Almost a week! Recently, I have been attending a summer camp at Ohlone For Kids, and one of my classes concerns Photoshop. I know that Photoshop is a powerful tool. But exactly how powerful is it? Watch this video if you think all pizzas are beautiful. (Trust me.)

What else should I write about? I'm exhausted, so I'll go to sleep. I know it's only six. Too bad. Actually, maybe I won't go to sleep. I'll come back when inspiration strikes. Ciao for now! - Riya

My Performance

Today is my dance performance! I'm nervous and excited at the same time. There are students of all ages, about 35 in total. Even my mom is performing! The older kids keep blocking me so I can't be seen, so my teacher told me to push past them, even if the formation changes. +Sesha Gopi +Aesha Valia +Ashna Valia +Anika Goel +Anushka Lodha and 3 others (I couldn't mention them) are part of my group. Good luck guys! I will post later...After the performance. Or I will update this one. Whatever. Bye for now...

The Spelling Bee — Lost but Won

I decided I would try something a little different. No lists, reviews, boring stuff. Nuh-uh. Instead, hopefully entertaining short stories! Yay...? I found this... http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts. I read the responses to one of them, but I will respond here only to those that I haven't read. I read the one about the "Wrong Bathroom". Let me know how you like it in the comments below!

Prompt #1 - You’ve entered a national spelling bee competition only to find out that your neighbor—and arch rival—has also entered the competition. You've both made it to the final three, along with a person neither of you know. Your arch rival comes to you with a plot to sabotage the third person, but aside from the fact that you want to win fair and square, you suspect that your rival is also trying to sabotage you. Write this scene.

______________________________________________________________________________________

That girl...She haunted me so. My archrival had made it, and I couldn't believe it. What I really couldn't believe was when she approached me after the qualifiers. The following conversation ensued.

"Hey, uh, bestie!" She forced out the words with disgustingly fabricated enthusiasm. "Um, so...I kinda wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah...?"

"You know that scrawny-lookin' lad over there? Yeah. He actually made it to the top three and I'm not happy about it."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, I brought a spelling list with me...Just to, you know, practice. And I thought, um, we could" — Here she lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper" — "switch the lists. You and I could learn this list. But he has no idea."

"I'm not so sure about that. And you know that a spelling bee isn't just about learning from a list, right? It depends on your exposure to the language as a whole."

"You always spoil my fun. Don't you want to win? You — Fine then. I guess I'll win then," she huffed, storming off while cursing obscenities. I hurried after her, yelling "Hey! Wait up! It's not over yet."

Lists, Reviews, and Other Boring Stuff

Okay...I really don't know what to write about. Post ideas have evaded me for days. I thought I'd make a list. Maybe a few. I have read a few articles that say readers like lists so that they don't have to go find the information by themselves. Apparently reviews are helpful, too, since people want honest opinions, which they usually don't find on the Internet. So...Here goes.

Books:

For adults, I found a list on the Time website. Here it is. http://time.com/2815951/best-books-of-2014-so-far/

For young adults, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2014-best-fiction-young-adults

For children, http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb

For toddlers, I found this on Flipboard. Not much, but better than nothing! You can use it for ideas or just find books for your prince or princess at your local library or bookstore, since I wasn't much help at all, was I? https://flipboard.com/section/best-baby-books-2014---top-rated-infant-and-toddler-books-b9Z8xp

I can do movies or something soon. Are reviews a good idea? Please comment below and let me know.

By the way, you might have noticed that I changed my favicon to, er, a paintbrush. You may think, "What kind of arbitrary object has this Riya put up on her blog for no reason?" Well, I have a reason. I wanted to represent creativity. I tried to find images of a brain, but there are just too many squiggly lines to look nice as an image less than 100KB. If anyone can find something better, please let me know. Don't judge me... :-)

Happy Father's Day!

I know it's really late, but I was quite busy today. Sorry! :-) I just wanted to wish all the fathers out there a very happy Father's Day. Here are some quotes for you and your fathers (or grandfathers for that matter) to share.

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.
— Anne Geddes

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

— Jim Valvano

My dad was my best friend and greatest role model. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend.

— Tiger Woods

Nothing I've ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children.

— Bill Cosby

It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.

— Anne Sexton

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

— William Shakespeare

Ugh...

Preparations for my dance performance are in full swing now, and it's not fun to get caught in the middle of it all. My mom is in charge of the makeup (along with a couple others) for most of the dancers, and trust me, it's not very easy. I had to go to every beauty shop with her and pick out nail polish, eyeshadow, lipstick, brushes, sponges, etc. It is quite an ordeal. Then she decides that the makeup is too expensive or that the nailpolish is one shade too red. So off we go to the store again, on our neverending mission for the perfect makeup. I have to change costumes twice during the show, and I don't have much time to do it. As you probably know from my older posts, I have a very busy summer coming up...Well, enjoy yours!

I apologize for my many rants that I have posted so far...it's just my life. After all, that's what a blog is for. Right? Right? Right. :-)

Exhaustedly,
Riya

PS - Is "exhaustedly" even a word?

How To Be A Better Person: Part 2

Recently I have seen a lot of disrespect on the Internet, social media, etc. I feel that people need to change. If you can't think of something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I have removed my message to Lia12, but if I feel the need to, I will repost it.

And that brings us to How To Be A Better Person: Part 2. Here's my first post: How To Be A Better Person

4. Respect the opinions of others.
The only way you are going to be respected is to respect others.

5. Be kind.
First of all, being mean doesn't get you anywhere. Second of all, being nice helps you improve your reputation and it helps you feel positive towards yourself and others; it's ultimately better for your health, too.

6. Put yourself in the other person's shoes.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Also, don't jump to conclusions. First, visualize yourself in another person's situation. Decide if you would have acted the same way. Be honest with yourself. This activity, on a daily basis, will help you understand and connect with others, help you make more friends (and keep your old ones), and help you learn from others' mistakes. It will help you to understand how another person is feeling and will help you console them or anyone they may have hurt, physically or emotionally. This also works if someone stole your thunder or the attention of a group.

That's all for now. Kinda deep, but valuable life lessons!

Your Suggestions

As you can probably see, I've been doing some work on the "My Photos" page. I'm running out of ideas for my posts, so feel free to comment below to let me know what you want to see. I may have polls in the sidebar. Do you guys think I should have contests? My friend has a blog that you can click here to view. she has people submit their writing so she can publish it. Should I have a contest? I liked her idea. It's up to you. One of her assistant administrators actually mentioned my blog, saying that I needed to connect with people by using words like "sup" and "hey". If I don't use them in everyday speech, why should I use them in writing? That's not the only way to connect with people! There are plenty of amazing authors out there that connect with people without slang! Well, that's her point of view. Too bad for me. I might post later today. So, I sign off.

- Riya

My Thoughts

This year was the seventh annual Google Doodle contest, which I entered my artwork in. Though I didn't win (not even a runner-up), I wanted to share with you the winner's doodle. It's amazing! Plus, Google animated it.

Click here to see the U.S. winner for this year's contest!

I also wanted to share a few books with you. First of all, I really enjoy reading Kathryn Lasky's books. She has written the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, Wolves of the Beyond, Royal Diaries series, and more.

Here are some links related to her.

About Kathryn Lasky
Her Website

I am reading her Wolves of the Beyond series at the moment, and I'm on the last book! She also has a series detailing the owl's lives apart from the wolves (I have the first book; I checked it out from the library). I really admire her imagination. Her Royal Diaries series is also interesting. Again, from the library, I have her Jahanara (Indian princess) and Elizabeth I (A Tudor) books. They are historical fiction books, and they are fascinating.

If you are into more lighthearted titles, see Shel Silverstein. He wrote the most beautifully humorous poems I have read. His book The Giving Tree is a story that is sure to touch you, but it's not as funny as some of his poems, such as "Sick" or "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too".

These are just my suggestions. Feel free to read what you enjoy. But keep reading! :-)

- Riya

Last Day of School...

I know most schools have their last days next week, but my school has it today, June 6. I'd just like to say that I will miss everyone so much...no matter who you are, what gender you are, what you've said to me...especially the 8th graders, who I may never see again. These two and a half months will seem like years...well, besides the fact that I have a billion places to be at once. A dance performance, a wedding, summer camp, and India, in the sweltering heat. Um...Not exactly what I believe a perfect vacation is, but — I can do this! Actually, I'm not so sure... :-)

Quite a few people from my school are leaving; that means they won't be here next year, and I will miss them the most. I'm actually surprised at the amount of people that are going. I feel bad for them, too, many of them are terribly dejected at the prospect of leaving.

Words cannot express the complicated feelings I am feeling right now. I am proud of myself, but I know I can do better. I feel wistful at the thought leaving, but enthusiastic at the thought of returning. School is really like my second home. In fact, I spend more time at school than at home!

You guys are all awesome and I am so lucky to know all of you. Thank you so much for all the unforgettable experiences we've had together!

Lots of love,
Riya

My Life...

I mentioned my finals earlier. Well, I did great! Mostly. The lowest grade I had was an A-. But that's okay...I guess? Tomorrow I have an abacus test. Yes, you read that right. An abacus test. I learn how to perform calculations at lightning-speed on the abacus. Pretty cool, huh? I memorized the first 30 seconds of the Gettysburg Address. I dunno what to say. I started watching The Perfect Game and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs: 2... Okay...I will stop now. Ciao for now!

- The most boring person ever, Riya :-)

My Recital

Today, June 1, I played the violin at Le Petit Trianon Theater in San Jose. I played "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas. Personally, I don't think I did very well, but after all, I've only been learning for seven months. A lot of people played the piano. Everyone was so awesome! Some of the kids played violin to a piano accompaniment. I think that sounds beautifully melodious. Well...I found this video of a violinist by the name of Amy Fields playing Bollywood music. I thought it was pretty cool! If you don't understand Hindi, ignore the guy at the beginning. Oh, and she also plays "My Heart Will Go On".