POST#101: CHRISTMAS!!!

My Christmas tree and presents :)

Hey guys! Happy Holidays! Today we're discussing Christmas :) . I almost couldn't sleep that night, and then I woke up at 11:00 a.m :P ... So, my presents were:

1. the Guinness Book of World Records
2. Pink Beats headphones :D         
3. an iTunes giftcard
4. 2 Amazon giftcards                      
5. Just Dance 2014
6. The Shade of The Moon (book) 
7. Despicable Me 2 
                                                     8. a spin-art making kit                     
                                                     9. Our Moment by One Direction <3
                                                   10. a gingerbread house making kit 


Santa was pretty awesome this year ;)  The night before (Christmas Eve), Mom made a delicious dinner spread of traditional foods (arroz con gandules, chuletas, and garlic bread) and before supper we had some finger food, like a mini party, but with my Mom, Dad, and myself only. I also went to visit my Grandma and washed the car for the first time, and I had fun :) Oh, and tomorrow I'm going to a wedding! And since this is the last post of the year, Happy New Year!



Happy weekend!



Maria.



                                                   

POST#100: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!

Hey guys! My last day of school was on Wednesday, and since it was a half day, me and my friends went out. First we ate pizza at Papa John's, and we were so loud, the clerk told us to shut up because she didn't hear the customers on the phone! After we ate, we went to the movies to see the new Thor movie (it was my second time seeing it but I fell asleep the first time :P), and since we got pretty early to the theater, we just pretty much monkeyed around the concession stand and the arcade. We bought our movie snacks, and we settled into our seat. Since almost everybody has seen it, and everyone wants to see the new Hobbit movie, we had the theater to ourselves. The movie was REALLY GOOD, and featured Loki a little bit more actually. 



Happy weekend!



Maria.                                                                                                                  

POST#99: DRAWING!!!

One of the many drawings ;)

Hey guys! Today we'll be talking about a drawing week long seminar that I'm taking. So the seminar is in a local comic book store called Mondo Bizarro, and is being taught by an animator who has worked with Pocahontas and Space Jam, Ivan Camilli. Cool, I know ;) So the seminar is three hours a day, Monday thru Friday (today) and also next Monday, for a total of 18 HOURS. He's teaching us how to develop characters from scratch and draw them like really rough, then adding the details and refining it. BTW, I'm the only kid in the class, the others are in their early 20s, late teens I think :P It's really awesome! 

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#98: MATH BOWL!

Hey guys! Today I won 3rd place (along with a friend) at the school Math Bowl! And I'm not even that good at math! And also today I went to see The Book Thief at the movies today and it was really good :)



Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#97: VICTORIA MOORS :)

Hey guys! Today we're turning to a topic that I almost never talk about because it's my guilty pleasure: gymnastics. So today I'll be talking about one of my favorite gymnasts, Victoria Moors from Canada. Probably haven't heard anything about her, huh? Well, let's see. Victoria Moors was born November 5, 1996 in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. She also was part of the Canadian women's gymnastics team that placed an unexpected fifth place (not that it's bad, it's AWESOME!) in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the first woman to perform a double twisting double layout in competition at the 2013 PanAmerican Senior Apparatus Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico (BTW, I witnessed it because I was there). She looves Nutella (so much I think she has it running through her veins :P), and also has a cat named Boston. I also had the pleasure to meet her at the 2013 PanAms here in PR (the same night she performed the double double layout for the first time in competition) and she's really cool and nice :)

Her Instagram: @victoriamoors_


Her Twitter: @VictoriaMoors


Double twisting double layout video: Victoria Moors Floor World Championships 2013 Antwerp AA (she has it named after her, therefore it's now called the Moors)


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#96: PUERTO RICAN FESTIVAL :)

Hey guys! Today was the Puerto Rican Festival at school, and the Dance Club (I'm officially a member) did a performance which included traditional dances, for example, bomba and a little bit of plena. There was also lots of rides and traditional foods. I go every year, and it's really AWESOME! 


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#95: RAINBOW LOOM!

Hey guys! Today we're talking about Rainbow Loom bracelets! The bracelets are the (dare I say because I don't know much about fashion) hottest trend right now, almost every kid in America knows what these bracelets are. I first saw the loom bands in a store here in PR, and they were supposed to be refill bands. I instantly thought of my friend Fabiola (aka Fabi, you'll sometimes be hearing about her in the blog), who makes these and actually made me one but it broke about two months ago, bummer :( I bought a couple of bags, then I proceeded to make a replica of the bracelet that Fabi made me. My friends at school liked it, and asked if they could have one. I then started to sell them at 75 cents per bracelet, but later I discovered that in the school you could not sell anything unless you are authorized by the principal to sell something. So I have a friend who's in a study group that's not affiliated with the school so he said that I could make the bracelets and he could sell them at his study group. So that's basically my addiction with Rainbow Loom ♡ :-P

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#94: ENDER'S GAME!!!

Hey guys! Today we're talking about the movie "Ender's Game"! Kids in space saving the world, you can't get any better than that. Without giving much away, this movie is a must-see. I saw it last Saturday and it was great! I went with my dad, and I got some popcorn and soda (fave movie snacks <3), and afterwards we went out to eat.

I am introducing a new rating system to the blog which will range from one to five, and it will use different symbols depending on the subject. So, without further a due  I give this movie *drum roll please*...


4 out of 5 Death Stars!!!



Fun fact: Did you know that the movie is based on the book "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card in 1985? It's 28 years old!!! I am currently considering reading the book (a bookworm can't pass up the chance :P)...


Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#93: SPELLING BEE!!

Hey guys! Today I participated in my school's annual spelling bee. And guess who won... THIS GIRL!!!! Yeah, I won! So the bee was from 4th to 6th Grade, and the top three go to the Archdiocesan Spelling Bee in January. The prize for this (the school's) spelling bee... *drumroll* TWO FREE SCHOLASTIC BOOKS!!! Yeah, from the catalogs! Yay! So, obviously since I won that spelling bee, I qualified for the spelling bee in January. The top three were all from the same classroom, so I'm basically competing with my friends :D



Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#92: MOON PIE!!!

Hey guys! Today we're taking a short break from the Disney World series and focus on the new member of my family, Moon Pie! She's a 2 month old pug dog  and a girl. She's a bundle of extreme cuteness, but she's a bit of a wild thing! When she plays, she doesn't play nice... Nooo, she claws at you, sometimes she bites you really really hard, so hard she can almost make you cry from the pain (that actually happened like twice), starts chewing on things, or starts running around the house really fast (it's REALLY funny). She can sometimes be a pain in the butt, but she's just sooo cute and adorable, you can't resist :P She actually sleeps with me in my bed...

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#91: DISNEY WORLD PART 5

Hey guys! Today it's the fourth installment in the Disney World series! And today we're visiting... *drumroll*... Universal Studios! So we drove to Universal, and after we parked, we entered. So the first ride we went on was E.T. It was awesome! I got to sit at the front where E.T's basket is! So after that we went to the Springfield U.S.A area, and it REALLY LOOKS LIKE SPRINGFIELD! We went to Moe's Tavern to eat some snacks and drink some sodas, and then we got on the Simpsons ride. IT WAS AWESOME!!! It felt like a roller coaster, but we weren't actually moving on a track, we were actually on a little car being controlled! Cool, I know. So after the Simpsons ride, we got on the Men In Black ride, and the set was pretty cool! It was the Alien HQ and there were doors that said "Fingerprint removal", "Break room", etc. We got on, you get on a moving car, got laser guns, and started shooting the aliens! I got a pretty good aim, but I somehow got a low score... After the MIB ride, we got on the "Disaster!" ride. It's like an acting set, where people actually get chosen to be part of a "film" (I was chosen to be a stunt woman), and then they show the film to you. I had to jump onto The Rock's arms (edited of course with a little Hollywood magic)! Then we went on the Transformers ride, which was AWESOME! I went on it not one, but TWO times! The Transformers fight right in your face! It's REALLY COOL. Then, we went on the Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem ride, and the posters they have about the Minions on the line area are really cool! When you enter the ride, it looks like you're inside Gru's house! Then you get on a little car that moves around with the Minions and the girls (Margo, Edith and Agnes♡) around their adventures in the ride. After the ride, there's the HUGE Despicable Me gift shop, in which you can get t-shirts, plushes like the Fluffy Unicorn and a giant Minion, and lots of other cool Despicable Me merchandise. After the ride, we moved onto Islands of Adventure, and got on the Spider-Man ride, and got on it TWO times! It was AWESOME and Spider-Man and his enemies fight right in your face! It's really cool! It was actually the only ride we got on from Islands of Adventure, because it was getting near closing time and we had to go. Universal Studios was really fun! I loved it!

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#90: DISNEY WORLD PART 4

Hey guys! Today it's the third installment of the Disney World series! So, the third day I went to the Kennedy Space Center! AWESOME, I know right? So we entered, and the first thing we did was go on the bus tour. It was recommended to take it as soon as you get there because it closes really early. We took the (awesome) bus tour to the museums that are a little bit far from the visitors center, then came back to the visitors center and visited the new ATLANTIS museum, where we saw the real Atlantis Space Shuttle! Yeah, the real one! We also got on a simulator to experience how little a tunnel in the ISS (International Space Station) can be. Then we got on a Space Shuttle launch simulator, in which you get a chance to experience a (fake, but very similar) space shuttle launch.
Then, it was really close to closing time, and we had to eat dinner, so we ate at a Cape Canaveral seafood and meat restaurant called Grillz, and the food was really good! KSC was AWESOME!

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#89: DISNEY WORLD PART 3

Hey guys! Today I'm telling you what I did in Magic Kingdom :) First we went to Tomorrowland, and then we went to Stitch's Great Escape. Then, we went to the AWESOMEST ROLLER COASTER EVER (I was nervous and I came out pumped!): Space Mountain!!! After that we stopped to rest a little bit and eat a snack, then we moved on to the Astro Orbiter. It gives you an awesome birds-eye view of Magic Kingdom. Then we moved on to Fantasyland, where we went on It's a Small World. It's awesome because it gives you a peek at the world's different cultures! Then we ate lunch, and then we went to Mickey's PhilarMagic. After that, we moved on to Frontierland, and got on another of the most AWESOMEST ROLLER COASTERS EVER: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! After Big Thunder, we got on Splash Mountain. You honestly don't get as wet as people tell so (just a little bit from the waist up), and you don't go directly into the big drop, you go through several little fake drops and an It's a Small World kind of ride, and at the end is when you go to the big drop. Then we entered Adventureland, and got on Pirates of The Caribbean, it's theme is Old San Juan's port! Anyway, after that we got on Aladdin's Carpet Ride, which is like the Astro Orbiter, but you go a little bit lower, and instead of a rocket, it's a magic carpet. After that, we returned to Main Street U.S.A. and ate dinner at Casey's Corner, which is a really good hot dog place. After we ate, we got our places for the projections they play at the castle (which, BTW, ARE AWESOME!), watched them, and then watched the (AWESOME and really impressive) fireworks. When the firework show finished, it was really late, so then we left and returned to our hotel.

Next week comes part 4 in the Disney World Trip Series! Beware!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#88: DISNEY WORLD PART 2

Hey guys! Sorry, this is gonna be a short post :( I've been really busy and tired... I've gone to EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, Animal Kingdom, WonderWorks, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and today I'm going to Hollywood Studios :) I'll write a whole series about the vacation, so look out...

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#87: DISNEY WORLD!!!!

Hey guys! Today I went to Disney World in Florida!!!! My parents woke me up today at 3am to surprise me, and I literally jumped out of bed and ran to my closet to see what I would wear (we were leaving right to the airport). We got on a plane to Orlando, then we got off the plane and boarded a bus to Disney. We arrived to our room, relaxed a litte bit, and then we went to Downtown Disney to eat at House of Blues and to shop a litte bit. I'll give you more details on the next blogpost :-)


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#86: VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Hey guys! Today I went to my school's annual volleyball tournament. I was originally there just to serve my hour long volunteering shift, but I eventually stayed way after my shift because lots of my friends were there. It was AWESOME! By the way, I got in the Dance Club :-)


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#85: ANNE FRANK

Hey guys! Today we're talking about Anne Frank. The reason why I'm talking about her is because I'm learning about her in school.So who's Anne Frank? Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived during World War II and therefore the Holocaust. She was born in Frankfurt am Main in Germany and was 4 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party, a political party that hated Jews. It wasn't good news for the Franks, so they moved to Holland. They had a normal life there until Anne was about 12 when Hitler invaded Holland and started putting restrictions against Jews and sending them to concentration and extermination camps, thus starting the Holocaust. The Franks knew they had to go into hiding quickly. They went into hiding along
with the Van Pels family, which she changed the name to Van Daan in the diary, and later a man called Fritz Pfeffer, whom she called Mr. Dussel in her diary, for the next 18 months. They eventually were caught and sent to concentration camps. The only one who survived was Anne's dad, Otto Frank. Anne died of typhoid in 1944, just 2 weeks before the camp's liberation by British troops.

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#84: I'M TIRED!!!

Hey guys! Sorry, this is gonna be a short post... This has been a really hectic week for me and I'm just really tired... See you guys next week!


Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#83: SCHOOL CLUBS :)

                                                                                                                                                                    Hey guys! Today I'm giving out some good news :) I made the Ecology Club, for the second year in a row. I also made the Art Club, which is very exclusive in picking it's members. So that means I'm gonna be juggling three extracurricular activities, possibly four (I signed up for dance classes and I suggested to the principal to make an all girls a capella singing group like in Pitch Perfect). My Art Club meetings are on Fridays from 3-4 in the afternoon, and my Ecology Club meeting days are unspecified for the moment. I can't wait for my Art and Ecology Club meetings! 


Happy weekend! 



Maria.

POST#82: SHARK TANK!

Hey guys! Today we're discussing Shark Tank. I ran into this because my godfather showed me this and I became hooked. We ended up watching like five hours worth of Shark Tank. The show is really good. It lets you kind of work the math into it. For example, you can figure out if the deals are good or if their profit margin is really big or really small. I think the show is AWESOME!

Here's the link to the Shark Tank website:

                                                                                    http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank 
                                                                                   
                                                                                    
                                                                                    Happy weekend!



                                                                                    Maria.

POST#81: BACK TO SCHOOL!

Hey guys! Today we're discussing the back-to-school season. So yesterday was my first day of sixth grade. I woke up at about 6:05, brushed my teeth, put on my school uniform, and went off to school. I arrived at about 7:20 (we had to get there early), then made my way to the classroom and settled in a seat, and waited until everybody arrived to start orientation. The teacher introduced herself and explained our schedules just in case we didn't understand. We put away our books, and then she explained the demerit system, the reasons from which you could get a demerit (in order from minor offenses to major offenses), and the points deducted from your behavior grade depending if it's a minor or major offense. She then explained the student rulebook and basic rules of the classroom. We then had the English class. After that, we had lunch and recess. After recess, we went back to the classroom to take the Spanish class. After Spanish class, we continued the English class. In the last period, we took the Religion class (I am in a private Catholic school). I swear that the minute I got home, I raced to my bed to take a long nap :-)



Happy weekend!



Maria. 

POST#80: TED TALKS

Hey guys! Today we're talking about TED. Before you guys say anything, I'm not talking about the bear in the movie. I'm talking about TED Talks. I stumbled upon them by accident, and I've been hooked ever since. TED Talks are lectures about anything you can imagine, and from anyone you can imagine. For example, these are good for when you want to study a specific subject. They range from one that I saw about an journalist from Esquire Magazine that does experiments with himself as the guinea pig (I'll post the link below), to the story of a woman and her defection from North Korea (I'll post the link also), to a neuroscientist talking about when she had a stroke & took the opportunity to study her own brain and thoughts. They're THAT varied. I will post the YouTube links of those talks below. I will also post the link to the YouTube channel as well. They have an app for Apple and Android systems also.

A.J. Jacobs: My year of living biblically

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight

Hyeonseo Lee: My escape from North Korea

TEDTalks YouTube Channel


Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#79: WATER WARS!!!

Hey guys! Today was the end of my summer camp, and we had a huge water war with water balloons and water guns. Today, we had the water war in the morning, then we were told there was a surprise that included massive amounts of water after lunch, which turned out to be two HUGE water slides. After the announcement, it started raining, so we headed back inside. One of the camp counselors has a DJing system on his laptop so he cranked up the speakers, put on some music, and we all started dancing and singing, and some of us even did some karaoke! After that the sky cleared up, so we had lunch outside, we rested while the counselors and the water slide rental guys set up the slides, and then, the fun began. We were all afternoon from noon to 3:30 sliding around the slides... and it was AWESOME!!! After all that, we headed  inside to the bathrooms to change, and then we had the afternoon snack, and after that we left. I have like only two weeks left of summer vacation, so I have to keep going to the pool and the beach as much as I can :-)


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#78: MUSEO DEL NINO DE CAROLINA

Hey guys! Today I went to the Kids Museum in Carolina. We arrived and we entered and saw this huge fake volcano that had a mini rock climbing wall and a really cool slide. Then we moved on to a Mini City attraction where there was a pretend supermarket, a pretend police station, a pretend TV studio, etc. Then we went of to the Marine Life station and there was like a mini aquarium inside. After that, we went to the Transportation Vehicles station and we had like a little minigame contest. Then, we went up to the second floor and went to the Recycling and Alternate Energy station, where we generated our own electricity by pedaling, to give you guys an example. After that, we went to the Music and Arts station. There was like a thingmajig made of drums and there was a touchscreen where you chose what beats you wanted it to play it, and then it played back all the beats in order. There was also a stringless laser sensor harp, and a stop motion animation camera. Then we ate lunch, took a break, and then moved to the Aquatics station and there was a boat which modeled after a yacht, and there was like a little game where you tried to catch magnetic toy fish. We also went to a hurricane wind simulator. In there, you choose what wind speed would you want and then pressed a button and the wind comes to you. I chose 91 mph winds and they didn't even knock me off my feet! Then we moved on the the Solar System station, where we obviously learned about the Solar System and galaxies. After that, we went to the Energy and Physics station and we saw a huge mural of Albert Einstein, and after that we went to the Magnetism station, and we made sculptures with magnetic objects. Then we went to the Nail Bed. The Nail Bed is a plastic bed that has little holes from which the nails rise. You lay on the bed with your head on a pillow, then a worker presses a button and the nails slowly start rising. The nails don't poke you because when you put all your body weight on one nail, it pokes you. But when you rest all your body weight on lots of nails, they won't poke you because they distribute your weight evenly. After that we went to the Airplane. The Airplane is an American Airlines MD-80 and is 107 feet wide (from wing to wing), and 147 feet long. It has 73,655 hours of airtime. The last flight flown on the plane was from Tulsa Int'l Airport to San Juan Int'l Airport on January 6th, 2011, and American Airlines donated the plane over to the Museum. After giving us a talk about the plane and aircraft in general, we left the place. 

It was AWESOME!!!! I had never gone before and it was really fun. I give it a 10 out of a 10 and 5 stars out of 5 stars.


Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#77: DESPICABLE ME 2!!!

Hey guys! Today we're talking about Despicable Me 2. 
I went to see it in the movie theater today. In fact, I actually got home about a half hour or so. Anyway, it was AWESOME! I actually think it's better than the first movie. I'm gonna tell you guys a couple things: there are LOTS and LOTS and LOTS more Minions. It's EXTREMELY FUNNY. And somebody falls in love.... I won't tell you, you'll have to find out for yourself by going to see the movie :) I absolutely positively recommend the movie... I give 5 out of 5 stars. IT'S AWESOME AND IT ROCKS!!! My favorite one out of the three girls is Agnes... She's so cute!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#76: BEACH!!!

Hey guys! Happy 4th! This is gonna be a short post because I'm spending the weekend in a beach house in Isabela... I also started a new summer camp on Monday and it's AWESOME!!!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#75: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY!!!

Hey guys! Today we're reviewing and discussing "Monsters University", Pixar's 14th and newest movie. Before the film, there was an accompanying short film called "The Blue Umbrella". 

         WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD 

Mike Wazowski is a 6-year-old at Frighton Elementary School who is visiting Monsters Inc., a scaring company, applying to help Monstropolis with energy. While on the field trip, the class meets Frank McCay, an employee. He gives the students a couple of pointers about being a scarer, then tells them to watch him enter the human world. However, Frank doesn't notice that Mike had sneaked into the room before he closed the door. At first what Mike saw and heard was Frank roaring, then a girl screaming. Before Mike snuck into the room, one of his classmates sees him, and reports it to his teacher. Frank comes out of the room, and followed by Mike. With Frank figuring out what had happened, he scolds Mike, but eventually perks up and reassures him. The teacher then scolds him, but Mike is happy and states he wants to be a scarer when he grows up. The class leaves, and approximately thirteen years later, Mike is accepted into the prestigious Monsters University. Now a college freshman, Mike begins majoring in scaring. On his first day, Mike befriends the nerdy and shy Randall Boggs, who desires to be popular and has difficulty controlling his camouflage power. While studying one night, Mike encounters an arrogant, playful, all-brawn, large blue monster named James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, who suddenly breaks into Mike's room to hide Archie, the mascot of rival college, Fear Tech. After greeting each other, Archie steals Mike's hat and escapes. Mike and Sulley chase Archie outside where struggle to catch him. When they do catch Archie, Sulley is invited to join Roar Omega Roar, the top fraternity on campus. Mike tries to join, but a fight with Sulley starts a rivalry between the two. While the duo compete to see who is the better scarer, Dean Hardscrabble, the headmistress of the MU scaring faculty, tells the students their final exam for the semester will determine if they can continue in the scaring program. Eventually, Mike and Sulley's rivalry gets out of hand and causes Dean Hardscrabble to drop both of them from the program and Sulley to be kicked out of the fraternity. Unhappy in his new major, Mike decides to enter the Scare Games, a series of physical challenges that tests a monster's scaring ability, in hopes of proving he can be a good scarer. However, the competitors are teams from MU's fraternities and sororities. But hope arises when he joins Oozma Kappa, a fraternity of misfit monsters consisting of founder and mature student Don Carlton, nervous and shy Squishy Squibbles, free-spirited and eccentric Art, and bickering siblings Terri and Terry (who share the same body). Mike tries to enter Oozma Kappa into the Scare Games, but needs one more player. Mike reluctantly lets Sulley onto the team and makes a deal with Hardscrabble to re-admit their team to the scaring program if they win and that if they lose, he'll leave the campus. Sulley doesn't think the team can succeed, but Mike offers to train the others to get them ready. Meanwhile, Randy becomes a member of ROR and asks Mike to stop talking to him. Oozma Kappa surprisingly advances through the first rounds of the Games. During a party at ROR house, the ROR pranks Oozma Kappa and humiliates them in front of the whole student body. A secret visit to Monsters, Inc. lifts their spirits and Oozma Kappa makes it to the final round against ROR. Even as the final round arrives, Sulley has a hard time believing Mike can be a good scarer. So in the final round, he tweaks the equipment so Mike can register a good score and allow Oozma Kappa to win the Games. When Mike realizes this, he is heartbroken and decides to prove to everyone that he can be a good scarer. So, he breaks into the door lab and uses a newly-crafted door to enter the human world at a summer camp, but his plan goes wrong and he fails to scare the kids. Back on campus, Sulley confesses to the Dean just as she is notified of the break-in. Realizing what happened, Sulley enters the door to look for Mike. After finding and reconciling with Mike, the pair attempt to return, but Dean Hardscrabble deactivates the door until the Child Detection Agency arrives, trapping them in the human world. Mike realizes that the only way to get back into the monster world is to generate enough scream energy to power the door from their side. Working together, Sulley and Mike scare the investigating authorities, generating more than enough scream energy to return to the lab. They then get expelled, but before they leave, Hardscrabble acknowledges that Sulley and Mike have both surprised her and wishes them luck. Mike and Sulley decide to take jobs at Monsters, Inc. in the company mailroom, and over time, work their way up until they become part of the scarer team, establishing the story for Monsters, Inc. 

The movie is really good. It has a really important lesson at the end and incorporated (pun intended) into the story line. In a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 8.5. Oh, I almost forgot the short film! The short film was pretty good overall, but the best thing was definitely the storyline :-)


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#74: SUMMER CAMP PART TWO

Hey guys! Today we're doing the second part of describing my summer camp. But first, I'm gonna tell you about my last day and last field trip, which both were today. I got to the summer camp, hung out with my friends before the bus got there and got on the bus. On the bus, there was air conditioning and a TV (I was really surprised about the TV). I sat with one of my friends, read on the Kindle app of my cellphone and watched what was on TV at the time. Eventually we got to our destination, which was Las Cabezas de San Juan, in Fajardo. We snacked something, took pictures and started hiking towards the lighthouse. When we got to the lighthouse, I immediately noticed I could see St. Thomas, Tortola, Icacos, St, Croix, Vieques, Culebra, etc. I also noticed there was a big meadow, and by big, I mean HUGE. We had a conference about the archaeological excavations currently going on at the site. We saw the excavations, talked with the archaeologists and volunteered by cleaning the pieces that came out. We then went back to the meadow to eat lunch, run around and play, and take a break. We then went back to cleaning until it was time to go and hike back over to where the bus was and leave the site. When we were back to camp, we went crazy getting each others email addresses, cell numbers, social network account usernames, etc. We came up with the idea to sign each others shirts on the back with Sharpies. I'm gonna miss being in camp a lot :(

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#73: SUMMER CAMP!!!

Hey guys! Today I'm telling you about my summer camp (my camp in June, I have another one in July). I started camp on June 3, and it ends on the 21st. It's a camp on the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, and it's ages are between 7-12 years old. You only get admitted if you have an IQ of 130 a.k.a being gifted (BTW, I have an IQ of 130). We take different classes every day. Our classes are: Archaeology, Japanese, Science/Neuroscience, Art, Digital Photography, Geography with GIS and GPS, Pottery and Video Game Programming (that class is sponsored by Microsoft). We also have excursions to different places on Fridays. Some of these are: an exclusive collection of Taino artifacts and pieces reserved usually to highly qualified, world class and good archaeologists and the Governor, visit the University's History Museum and go to an excavation in Fajardo to help out the archaeologists to dig, clean and discover artifacts. I'm exhausted!!!

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#72: RINCON

Hey guys! This is gonna be a pretty short post... I'm on my way to the town of Rincon to have a weekend vacay by the beach and we're gonna check in tonight so that'pretty much why this is a short post. I can't wait for next week so I can yell you guys about my summer camp!

Happy weekend!!!


Maria.

POST#71: ADMISSION

Hey guys! Today, I went to the movies and saw "Admission", starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. Straight-laced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former college classmate, the free-wheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman has surmised that Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), his gifted yet very unconventional student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up many years ago. Soon, Portia finds herself bending the rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the life she thought she always wanted—but in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having. It was a really good movie... I was basically laughing the whole movie... Seriously... And I think it's really good, so I recommend it. In Puerto Rico, you can see it in Fine Arts cinema in the Hato Rey section of San Juan.

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#70: PUERTO RICO COMIC CON!!!

Hey guys! Tomorrow is the first day of the Puerto Rico Comic Con. I'm going dressed as Yoda from Star Wars and my dad as Chewbacca (also from Star Wars). It's a convention where comic artists (local and international), people dressed as different characters from the pop culture, etc. gather and celebrate comics. It usually has internationally known comic artists, booths from the convention's sponsors, gaming contests, costume contests, etc. There are also panels (another room where the invited international artists give a conference, answer questions and sign autographs) during the duration of the convention. It's an annual event. It's gonna be so AWESOME!!!!!!!!


Happy weekend!


Maria. 

POST#69: SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!

Hey guys! Today was the last day of school in my school (FINALLY!!!), so that's what we're talking about today. But, one thing threatened to destroy my last day of school.... my sinusitis and allergies {insert "Dracula" music}. I'm gonna tell the whole story (I'll get to the happy parts later). On Wednesday, I suddenly started to cough hard... REALLY HARD, and got a loooot of nasal congestion. Also on the same day, I  started to break out in hives under my eyes, but it turned out to be because I was nervous about my Math exam the same morning (I'm not the best at Math... The fact that I CAN'T STAND IT doesn't help much). The next day, those symptoms returned (except for the hives), but a lot more intense. I was coughing so hard and so often (like, one or two times every two minutes.... no, not joking),  that my mom almost took me to the hospital. While I was sleeping that night, I almost couldn't sleep because I was coughing and moaning all night. So there comes today. I wasn't feeling well this morning, but I refused to NOT go to school (weird, I know) because I had final exams and I couldn't miss them, and also there was going to be a last day of school party in my classroom. I eventually went, took my exams, hung out with my friends at the party, took photos and gave hugs and joked around with my friends, and also exchanged numbers with them to stay in touch. But, all in all, even if I was sick, it was one of the best days EVER because I was with my friends laughing and smiling. And also, I was sad because I wouldn't be seeing my friends every day anymore (at least for two and half months, but still). Any way, all of my exams were pretty easy, except for Math. Word of advice for new fifth graders in the next school year, be careful for what you wish for, 'cause maybe your'e hoping for the next day's exam to be easy, but then it's impossibly hard, and also, good luck next year! And also Iike the last day of school because during the summer I can stay awake 'til one in the morning watching TV and wake up at noon. And also because there's summer camp and vacations by the beach :-). By the way, I'm feeling better... Have a great summer!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#68: THE ART OF TOM BELAND

Hey guys! Today we're talking about the art of Tom Beland. He is the author of lots of comic books like True Story Swear 
To God, Fantastic Four: Island of Death, and his upcoming comic series, Chicacabra. He's a 50-year-old cartoonist from 
Napa Valley, CA who lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He's married to puertorrican life coach Lily Garcia. He got his inspiration from his father, who was a cartoonist in his spare time and always wanted to be a cartoonist, but never did. 

 In the 90's he began to publish his autobiographical comic strips True Story, Swear to God (TSSTG) as mini-comics and the turned it into an ongoing comic series published by Image Comics. The True Story Swear To God series has earned six nominations for the Eisner Awards of San Diego, one of the most important awards in the United States, in the categories of “Best Comic of the Year”. Tom was hired by Marvel Comics to write a Spider-Man "Web of Romance" series. This was a big deal for Tom because Spider-Man was his childhood favorite. Tom has also written a series of Marvel one-shots featuring the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man in Puerto Rico.

I've personally met Tom and he's a really cool guy. On the right is a rough sketch he did of me when I was with my Dad on one of his Cartooning Lessons with Tom. Here's a photo of me with Tom at this year's Free Comic Book Day. I've also included a sketch Tom gave me of Lily and him in Paris.

If you're interested in learning more about Tom you can follow his hijinks on these social media sites:

Facebook: facebook.com/tombelandpr
Twitter: @TomBelandTSSTG

Tom is currently offering Cartooning Lessons and you can also find him at this year's PR Comic Con!

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#67: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY :-)

Hey! Today we are talking about Free Comic Book Day. Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics in California created the event in his writer column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine. The first Free Comic Book Day was held in 2002 and is coordinated by the industry's large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. Free Comic Book Day is scheduled on the first Saturday of May. It's usually been tied to the release of a theatrical film adaptation of a well known superhero property. For example, Iron Man 2. On Free Comic Book Day, participating comic book stores give away specially printed copies of free comic books, and some offer cheaper back issues and other things to anyone who visits their stores. However, stores do not receive the issues for free; they pay 12–50 cents per copy for the comics they give away during the event. In addition to comic books, some stores also give away other items, including  posters for live-action superhero movies, keychains, Green Lantern promo rings, etc. This year's FCBD is tomorrow...  It's gonna be AWESOME!!!!!

If you want to go to FCBD in Puerto Rico, go to Metro Comics in San Patricio Plaza (in the South Wing). Some of the artists that will be there are: Tom Beland, Martin Gaudier, Amin Amat, Soda Pop Comics, Tico Jimenez, etc.

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#66: THINKGEEK!

Hey guys! Today we're talking about ThinkGeek. It's an AWESOME site! ThinkGeek is an online retailer that caters to computer enthusiasts and other geeky social groups. Their merchandise includes clothes, electronic and scientific gadgets, unusual computer accessories, office toys, pet toys, child toys, and caffeinated drinks and candy. ThinkGeek was founded in 1999 and is based in Virginia. A majority of the products sold on ThinkGeek are heavily related to Internet culture. Some t-shirt designs include a ROFLCOPTER (an ASCII drawing of a helicopter made of internet slang), the Intel Pentium Processor logo with Geek instead of Intel, and a pixelated 1Up Mushroom from the Super Mario Bros. game series. ThinkGeek runs a points-for-reward system called Geek Points, in which customers can earn rewards for buying products. On April 1st every year, the company puts on a fake homepage with fake products. For example, in 2007 it advertised "Surge Stix", cigarette-like high potency caffeine delivery systems that, when snapped like a glowstick, supposedly deliver as much caffeine as five cans of Coke. Some of the April Fools Day merchandise has been so popular with customers that they've been made into real products, such as the 8-Bit Tie, the Personal Soundtrack t-shirt, the Tauntaun sleeping bag and the iCade. Think Geek items are usually based on other franchises, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Doctor Who, The Big Bang Theory, bacon, Minecraft, zombies, LEGO, iPhone, iPad, Portal, etc. Think Geek also has a mascot in the form of a monkey, named Timmy.


Check it out right here! : http://www.thinkgeek.com/


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#65: BOSTON MARATHON

In this short post, I offer my condolences to the families of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. This is a horrible event that should never happen again ever. I hope that the suspects get caught as quickly as possible so this problem gets solved fast. R.I.P to the ones who were killed in the bombings.

Happy weekend!

Maria.

POST#64: BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE

Hey! Today we're discussing "Because of Winn-Dixie". Because of Winn-Dixie is a children's novel by Kate DiCamillo published in 2000 and winner of a Newbery Honor distinction the following year. It also won the 2000 Josette Frank Award and 2003 Mark Twain Award. It has been adapted as a 2005 family film, directed by Wayne Wang, produced by Walden Media and Twentieth Century Fox.  Here's the plot:

India Opal Buloni is a 10-year-old girl who has just moved to a trailer park in the small town of Naomi, Florida, with her itinerant preacher father. While in the Winn-Dixie supermarket, she encounters a scruffy dog wreaking havoc. She claims the dog is hers to save it from going to the pound and names it Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie's first act of inspiration on Opal is for her to challenge her father to name ten things about her mother, who abandoned them years before when she became an alcoholic. Opal also befriends the very wealthy librarian Miss Franny Block, who shares great stories about her past, including a tale about her great-grandfather, whose family members died while he fought for the South in the Civil War. Grief-stricken after his return from battle, he decided he wanted to live the remainder of his life filled with sweetness. Thus, he invented Littmus Lozenge candies that tasted like a combination of rootbeer and strawberry with a secret ingredient mixed in—sorrow. In Because of Winn-Dixie, these candies symbolize that even though life sometimes deals people a bit of sadness, there is always so much to appreciate. She also encounters Gloria Dump, a woman whom children think is a witch. She also meets a man named Otis. Otis is the pet shop manager in the town of Naomi. He is shy and upset because he was in jail for playing his guitar on the street, so now he plays for the pet shop animals and a parrot named Gertrude who is Otis' favorite.


I made this post about "Because of Winn-Dixie" because that's what we're reading right now in English class. I recommend the book for ages 7+ because nearing the end of the book, it gets a little bit sad. It's a REALLY good book.... It's AWESOME!


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#63: THE CROODS!!!

Hey! Today, we're talking about The Croods. I saw it last Thursday and it was AWESOME!!!!! The Croods is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in a prehistoric era know as The Croodaceous, A period which contains fantastical creatures, when a man's position as a "Leader of the Hunt" is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions, like fire, as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home. 

This is the cast:

Nicolas Cage as Grug Crood, a caveman who is the well-meaning, overprotective but old-fashioned patriarch of the Croods family.

Emma Stone as Eep Crood, a cavegirl who is Grug and Ugga's oldest daughter and is filled with curiosity and a desire for adventure. She has a crush on Guy.

Ryan Reynolds as Guy, a nomadic caveboy who is not as strong as the Croods, but prefers using his brain and comes up with various ideas and inventions. He is accompanied by a sloth named Belt and is Eep's love interest.

Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood, a cavewoman who is Grug's wife. She is more open-minded than Grug, but also finds it difficult to keep her family safe.

Clark Duke as Thunk Crood, a caveboy who is Grug and Ugga's son. Thunk is the 6-foot-9, 320 pound, 9-year-old middle child, who is not very bright and has bad coordination but has a good heart. He gets a crocopup named Douglas for a pet.

Cloris Leachman as Gran, a very old and ferocious cavewoman who is the mother-in-law of Grug and the mother of Ugga.

Chris Sanders as Belt, Guy's pet sloth.

Randy Thom as Sandy Crood, Grug and Ugga's ferocious baby daughter who still bites and growls instead of speaking. Thom created her voice with creature noises.

There is also a videogame based on "The Croods" called The Croods: Prehistoric Party! for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo DS. Overall, I totally recommend the movie.... It is, again, A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!


Happy weekend!!!


Maria.

POST#62: GOOD FRIDAY

Hey! Today is Good Friday so we're going to be discussing that. Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday, or Easter Friday, though the latter properly refers to the Friday in Easter Week. Based on the details of the Canonical Gospels, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most likely to have been on a Friday (the day before the Sabbath). The estimated year of the Crucifixion is AD 33, by two different groups, and originally as AD 34 by Isaac Newton via the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars and the crescent of the moon. A third method, using a completely different astronomical approach based on a lunar Crucifixion darkness and eclipse model (consistent with Apostle Peter's reference to a "moon of blood" in Acts 2:20), points to Friday, 3 April AD 33.  According to the accounts in the Gospels, the Temple Guards, guided by Jesus' disciple Judas, arrested Jesus in Gethsemane. Judas received money (30 pieces of silver)  for betraying Jesus and told the guards that whomever he kisses is the one they are to arrest. Following his arrest, Jesus was brought to the house of Annas, the father-in-law of the high priest, Caiphas. There he was interrogated with little result and sent bound to Caiaphas the high priest where the Sanhedrin had assembled. Conflicting testimony against Jesus was brought forth by many witnesses, to which Jesus answered nothing. Finally the high priest adjured Jesus to respond under solemn oath, saying "I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us, are you the Anointed One, the Son of God?" Jesus testified ambiguously, "You have said it, and in time you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of Heaven." The high priest condemned Jesus for blasphemy, and the Sanhedrin concurred his sentence of death. Peter, waiting in the courtyard, also denied Jesus three times to bystanders while the interrogations were proceeding just as Jesus had predicted. Coming before the crowd one last time, Pilate declared Jesus innocent and washed his own hands in water to show he has no part in this condemnation. Nevertheless, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified in order to forestall a riot and ultimately to keep his job. The sentence written was "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Jesus carried his cross to the site of execution (assisted by Simon of Cyrene), called the place of the Skull, or "Golgotha" in Hebrew and in Latin "Calvary". There he was crucified along with two criminals. Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus' body, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and placed it in his own new tomb that had been carved in the rock in a garden near the site of crucifixion. Nicodemus also brought 75 pounds of myrrh andaloes, and placed them in the linen with the body, in keeping with Jewish burial customs. They rolled a large rock over the entrance of the tomb. Then they returned home and rested, because Shabbat had begun at sunset. On the third day, Sunday, which is now known as Easter Sunday (or Pascha), Jesus rose from the dead.


Happy Easter weekend!


Maria.