Jeff's Piano Recital

Last week on Friday our new piano teacher Jeff held a recital in a church in Dublin. We had our rehearsal on Tuesday so we knew what we were doing and had heard each other pieces. It was different from other recitals like Mrs. Palmer's where she just sat up on the stage calling out names and making us bow. In Jeff's recital he told us to just recognize the crowd clapping with a nod but some kids still bowed. He also didn't announce everyone's name but just told us to look at the sheet and come up when it was our turn and just start playing. It was a lot more fun than Mrs. Palmer's recital because the pieces were more interesting and played with a lot more energy. In Mrs. Palmer's recitals people would just go up and play their Minuet or whatever but in this recital there were cool Christmas songs. Also, in Jeff's recital there weren't just pianists but also singers who were very good. I have to say though, I liked Mrs. Palmer's receptions more but that was because she made everyone bring something unlike Jeff who brought everything. So my main point in this is that I like our new teacher more than our old one.

What I'm Thankful For

The first thing I'm thankful for is being able to play tennis. My parents spend a large portion of their money on my tennis which I'm very grateful for. Even when they're having financial problems they'll still spend a lot of their money on tennis lessons and tournaments. During the summer I went to all three of Peter's camps which are all very expensive. The next thing I'm grateful for is having food on the table. In a lot of places homeless people are starving and I'm grateful that we always have a gourmet meal on the table. I'm also grateful that Obama got elected president because I think he'll be able to help the economy and make more job openings in America. Another thing I'm thankful for is being able to do lots of traveling. Even though the 7 wonders idea is kind of out we still plan to do lots of traveling in the next year. We've been to too many places for me to remember so I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful to be able to play piano even though sometimes I don't like it I think it will help me in the long run.

The First Seven Wonder

We had to get up at three to go to the airport to catch a flight to Washington D.C.  I've always hated getting up early but it was especially bad because I'd just been at a friends birthday party (his name's Alex and we went to see an Ohio State soccer game and I got back around midnight). I got about 3 hours of sleep.  We got business class once again going to Rome but long flights still aren't fun.  When we were landing in Rome I didn't know what to expect but there was a beautiful ocean and it was really nice and sunny out.  It was really confusing trying to find out how to get to our apartment.  We were originally planning on taking the train and then the metro or something but that was to confusing and expensive so we just got a taxi.  The actual city was a lot like Paris except not as nice (it's more crowded and lots of graffiti).  The driver's were also very dangerous.  There were lots of scooter and motorcycle riders that would go in between cars passing them by inches.  There was obviously lots of honking and yelling.  When we got to our apartment we had to wait for a while because we showed up two hours early.  We visited the Vatican and St. Peter's cathedral which wasn't fun, not because it was boring but because we were really tired.  We went to bed around 4 and woke up really early in the morning the next day.  The second day was the day we decided to see the Colosseum and the ancient ruins.  We got an early start and it was a really nice walk even though day got really frustrated because we couldn't find it.  When we got there we were on a balcony looking off at all the ruins imagining what it would have been like to be living in them 2000 years ago.  We walked through the ruins and it was amazing.  There were scientists studying certain parts so we watched the for a while.  It was really big but I'm not going to go into lots of details on this because I'd rather focus on the reason we came to Rome.  It was huge.  We could see it from the balcony rising up a lot higher than any of the other ruins and when we were right next to it looking up, we couldn't believe it was built thousands of years ago.  We started on the ground floor and walked all the way around.  There was a cross marking where Cesar used to sit.  You could look down and see where the trap doors were and where they would set lions on the gladiators.  Part of the underground passages were covered by a flooring that was supposed to show you what it used to look like when the gladiators were fighting on it.  It was just a wood covering with sand on top.  Then we moved to the second floor where you could look down on the passages which was really cool.  We didn't really spend a whole lot of time there though because we were all hungry and tired so we took the metro home.  The metro's in Rome aren't nearly as nice as the metro's in Paris.  On the last day of our trip we visited a lot of places but I'm just going to write about the Pantheon.  It's an ancient building but it's still in one piece so you can walk inside of it.  Before we went in we got gelato (ice cream) which was good but not as good as the ice cream in Paris.  Inside there was a big dome that had an opening but there was no glass covering it so when it rains it just rains right into the Pantheon.  It's supposed to being pretty cool.  There's lots of drains so it never floods or anything as far as I know.  It was a short trip but we saw a lot and learned a lot so we all thought it was plenty of time and were eager to get home.  It was nice but not as nice as Paris.

The Obama Rally

Today we went into Columbus so we could see Obama speak live.  When we got to the area where the rally was taking place there was a long line of people that were heading somewhere that we couldn't see.  We finally found a place to park and started walking towards the line.  On our way there were tons of vendors selling shirts, pins, and hats.  Above all the noise you would just here some guy yelling, "hats and shirts!, shirts and hats!"  It was a big line but it moved quickly and soon we were in.  There was already a large crowd gathered up where Obama was going to speak and if I would have known how many people were going to be there I would have wanted to get a spot in the crowd then but since we had an hour and a half we found a nice shady spot and waited there.  There were a few volunteers handing out free water so we didn't get hot and thirsty so it wasn't all miserable waiting.  Before the future president took the podium there were various people talking such as one of the senators and the mayor.  They were just trying to get the crowd going.  When Obama came everyone went crazy and started waving signs in the air but I couldn't see a thing because of the massive crowd.  There was some kind of construction vehicle that a bunch of people were standing on and mom told me to go over and get some good pictures for her blog.  I found a spot on it where I could see Obama clearly and it was much better than being in the crowd.  I got one really good picture of the huge crowd and the American flag in the background and I think mom nominated that one to go on her blog.  We didn't watch the whole thing so we didn't have to worry about the crowd but he was done soon after we'd left.  My favorite part of the whole thing was the secret service agents.  They were all dressed up in a suit with dark sunglasses.  They had guys on the roof with giant binoculars looking for potential problems.  It looked like a cool job to me.  When we left we went to the closest fast food restaurant (Wendy's) and all ate big meals because we were all starving.  We then went to Easton (a shopping center) and watched a movie about religion.  It was pretty much about some guy talking about how stupid religion is.  It was rated R but Isabel still watched it because there was just a little cussing.  Those were the highlights of our day.

The Davinci Code

What's been happening in the book I'm reading, the Davinci Code, is Sophie Neuveu, an agent in cryptology, left a message for Langdon telling him he was in grave danger and to meet her in the bathroom and to make sure Fache didn't follow him. He did what he was told and met her in the bathroom where she told him that Fache thought he was the one that murdered Sauniere and that they had to break out of the Louvre and get him to the Embassy, where he could have a fair American trial, if he got to the embassy he was considered on American ground where he would be safe for the time being. They were following Robert Langdon with a tiny tracking device to make sure he didn't try to make a run for it. They put the dot in a bar of soap and and broke the glass, immediately the sirens started to blare and they threw the soap onto a passing truck. Fache called for all the agents to follow the truck giving Langdon and Sophie time to escape. When they were about to escape Langdon figured out the code Sauniere had left which said:

Leonardo Da Vinci!
The Mona Lisa!

They figured they had enough time to go take a look before Fache got back so they went back to look for clues on the Mona Lisa. Written across the paintings protective glass, there was another puzzle that led to another painting. Before she could figure it out though, a security guard came in and told Langdon to put his hands up and get on the ground. As all of this was going on, Sophie managed to get to the painting and found a key that earlier in her life, Saunier (her grandpa) had told her unlocked unbelievable secrets. She pocketed it then turned and used the painting as a hostage, she told the security guard that if he didn't drop his walkie talkie and gun, she would smash her knee through the famous Da Vinci painting, horrified, he dropped his gun and radio and as they ran out of the room they took them. They left the museum and got in Sophie's Smart Car. The cops saw them but they managed to loose them in the maze of streets. Now they're trying to find a safe place where they can try to find out what the key will unlock.

Homeschool Acivities

Since we haven't been able to see our friends every day due to home schooling we've been doing various activities in home schooling.  Two days ago me and dad went to chareoke night where we ate wings and watched people sing.  It was fun but it seemed like I wasn't really in the conversations, you know just sitting there but it was funny watching some of the kids.  Yesterday we had park day where pretty much the same kids met at a park and just hung out.  It was kind of boring but I was more in the conversations.  They're going to have other activities including skatepark day which I'm looking forward to.

The Davinci Code

Although I haven't read a lot of it, I've been reading the Davinci Code which so far has taken place in Paris so going to Paris has helped me understand it a bit better. It's kind of confusing for me but this is what I think has been going on. Oh, another thing I'm not good with is names of people in books, I only remember 2 so I'll use nicknames. In the beginning there's a man trying to get away from a person trying to murder him. The murderer is some Christian crazy person (goes as far as wearing a belt that burns into his skin to simulate the pain Jesus felt when he died on the cross). The other man holds some kind of secret the murderer is trying to figure out. The victim runs into one of the galleries and rips of a random painting from the wall. In modern museums, they don't use lasers or anything to guard the paintings but when someone rips a painting of the wall, bars come down around the gallery blocking his/her exit. By doing this, the victim was trying to seperate himself from the murderer. He just aimed the gun through the bars and asked him the truth about whatever secret it was (it hasn't said the secret yet) and he lied so he got shot. He got shot in the stomach which makes it so he dies very slowly (over a 20 minute time period) and very painfully. Before he died he positioned himself to look like a star and drew a star on his chest with the blood from his wound. He also had an invisible ink pen which can only be read with certain light. Proffesor Langdon was planning on meeting him the next day so the police (not actually the police, more like the FBI in France) had him get out of bed to meet Fasche, the head of the secret service. They met at the Louvre where Fasche met him and took him to the crime scene. The star stood for a feminine god, it was one of the first symbols ever used. They paint it on American airforce planes. Right at the end of the chapter I was reading, Langdon read the writing the man had left and the last thing he said was "What the hell." so I'm guessing this is where the story starts, trying to find out what the writing meant.