I've moved!!
As you can see I haven't updated my blog for awhile... well actually I have (just not here!)! Please continue to visit me at
cassie.dara-abrams.com/blog (very simple! first name.last name.com/blog!). My blog will be getting better and better as I get more and more great ideas, so please do continue to take a look at my blog!
"Twenty years from now..."
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain
My Wish For You::
Watch the video
This is my final project for the FTV (film/TV) 86 class which I took awhile ago at school. The music is from the movie Her Majesty and is written by William Ross and the poem is called My Wish For You.
Vloggercon!
picture from vloggercon.comI loved Vloggercon. I haven't really processed the onslaught of information that I got during the two days. I put some notes up on my blog, some are still just drafts (and haven't been posted) since they wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to others reading them. I'll make them readable and then publish them (hopefully, I can remember what I meant when I wrote the notes...).
I met some really cool people at Vloggercon and found out about a WHOLE lot of cool stuff. And I will definitely be making this blog a vlog (videoblog) as well (soon)!
FCP/iMovie tricks session
normal problems
imovieplugins.com
look for free effects if I want effects/filters for imovie
geethree.com
packages you can purchase... can maybe find free downloads.
there are some useful effects that you can use
stupendous-software.com- also have some free downloads/ demo versions
gimp, cross platform. poor man's photoshop. look it up, get it
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ <--- this maybe
want to use as many senses as possible in your video
push imovie to the limits
zadi diaz--
if you want to cut/edit clips to the beat then you can just listen to the music and click M (for marker) when you hear the beat.
lynda.com - get resources
questions:
freevlog.org - tuturials for exported/compression rates
josh leo said he would answer questions (IM or email) and zadi said she would answer questions too
We the People::
The Preamble::
We the People [of the United States], in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Thank you, Mr. LaPlante, for engraining this into my mind. : )
I'm reading about the late 40's and 50's (for an Honors history seminar I'm taking this quarter) and I was reading about the fifth amendment on Wikipedia since it was mentioned numerous times in the first reading, Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, which is transcripts of the hearings by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee on Americans (many actors from Hollywood) who were suspected of being communists. And then I went to the Wikipedia page about
the US Constitution and found the Preamble and sang right along with it (my social studies teacher, Mr. LaPlante, replayed over and over again this song of the Preamble)!
I'm writing more about my readings for this history seminar if you want to
see.
California Public Transportation SUCKS
I hate to use such a stupid word like sucks but it's the only thing that fits. I want to get from point A to point B. They are 3 miles apart if you go the most direct route and supposedly it would take 7 minutes by car (says MapQuest). And it takes me almost 2 hours using public transportation!! And I have to go totally out of the way, I never go on the 3 mile route that MapQuest says to go by car. I walk to a Line A Marguerite stop around 1/2 mile away, I think. Wait for the bus if I miss it because I have to walk. Spend almost a half hour on the bus. Get off at the Palo Alto Transit Center. Wait probably 20 minutes for the 35 bus. Get on the 35 (make sure it's going in the right direction) and stay on the bus for around 30 minutes. Fortunately, the bus would get off RIGHT in front of my point B destination.. however, I would probably get to my destination late considering that I would most definitely miss at least one of those buses.
Or, I could just walk the 3 miles, which would take me less time.
However, fortunately, my mom called around and found me a ride.
The three major things that were blocking me from getting from point A to point B easily are::
-I don't have my license yet (HOPEFULLY I WILL ON JUNE 13TH).
-the friend who I'm seeing at point A can't legally drive me even though she has her license.
-Public transportation SUCKS.
-oh and also, neither of my parents can drive me.. : )
It just goes to show that we, the people who vote (me excluded because I can't vote yet) and the people who decide the laws, are destroying the world. Why you ask? Because propositions get put on ballots to get more money for public transportation. Well, either public transportation doesn't get the money because the people who decide/make the laws/have the money whatever don't put stuff on ballots to get more money for public transportation or the people who can vote either don't vote at all or vote no for the propositions/laws that get the money to improve public transportation. Then public transporation sucks (sucks meaning you can't get anywhere you want without walking 5 miles and spending your whole day trying to GET wherever you want to get) so no one wants to use it and everyone has multiple cars per household and drives everywhere. And then everyone has cars so there's no use for public transportation so the people who can vote vote no on these propositions that would give money to improve public transportation because they don't use it!
[umm I'm tired, it's 11:30, I don't think I'm making much sense. I'm rambling.]
Tomorrow's June!
Tomorrow is June!! Meaning that...
I'm going to see Keys people! [this Friday!]
I'm going to see YPW people! [this Saturday!]
I'm going to turn 16 1/2 years old! [on June 5th]
I'm going to take my last driving lesson! [on June 8th]
I'm going to Vloggercon! [on June 9th and 10th]
I'm going to take my driving test and hopefully pass! [on June 13th]
I'm going to have my two last quizzes in French 3!
I'm going to have my last quiz in my digital video class! [due next Wednesday]
I'm going to turn in my final project for my digital video class (hopefully)! [week of June 12th]
I'm going to turn in my History seminar paper (which I should start)! [end of June.. umm what date?]
I'm going to turn in my paper about Le Petit Prince in my French class! [end of June.. again, what date?]
I'm going to hopefully not have to take my French final because I will hopefully have an A going into the final! [NEVER!]
I'm going to start German class with my mom again! [June 19th?]
I'm going to finish my spring quarter of my second year at Foothill! [June 26th if I don't have to take the French final!]
It's going to be SUMMER!! [hopefully on June 26th!]
AAAAH! I'm going to sleep.
Searching, Looking, Erasing, Adding::
The list (of colleges)::
[if there is no date next to a comment or college, it was added on May 30, 2006. everything else should have a date]
1)
Oberlin, Oberlin, Ohio
+mideast
2)
Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois
+nice college campus, surroundings
+cousin went there
3)
Haverford, Haverford, PA
+sort of know the area
+near relatives
-/+ very small
+ check out
the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship4)
Macalester, St. Paul, Minnesota
+special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society.
+family friend went there and really liked it
5)
Carleton, Northfield, MN
-/+Drew, my brother, went there and really liked it
6)
Hamilton, Clinton, NY (near Utica)
7)
Bowdoin, Brunswick, Maine
+MAINE! I used to (and still do) want to live in Maine
8)
Colby, Waterville, Maine
+MAINE! I used to (and still do) want to live in Maine
9)
Reed, Portland, Oregon
10)
Whitman, Walla Walla, Washington
11)
Grinnell, Grinnell, Iowa
12)
Cornell, Ithaca, NY
13)
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
14)
Penn, Philadelphia, PA
15)
Duke, Durham, North Carolina
16)
Swarthmore, Swarthmore, PA
17)
Middelbury, Middlebury, Vermont
18)
Davidson, Davidson, North Carolina
19)
Wesleyan, Middleton, Connecticut
20)
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
21)
Lafayette, Easton, PA
+where Nate, a cousin twice removed or is he my second cousin??, just graduated from.
22)
Bucknell, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
+international focus is listed as one of their tabs
+
transfer students (they even mention transferrring from a community college) --
23)
Bates, Lewiston, Maine
24)
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
25)
Pomona College, Claremont, CA
And the search begins!
To continue with this college/school theme, I'm treating Foothill like my high school, which in my mind mainly means I'll be attending Foothill for four years. After the four years, I'll graduate from Foothill with an Associates degree in mathematics, a digital video editing certificate, and I'll be an Honors scholar (meaning that I'll have completed 6 Honors Institute classes), while my friends who are my age graduate from high school. Oh and I have my California High School Proficiency Certificate already (I took the exam last spring, so spring of my freshman year).
After Foothill I'll transfer in as a sophomore or junior (most likely a sophomore) to a four year college/university/whatever you want to call it. Where you ask? Who knows! I have around two years to decide! I was talking with my mom and she came up with this list of schools she's heard of and schools I've been sort of interested in.. I'm going to start my list right now and I'll be crossing out and adding schools for the next two years! I'll put the list in another post so it doesn't look as confusing with this post (if that makes sense).
Can't Complete High School? Go right to college...
My brother emailed me
this New York Times article about people going to college without completing high school. I'm assuming that you (whoever you are) know that I spent a week at my local public high school and then left and went to Foothill, my local community college. Fortunately, as my brother pointed out when I was trying to decide if I should try out high school or just go straight to Foothill, the high school started August 23rd and Foothill started a month later so I could try out the high school and see how it went and then I would still have time to get to Foothill for the fall quarter! And that's just what I did. It was actually pretty weird. I spent the summer at Foothill working on the summer musical, and I'm really glad I did because I met some really cool people who I ended up being at school with. Then I got ready for high school, went there for a week and got sort of into "school mode." Then I left after a week and then I was back in summer for like 3 weeks! Then I started school again... it was odd, but I like it, Foothill (most of the time).
So... uhh that was off topic but still on topic.. I read
this NY times article and I thought it would be mostly about students who left high school early and went straight to college (like I did) like the title suggests.. but most of it was about people older than high school (and college) age who hadn't completed high school but still have had the chance to attend college. There was only one paragraph on the second page (you'll see it) about a 16 year old guy who left high school early. It wasn't a bad article or anything, it was informative, but just not about what I'm as interested in. However, I do think that the group of people who are mainly discussed in the article are a group that is really interesting and I didn't know a whole lot about them. But I do also think that the group of people I'm included in aren't discussed that much either. There's the group who aren't interested in high school and learning at all but are probably really smart, they just aren't turned on at all. And there many programs for these kinds of people.. but what about the really incredibly turned on students who aren't interested in going to high school either? They are at risk as well because they could become really turned off to learning if no one (teachers, mentors, friends) helps them and makes sure they're learning more and more all the time. I'm so glad that my parents, friends, or anyone that has an influence on me made me stay in high school because I knew and still know, I just had this gut feeling that being at this place for four long years could potentially turn me off to learning. I know that after a year in high school for my brother started to feel like he didn't want to go to school, he didn't want to learn. And I know that I wouldn't want to feel that way. I'm afraid that many students in high school are getting turned off to learning new things. But I guess I don't know that much about other people, but I do know about myself. So whatever floats your boat, I really don't care if anyone else likes or wants to go to high school. I won't make you leave if you don't make me stay.
picture from vloggercon.com
