I'm 13 years old and in my second year at Longfellow Intermediate School. School is much easier than last year, and more fun, but I'm learning lots of new stuff.
Besides school work, I've got lots to keep me busy. I have a couple of bunnies, both small ones (very sadly, two older rabbits I kept got eaten by a fox -- not what you'd expect in a suburb of Washington). I like taking care of them and holding them. So furry! I take tennis lessons and play in competitions, and actually won a game or two. On Sundays I have Chinese school, where I can learn Chinese dancing and painting when I'm not memorizing characters. I have a clunky old computer, which my father put together for me, and enjoy playing computer and video games, except the scary ones give me nightmares. I like to read, and when things are boring, I can go through several books a week. I like to sing along with tapes or CDs -- things like Beatle's songs or Phantom of the Opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, etc. I also like doing magic tricks with cards and coins.
What else? Oh, I I used to take piano, but it got a little hard to fit it into my schedule. Anyway, you can hear some pieces I was playing before I quit if you have MIDI: Distant Bells, Sonatina, Summer Days, and Weird (that's not the real title -- just the way it is).
This last summer I had some neat trips. The best was to Peru to see Machu Picchu, and you can read about it and see pictures which my dad took.
Some neat places to visit on the Internet, if you are a kid, are KID List; Uncle Bob's Kids' Page or Children's Literature Web Guide.
As a bonus, if you've read this far, you get to read my first published poem (and you guess the theme!):
The world in utter silence
as far as eye can see
The heaviness of sadness
in unheard harmony.
The world frozen over;
a great crystal ball.
Beyond the reach of sunshine,
without Spring, Summer, or Fall.
And today just who might cease to live,
but Earth, both life and love.
And all the creatures on the face of the Earth
appealed to the gods above.
"Help us!" "Save her!"
was the anguished cry.
No one could bear to see
the living goddess die.
From the time of the humans
who once reigned the world
Pollution killed off all
the beauty unfurled.
They polluted the ocean
as much as they pleased,
along with the rivers,
lakes, and great seas.
The time came along,
when they could no longer breathe,
but the innocent animals
continued to seethe.
One by one,
they all passed away,
Leaving great emptiness
as shown here today.
O.k, you got this far, which gets you another bonus: the first poem I have submitted to a poetry contest (and which will be published in the school literary journal):
I say I sprint towards happiness,
And yet I always pause.
And when I search to find out why,
I never find a cause.
I say I sprint towards happiness;
A bountiful of joy.
But all the joy I used to have,
Died a lifeless toy.
I say I sprint towards happiness,
No longer by my side.
And as I trudge the path, I know,
It'll be an endless ride.
If anybody wants to be my electronic pen-pal, they can send me a message through my father, at chinatom@radix.net
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