My Thanksgiving Poem

My Thanksgiving Poem

(Things)

I am thankful for books. They are books.

I am thankful for the piano. It takes me to another time era in the music.

I am thankful for Video Games. They are one of the many ways I am entertained.

(Places you go)

I am thankful for Cedar Point. It is one of the best amusement parks in the world.

I am thankful for Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum. It’s a great arcade.

I am thankful for school. It is a great place to learn new things.

(People)

I am thankful for Matthew. He is one of my best friends.

I am thankful for my other friends. They help me get through things.

I am thankful for Ralph Baer. He invented the Atari, the first home video game system.

I am most thankful for my cousin Max. He is really funny and has always been a friend to me.

The Good and the Very Bad

The days of 11-21-2015 and 11-22-2015 are good and bad for many different reasons. The good news was both Michigan college football teams but the Buckeyes actually had a chance of winning. The bad news was that I got sick and had to go to the doctor. The good news coming out of that was the food.

Aladdin Understudies

Today was a half day. It ended at 11:30, but not for me and everybody that wasn't in the ensemble for Aladdin Jr. There were a few problems at rehearsal. One of our the guards, Timmy, wasn't there, but there are multiple guards. Another problem was that the person playing the Sultan wasn't here; but Storm, who plays Razoul, was there to fill in. That brought up another problem. Who would be Razoul? Storm's friend, Jake P., was there to fill in for him when the Sultan and Razoul were in the same scene. There was ONE MORE problem. Jake Flaherty, who plays Aladdin, wasn't there! I asked if I could fill in for Aladdin and the music director (the director wasn't there) said yes. When we got to "A Whole New World" though, there was another problem. The Aladdin part goes down an octave and I can't sing that low. So, Jake P. filled in for Jake F. when I couldn't, but I did Aladdin when we were at the finale.

Best Video Games Ever

For me, video games are very important to me. This video inspired me to write this post.

10. Mario Party 10
9. Mariokart 8
8. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
7. Wii Sports
6. Disney Infinity 2.0
5. Skylanders SWAP Force
4. LEGO Harry Potter
3. Pokémon ORAS (Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire)
2. Skylanders Trap Team

and the 2 video games tied for number 1 are:

Skylanders SuperChargers and Disney Infinity 3.0

Mondays for Me

I hate Mondays! They're always so hard to do my homework on because of the fact that MOTCC rehearsals are on Mondays. I always do basically everything on Tuesday mornings. But the worst part is that we have so many pieces to memorize in so little time. But every Monday I am reminded that I love doing this.

Recitals

Today I performed in my first recital ever! I was a little nervous. I had never sang by myself in front of SO many people. I sang the American Folk Song Shenandoah, which was the song I sang at my audition for the MOTCC this year. I wore my MOTCC uniform which has 1 pin on it to represent my 1 year in the MOTCC Principal Chorus. It was really fun and I just got clarification from my mom to participate in the next one which will be on May 15th, 2016.

Slugterra

A few days ago I wrote about Digimon. Now I'm going to write about another show called Slugterra. It's where people shoot awesome slugs at other people. These people are called "Slugslingers" Once the slugs reach 100 mph, they morph into the slugs that attack the other slugslingers.  When and if they reach 200 mph, they Megamorph. Sometimes, they can create a Fusion shot when 2 slugs are released at the time. There are slugslingers that use their blasters for evil, like Dr. Thaddeus Blakk. He and everyone in Blakk industries are obsessed with corrupting slugs. These corrupted slugs are called Ghouls. Ghouls are stronger than others because of their corruption. The best slugslinger family is the Shanes. The show is about Eli Shane and how he survived in Slugterra. His father died in an attack by Dr. Blakk. Or did he?

Stratego Strategy

There's a game my babysitter Mara introduced me and my sister to called Stratego. In the version at her house, there are mythical creatures (i.e. Mages, Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Yeti/Lava Beast, Sorceress) as the playing pieces. In the version of Stratego at my house, it's like a modernized war. The characters have different rankings. The 10 is the strongest, while the 1 is the weakest but can kill the 10. In my version of the game, there is a piece that has no ranking. The piece is called the Infiltrator. When behind enemy lines, the Infiltrator can guess what a piece is from 2 squares away (your opponent's pieces aren't shown). If he gets it right, the piece is captured and moved off the board. If it is wrong, the Infiltrator stays on the board, but the opponent knows where it is. This is a story of an unpredictable win by me against my babysitter where I had my Infiltrator, and two 5s.

Last night, I was playing a game of Stratego against my babysitter Mara. The first big blow was taking my Spy, the only thing that can capture a 10 or Marshal. Then, she took my Marshal with HER Spy. Next up, she took my General (9). This kept going until I only had 3 movable pieces left. They were my Infiltrator, and 2 of my Lieutenants (5s). Mara was taking all of my pieces with her General. I started moving my Infiltrator towards the spot that I knew the flag was. The only problem was her Marshal was in the way. It started chasing the Infiltrator. When he got to the Bombs (no ranking, can't move, take everything but Miners a.k.a. 3's and the Infiltrator's guessing), I made sure to get them out of his way before the Marshal got to him and all hope was lost (the game ends when either someone gets the opponent's flag or when someone takes all the movable pieces of the other side). I ended up getting the flag, and Mara said she should've won. The same thing happened on Saturday, but Mara made an unpredictable win.

Digimon

I've completely forgot about it, but I used to watch a show called "Digimon". There are many versions of the show, but I've only seen 2. They are "Digimon: Digital Monsters" and "Digimon Fusion".  Here is the video to the Digimon Fusion theme song. Digimon and another show, Slugterra, are my 2 favorite shows EVER!!

The 3 Decks

Yesterday at Aladdin rehearsal, we played a game. I don't know what it's called. It's where you rush between the Poop Deck in the center, the Fiesta Deck on the left, and the Leado Deck on the right. There were other things the caller could call out. They were "Lower the Boom!" and "Captain on deck." When lower the boom was called, you had to drop to the floor. When Captain on Deck was called, you had to salute with your right hand. You couldn't move until the caller said "At ease." We played 2 rounds. I came in 3rd place in the 1st round and won in the 2nd.

Ecco Parpingol!

In the MOTCC we have a stuffed bear named Parpingol. He comes home with a different person each week. During the week you have him, you have to take a picture of him somewhere. Getting Parpingol is an honor. I never got Parpingol last year, but I got him last night.

The First Time I Went to a Funeral

Yesterday, there was a funeral for my cousin's Grandpa at their church. I never knew him that well, and I'm Jewish so most of the things I don't believe in. I'm not religious so I don't believe in God either. I just said the stuff that I thought was right. After the service, I found out that my Uncle's dad was a medic in the Military. They (a few members of the military) gave my cousin's Grandma a U.S. Flag and Saluted the body. They went outside and did a 21-Gun Salute. Overall, it was a little boring, but I had fun spending a little time with my cousins.

Aladdin Rehearsals (the 1st 1- there are many more to come)

Today was the first Aladdin rehearsal, and I've got to say, the play is awesome. When we were done reading the script with having the songs being sung by everybody that wants to, we did a little activity to get to know the stage directions and the directions to say your lines in. I was one of the 1st ones to do the activity. Me, Eden who's playing Iago, the person who's Jafar, and the person who plays the Sultan were called in this order, "This one, this one, this one, and this one.". Eden said immediately, "Oh! I'm a 'This one'!". A little later on in the activity (about a minute), I started hopping everywhere I went. I'm a comedian at heart, so I wanted to get some people to laugh. I didn't think I would get a lot of people to laugh. But, that's what I did. I really enjoyed today. The 1 thing I forgot is that we played a game called "Elephants, Angels, Palm Trees, Jell-O".

The 2 G's: Gmail and Goodreads

This morning, my sister Ava wanted to go on her Goodreads account. I tried to get her on using her email and what I thought to be her password. But it turned out that wasn't the right password. So, we sent an email to her from Goodreads. When we went on the site that she has her email on, kidsemail.org,  we tried logging in with her username and password. The problem for this site was her email expired. We had to make a new account for Ava. We had to have an email for the account so we just waited and waited because we thought our mom said we couldn't sign Ava up with Gmail. 10 minutes later, we asked her and she said she didn't mind. So we set her Gmail account up. We said she was 13 because that's how old you have to be. I think we (Ava and I) bonded over this. Just recently, when I gave her a hug, she didn't complain like she used to.

Small Moment Narrative #1

I was shivering and nervous about the audition for the little boy in the opera La Boheme. Sure, it was only 1 line, but to me, it was a lot.  I remembered my first La Boheme rehearsal. On 9/2/2015, I was at the MOT rehearsing the Opera La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini. I was really excited to perform in a famous opera. There was only 1 problem: I DIDN’T KNOW EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW!! There was one line that always confused me timing wise. That line was “Caldi Marroni, ninoli toroni.” That’s Italian for “Warm Chestnuts, oranges and candy.” We were only in act 2, but I knew I’d have fun no matter what. I thought what would happen if I got the part and if I didn’t. If I got the part, I might have my own solo bow, which is pretty cool. There might also be some people I didn’t even know in the audience saying I did good. Those thoughts helped calm me down. I sang the line the best I could. The line was: “Vo’la tromba il cavalin.” It means, “I want a trumpet and a horse” The context for the line is that me and the other kids are chasing the toy maker Parpignol and our mothers come and chase us down. So, if I get the part, I would say that I want a toy horse and toy trumpet. Before my friend Brooke’s audition, we just practiced. My audition for the role wasn’t as long as the other 3 chosen to audition. That was a good sign for me.

When I got the part, I realized that I tried my best and it paid off.  

A few weeks later, I found out I would get “Slapped” and questioned my decision to do my best.

In the week before opening night, I found out I would get a solo bow.

Now that I won’t be performing in the opera anymore (our last performance was Saturday the 24th), I learned a valuable lesson. If you do your best, anything can happen.

Small Moment Narrative #2

A not so long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, there was a boy whose name was Kevyn. On 10.31.2015, Kevyn was on a few errands with his dad. His mom and sister were at Splash Village waterpark and Hotel with his sister’s friend Elina. They went to Lowe’s, which he detested, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, which was equally boring. When he protested about wanting to pick what they did, they went to the nearest Best Buy, which was about a walk away. But still, they took the car. When they got to the skylanders section, Kevyn saw that the new Skylanders game (Skylanders SuperChargers) was only $50.00. Usually it’s $75.00. I was sad because there was no dark edition of the game at all OR the dark edition on Wii U. But there was a regular edition on Wii U and it didn’t cost as much as it would in other places. The starter pack for Wii U came with Turbo Charge Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong’s vehicle the Barrel Blaster, and Super Shot Stealth Elf. In the Wii starter pack, it came with Hammer Slam Bowser, his vehicle the Clown Cruiser, and Super Shot Stealth Elf. He also bought the sea vehicle, the Sea Shadow. When he got to the checkout line, his dad asked him, “Hey, do you have buyers remorse?”

Nope. I’m okay dad” Kevyn replied. When they got home, Kevyn immediatly started playing. He couldn’t put the Wii U game pad down until his dad told him that his mom and sister were at his house. (This story was written in the 3rd person but it was in fact a personal narrative by Kevyn Roessler. I had a fun time playing this game and today I’m very close to beating it)

Books-A-Million

Today we went to a bookstore called Books-A-Million. Before we went in, I thought that it was all used books. It turns out I was wrong! There was the book I wanted to get, Dark Tide by Jennifer Donnelly, and the 8th Geronimo Stilton's Kingdom of Fantasy book, The Phoenix of Destiny. These books are great! I finished The Phoenix of Destiny today after getting it. I finished it in about an hour and 10 minutes. The book was 576 pages long! I'm reading Dark Tide right now, it's a book most people think a boy wouldn't read. It's a book series about mermaids. Well, those people are being stereotypical. I started reading the 1st book, Deep Blue, at the 1st book fair last year. I got hooked on the series. Once I started reading, I looked it up on Goodreads. I saw that Deep blue was the first book in a 4 book series, The WaterFire Saga. When the 2nd book came out, I probably got it the 2nd day it was out. This book is called Rouge Wave. I was really excited when Dark Tide came out on 10-13-2015. I'm really excited for the 4th and final book, Sea Spell.

Skylanders

There are many video game franchises that I really like, and I can only name a few! The big 3 are Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and Pokémon. In that order. But the franchise I'm going to talk about today is Skylanders because I just got the new game, Skylanders SuperChargers yesterday. Each Skylanders game adds a new element to the game. In the first game, it's just a normal RPG game with action figures for the character you're playing as. In the 2nd game, Skylanders Giants, the element of giant skylanders that are taller, more powerful, and slower than the other skylanders. Each game, they don't just add new skylanders. They make skylanders from older games more powerful. The only skylander in all 5 games is Gill Grunt. In the 3rd game, Skylanders Swap Force, there are some skylanders that can have their tops and bottoms swapped with other skylanders of the Swap Force. In the 4th game, Skylanders Trap Team, the element of trapping the most powerful villains, the doom raiders, in crystal traps and having them fight for you. And finally, in Skylanders SuperChargers, the element of vehicles. There are Jets, Trucks, Submarines, Motorboats that can go underwater, cars and helicopters. These added elements make the games much more fun, even though the original was pretty good.