May 17, 2005

Dear Diana,

We think we're moving out tomorrow. Cool! We released the lizards today. We had got a new one, but let it go. It was really great. It was striped brown and white on its body, and its tail was bright blue. Oops, I mean it was ? and blanco and azul. (I didn't know how to say "brown" in Spanish) I almost want to get done moving, so I can concentrate on my studies. I don't mean to be a goody-two-shoes-study-lady-magnate (to be honest, I don't even know what that means, but it sounds good), but I want to be done Miquon™ (homeschool math curriculum) before fifth grade, and my geography and science are about equal to a 2nd grader's and a 3rd grader's. My reading and history could challenge grade 5 though. Who else would know why the Trojan war started, or exactly how Queen Penthesilea died? More modern? How 'bout how cheaply people sold things in the Great Depression? Five cents. That's how cheap. We had chicken, rice, cucumber pickles, and strawberries for dessert. I have 62 pages left in this journal. That sounds like a lot, but considering how many pages my journal had in the first place, it's not bad. One of Xander's poems has been haunting me ever since he wrote it, on the day that Hazel died. Maybe it would help if I wrote it here.

Hazel is under the tumbleweed

In a deep sleep

The elements supply all she needs

Though we weep,

Not a sound she heeds,

And her silence keeps.

This is her first night spent outside;

At 9:07 this morning, she died.

Kitty

P.S. I couldn't remember all of it, so I substituted some of my own lines.

Note: Recently, I came across this poem of Xander's, and it seems like I substituted all of my own lines, except the first and the last. And wow, my structure was so much better too, and my word choice too. Go little me!

Note two: The section about my studies might seem weird, but that's because I was homeschooled in a very unconventional way. Now, homeschooled students are generally supposed to follow a curriculum, but we never did, because Dad never helped us much (and even when he did, it wasn't helpful), and Mom was so busy that all she could do was quiz us a little (to this day, she still is basically a single parent with regard to her workload). So all of us kids had to do our own thing. This was good for Anselm and Talia, who never really liked school, but for Xander, and especially for me, it was a thorn in the side. We therefore created our own curriculums, and worked on them ourselves, and somehow, we made progress. By eighth grade, I was extremely well-versed in the humanities, and Xander taught himself calculus at the tender age of twelve. Note that I wasn't completely absorbed in my own stuff; I did teach Anselm and Talia as well (although Xander didn't). But just because I, as a nerdy INTP, could deal with this system, doesn't mean that it's a good one. In fact, it's very bad. Never do it.