Happy birthday!

To all people that have anything to do with me, I have an announcement to make! Two of me beloved relatives have a birthday. Not even beloved relatives, beloved sibs. YES! Happy birthday to Yosef and Atara A.K.A Ferri! Yosef is now 7 and Ferri is 11! Oops, I sort of lost count right, Yosef is 11 and Ferri 7, sorry...
Do you guys remember my Bat-Mitzvah? I have this behind-the-scenes picture that was taken a couple of hours before the event. Look at it closely, and then you might realize what makes it different (Oh, gosh! I'm going to make a fool of myself...)...

Now you get it? HA! I remember feeling very NOT me, but loving it. I kept on thinking 'Oh my GOSH! I'm turning into this piercer and I'll make a hole in my body wherever possible' and then I thought of the picture from the Guinness Book of World Records that showed the lady with the most piercings, and I almost started crying and I was soooooooooooooooooo depressed because I was scared I would start turning into a person I would try to stay away from. After that whole fiasco I asked my parents if they would let me get a second piercing in the ear, and now that I think of it, they never answered me. I wonder if they're scared that if they say that I can't then I will become this rebellious child and start hanging out with bad people and smoke and in conclusion, I'd do everything I'm NOT going to do in a billion (hopefully even more) years. Don't worry - I took it off before my BM, because it would have been a little awkward if people started showing up and seeing that I have a NOSE RING which I DON'T HAVE. I do wonder sometimes if I would end up being a rebellious child and everything. I hope not, but you never know... :)
Good bye!

Esperanza Spalding

Anyone heard of her? She is a relatively new artist/singer. Her genre is Jazz, she writes all the songs herself and plays the bass in all of her songs. Esperanza has two albums - 'Esperanza', and her second - 'Chamber Music Society', which is her 'harder and more advanced CD'.

What do I think of her? First, she has a BEAUTIFUL voice! And her music is real music. I love her music! Personally, I like her 'Esperanza' CD better, and I decided to introduce you to her music. Here is a few of her great songs (just press it the name of the song, and it will bring it to the song):

1. Precious - live
2. I Know You Know - live.
3. Ponte De Areia - live

 Anybody that has any other songs that they especially like by Esperanza Spalding, I would love to hear! If you listened to all of those, you will get a little idea of what her music is like. What do you think? Isn't she great or what?

 Shabbat Shalom!

Rant, pooh ears and a space monkey

Have you guys heard of the name 'Justin Bieber'? You probably heard of him from the newspaper, internet, TV and more. Do you guys know who he is? Before I give you my opinion, I will tell you a little bit about him.
Justin Bieber is a pop star from Canada, who got famous by posting videos on YOUTUBE for his family to see. Somehow, it became huge and BAM! he became this famous pop star (if you want to know about the process, which I'm not interested in telling you about just look in Wikipedia or something), and he has almost every teenage girl loving him. Anyway, he is performing in ISRAEL tonight in his world-wide tour and his hit song 'Baby' has over 45 MILLION hits on youtube. If you say the name in the presence of any teenage girl she'll go all pink and say 'OMG, he is sooooooooooooo cute' and say 'I'm going to his concert for 500 (!) shekels tonight'. This bothers me. Have you seen the youtube video that was going around of a 4 year old girl crying over Justin Bieber? Have you seen the slogan 'Bieber fever'? I am in the middle of teaching you about him, so now I want you to go on youtube and search 'Justin Bieber Baby official' and try to look in the point of view of a 15 year old girl, you will see why so many girls are attracted to him.
He is only 16, and and I have a couple of conclusions:
1. He is NEVER gonna have a normal life. Even now, he can't go out to the supermarket to buy some milk without a bunch (maybe a lot more) of girls jumping over him. In interviews, people ask him 'How are you planning to stay grounded and normal?', and he answers 'By my family and friends surrounding me and helping me' - yeah, right. His producer or something told him to say that, and mark my words: he is NOT going to stay normal. You know what, I could be wrong, but in most situations (Michael Jackson, for example), when a kid doesn't have a normal life, he goes a little crazy.
2. Every girl in my grade (almost) has a crush on him, and with that every single 7th grade class (almost) in the whole entire world love him, and I don't think it is so healthy. It's not Justin's entire fault, not even partly, I just think the whole world is too obsessed with him. In every single interview, the interviewer asks him if he has a girlfriend. I don't get it. It really drives me crazy.
Yes, it's true, he says 'Shma Yisrael....' in the beginning of every concert and he goes to hospitals to visit kids. It's true. Do you have any comments? Ideas? I'd be more than happy to hear what you want to say.


On to something truly cute, here is a picture of Sara with her pooh-ears:

Now you understand? I'll explain: Sara found this straining thing, and noticed that the ends look like ears, and it's yellow so it's winnie-the-pooh ears. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!


Now it's the other cutie's turn: FERRI! Ferri got her birthday present from Grandma Bette, with arts and crafts, and we both made shrinky-dinks and a space monkey. Here is a picture of the space monkey after an hour+ work. It is soooooooooo cute, and it was great to make it with Ferri:

How cute, right? The back (base) is a paper bag, so you can say that it was recycled. :)
Have a Pesack Kasher Ve'sameach and a happy passover!

Solo and correction

Hey!
I just got back from a loooooooooong day of school, with lots of rehearsals for the show that is going to be tomorrow. Why don't you know about it? Well, it is a mother/daughter event where the girls make a play and dance. I am dancing (duh)! I even have a solo 'en pointe' that is like 15 seconds long. The dance is not on a high level, but I'm excited to put on a leotard, make-up and a smile, because it is long overdue! I haven't performed in about two years so I'm extra excited!

I need to make a correction on what I posted last post. The sun is not made out of Plasma, but is in the mode of Plasma. So is lightning!

Abba is away, so that means PARTY! But it doesn't mean that I don't need to do homework, so I need to go now...

Last thing: I have a question for you guys: What did you want to be when you were a child? How did that influence your work now?
BYE!

Poems and Physicists

I haven't written anything lately, so I am long overdue on very important things. Like Elephants. And Penguins. Just joking, that's not what I'm going to talk about... Apparently, they have nothing to do with the title, so I can't talk about it...
In English class, we read a Emily Dickenson poem, which was nice, but that's not what I want to talk about. Of course, we had to get homework, and we needed to right poem that had to do with nature with a pattern of syllables. And I wrote one.

The Sea

By: Adina Hershberg

The sea is just a wonderful thing,

it can be calm and relaxed,

the happiness the sea can bring!

Te can also be very enraged,

it thrashed and pounds while it's in rage

when it's angry, it's very badly mannered.

However, it's vast and long and blue.

I can just sit and watch the waves,

it's beautiful-ness and soul-ness is true.

What do you thing, and tell me the truth - I can handle it! It also has a rythem for the syllables (pretty much):

9

7

9

10

9

9

9

8

9

Yea, I did it!

On to the physics part... Last week, in my gifted class, 2 physicists from the University of Tel-Aviv came to speak to my class. One spoke about the physics in the eye, with awesome experiments and the other spoke about Plasma, which had experiments, a slide show and was even awesome-r! It was so cool and I learned soooooooooo much!

Did you know that most of the universe is made out of Plasma? Did you know that the sun is made out of Plasma (not gas, like when I was told in 4th grade)? Did you know the Plasma is when the particles fall apart?

I left, actually feeling smarter!

Happy purim and the night I saw him return

So, harry potter lovers - what's suspicious about this sentence??? I'll give you a hint - "The night I saw him return" - where is that from? The person who comes up with the right answer will win an awesome prize!

Anyway, HAPPY PURIM! What was your costume? What was the best costume you saw? What was the best Mishlo'ach manot that you saw??? I could tell you the best Mishlo'ach manot there was - my friend dressed up as a chef and gave french fries (cookies cut into the french fry shape) and a hamburger (also made out of brownies, gummy stuff, cookie and more)! BEAT THAT!

So, I am reading The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. How did that happen? Good question...
Phase 1: Mommy borrowing it from her friend.
Phase 2: Mommy putting it on the coffee table.
Phase 3: Adina being bored looking for a book to read.
Phase 4: Adina finding it and - BAM! - I'm half way through the book.
Did you guys read it? My mother says it is "Hot, hot, hot in America right now", and I have a lot to say about it. I still have more to read, so I am going to write about it only when I finish. Please await for the best book review of the century!

Did I mention I'm drunk?? Just joking, I literally had 2 tiny sips of wine.

Cheating

Hi!
Good morning! I am staying home a little late this morning because I had a horrible night's sleep. I have a question for all of you guys, and please comment/email me what you think, because I'm really interested in what you have to say.
Was there cheating on tests when you were a kid? Did you cheat? In my elementary school, there was no such thing as cheating on tests. To be compared, at my school right now there is cheating. I personally saw girls doing it. I talked to girls who were from different elementary schools, and they said that cheating did happen. The teacher brought it up a couple of weeks ago, and I was shocked. Completely shocked. I had no idea that it really was true, that kids cheat on tests! The teacher said that she knows who's been cheating in her lessons, on other teacher's lessons, and it is approximately 7 girls that cheat regularly. She asked from those girls to write her a letter saying that they are aware of what they did wrong, and what they are going to do about it. Last week, the teacher brought it up again saying the just one girl gave her a letter, and she is waiting for the rest. After the teacher said that, she asked what the class thinks about cheating and how she reacts to it. A girl named Sara (made-up name) raised her hand and said that cheating is totally wrong, but it's human and real. She also said that cheating has nothing to do with the relationship between the girls, or the trust between the girls in our class. I raised my hand, and said that, true, cheating is one of those bad things in life and it is human but that doesn't make anything better. It is still something that is not allowed and should not happen. I also disagreed with her about what she said about the relationship, that it is harder to trust that girl who cheats. Of course I wouldn't give the girl who cheats the silent treatment, but I wouldn't trust her with a secret.
What do you think?? If you saw a friend cheating in a test, would you tell teacher, and why??
So.................. Good night!

Spring is knocking on our door!

I went outside to do some errands with Abba about half an hour ago, and it was so warm! Isn't it supposed to be winter??? On my school bus, on the way to Jerusalem, I see all these colorful flowers and it makes me smile! Speaking of flowers... Have you read the poem 'Daffodils' by William Wordsworth?? Here it is (please read it as if I am reading it dramatically):

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

So, what do you think? I really like it. We had homework to find a poem about nature, and since I really like this poem, I brought it and read it to the class with feelin'. 

Good Shabbos!

Yosef's Drawings!

Please give feedback to Yosef! He has an email account, so if you don't have it please email me and I'll email you back with the address. Which one do you like best?
This is a picture of Ferri awhile ago with her plants that she got for Chanukah from Grandpa Saul and Grandma Judy:

The clarity of it isn't that high but, it's still very cute! Here is another picture of Ferri: (look at her shoes)

Adorable, right?????
Good Shabbos everybody!

Post #100!!

Yes! Happy 100 post anniversary! So.......... what's new? I have some things going on right now...
1. I have a Purim costume! Thank you Meme (AKA Mrs.Comet) for the cute ideas! This year, I am going to dress up to something so cool, cute and cuddly! Joking, I wouldn't say it's cute or cuddly, but it rhymes, so, as a rule I have: When something rhymes, it does not have to make sense, it makes sense! Did that make sense? Anyway, I am not going to say what it is, since I don't want the world to know a month before I actually wear it. I'll let you know when the time comes. :)
2. I am doing a new, extra toning program! I am gong to strengthen myself in hard, evil ways of doing crunches. HAHAHA! Not just crunches, but weights, plank, stepping up and down and several other things that don't make any sense. YAY! I am going to be like one of those weird guys with a six pack and saying GRRRRRRRRRR with his arms clenched!
3. Have you heard of the trilogy called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins? OMG, it is great! The first book is AMAZING! The second book is EVEN BETTER! I actually didn't like the third book, but I finished it to know what happens to Katniss... Here is a summary of the first book:    

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. 

What do you think? I LOVE IT! Of course, not as good as Harry Potter, but definitely in my recommend list! I like eating Peeta, but not as much the Peeta in the story. I'd say that my favorite character in the story only comes in in the second book, but Katniss is my favorite in this book.
Good night!

Purim and Costumes!

Hi!
How are you? I'm at school right now, on my free period! I need some ideas for a purim costume!!!! I need something:

• Original
• Funny
• Loud/Colorful
• Not expensive

Does anybody have any ideas??? I have a couple of ideas, but one is hard to get everything, one is unoriginal and the last one is expensive.
It also can go with my mishloach manot! Please email me soon because I'm DESPERATE!
Bye!

Me on the camel!

HAHAHAHHAHHA!
Don't forget to scroll down to the next post!

Music

Big news! Abba got an American account on iTunes! WAHOO! What does that mean, you ask me? You know what it means? YES, MUSIC! I get to buy music, without leaving the chair, and without ordering it from America to have it shipped for a billion years and a day!
I got an iTunes gift certificate from Grandma Bette, so I could finally use it! I'd like to share my opinion about a couple of songs:
Song #1: Have you heard of Rascal Flatts? Have you seen Cars? He sings "Life is a Highway", and I found a song of his that I fell in-love to. It is called 'Skin'. Here are the lyrics:
Sarabeth is scared to death
To hear what the doctor will say
She hasn't been well
Since the day that she fell
And the bruise, it just won't go away
So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad
Flips through an old magazine
Till the nurse with a smile
Stands at the door
And says will you please come with me

Sarabeth is scared to death
Cause the doctor just told her the news
Between the red cells and white
Something's not right
But we're gonna take care of you

Six chances in ten it won't come back again
With the therapy were gonna try
It's just been approved
It's the strongest there is
I think we caught it in time

Sarabeth closes her eyes
And she dreams she's dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first love is holding her close
And the soft wind is blowing her hair

Sarabeth is scared to death
As she sits holding her mom
Cause it would be a mistake
For someone to take
A girl with no hair to the prom

For, just this morning right there on her pillow
Was the cruelest of any surprise
And she cried when she gathered it all in her hands
The proof that she couldn't deny

Sarabeth closes her eyes
And she dreams she's dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first love was holding her close
And the soft wind is blowing her hair

Its quarter to seven
That boys at the door
And her daddy ushers him in
And when he takes off his cap
They all start to cry
Cause this mornin' where his hair had been
Softly she touches just skin

And they go dancin'
Around and around without any cares
And her very first true love is holding her close
And for a moment she isn't scared

Isn't it beautiful? I did some research, and this is a true story! She died 1/2 year after she's told that she had Cancer, and the boy who took her to the prom wrote this poem and sent it to Rascal Flatts. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocHzS2sRJ8 to watch it. I highly recommend it!

Song #2: Anybody watched American Idol? I don't, but if you do, you've definitely heard of her - Kelly Clarkson. This song is more known, but I still tear up a little bit every time I tear up a little bit... Here are the lyrics:

I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I Will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far 

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid 

I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with 

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid 

I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I tried my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid 

Because of you
Because of you

Also beautiful and sad, right? I did some research on this too, and this is written about her father, who abused her and left her when she was a little girl. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3D8J1rjGLg.

Song #3: This is a song in Hebrew, by Kobi Oz - My G-d (Elo-hai). I found a translation for it - it is truly beautiful! Unfortunately, I don't have lyrics for you here, but I found a video of the translation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUFWuEcykSg. I love it!

The explanations for this video is on the link. This is one of my favorites. Period.

Anybody have any songs to recommend? I'd appreciate Jewish, Non-Jewish, Jumpy, Low - in short - EVERYTHING! What do you think of these songs? Any comments?

Ferri's report card!

Hello!
I have a great honor to tell you about Ferri's report card! Since we don't use the family blog anymore, than I took the chance of bragging about my little sister. It is amazing! I will try to translate what the teacher wrote for her:

To my dear student: Atara,
You are a student that is smart, energetic, creative, thorough, and with quick perception. You progress rapidly and independently, and your works prove on original and deep thought. You enrich class with your global knowledge and brilliant thought. Active, initiator and involved in the life of your classmates in class. Continue!


Yes, that is what the teacher wrote, with PERFECT grades! YAY FERRI! If you want to send Ferri a message, than email me, and I will read it to her!

2nd place!!

I know, I know - everybody has been DYING to find out:
YES! 2nd place, while being the youngest, most inexperienced, we got 2nd place! The principal of my school, who told us who one, told us that the 11th graders (who won 1st) won by 8 points!! THAT CLOSE! Even though, we don't get a prize, I am SOOOOOO proud of  how well we did! The school's website, is hopefully soon, going to have a video of the show. Only women and girls get to see it, so I am apologizing to all men and boys that you won't be able to see it...
The show was amazing! Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY said that we were great, and they said that the 7th was fighting with the 11th to get 1st place.

Festival

Or, as you say in Hebrew - Pesssssteevaaaaal... So what is this festival that gets the honor to be my title? I'll explain - every year, in my school, there is this contest between the grades. It is MUCH more complicated than that! Let me explain, there is a certain topic, in which has parts, and each part is each grade. The grade makes up the song (lyrics, musical instruments) and the dance. There are 12 girls in the dance from my grade, and I'm honored to be one of them, since there is a little over 130 girls in my grade. The dancing is in a very high level, so only experienced dancers can participate. I've been dancing and practicing all day long, and very best part of it is....... It has BREAK DANCING! So, people, I am now an official break-dancer! WORK! My friend, who's in the dance can do this cool move (hands on the grounds, elbows bent, head on the ground, feet in the air - ya know what I'm talking about?) and there is a time where girls come and do these cool moves. SO... I do a split and another cool thing. But anyway, I have this HUGE (well, not that big) bruise on my left knee from this move where my knee falls to the floor. I'm telling you - I've just met my bad part of me! WORK! The festival is on Monday, so I've been missing classes to go into the science building, dance, and get bruises on my knees. That's what's been going on!
See ya'll peeps! WORK!

Day off!!

I noticed that I haven't posted since Chanukah, and I decided to do something about that. I am now at Abba's work, my hot chocolate next to me, and I almost finished watching the movie Red (which stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous). I haven't found the effort yet to do my opinion essay on school uniforms. Why am I not at school? That's a good question!!! Well.......... I couldn't go to sleep last night, and so my mother said that I don't need to go to school, which is okay, since my grade has a field trip today.
Some of you guys know that I gave in a presentation in History, about the beginning of Christianity. It was a slide show, in Hebrew and very informative. :) I am very proud of it, and you if you are interested, email me and I could send you the file! For all English speakers, mommy and I are going to translate it into English, and I will let you know when we finish translating it. When I finish translating, email me, and I will send you the file in English. :) If I don't get an A+ I am going to kill the teacher, because my project is way awesomer to be an A or an A-...
Two nights ago, I went to my friend's Bat Mitzvah. Her Bat-Mitzvah took place in a place called Eretz Me'Bereishit, where you ride camels, make pitas and eat in Avraham Avinu's tent. Because of that, I RODE ON A CAMEL!!!! Do you know how scary it is??? I was riding with my best-friend - Shira, and our camel kept on walking to the edge of cliff(ish), and I screamed so much, Shira lost her hearing for the rest of the camel ride. But............ I RODE ON A CAMEL! Isn't that awesome? Even though camels are quite disturbing it was freakishly AWESOME!
I know everybody is wondering about school and everything, and I have big news: I started learning algebra! Yes, ladies and aliens, it's true! In my mentally gifted class, I am learning how to measure energy. IT'S SO COMPLICATED! I mean, how come things need to be so complicated? Why can't anything be SIMPLE these days??!!
Now I know that everybody who wasn't wondering about school and everything, then your wondering about my running and everything, so - on Friday I ran with Abba 5.5 kilometers! Today I am supposed to run with Abba 5.75k, but I might as will do 6k, right?
That's all for now! BYE!

Chanukah is almost over... WAAAH!

I love Chanukah! Well, I love every holiday for a special reason. Chanukah - lighting the candles, winter, vacation, presents, activities and vacation (yes, I wrote vacation twice). It is now 7:09am, I'm listening to blasting music on my iTouch, checking my email and writing this. I LOVE VACATION!

Last night was the first time I actually felt the winter coldness! I was wearing a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, a long skirt, leggings, socks and boots - and I was still cold!!!! I now declare it is officially winter!!! Now that it's official, we need to remember that WE NEED RAIN! I am asking everybody (if you want), to get a sefer Tehillim (Psalms) and read perek (chapter) 149 for the rain.

The fire is now over, but 41 people  burned to death, not including a 16 year old boy who volunteered with the firefighters, who was killed too. Hundreds of people are hurt and are in hospital, thousands of people evacuated from their homes, 250 acres ruined, forestland now in ruins. Experts say the forest will be back to be like before the fire in 40 years. Please take a minute in memory for the 42 people who died in this tragedy, for the health of all these hurt civilians and firefighters and for the other people who had different job and for the safety of everybody up north. Even though it seems far away from me, but I have friends who have family in Haifa and in that area.

Last night, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, or as you can say HP7.1. WOW! Very well done, definitely the best of the series!

I wish everybody a Happy Chanukah, and may all news be good news!