Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to blog until my new website is finished. But no worries - I will post a link from this website to my new one, which shall be even better and bigger than this one!

In the meantime, I'll just show you guys a sneakp eek at my blog (what's going to be on it):

Brief Bio of Me,

Countless Stories, Poems, Reviews, etc.,

Links I Like,

This Blog (of course),

And even more!

Keep checking back here to see when I'm done! And I'll send all my commenters the new URL for the site as well.

Until next blog,

Pema

But now to my blog entry for today... What Inspires YOU?

Inspiration plays such a big aspect in all creative fields: stories, poems, photos, artwork, choreography, or even blog posts! For instance, while vacationing in Hawaii, I was inspired by the absolutely gorgeous ocean, which inspired me to write the poem "The Tide".

I think for most people we usually are either inspired by our environment or our emotions. Our environment includes nature, people, places, things - basically our surroundings. Our senses come into play in our surroundings too, such as smell. Especially bakeries. I LOVE the smell of baked bread in the oven... (long sniff) ahhh... heavenly.

Caption Above: A Beautiful Place

So I suppose bread would count as my inspiration... ;) Maybe I should write a poem about bread baking! (everyone looks at Pema strangely...) Hey, if JK Rowling could write about an aunt blowing up and floating towards the sky and Lauren Myracle could write a book entirely of chat messages, then why can't I write a poem about bread baking? :D

But many people are also greatly inspired by their emotions too. Such as sad, happy, mad, angry... anything at all that one feels. Although I suppose a lot of our emotions are triggered by our environments, right? And the other way around. Like although "The Tide" was about the environment, I only wrote about it because I love the ocean, which is an emotion. Still, I think one can classify it seperately into two categories. What do you guys think?

Caption Above: An actual crater on Mars - it's called "The Happy Face Crater"

My poems are inspired by both my environment and emotions - "The Dancer" was based off of the emotions one feels when one is dancing, and the "The Tide" was influenced by the ocean.

But hey - enough about me. What inspires YOU?

But first, I'll keep you guys in suspense. ;) And Reply to My Comments:

Hey Pema, Can’t wait to see your site! ;]And That’s really cool that you could speak a little bit of each different language even if its just “Hello”, lol. :) I myself, know a few too, I think its unique.P.S. I didn’t find the time to comment last time, so I made sure i did this time because I know you Just LOVE to read them! ;D

-Akara

Thanks Akara! I do, and I'm glad you commented. I can't wait to see my site either - somehow, I wish making a site (and I'm sure other website mistresses agree with me) were as simple as pressing that Staples Easy Button - you know, the one that says "That was easy"? But of course, if building a site and gaining viewers were that easy, all the fun of making the layout (which Clem has so generously offered to do) and adding the content and slowly gaining the reader's approval... that would all be lost. And most of the time, when you know you've accomplished something that wasn't as easy as pressing the Easy Button... you feel really good. And with Clem's help, I'm hoping that'll be the feeling I get when my website is done!

I can say Mount Everest in Nepalese: Chomolongma. You say it “Chummuh-LUNG-muh.” Say it out loud, it’s REALLY fun.

-Clem

"Chummuh-LUNG-muh!" Hee. I sound like one of those people from the movie "10,000 BC"! Now that's unique.

PD, I sent you an invite on Gmail. Mehwish gave me your…thing…email…thing. Is that okay? I still don’t really know what I am doing on Gmail. But, I my photo is a pair of completly awesome baseball cleats!

-C. Moore

Hmmm... I didn't get that invite though. No worries - I'll send you my other e-mail adress. Can't wait to see those cleats! Do you still play baseball or are you guys off-season? Sorry, but I know absolutely nothing about baseball except there's bats, brawns, and bums sliding onto bases. :)

And now for the poem...

You see, almost a year ago I sent my poem, The Tide, to New Moon Magazine, in hopes it would get published. I haven't heard from them in so long - I literally forgot I had sent my poem to them! But this Thursday, while I was checking the mail... I saw an envelope.

It had my name handwritten.

It was from New Moon.

My heart stopped. (Well, ok not LITERALLY, but it felt like it.)

The envelope has thick.

Check-thick? My mind wondered. Or rejection-thick?

Gulping, I opened the envelope.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

I looked at the pages....

.....

....

And did a little dance.

My poem was accepted! There was a letter of congratulations, then two contracts I had to sign, and a biography I had to fill out. I get paid $10 and three extra copies of that issue. I'm still psyched. Unfortunately, the issue is only coming out in July/August. But still - can you believe it? My poem is getting published in a place of worth!

By 'place of worth' I mean a place that doesn't publish just any work - it publishes QUALITY work. It's a really great honor to be published by them. At least for me. And to get paid in the process...

This is definitely a small step for writing... a giant leap for my publishing future! :)

Below is the ‘Reply to Comments’ post everyone’s been waiting for! Keep ‘em coming!

I dance, too! I do Hula and Tahitian! It’s fun.

-C. Moore

Over this summer, when my family and I took a trip to Hawaii, I took a hula lesson. (Notice the ‘A’) Never got much experience beyond that. But I always thought Tahitian looked fun – lots of hip-shaking, which I think is probably one of the aspects of dance I’m better at. I just love the way Shakira dances – her song “Hips Don’t Lie” is #2 on my mp3 playlist. And that’s saying something, because I don’t listen to my mp3 that much anymore.

You see, usually when I want to listen to music, it’s for dancing. And since I don’t have a lot of dance songs on my mp3, I mostly just listen to Music Choice or my Yahoo Playlist now. But dancing aside, I’ve been listening to this one song, “Near to You” by A Fine Frenzy, over the weekend. It’s not a song one can really dance to, but I love the melody. I even printed out the lyrics to the song so I could sing it to the music. Granted, the actual artist of the song sounds about 10 million times better than I do, but I like singing songs anyway.

Now how did I get from dancing to singing?

Good luck with The New Yorker!For your website, maybe you could list tips on writing? But just start small, and you can always add more content. If I think of more, I’ll be sure to tell you!My website: http://www.inkdreamer.com

-Lily

Thanks – I’ll need it! I’m seriously thinking about your suggestion, but then I also think I might want people to have some time to read my work – hence, if they think I’m a good writer, they might think I have good writing tips. So you’re right – right now I’m just ‘starting small’ and brainstorming some ideas for the website. I might add content later on, but I want to start nice and simple.

To Clem: I sent you an e-mail. ;)

And now to everyone: As for the progress on my website, shhh... it’s a secret, but it’s coming along! You guys will just have to wait and see.

But that's not all I wanted to say to you guys. I've got three new pieces of info that I want to share: one involving The New Yorker, the other involving my soon-to-be website, and the last involving a story that I wrote. (So let's get to it!)

Yet first thing's first: Reply to my last comment:

What do you study? Like, ballet, modern, jazz, tap, what? I do ballet and modern. Dancing is really fun, yeah. src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_01.gif" align="middle">

I would really love it if you’d post more of your poetry. Since I myself can’t write poetry, I admire those who can. src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_01.gif" align="middle">

My site: http://www.inkdreamer.com

-Lily

Even though the studying I was talking about was school-related (perhaps I wasn't too clear on that... oops) I love all kinds of dance. And I dance to all kinds of music. I have Music Choice through Time Warner Cable, so the music channels I listen to range from Solid Gold Oldies to 80s to Party Favorites to Dance to Hit List to Salsa. I can't tap with tap-shoes, although I always wanted to try. But if anyone has free lessons availible, I'm here!

I've never tried ballet either - I'm flexible, though, so maybe I wouldn't be too bad at it. Right now I'm not taking any dance lessons, although I use to take Jazz. I 'free-dance' now, to just about any kind of music I want. I listen to a lot of upbeat Bollywood music, though. I really like the song "Beedi" from the Bollywood film Omkara. I'm not Indian, but my mom rents Bollywood movies from this Indian store which isn't too far from my house. But wait - now I'm getting off-topic.

I'd love to post more of my poetry, which is why I'm thinking of starting a website... but read on and you'll hear more of that later!

Thanks for commenting Lily! And the rest of you guys, keep commenting! I love to reply and love to read!

Now onto today's news... (I sound like a newsanchor, don't I?)

First up, I submitted a poem to The New Yorker (not The Dancer poem I posted earlier, though - it was another one). No, I am not kidding. And no, I am not mad nor am I feeling feverish. ;)

My dad and I talked about it, and he explained to me that the chances of getting published in such a prestigious magazine were like "the chances people thought it would be when JF Kennedy said man would walk on the moon" (to put it in his terms).

Still, there's a chance. Dad added, "If you DO get published in The New Yorker, though, that's a giant step." I understand how low the chances are, but still, I figure it can't hurt me, so why not take the chance?

Other piece of news: my WEBSITE! As in, www.thepemapad.com. Well, alright, it doesn't exist yet. But it shall!

You see, my dad and I were talking about ways to show my work, (after such positive feedback from you guys!) and then my dad suggested starting my own website! So far, the idea is only in the works, but it is a DONE idea. As in, it's going to happen for sure.

I know I'm going to keep a blog on there, and my stories and poems. Perhaps a page for links too. But what else? That's where you guys come in: What else do you think I should put on the site? Any ideas at all (no matter how big or small) would be extremely appreciated!

And for the last piece of news for today (bear with me!) is... (drumroll) reading aloud my story! You see, I submitted a story to this regional contest called Reflections, and I won at my school and got 'honorable mention' in the school district. So there's going to be a ceremony for the students who entered Reflections. And I'm going to read my story at the ceremony.

Yikes!

I know it's good practice for me, public speaking and all. But I seriously need to practice before the ceremony date, which is March 18. I'm excited about being able to read my story, but I'm always afraid people won't like my work.

There I go again. One of my best friends today said, "Pema, your writing is always better than you think it is."

To which I replied, "Modesty never hurt!" And it doesn't. It's better to expect harsh criticism than always expect singing praise, you know? Like the saying goes, "Hope for the best and expect the worst." You just need to be able to find a balance between the two.

Well, that's all from my end. Until next time!

P.S. Don't forget to comment: What else should I put on my website? Thanks!

And it's time to reply to the comments! I've been meaning to get around to this entry, so honestly am glad that I can finally reply to your comments now. I love doing it - every comment means that someone read this blog, and as a writer, I'll take all the reading I can get! (No hate comments, however. Perhaps not that reading.)

Keep sending the comments in! You know I love to reply to them and love to read them! :)

From my last entry:

Ooh, congrats!
I can write poetry, just not very well. XD

Out of curiosity, do you dance?

-Lily

Oh, it's no big deal. My poetry is nothing compared to the poems in The New Yorker or Poetry magazine - I'd love to be able to write something like that! Although one of my friends DID read one of my poems (not The Dancer, another one) and said it made her feel stupid - and then added it was a compliment.

Hey - I'll take it! :)

And yes, as a matter of fact, I do dance. I love to. My dad said the other day, that two years ago I had two left feet and now I can dance really well. I would hope so - I use to take dance lessons and still dance about three times a week now - well, not this week since I've been so busy studying. Right now I'm taking a break. (After all the studying I've been doing, I'm making sure this is going to be one loooong break!)

hey pema! congrats! its a really cool poem, i saw it yesterday but i had to go to a party and i dint have tme to read it, but i read it on ur blog! and its SUPPer good! I only wihs i oculd write, im trying to keep my A in english, but its actually dropping! whooops…
i have never seen pema dance, but i know she can sing REALLy good

-Mehwish

Thanks Mehwish! Then good thing that I posted the poem. I wasn't sure if people were going to even read it! For aspiring writers, it always feels good to know when one of our works is actually something of worth. Or maybe it's just a 'me' thing - I have a lot of those.

For me, writing comes naturally to me. It isn't a chore, or something that I memorize or work on. Unless, of course, I have to memorize a persuasive essay format for the district writing test: extended hook, belief, claim, reason 1 & 2, thesis - told you I've been studying! ;)

And if you're talking about my singing in the talent show, I'm glad you liked it. Honestly, I haven't been doing so much singing lately... unless the shower counts. (I'm siiiinging in the rain...) I don't really think singing is for me - I'm better at dancing... although I still think you're a better dancer than I am - you and Dina were awesome at the talent show! You guys were 10 times better than my singing!

Hey.

Thanks for commenting at my site !!
I hope the cake turned out great.

LIZ @ sweetnessing

http://www.liz.adorability.org

And thanks for commenting at my site! :) I love yours - your layout seriously is DA BOMB!

(And I don't use that phrase that often! ;) )

The cake did turn out great, by the way. Even better than great - more like, second-slice-with-frosting-all-over-kinda-great!

Hey Pema, Congrats once again ^- Great Job, Its a really nice poem! I’m sure the cake you made was delicious. :D

- Akara

And thanks for commenting once again, Akara! Glad you liked the poem! I'm thinking about contacting the Kids Reading Room editor again - you know, just mention how I'm always up for any jobs or assignments (however small) for The LA Times. I'm also going to submit one of my articles to her - it won't hurt. ;)

Hey Pema!!! Love it! Good job!

:=D

src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_73.gif" align="middle"> src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_48.gif" align="middle"> src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_31.gif" align="middle"> :D l) src="http://www.myblogsite.com/blog/templates/emoticons/trillian/e_12.gif" align="middle">

-Miya

Thank you Miya! (And good use of the smiles!)

It was the best poem I have read so far. One can actually visualize the dancer.It was excellente!

-Sonam

I'm very, VERY glad you liked it Sonam. One of a poet's main goals is to let the reader be able to actually picture in their mind what the poem's lyrical verse is describing. And having that goal achieved in one of my poems as an aspiring writer? EXCELLENTE!

See you guys later!

Either he loved it or he was extremely embarassed by it. Ah well... at least he liked my gift to him: the PUBLISHED POEM!

Yes, my faithful friends and readers, my poem has been published in the ONE AND ONLY Los Angeles Times! I'm extremely proud of it. I'm considering it my stepping stone into the published world.

OK, PEBBLE into the published world. But a pebble nevertheless.

When I first saw it, the first thing I did was rub my fingers on the paper and then lift them up, smiling at the ink stains on my fingers. Those little black marks to me were like a high school senior's diploma on graduation day. "I really am published in the LA Times..." I remember thinking this morning.

Now let's hit the front page with my article. ;) I hope someday that'll be a reality.

Speaking of which, I told you guys that I'd publish the poem in the LA Times onto this blog as well, and here it is:

The Dancer

by and © Pema at The Pema Pad

She dances

-by the light of a blue candle

Flickering

Like the flame

Her arms sway...

It frees her

Feet arched

At the ready

Her heart beats

Faster and faster

Body cavorting and

- twirling

Her mind runs

faster than the wind

Higher than the clouds

....

The room is spinning

The dancer is

.......dancing.

Did you guys like it? Drop a comment and please tell me!

P.S. Later today my sister and I are baking a cake for my dad... from Betty Crocker Supermoist Cake Mix, of course. I've seen my dad make it several times, so today my sister and I are giving it a shot! Cross your fingers and hope I don't break any bowls! ;)

But before I go on, two big pieces of news for this weekend:

If anyone lives in Southern California, just a reminder: My poem's getting published in the Los Angeles Times this Sunday! :) I'm so happy that the day's finally here! It'll be in the Comics I section in the Kids Reading Room. I'll be posting the poem on this blog on Sunday too, just in case any of you guys don't suscribe to the paper. Check to see it!

Also, my dad's birthday is on Sunday! Although I can't give him a pinch to grow an inch anymore (not that I ever could anyhow), I hope my published poem will be enough. And I hope we go out for cake and ice cream that day too. Dad said he didn't want a big fuss on his birthday... but you know, cake isn't really a fuss. Especially those Baskin Robbins' ice cream cakes. I mean, who would really call those cakes a fuss, right? Right? *eyes Dad hopefully*

On to the comments...

This comment isn't from my last entry, but is a reply to C. Moore's reply to my Reply to Your Comments (Say that ten times fast) :

OMG, Pema! You are almost as bad as I am!

My favorite ‘weird’ food mix is peanut butter and beef jerky! It is so good!

And I will defintly try that apple and cheese thing! It sounds SO good!

OBTW, hows your poem coming for that contest? I have 3 very sucky lines done. Don’t ask.

-C. Moore

Hmm... never tried peanut butter and beef jerky... I love jerky (especially the bar-b-q flavored teriyaki jerky), but apparently I'm the only one in my house that does. So unfortunatly, my jerky eating days are confined to those free samples at Costco. Still, I can live without jerky. I got my new Healthy Choice fudge bars to keep me company. ;)

As far as my poem for the contest goes, I'm still working on it. Do you know when the poem has to be sent in by?

These are in reply to the comments I recieved from my last post about SAD:

lol,thats interesting, im definetly celerbrating S.A.D
haha, i love claire danes she was in stardust which is like my fav. movie, and interesting fact, i was standing rite in front of Leo Di Caprio in line at dysney land and we tried taking a pic. w/ him but he put his head down...
YAY! happpy valentines day! or Happy Single Awarness Day!

-Mehwish

Aw, come on, Mehwish. ;) I'm sure if you didn't want to be celebrating SAD you wouldn't be... (winks) By the way, you never told me you were standing right in front of Leonardo DiCaprio (and yes, I like to use his full name)! Too bad he got so modest... you could've gotten his autograph and given it to me! :) *cue Leonardo DiCaprio's guards to give me the old eyeball and finger the restraining order documents beneath their large bulky suits* Then again... I respect his privacy and he has full right to put his head down whenever he wants. Still... :)

Hehez, Lol Pema. I'm really going to miss those delicious chocolates this year too..xD
Yah, I think I might have heard of Singles Awareness Day..somewhere..xD But anyways, Happy Valentines or
Singles Awareness Days To you too! ~<3

-Akara

I know, I love those delicious chocolates! (Although I did get several lollipops and a smartie packet from my friends yesterday.) Oh - I changed the day, though. Now it's 'Singles Appreciation Day'. I can change it around a bit. Plus, I like this acronym better... ;)

Yeah, I'm celebrating SAD I suppose, but I wish I was just celebrating Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day to you!

-Mari

Hi Mari! It's not a bad thing to be celebrating SAD, but I'm sure you'll be celebrating your own special Valentine's Day soon. Happy Valentine's Day to you too, and Singles Appreciation Day! See, SAD isn't so bad - at least we get appreciated! :)

Hope everyone checks this blog on Sunday - I'll be posting my poem and it'll be my Dad's birthday! I keep telling him he'll be another year older (and rub in how old he is), to which he just says, "Well, you know, being 40 is the new 30." Well, that's not good - does that make being 20 the new 10? ;)

Speaking of candy, once on Valentine's Day I ate all the chocolate candy I had recieved from the class and then we went outside to the playground to play and I had a sugar rush and... well, let's just say I was the epitome of energetic little kid that day. ;)

But now that I'm older, our schools don't have Valentine's day parties and hardly anyone gives valentines, except the ones who are boyfriend-girlfriend, of course. The problem is, I'm not in a relationship. So that means no little chocolate truffles or giant-sized Reese's Pieces. (Yep, that's me: the only thing I miss from not being in a relationship is not getting Reese's Pieces.)

So, the other day one of my friends (who shall be referred to as 'AG') asked me if I was going to celebrate Singles Awareness Day.

"Singles Awareness Day?" I echoed.

"Yeah - it's where you celebrate being aware that you're single." AG explained.

No, really? :)

"I know that" I shrugged. "But why?"

Why, really? I mean, was it one of those anti-Valentine's Day holidays where people wear pink buttons with cancel marks on them or wave little flags that say, 'I'm single, I'm here to stay, get use to it'? (Alright, maybe I knew it wasn't that, but still.)

So, today I googled 'Singles Awareness Day'. The first link that popped up was Wikipedia, so click-y I went on the little heading.

Wikipedia's definetion:

Singles Awareness Day (SAD) is a humorous holiday celebrated on February 14 (although some prefer the 13th or the 15th to get away from the commercialism associated with the 14th). It serves as an alternative to Valentine's Day for people who are single: that is, who are not involved in a romantic relationship. Some observers of SAD do so out of spite for Valentine's Day, as a Hallmark holiday, or for other reasons.

It also said that Singles Awareness Day is celebrated to remind couples that you don't need to be in a relationship to celebrate life. I honestly don't know anyone yet whose life revolves around their bf-gf relationship, but hey - look at Romeo and Juliet. Then again, their stories are 500 years old. Scratch that - look at the 1996 version of Romeo+Juliet - Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes' characters are pretty modern. Then again, their characters aren't real. Is there anyone today that still lives solely for their romantic relationship? Not counting the media, of course.

Anyhow, Wikipedia went on to say that 'Happy SAD!' is a common greeting on that day. I honestly have no idea on what country (if any) where this holiday is an official one. I don't think it is. Nevertheless, it makes sense: if there's holidays that celebrate being in a relationship, why can't there be holidays celebrating being OUT of a relationship, hm?

I know Wikipedia isn't the trustiest source out there on the World Wide Web, but it certainly is the most convenient. I just wouldn't recommend Wikipedia for school-related research, since anyone can post anything on that site. But hey- chill, tomorrow's a holiday!

Whether you're celebrating Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day, have happy SAD and happy Valentine's Day!

Lol, Yeah, I don’t really eat breakfast cuz I just don’t really got an appetite in the morning..I usually just drink a glass of milk or something, so I guess its better than nothing!! xD

-Akara

To Akara: :) True, it's better than nothing. A lot of people do say that - that they're not really hungry in the morning, which is fine. Personally, I'm always a bit hungry in the morning, so I always eat full breakfasts. This morning I had Cheerios with a glass of milk, banana, and a small handful of nuts. Usually I don't eat Cheerios because, more often than not, I don't get that full from them. But this morning I wasn't THAT hungry, since last night my family and I went out to Souplantation, and well... let's just say the desserts looked REALLY good over there. ;)

I eat breakfast everyday too. I usually have a something with cheese. Or a sliced apple. It’s good. And I’m usually moody if I don’t eat breakfast.

-CAM

To CAM: Have you ever tried cheese ON a sliced apple? (grins sheepishly) It's pretty good. I guess I like to try all sorts of different foods and food combos. The first time I had a peanut butter and strawberry yogurt sandwich (another good combo!), my dad rolled his eyes and my sister just looked at me like I was from Mars or something. Now,however, my family's gotten used to my wierd combinations... although my dad still teases me that I must be Anthony Bourdain's number one fan.

No problem, Heather. I love New Moon, so it's no big deal for me! ;)

And to today's entry...

I don't know about you, but most of my friends my age don't eat breakfast. I understand they run out of time, or they don't like what's at home, but I always make sure I have breakfast. I don't think I would last through the day without it. Most of the time, I have a bowl of cereal, fruit, and nuts. Sounds boring? Not if you've got variety. Like with cereal... I am definetly a cereal girl. I like to try different kinds, but that doesn't mean I like everyone one of them. Here's a little sample of some cereals that I've tried (both hits and misses):

Quaker Oatmeal Squares

(Picture courtesy of eatlikeme)

Rating: 4/5 stars

Texture: Crispy at first and doesn't get too soggy even after in milk for a while

Appearance: Brown (of course), not too colorful (unfortunatly)

Nutrition-Wise: Awesome choice, lots of fiber and protein

Taste: Wholesome and good! Not too sweet, but not bland and tasteless either. It's definetly not a sugary cereal, but between my sister and I, it's still one of our favorites.

Post Cinnamon Bunches of Oats

(Courtesy of Honey Bunches of Oats website)

Rating: 2/5

Texture: Fine at first, but gets soggy pretty quick

Appearance: Looks kind of like Frosted Flakes (but with cinnamon clusters, of course)

Nutrition-Wise: not as much fiber as most cereals I eat, but still alright

Taste: Yeek - I thought it was a bit too sugary. It was REALLY cinnamony, and although I do love cinnamon, I don't love it AS MUCH as the cereal puts in. It's like they're stuffing cinnamon into your mouth and saying, "This is what cinnamon tastes like, foo!" :)

Frosted Mini-Wheats

(Picture courtesy of eatlikeme)

Rating: 5/5

Texture: Can get soggy, but for the most part stays pretty firm

Appearance: Nice - sugar coated squares of wheat

Nutrition-Wise: Awesome choice - plenty of fiber, protein, and a lovely amount of vitamins & nutrients

Taste: In my opinion, even when it's soggy it tastes good. It's thick and filling - perfect for when I know I'm going to get lunch later on in the day than usual or when I have to do a little more in PE than regular, like run the mile or do push-up testing.

There you go - three samples of my daily cereal. I'd still encourage you to try them out for yourself though - just because I like them doesn't neccasarily mean it tastes wonderful to everyone. Remember, eat breakfast... and enjoy it too!

(drumroll, please)

...

New Moon Girls' Blog!

I posted a hodgepodge of some of my entries that I've posted onto this blog onto one entry onto the site (that's a mouthful), and I comment on a lot of other entries as well. New Moon is a magazine for girls that I subscribe to. Their website, as you can tell, has a blog where girls can post and comment on other girl's entries. It's strictly monitored, so inappropiate entries and comments can't get on there. It's almost like a message board, actually. There's a bunch of topics girls write entries about, like books, friends, school... all kinds of stuff. And if the topic you were looking for isn't posted yet, then it's just waiting to be posted by you! (I sound like a salesperson, don't I?) :)

Moving on...

Sorry I haven't been able to post in a few days. I guess I've been a mix of both lazy and busy. Over the weekend, it was raining like crazy - Sunday poured like cats and dogs... actually, more like tigers and bears. Rainy weather always makes me feel kind of gloomy, although one of my friends just loves rain and rainy weather.

(The only reason I like it is because it gets me out of PE!) :)

For my elective in school I take a wood-shop class, so today our assignment was to find out what an airgap was. It stays on top of your sink, and you only see the shiny metal part. (Don't ask me what this has to do with wood, because I don't know either.) We're supposed to look under our sink and see where the two hoses go, sketch the airgap, and label it. I haven't done it yet, and I guess I better start.

If anyone needs me, I'll be under the sink. ;)

I'M GETTING PUBLISHED!!!!

YAY!!!!

Well, I've been published before in some anthologies and webzines, but this really takes the cake. I'm getting published in the LA TIMES!!!

Not a news article or anything, though. I wish I could be published for a news article, but like I said, I need to take 'small steps'. But in my mind, this is not a small step. This is one GIANT step for me. To be published in the LA times? It's like a dream.

My poem that I wrote, The Dancer, is going to be in the Kids' Reading Room (in the Sunday Comics I section)! Remember that one post I wrote where I said I've been sending my work to several publishers over the weekend? The LA Kids' Reading Room was one of them! I wasn't even sure if they were going to reply - many times I never hear from editors, which I usually take as the 'rejection' sign.

But apparently the editor of the Kids Reading Room wasn't the same. Because the editor ACCEPTED it! Oh, I'm still so happy. I just got the e-mail from her today. Here it is:

Dear Pema,

It is my pleasure to announce that your lovely poem "The Dancer" will be running in the Kids' Reading Room of the Los Angeles Times Sunday 2/17. The Kids' Reading Room is located in the Sunday Comics I.

Do you know how rare it is that an editor calls the person's poem 'lovely'? Alright, it may be brief, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that I'm finally getting published in a mainstream publication!

I guess hard work really does pay off - eventually, if you keep working at it, you'll get where you want to go. Or at least somewhere close.

I can't wait until Febraury 17th!

Guess I better go finish up that homework now...

From Under My Umbrella

i am so with u on that one it is…..did u get published yet??
Elisa

To Elisa:
Not published yet, although hoping to be published soon. I haven't been finding enough time lately to do some serious editing on this novel that I'm working on ... homework seems to get in the way. (Ha... homework - isn't that the first thing every kid blames?) I'm not going to say what the novel's about yet because 1.) I'm not done with it yet (editing, anyhow), and 2.) I'm not sure if a publisher is going to accept it. So if you know a publisher wanting to publish a kid's work by the name of 'Pema', Elisa, gimme a ring.

You should visit the snow! I is SO MUCH FUN! You don’t live that far from the mountains. Take a drive up there and bring a jacket!
Cosette

To Cosette:

I WISH I could visit the snow. I've been looking at the mountains for days now and wishing I could go up there. The snow all powdery-white and soft... fresh from the rain (I suppose it's good for something after all). The last time I went up there was two years ago, and I keep forgetting to tell my dad that I want to go there. I guess I better tell him soon though, before all the snow melts. Then again, the mornings are still pretty cold here. I think we've got a while to go before all the snow melts.

You know, Febraury's nearly here - that means Winter is nearly over as well! As much as I love the snow though, that means these days of freezing fingers and numb noses (at least for me) are nearly gone... and warm weather is just one more page-flip on the calendar (OK, maybe two, but still)!

Well, most of them aren't rambunctious. Actually, I guess you could only call two of them 'rambunctious' - most of my cousins are in high school and college. Only two of my cousins are younger than me - my little boy cousin and my little baby girl cousin.

My boy cousin, who shall be referred to in this blog as 'Tom', always loves to play games. Especially electronic ones. If you give him anything even REMOTELY related to Nintendo DS he'll be all over it faster than a blink. (OK, maybe not a blink. But two. Definetly two blinks.) Lately, my aunt and uncle have been trying to steer him away from all those electronic games (he's on the borderline between hobby and obsessed), so apparently my sister and I provide 'the distraction'.

Right now my sister's playing the boardgame 'Sorry' with him. I expect her to be calling me up the stairs anytime now...

Why, you ask? Well, my baby cousin (shall be referred to as 'Lily'). She's really cute and adorable... but very intelligent. She's no dumb baby - that's for sure. She's curious (kind of like me) and stubborn. She's been trying to climb up our stairs (which my aunt doesn't want because then she might fall and break her wee head - not a pretty picture to imagine), so my sister and I are doing whatever we can to prevent her from coming up the stairs. Right now it's a pillow fort - we've literally laid this stack of pillows on the bottom of the stairs so she can't climb up. She still came up though (that baby's going to be a rock climber when she gets older!), so my sister called me and we had to rebuild the fort. We've done this THREE TIMES... in TEN MINUTES! (Maybe we need a new plan)

Uh-oh. My sister's calling me again - what did Lily do now? See you later.

I've decided to start a new little weekly thingie called LoW: or Link of the Week. Pretty simple - every week I give a link on the internet that I've dubbed worthy of 'Link of the Week'.

And this week, since lately all anyone's been talking are politics (or at least on this blog), I decided that a politics related link would fit.

Drumroll...

http://mccainblogette.com/

Even though her dad, John McCain, is the one running for president, there's no doubt that his daughter, Meghan McCain, is the one running this blog. Meghan shows her viewers and readers behind the scenes from her dad's campaign, posting entries every day (and lengthy ones too - where does this girl find the time?). She includes lots of pictures, showing viewers all the details and 411 from the places she visits. There are actually three bloggers on the blog (hence 'blogettes'), but Meghan mostly posts the entries. It's really interesting to get a glimpse into what it's really like campaigning for president. With laptop and camera in hand, Meghan McCain's mccainblogette.com certainly deserves the Link of the Week. Even so, check out her blog and tell me what you think!

Uh-oh. There's my dad now - he wants to use his laptop. Gotta go!

;D Just kidding. It wasn't really like that (at all), but I WAS trying to hastily finish my powerpoint. Well, not MY powerpoint. My group's. See, last week my History teacher assigned us a powerpoint to work on as a group. And by last Friday, I thought our group wasn't doing so shabby. We'd only typed up our plan for the powerpoint and had literally only one slide done, but that was the stage where most of the other groups were too, so I figured we were doing alright.

Plus, my History teacher hadn't given a specific due date for the project either. Still, some of my group and I went over to my friend's house and started working on the powerpoint. I was there for four hours, so we must have finished a bunch of the slides, huh?

Well... if by your defininition of 'a bunch' is two, then we finished a bunch of slides. In truth, we did two slides (out of an expected 10-15 slide project) and then spent the rest of the time playing on my friend's Wii. Again, like I said: Mr. History (who shall remain unnamed) didn't give a due date for it, and when teachers don't give due dates I automatically assume they're not due for a while.

Well, I learned my lesson.

When Monday came, one of the kids in my class remarked, "How far did you get on the powerpoint?"

Me, as calm as the sunset breeze (except on a windy sunset), replied, "Oh... one-two slides." I shrugged, because he seemed anxious. "Why?"

"It's due tomorrow!"

I didn't believe him. "Yeah right." I paid no attention to his warning. "Most people are only on their second slide, so there's nothing to worry about."

Boy, was I wrong.

When I reached History, our teacher had been just explaining how our powerpoint project was, indeed, due TOMORROW.

And my group was on Slide 2.

Needless to say, everyone did a lot of last-minute planning and slide-finishing. Our group finalised on who was doing what slide, and in addition to my own slides I had to do, I was in charge of putting all the slides together onto one final powerpoint. And at about 8:30PM that same day (sorry, night), our powerpoint was done.

It wasn't easy though - our class as a whole was supposed to cite all the places we got our pictures from in our powerpoints (as in the links from the internet), but some of my group member's slides didn't have them so I was responsible for putting in the picture links, or if I couldn't find those links, getting new pictures and pasting them in with their link. The other members of my group did well on their slides though, I just did some touch-ups. I really wanted to get a good grade on this, even though powerpoints aren't usually my strong point. (I like to think I'm better with words.)

Tomorrow we're presenting our powerpoints. I thought ours looked pretty good, but when I looked at someone else's from another group, I suddenly wasn't so sure. Let's wait and see what I get (grade-wise) tomorrow!

P.S. If I've learned anything from this experience, it's this: DO YOUR ASSIGNMENT EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T THINK IT'S DUE!!!!!

(Trust me on this one)

And it’s perfectly normal - I always feel like that after I’ve been rejected. My dad was all, “Oh, who cares? Don’t worry about it.”

Yet I always wonder, “What if I never get published?”

I know those kinds of thoughts are the most dangerous kind – the kind that can discourage and dissuade someone from their lifelong dream. So I try not to dwell on them that much. I tell myself, “Ah, just forgive and forget.” I always reply to the editor that, “Thanks for looking at my work anyway” e-mail after they reject me, just to be polite.

And to reinforce in myself that “Forgive and Forget” motto, I submitted my work to two more publishers - let’s see how this one goes.

In the meantime, yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I not only thank him for being such an inspiration and influence to us all, but also for getting me off school. (Thank you, Martin Luther.)

They said on CNN that in South Carolina, many of the voters were expected to be African-American women. Apparently, these women are mostly split between the Clinton party (a woman) and the Obama party (an African-American). According the CNN, they’re split between voting for their race or voting for their gender.

Personally, I disagree. I think humans are smart enough to pick someone for their politics and standpoints – not gender or race. It’s absurd that anyone classifies African-American women as indivuals who only look at race and gender. I’m not African-American, but an American is an American – not Asian American or Native American or African-American but simply American and just that.

Voters shouldn’t look at the candidate’s heritage or sex, because in that way, we’re being prejudice. We assume, just because they share our origin or our gender, that they must competent enough to do a wonderful job. Well, if that’s the way America votes from now on, we might as well pack our bags and move on out of here.

Except there's no "Trash Can" option for me to pull back that bit of info after it's been deleted.

But that's not the only piece of schoolwork nagging at my mind. There's also that cloning essay that's due. I guess that's not so hard - I'm already halfway done - but check out this recent quote:

“Meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones are as safe as food we eat every day,” said Dr. Stephen Sundloff, FDA’s food safety chief. The article continues here.

Yup, you heard right: cloned animals can be eaten. A lot of people have different views of cloning, which is a big reason my science teacher wanted us to write that essay. We're supposed to base it off our opinions and the dilemna surrounding cloning. I was listening to the radio this morning, and there was this one lady who said that cloned animals really 'wigged her out', which I thought was kind of funny and sounded like she was from the 70s and... never mind - I digress, moving on!

Personally, I don't care if people eat cloned animals or not. That's not to say I'm going to start buying them by the dozen, but it doesn't mean I'm going to boycott them either. In fact, I think cloned livestock would be a wonderful thing to have in third-world countries like India and Africa, where the starving would have an access to a food supply. My history teacher told me that the world has enough food to support our population; it's just the food distribution does not work out very well and places like here in America have too much food for its population whereas Africa has too little food for its population. Yet our world isn't perfect, and this poor food distribution might go on for decades or perhaps even centuries. But if we had cloned livestock in those third-world countries, food would be distributed and less children around the world would go to bed with a starving belly.

Plus, since the FDA have approved it, that must mean it's safe to eat. That's just my take on it. What's yours?

C. Moore - I know I only have to talk for three minutes... but when you're speaking aloud, three minutes feels like three hours! At least to me. Oh well. I've still got another week to prepare for it. Although I better get cracking, because I still don't know what writing piece I'm going to recite aloud! Ironic, huh? I've got a files full of stories and I don't know what to pick. I guess that's because I'm a bit choosy when it comes to my work. You know - the story/poem's either too long, too short, too boring... I think I have some ideas about what to choose but I haven't fully decided yet. I'll let you know when I do.

Now for my entry:

This past weekend I've been writing and submitting my writing to possible publishers. I hope I hear from them soon... as in one week.

Or day.

I know that's probably unrealistic: they've already got so many submissions to sift through and read - I probably won't hear a reply for another month! Ah well, I guess it's good that I sent it now then. I have one day less of waiting than if I'd sent it tomorrow! I've just got to be optimistic.

That's what my dad's been saying: I need to be more optimistic. I sent my article to a magazine yesterday, which mostly adults read. But I didn't include my age in the submission. I thought if I did, they might just publish me because I was twelve and not solely for my work, which is what I want. My dad said that was really 'noble' of me... but then he had to ruin the moment and added, "Although perhaps if you'd included your age there might be more chance of getting published."

I was crushed. I mean, I want to get published! I'm no saint - I pick published over 'nobly - unpublished' any day! I don't want the editors to think, "Oh, it's OK for an adult, but if a kid had written it it would be great!" and then throw it away or shred it or whatever other cruel things editors do to unpublished submissions instead of keeping and treasuring them like they should!

Then again, if I was an editor I wouldn't want to keep all the unpublished submissions either - it'd fill my room to the brim! (Not to mention my mother would just die from all the mess it caused.)

I digress - back to the point: I've decided that if I get published, I get published. If I don't - well, I don't. That's part of being a writer. Writers get tons of rejections, and only sometimes we get those holy pieces of paper that says you'll be published; whereupon we writers dance around the room like Charlie's grandfather in Charlie and the Chocalate Factory when Charlie won that golden ticket. Except most of us don't have a cane.

I've been published before in webzines and anthologies. But right now I'm trying to make my mark on magazines, and even submitted my poem to the Kids Reading Room section in the Los Angeles Times - my family gets the Weekend Plus subscription. In fact, two of the magazines I submitted my work to are ones that I've submitted pieces of writing to before. I didn't hear from them then, but I'm hoping now will be my lucky chance and I might get published!

All writers say you need to "start small, and then go big", so I'm trying to make my 'Small Starts' too.

Let's hope they don't 'Stay Small' forever. Who knows? Maybe one day my novel will appear on the top of the Amazon Rankings! It might seem far-fetched, but I know if I set far-fetched goals, and get really determined about them... then if I don't reach my goal EXACTLY, at least I'll get somewhere close.

A wise man once said, (actually it was on my fifth grade teacher's poster in her classroom) "If you shoot for the moon, you'll at least land among the stars."

Our club president says if at any time we get bored or need something to do, we just... write. Which makes sense to me. You talk about your ideas, your current stories. Sounds ideal, right? Too ideal. Most of the time, we still end up eating snacks and standing around and talking. Call it an excuse, but it's the truth: I also don't like to write in public. Well, I mean, I prefer writing in private. You know, in my own familiar computer room without so much noise around me.

That's not to say that she, our club prez, is not definetly making strides to get everyone more involved into the 'writing' aspect of this club. We've even started this "Writer of the Week" thing, where at each meeting two randomly drawn writers will read aloud a story, poem, or any work they've done.

And guess who's picked for the next meeting?

Moi. Me.

I'm not a horrible public speaker - I guess you could say I'm ok at it. But reading aloud something I've written? A little more daunting. Especially if most of the people I'm reading it aloud to are older than me. Not that they'll start throwing rotten tomatoes at me or anything, but still... I always wonder, "What if they don't like it? What if it's not any good?" No m