music: GaGa

the first time i EVER herd of the Lady GaGa is from Miss Universe. I don't even really care about it anymore--Miss Hong Kong, Miss Asia, Miss USA, Miss Whatever--no matter who the f*ck you want to win, she never does. So here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4No2pBNOA


Honest to God: (though i'm not explicitly christian, i am not atheist either...)



i thought: who is this deranged woman??? if she's SO famous, how come i've NEVER herd of her?? and 'just dance??? i lost my keys?' are u serious? but now, i ADORE her. i love it. its probably cause when it comes to lyrics, it doesn't have to make sense, and i found out i love Dance, in addition to pop and rock.



i wish she had more albums out, but her's her only one out so far: The Fame.


Track List: (US edition)

1. Just Dance
2. Love Game
3. Paparazzi
4. Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
5. Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
6. Poker Face
7. Money Honey
8. Again Again
9. Boys Boys Boys
10. Brown Eyes
11. Summerboy
12. I Like It Rough

i love it!! too bad CDs are useless and i'm cheap...cause you can download everything online nowdays.... http://www.bearshare.com/ and http://www.limewire.com/
SIDETRACK: BEARSHARE v. LIMEWIRE
so--these two are my top notch favorites, and they're vastly different:
Limewire:

• ILLegal
• LOTS of songs
• INTERNATIONAL songs--my fave place for my chinese/korean/japanese music
• I only use it for downloading music.

Bearshare:

• COMPLETELY LEGAL
• Limited amount of songs
• American/English songs only
• USERS INTERACT!! you meet new friends (like facebook/myspace) and see who else also downloads the songs you do, and you can IM (instant message) others...i love it!

back to the original story.
so, now i adore her for no reason... i just love her.
Lyrics:
Just Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65zI9LH-as)
Red One
Konvict
I've had a little bit too much
All of the people start to rush (Start to rush by)
A dizzy twister dance, can't find my drink or man
Where are my keys?
I lost my phone
What's goin' on, on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore
Keep it cool,
what's the name of this club?
I can't remember, but it's alright, a-alright
Just dance, gonna be okay
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance,
spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, gonna be okay
D-D-D-Dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-Just dance
Wish I could shut my playboy mouth oh oh o oh
How'd I turn my shirt inside out? (Inside out right)
Control your poison babe, roses have thorns they say,
And we're all getting hosed tonight!
What's goin' on, on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?
I can't remember, but it's alright, a-alright
Just dance, gonna be okay
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, gonna be okay
D-D-D-Dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-Just dance
When I come through on the dance floor checkin' out that catalogue
Can't believe my eyes so many women without a flaw
And I ain't gonna give it up, steady trying to pick it up like a call
I'm a hit it up, beat it up, latch on to it until tomorrow yeah
(Shorty I can see that you got so much energy
The way you twirlin' up them hips round and round
(And there is no reason at all why you can't leave here with me
In the mean time let me watch you break it down and
Dance, gonna be okay oh oh
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, gonna be okay
D-D-D-Dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-Just dance
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it's symphonic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it's electronic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it's symphonic
Half psychotic sick hypnotic got my blueprint it's electronic
Go, use your muscle carve it out work it, hustle!
Don't slow! Drive it, clean it, lysol, bleed it
Spend the last dough, in your pocko!
Just dance, gonna be okay
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, spin that record babe
Da da doo doot-n
Just dance, gonna be okay
D-d-d-dance, dance, dance, just
J-j-just dance
Love Game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fDwRRZ7eUo)
Let's have some fun, this beat is sick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick
Let's have some fun, this beat is sick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick

I wanna kiss you
But if i do then i might miss you, babe
It's complicated and stupid
Got my ass squeezed by sexy cupid
Guess he wants to play, wants to play
a love game, a love game

Hold me and love me
Just want touch you for a minute
Baby three seconds is in it for my heart to quit it

Let's have some fun, this beat is sick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick
Don't think too much, just bust that thick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick

Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame?
are you in the game
Through the love game
Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame?
are you in the game
Through the love game

I'm on a mission and it involves some heavy touching, yeah
You've indicated your interest, i'm educated in sex, yes
And now i want it bad, want it bad
A love game, a love game

Hold me and love me
Just want touch you for a minute
Baby three seconds is in it for my heart to quit it

Let's have some fun, this beat is sick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick
Don't think too much, just bust that kick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick

Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame?
are you in the game
Through the love game
Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame
are you in the game
Through the love game

I can see you staring there from across the block
With a smile on your mouth and your hand on your huh!
The story of us, it always starts the same,
A boy and a girl and a (huh!) and a game
and game
and a game
and a game
a love game

Let's play a love game,
play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame
are you in the game
Through the love game
Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame
are you in the game
Through the love game

Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame
are you in the game
Through the love game
Let's play a love game, play a love game
Do you want love, or you want fame
are you in the game
Through the love game
Paparazzi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv3XzFsEAjc)
Poker Face (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONqBj8aTMN8)
Boys Boys Boys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgOWpyTiKM)

Korean Music!

So, my cuz jim (+kenni) hooked me up on korean music. jim always blasts korean music loud in his room, and one song caught me--i'm a pop girl, so i LOVED it. it was Super Junior's (SuJu)너라고 (It's You). it's like love @ first sight. here are some other songs i love from them:

• sorry sorry
• RESET

their song was amazing.

and now, i've discovered BIG BANG!!! i like their music. first time that i'm really into authentic hip-hop. i love these songs: you have to listen to them!!

• HEAVEN
• haru haru (day by day)
• LIES
• we belong together
• GOOD BYE BABY
• top of the world

and these are also a few of my faves:

• MC MONG (rapper--it's not heavy american rap. it's korean pop/rap) :
• ice cream, i feel crazy, love 119, beautiful day

APUSH...

so. as a sophmore, i am able to take APUSH @ NSCPHS, and i sorta like it, sorta dont:
i like it cause i had searcy before. i know how she works.
i don't like it cause it makes me stay up late every time i have it till like 12am. but others have it worse.

we read 1 chapter (20-30 pages) everytime. vocab every time (20-25 words).

we move like 3x as fast as HUSH. so much faster. so much.

but the thing i don't like about searcy is that she makes mistakes on her worksheets/handouts, and she will never correct them. same thing last year. its cause she uses the same exact stuff every friggin year.

and she doesn't let us keep the test to study off of, which the juniors told me she used to do.

and her vocab is never in order. what friggin order is it in lady??? not alphabetical, not chronologically, so much more work! cause then i don't kno if i missed a word or not.

Incidents.

at our restaruant, we have not had lots of incidents of fake money, but we do have times where people dine and dash.

i remember this one time: these college kids come in and eat there were 2-4 of them. we were busy and we didn't pay attention to them. they sat by the doors. afterwards, my grandma (a cook), came out there and noticed they were gone. she said, "they're gone. did they pay?" and none of us had given them their check ($30-something dollars) or accepted money from them.

we called the cops. we knew them fairly well--back then, they would frequent our restuarant, and my ma would give them a generous discount of 10-25% b/c they were officers. 10 min. later, they pulled up in front of the store, with the guys in the back. they told us that they claimed to be coming from mcdonald's (there was a mcdonald's down the street), but they were acting suspicious. so they cuffed them. and my ma IDed them. they were the ones. but she let them go w/o pressing charges b/c they were willing to pay and keep the change $40.

i personally thought that they are so young--you need to teach them a lesson. they're not children any more. they're away from mom and dad, thinking they can get into bars under-aged, and do whatever they want and get away with it.

fee: back when fee worked @ the restuarant, one day a hispanic couple came in, sat way in the back by the kitchen, and placed a large order. they did not pay for it yet, and so the kitchen was busy making sure the order was done right.

when we came back out, they were gone, and so was her laptop that she left outside, along with her leather jacket.

fundraising: back sometime, about every week, there would be a couple of young african-americans selling candy to raise money. we had often bought, but we noticed that we spent too much buying candy, so this one day we declined. they stormed out, breaking a vase, knocking down the screen seperator we had by the door, and scattered menus all over the floor.

we called the cops. they were unable to catch them, but they never came back.

FIRE: there was this one day that I had noticed that there was smoke by the windows up front, and someone knocking on the windows. i had several times looked, and there was no one there. when the smoke became more and more visible, i came into the kitchen, telling my them.

they were already in a frenzy, smelling something burning. they were running around the steam table trying to douse it out, whatever that was causing the smell. but i told them it was from outside, they quickly ran.

i knew it was a fire so i, as a little girl to paid attention during fire drills, ran outside.

it was a fire from the men's bathroom from a lit cigarette. my dad smoked. he stopped though. and gained 30 lbs. even though he didn't do it cold turkey. my ma had promised him a rolex a few years back for his birthday if he quit smoking, keeping in mind that it was unhealthy, and the taxes on cigarettes rose every year. he quit alright. but the rolex never came. that was fine w/ him.

firetrucks came by, but none of them were for us. we remodled the bathroom. to this day it smells like a hint of burnt turkey.

B&E: people spray-painting our back door was often, but that was eaily fixed. there was this one time that we came to work one day and noticed that some one had tried to break in--the metal door in the back was a little dented, and peeled, like some had tried to pry it apart w/ a crowbar. but they failed. we had a sturdy lock, one of those old ones on apartment doors where a metal rod was inserted through a series of hoops to lock the door. we settled on not calling the cops, but i being the good girl raised on believeing the power of the cops, called them.

a young man arrived, and confirmed it. though there was nothing he could do.

a young man arrived a little later, from next door, a bar. L'il. he had told me how someone had broke in yesterday and stole a couple hundred dollars worth of cash and alcohol. i then told him how someone had also tried to break in yesterday. he commented on the priciness of seafood--scallops, shrimp. but i thought that was unusual. i would think they would go for the cash.

for watever reason he tried, he failed. my dad fixed the door, and installed a new lock on the bottom half of the door that was more weak and easy to pry open. there were no more attempts.

Family: Scams....

So. jim's dad had to leave early (@ ~1:30am cause he needed to work the next day), and he was fairly angry @ having to stay late to drive his ma back home. so my ma volunteered to take her home, and he take us + my dad home early.



he said this in the car: "我唔明舅父lum mut ye [i don't understand what uncle is thinking]...he's a very intelligent man. how can he dig himself such a big hole?"



the time he went back to china: he was led away from the taxi area to get back to toi san (the countryside where my grandparents are from) b/c he met this guy that was also going the same route, and offered to give him a ride. so he was led away into a parking lot. where there are no people. then he was tricked of his money b/c the guy had this 'valuable' turtle that was worth lots of money, and he offered it to him at a 'very low' price of a couple thousand. he fell for it.



when he went to a 海味铺 (seafood specialty store: abalone, gensing, black mushrooms--dried goods), he saw that the abalone was very 'cheap': only ___RMB!!** which was a lot cheaper then those chain stores where the stores are bright, they do clean business, and the stuff is more expensive. so he bought them. they needed to be cut up. so it was. when it came time to pay, it was 10x more!!!

**rememer: there was no unit attached to the price: the jars have small signs in which the price per ___ is labeled. it is most commonly per kilogram (斤), but the trick is this: it was labeled per lerng (兩), which is 1/10 of a kilogram.
so you would think that the abalone was, for example, say, $300/kilogram. when you ring it up, it would be $3,000! and b/c the store guy already cut it up and can not sell it to anyone else, you HAVE TO PAY. scam.

gum guo's visit to china w/ winn: they went to a secluded attraction w/ caves, and they rode a public bus on the roads. but to get all the way in, you have to take a taxi. it was only $1 to get in! so of course they did. but to get out, the only way was to take a bus, which was $100!!! and it was already nightfall, so you either take the bus, or you walk through the forest.

how my dad was almost scammed: one time, he went to sum tsunn (a popular countryside attraction close by hong kong) w/ a couple of his friends. they lost some luggage at the airport cause he thought he was getting it, then somebody else thought some other person would get it, then it was lost cause no one actually got it.
exchanging currancy: RMB & the HKDollar are different; so they had to exchange their money. and people who did it on the streets had higher exchange rates. (for example, 1 HKDollar=8RMB @ the currency exchange. BUT, on the streets, it is 1HKDollar=10RMB, and lots of people did this, and fake money was not yet a big issue back then)

so he got it done on the streets. he had to exchange $500HKD for $5000RMB (example), and they guy shorted him $10 b/c it was so many ten dollar bills and counting for so long. (the highest dollar bill was $10 back then--there were no $20 or $50 dollar bills) so he told him that. the guy re-counted, and was like, "yea! i did shortent you $10!"
so he reached into his pocket, and put another $10 bill on top. "here!" but then, my dad noticed that the thick pile of money actually got thinner! so he wanted to re-count it again. but the guy was like, "no! you can not count it again! i already let you count it once!" but my dad was like,"i have 3 buddies waiting for me downstairs, nei sun m sun ngo dup nei a luh? (you think we won't beat you up?) so you either let me count it again, or give me back all my money."

i actually don't know what happened in the end. but the point was that he didn't fall for it. he probably lied. he said he's never been tricked before.

my grandma: back in toi san, it's the country side. the toilets are not european styled (meaning they are similar to a hole in the ground), and the napkins @ the tables were toilet paper. (my uncle dan hated that). the mosquitoes out numbered the human population.

one day, she lost $300 from her wallet. but then, a little afterwards, after they went to a fourtune teller, who knew she had lost money, but will get it back, she found a wad of $300 on the floor.

so. one day, they were eating dim sum, and some one just snatched her purse. right off the chair. and the bag's handle was around the back of the chair too! (so you would have to lift the bag up off the back of the chair)

over here in the US. working in restaurants, all of us have at one time handled fake money.

keni's ma: one time, they recieved a big order that was a couple hundred dollars. the guy paid her in $50 dollar bills which she later found out were all fake.

my ma: we as a restaurant have never had people give us fake money (we take larger bills to the back to inspect and to get more change).

maggie's ma or keni's ma/ keni's ma's friend: they came into a casino, not knowing that what she had were fake bills and they got arrested.

FAMILY: NY DRAMA....unfolds!

Brooklyn, NEW YORK. USA.

HIS GIRLS....

quick story about my great-uncle tsaeu suk or tsaeu keu. [uncle tsaeu] (let's just call him maggie's dad)...

he has all daughters. time after time. let's see:

1. Linda ~20
2. Jenni ~18?
3. Maggie ~15
4. Kay ~5
5. Emily ~couple months...

he's had 3 girls for a long time. until a couple years back they tried again for a boy. they failed. it was a girl. that's how they got kay. an 'accident'.

then they tried again. another 'accident.' they were wondering if they should keep it. they found out it was a girl already... they did.

he owns a laundrymat in Brooklyn. for a long time now. he left that to his girls since they're old enough now. they both (he+his wife) did not work for a long time now. he's ~50 yrs. old. his wife gambles @ home, playing 麻雀 (mah jongg). his daughter once told her recently, 呀媽, 你唔好打麻雀啦. (ma, don't play [so much] mahjongg). she responded saying: 呀女,我唔打麻雀邊度有飯開呀? (if i don't, how will we get food on the table?) even though her daughters work...

BUYING A NEW HOUSE.

he had recently bout a 3 level building. 2 apartments, 1 store space on the bottom. so his family lives on one floor, his aunt on another.

he decided to open a wholesale store. not a good idea considering that he knew NOTHING about the whole sale business or how it works. so he took a stab. he remodled the place for 2 years.

it's a bakery/whole sale place. his daughters run it. like w/ the laundrymat. it fails. but he keeps it up.

he bought it for $970,000 a few years back. now it is worth $1,200,000. he had initially paid a $30,000 down for the place. but in this friggin market, now one wants to buy, especially at that scary-high price, even if the place was worth that money, no one is willing to return calls. it scares people away.

a few months back...when this started to happen (over here)

he couldn't pay his bills. simple as that. he couldn't afford to pay his mortgage. he had to ask for money from his friends and family in new york until he had to call over here in chicago.

he called my ma a few months back asking for money b/c he was going under. he told her to not tell my grandma (his older sister...whom also objected to him starting the wholesale market in the 1st place)

but apparently, she wasn't the only one he called. he also called my aunts asking for however much money they could led him. my ma... i guess lent him ~$5,000.

yesterday's meeting.

we had cooked dinner @ the restaurant that my family owned. but then sai yee (young/small aunt) said she was bringing domino's (her restaraunt is right by a domino's). so i didn't eat, waiting for the pizza.

the meeting started ~11:30pm. i thought it would be small. i've been to meetings where there were only four of them (my ma, my grandma, 2 aunties, just sitting around a table, drinking tea, talking into 2am in the morning...), but this was a LOT bigger. we had about ~20 people show up. apparently it was a big deal.

• kee came too, to represent her father since he was in brazil. (she's only ~20, whereas everyone else [excluding me+my sister] was 30+)
• ho doi's ma came to represent her father, ai keu (oldest uncle),
• keni's ma was there+her husband+her brother ngai hung (to represent ah keu, uncle),
• sam ngee po [ah ling] (3rd grandma: 'ngee po' means '2nd grandma' (literal)=grandma's sister. she is the thrid of the trio sisters) + ah ngee (alice's ma/ sam ngee po's daughter) + chang gung (sam ngee po's husband)
• ngee po [ah fong] (2nd grandma: my grandma is a twin, her being the older one)+gem guo (brother gem: jim's dad)
• my po po (grandma) [ah ying] + my grandpa+ my ma+ my dad+ me + my sister

strangely, it was more of the women in control.... the men sat back, like my dad, keni's dad, ngai hung, my grandpa, ah chang gung. there were some that particiapated more, like jim's dad. the men mostly didn't say much except if they really had to make a point.

some women also didn't participate as much. like keni's ma, ki, & ho doi's ma.

the goal: to decide IF they were going to help maggie's dad, and if so, for how long--conditions.

everyone wants to help him of course. but everyone felt that he didn't even want to sell his house. he's asking for such a high price (in this market)--but we understand: he spent a lot of time putting work into it. it was his 心血. but he couldn't afford it, so he needs to let it go.

but it's not been put onto the market yet. there are people interested in the building, but not with that price. few have called back to return a price (bargain).

he can not be late for more then 3 months: he has already not paid his mortgage for 3 months. one month's worth will be wired over tomorrow, after columbus day since banks are closed. so he still owes the bank 2 months.

the bank has not yet foreclosed it b/c they will loose money if they do so. and b/c he gave such a high down for it, it reflects that he is able to afford the house, though he is not.

he's even thrown in his laundrymat to attract people--the only source of income besides the wholesale market.

but because he is unwilling to sell it and it's worth $1,200,000, he does not want to lower the price since he wants to get rid of the debts AND make a profit. in this market? don't kill me laughing.

he's already trying to save as much money as he can: whatever is spoiled from the shop he will eat at home... he's asked all his friends to lend money... his daughters' boyfriends has pitched in...

gum guo likened it to this: you have a pretty, beautiful daughter, but no one can afford her lifestyle. and he's not even serious about selling the house.

i asked him (we called him long-distance), "did the bank mail you a letter? if you are this far behind the payments (3 months), then they should try to negotiate with you--lower the interest rates, extend the years, lower payments...?",

and he didn't know! he doesn't know a thing! i just told him the other day, "uncle, if you forclose, the bank will not give you a dime," and he was shocked! he had no idea! he only had a friend's daughter come out, and evaluate how much the property is worth! i can't really help b/c i don't know how much the surrounding properties sell for... and he doesn't know either! (he does. i don't know why he said that)

keni's dad said this: if he was really worried about this, then he would be thinking of how to get rid of the house, not trying to scrape up money here and there to keep paying for it! (which is sorta true... but then my ma said this, which is also true: maybe he does fret. he just doesn't show it. he has to take care of his retirement-home aunt (my great-aunt), and his daughter that still drinks from the bottle.)

the fly to NEW YORK.

so. my grandma, ngee po, and a couple of other of her siblings flew to new york b/c their aunt fell and broke something. she's old enough to be in a retirement home, so they moved her in b/c they were unable to take care of her any longer. i thought that was the only reason to go there, but it wasn't as it turned out.

maggie and her sisters are very cruel to her. i've seen her before. they call her bitch, throw things at her... maybe they've changed from the last time i've seen them, but they are very mean to her. that's as simple as it gets. she's in her 90s.

they were also there to assess the situation their brother is in. when they went out for dim sum one day, one of them (or one of maggie's dad's friends) accused my grandma of wanting to put them out onto the streets because she wanted him to sell everything. 你想佢哋瞓街?! but i am on her side b/c she's right: you either foreclose and owe the bank and all these people money, or you sell it for something to pay off some of the debts. if you're able to break even, then it's a miracle. but in this market, you're looking for a miracle.

back to the meeting....

sai yee likened it to some of those people who don't consider money a factor: STORY: there was a time where her brother-in-law had this property, and this italian guy bought it for a nice price, after it was in the market for 3 years. he also bought a lot of other plots, probably to build a shopping mall/plaza, but he ran out of money shortly after he bought her brother-in-law's property, and he was able to get rid of it fast enought. the poor guy.

there are some businessmen out there who see potential in properties, and don't care about money at all--they just want it. but that's one in a million. you don't know how long you would have wait for him to come along, if at all--how long can they hold out? they can't even make it for 3 months, no less 3 years.

but ah tsaeu suk is not worried b/c "我有几個女可以自己搵錢" (i have several daughters that can work"

gum guo stands firm on the fact that with every, lets say, month, he needs to lower the price more to get rid of it. reasonable. we can't just keep hoping for someone to come along when they can't even sustain their lifestyle in the meanwhile.

ngee po stands firm on the fact that she will only support his house from being forclosed, not his lifestyle. not for his dim sum, or his extra tea times.

my grandma made a point saying, "he is my little brother, set afloat in the big sea. how can you not extend a hand out and watch him drown?"

my ma then elaborated: how can you not even try if you are able to?

verdict: they settled on giving him money. with a time limit. which is unknown.

NCP: Library.

There are 2 floors to the library.

the 1st floor of the library is on the second floor of the school. THE ONLY ENTRANCE AND EXIT IS THROUGH THE 2ND FLOOR!!!! the third floor doors have alarms on them!!! (which many find out the hard way...it goes off, the librarian (usu. Mr. Pena) takes his time coming up to turn it off...)

the first floor has fewer computers then the second.

usu. during passing periods, early during lunch, right after/before school, the computers are taken.

the 2nd floor of the library closes @ 4:30pm.

the library closes @ 5:00pm.

maybe cause we're nerds, but hanging out @ the library is actually cool @ ncp. @ my old school, i betcha less then half the student body has ever been inside the library.

PRINTING....

in every room of the school there are black/white printers.

in the library there is one color printer. located on the 1st floor (of the library) by the librarians' desk to the left by the doors.

black/white prints are 10 cents per page.

color prints are 20 cents per page.

@ the beginning of each semester students are given $30 in print audit. money carries over semester to semester, not year over year.

WHICH PRINTER your stuff prints out of.....is a mystery. you need to get the hang of it. usu. only one printer prints (so the other is off), so if you see a printer printing, that's the one in commission right now. look for your stuff. everyone on the floor uses it, so your stuff may have to print a bit later, or was printed already.

IF IT HAS NO PAPER.... load it up. there's paper in a tray right by it. pull out the tray, load it up. in here, students have to do it: the librarians don't bother. they trust us.

IF IT HAS NO INK... then you can tell the librarians, and they can refund you your money, and change the ink.

CAMCORDERS. the library has an extensive collection of touch screen camcorders.... i herd gossip that next year they'll get thinner new ones... they are only lent for one day. YOU HAVE TO THEM BEFORE ADVISORY (or it's a $5 fine!)....many of them are missing components... the instructional booklet, DVD, fire wire, USB... the librarian will tell you what's missing. but if you plan to make a movie, you HAVE TO HAVE THE FIRE WIRE!!! let the librarian know. he/she'll get you another one if needed.

library material is only lent to NCP students... so if you have a Lane Tech friend over, they can't borrow stuff.

MARKERS...CRAYONS....SCISSORS....COLORING...PENCILS...TAPE...YES! the library does have them! and they can lend you it. if you leave your ID in exchange. (or something valueable) go to the desk and ask for them.

HOLE PUNCHERS...STAPLERS... YES! the library has quite a few on the librarian's desk by the doors. just use them.

SCANNERS....COPIERS....YES! the library has those too--the library only has 2 i believe. one on each floor. the 1st floor one is the first computer you see dead on when you come in. to its left is a scanner. 2nd floor one is the computer farthest left by the banister/windows. first one closest to the encyclopedias. COPIERS...they are for teacher AND STUDENT use!!! (10 cents for students....in cash....i believe. i'm not sure how they work...)

NEWSPAPERS....MAGAZINES.... the library has a lot of magazine subscriptions...found by the doors. newspaper is found on the rack by the doors also.

NCP: Websites YOU HAVE TO KNOW.

so. northside founctions very heavily on technology, as you can see.

teachers have HP tablets.

the library has 35 student-use flatscreen PCs (1st & second floor, first come first serve; usu. busy during passing period & lunch periods; right before/right after school; early in the morning and late in the afternoon sports many free computers)

every classroom has an EPSON projector. speakers. wireless printers. (PRINTING: 10 cents/page. black & white. color is 20 cents. every student is given $30 at the beginning of each semester. money left over from last semester will carry over. money from last year will not.)

the science department has Smart Boards. so cool! you have to see it for yourself to believe that a chicago public school has this stuff. amazing.

freshmen this year have their own laptops. part of the movement towards the rumored 'text-book free' thing, instead using laptops. LoL. so: a new way of identifying freshmen. they're the ones w/ laptops. lol.

but i'm jealous. when i was a freshman, i didn't get that.

WHAT ARE THE WEBSITES?

so. back to the websites. LOGIN. THEY ARE ALWAYS THE SAME. FIRST NAME INTIAL + FULL LAST NAME (& a number) (ie, Sammy Clarke would be: sclarke)

EMAIL (FIRST CLASS): http://fc.cps.edu/

• LOGIN: usu. first name initial, (middle name intial, if you have one) , & full last name (& a number if the login was already previously taken. ie, Lana Blake would be lblake. BUT if someone later had the same initial+last name (ie, Lorry Blake), then they would be lblake1
• IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU CHECK YOUR EMAIL. not to sound like a teacher, but it's important. it's not only trash you know. IT ANNOUNCES CLUB MEETINGS. SPORTS GAMES. SERVICE LEARNING HOUR OPPERTUNITIES. so it's like a daily newspaper.
• your email adress: firstnameintialmiddlenameitialfulllastname@cps.edu (example: marrie anna lobb will be most likely malobb@cps.edu. but if there was another malobb@cps.edu already, then you will be malobb1, malobb2, ect. @cps.edu
• ADVISORY: this is where the daily announcements are. shows club meetings, ect. these are emails blasted for the entire school.
• INBOX: your personal emails sent & recieved. includes emails sent for specific classes (ie, Ms. Simbulan's 4th block health class)
• DIRECTORY: looks up people's emails. anyone's on CPS. (teacher emails can also be found on http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.k12.il.us/)

FOR GRADES: http://students.cps.edu.k12.il.us/

• What is it? it shows your grades as your teacher enters it into her computer.

FOR HOMEWORK: http://moodle.northsideprep.org/ or: http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/


TO TURN IN PAPERS: http://www.turnitin.com/

• with this website, what it basically does is checks for plagiarism. so if your essay was something online, it will be found. something that someone BEFORE HAS SUBMTTED ONTO TURNITIN (so a friend who had the class last year's essay will still be stored on the database)
• LOGIN: email. password, your choice.
• YOU NEED THE CLASS ID # AND THE PASSWORD. to sign up for that class

SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/

this is the most important. many teachers post their homework there.

HOW TO DO IT:

HOW TO GET TO YOUR HOMEWORK via NCP WEBSITE:

1. go to the school website http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/
2. go to the DEPARTMENT tab. click on appropriate subject (math, science, liturature, ect)
3. find the TEACHER tab. click.
4. click on your teacher's name. it should go to another division to show the classes he/she teaches. click on the appropriate one. (ie, IMP1 instead of IMP3)

TO GET HOMEWORK via MOODLE:

1. go to moodle. link available through northside's main website. (http://moodle.northsideprep.org/)
2. click LOGIN. 99% of all classes require that you log in to see the information.
3. LOGIN with your first name's intial, and full last name. (ie, Frank Trobb would be 'ftrobb')
4. on the LEFT SIDE BAR (red) click on your class.

FOR MOODLE, YOU NEED TO KNOW THE PASSWORD YOUR TEACHER PUT ON THE CLASS. it's a one-time register.

TURNING IN HOMEWORK via TURNITIN.COM

1. go to http://www.turnitin.com/
2. login. (this log in is not controlled by CPS. meaning it can be your personal email, school email, whatever password you choose.)
3. to the left are your classes. click.
4. click on correct class in which you need to turn in your paper.
5. name of assignment is shown. click in the submit picture icon next to it.
6. upload & title the paper.
7. the next screen is a preveiw. **you still have not sumitted you paper in yet!!
8. click submit. you have. your teacher has recieved it.
9. a reciept will be sent to your email. KEEP IT!! to prove that you did turn it in, in case there is a glitch in the system.

NCP: Colloqium.

so. next thing on your schedule. the thing that is labeled 'colloquium'. so what it is:

• non-credit class, but they do take attendance
• SHORTER DAY (9:30AM-12:45PM)
• pass/fail grade
• classes are chosen by students themselves on Sound Programming. the topics are not typical school topics (sewing, art, red cross, motorcycles, ect.) some are semester-long (typical), some are year long...so choose wisely.

YOU GET TO SCHOOL @ 9:30 PEOPLE!!!! they do not have searches on colloquium, like on normal days.

****COLLOQUIUM IS ONLY ON 5 DAY WEEKS. (ie, if you have monday off, you will not get colloquium this week because attending your normal classes are more important then colloquium)

they often do not let people get into the library. you are not allowed to go anywhere beyond the 1st floor (so that means the lunchroom or the 1st floor atrium). the doors are locked.

if you get there early, and the library hasn't filled up yet, you can get up and chat/use computers.

9:20AM: they let people up the stairs.

9:45AM-12:45PM: colloquium. there is a break the teachers give students, but it is their choice what time. normally 15 min. break. homework is dependent on the teacher. colloquium is normally considered a blow off class.

lunch is served after colloquium.