First Week of School

This week, I started my last year of middle school.  I was so excited to go in and see my friends and meet my teachers.  I noticed that, in my first hour class, there is a girl who has been mean to me in the past.  I felt mad in my mind because she is one of the girls who bullied me over the summer.  I did meet a new friend in first hour, so this is good.  My new friend moved from Vancouver.  When I arrived at my second period class, I saw the mean girl AGAIN!  I couldn’t believe that she was in two of my classes.  I felt like things couldn’t get any worse.  Luckily the nice new girl from first hour is also in my second hour class.  I sat next to my new friend.  In third hour, I met another new friend whose last name I can’t even pronounce.  She’s nice, though, and it seemed like things were getting better.  But then, I found out the mean girl is in my THIRD, FOURTH, and FIFTH hour classes, as well!  I can’t escape her!  Thankfully, she is just ignoring me right now and is not bullying me.  I am trying to ignore her, too, and focus on my new friends and my work.  My favorite class so far is chorus.  I wanted to work on my singing voice.  Two years ago, I started chorus and it seemed nice.  I have improved and I like performing at the concerts and going on the field trips.  I am still doing cheerleading on the weekends, so I have plenty of hobbies to concentrate on.  I have teachers this year who are really nice.  They don’t yell, like my preschool teacher my kindergarten teacher.  I am thinking of doing color guard after school.  My friend says it’s a great activity and I will have a lot of fun. 

The trends this year at school are pretty much the same.  Girls are wearing jeans and nice shirts that don’t expose the torso.  Boys are wearing basketball shorts and t-shirts with graphics on them.  I like basketball shorts because anyone can wear them.  It doesn’t matter to me if someone is athletic or a rock-star, as long as they look nice in what they’re wearing, it’s good.  The other day, I wanted to design some pajamas.  I looked at the different styles of long pants, shorts, tank tops, and long sleeve shirts.  I like pajamas that are patterned and fitted.  I first designed a tank top and shorts.  The shorts have text signs on them and words that start with the lowercase “i”, like “iSleep” and “iRest”.  On the top, I placed a large text smiley face.  This represents the way I like to communicate.  I like to communicate in person, but also on the internet and with my phone.  My second set of pajamas is long pants and a shirt.  This set of pajamas tells everyone how much I love to sleep.  Sleep is great, sometimes.  Not at school or cheer practice, of course, but it’s good at night.  I want to design comfortable pajamas that will make people feel nice in their sleep.  I will use soft fabric because when you’re designing pajamas, the fabric must feel soft to be warm and comfortable.  I am very happy with my drawings.  

Prom Dresses

8/18/2011

Today I wanted to design some special dresses for prom.  I took an online quiz about perfect prom dresses and that made me want to design an ombre prom dress with beads.  I looked at some pictures on the internet for inspiration and I decided I wanted to do something that would be fashionable, something that I would wear.  I drew an asymmetrical, one-shoulder dress with beading on the top.  I used ombre color patterning where the dress starts as pink on the top and turns to purple on the bottom.  My three favorite colors are pink, purple, and black. 

My next dress has a sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps.  I chose purple and black for this dress.  I went with a mermaid cut for this dress and I’m adding little scales that sparkle like diamonds because I wanted to make a dress that would look like a mermaid’s tail.  I want to make prom dresses because prom is a big deal to me.  I’ve never had a prom before, but I have seen them on television.  It looks magical, beautiful, fun, romantic, and perfect.  It’s the kind of party I would like to go to one day.  I like to use patterns when I design, so today I focused on patterning with ombre colors. 

Now, let’s talk about summer ending.  I love everything about school…I know what you’re thinking!  Most people don’t like school.  I’ve missed seeing my friends, working, and I even missed my teachers!  I can’t wait to get my schedule.  I am hoping to get good teachers, good electives, and the best time spots.  It would be horrible to have P.E. class first…that would not be cool because then you’re hot and sweaty all day.  This is my last year of middle school.  I feel kind of sad, but also happy that I finally get into High School.  It’s a really big deal to be in high school because of prom, relationships, and also getting more social time to spend with friends.  I really hope I will get the chance at a first dance at prom.  I can’t wait to finish this year of school so I can be in high school!

Facebook Drama - Part Two

Today, I learned about the difference between being arrogant and being humble.  It’s important to be confident and believe in yourself, but it is also important not to be arrogant and offend other people.  I want to use these ideas when I design shirts.  My friend and I were looking at shirts online.  There were so many that were arrogant, saying that people were hot, or the best or just mean shirts like, “3 million people dislike your face”.  People do not want to wear clothes that make them look arrogant.  For example, my friend told me about a shirt someone bought her.  She like math.  The shirt says, “I’m too pretty to do math”.  It is a funny shirt, but she won’t wear it because it’s arrogant.  She doesn’t want people to think  that she thinks she is the best or pretty or anything arrogant.  So, she just wears the shirt around her house and never outside.  I would like my clothes to be worn everywhere. That’s why I’m going to focus on designing shirts that are humble and not arrogant.

 Also, on my Facebook, I might have made posts in the past that may have been arrogant.  I hope all the time that people find me to be pretty and smart.  So, I used to tell them how awesome I was.  I think behavior makes people pretty, like on the inside.  I hope that my behavior helps people to think that I am pretty.  I also hope people think that I am intelligent.  If I see or hear insults, it hurts my feelings.  Sometimes I used to go on Facebook and tell people how pretty and smart I was.  I did that because I wanted them to believe it and not insult me.  But now I realize that I was being arrogant.  I can change the way that I talk to people and hopefully it will make them less mean to me.  I hope that they will start to see me as smart and beautiful because I am confident about myself.  I just will remember to be humble when I talk about myself and let people decide on their own about me.

Cheering and Tisdale

8/10/11

Two things I would like to talk about today are cheerleading and Ashley Tisdale.  They might not seem to go together, but this is what I’ve had on my mind.  The other night, I drew a shirt that says, “It’s so overrated”.  I got the idea from the song “Overrated” by Ashley Tisdale.  The message of the song is be yourself and don’t change for anyone else.  It doesn’t matter if other people are doing something, just do what you have to do to be you.  I designed a rainbow pattered skirt that says, “The Mirror is Shattered” on the waistband.  These are also lyrics from the song.  I listen to this song a lot to think about what is good and what is not good when it comes to style, people, and behavior.  I designed ballet flats with bows on them.  Flats are a good choice because not all kids can wear backless footwear to school.  Ballet flats are a better idea to go to school.  They are comfortable and stylish. 

I have never been a cheerleader my whole life.  I went to a pep rally and saw cheerleaders cheer for our school.  They did regular cheers and a little bit of tumbling and stunting, too.  When I saw that, it made me feel like I wanted to become an experienced cheerleader.  So, I started practicing.  I tried out for the team but I didn’t make it because people rated me on my toe touch.  I couldn’t do the toe touch very high when I tried out.  So, I went to summer camp for cheerleading and joined an All-Star squad.  They taught me how to toe touch.  I practiced on a trampoline and got my toe touch higher.  The skills I’m working on now are a back handspring and a front flip.  My goal is to get my back handspring by December so I can have it for competitions with my All-Star squad.  I hope to be able to try out for my high school squad.  What I like about cheering is that you get to perform in front of lots of different people.  I also like the outfits.  I sometimes use a little bit of the cheer outfits in my own clothes, like the rainbow pleated skirt I drew the other night.  That way, I get the fun of dressing like a cheerleader without even being one!  This might get girls interested in cheerleading, and that is good because cheerleading is good physical exercise. I plan to design a few looks about cheering.

Hey You

8/4/2011

Last night, I sketched a new design.  I had the song “Hey You” by Miranda Cosgrove in my head.  These are the words that inspired me:

Hey you, it's your turn to

See the beauty in yourself

Just like you tell everyone else

Hey you, am I getting through?

If you would only see yourself

The way you see everyone else

The way I always see you

I see you, hey you

I have been focusing on designing shirts based on the music I listen to.  I think people will like this because it gets other people’s attention, and that is what fashion is all about.  When I was little, I didn’t really like too much music.  I didn’t like major songs like what was on the radio.  I thought they were for older people.  Then, I listened to a lot of songs when I got my first iPod at age 9, and I started to become interested in music.  Now that I design clothes, I like to listen to music to get ideas.  When I listen to the words of “Hey You”, it makes me think about how my life will be when I’m sixteen.  I hope to get a driver’s license, have a first date, get my braces off, learn more in school, and be a little taller.  The words of this song make me think about growing up because this is how I see myself in my head.  I will be taller, older, smarter, prettier (because I’ll be brace-less), and able to have more freedom.  I can’t wait to be able to shop at the mall for cosmetics and perfume when I’m older.  For right now, I can enjoy the beautiful song and picture my life when I’m older.  I can also use the words of the song to help me design my shirt.  I think the shirt would look nice with jeans because many people are going back to school in the fall and need trends that are OK to wear to school, not like shirts that show the torso, or short shorts.  I paired the outfit with colorful, rugged boots.  The shirt is a boat-neck style so you can see a little bit of neck and shoulder.  That is pretty and not too much skin.

The second outfit I designed was inspired by these words from the song:

You could find one diamond in a mine

But you're the one who is shining from miles around

I worked a diamond pattern into my skirt.  The waistband is sparkly, like a diamond.  The skirt is black because the song talks about a diamond in a mine.  I think skinny black leggings would be perfect for underneath this skirt.  That way, when you are in school, you will be covered up.  If you wear the skirt to a party after school, you could take the leggings off.  I am making the outfit look similar to a school uniform by creating a long sleeved, button down shirt with a bow-tie.  I think this is a good choice for back to school because you will look fashionable, but not too wild or colorful.

Facebook Drama - Part One

Right now, I am working on some new designs with patterns.  I like patterns because they bring out the idea of fashion.  There is this song called “OMG” by Usher.  People were saying that, texting it, going on the internet and typing it…it was everywhere!  Everyone knows that OMG means “Oh my Gosh…or goodness…or God”.  I thought this would make a good t-shirt because the acronym is so popular that I decided to make the shirt.  I also designed a dress with polka-dots, plaid, and stripes.  Some people might think that those things don’t go together, but it’s a tiered dress and the colors complement each other.  I used green, purple, orange, pink, and many other colors for the mini dress, which is perfect to wear for a summer party.

This week, I also learned a lot about cyber bullying.  I want everyone to know that autistic kids can get their feelings hurt easily by cyber bullies.  Sometimes, when someone says something unkind, it’s hard for me to ignore it.  Someone posted a “request for uglies” on Facebook.  I made a post, but I wasn’t thinking.  I understand that it was wrong and I probably hurt people’s feelings.  However, what happened next was that everyone started posting about me.  I am not ugly.  I have a beautiful heart and looks!  Besides, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  Their posts about me not being attractive made me feel put down and awful.  The kids who were posting back to me could not understand how badly I felt inside.  I felt bad for days…I still feel a little bad even now.  I wish I could take back that first post, because now I know how it feels when people write about you.  Next time, I am not ever going to respond back to a question like that because it could hurt other people’s feelings and I could get my feelings hurt, too.

            Children with Autism and Asperger’s are told that they are smart…and they are!  It’s just that some of us have trouble in school or in public.  It doesn’t mean that all of us have trouble!  Personally, sometimes I feel like I have trouble with work, the FCAT (that is our state test), and other academic stuff.  Sometimes, I even feel like I don’t even talk to people.  I would like to make more friends and talk to people.  I just know that I don’t socialize too well.  I am interested in all the same things as my classmates, like talking about videos on YouTube, posts on Facebook, fights in school, and other stuff.  But, I don’t have too many people that talk to me about these things.  I feel like just a single person when there’s no one to mingle with and talk to.  That is why Facebook is so good.  My brother has Asperger’s.  He says he doesn’t have trouble socializing, but I think he does have a little trouble.  Both of us like to post on Facebook because people will talk back.  It is an easy way to make friends.  So, even though sometimes I get cyberbullied on Facebook, I need to stay on because it’s a good way to socialize and talk with friends.  Teachers, in general, cannot let kids socialize because they are trying to teach.  There’s not enough time to talk between classes because there’s only 4 minutes.  In the cafeteria, there’s enough time to talk, but it’s very loud.  So, I don’t have much time in school to socialize.  Facebook is a good solution to my problem, but I just have to be careful not to hurt other people’s feelings by mistake and not to get my feelings hurt.