Microwave Safety

For class this week, I presented a short public service announcement on microwave safety. Naturally, I wanted to capture my audience's attention, so I focused on all the bad things that can happen if you do not use a microwave properly. In my initial script, I started out with death as the worst possible consequence. Mommy thought this was a bit over the top, so the version above sets up death with other scenarios. I also try to illustrate each of the bad outcomes using my acting skills. For instance, if you burn yourself in a microwave, I jump up and down and yell

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!

A line I borrowed from Super Mario Galaxy. Mario says this when he falls into lava.

Check it out. It's important safety advice.

Victory

Today was the Pinewood Derby. This year, Mom pulled out all the science. She got a device to check things like the camber and width of the wheelbase. She got another device make sure the wheels were exactly circular. We hit the weight limit out to 4/100ths of an ounce. I helped too.

Well, all of that hard work paid off. My car came in second in the WHOLE PACK. I was first among the wolves, and I'm off to the Blackhawk 500---the big regional Pinewood race where Cub Scouts from as afar away as Sacramento come to compete. I can't wait.

Hooray for the Yoshi-mobile. And hooray for Mom!

Warriors

On Friday night, we went to see the Warriors take on the Bucks. It was Cub Scout day. Great game--the Warriors led through 3 quarters only to lose in the end. It was also an historic game. The Warriors only suited 8 players. One of them got injured and 3 fouled out, leaving only 4 players. By rule, each team must have 5 players on the court so Steph Curry played even though he had fouled out. Apparently, this is the first time in the history of the NBA that this has happened.

After the game, we shot free throws on the real court. I almost got it in as this video shows.

Church Choir

On Christmas Eve, we had a big singing service where the choir featured prominently. I did 3 songs as well as performing on bells. The bells are my favorite part. When there's a part of the song that calls for both my bells to be rung at the same time, I ring them and spread my arms out triumphantly. The audience got a chuckle out of my larger-than-life gesticulations. I sang well too. One problem is that, whenever I first get on stage, I have the endless urge to yawn. I ended up yawning both before and during some of the songs. I don't know why I yawn, I just do.

Above is a post-concert photo of myself and my friend Katie. This was a special moment for Katie's Mom. Normally, Katie does not like to wear "girl clothes", but somehow Mom got her to wear a fancy red dress for the concert. She's one of my best friends.

Giving is Part of Christmas Too

While I really like GETTING stuff for Christmas, it's fun to give things as well. In my class, we worked on a big project for a gift to our parents. I made the card shown in the image above as well as a yellow and green pot, which I threw myself, for Mom and Dad. I was so excited about my gifts that the very first gift I wanted Dad to open was one from me. Giving gifts is also fun.

Yay Christmas!

Jumping for joy at my favorite gift--socks!


I had a great Christmas this year. I got almost all the gifts I asked for and have been really enjoying them since opening them.

Top of the list are Wii games. I especially like Super Mario Bros. One really cool thing about this game is that it has team mode where 2 or more players work as a team to get through levels. Teamwork is quite helpful since this game is very tough, much tougher than Super Mario Galaxy. Right now, Daddy and I are stuck at the first Bowser level. (For those who don't know, the plot in all of these games is the same: Bowser, the evil dude, kidnaps Mario's friend Princess Peach. Mario must then defeat Bowser and his endless hordes. To be more precise, Mario must defeat Bowser many times since defeat on a lower level simply causes Bowser to retreat to a higher level without relinquishing the Princess.)

I also got a cool electronics circuitry kit. Last night, Mommy and I built a light and fan combo using first serial and then parallel circuitry. Electricity is interesting.

Happy Festivus!

December 23 is the traditional day for Festivus--the holiday for the rest of us. You might recall Festivus from Seinfeld, but it turns out it's much older. It was invented in 1966. Tonight, for the first time ever, we celebrated Festivus.

We started with the bringing in of the bare aluminum pole--prized for its combination of lightness and strength. Here I am bringing in the pole.

From Aidan's Weblog

Next, we had the traditional airing of the grievances. Here, we point out all the ways other family members have failed us throughout the year. It's really fun. Since Festivus is on the 23rd of December, I decided we had to make a list of 23 grievances. Here's the beginning

From Aidan's Weblog

While initially, it was hard to come up with grievances, eventually, the whole family got into the spirit of the occasion and the grievances came flowing forth.

From Aidan's Weblog

From Aidan's Weblog

Following the airing of the grievances, we had the traditional Feats of Strength. As you might know, the holiday continues until the head of household is pinned in a wrestling match. Initially, I was overmatched by Daddy...

From Aidan's Weblog

But I soon spied a weakness and pinned him!

From Aidan's Weblog

Festivus is a truly great holiday--amazing more people don't celebrate it.

Graham Crackers

From Aidan's Weblog

In addition to my artistic skills in gingerbread, I also work in another important medium--graham crackers. Here is a graham cracker house I built in school all by myself. The key to this structure is a "skeleton" made of a milk carton, which provides stability for the grahams. As you can see, my education is not confined to marshmallows. Frosting and M&Ms are also important components.

The duck is supposed to add to the visual interest of the shot since everyone likes to look at rubber ducks.

Gingerbread

 

One of the best Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses. I made one out of graham crackers in school, but it doesn't compare to the real deal. So Mommy and I made a house on Friday afternoon. It's beautiful. I think it's our most deluxe one ever. It even includes Sun Chips as part of the decorations.




The image above is a politically correct version of Hansel and Gretel, which we read in a zillion versions (including the original German) in school this week. Here "Hansel" (the African-American) and "Gretel" (the Asian) meet up with the (Caucasian) witch at the gingerbread house. Shockingly, despite her black pointy hat and black moon and stars dress, they don't recognize her as such.

Science!

 

We finished up the last week of school before vacation with a little sceince. This week's episode--the mystery of molecules. We made a whole bunch of molecules out of marshmallows and toothpicks. This was totally cool. When Daddy came home, he offered a couple of mysterious comments about the project. First, he asked me about "covalent bonds" (which I have no clue what he's talking about). Then something a bit more delicious--he observed that the hydrogen atoms never link to each other and never link to more than one other atom. I hadn't noticed this, but it's interesting.