Diary - July 2024

July 1, 2024 - sad things

Yesterday Dad banned me from using this computer without any adults watching behind me. I got in trouble because yesterday, I was distracted by some Terraria-style Wikipedia (Fandom), and I was looking at some bows when I got busted.

Dad started to say something, but then stopped, and said, "You have not shown that you can restrain yourself from getting distracted on this computer, so I will NOT allow you to use the computer for ANYTHING without an adult watching you." So, now I feel really really really really really stupid that I can restrain myself from a chocolate chip cookie but not a virtual website.

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For Kyle's birthday, somebody got him a X-Shot nerf toy, and is was really awesome. It has 12 bullets and can shoot 12 at a time without touching any of the bullets. The X-Shot even has different skins and even a badge for each one to indicate how rare it is! 

This is what is looks like:                     ↓

July 2, 2024 - fun

Today I performed 50 juggles! I didn't even do 20 x 1's because I was rushing, but who knew that I would get 50 on my FIRST SHOT? That will be my new record from now on. I'm halfway there, super Lego set! I'm coming!

Soccer was very short, but the 50 juggles was pretty darn long. It was a little over 40 seconds, I'm guessing. Now I'm 2nd place for juggles in my soccer team! Last year I was last. This year, I'm 2nd! Dad IS right. If you want to achieve something great, you have to never give up and keep trying no matter what, and you will eventually achieve your goal! 

From now on, beating my record is going to take more time, since every time you get 40 or 45 juggles, you don't beat your record, so it takes up time for no reason. Only if you get 51+ do you actually have the chance to get 55 or 60. From then on, it' basically impossible.

July 4, 2024 - INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Today is the Fourth of July! I get to stay up until 10:00 to watch the fireworks in the Bellevue Park with my friend, Ru-shan. We also got to sell popsicles (I had the hardest job, pulling the popsicle cart around), and I made 11 dollars for my work, which is a decent amount of money for me, at least, but not for dad or mom.

The fireworks were loud, and they were also unpredictable. There were 3 or 4 so-called "grand finales " of fireworks, where the firework sparks were sprayed everywhere. My personal favorite was the second grand finale. It had AA gunfire, and it was all very exciting.

Our strategy: to ask people with families so we could sell more and to ask people that aren't eating that much to eat popsicles.

Detailed Description of the park: The park was full of grass, kids, and more kids. In the middle of the green grass there was a tall tree. On the other side there was a playground full of kids, and there was a river seperating the gravel walkway from the grass. The park reeked of dust and dog droppings, but nobody cared. I'd rather smell dog poop for 6 hours and eat McDonalds and watch fireworks than do my usual things!

Here are our popsicle favorites in images:

JUly 7, 2024 - new

Today I bought new cleats, since my old red ones don't have studs anymore. So, me and mom went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get some new cleats for me. Very surprisingly, all the cleats were comfortable.

I first tried on some yellowish green Adidas cleats, but they made my toe tingle every time I took a step forward, so nah. The second one I tried was better, but I didn't like that there were very short laces. But, I found one that didn't have laces.

The shoes didn't have laces, and they were slip-on, and they were comfortable. But. They were yellowish white, my least favorite cleat color. I would have preferred green ones, but I was eager to try them, so I thought: I would prefer this right now with bad color than later with good color. So here it is!

July 8, 2024 - happy day time!

Today I finished Chinese, chess, piano, and Language Arts before lunch! I actually had less time to do these things, but I figured things out by not* ________________ ! That got me a head start, and that Kyle took about 45 minutes just to finish piano compared to my 25 minutes.

I feel like I finished almost everything, and I know it will be a good day afterwards, because I will have lots and lots of free time to play, to eat ice cream, to go to the park, and to play video games, possibly? Probably not, since dad is out of town.

The thing I'm REALLY worried about is the storytelling. I'm just naturally bad at public speaking, I guess. Mom says otherwise, but I know something's wrong. All of my friends are pretty good at public speaking, but not me, because...

I'll give you an answer in 2 years!

*The font is relatively small because I don't want dad getting mad. I didn't brush my teeth because I wanted to get a head start on Kyle on getting a perfect day.

July 9, 2024 - yum

Have you ever wondered about what chip types you've never eaten before? Have you ever thought of which chip brands were your favorite? I would say most of you voted Lay's, Doritos, or Cheetos. But guess what? According to TastingTable, Cheetos don't even make it onto the top 20 favorite chips, while Sun Chips rank in the top 10!*

I feel like I've seen more Tostitos SAUCE than actual chips, but on TastingTable, they are the #1 chip company in the world! Wow. A chip brand I don't even know about. I'll add that to the list of things that Jace didn't know was true.

Also, Tostitos looks like it has a chip and a sauce to advertise, and since It's the most popular chip in the world, there will be a lot of work to stay at the top of the chip mountain!

*when I say "10!", I don't mean 3628800, but I mean 10 and an exclamation mark.

July 10, 2024 - anger

Today I tried to make a Lego crossbow after seeing a video where someone built it and it was insane. I wanted it so badly, and I didn't have enough pieces, sadly. So, I threw the crossbow away and I started getting really mad and destroying things.

I don't think that getting really angry was the right solution, and I think I could have just stayed calm and... yeah. Things would have been a lot better, and the playroom should have been about 10 times cleaner than it is right now. See, that's why I sometimes want a time machine.

Dad is going to go so so so mad when he hears about the big fuss and how I shook half the pieces off the technic piece holder and also ate a yogurt, 2 bananas, a bowl of Cheez-Its, and a sip of slushy gatorade, which just isn't possible. And that's the reason it's impossible: because it's impossible. That's why!*

*I'm now confounded.

July 11, 2024 - fun!

Today I watched this random guy open this card pack in FIFA 24. When the player's country was Spain, he said: "MEXICO!". I mean, if you are properly educated, this should be easy. Even for me, a 9-year old about to go in 4th grade. You can even memorize it: Red top and bottom with cheese in the middle is SPAIN (Okay, I made up my own way of remembering the Spanish flag.

Yesterday I finished the Netflix series "Champions of the World", a really awesome movie I recommend all of you guys who missed the world cup games watch it RIGHT NOW! It shows the 2022 World cup in it's last few games, and the final, where I think France should have won.

You know, I feel like more than one topic is bad for my diary entries. I will run out of ideas twice as fast, but, sometimes there just isn't enough to write about with one topic.

July 14, 2024 - stress overload

At soccer practice, our team was playing with 15-year olds, and it was one giant scrimmage with one neutral. I first was right wing, but after a brief talk with coach, I was told to stay near the goal and play defender. At this point, I knew I was going to mess up in some big way, and I was right. Dad had a lot to talk about, and he told me if I play like this my potential in a soccer game was benchwarmer. I just warm the bench for others. And dad just HAD to rub it in and tell me that my friends are better. That is converted into my point of understanding dad's words: "You suck so much your brother was better when he was 4 years old.

After dad told me all of this in the car ride back home, I just broke down. I felt like soccer was more of a job than to have fun. If this happened everyday for the next 7 days, I will literally die in stress.

I bet you dad won't like what he sees in this diary and he'll tell me to redo it and to mention that "I love him and he already made up for it", which he actually didn't. I mean, he just let me watch a little TV, that's it. No video game, no nothing. He didn't even give me a free DAY of stress by reviewing my soccer training and telling me all the places I messed up and all the times I could have done better.

July 15, 2024 - Ethan over

Today mom invited Ethan over to our house to play. He's here for 4 hours (1:00 to 5:00). We first played 2 matches of Fifa in the European Cup (SPAIN WON!!!), and we were England, who were runners-up. I hoped England would win, but I knew it was about 25% chance that England would win. So, I sadly voted Spain. 

In the first match against Denmark, Ethan and I all scored 4 goals, 8 - 0. Meanwhile, in the second match against Slovenia, we won 7 - 2. Not great, but still good. I wanted to score with the keeper. I think we advanced to the knockout stages.

After the games, me and Ethan went to Odle Middle School to play some soccer. When we started shooting the ball, Ethan skimmed the crossbar and we couldn't find the ball. But, just as we were leaving, we found the soccer ball next to the bleachers!

July 17, 2024 - the little things matter...

Today I finished a perfect day. I was going up to take a shower and brush my teeth, and then PLAY VIDEO GAMES, but KYLE didn't do all of his things, so dad said: "You can't play until Kyle is finished with all five things he has to do."

My day was ruined by those 15 sad words... UNTIL

After dad told me to let him see Kyle's Chinese scores, and then mine. Mine were obviously better, and he noticed that by quite a bit (he frowned when he saw Kyle's, he smiled when he saw mine and rubbed my head), and he LET ME PLAY! But, at the time of writing this, I'll be done by 8:45, so I don't have a ton of time to play at all. But, it's better than nothing!

Also, I predict Kyle is playing a chess game against a 480, who is going to go down to 479 or 478 rated.

If this is true, please message dad and say that 7 things in a day is a little bit too many things...

july 18, 2024 - Minecraft vs. Terraria

Have you ever wondered why playing Minecraft is so darn hard? That is because Minecraft IS hard! Also, it is kind of confusing. I get that diamonds are hard to get and all, but don't you think we should have more iron, at least? I can't even get past the FIRST DAY!

Terraria on the other hand, has lots and lots of good ores, armor, and weapons. It even has weapons that drop from monsters! That would be a great improvement against Minecraft, but Minecraft is 3D and Terraria isn't. That is where Terraria could improve.

But, I'm not sure if making Terraria 2D is fun. Terraria is meant to have lots and lots of monsters to kill at a time, and it is too hard if monsters came to attack you from all sides, and that would be terrifiying. Minecraft is fit like that, though, because Minecraft has less monsters and it is more of an RPG game without guns.

july 19, 2024 - aurik 

Today Aurik is supposedly coming over to our house for a before-match playdate. I think me and him are going to wreck havoc, and mom will have to let us play video games and eat LAY'S POTATO CHIPS! We got them for free at the Fourth of July (Independence Day), and I haven't eaten them much yet. Also, I want England to win the Euro 2024 in EA 24.

Last time Aurik came to our house for dinner, he and I won the champions league. This time, ENGLAND is going to win the Euros. It's

july 21, 2024 - The finals

I know, this title sounds like a WWE video game, but it is about a CERTAIN Surf Cup final against Crossfire. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but we were never on target. 

The place was 60 Acres Park, and boy did the park make up for it's name! The park was bigger than any other place we had ever seen. The amount of teams that could play there was an entire bucket load of them all playing at once. You could always hear some parent shouting and cheering in the park, and it was never quite quiet enough to hear the breeze or even the birds chirping!

My team just beat the Pumas, ranked first in group A of Surf Cup, and we had high hopes of winning the trophy. This time, we were playing Crossfire RCL 4 And as always, I had a little seed of doubt that we would lose. 

After kickoff, they proceeded to score once without much competition. We still had some hope left at this point, but after a free kick and a strike from a corner kick both by Aurik, we actually felt like we could win this. After a free kick rebound by this Mexican kid named Jacob (apparently a very popular name for boys in Mexico), it was tied 2 - 2 at halftime. Now, anything was possible.

In the second half, they progressed with 2 goals in a row, one a free kick from that kid Jacob, and another one with JACOB dribbling the majority of our team and scoring a nutmeg against our goalie, Archer! Now, even with cheering from the parents, we all felt sad and we felt like we had failed our job to win Coach Geo a trophy. Even after a brilliant goal from Elijah, we lost. Final score, 4 - 3, Crossfire RCL 4.

After the loss, Coach Geo tried to cheer us up, but we still cried a lot. Especially Saatvik, who tried to stifle his sobbing, but it was obviously not working. But after we got our medals and a goodie bag from coach Geo, we were ready for our next event: Surf San Diego.

July 22, 2024 - Work

After the unfortunate loss at Surf Cup, mom gave me a few more tips on how to improve. Her tips weren't very specific, but hey. Any advice is good advice, unless it's just stupid. That would not be good and I would not follow the advice. 

Her first tip was to look up and dribble without looking down at the ball. The same goes for passing, and I need to learn this so I can dribble at fast speeds without slowing down to look at the ball. 

Her second tip was to practice shooting when dribbling at high speeds. She said I had a ton of shooting opportunities, but I didn't shoot because I knew I couldn't get off a shot on target. Also, she said to practice side volleying, because I also had those chances.

Her last tip was to fool the defender by looking one way, and actually passing accurately to the other side. This way, I can fool the defender and be really unpredictably. Speaking of that, don't always pass to Luke and Archer. Pass more often to Aurik, Theo, and whoever is on the wing.

July 23, 2024 - tom sawyer

This time I read about Tom going to a graveyard with Huckleberry Finn. He and Huckleberry Finn saw somebody called Injun Joe, some doctor, and a person named Muff Potter, surprisingly, dig up a corpse. Now, I have no idea why they go to the graveyard, but I do have one idea. See, in the 1800s, medical trainers used to dig up corpses and use them for medical training. The doctors though using real people was good, but it was banned. That's why people need to be very sneaky when getting corpses.

But, in the middle of digging up the coffin, Muff Potter and the doctor start a fight. I guess Injun Joe saw the opportunity to kill the doctor, so he did. Muff Potter was knocked out, so Injun Joe put the knife in Muff's hand, and pretended that Muff killed the doctor.

Really, don't know why Injun Joe killed the doctor. I didn't read the rest, but I still have no idea why he did that. Maybe it was because the doctor put him in jail, or something. Maybe the doctor stole money from Injun Joe. But, that is unlikely, because Injun Joe is very good at keeping his money, I know it.

July 24, 2024 - tom sawyer x2

This time, I read about Tom getting whapperrooed by his aunt, and how Joe Harper got kapowed by his aunt, and how Huckleberry Finn decided to leave the town. Tom, Joe, and Huck all agreed to become pirates and never come back to the town again until they are rich and famous. They decided to have Jackson's Island (an island 3 miles away from the town) as a rendezvous point for them.

They stayed at Jackson's Island equipped only with some ham, some rope, a log raft, some bacon (they ate it), and tobacco just for Huck. I don't think I could have survived with that little for 3 days. I would need some other kind of stuff to eat, and I would need some water filter to filter the dirty river water.

I don't see why they ran away. It was probably because their parents hated them and they didn't want the kids to stay. Maybe if dad and mom are too mean to me, I'll run away. But, I bet I won't survive a day without any time with my trusty computer.

july 25, 2024 - tom sawyer x3

This time, I read about Tom and his mates finding out that the town where they lived thought Joe, Tom, and Huck were drowned! The town reported that if nobody finds the 3 boys, a funeral will be held. Tom actually ran away with everything good, and he hid under his bed at his house listening to his aunt talk with Joe Harper's mom, with Mary (I don't know who she is) and Sid, Tom's brother.

I think Tom just thought it wasn't the right thing to do to run away from his only family. He probably was a little scared of getting caught by others. Maybe he thought his aunt would give him a giant beating for running away. But, if I got home after running away, I would just walk in the house and stay at the doorway of the room all the people were talking in.

Maybe when I get older I can buy a phone and bring lots of hamburgers, a water filter and my 2 water bottles, my wallet (probably filled with over 10000 dollars by this point), and my trusty computer all in my backpack.

July 28, 2024 - vex robotics

Today I finished the vex robot "Byte" (hero of the 2023-2024 Vex robotics challenge) with dad's help, and dad was a ton of help, belive me. Dad helped me get all the pieces and also helped me assemble the challenging ones. He also helped me rebuild the part that was built wrong. You know, that might be the first time he got a 9.5 as a dad score.

Normally dad is very strict about everything (today he even yelled at Kyle for putting too much toothpaste on his brush), but today he seems... different. He is more calm, he didn't scream too much, and he also did several positive things, but that is still a little bit away from the best of the best. Today he didn't really talk loudly, but that might be because doing robotics doesn't require communicating much.

Finishing Byte was the most phisically challenging thing today, but I still have too code this stupid Byte. Not like I hate it, but coding this thing is too hard, and I suck at coding anyways. I couldn't even get the hang of "for" loops after an incredibly long time of 30+ minutes!

July 30, 2024 - dad again

Today me and Kyle both got a perfect day, and we wanted to play. I played a little bit first, and I was just 5 minutes in when Kyle came in and said he also wanted to play. When I told Kyle he could, he got happy and went to grab the computer. But then DAD immediately said "No playing for both of you guys." And when Kyle went away, he said to me: "You can really annoy me, you know."

I'll take that as an insult, and I'll roast him later.

Okay, I just asked him if we could at least watch TV, and he said yes... if you take a bath first. Wow. I would say his rating dropped from an average of 7.2 to 4.8. Well, at least he is almost at 5.0!  p (ᴗ_ ᴗ。) q

At least I even GOT to watch something!*

*the average 5 - 17 year old is recommended with maximum of 2 hours. 2. HOURS.

July 31, 2024 - trips

Hi. Tomorrow me and my soccer teammates are going to San Diego. The day after tomorrow, our luck and skill is REALLY going to be tested by the best teams in in the West. [gulp] I heard from Hugo that last year, Crossfire didn't advance to the quarterfinals and lost in the group stage. I hope we at least advance to the semi's, because I don't think we can win. Well, we need to do our best, and with a little luck our way (A LOT), we maybe can win this.

I hate flying. I HATE it. I hate the long lines, I hate security guards, and I hate turbulence on the plane that makes me want to throw up. But, compared to my teammates, I probably sound like a wuss bug, but I do like the video games on the plane. They are fun. And, I don't have to do diary for very long, unless one of us brings the computer, which I will because I need to do Chinese.