Ouch! My Brain!

        Today I had to take the CAHSEE, the high school exit exam. Living in California is one of my foremost woes, and partially because of how silly the tests are. I look at them, and I am astonished at what the children in public school are learning - and what they are not learning. The math is not terrible, although it is so easy I am sure I could have done it five years ago, but it is the English that I really take issue with. Especially the reading comprehension.

        I cannot even tell you how poorly written the literature is that they put on these tests. It is absurd. Not even the rough drafts that 'contain errors' either, the actual literature that we are meant to be analyzing. My brain hurts after taking these tests, and I feel like I need to go read Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France or Plato's Republic for about a week. I need to get all of the horrid writing out of my head, and fill it once more with good and hearty literature. 

        I am doing a mini NaNoWriMo (no copyright infringement intended) during the months of February and March. Instead of writing 50,000 words in one month, I am going to take two months to do it. Then, maybe I will do NaNo in November. I wanted to get a feel for just how much writing is involved, so we will see how I hold up for the next two months and then decide from there. I am having a lot of fun so far, but I am only on day five, so I suppose that doesn't give me much information. There is one character that I know I am going to end up really liking, and I am not going to make it a secret that he is inspired by Richard Armitage and these quotes (especially the first one):

 

         My character is not really the villain, but close enough. I am half in love with him already, and haven't even given his name in the book!

        Hopefully, this was the last time I will have to take the CAHSEE test. If I don't pass, that will be kind of sad, because a passing score is 60%. Unless I filled in all of the bubbles wrong, I know I passed. It is kind of sad that people take this ridiculously easy test, don't pass, and have to take it again. It just goes to show that there is something wrong with the California school systems - and a lot of other California systems. I wish I lived in, well, I don't know... Texas or Tennessee.

Blessings,

Reyna