CRAM!!

(Unofficial) Coundown to first quiz match of 2005:
17 days, 4 hours, 30 minutes

Official Countdown to first quiz practice of 2005:
6 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes

Okay, I am now officially in melt down mode. I am really running out time now. The Good News: I fininshed writing 1 Kings 8 questions. The Bad News: I still need to type them up. The questions are still in illegable writing on scrap paper (most on the back of church bulletins). I really need to type them up, but other things are getting in the way. Over this winter break, on which I was suppose to do quizzing questions, my teachers assigned 3 projects, each one due the day I come back from break. EVIL TEACHERS, EVIL! So now on top of those projects, I have to type up quizzing questions. The stress builds.

Question of the post:
Where did Solomon sacrifice burnt offerings, grain offerings & fat from the fellowship offerings?

Merry Quizmas, I mean Christmas!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I had a normal Christmas weekend.

People ask me, "Do you like Christmas?" and I always reply, "I like Christmas, I hate Santamas." Santamas is the name I give to the commericial Christmas. I hate it. Christmas is a holiday to remember the carnation of God the Son, the One who loved all. The same One who told us to love everyone and demonstrated His love for us by dying. But commerialism has turned it into a time to feel unloved and left out. For example, it is custom at my school to buy a candy cane from student council to give to someone. I got one, a pity candy cane from student government. The girl who sits next to me in class got 13 from friends. On top of that, you see everyone exchanging gifts. I got no gifts, nor exchanged with anyone. I really really hate being depressed Christmas Eve Eve.

On a happier note, Christmas Eve and Christmas was better. My mom's family came for their semi-annual 20-hour visit. I got less presents than my sister, but mine were of greater cost. The one like the most were 3 special ones. The first one is the NIV Dramatized Bible on CD. I hoping this will help me greatly during quizzing season. Another one was a pack of highlighters. I needed new highlighters for highlighting my quiz book. Speaking of which, I changed the highlighting format for better studying. I hope it works. The third one has nothing to do with quizzing. It is a calender with bible humor. I like bible humor.

Now it's time for mixing Christmas with quizzing. Rudolph is the luckiest reindeer ever! He has a built-in buzzer light in his nose! I heard many carols during Christmas season. There were two I wanted to hear, but didn't. They are "All I want for Christmas is 2 Quiz Outs" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Quizzing Version." Click here to find out what I mean.

I want to say I won't say "Happy New Year" until the first quiz match, the start of the quizzing new year, the REAL start of the New Year.

Oh yeah, I recounted my countdown. It was a bit off. Sorry. I'll fix it.

Unofficial Countdown to the first quiz match of 2005 (fixed):
20 days, 2 hours, 8 minutes

Quizzing question of the post:
Why did all of Israel hold King Solomon in awe?

I know you guys are asking....

I having a feeling everybody is asking, "Why did you do Judges 6?" Well, since your persistant, here's your answer:

Well, it all started the day after quizzing. I knew we were quizzing on Gideon, Samsom, Solomon, Elijah and Elisha. I also knew the book we were quizzing from were Judges, 1 Kings and 2 Kings. Fred said he'd post the exact material later on. 2 weeks went by and NOTHING! I was becoming very impatient. So I assumed (which I never should do), "The material usually goes in chronological order, so it would be material on Gideon, then Samson, then Solomon, then Elijah, and finishing up with Elisha. I assumed in correctly. Fred posted Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Gideon, and finally Samson. Since I was already 1/3 the way through it, I figured I would finish it off, then get started on 1 Kings 3. Besides, with Judges 6 done, I could make a comeback near the end. Knowing my luck, Fred will end up not following how he posted and will go in chronological order.

(Unofficial) Countdown to the first quiz match of 2005:
24 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes

Quizzing Question of the post:
When did King Solomon bring in all the things his father David had dedicated?

Off-season progress

There are 8-9 months between quizzing seasons. Most people go back to their life with other hobbies. They do other sports, become active in school, etc. Some may just lay back and rest. For me, I quiz.

I believe the new quizzing season begins the Monday after the Invitational. That's when you get started for the material of next year. I'm sad and ashamed to say I waited a whole week before I started on quizzing. Nonetheless, this year I did great progress. I did questions 1 Kings 3, 4:20-34, 5, 6:1, 6:37-38, and 7:51. I also did Judges 6 (don't ask why, it's a long story). That's a total of 104 verses. Last season I did questions for 86 verses and the year before that 73 verses. It's the best I have done so far. I keep improving and I'll only do better. I still can't believe I did 104 verses, and I'm still going! I'm in the progess of 1 Kings 8. I'm not sure I'll get it done, though. It's a whole 66 verses!

Since October, I have been doing buzzer drills. Buzzer drills are anything that I think will improve my buzzer speed. Buzzer drills may be something as simple rapidly pressing a clicky pen. My favorite buzzer drills are using my calculator to see how many buzzes I can reach in a minute. Last year I had a buzzer speed of 310 buzzes per minute. This year, only 300 buzzes/min. It is a bit upsetting and disappointing.

Since Thanksgiving, I have been doing some memorizing. I already memorized 1 Kings 3:1-18. I plan to finish off memorizing the whole chapter of 1 Kings 3. Memorizing is not needed for quizzing, but it is helpful. I started noticing that two years ago.

(Unofficial) Countdown to first quiz match of 2005:
26 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes

Quizzing Question of the Post:
Who are skilled at felling timber?

I claim my own blog!

With about a month until quizzing begins (or maybe even less), I finally claim my own blog. Yay! This is a blog dedicated to quizzing, year round. I will even post on in the summer. Discover my year - round progress. It may even make you a better quizzer.

When Quizzing season 2005 comes around, it will be my fourth year as a quizzer. However, it will be a first year with my team. This year I will be quizzing with Spring City. I hope I can wow the coaches into giving me a starting position. I would usually be nervous around new people, but I will have old friends as well. Christine is on the team with me, as well as Angela and Gillian (hopefully). Plus, I kinda know Mike from previous years.

I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL QUIZZING! I am so excited! Sometimes I just tremble at the thought that it's sooo near! I can't wait to feel the buzzer in your sweaty hands, staring the quizmaster right in the right in the eyes, and rattling off everything you could possibly cram into your brain. I think I might start jumping up and down!

Question of the posting:
Why were the people still sacrificing at the high places?