Our book report book is due sometime next year so I decided to plan ahead and picked out a book. The book is called ‘Superior Saturday’ and it is the sixth book in the series. The first five books are also named after days of the week.
-Mister Monday
-Lord Tuesday
-Drowned Wednesday
-Sir Thursday
-Lady Friday
-and the current Superior Saturday
I started reading these books in 6th grade at south view middle school when the first one was released. From 2003 onward there is about one released per year, the one I am reading was released only a few days ago.
The books closely follow the life of Arthur Penhaligon, an average mortal who is destined to be ‘the chosen one’ and save the universe. The plot thus far follows the hero quest mono-myth pattern very closely, the hero (Arthur) is born in supernatural circumstances, he is unwilling to accept the power at first, and is also given many amulets to aid him in his journey. The next book is the last of the series and will probably be the best. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys the science-fiction genre. Next week I will actually give a plot summary, be prepared.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Wheee!!!!
We recently started reading ‘The Road’ as our class book; I really like it so far and really have gotten into the story. I have tried putting myself in the characters’ shoes and its been really fun to read. I posted an extra blog last quarter and am going to use some snippets of it to write this post.
I sometimes have deep thoughts, only occasionally, that kind of “what if…” and the resulting epiphany of knowledge. Usually I can’t remember these past 5 minutes or so, but I recently had one that stuck with me. What if there was a plague or apocalypse, and I was the only one alive. There would be no one to greet me. No one to comfort me. But at the same time, there would be nothing to hide myself from. I would never have to pretend to be someone I’m not. No reason to change to fit in. I would truly be free. Of course this is only on the emotional level, I’m sure surviving post-plague or post-apocalypse would have obvious physical tolls on me. I probably wouldn’t live for long anyways. Plus all of the other survivors might try to eat me like in ‘The Road’
(WOOT 206 words)
I sometimes have deep thoughts, only occasionally, that kind of “what if…” and the resulting epiphany of knowledge. Usually I can’t remember these past 5 minutes or so, but I recently had one that stuck with me. What if there was a plague or apocalypse, and I was the only one alive. There would be no one to greet me. No one to comfort me. But at the same time, there would be nothing to hide myself from. I would never have to pretend to be someone I’m not. No reason to change to fit in. I would truly be free. Of course this is only on the emotional level, I’m sure surviving post-plague or post-apocalypse would have obvious physical tolls on me. I probably wouldn’t live for long anyways. Plus all of the other survivors might try to eat me like in ‘The Road’
(WOOT 206 words)
Friday, November 28, 2008
WWYD? (What would you do?)
This morning while I was enjoying my bowl of pops (gotta have my pops ™) and noticed an article in the newspaper talking about whether we really need those extra two days of school before thanksgiving break. I thought it was a funny article because you could tell the writer had kids; he described the first day as slow and as boring as it was. And the last day of school he mentioned how hard it would be to hold the kids’ attention because it was the day before break. He said ‘Even if you told them there would be a kick boxing match in the gym between Super-Mario and Barney they would not pay attention.’
Now, of course we all know super Mario would win, but it also depends on whether or not Barney had a weapon. But my point being, what can teachers really do to us to make us pay attention? In my Latin class in 6th grade the teacher had tried everything to keep us under control, from rewards to punishments, nothing worked. So about midway through the year she just gave up trying to teach us anything. Even though it was way fun to do whatever we wanted, it still felt wrong to the teacher to be so rowdy, by the start of 3rd quarter most of us realized this and calmed down and prepared to learn.
So what can teachers do? Wait? It may seem like a long and painful road to take, but at least it was successful.
Now, of course we all know super Mario would win, but it also depends on whether or not Barney had a weapon. But my point being, what can teachers really do to us to make us pay attention? In my Latin class in 6th grade the teacher had tried everything to keep us under control, from rewards to punishments, nothing worked. So about midway through the year she just gave up trying to teach us anything. Even though it was way fun to do whatever we wanted, it still felt wrong to the teacher to be so rowdy, by the start of 3rd quarter most of us realized this and calmed down and prepared to learn.
So what can teachers do? Wait? It may seem like a long and painful road to take, but at least it was successful.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Blegheim (pronounce it slowly...)
Apparently the entirety of this quarter of blogs has to be based on the suggestions given in the first blog post by Ms. Reinstein. I don’t know if that’s possible because there are fewer blog suggestions than we have blogs to write.
One of the blog suggestions is to put yourself in a characters shoes and consider the decisions they made. Obviously I am going to put myself in Odysseus’s shoes (or sandals) because we are reading that book now. When Odysseus makes the decision to sail his ship through the cave of Scylla rather than Charybdis, I think he made the right choice. If he would have sailed through to Charybdis he would have lost all of his men, rather than sail to Scylla which would only take out 7 of them. I think he also made a wise choice in not telling the men the monster was going to attack them. If he had, the men surely would have tried to save themselves just to live, and the monster might have torn up the entire ship just looking for them. * as of that asterisk I finished with exactly 200 words, how about that?
One of the blog suggestions is to put yourself in a characters shoes and consider the decisions they made. Obviously I am going to put myself in Odysseus’s shoes (or sandals) because we are reading that book now. When Odysseus makes the decision to sail his ship through the cave of Scylla rather than Charybdis, I think he made the right choice. If he would have sailed through to Charybdis he would have lost all of his men, rather than sail to Scylla which would only take out 7 of them. I think he also made a wise choice in not telling the men the monster was going to attack them. If he had, the men surely would have tried to save themselves just to live, and the monster might have torn up the entire ship just looking for them. * as of that asterisk I finished with exactly 200 words, how about that?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Text....Text....Text....
Ah, the start of a new quarter in the endless blogging season. I got all my blogs done last quarter entirely on time, which is a goal I have set for this quarter as well.
Today in the odyssey we were to read book XIII and XIV I read both and I believe I relate to some of the characters in these sections. When Odysseus travels down to the underworld and meets the people, I think I connected with Tantalus a little bit. His punishment was to eternally be hungry and thirsty. If he reached for water or food it would always escape his grasp. I feel like many things in my life are like that today, always out of my reach. Especially on the swim team, I want to drop that extra second in the swim meet so I train as hard and as long as I can but never succeed, the time to beat just keeps on increasing. Its why the name ‘Tantalus’ is now the root of the word ‘tantalizing’ meaning just out of reach/ desirable.
Today in the odyssey we were to read book XIII and XIV I read both and I believe I relate to some of the characters in these sections. When Odysseus travels down to the underworld and meets the people, I think I connected with Tantalus a little bit. His punishment was to eternally be hungry and thirsty. If he reached for water or food it would always escape his grasp. I feel like many things in my life are like that today, always out of my reach. Especially on the swim team, I want to drop that extra second in the swim meet so I train as hard and as long as I can but never succeed, the time to beat just keeps on increasing. Its why the name ‘Tantalus’ is now the root of the word ‘tantalizing’ meaning just out of reach/ desirable.
Monday, October 27, 2008
End of the quartah
The end of the quarter is just around the corner, so I think its appropriate to cap off the 9 other posts I’ve made this quarter, starting from the beginning.
The original post ‘blog expectations’ was the bare minimum, nothing extra, only what it had to be.
The second post was ‘A journey I intend to take (and a post I intend to write)’
This post was all about me wanting to be overly adventurous and travel to far away places and try foreign foods. (mainly McDonalds)
The third key post was entitled ‘bored?’ focused on many creative things to do when you are bored. Many of my favorites include…
4. Moonwalk forewords (think about it, you just have to walk)
24. Water your carpet, see if it grows (mine did.)
29. Go moped-ing across America! (low gas emissions yay!)
The fourth post was ‘I AM THE LIIIGHT!’ all about me being compared to a light bulb.
The one thing I regret about this post is not throwing in a Chuck Norris joke.
“And god said ‘let there be light’
Chuck Norris said ‘say please’”
The fifth and most fun to write was called ‘*grumbles* British people…’ it was very interesting to type up because I had to describe my day ending with getting hit by a car in 200 words.
The sixth blog…. Wasn’t that important.
The seventh post was all about my favorite movie, which of course was the dark night. (Go see it)
The 8th and 9th blog were clearly my longest and most successful, you should go read them it is very hard to describe. And with this I bid you farewell!
UNTIL NEXT QUARTER! BUM! BUM! BUMMMMM!!!!
The original post ‘blog expectations’ was the bare minimum, nothing extra, only what it had to be.
The second post was ‘A journey I intend to take (and a post I intend to write)’
This post was all about me wanting to be overly adventurous and travel to far away places and try foreign foods. (mainly McDonalds)
The third key post was entitled ‘bored?’ focused on many creative things to do when you are bored. Many of my favorites include…
4. Moonwalk forewords (think about it, you just have to walk)
24. Water your carpet, see if it grows (mine did.)
29. Go moped-ing across America! (low gas emissions yay!)
The fourth post was ‘I AM THE LIIIGHT!’ all about me being compared to a light bulb.
The one thing I regret about this post is not throwing in a Chuck Norris joke.
“And god said ‘let there be light’
Chuck Norris said ‘say please’”
The fifth and most fun to write was called ‘*grumbles* British people…’ it was very interesting to type up because I had to describe my day ending with getting hit by a car in 200 words.
The sixth blog…. Wasn’t that important.
The seventh post was all about my favorite movie, which of course was the dark night. (Go see it)
The 8th and 9th blog were clearly my longest and most successful, you should go read them it is very hard to describe. And with this I bid you farewell!
UNTIL NEXT QUARTER! BUM! BUM! BUMMMMM!!!!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
*sighs* Oh! My hero!
To open this blog entry answering the question of ‘what makes a hero’ I would like to start with the amazing words of Dwight Schrute (The Office) “No, don't call me a hero. Do you know who the real heroes are? The guys who wake up every morning and go into their normal jobs, and get a distress call from the commissioner, and take off their glasses and change into capes, and fly around fighting crime. Those are the real heroes.” I find this outrageously funny because Dwight had just saved Jim’s life (watch the episode) and yet he still considers the fictional cape-wearing comic book characters to be the real heroes. I also believe this brings up the interesting question of ‘are there real modern heroes?’ like the soccer mom, even though she is always driving kids in her car still has time to ask the kids about their day. Or the lawyer who defends his client with such ferocity that the jury knows the client is innocent. Or are these just ordinary people? I really don’t think I have an answer to this question. The scope of possible answers is mind-boggling, so I may as well only throw one out there. I believe that true heroes do not exist, the people I listed above are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, in conclusion I do not believe this makes them ‘heroes’.
Monday, October 13, 2008
My Outside Reading Book
So today our magical blogging experience will be surrounding the latest book (and my book report book) that I finished reading about 20 hours ago, “Brisingr”. It is the third in the ‘inheritance series’ by author Cristopher Paoloni.
The book closely follows the path of young dragon rider Eragon, his dragon Saphira, and his cousin Roran. I cannot even begin to tell you about the first two books in detail, they total over1500 pages.
The books in order (see pictures at top) are Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr.
So I will try to sum up the first one. (spoilers ahead!)
The first book entitled Eragon describes the main character (Eragon) and his early teenage years. Eragon grew up on a farm in a small village called Caravahall, where he lived with his uncle Garrow and his cousin Roran on the family farm. Eragon is taking one of his usual hikes through the mountain range called ‘the spine’ when suddenly there is a flash of light and a loud crack as a large sapphire rock appears on the ground. He finds the rock clearly fascinating so he tries to sell it to get money. The shopkeeper refuses to accept the thing because ‘anything that comes out of the spine [mountains] is cursed!’ So Eragon decides to bring the rock home in case it was of any use. As it turns out the rock is actually an egg with a dragon hatchling inside. (NO WAI!) Eragon raises the dragon to the size of a small cow when he realizes that the dragon can talk. IN ENGLISH. WITH HER MIND. (Crazy right?) Once Eragon learned this he set out to ride the dragon. Because of her rough scales he would often end up with large bleeding cuts on his leg. He then sought the help of the local storyteller Brom. (The third book reveals him as Eragons father). And so, Brom ends up being a dragon rider as well, his dragon died, and goes on a quest with Eragon to become stronger. The book ends with Eragon taking place in an epic battle for power after few years of training, and succeeds. But there is a strange new power in the land, and it takes the form of the all powerful dark king Galbatorix. So concludes my summary of the first book. (MORE TO COME…)
Ah, and i am border lining 400 words, almost pulled a Skoog today... except not... because i don't mention THE MINNESOTA WILD! at all.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My Favorite Movie (fo rizzle)
Because I really don’t have a favorite movie, I guess I’ll just write about one I like. ‘The Dark Knight’
And so begins my review of one scene of the movie, my favorite part, the opening scene.
The movie starts out with about 7 or 8 guys in funny clown masks robbing a bank. Each one is there for a reason, one to open the safe, one to turn off the security, but as each one completes his task he gets shot by the clown next to him. They were told to do this in order to ‘decrease the split’ so each clown gets more money. But by the end of the robbery with only 3 or so clowns left everyone suspects the other of being in charge of the final execution (killing the other clowns) leaving one clown with all the money. After a short standoff and arguing, one of the clowns says.
“I’m here to shoot the bus driver.”
“What bus driver-“ BOOM
That’s when the big yellow school bus comes crashing through the wall of the bank squashing two of the clowns, leaving the bus driver and one more. The bus-driving clown hops out, and helps the last clown load up the money into the van. When they finish the bus driver looks around.
“Hey! Where are all the other guys-“ BANG
The remaining clown has shot the bus driver and proceeds on the bus through the hole in the wall from which the bus entered. He drives right into a line of school buses in a line for a field trip, showing exactly how well the plan was laid out.
Indeed, quite the master plan.
The rest of the movie was very good but this opening scene was my favorite part.
And so begins my review of one scene of the movie, my favorite part, the opening scene.
The movie starts out with about 7 or 8 guys in funny clown masks robbing a bank. Each one is there for a reason, one to open the safe, one to turn off the security, but as each one completes his task he gets shot by the clown next to him. They were told to do this in order to ‘decrease the split’ so each clown gets more money. But by the end of the robbery with only 3 or so clowns left everyone suspects the other of being in charge of the final execution (killing the other clowns) leaving one clown with all the money. After a short standoff and arguing, one of the clowns says.
“I’m here to shoot the bus driver.”
“What bus driver-“ BOOM
That’s when the big yellow school bus comes crashing through the wall of the bank squashing two of the clowns, leaving the bus driver and one more. The bus-driving clown hops out, and helps the last clown load up the money into the van. When they finish the bus driver looks around.
“Hey! Where are all the other guys-“ BANG
The remaining clown has shot the bus driver and proceeds on the bus through the hole in the wall from which the bus entered. He drives right into a line of school buses in a line for a field trip, showing exactly how well the plan was laid out.
Indeed, quite the master plan.
The rest of the movie was very good but this opening scene was my favorite part.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
My Grim Little World.
Dear world, please be prepared to be exposed to my grim and proverbial mind. I figured today that I need to do this blog eventually and am getting graded on it I may as well open my head a little and utilize the true essence of blogging. Let you all take a peek into my own little corner of the world.
I sometimes have deep thoughts, only occasionally, that kind of “what if…” and the resulting epiphany of knowledge. Usually I can’t remember these past 5 minutes or so, but I recently had one that stuck with me. What if there was a plague or apocalypse, and I was the only one alive. There would be no one to greet me. No one to comfort me. But at the same time, there would be nothing to hide myself from. I would never have to pretend to be someone I’m not. No reason to change to fit in. I would truly be free. Of course this is only on the emotional level, I’m sure surviving post-plague or post-apocalypse would have obvious physical tolls on me. I probably wouldn’t live for long anyways. How grim indeed.
And so it is with these final words that I leave you, goodnight and…. DRIVE HOME SAFE! (especially if you’re British)
I sometimes have deep thoughts, only occasionally, that kind of “what if…” and the resulting epiphany of knowledge. Usually I can’t remember these past 5 minutes or so, but I recently had one that stuck with me. What if there was a plague or apocalypse, and I was the only one alive. There would be no one to greet me. No one to comfort me. But at the same time, there would be nothing to hide myself from. I would never have to pretend to be someone I’m not. No reason to change to fit in. I would truly be free. Of course this is only on the emotional level, I’m sure surviving post-plague or post-apocalypse would have obvious physical tolls on me. I probably wouldn’t live for long anyways. How grim indeed.
And so it is with these final words that I leave you, goodnight and…. DRIVE HOME SAFE! (especially if you’re British)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
*grumbles* British people...
http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/downloads/emoticon_dwight.pdf
Everyone! Look at that and think Dwight Schrute! (zoom out)
I do suppose I really should give up this whole ‘writers block’ thing, it’s a pain in the butt and I can’t seem to think of anything to write (almost makes sense…).
So I guess I’ll do what most standard blogs do (I don’t want to stand out in a group of blogs). Today, my blog moral shall be…
“Brits are not nearly as polite as they seem.”
Today I had to pick out a suit and tie for homecoming. I went to Marshal Fields and picked out the very cheapest one I could find. It was $100 for a sports coat and pants, I mean my god, what is this world coming to?! I'm only going to wear it once or twice and yet have to pay out the *arse* for it. And anyways, on my way out of the store in the parking lot, my nice black pants fell off the hanger they were on and fell directly into a puddle. I'm just thinking out loud but isn’t that JUST MY LUCK. When I bent down to pick it up some British guy ran into me with his car and started spouting some British terms in my ear, once again, JUST MY LUCK. And so, the moral of the story has come to pass.
“Brits are not nearly as polite as they seem.”
Everyone! Look at that and think Dwight Schrute! (zoom out)
I do suppose I really should give up this whole ‘writers block’ thing, it’s a pain in the butt and I can’t seem to think of anything to write (almost makes sense…).
So I guess I’ll do what most standard blogs do (I don’t want to stand out in a group of blogs). Today, my blog moral shall be…
“Brits are not nearly as polite as they seem.”
Today I had to pick out a suit and tie for homecoming. I went to Marshal Fields and picked out the very cheapest one I could find. It was $100 for a sports coat and pants, I mean my god, what is this world coming to?! I'm only going to wear it once or twice and yet have to pay out the *arse* for it. And anyways, on my way out of the store in the parking lot, my nice black pants fell off the hanger they were on and fell directly into a puddle. I'm just thinking out loud but isn’t that JUST MY LUCK. When I bent down to pick it up some British guy ran into me with his car and started spouting some British terms in my ear, once again, JUST MY LUCK. And so, the moral of the story has come to pass.
“Brits are not nearly as polite as they seem.”
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I AM THE LIIIIGHT!
Hello world!
This being my third or fourth blog post I think I should make it special…somehow… I’ll get to that later
So yes, in this post I am to identify with and compare myself to a non-living non-breathing object.
Now, truth be told I truly could not think of anything to write so I just googled “inanimate object comparison” to get ideas. There really wasn’t anything useful so I decided to take a quiz to find out what I resembled. http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/new/meli123/what-inanimate-object-are-you/
My result
“You Scored as light bulb
Light bulbs are hot when they're on and dull when they're off. You are at your best when you are developing ideas. You stand out from your peers.”
I do suppose I really am rather like a light bulb; I brighten the room with my cheery attitude. The world would be a silent and lonely place without me, or at least I like to think that. I am also like a light bulb in another way, I always have good ideas, I bet you’re wondering what on earth I'm talking about but do you recall a day when there used to be Saturday morning cartoons? Whenever the main character had a good idea a light bulb would go *ding!* right above their head, that’s what I'm talking about 229 words.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
bored?
Hey, I do suppose I have already blogged the requirement so I may as well try to better society right? Is that what you’re thinking? I bet it is…
So! Since I’m still bored and I bet some of you are too, (if you’re not the teacher) I’m going to benefit you by making a list of all the things you could/ should be doing now…
Here we go…
1 You could be watching The Office, in fact, go do that, then come back to me.
2 Watched The Office? Good, let’s start some more list-age!
3 Wax the ceiling
4 Moonwalk forewords
5 Shave the cat
6 Test Einstein’s theory of relativity (with a loaf of bread)
7 Go snowboarding, if you are a skier, loose one of your skis (pretty simple right)
8 Join a political party
9 Throw a political party (be sure to invite the Republicans)
10 Jump over a fire hydrant (pointless right? WRONG!)
11 Make a video on YouTube that tops the evolution of dance
12 Send me the link to this video
13 Start dancing in the guys and lit. room
14 Raise professional racing ferrets
15 Create a virus
16 Catch a virus
17 Catch a virus… in a bottle.
18 Ask permission to join the WGA (the World Canadian Bureau… duh)
19 When you are denied access to the WGA, cry a little
20 Buy a ream of paper
21 Crumple every single piece up
22 Ready… aim… MASS-PAPER-SNOBALL-FIGHT!!!
23 To clean up shoot baskets with the paper balls (into recycling)
24 Water your carpet, see if it grows
25 Mow the carpet in case it grew a little
26 Rake it to clean up the clippings
27 Get a moped
28 Get a moped license
29 Go moped-ing across America!
30 Then into Canada to visit the WGA
I will definitely be back tomorrow after school to add more
A journey i intend to take (and a post i intend to write)
I believe that we all need to go on our own little journeys every so often.
No, this is not another "this I believe" paper but I do believe I should have written about this instead. I know a journey that I need to take would be to go to Europe, just to see the differences between there and America. I’ve heard that they have McDonalds there which I would love to try because there are some in France that aren’t fast food restaurants but actual sit-down fancy dinner places. (I wonder if the burgers still get reheated). Another thing I would want to do in Europe is visit one of those old fancy castles that stopped attracting tourists and is now being used for paintball stadiums. it would be so fun to participate in one of the worlds biggest paintball tournaments. There is more that I would love to see and do across the seas that I do not have time to do, therefore I must go.
blog expectations
My name is fin. this is my super cool blog, which i will personalize and make my own (but not post pics of myself on or use my last name on). i will always use appropriate language on my school blog follow the conventions of the English language.
the expectation for this assignment is that i post on this blog once a week for the remainder of the school year. i am expected to comment on texts that i am viewing in the world around me. these include but are not limited to; books, magazines, movies, internet articles, television shows,trips to mars, ect.
each post should be 200 words. each weekly post is due by 8am Wednesday. therefore Q1 dates are: 9/17, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, and 10/29. that makes for a total of 7 posts this first quarter. i understand that blogs are worth 100 points per quarter and are graded holistically (this means no rubric) i also understand that blogging is a significant component of my quarter grade. By the way, what i have just typed is only 196 words! now it is 200! and 202!
the expectation for this assignment is that i post on this blog once a week for the remainder of the school year. i am expected to comment on texts that i am viewing in the world around me. these include but are not limited to; books, magazines, movies, internet articles, television shows,trips to mars, ect.
each post should be 200 words. each weekly post is due by 8am Wednesday. therefore Q1 dates are: 9/17, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22, and 10/29. that makes for a total of 7 posts this first quarter. i understand that blogs are worth 100 points per quarter and are graded holistically (this means no rubric) i also understand that blogging is a significant component of my quarter grade. By the way, what i have just typed is only 196 words! now it is 200! and 202!
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