During the second semester my writing has gotten worse. I ran out of topics to write about and was struggling to keep up with the word count. I just ran out of ideas and ended up writing about sports almost the entire semester. If you take a look at my blogs at http://jonathanmah2268.blogspot.com/ and look at the blogs I did at the beginning of the year you can tell that those blogs were more about my life and the activities I enjoy to do. Those blogs received the most comments that encouraged my writing. But as the year went on I was dealing with writers block and got sick of it. So I decided that it would make my life much easier if I just write about sports and how my favorite teams are doing. These blogs were merely facts about sports teams and I knew that this would not improve my writing at all, which was my goal from the beginning of the year. But what I did like to blog about and think has improved my writing is the literature circle letters and the book reviews on books I read during the year. I had an opportunity to tell fellow students about how I felt about a certain book and if they should decide to read it or not. This was the first time in my life when I had the opportunity to write letters to other student abut how I felt about a book and I enjoyed it very much. Even though most of the books that I read were not all that enjoyable to me, I still thought that this weekly assignment has helped me become a better writer. Writing blogs is a great idea that has helped me through many problems, most importantly writers block. This year, my blogs have been all over the place. Some were good others were not so well done but I have enjoyed this experience and I hope that I have the motivation to continue writing on my blog in the future.
My favorite blog during this year is the one that also surprised me the most when I reread it. The link to this blog is http://jonathanmah2268.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-i-got-started.html#comments. This was my third blog of the year and it is my proudest one. I finished this blog in the lab at school during your class and I treated it like any other blog. I was rushing to finish it because I was running out of time in class and I did not want to do it at home. I finally finished with a couple of minutes left and was not think about rereading it at all because I did not feel like it was my best effort since I was rushing. But when I saw that my English teacher had commented on it a week later and gave me very encouraging comments I decided to reread it and it surprised me. I did not know that I wrote such a good blog and it was probably my best one this entire year. I had no idea that I could write this well and was very surprised when my teacher compared it to a college entry essay. This blog was probably the most thought out blog of the year. I wanted to share with everyone why I started to play sports and how it has become a huge part of my life. I started off this blog saying "Sports have influenced my life in a huge way. It has given me confidence, determination, focus, and attentiveness. The traits that will lead me to success." This was pretty much the reason why I started to play sports. I was a very shy and independent as a child and I wanted to get out of that habit. So I played sports to boost my confidence up so I could be able to meet new people and determination, focus, and attentiveness were just a plus to the confidence I received. In the second paragraph of my blog, I wrote a story about how I got started in playing basketball. I explained how my parents forced me to play basketball and what they did to help me get better. At the end I wrote a paragraph about the purpose of why I decided to write about this topic. In the conclusion I emphasized on taking risks and how it may help you but will never cause and damage. Taking a risk can decide whether or not you will become rich or poor and happy or sad. I am very proud of this blog and I had a fun time reading it over and over. "How I Got Started" is my favorite blog of the year.
Having a blog has been great. It has helped me become a better writer, getting me through writers block, and given me a opportunity to share my life story's with others. My blog has not changed the way I write all that much except for helping me stop repetitive sentences. I still use the same style since I was in middle school which is the normal style of writing an introduction on my topic, a story about the topic, and a conclusion. Blogs have made me think about my life as a child and why I am the man I am today. It has given me great memories about my childhood and my past experiences that were both good and bad. I am going to try to continue on improving my writing by blogging in the future but I know that it will be a huge challenge for me next year with everything I have to deal with. I probably won't write blogs next year because I will be so busy with the Sat's, sports, and school but I will try to remember writing in the years to come. If i do continue to write, my goals are to improve my writing fluency, getting out of writers block, and being able to write long stories without getting writers block. My blogs have made writing for me a lot more enjoyable because it makes me think back and reminisce on the past and all the great times I had when I did not have to worry about so much things. This has been basically a school thing for me but I will try to make this a non school related activity in the future. I might even make this a hobby of mine if I want to continue to write. This year has been amazing for me and I loved writing blogs every week. I hope that I can remember to write on my blog in the future so i can have fun and improve my writing. Blogs have been extremely helpful to my writing.
I did numbers 1, 2, and 8.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
A Clockwork Orange
The novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthoney Burgess is about a young teen boy, Alex and his droogs, Dim, Pete, and Georgie who run around in London causing trouble. they have been into a lot of trouble over the years but that doesn't stop them. When the foursome isn't taking drug-laced milk in the Korova Milkbar and speaking in their slang, they are robbing, beating, and raping London citizens. On a particular night, they beat up an old man with science books and a homeless man, they also get into a fight with a rival gang led by Billyboy, and steal a car and take it for a joyride to the country. Alex lives in a life full of crime and he is caught up in all of it. I feel very sorry for him and his friends because they have to deal with messing up thier lives because of where they are from.
The author also uses a unique slang that he created just for this book. he uses words like droog instead of friends and other words as well. He said "There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence." The author uses the woed droog to describe Alex's friends. But his droogs don't have his back forever they actually tried to kill him for “their horrible selfish and boastful politics". This was a very interesting part for me because it was cool to see his best friends turn on him. That was very selfish of his friends and I felt very bad about what Alex had to deal with. There is also very violent thinking in parts of this book as well. For example, alex says " My endeavour shall be, in such future as stretches out its snowy and lilywhite arms to me before the nozh overtakes or the blood spatters its final chorus in twisted metal and smashed glass on the highroad,to not get loveted again. Which is fair speeching". You can see that when Alex talks about violence he has a very delightful and aesthetic tone to his voice. It is kind of weird how he would talk about violence in such a happy tone. Its like he is happy to kill someone eventhough he know its wrong. If that is true, that is very scary. Who would want to kill someone on purpose, its just wrong.
I also like how Alex is a very tough kid that never gives up. Near the end of the book, Alex falls from the building but doesn’t kill himself. All he got was a break his back, wrists, and feet, among other body parts, before passing out a crumpled mess in the street. I like how he is so strong and a real man. He has grown up a lot over the course of the book and I like how he has improved as a person. I also like how this book isn't a type of book that has a confussed kid that is surrounded by drugs and violence but as the book goes along he learns to become a better person. I can see a little improvement but it is not too big and I really like that. In the first book I read it was exactlly like this book except that the teenage boy learned to become a better person at the end. I am really tierd of those types of books and it is refreshing to finally have a cool book that is about a troubled teenage boy and his gang. I also give props to the author for amking up his own language for this book. It must have been really hard to come up with words that sound like real words but aren't really. Droogs is a really good word that can make someone think that it is real. I thought it was until my partner told me that this book is full of fake words taht the author made up. It was really hard for me to understand at first but as I read the sentence over many times and many times deeper in the book I finally got a good understanding of what they meant.
This was a really good book from start to finsih that I had a really fun time reading. I liked many parts in this book that included a lot of violence and action because it keeps me focused. In the last book I read, I had a really hard time getting focused because it was so boring to me. This is the type of book that I really enjoy reading. I love the whole storyline as well. I like how Alex has a gang at the beginning and they fight other gangs but later his droogs turn on him and try to kill him. Stuff like that keep me wanting to read more because I want to know what will happen next. I also like how this book is based on a young kid who is surrounded by wiolence and drugs, which is why he is what he is. he fell into pure pressure and could not handle himself. Alex just wanted to fit in and it turned on him. what seemed like a crazy fun life quickly turned bad when he started to get in trouble with the cops. Alex life was a really bad one and I felt very sorry for what he had to go through. I know that this is just a book and is not real but this has a lot of parts that relate to real world stuff. I am pretty sure that there are a lot of kids out there who are caught up in the life of drugs and violence and don't know how to escape. I fell very bad for those kids because they are just wasting their life. This was one of the best books that I have ever read in my life and I am glad that I finally chose a book that fit my expectations.
The author also uses a unique slang that he created just for this book. he uses words like droog instead of friends and other words as well. He said "There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence." The author uses the woed droog to describe Alex's friends. But his droogs don't have his back forever they actually tried to kill him for “their horrible selfish and boastful politics". This was a very interesting part for me because it was cool to see his best friends turn on him. That was very selfish of his friends and I felt very bad about what Alex had to deal with. There is also very violent thinking in parts of this book as well. For example, alex says " My endeavour shall be, in such future as stretches out its snowy and lilywhite arms to me before the nozh overtakes or the blood spatters its final chorus in twisted metal and smashed glass on the highroad,to not get loveted again. Which is fair speeching". You can see that when Alex talks about violence he has a very delightful and aesthetic tone to his voice. It is kind of weird how he would talk about violence in such a happy tone. Its like he is happy to kill someone eventhough he know its wrong. If that is true, that is very scary. Who would want to kill someone on purpose, its just wrong.
I also like how Alex is a very tough kid that never gives up. Near the end of the book, Alex falls from the building but doesn’t kill himself. All he got was a break his back, wrists, and feet, among other body parts, before passing out a crumpled mess in the street. I like how he is so strong and a real man. He has grown up a lot over the course of the book and I like how he has improved as a person. I also like how this book isn't a type of book that has a confussed kid that is surrounded by drugs and violence but as the book goes along he learns to become a better person. I can see a little improvement but it is not too big and I really like that. In the first book I read it was exactlly like this book except that the teenage boy learned to become a better person at the end. I am really tierd of those types of books and it is refreshing to finally have a cool book that is about a troubled teenage boy and his gang. I also give props to the author for amking up his own language for this book. It must have been really hard to come up with words that sound like real words but aren't really. Droogs is a really good word that can make someone think that it is real. I thought it was until my partner told me that this book is full of fake words taht the author made up. It was really hard for me to understand at first but as I read the sentence over many times and many times deeper in the book I finally got a good understanding of what they meant.
This was a really good book from start to finsih that I had a really fun time reading. I liked many parts in this book that included a lot of violence and action because it keeps me focused. In the last book I read, I had a really hard time getting focused because it was so boring to me. This is the type of book that I really enjoy reading. I love the whole storyline as well. I like how Alex has a gang at the beginning and they fight other gangs but later his droogs turn on him and try to kill him. Stuff like that keep me wanting to read more because I want to know what will happen next. I also like how this book is based on a young kid who is surrounded by wiolence and drugs, which is why he is what he is. he fell into pure pressure and could not handle himself. Alex just wanted to fit in and it turned on him. what seemed like a crazy fun life quickly turned bad when he started to get in trouble with the cops. Alex life was a really bad one and I felt very sorry for what he had to go through. I know that this is just a book and is not real but this has a lot of parts that relate to real world stuff. I am pretty sure that there are a lot of kids out there who are caught up in the life of drugs and violence and don't know how to escape. I fell very bad for those kids because they are just wasting their life. This was one of the best books that I have ever read in my life and I am glad that I finally chose a book that fit my expectations.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Basketball trouble
Dwyane Wade testified for the first time Friday at the trial where two ex-partners are suing him for $25 million in a failed restaurant deal, primarily explaining his relationship with best friend Marcus Andrews, who helped broker the ultimately flawed arrangement.The Miami Heat star was called as the case's third witness. He spent about an hour on the stand before court broke for the weekend and will be called back Monday morning for further questioning by plaintiff's attorney Richard Bales.The bulk of the questions to Wade involved how his agent, Chicago-based Henry Thomas, had negotiated several successful deals for him both on and off the court, including sponsorships with T-Mobile, Converse, Lincoln, Gatorade, Topps and others. But in the restaurant deal, Wade relied on Andrews to help him make certain decisions, instead of having Thomas exclusively handle the deal.The lawsuit involves the defunct plan over what was to be a chain of D. Wade's Place sports-themed restaurants. Plaintiffs Mark Rodberg and Lauren Hollander claim Wade breached a contract by demanding higher compensation than first agreed to and then abandoning the deal in 2008.
Wade says he's entitled to damages because Rodberg and Hollander used his likeness in ways he did not approve.Wade and Andrews have been close since they were growing up as neighbors together in Chicago.The restaurant deal was first mentioned to Andrews by Richard von Houtman another ex-business associate of Wade. The NBA guard has accused von Houtman of defaming him in e-mails to Heat president Pat Riley, and von Houtman has filed a countersuit to that.Wade acknowledged he was intrigued by the original notion of a restaurant but needed to learn much more before committing."I'm sure I told Mr. Andrews I needed more information," Wade said. "The biggest thing that I probably expressed to Mr. Andrews was to go back and get more information on what with these restaurants they wanted do to, what are they, what, where, how and all that. I needed more information than someone wanted me to do a restaurant."In time, Wade collected that information, and the sides went ahead with the venture, which unraveled quickly.The suit was filed in December 2008, alleging Wade Global Enterprises made "unjustifiable and unreasonable" demands such as a 30 percent ownership stake in the restaurant enterprise. The original deal called for Wade to receive a 10 percent stake, plus a guaranteed $1 million over the first five years of the arrangement, and Andrews a 2 percent share. I honestly think that the authorities made a huge deal out of nothing. What Wade did was not even that bad and could have been resolved at the spot without including the cops. I feel very bad for Wade not only because he might need to give up a ton of money but because his basketball reputation and the kids that look up to him will be ruined. This is a very bad situation for Wade and I hope that he gets out of it without any harm to his career because he is a great athlete and needs to concentrate on basketball.
Wade says he's entitled to damages because Rodberg and Hollander used his likeness in ways he did not approve.Wade and Andrews have been close since they were growing up as neighbors together in Chicago.The restaurant deal was first mentioned to Andrews by Richard von Houtman another ex-business associate of Wade. The NBA guard has accused von Houtman of defaming him in e-mails to Heat president Pat Riley, and von Houtman has filed a countersuit to that.Wade acknowledged he was intrigued by the original notion of a restaurant but needed to learn much more before committing."I'm sure I told Mr. Andrews I needed more information," Wade said. "The biggest thing that I probably expressed to Mr. Andrews was to go back and get more information on what with these restaurants they wanted do to, what are they, what, where, how and all that. I needed more information than someone wanted me to do a restaurant."In time, Wade collected that information, and the sides went ahead with the venture, which unraveled quickly.The suit was filed in December 2008, alleging Wade Global Enterprises made "unjustifiable and unreasonable" demands such as a 30 percent ownership stake in the restaurant enterprise. The original deal called for Wade to receive a 10 percent stake, plus a guaranteed $1 million over the first five years of the arrangement, and Andrews a 2 percent share. I honestly think that the authorities made a huge deal out of nothing. What Wade did was not even that bad and could have been resolved at the spot without including the cops. I feel very bad for Wade not only because he might need to give up a ton of money but because his basketball reputation and the kids that look up to him will be ruined. This is a very bad situation for Wade and I hope that he gets out of it without any harm to his career because he is a great athlete and needs to concentrate on basketball.
Lit Circle letter
In the final part of the novel A Clockwork Orange, Alex is sent to jail where he is surrounded by terrible treatment and torture. I think that it is pretty cool how the author expresses how Alex was treated in prison and what happened to him. At the beginning of the final part, Alex falls from the building but doesn’t kill himself. All he got was a break his back, wrists, and feet, among other body parts, before passing out a crumpled mess in the street. Just before he slips into unconsciousness, Alex comes to the realization that F. Alexander’s associates, his supposed new droogs meant to kill him for “their horrible selfish and boastful politics". This part was very interesting to me and had a lot of things going on at once. I like how the author added this twist into the book to make it a lot more crazy even though it is already messed up enough.
Another part that I liked was near the end of the book when Alex feels the drugs kick in and punches a neighboring patron in the stomach and leads his droogs into the street. Then they come upon an old man buying a newspaper. Alex sanctions Bully’s assault on the old man, and the other two soon join in, tripping and kicking the man until he crawls away, whimpering. Alex then gives the boys permission to head over to the Duke, where they sit across from the same women Alex met there in Part One. The women praise the boys, hoping for a drink in return, but Alex gets annoyed and forbids it at first, noting to us that he has become frugal. Alex eventually concedes to buying the women another round, and, uncharacteristically, gets himself a beer. As he pulls out his money, a newspaper clipping falls out of Alex’s pocket, which Bully snatches up. On it is a photograph of a baby. The group has a bit of fun with Alex’s apparent sentimentality until Alex snarls at them and rips the picture up, letting it drop to the floor. To the group’s puzzlement, he goes on to chastise them, calling them babies because they take advantage of the helpless. Alex is a very confused kid that needs to get his life straightened out but we all know that, thats never going to happen. And I like it. I'm tired of books that have endings with people becoming better as the book goes on and this book was nothing like that. I really liked this book and I am really happy that I finally found a book that I liked a lot.
Another part that I liked was near the end of the book when Alex feels the drugs kick in and punches a neighboring patron in the stomach and leads his droogs into the street. Then they come upon an old man buying a newspaper. Alex sanctions Bully’s assault on the old man, and the other two soon join in, tripping and kicking the man until he crawls away, whimpering. Alex then gives the boys permission to head over to the Duke, where they sit across from the same women Alex met there in Part One. The women praise the boys, hoping for a drink in return, but Alex gets annoyed and forbids it at first, noting to us that he has become frugal. Alex eventually concedes to buying the women another round, and, uncharacteristically, gets himself a beer. As he pulls out his money, a newspaper clipping falls out of Alex’s pocket, which Bully snatches up. On it is a photograph of a baby. The group has a bit of fun with Alex’s apparent sentimentality until Alex snarls at them and rips the picture up, letting it drop to the floor. To the group’s puzzlement, he goes on to chastise them, calling them babies because they take advantage of the helpless. Alex is a very confused kid that needs to get his life straightened out but we all know that, thats never going to happen. And I like it. I'm tired of books that have endings with people becoming better as the book goes on and this book was nothing like that. I really liked this book and I am really happy that I finally found a book that I liked a lot.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Rules of Love
After watching the interesting video on high school in the 60's, I realize that it is not much different than modern high schools. The rules that dictate the behavior of young men and women in relationships are a lot similar to the old days. The rules include what friends each teenager has, how popular they are, if they were in any past relationships, and if they have reputation of being a person who dates a lot of people. A lot of teenagers in modern high schools don't really have long relationships with someone. There are a few long relationships if the two kids really like each other but usually two people get together have fun and break up. I also think that there are a lot less relationships as there was in the past because there are more boy/girl friends that just want to hang out. In the past hanging out would be like going on a date but now its just two friends having fun. No one really goes on dates anymore unless they are in a relationship because if two teenagers like each other they just get together without really wanting to know a whole lot about the person. But once they are a couple they learn more about each others lives and what they like to do. People don't really have a relationship with someone they are not comfortable with for example, athletic teens will usually go out with someone else who is athletic and popular kids will usually go out with other popular kids. There are also teenagers who become a couple just to look good so they will have more friends. Everyone wants to be known by everyone at the school and having a relationship with someone that is just as popular or even more popular will help that goal come true.
If these rules are broken by someone, nothing really changes in high schools today. The person that you used to date might be mad at you but your friends won't leave you and nothing to serious will happen to you. You might have a couple more haters but thats about it. No one really cares about the rules as much as they did in the past because no one wants to loose a friend or become less popular. High school relationships are a lot more different that they were in the past but they are still similar. These rules are not really important anymore because no one really cares.
If these rules are broken by someone, nothing really changes in high schools today. The person that you used to date might be mad at you but your friends won't leave you and nothing to serious will happen to you. You might have a couple more haters but thats about it. No one really cares about the rules as much as they did in the past because no one wants to loose a friend or become less popular. High school relationships are a lot more different that they were in the past but they are still similar. These rules are not really important anymore because no one really cares.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Perfect Game
Last weekend on mothers day, Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. becoming only the 19th pitcher in MLB history to ever do so. He was born in Stockton, California which is a couple of hours away from Alameda and where my father grew up as a kid. Braden's performance was a lot more than just a perfect game because his mother died when he was a child and his grandmother took him in to avoid adoption. His grandmother was at the game where he threw the perfect game and they had a very emotional bond after the game which touched everyone who was watching. I know that this gives a boost to the Oakland Athletic organization and will probably help them win a couple more games in the next couple of days. This was probably the best moment of Dallas Bradens life and I am extremely proud of what he has done especially doing it on mothers day and dedicating it to his grandmother who saved his life. There was alos another reason why he was more fueld and pumped up during this game that involved another player.
Dallas Braden’s perfect game for Oakland has generated plenty of press, and only partly because of his feud with Alex Rodriguez. A perfect game is celebrated with bold headlines because it is one of baseball's rarest achievements. But somehow, without anyone noticing, the perfect game has started to become more common, while no-hitters over all have become harder to come by. Before 1998, only 6 percent of no-hitters were perfect games, but from 1998 to 2003, 20 percent were, and since then 27 percent have been.From 1900 through 1980, baseball witnessed only seven perfect games, including two in the dead-ball era and three during the glory days for pitchers in the mid-1960s. But in the 30 seasons beginning with 1981, nine pitchers have achieved perfection. And, oddly, regular no-hitter have decreased in frequency while becoming more erratic in their appearance.
In the 20 years before Babe Ruth and the live ball era of 1920, no-hitters were far more common, with pitchers hurling 48 of them. In the two decades that followed, the most explosive offensive period before the steroids era, there were just 16 no-hitters, one of which was a perfect game. Baseball found an equilibrium in the 1940s and ’50s and that span yielded 30 no-hitters.Not surprisingly, the swinging and missing ’60s produced an astonishing 30 no-hitters, along with three perfect games, but even after baseball lowered the pitching mound, pitchers churned out 31 no-hitters in the 1970s. In other words, from 1960-1979, baseball averaged more than three no-hitters per season yet only one perfect game about every seven years. Since then, the pattern has shifted: There have been 48 no-hitters over the past 30 years, meaning it now takes two seasons to produce three no-hitters. In the last decade, there were only 13 — none in 2000 and only one a perfect game from June 11, 2003, through Sept. 6, 2006.That decline might make sense considering that the strike zone, the ballparks, the ball and steroids all conspired to boost offense, yet there have been 10 perfect games in that span, meaning they are now coming along every three seasons on average instead of every seven. In fact, perfect games before this year were fairly evenly spaced out, appearing in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009.As for this year’s big events, it makes sense that Ubaldo Jimenez would pitch the no-hitter and Braden the perfect game because 25 of 35 no-hitters since 1988, including Jimenez’s, have been pitched by right-handers while six of the eight pitchers to retire all 27 hitters they faced, including Braden, have been southpaws. The only question now is whether Braden can live up to his place in baseball and I think that he can do it because he has great pitches and is still young and has room to improve. This is one of the biggest moments in baseball history and I am glad I was able to experience it on the television.
Dallas Braden’s perfect game for Oakland has generated plenty of press, and only partly because of his feud with Alex Rodriguez. A perfect game is celebrated with bold headlines because it is one of baseball's rarest achievements. But somehow, without anyone noticing, the perfect game has started to become more common, while no-hitters over all have become harder to come by. Before 1998, only 6 percent of no-hitters were perfect games, but from 1998 to 2003, 20 percent were, and since then 27 percent have been.From 1900 through 1980, baseball witnessed only seven perfect games, including two in the dead-ball era and three during the glory days for pitchers in the mid-1960s. But in the 30 seasons beginning with 1981, nine pitchers have achieved perfection. And, oddly, regular no-hitter have decreased in frequency while becoming more erratic in their appearance.
In the 20 years before Babe Ruth and the live ball era of 1920, no-hitters were far more common, with pitchers hurling 48 of them. In the two decades that followed, the most explosive offensive period before the steroids era, there were just 16 no-hitters, one of which was a perfect game. Baseball found an equilibrium in the 1940s and ’50s and that span yielded 30 no-hitters.Not surprisingly, the swinging and missing ’60s produced an astonishing 30 no-hitters, along with three perfect games, but even after baseball lowered the pitching mound, pitchers churned out 31 no-hitters in the 1970s. In other words, from 1960-1979, baseball averaged more than three no-hitters per season yet only one perfect game about every seven years. Since then, the pattern has shifted: There have been 48 no-hitters over the past 30 years, meaning it now takes two seasons to produce three no-hitters. In the last decade, there were only 13 — none in 2000 and only one a perfect game from June 11, 2003, through Sept. 6, 2006.That decline might make sense considering that the strike zone, the ballparks, the ball and steroids all conspired to boost offense, yet there have been 10 perfect games in that span, meaning they are now coming along every three seasons on average instead of every seven. In fact, perfect games before this year were fairly evenly spaced out, appearing in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009.As for this year’s big events, it makes sense that Ubaldo Jimenez would pitch the no-hitter and Braden the perfect game because 25 of 35 no-hitters since 1988, including Jimenez’s, have been pitched by right-handers while six of the eight pitchers to retire all 27 hitters they faced, including Braden, have been southpaws. The only question now is whether Braden can live up to his place in baseball and I think that he can do it because he has great pitches and is still young and has room to improve. This is one of the biggest moments in baseball history and I am glad I was able to experience it on the television.
Lit. Circle Letter
In the second part of A Clockwork Orange, there is a lot more slang and a lot more psychotic. There is tons more action in the second section in the second part of the book which makes it a lot more interesting to read. I really thought that this book would be exactly like the other two book i read, start out good then progressivly get worse as I get more into the novel. The second part talks more about Alex's crazy life and all the hard experiences he has to go through during this challenging part of his life. I like this second part more because it is more entertaining since there is crazy parts to it. Alex is a very weird teenager boy so far in the book that has a very tough life because he has to deal with so many problems. There is also a lot violence thinking in parts of this book as well. For example Alex says " My endeavour shall be, in such future as stretches out its snowy and lilywhite arms to me before the nozh overtakes or the blood spatters its final chorus in twisted metal and smashed glass on the highroad,to not get loveted again. Which is fair speeching. You can see that when Alex talks about violence he has a very delightful and aesthetic tone to his voice. It is kind of weird how he would talk about violence in such a happy tone.
I really liked the second part of the novel because I now know what most of the slang the author uses in this book means, which makes it much easier for me to concentrate on the book itself and try to find out what this book is about. Another section of the second part that I like is the parts where Alex talks about his life experiences and his thoughts of violence. This book has gotten better as I have gotten deeper into the book and I hope the third part is much better. This second part was really good and I hope that the final section of this novel will be more entertaining and fun to read.
I really liked the second part of the novel because I now know what most of the slang the author uses in this book means, which makes it much easier for me to concentrate on the book itself and try to find out what this book is about. Another section of the second part that I like is the parts where Alex talks about his life experiences and his thoughts of violence. This book has gotten better as I have gotten deeper into the book and I hope the third part is much better. This second part was really good and I hope that the final section of this novel will be more entertaining and fun to read.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Oakland Raiders
This week I would like to blog about JaMarcus Russell, the former number 1 pick of the NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders. A couple a days ago he was released by the Raiders becuase he was not preforming at his best. When Russell was with the Raiders, it seemed to me like he did not try at all. He did not give any effort into becomeing better. He figured that since he was already in the league and is amking a good amount of money he could just relax and it did not work out for him. The Raiders used the No.1 overall pick on Russell in the 2007 draft. He never developed and was 7-18 as a starter, the worst winning percentage of any quarterback who was drafted No. 1. He became the quickest quarterback who was the No. 1 pick to be released by his drafting team.He was extremely over wight and was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league last year so the Raiders decided to get another quarter back named Jason Cambell. He played for the Washington Redskins last year and had a decent year. So he is a prety good quarterback. Since the Raiders have so much quarterbacks on their roster they needed to release one. They had a comepition a few days ago and Russell did not do so well so he was cut. He was due to make about 9 million dollars next year. But reporters say that his carrer is not over yet and he still has another chance to be a successful quarterback in the league.
JaMarcus Russell is now a free agent and is looking for a new team to play for. The talented but extremely disappointing quarterback went unclaimed Friday and passed waivers. He is now free to sign with any team that may become interested in him. Russell who is 24 was expected to go unclaimed because his salary is more than $9 million this season. Any team that would have claimed Russell would have been responsible for his salary this season. Russell will likely not want anything other than the minimum league salary if he signs with a team. He made more than $39 million in Oakland over the course of the past three seasons. Even though he is said to be one of the worst number 1 picks to ever paly in the NFL reporters say he still has another chance to make it big. A lot of players have been good with their second team after being terrible with their first and this may be an example of that. the Radiers haven't had a good quarterback in years and it seems like every player that leaves become better. Mabey the raiders coaching staff is not all that good and did not know how to improve Russell. A lot of teams are interested in signing him but are still hesitant becuase of his past. But I'm pretty sure that teams that have old quarterbacks are really looking into signing him becuase they will eventually need a new one. Russell may have had a very poor carrer so far but because he was the former number 1 overall oick he has another chance and i think that goes with any number 1 pick that plays any professional sport.
JaMarcus Russell is now a free agent and is looking for a new team to play for. The talented but extremely disappointing quarterback went unclaimed Friday and passed waivers. He is now free to sign with any team that may become interested in him. Russell who is 24 was expected to go unclaimed because his salary is more than $9 million this season. Any team that would have claimed Russell would have been responsible for his salary this season. Russell will likely not want anything other than the minimum league salary if he signs with a team. He made more than $39 million in Oakland over the course of the past three seasons. Even though he is said to be one of the worst number 1 picks to ever paly in the NFL reporters say he still has another chance to make it big. A lot of players have been good with their second team after being terrible with their first and this may be an example of that. the Radiers haven't had a good quarterback in years and it seems like every player that leaves become better. Mabey the raiders coaching staff is not all that good and did not know how to improve Russell. A lot of teams are interested in signing him but are still hesitant becuase of his past. But I'm pretty sure that teams that have old quarterbacks are really looking into signing him becuase they will eventually need a new one. Russell may have had a very poor carrer so far but because he was the former number 1 overall oick he has another chance and i think that goes with any number 1 pick that plays any professional sport.
Lit. Circle Letter
In the first section of the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is about a dangerous fifteen year-old named Alex who talks in slang that he invented himself which is really hard for me to understand because they aren't real words. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening book about good and evil. and the meaning of human freedom. There is a lot of slang in this book that make no sense but after a while, I started to find out the meaning of them. For example, I now know that droog means friends in Alex's invented language. The slang made this book a little harder to read becuase you had to concentrated on reading the book while trying to figure out what the slang means. Alex is a so called "ultraviolent" who had all the luck in the world until he was convicted of murder and rape. Alex is a very interesting charatacter that is kind of like the one in the first book I read and I had fun reading about him. But so far it seems like Alex has not learned anything from getting in trouble. This is a good book so far that I hope continues to excite me and makes me want to keep on reading it.
In the first part of the book I liked and disliked the slang. I liked it becuase it is really cool how the author camed up with fake words that mean something. It is also really cool that he really can made someone believe that the words may be real. For example, I thought "droog" was a real word until the grammar stopped making sense. I thought it meant something negative until I figured out what it really meant. What I did not like about his made up slang is that it was hard to figure out what some of the words mean. If you really do not think that you will figure out the vocabulary this book will be very hard to read. This was a very good book so far and I hope that it continues to be just as good or even better when I read more of it.
In the first part of the book I liked and disliked the slang. I liked it becuase it is really cool how the author camed up with fake words that mean something. It is also really cool that he really can made someone believe that the words may be real. For example, I thought "droog" was a real word until the grammar stopped making sense. I thought it meant something negative until I figured out what it really meant. What I did not like about his made up slang is that it was hard to figure out what some of the words mean. If you really do not think that you will figure out the vocabulary this book will be very hard to read. This was a very good book so far and I hope that it continues to be just as good or even better when I read more of it.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Then novel "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins is a non-fictional, auto-biographical book about John's life and his experience with his top secret job. This was not a very good book for me and their were many weaknesses. One of these weaknesses was the fact that he kept on talking about the same subject. I know it is an autobiography and you are suppose to talk about your life but you can spice it up a bit. You can change it up, maybe have a chapter or two about something other than your life, possibly about your family or friends. John's life of working in a secret spy organization was fun to read at the beginning but that was all he talked about most of the chapters. Like I said before, even though his book is based upon his job he can make it a lot more interesting by changing it up a bit. Talking about something other than his life and job. It was cool to find out how he cheated countries out of money and how he did it but it seemed like as the book went on he couldn't think of anything else to write about. It was like he was trying to force himself to write about things he talked about before just because he wanted to extend his book to attract more attention from book buyers. That probably is not the reason why but that what I thought he was trying to do. Another weakness in the book was how it did not seem real. His job seems fake and I have a hard time believing him. I really can not imagine a job that the government does not know about. I also can understand how they keep on cheating countries out of millions of dollars by doing the same routine. I think that Perkins is trying to spice up his life experiences by adding things that are not true. He probably had a job similar to what is explained in the book but I think he over emphasized it a little more than he should of. If this job is really out there shouldn't the government have found out about it by now, now that there is a book about it. And how would the workers get paid, what would happen if they stopped tricking countries into giving them money and how are they still a secret spy organization after doing this for so many years? Shouldn't at least one country figure out what they are doing. I also think that if this job was real, it is probably a very short time job because they can only trick countries so much times until they find out what they are trying to do. After they find out what would they do, they would be broke and have to shut down their company. The final weakness of this novel is how boring it was to me. After reading about the same thing over and over again, I got really sick of it and did not want to read it anymore. It was very annoying and I had to force myself to finish the book. This book was not one of my favorites and i hope that the next book I choose will be a lot better because I really want to read an interesting book that I will enjoy.
I would recommend this book for a more older audience because it has a wide range of vocabulary. It does not seem like a book a high schooler would read and I did not have fun reading it. A lot of the book was hard for me to understand because of the big vocabulary and I had to read certain parts numerous of times to understand the meaning. The only type of people that I can see reading this are people who like biographical books that include intense lives of others. Me and my partner did not have any fun reading this book and we really hope that we will not choose another book like this because I don't know if I can handle another one of these. The only high school student I can see reading this book are the more mature students that like to reading books about real life spies. Other than those few people, I really can't see anyone liking this book and have fun reading it. It seems so unbelievable and fake about how one organization can trick countries out of a huge amount of money. You must be the smartest people in the world if you think you can pull that off. I will not recommend this book to any of my fellow students because most of my friends are interested in the same books as I am and I know they will hate to read this book as much as I did. Well I did not hate it, it just is not going to be one that I will talk about a whole lot. My last book was more interesting even though it was repeating a lot as well. But that author added some interesting parts in between so the reader wouldn't get bored out of their mind. That's what this author needs to do if he wants his books to have a lot more success. Lately the books that I have read are very bad and I hope the last book I pick will be a lot better. This time when I choose a book I will put a lot more effort into picking out a book that I will enjoy much more than my previous books. This book was full of negative parts that were very painful to read but their were some positives to it. I really liked reading about how John tricked countries to paying him and his techniques but it did get somewhat boring in the end. At first this book was good but as I got deeper in it just never got any better. I really hope that I can finish this school year with a fun book that both me and my partner will enjoy reading.
I would recommend this book for a more older audience because it has a wide range of vocabulary. It does not seem like a book a high schooler would read and I did not have fun reading it. A lot of the book was hard for me to understand because of the big vocabulary and I had to read certain parts numerous of times to understand the meaning. The only type of people that I can see reading this are people who like biographical books that include intense lives of others. Me and my partner did not have any fun reading this book and we really hope that we will not choose another book like this because I don't know if I can handle another one of these. The only high school student I can see reading this book are the more mature students that like to reading books about real life spies. Other than those few people, I really can't see anyone liking this book and have fun reading it. It seems so unbelievable and fake about how one organization can trick countries out of a huge amount of money. You must be the smartest people in the world if you think you can pull that off. I will not recommend this book to any of my fellow students because most of my friends are interested in the same books as I am and I know they will hate to read this book as much as I did. Well I did not hate it, it just is not going to be one that I will talk about a whole lot. My last book was more interesting even though it was repeating a lot as well. But that author added some interesting parts in between so the reader wouldn't get bored out of their mind. That's what this author needs to do if he wants his books to have a lot more success. Lately the books that I have read are very bad and I hope the last book I pick will be a lot better. This time when I choose a book I will put a lot more effort into picking out a book that I will enjoy much more than my previous books. This book was full of negative parts that were very painful to read but their were some positives to it. I really liked reading about how John tricked countries to paying him and his techniques but it did get somewhat boring in the end. At first this book was good but as I got deeper in it just never got any better. I really hope that I can finish this school year with a fun book that both me and my partner will enjoy reading.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Lit. Circle Letter
In the final part of the "Economic Hitman", John Perkins talks more about his crazy life and the organizations he is working for. This section is not all that much different than the first two and it was very boring. It basically talked more abut his experiences from his jobs and some stories to back it up. There were some parts to the book that were interesting and fun to read, for example when he tells the reader how he got money out of other nations. Those parts were probably the best parts to the book. I was extremely tired of reading this book because I was not interested in it. I was bored and had no motivation to really get it to it. A couple of parts caught my eye but other than that, the book was not good at all. I would rather read books that have a true story, like the last book I read. I think this book made me realize that I would rather read about fictional books that non-fiction. I really was not interested in the book and I had to force myself to read it. I hope that the next book I choose will be closer to the type of books I enjoy reading.
In the third section in the book I didn't have too much positives about it. John Perkins talked more about his life events and how he cheated countries out of their money. It was cool to figure out how he received his money but after a while it got a bit annoying. This was basically how the rest of the book was like. This book doesn't even seem like a autobiographical book because it doesn't seem real that there is actually a job out there that actually does this. I will ever believe that there are secret jobs that the government do not know about until I confront it during my lifetime. If the government does not fund this organization, then how much money do they make and if they can't get enough money they want what would they do? If this is real, it does not seem like it will last too long because they can only trick so much people in giving up money. This was not a good book for me but hopefully someone else will enjoy it. This book just is not the type of books I enjoy to read but I know there are people that will enjoy this book very much.
In the third section in the book I didn't have too much positives about it. John Perkins talked more about his life events and how he cheated countries out of their money. It was cool to figure out how he received his money but after a while it got a bit annoying. This was basically how the rest of the book was like. This book doesn't even seem like a autobiographical book because it doesn't seem real that there is actually a job out there that actually does this. I will ever believe that there are secret jobs that the government do not know about until I confront it during my lifetime. If the government does not fund this organization, then how much money do they make and if they can't get enough money they want what would they do? If this is real, it does not seem like it will last too long because they can only trick so much people in giving up money. This was not a good book for me but hopefully someone else will enjoy it. This book just is not the type of books I enjoy to read but I know there are people that will enjoy this book very much.
Friday, April 16, 2010
NBA Playoffs
Now that the NBA playoffs are about to start, I would like to blog about the incidents that are going on between teams. Recelently the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder and I was extremely upset because the Lakers are my favorite team and I want them to win it all. These two teams will also be matched up in the playoffs as number 1 and 8 seeds, the Lakers being number 1 and the Thunder being the number 8 seed. The Lakers arem't doing so good right now and are on a slump entering the playoffs while the Thunder's are on a really good role winning a lot of their games. They also have the scorring champion in the NBA who averages about 30 points per game but the Lakers have Kobe bryant who is one of the best players in the world. So this will be a great series to watch to see who will come out the winner. I of course will be rooting for the Lakers who are the defending champions in the NBA and are looking for the repeat but it won't be easy. They have had to battle injuries and many other problems that have prevented them from reaching their expectations. This series will also be a very good one because there have been recent comments that might have fired up some players and a coach. The Lakers coach, Phil Jackson was fined by the league of $70,000 in the last two weeks for comments related to the NBA's officials, but Jackson decided to talk back and prove his pint he said "You can't do that anymore in the NBA". They don't allow you to do that. I guess it was last year, I wasn't aware that the rules have changed, but they tell me that last year they stopped letting coaches spin. You have to be very honest and straightforward and never have any spin with what you say". He was trying to say that the refs. did not allow him to say certain things trying to prove his point. He continues to say "I think we can get to be robotic like that. You guys would probably enjoy us just having stock answers to give to you, 'Everybody played and they played hard.' Things like that." Which means the same thing but just using different words.
Jackson's most recent fee came as a result of his statement about Oklahoma City's and the leagues leading scorer Kevin Durant, saying that the "referees are treating [Durant] like a superstar." And "As far as the calls that he gets on the floor, I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often. He's got the ability to create fouls. That's a big part of scoring, to get to the foul line."Durant was very angry about the comments from the Laker coach and felt disrespected, he said "Because it's taking away from what I do.That's part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that's just taking away from how I play. That's disrespectful to me."On Friday, Jackson said he did not hear Durants responses but he doesn't understand why he is getting mad by saying he "was just straight forward and honest about the game. I really didn't know what he was upset about. It really wasn't that upsetting. He shot the most free throws in the league; he made the most free throws in the league. He shot the most shots in the league; he made the most shots in the league. I voted for him on the All-Star team; he made the All-Star team. We know he's a great player, congratulations." Jackson was fined earlier in the month for comments after a game against San Antonio. He said the "referees turned against us" after technical fouls were given to Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant. He also singled out veteran official Bennett Salvatore by saying, "With Bennett you don't know what you're going to get."Jackson paid $12 million to coach the Lakers this season and was asked if the fines could be a tax write-off at the end of his media session Friday. Because of all this drama happening between the Lakers coach and Oklahoma's best player, this series is going to be a very fun one to watch. It starts on Friday and I can't wait to see my team win.
Jackson's most recent fee came as a result of his statement about Oklahoma City's and the leagues leading scorer Kevin Durant, saying that the "referees are treating [Durant] like a superstar." And "As far as the calls that he gets on the floor, I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often. He's got the ability to create fouls. That's a big part of scoring, to get to the foul line."Durant was very angry about the comments from the Laker coach and felt disrespected, he said "Because it's taking away from what I do.That's part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that's just taking away from how I play. That's disrespectful to me."On Friday, Jackson said he did not hear Durants responses but he doesn't understand why he is getting mad by saying he "was just straight forward and honest about the game. I really didn't know what he was upset about. It really wasn't that upsetting. He shot the most free throws in the league; he made the most free throws in the league. He shot the most shots in the league; he made the most shots in the league. I voted for him on the All-Star team; he made the All-Star team. We know he's a great player, congratulations." Jackson was fined earlier in the month for comments after a game against San Antonio. He said the "referees turned against us" after technical fouls were given to Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant. He also singled out veteran official Bennett Salvatore by saying, "With Bennett you don't know what you're going to get."Jackson paid $12 million to coach the Lakers this season and was asked if the fines could be a tax write-off at the end of his media session Friday. Because of all this drama happening between the Lakers coach and Oklahoma's best player, this series is going to be a very fun one to watch. It starts on Friday and I can't wait to see my team win.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Lit Circle Letter
In the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" a man named John Perkins, who is also the author of the book, talks about his life and how crazy it has been. I liked many parts about this book so far but I am having a tough time reading this book because I'm not really into these types of book. The book is non-fictional but it seems unreal because of the things Perkins went through during his life is crazy. He is a college drop out who avoids the army multiple times and ends up in many different spy organizations and does many other things in between. I usually like reading auto biographical books but this book does not seem like one. I do not really believe that there are secret spy organizations that are not run by the government and cheat countries out of trillions of dollars. If it is true, then shouldn't the government had found out about it already? In my opinion this book would be a lot better if it was fictional because I would not be frightened about these "hit men" possible taking trillions of dollars out of the U.s.
There are a lot of things that I like about this book including how there are secret spy organizations out in the world. It might be a little hard for me to accept that there really are these type of companies but they are still fun to read about. I also like what they do in the companies. For example, Economic hit men are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe to get trillions of dollars. And the use fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder to get their money. I think that it is really cool how they can do this for so long and never get caught by the government. They must have a very strict company that does everything to perfection. Which makes this job an extremely difficult job to get. You probably need to be one of the smartest person in the world to get a job like this and Perkins was. He was born in Hanover, New Hampshire under two high school teachers who graduated from excellent colleges. Perkins started off going to a local public school but as he got older he was switched to a private school because his parents wanted to get him away from the girls at public schools who they called "sluts". He was transferred to an all boy private school and stayed until he finished high school. He was both the top student academically and athletically at his school and received two scholarships for different reasons. Brown University gave him an athletic scholarship and Middleburry gave him a academic scholarship. He wanted to go to Brown but was forced to go to Middlebury because that's where his parents graduated from. After a tough time in college he decided to drop out and his parents were extremely mad but he did not care and moved on. He later went back to Boston University to avoid being drafted into the army and got away with it for a couple of years. But when he graduated he had to deal with possible getting drafted to the war in Vietnam. He avoided that by getting a job that his wife's, dad's, friend gave to him and the army was not a possibility ever again. He joined the peace corps with his wife and soon after landed a job at a secret spy organization. In my opinion, Perkins screwed up his life multiple times but because he was so smart he always got another chance. Life seemed so easy for him because he basically got everything he wanted by not trying. This proved to me that being extremely smart will always work out for you in the end. I like this book so far even though it is hard to believe. But it is fun and I hope it gets a lot better in the final section.
There are a lot of things that I like about this book including how there are secret spy organizations out in the world. It might be a little hard for me to accept that there really are these type of companies but they are still fun to read about. I also like what they do in the companies. For example, Economic hit men are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe to get trillions of dollars. And the use fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder to get their money. I think that it is really cool how they can do this for so long and never get caught by the government. They must have a very strict company that does everything to perfection. Which makes this job an extremely difficult job to get. You probably need to be one of the smartest person in the world to get a job like this and Perkins was. He was born in Hanover, New Hampshire under two high school teachers who graduated from excellent colleges. Perkins started off going to a local public school but as he got older he was switched to a private school because his parents wanted to get him away from the girls at public schools who they called "sluts". He was transferred to an all boy private school and stayed until he finished high school. He was both the top student academically and athletically at his school and received two scholarships for different reasons. Brown University gave him an athletic scholarship and Middleburry gave him a academic scholarship. He wanted to go to Brown but was forced to go to Middlebury because that's where his parents graduated from. After a tough time in college he decided to drop out and his parents were extremely mad but he did not care and moved on. He later went back to Boston University to avoid being drafted into the army and got away with it for a couple of years. But when he graduated he had to deal with possible getting drafted to the war in Vietnam. He avoided that by getting a job that his wife's, dad's, friend gave to him and the army was not a possibility ever again. He joined the peace corps with his wife and soon after landed a job at a secret spy organization. In my opinion, Perkins screwed up his life multiple times but because he was so smart he always got another chance. Life seemed so easy for him because he basically got everything he wanted by not trying. This proved to me that being extremely smart will always work out for you in the end. I like this book so far even though it is hard to believe. But it is fun and I hope it gets a lot better in the final section.
Friday, April 2, 2010
4th Quarter Writting Goals
In the last quarter of the year I would really like to improve my writing ability in many ways. I have always had a hard time thinking about what to write about and it gets harder every time. I started writing about my sports team and that can only go so long becuase they always come to an end. Then I started writting about my life which was good at the beginning bt once again I ran out of significant events that happened during my childhood. Finally I started to write about other sports teams and thats where I am today. Its working out pretty good but I don't really like wrting about other sports because they have nothing to do with me. I really want to expand my writting genres so I can become a much better writter. I would also like to improve my repeting problem. I tend to repeat a lot of things in my writing jsut so I can reach the minimum of 500 words. Its been very hard for me to write 500 words when I run out of ideas and I want to find a way a way to avoid this problem. I would finally like to improve my ability to get out of writers block during the fourth quarter. Like many people, I have had a huge problem with writters block and I do not know how to get out of it. I have tried many different ways to see if it will help but nothing has. And I know my writting has gotten worse because of it. At the beginning of the year my writting was much better because I was fresh and had a lot of topics to write about. But as the year went on, writters block has made my writting not as good. For many of my blogs, I just tey to make up random sentences because writters block has limitied my ability to think about what to write. This last quarter might be very bad for me because of all the problems I am having right now but if I can find a way to get rid of these problems I will have a lot of success.
In the last quarter of the year I would like to write about my life again and my basketball team that I am currently playing on. I will probably be writting about my basketball tournements and how our team is coming together because this is our first time palying with each other. I would like to write about my life again because I had a lot of fun writing about my life and the events that happened during my childhood. In my opinion the best blogs I have written this year was about my life and how it was influenced by past experiences. I really believe that by going back to the blogs that have gotten me this far into the year will help me a lot in improving my writting ability. This last quarter of the year will be very exciting because I will find out if this risk will be a successful one or be a very bad idea. I still don't know what I am going to write about for my first blog but I have a lot of things going on during spring break that I would love to post on my blog. This year has gone by very fast and I can't wait until summer comes along.
In the last quarter of the year I would like to write about my life again and my basketball team that I am currently playing on. I will probably be writting about my basketball tournements and how our team is coming together because this is our first time palying with each other. I would like to write about my life again because I had a lot of fun writing about my life and the events that happened during my childhood. In my opinion the best blogs I have written this year was about my life and how it was influenced by past experiences. I really believe that by going back to the blogs that have gotten me this far into the year will help me a lot in improving my writting ability. This last quarter of the year will be very exciting because I will find out if this risk will be a successful one or be a very bad idea. I still don't know what I am going to write about for my first blog but I have a lot of things going on during spring break that I would love to post on my blog. This year has gone by very fast and I can't wait until summer comes along.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Touching Spirit Bear monthly review
In the novel "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen is a fiction book about a young, angry boy named Cole Matthews is caught up in a life full of crime. But he has never been convicted of a crime until now. One day Cole got angry with a fellow classmate and decided to beat him up. Not only did Cole beat him up but he also caused the young boy named Peter to require facial surgery. Peter was never the same. He now has to choose on whether he wants to go to jail or participate in the Circle Justice, a group of people who try to help out kids like Cole. Cole insists that doing this will never help him change but he figures it is better than going to jail. The circle decides to isolate him on a island of Alaska where he will spend one year trying to heal himself from his anger. The island is said to have a spirit bear that is suppose to help someone find out what life really means. But when Cole faces the bear, he is mauled until he almost dies. He is rushed to a hospital where he is treated until he is ready to face the circle for another meeting. At the meeting the circle decides to give Cole another chance on the island. This time he knows he can't mess up so he takes full advantage of this opportunity. He does many things on the island to help him change including sitting in a freezing pond thinking, carrying a rock to get rid of his anger, and carving a totem pole. Near the end of Cole's sentence, Peter joins him because he needs a lot of help as well. In the end the fight once mote but this time Cole is the one beaten up and they both decide to forgive each other for what they have done. I would recommend this book for middle school students because younger students tend to enjoy adventurous/ fictional books. I can tell because I would have loved to read this book in middle school instead of the books that were required. This book is very interesting but I think that I should read something more realistic, maybe a non-fictional book.
There were many weaknesses in this book in my opinion. But the most significant was the repetition. When Cole was stuck on the island he was told that if he ever wanted to get rid of his anger he would need to walk to a freezing pond every morning, and carry an "ancestor rock" up a hill and to push it down to release his anger. So for about the last five chapters, Cole would follow this pattern every day and it got a little annoying. It seemed like every chapter would be about Cole doing this routine every day, cooking dinner, look for animals, dance around a fire, and carve his toteom pole. After a while the book got extremely boring and I wanted to stop reading it. Another weakness of the book was the ending. At the end of the book Peter and Cole were involved in another fight. This time Peter beating up Cole. Cole did not fight back because he wanted to show to Peter that he has changed and that he would never hurt anyone again. After the fight, they both broke down crying and it seemed like they finally forgave each other for what they have done. So they went back and carvedt he final piece on Cole totoem and the book ended not telling us if Peter every forgave Cole for what he did. The ending of the book was one of the worst i have ever read. The author could have added a lot more to the end that would have made this bovel much more entertaining. The author could have told us what happens to Cole when he returns home and faces his sentence. I really wanted to find out if Cole went to jail or not and if Peter will ever forgive Cole for what he did to him. I also wanted to see how people thought about Cole after he has made a dramatic change from his experience on the island. There were a lot more weaknesses in this book that made me not enjoy it as much but I feel that these two were the most important parts the author should have improved.
I think the author's style of writing is very unique. The book started off interchaning events every chapter. The first chapter started of when Cole was locked up on the boat about to go to the island. The second chapter talked about Cole's life and what he did before he was forced to go on the island. It kept on interchaning until it was Cole just on the island and there was no more information needed about what happened before. It is a unique style that I do not like that much. I guess it is cool that he wanted to try something different than most books but it was hard for me to concentrated on one event when the next chapter is going to talk about something completely different. I would get really into COle's adventures on the island and want to read more but the next chapter would be about Cole back at home and that really threw off my focus because I would have to switch my mind to a different subject. I would have just written it like most other books, starting off with Cole at home and what he did and then Cole on the island. The book would have made a lot more sense and would be a lot easier to read. The book was not that interesting but I enjoy it some what. I liked a lot of parts including Cole's complete transformation for bad and angry kid to a ver caring and nice kid that won't hurt anybody. It was also cool to read about the spirit bear and what it did to Cole. In the authors note he said that the spirit bear was real and has helped many people and still does. That was a very cool fact to know. I did not really like this book all that much and will probably not reconmend it to any of my classmates but it had some good parts to it that I enjoyed. I hope my next book will be a lot more interesting to read.
There were many weaknesses in this book in my opinion. But the most significant was the repetition. When Cole was stuck on the island he was told that if he ever wanted to get rid of his anger he would need to walk to a freezing pond every morning, and carry an "ancestor rock" up a hill and to push it down to release his anger. So for about the last five chapters, Cole would follow this pattern every day and it got a little annoying. It seemed like every chapter would be about Cole doing this routine every day, cooking dinner, look for animals, dance around a fire, and carve his toteom pole. After a while the book got extremely boring and I wanted to stop reading it. Another weakness of the book was the ending. At the end of the book Peter and Cole were involved in another fight. This time Peter beating up Cole. Cole did not fight back because he wanted to show to Peter that he has changed and that he would never hurt anyone again. After the fight, they both broke down crying and it seemed like they finally forgave each other for what they have done. So they went back and carvedt he final piece on Cole totoem and the book ended not telling us if Peter every forgave Cole for what he did. The ending of the book was one of the worst i have ever read. The author could have added a lot more to the end that would have made this bovel much more entertaining. The author could have told us what happens to Cole when he returns home and faces his sentence. I really wanted to find out if Cole went to jail or not and if Peter will ever forgive Cole for what he did to him. I also wanted to see how people thought about Cole after he has made a dramatic change from his experience on the island. There were a lot more weaknesses in this book that made me not enjoy it as much but I feel that these two were the most important parts the author should have improved.
I think the author's style of writing is very unique. The book started off interchaning events every chapter. The first chapter started of when Cole was locked up on the boat about to go to the island. The second chapter talked about Cole's life and what he did before he was forced to go on the island. It kept on interchaning until it was Cole just on the island and there was no more information needed about what happened before. It is a unique style that I do not like that much. I guess it is cool that he wanted to try something different than most books but it was hard for me to concentrated on one event when the next chapter is going to talk about something completely different. I would get really into COle's adventures on the island and want to read more but the next chapter would be about Cole back at home and that really threw off my focus because I would have to switch my mind to a different subject. I would have just written it like most other books, starting off with Cole at home and what he did and then Cole on the island. The book would have made a lot more sense and would be a lot easier to read. The book was not that interesting but I enjoy it some what. I liked a lot of parts including Cole's complete transformation for bad and angry kid to a ver caring and nice kid that won't hurt anybody. It was also cool to read about the spirit bear and what it did to Cole. In the authors note he said that the spirit bear was real and has helped many people and still does. That was a very cool fact to know. I did not really like this book all that much and will probably not reconmend it to any of my classmates but it had some good parts to it that I enjoyed. I hope my next book will be a lot more interesting to read.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Lit Circle Letter
In the final section of the novel "Touching Spirit Bear" the author gives the reader a very interesting conclusion. There were many parts I enjoyed in the conclusion of the book but there were also many parts that I felt were boring. I really like how the author brings Peter to the island in Alaska after he tried to commit suicide two times. I also like how the author made the book come full circle by the way Peter and Cole acted at the end. The book started off by making Cole the angry, crazy criminal who beat up a helpless boy in Peter. But as the book progressed they switched, Peter became a angry, suicidal boy that beat up a helpless Cole. It was funny how the author decided to do that and I enjoyed that a lot. I also like how the book made the island a place for someone to find the reason of life. All the main characters in the book have experienced anger in their lives and I liked how the author decided that all of them will go to the island to heal themselves. It was interesting to read about why Edwin, Cole, Peter and Garvey decided to go to the island.
The conclusion of the book was very interesting but there were many parts I did not like about it. One of the parts I did not like was the repetition. When Cole was on the island all he did was wake up to soak, look for animals, carry the ancestor rock up the hill, carve his totem pole, eat, and dance. The book kept on repeating itself even when Peter came in the picture, they did the same routine. It would have been more interesting if the author changed things up. I also did not like how the book ended at all. It was a very bad ending. Cole just got beaten up by Peter and it seemed that they were finally going to forgive each other but you will never know. The book ended soon after that incident when they finished carving the last spot on the totem pole. It would have been more entertaining if the book went on to show what happened to Cole after the banishment, whether he will go to jail or not, and to see what happens to Peter. I would have liked the book a lot more if it continued and possible have had an epilogue of Peter and Cole life after the island.
The conclusion of the book was very interesting but there were many parts I did not like about it. One of the parts I did not like was the repetition. When Cole was on the island all he did was wake up to soak, look for animals, carry the ancestor rock up the hill, carve his totem pole, eat, and dance. The book kept on repeating itself even when Peter came in the picture, they did the same routine. It would have been more interesting if the author changed things up. I also did not like how the book ended at all. It was a very bad ending. Cole just got beaten up by Peter and it seemed that they were finally going to forgive each other but you will never know. The book ended soon after that incident when they finished carving the last spot on the totem pole. It would have been more entertaining if the book went on to show what happened to Cole after the banishment, whether he will go to jail or not, and to see what happens to Peter. I would have liked the book a lot more if it continued and possible have had an epilogue of Peter and Cole life after the island.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Cornell Basketball
Cornell lived up to its expectations as the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade, and now the senior squad have a chance for a nice run in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.Down to their last chance to experience success on college basketball's biggest tournament, seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote led the school to its first win in five NCAA appearances.Dale scored 21 points and Wittman, who is the Ivy League player of the year, had 20 for the Big Red. He also led the nation in 3 point shooting this season and is a strong guard, experienced leader. And a 7-foot center in Foote make them a threat to advance beyond the first weekend of the tournament.
Cornell (28-4) made eight of its first 10 shots and never looked back, shooting 68 percent in the opening half and 56 percent for the game.Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the best season in school history. Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for Temple. Lavoy Allen contributed 11 in a tough lost. Having gone through a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John's and Alabama, Donahue felt that Cornell was prepared this year to face a tough opponent such as Temple, one of the nation's strongest defensive teams. Cornell lost by 24 to Stanford in 2008 and 19 to Missouri a year ago, and entered this year's tournament determined to make the most of the last opportunity Wittman, Foote, Dale and Jon Jacques who are seniors this year.
Dunphy, who's been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA tournament and has lost 11 straight.The Owls coach appeared in the tournament nine times in 17 seasons at Penn, where Donahue was an assistant under him for 10 years. They remain close, and Dunphy admitted that he did not like the fact of facing his former assistant.Temple trailed 37-29 at the half and was fortunate to be that close. The Owls uncharacteristically turned the ball over nine times, with Cornell coming up with seven steals while playing tight man-to-man defense and occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone that made it difficult to get the ball inside.Cornell's lead would have bigger if its 3-point shooters hadn't struggled from beyond the arc. The Big Red were 13 of 19 from the field at the break, and five of those six misses were 3-pointers that could have extended their lead enormously.After missing on its first two 3-point attempts of the second half, Cornell's shooters caught fire. Jon Jacques hit a long 3, then Wittman made three straight during a stretch in which the Big Red went on another run to lead 51-42. The closest Temple would get the rest of the way was seven. Cornell will advanced to the next round to face an even tougher opponent.
Cornell (28-4) made eight of its first 10 shots and never looked back, shooting 68 percent in the opening half and 56 percent for the game.Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the best season in school history. Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for Temple. Lavoy Allen contributed 11 in a tough lost. Having gone through a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John's and Alabama, Donahue felt that Cornell was prepared this year to face a tough opponent such as Temple, one of the nation's strongest defensive teams. Cornell lost by 24 to Stanford in 2008 and 19 to Missouri a year ago, and entered this year's tournament determined to make the most of the last opportunity Wittman, Foote, Dale and Jon Jacques who are seniors this year.
Dunphy, who's been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA tournament and has lost 11 straight.The Owls coach appeared in the tournament nine times in 17 seasons at Penn, where Donahue was an assistant under him for 10 years. They remain close, and Dunphy admitted that he did not like the fact of facing his former assistant.Temple trailed 37-29 at the half and was fortunate to be that close. The Owls uncharacteristically turned the ball over nine times, with Cornell coming up with seven steals while playing tight man-to-man defense and occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone that made it difficult to get the ball inside.Cornell's lead would have bigger if its 3-point shooters hadn't struggled from beyond the arc. The Big Red were 13 of 19 from the field at the break, and five of those six misses were 3-pointers that could have extended their lead enormously.After missing on its first two 3-point attempts of the second half, Cornell's shooters caught fire. Jon Jacques hit a long 3, then Wittman made three straight during a stretch in which the Big Red went on another run to lead 51-42. The closest Temple would get the rest of the way was seven. Cornell will advanced to the next round to face an even tougher opponent.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Lit. Circle Letter
I had fun reading the second section of the novel because it was full of exciting events that gave me a better understanding of who Cole was and what his intentions were. Some of my favorite parts include Cole's recovery in the hospital after being mauled by the Spirit Bear and when Cole was given another chance on the island. I really liked the section where Cole's mother finally started acting like a mom after she divorced her husband who ended up going to jail. She stood up for him during the meeting of the Circle Justice, gave him advice, and told him how she cared about him a lot. I also enjoyed reading about how Cole was starting to mature when given the second chance. Edwin and Garvey did a good job in making sure Cole got the most out of his second visit. He cooked, cleaned, built a cabin, woke up early, and tried his best to get rid of his anger, things he would have never attempted to do back home.
The parts I did not like in this section was how the Justice Circle handled Cole when he was recovering from his injuries. Cole was still badly injured when he had his first meeting after what had happened on the island. At the meeting not many people showed up but the people who did could not stop disrespecting him. They called him a liar when he told them he saw the Spirit Bear and told him he should go to jail. I did not believe that was the best was to handle things. Cole was obviously hurt with injuries that were said to be from a bear and they still did not believe him. They said he did not learn anything and that he should go to jail but you can tell by looking at the way he acted after the trip, he did change. He didn't want to hurt anyone and he was kind and respectful most of the time. I did not like how the circle handled him because they were cruel and made him a lot more angry. But I do like how Cole was given the second chance to prove that he can become a better person and so far he has succeeded.
The parts I did not like in this section was how the Justice Circle handled Cole when he was recovering from his injuries. Cole was still badly injured when he had his first meeting after what had happened on the island. At the meeting not many people showed up but the people who did could not stop disrespecting him. They called him a liar when he told them he saw the Spirit Bear and told him he should go to jail. I did not believe that was the best was to handle things. Cole was obviously hurt with injuries that were said to be from a bear and they still did not believe him. They said he did not learn anything and that he should go to jail but you can tell by looking at the way he acted after the trip, he did change. He didn't want to hurt anyone and he was kind and respectful most of the time. I did not like how the circle handled him because they were cruel and made him a lot more angry. But I do like how Cole was given the second chance to prove that he can become a better person and so far he has succeeded.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cal Basketball
The California Berkeley university basketball team has been a very powerful force in the PAC-10. They have won their first league title since 1950 and they still want more. Their roster consist of five starting seniors who have carried their team most of the year. Cal's basketball team started off the year as a ranked team but with a couple of loses in the beginning of the season they slipped from the top 25 rankings. They were never ranked since those early loses to Syracuse University, who is now ranked number 3 in the country, and Ohio State, who is now ranked number 5 in the country. With that in mind, i believe that they should be ranked in the top twenty five because they really only lost to the teams that were better than them including the number 1 team in the country. They had a couple of loses that they should have won but every team has an off day or two. When Cal played those top 10 ranked teams they played hard and the games came down to the final minutes. They finished the year 21-9 and 13-5 in league and are currently playing in their conference playoffs as the number one seed.
In their first conference playoff game Cal won 90 to 74 over Oregon. Cal was lead by their best player Jerome Randle who scored 22 points without missing a shot in the first half. Randle went 8 for 8 with four 3-pointers in the first half, giving Cal to a 15-point lead. Patrick Christopher also had a good game scoring 21 points and dishing out five assists and their big man Jamal Boykins scored all 15 of his points in the second half to finish the eighth-seeded Ducks, who were taken to overtime by Washington State in their first-round game Wednesday night. Cal advanced to the semifinals where they played to UCLA Bruins on Friday who had a disappointing season after being one of the best teams in the country last season.
In today's game Cal overcame a six point deficit in the second half to come away with another win in their conference playoffs and will either face number 7 Stanford who upset the number two seed their previous game or 3 Washington in the PAC-10 finals. Jerome Randle scored 24 points with a couple of ridiculous shots and Theo Robertson had 15 of his 20 in the second half in an 85-72 victory Friday night.The top-seeded Golden Bears who are now 23-9 advanced to Saturday's title game at Staples Center, home of the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers. Patrick Christopher added 16 points for the Bears, who are looking for their first league tournament title to go with their first regular-season championship in 50 years. Michael Roll scored a career-high 27 points in his final game for fifth-seeded UCLA who finish the season 14-18, which is their worst record since 2003-04. Jerime Anderson added 15. Cal made 13-of-14 free throws over the final 5:13, with Randle hitting six of his attempts which finalized their comeback victory.
In their first conference playoff game Cal won 90 to 74 over Oregon. Cal was lead by their best player Jerome Randle who scored 22 points without missing a shot in the first half. Randle went 8 for 8 with four 3-pointers in the first half, giving Cal to a 15-point lead. Patrick Christopher also had a good game scoring 21 points and dishing out five assists and their big man Jamal Boykins scored all 15 of his points in the second half to finish the eighth-seeded Ducks, who were taken to overtime by Washington State in their first-round game Wednesday night. Cal advanced to the semifinals where they played to UCLA Bruins on Friday who had a disappointing season after being one of the best teams in the country last season.
In today's game Cal overcame a six point deficit in the second half to come away with another win in their conference playoffs and will either face number 7 Stanford who upset the number two seed their previous game or 3 Washington in the PAC-10 finals. Jerome Randle scored 24 points with a couple of ridiculous shots and Theo Robertson had 15 of his 20 in the second half in an 85-72 victory Friday night.The top-seeded Golden Bears who are now 23-9 advanced to Saturday's title game at Staples Center, home of the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers. Patrick Christopher added 16 points for the Bears, who are looking for their first league tournament title to go with their first regular-season championship in 50 years. Michael Roll scored a career-high 27 points in his final game for fifth-seeded UCLA who finish the season 14-18, which is their worst record since 2003-04. Jerime Anderson added 15. Cal made 13-of-14 free throws over the final 5:13, with Randle hitting six of his attempts which finalized their comeback victory.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Lit Circle Letter
The novel "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen is about a fifteen year old teenager named Cole Matthews, who has gotten into a lot of trouble throughout his life. He has been accused of stealing and fighting many times but this time he took it too far. He injured another student at his school by smashing his head against the sidewalk which caused him to need surgery. Soon after he gets locked up and there he has to choose between prison or an organization called Circle Justice. He decides to take the Circle Justice offer thinking that it was a joke and that he would not get anything out of it. They had a meeting and decided to send Cole to a isolated island in the middle of the ocean. On the island, Cole gets into a lot of trouble confronting the spirit bear but soon learns why he is living on this planet.
I enjoyed reading many parts of this book that involved Cole being stuck on the island. One of may favorite parts is when the spirit bear attacks Cole after he threatened it with a spear. Cole was badly injured and was fighting for his life but I think he learned a lot about life and how it was just a cycle. After reading that section, I also saw him maturing in a sense that he didn't want others to get hurt like he hurt Peter. An example is when Cole saw the baby birds. At first, he found them to be very annoying and wanted to kill them because he thought they didn't deserve to live. But when he saw the birds dead after the storm and after being injured by the bear, he realized that it was wrong for the babies to die. In the novel Cole thought to himself "The sparrows were so frail, helpless, and innocent. They hadn't deserved to die." This showed that Cole understood that killing or hurting innocent animals that have no chance of defending themselves was wrong just like what he did to Peter was wrong. Peter had no chance of fighting back and was helpless when being harshly beaten by Cole. This was my favorite part of this book and so far I have enjoyed reading it.
I enjoyed reading many parts of this book that involved Cole being stuck on the island. One of may favorite parts is when the spirit bear attacks Cole after he threatened it with a spear. Cole was badly injured and was fighting for his life but I think he learned a lot about life and how it was just a cycle. After reading that section, I also saw him maturing in a sense that he didn't want others to get hurt like he hurt Peter. An example is when Cole saw the baby birds. At first, he found them to be very annoying and wanted to kill them because he thought they didn't deserve to live. But when he saw the birds dead after the storm and after being injured by the bear, he realized that it was wrong for the babies to die. In the novel Cole thought to himself "The sparrows were so frail, helpless, and innocent. They hadn't deserved to die." This showed that Cole understood that killing or hurting innocent animals that have no chance of defending themselves was wrong just like what he did to Peter was wrong. Peter had no chance of fighting back and was helpless when being harshly beaten by Cole. This was my favorite part of this book and so far I have enjoyed reading it.
Friday, March 5, 2010
My Crazy Week
This week has been extremely stressful because I have had a lot going on lately. I have had to deal with finishing my math project, going to my basketball organization, remembering my sister's birthday, having a lot of homework, and it has been a very long week. It started on a Tuesday when my group and I decided we were going to work on our project after school. We decided to meet up at the public library and stay there until five-thirty. So I informed my dad and mom so they would know where to pick me up. It was a very efficient day and I was happy about what we finished. When we were done, I went to the front of the library and waited for either my mom or dad to pick me up. I waited for about ten minutes and they were not there so I called my mom and she was at work and could not take me home. She told me that she will call my dad to pick me up. Another ten minutes passed and my dad wasn't there so I called my mom again because my dad doesn't have a cell phone. My mom then told me she was coming home and will pick me up on the way back. I told her I would meet her around the high school but she never came. It was now very late, almost night time, so I decided to walk home. Walking home from Alameda High to Bay Farm isn't enjoyable at all and is very tiering. When I got home I still had a lot of homework to finish, was exhausted, and it was very late. I told my mom that I need to get my license fast so this won't happen again. I went on the internet a choose to take to drivers test on April 15th. I can't wait until I can finally get my license and I think I am good enough to pass the test. Getting my license and my own car will solve many problems.
A couple of days later, my group decided to meet up again to finish our project that was due the next day. We went to the same spot but this time we stayed a lot later becuse we needed to finish. This was also the day of my sister's birthday, and my basketball organization meeting so it was a very stressful day. I couldn't stay as long as my other group members becuase I had to go out for my sister's 18th. I left around seven and left my group alone to finish the project. So I went home, wished my sister a happy 18th b-day and we ordered out from Sushi House becuase I had homework to finish and a basketball meeting. But after I was done with dinner, I realized that I would not be able to go to the meeting and finish my homework in one day so I skiped the meeting since school always comes first. I apoligized to my team and found out that I have practice every Wednesday from seven to nine at night. That shedule will be a very hard one to keep up with becuase I usually have the most homework to finish on wednesdays and having practice will make it that much harder. In the end everything worked out well this week and I am very proud of our project and very happy about getting my license soon.
A couple of days later, my group decided to meet up again to finish our project that was due the next day. We went to the same spot but this time we stayed a lot later becuse we needed to finish. This was also the day of my sister's birthday, and my basketball organization meeting so it was a very stressful day. I couldn't stay as long as my other group members becuase I had to go out for my sister's 18th. I left around seven and left my group alone to finish the project. So I went home, wished my sister a happy 18th b-day and we ordered out from Sushi House becuase I had homework to finish and a basketball meeting. But after I was done with dinner, I realized that I would not be able to go to the meeting and finish my homework in one day so I skiped the meeting since school always comes first. I apoligized to my team and found out that I have practice every Wednesday from seven to nine at night. That shedule will be a very hard one to keep up with becuase I usually have the most homework to finish on wednesdays and having practice will make it that much harder. In the end everything worked out well this week and I am very proud of our project and very happy about getting my license soon.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
My Future
During this past week, I turned sixteen years old and I am very happy. For my birthday I received a stack of money because I did not know what I wanted besides a car. I had a lot of fun on that day getting a bunch of birthday wishes from my friends. Turning sixteen has made me feel more mature. I don't think of myself as a young teenager anymore because being sixteen is where I get my license, start planing out my future, and doing things that I would have never tried at fifteen. Getting to be this age has also gotten me to think about my future education. There is about two more years until I have to leave for college and I am extremely scared. I really do not want to leave all my friends and family and go off to school possibly in another state. I may have to start over my life, make new friends, and start to think about what I want to major in. Only two more years until I am a adult and I know they will go by fast.
I am about to start a new season in my Asian basketball league and I am very excited. This upcoming season will be my third year play in this organization and I finally feel like I am going to be one of the leaders. Many of our previous players have moved on to go play for a different team or to just focus on their school teams which means my brother and I will have the most experience playing in this league. I really want to see how I will do because I haven't played a game in a very long time because I quit my schools team. I think I have improved but I'm not sure, the only way to find out is to play. I am now practicing a lot in my backyard where I have a basketball hoop. I want to prove myself this year and I really want to be one of the best on the team. I have mostly worked on my shooting ability and footwork, which were my two weaknesses last season. I pretty much have my shoot down but I'm not sure about my footwork. I am also afraid if I am physically fit enough to handle all the running. I have not had a serious exercise session in a very long time and I think I am out of shape. But I will find out a way to eliminate these problems before the season starts. This organization is a traveling team that plays other organizations from San Francisco to Los Angeles which is always fun. Every year we have a trip to Los Angeles where we compete in a tournament with the top teams in California. We have not had a excellent season in the three years I have played but I think we can change that streak because we have a new coach, new players, and a whole new mentality. During this weekend, I plan to watch more of the Olympics and work on my driving again because I am very close to finally getting my license.
I am about to start a new season in my Asian basketball league and I am very excited. This upcoming season will be my third year play in this organization and I finally feel like I am going to be one of the leaders. Many of our previous players have moved on to go play for a different team or to just focus on their school teams which means my brother and I will have the most experience playing in this league. I really want to see how I will do because I haven't played a game in a very long time because I quit my schools team. I think I have improved but I'm not sure, the only way to find out is to play. I am now practicing a lot in my backyard where I have a basketball hoop. I want to prove myself this year and I really want to be one of the best on the team. I have mostly worked on my shooting ability and footwork, which were my two weaknesses last season. I pretty much have my shoot down but I'm not sure about my footwork. I am also afraid if I am physically fit enough to handle all the running. I have not had a serious exercise session in a very long time and I think I am out of shape. But I will find out a way to eliminate these problems before the season starts. This organization is a traveling team that plays other organizations from San Francisco to Los Angeles which is always fun. Every year we have a trip to Los Angeles where we compete in a tournament with the top teams in California. We have not had a excellent season in the three years I have played but I think we can change that streak because we have a new coach, new players, and a whole new mentality. During this weekend, I plan to watch more of the Olympics and work on my driving again because I am very close to finally getting my license.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Crisis Of Faith Final Draft
When I was younger, I had a crisis of faith when I had to make an important decision that involved my religion. In Elementary school my class was having a class survey on our religious affiliation. I had no idea of my family's faith and I forgot to ask my parents the previous day so I had to guess. We were going around the class asking everyone what their religious beliefs were and my teacher was writing down what we told her because she wanted to see how much students were Buddhists, Christian, Catholic, etc. So when it got to me I said I was a Buddhist hoping that I guessed right. She tallied up the number of students in each religion and we found out which religion had the most supporters in the class. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal if I got it wrong because we were probably not going to think about this ever again. But I was wrong she assigned us a huge essay on our religion explaining what we ate, what we did in our churches, and other stuff. Now I was scared and I really hoped I got it right.
I planned to go home and ask my mom if we were Buddhists and when I asked her she said we were Christians. I was surprised because I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened that day because I didn't want to tell my teacher I had made a mistake, thinking that I was going to get in trouble. I was stuck, I was either going write an essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what the consequences would be. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal like any ten year old. I later found out that it is disrespectful to lie about your religion but I still did not want to tell my teacher. I ended up writing about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone that was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.
I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with Buddhism. So my teacher asked me to stay after class. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture. When school ended, I stayed behind as my teacher had ordered me to. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.
After this experience I decided that I would like to learn more about Christianity but I did not want to go to church. So I asked my mom if she could enroll me into a Sunday school. I would go every Sunday just like church and learn about Jesus, heaven, and other stuff that involve Christianity. This program included games, movies, and plays, all relating to Christianity so we would learn about this religion and still have fun. It was also a good way to meet new friends from all over the Bay Area. But when I got older we started to have homework for it and the amount of activities decreased. After a while I got sick of it and decided to drop out. The school was great and taught me a lot about my religion, which was my goal in the first place so it was worth my time. I’m glad I had this experience with school and my life because it taught me about the type of person I am and also helped me understand Christianity.
I planned to go home and ask my mom if we were Buddhists and when I asked her she said we were Christians. I was surprised because I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened that day because I didn't want to tell my teacher I had made a mistake, thinking that I was going to get in trouble. I was stuck, I was either going write an essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what the consequences would be. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal like any ten year old. I later found out that it is disrespectful to lie about your religion but I still did not want to tell my teacher. I ended up writing about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone that was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.
I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with Buddhism. So my teacher asked me to stay after class. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture. When school ended, I stayed behind as my teacher had ordered me to. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.
After this experience I decided that I would like to learn more about Christianity but I did not want to go to church. So I asked my mom if she could enroll me into a Sunday school. I would go every Sunday just like church and learn about Jesus, heaven, and other stuff that involve Christianity. This program included games, movies, and plays, all relating to Christianity so we would learn about this religion and still have fun. It was also a good way to meet new friends from all over the Bay Area. But when I got older we started to have homework for it and the amount of activities decreased. After a while I got sick of it and decided to drop out. The school was great and taught me a lot about my religion, which was my goal in the first place so it was worth my time. I’m glad I had this experience with school and my life because it taught me about the type of person I am and also helped me understand Christianity.
Driving
I have now had my permit for four months and driving has been very exciting. It seems like I learn something new every time I practice driving. I have basically learned everything I need to know to be able to apply for my driver test for a license. But I still have to wait a couple of months before I can take the test. I think I am a pretty good driver from what I have experienced behind the wheel. I have never made a huge mistake and I always receive complements from my family and my instructor. I have only taken two lesson with my driving instructor and it is mandatory to take at least three lessons before you take the drivers test. You also need fifty hours of driving which includes ten hours during the night and you need to fill out all your hours on a chart to show you have completed it. I havent't been updating my chart but I remember all the times I drove and how long I drove. The only thing I really need to practice is parallel parking backwards. Parallel parking is probably the hardest task you have to accomplish in driving but I think I can master it if I keep on practicing. I am so excited about getting my license because getting a license will make me feel a lot more mature. Getting my license would mean I have the trust of all the people out on the road with me and they expect me to make the right decisions not doing something stupid and put our lives in jeopardy. Having a license is a huge responsibility and I think I am ready to grow up and take that responsibility to operate a vehicle safely.
Last weekend I wanted to try something new because I was bored of driving around the city. So my mom asked me if I wanted to drive on the freeway. I was surprised that she offered me the chance to drive on the highway because she is usually really critical about my driving correcting every mistake I make even if it is pointless. I have been wanting to drive on the freeway for a very long time and I didn't want to let this opportunity to pass so I accepted. So I drove home to get ready and I was on my way, this time with my whole family because we were about to visit my grandma in Stockton. When I first got on the highway, I was really scared of all the cars because they were going very fast. But after a while I got used to their speed and found out how far apart I needed to be from a car. But then I had a problem trying to stay in my lane. I guess it was because I was very nervous and the speed made the car hard to control. After twenty minutes on the freeway, I got used to it and we were off to my grandma's house which was an hour and a half drive. Driving on the freeway isn't as much fun as I thought. I went up to eight five miles per hour which was exciting but sitting down, driving straight for an hour and a half isn't fun at all. It was actually really boring. But I made it all the was safely with no problems. We hung out with my grandma for a couple of hours and my brother drove us back home. This was a good experience and after, I knew I was ready to take the final test for my license. All I need now is to wait a few months and finally get my license.
Last weekend I wanted to try something new because I was bored of driving around the city. So my mom asked me if I wanted to drive on the freeway. I was surprised that she offered me the chance to drive on the highway because she is usually really critical about my driving correcting every mistake I make even if it is pointless. I have been wanting to drive on the freeway for a very long time and I didn't want to let this opportunity to pass so I accepted. So I drove home to get ready and I was on my way, this time with my whole family because we were about to visit my grandma in Stockton. When I first got on the highway, I was really scared of all the cars because they were going very fast. But after a while I got used to their speed and found out how far apart I needed to be from a car. But then I had a problem trying to stay in my lane. I guess it was because I was very nervous and the speed made the car hard to control. After twenty minutes on the freeway, I got used to it and we were off to my grandma's house which was an hour and a half drive. Driving on the freeway isn't as much fun as I thought. I went up to eight five miles per hour which was exciting but sitting down, driving straight for an hour and a half isn't fun at all. It was actually really boring. But I made it all the was safely with no problems. We hung out with my grandma for a couple of hours and my brother drove us back home. This was a good experience and after, I knew I was ready to take the final test for my license. All I need now is to wait a few months and finally get my license.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Four Day Weekend
During the four day weekend my family and I planed to go to Tahoe for skiing. But we are unable to because my dad was not able to get a day of from work. It sucks, but at least I have some time to catch up on my school work and get a head start. I will also be hanging out with friends, watching the winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and the National Basketball Association aka the NBA's all star weekend. I look forward to completing all those tasks and looking at the good things I can accomplish instead of thinking about how much fun I would have had if I went skiing. Even though my plans didn't work out to what I thought, it will still be a lot of fun because their is no school for four days and I can do plenty of things during the break.
The Winter Olympics will be very exciting to watch because it includes snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating which are all very fun to watch. I am looking forward to the snowboarding event because I love watching boarders trow out their best tricks giving it their all trying to get the gold. Of course I will be rooting four the Americans because its our country. The All star game will also be fun to check out because it has the celebrity all star game, three point contest, dunk contest, skills challenge, the rookie vs. Sophomore game, and the all star game which includes the best players in the world gathering together to play one big game. I watch this event every year because I am a huge basketball fan and enjoy watching my favorite players participate. My favorite event will have to be the dunk contest because I love to watch players show us what they can do and how high they can jump. Hanging out with friends is always fun as well. So I am packed this weekend and will probably forget about my possible trip to Tahoe very shortly.
This four day weekend will be very enjoyable because of all the events going on around the world and just the fact that we do not have school for four days is amazing even if there is nothing to do. I will be catching up on my missing homework, trying to get my grades up for the upcoming progress reports. I will try to accomplish all the tasks I have mentioned before and will also try to work on my driving even though I think I am good enough to apply for my license but I still have of wait a couple of months. The four day weekend did not turn out as I planed, but I will still have a lot of fun enjoying everything that is happening with the world.
The Winter Olympics will be very exciting to watch because it includes snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating which are all very fun to watch. I am looking forward to the snowboarding event because I love watching boarders trow out their best tricks giving it their all trying to get the gold. Of course I will be rooting four the Americans because its our country. The All star game will also be fun to check out because it has the celebrity all star game, three point contest, dunk contest, skills challenge, the rookie vs. Sophomore game, and the all star game which includes the best players in the world gathering together to play one big game. I watch this event every year because I am a huge basketball fan and enjoy watching my favorite players participate. My favorite event will have to be the dunk contest because I love to watch players show us what they can do and how high they can jump. Hanging out with friends is always fun as well. So I am packed this weekend and will probably forget about my possible trip to Tahoe very shortly.
This four day weekend will be very enjoyable because of all the events going on around the world and just the fact that we do not have school for four days is amazing even if there is nothing to do. I will be catching up on my missing homework, trying to get my grades up for the upcoming progress reports. I will try to accomplish all the tasks I have mentioned before and will also try to work on my driving even though I think I am good enough to apply for my license but I still have of wait a couple of months. The four day weekend did not turn out as I planed, but I will still have a lot of fun enjoying everything that is happening with the world.
Friday, February 5, 2010
A Crisis of Faith
When I was younger, I had a crisis of faith when I had to make an important decision that involved my religion. In Elementary school my class was having a class survey on what religion we were. I had no idea what my family believed in and I forgot to ask my parents the previous day so I had to take a guess. We were going around the class asking everyone what their religious beliefs were and my teacher was writing down what we told her because she wanted to see how much students were Buddhists, Christian, Catholic, etc. So when it got to me I said I was a Buddhist hoping that I guessed right. She tallied up the number of students in each religion and we found out which religion had the most supporters in the class. I din,t think it was that big of a deal if I got it wrong because we were probably not going to think about this ever again. But I was wrong she assigned us a huge essay on our religion explaining what we ate, what we did in our churches, and other stuff. Now I was scared and I really hoped I got it right.
I planned to go home, ask my mom if we were Buddhists. So when she got home from work, I asked her and she said we were Christians, surprised I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened today and because I was shy, I didn't want to tell my teacher I made a mistake thinking that I was going to get in trouble. So I was stuck, I was either going write and essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what consequences I may receive but having more information to write my essay. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal. It is wrong and disrespectful to lie about your religion but I didn't want to tell my teacher. So I decided to write about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone else who was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.
I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with that religion. So my teacher asked me to stay after class to talk about what I should do. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture that might be bad. When school ended, I stayed back as my teacher ordered me to hoping she would take it easy. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.
I planned to go home, ask my mom if we were Buddhists. So when she got home from work, I asked her and she said we were Christians, surprised I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened today and because I was shy, I didn't want to tell my teacher I made a mistake thinking that I was going to get in trouble. So I was stuck, I was either going write and essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what consequences I may receive but having more information to write my essay. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal. It is wrong and disrespectful to lie about your religion but I didn't want to tell my teacher. So I decided to write about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone else who was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.
I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with that religion. So my teacher asked me to stay after class to talk about what I should do. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture that might be bad. When school ended, I stayed back as my teacher ordered me to hoping she would take it easy. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.
Looking Forward
I am very excited about the upcoming four day weekend we are having next week and if my plans do not change, I expect to have plenty of fun. The four day weekend will be amazing and on top of that, we have back to back four day weeks which is also good because the less school we have the better. I just want next week to be over fast so I can get my mind off of school, rest, and have fun. I'm trying to not get too excited because I still have this weekend to look forward to and I still have school. During this weekend I will be watching the Superbowl rooting for the New Orleans Saint to win over the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams are very good and I respect them a lot but after what the city of New Orleans had to deal with because of Hurricane Katrina, its great to see how far they have come. And if the Saints win the Superbowl, the city will be one step closer to getting back to the way it was before the disastrous situation. This weekend will be fun but I will still be thinking about the four day weekend we will have next week.
During the four day weekend, my family and I have plans to go skiing for the second time this year and this time I might give snowboarding another chance. The last time I tried to snowboard, I had a difficult time, falling down a lot and was very frustrated with my performance. But now that I am older and more coordinated, I think I can do a lot better. But skiing will always be a lot more fun for me because I am good at it and can go on the hardest courses having a lot of fun not be afraid that I might get hurt. And with snowboarding, I will only be able to go on the easier slopes because I know I am not good at all and I need to practice to get better. We are going to stay at a very good hotel that has many activities that we can do including bowling, an arcade, bumper cars, bungee jumping, a movie theater, laser tag, mini golf, and a swimming pool but it will be too cold to swim. So when we are done snowboarding/skiing we will still have a lot of fun at the hotel. My family and I are expecting to stay at Lake Tahoe for three days, two nights which means we will have a lot of time to do everything we had in mind. We will be leaving on Saturday and coming back on Monday so I have to finish my homework on Friday or bring with me. The upcoming four day weekend will be very fun and I can't wait until we get there.
During the four day weekend, my family and I have plans to go skiing for the second time this year and this time I might give snowboarding another chance. The last time I tried to snowboard, I had a difficult time, falling down a lot and was very frustrated with my performance. But now that I am older and more coordinated, I think I can do a lot better. But skiing will always be a lot more fun for me because I am good at it and can go on the hardest courses having a lot of fun not be afraid that I might get hurt. And with snowboarding, I will only be able to go on the easier slopes because I know I am not good at all and I need to practice to get better. We are going to stay at a very good hotel that has many activities that we can do including bowling, an arcade, bumper cars, bungee jumping, a movie theater, laser tag, mini golf, and a swimming pool but it will be too cold to swim. So when we are done snowboarding/skiing we will still have a lot of fun at the hotel. My family and I are expecting to stay at Lake Tahoe for three days, two nights which means we will have a lot of time to do everything we had in mind. We will be leaving on Saturday and coming back on Monday so I have to finish my homework on Friday or bring with me. The upcoming four day weekend will be very fun and I can't wait until we get there.
Friday, January 29, 2010
My Week
My week started off just like any other one, going to school, hanging out with friends, going home, doing homework, and sleeping. It seemed like it was going to be another long and painful week. Mostly because of the report cards that were being sent home and not knowing how well I did that semester. But in the middle of the week my mother surprised me with an I-Touch. I was nagging about how my old I-pod was too old and I needed a new one. So I guess she decided that she will buy me one and give it me when school was over. That night, I was constantly playing with my new I-Touch, downloading new applications which took up most of the day. I barely finished my homework that night because I had so much fun testing out my I-Touch.
Later in the week I found out that the basketball coach that was the main reason that I quit was suspended from the team for one week and our new coach would be last years coach that was very good. I know for a fact that if this coach was the JV coach the whole year I wouldn't have quit. No matter how much he makes us run, how hard he pushes us, I know that he is a far better coach than the one that is now suspended and might possibly get fired. He was suspended for getting into an argument with a player and a varsity coach for no reason. I found this out during school and I was happy even though it is non of my business because I am no longer on the team and I don't think I want to go back. But I'm happy for the players on the team because they now have a very good coach that is fair to everyone and knows how to use players to the best of their abilities.
This week started off boring and frustrating but as the days past, it got a lot more interesting and enjoyable. I had a lot of fun this week and I hope to have many more school weeks with the same outcome. During the weekend, I hope to work on my driving so I can be ready to take the test for my license in April. I am very excited and I think I am ready because of all the good complements I have received from my instructor and my family. This week as been entertaining, but now its over and I need to focus on trying to make next week just as fun.
Later in the week I found out that the basketball coach that was the main reason that I quit was suspended from the team for one week and our new coach would be last years coach that was very good. I know for a fact that if this coach was the JV coach the whole year I wouldn't have quit. No matter how much he makes us run, how hard he pushes us, I know that he is a far better coach than the one that is now suspended and might possibly get fired. He was suspended for getting into an argument with a player and a varsity coach for no reason. I found this out during school and I was happy even though it is non of my business because I am no longer on the team and I don't think I want to go back. But I'm happy for the players on the team because they now have a very good coach that is fair to everyone and knows how to use players to the best of their abilities.
This week started off boring and frustrating but as the days past, it got a lot more interesting and enjoyable. I had a lot of fun this week and I hope to have many more school weeks with the same outcome. During the weekend, I hope to work on my driving so I can be ready to take the test for my license in April. I am very excited and I think I am ready because of all the good complements I have received from my instructor and my family. This week as been entertaining, but now its over and I need to focus on trying to make next week just as fun.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
English Final
1. Explain one or two ways your writing has improved over the semester. Include a few examples from your posts over time, with analysis, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.
Over the semester, my writing has improved a lot. I have improved in the length, breaking down, grammar, and my ability to write with confidence. If you look at my first blog of the year, you can see that it was not as long as the ones I have today. The length has not always been consistent but there were reasons for that, that I can't explain. But overall, my writing has increased in length since my first couple of blogs because I started to like writing blogs every week. It helped me improve my writing and let me share my thoughts and feelings about certain things. My blog was my weekly activity that I would go to, to share what had happened to me that week. In the beginning my blogs were basically about sports but as the year went on, I started writing about more personal experiences and how they have influenced my life. For example my blogs from the end of September to the middle of October. All those blogs were about personal experiences that have had a big part in my life. After a couple of personal blog posts, I started to get more comments that were very supportive of my writing. I decided that I was going to write about my personal life every week. But then I ran out of ideas to write about and needed something new. So I combined my life experiences and my sports experiences and wrote one blogs that related to both. That's what I am writing about today and it is still working well for me. These blogs are probably my best so far in the year and are the most improved. I now am not making the same mistake I did at the beginning of the year in grammar, and always remember to spell check. I am also cutting down on my redundant sentences and I am a lot more confident in my writing ability because of all the helpful comments I received throughout the year.
This semester has been big for me. I now have confidence in my writing and can write without feeling self conscious about what other people may think. Blogs have let me share my thoughts about my life and my athletic career. I also can write knowing that I will not make many mistakes in grammar and spelling. Finally, blogs have made my writing a lot more smooth, as in talking about one subject and not constantly going back a forth.
2. Choose one of your posts. (Your favorite? Your least favorite? The one that surprises you the most when you reread it? Any one you want to pick.) Analyze it in detail, with quotes etc.
The blog that surprised me the most was the blog on September 23, 2009. At first, I just thought it was just a regular blog post not much better than my others. I started writing that blog with the intent of getting it over with and finishing it so I can have the rest of the week off. As I got deeper into my blog , I started to get more into it and was very concentrated, thinking about what to write next. In the end, I did not think that it was my best blog, but I knew it was good. So I went over it, to correct any mistakes I could have made and published my blog. I went over it once more to see if it reached the expectation in length and was done. The next day, I went to school, had a long day and came home to check on my blog as usual. Every time I post a blog, I like to check it the next day to see if I have any comments. I saw that there was one comment on that blog and it was from my teacher. I went to see what it was about and it said " Jonathan, without perhaps realizing it, you've actually done a pretty good job of drafting a college entrance essay here. What it does is show your dedication, determination, and hard work over a long period of time...these are exactly the types of qualities you'll want to show when you apply for college. It's clearly organized and has lots of good details, too, so you simultaneously demonstrate that you are a good writer. So, well done." This comment made me feel very good inside and surprised me a lot. I am very glad I had this experience.
The blog I am talking about in the previous paragraph is about, how sports have influenced my life in a huge way. I started off listing, what attributes playing sports have given me and how it has made me a better student and made my life more enjoyable. For example, I said it has given me confidence, determination, focus, and attentiveness. Traits that will lead me to success. I believe if I continue to have these traits, I will be extremely successful in life. After, I started to write about how I was introduced to sports and how much fun I had when I started to play. I also start to talk about possible not playing because I was scared to socialize with other kids my age. But, I decided to give it a try and it worked out in the end. Finally, I concluded my blog entry by telling everyone why I decided to write about my blog because I felt like everyone needed to know how my sports career started and how it has help my life in man ways. I also tried to influence people to keep doing what they love by saying "If you have something that you enjoy doing, stick to it no matter how hard it may be, in the end it will all pay off if you really enjoy doing it." I think this quote really explains my journey through life the most. Even though playing sports was rough at the beginning, I never gave up and kept on striving to be the best possible. I also think this quote influenced me to be the person I am today. I rarely start on something, then give up, I have to keep doing it until I can't anymore.
7. What have you learned from your struggles with writer's block? Why do you tend to get stuck? How do you tend to get unstuck? Notice any patterns?
From my struggles with writers block, I have learned that it is not very hard for someone to get out of it. Someone can get out of it just as easy as they can get into it. As long as that person has a good way to get past it. I learned a unique way that my teacher has thought me to get out of writers block. If I get stuck writing about something, I can just start on a different blog, and if the new blog works out to be better, I will keep it. But if it doesn't, I might find out what to write next in my old post. This device has helped me through many of my blogs and is a great way to get out of writers block. I also learned that if I am very concentrated in my writing and have a good format on how to write my blog, I never get caught up in writers block. When I am concentrated, no one can bother me, I can't watch t.v. and I can't eat until I'm done. In my opinion this is the best way to write your blog fast and not get into writers block. I also figured out that the reason I get stuck in writers block is because I day dream and my mind wanders off about something that had happened that day or other stuff. It is extremely easy for me to have my mind wander off and not think about what I am writing about but I am trying to keep that from not happening. I haven't noticed any patterns in my blogs that have gotten me into writers block. I usually get this annoying struggle when I run out of ideas to write about and can't continue. I know it gets very frustrating and you want to stop when you don't know what to write about next but its not that hard to get rid of.I use my method that my English teacher thought me to help me get through that difficult time. Writers block is an devastating process that everyone has to get through but with the correct steps, it will become much easier to get past.
Over the semester, my writing has improved a lot. I have improved in the length, breaking down, grammar, and my ability to write with confidence. If you look at my first blog of the year, you can see that it was not as long as the ones I have today. The length has not always been consistent but there were reasons for that, that I can't explain. But overall, my writing has increased in length since my first couple of blogs because I started to like writing blogs every week. It helped me improve my writing and let me share my thoughts and feelings about certain things. My blog was my weekly activity that I would go to, to share what had happened to me that week. In the beginning my blogs were basically about sports but as the year went on, I started writing about more personal experiences and how they have influenced my life. For example my blogs from the end of September to the middle of October. All those blogs were about personal experiences that have had a big part in my life. After a couple of personal blog posts, I started to get more comments that were very supportive of my writing. I decided that I was going to write about my personal life every week. But then I ran out of ideas to write about and needed something new. So I combined my life experiences and my sports experiences and wrote one blogs that related to both. That's what I am writing about today and it is still working well for me. These blogs are probably my best so far in the year and are the most improved. I now am not making the same mistake I did at the beginning of the year in grammar, and always remember to spell check. I am also cutting down on my redundant sentences and I am a lot more confident in my writing ability because of all the helpful comments I received throughout the year.
This semester has been big for me. I now have confidence in my writing and can write without feeling self conscious about what other people may think. Blogs have let me share my thoughts about my life and my athletic career. I also can write knowing that I will not make many mistakes in grammar and spelling. Finally, blogs have made my writing a lot more smooth, as in talking about one subject and not constantly going back a forth.
2. Choose one of your posts. (Your favorite? Your least favorite? The one that surprises you the most when you reread it? Any one you want to pick.) Analyze it in detail, with quotes etc.
The blog that surprised me the most was the blog on September 23, 2009. At first, I just thought it was just a regular blog post not much better than my others. I started writing that blog with the intent of getting it over with and finishing it so I can have the rest of the week off. As I got deeper into my blog , I started to get more into it and was very concentrated, thinking about what to write next. In the end, I did not think that it was my best blog, but I knew it was good. So I went over it, to correct any mistakes I could have made and published my blog. I went over it once more to see if it reached the expectation in length and was done. The next day, I went to school, had a long day and came home to check on my blog as usual. Every time I post a blog, I like to check it the next day to see if I have any comments. I saw that there was one comment on that blog and it was from my teacher. I went to see what it was about and it said " Jonathan, without perhaps realizing it, you've actually done a pretty good job of drafting a college entrance essay here. What it does is show your dedication, determination, and hard work over a long period of time...these are exactly the types of qualities you'll want to show when you apply for college. It's clearly organized and has lots of good details, too, so you simultaneously demonstrate that you are a good writer. So, well done." This comment made me feel very good inside and surprised me a lot. I am very glad I had this experience.
The blog I am talking about in the previous paragraph is about, how sports have influenced my life in a huge way. I started off listing, what attributes playing sports have given me and how it has made me a better student and made my life more enjoyable. For example, I said it has given me confidence, determination, focus, and attentiveness. Traits that will lead me to success. I believe if I continue to have these traits, I will be extremely successful in life. After, I started to write about how I was introduced to sports and how much fun I had when I started to play. I also start to talk about possible not playing because I was scared to socialize with other kids my age. But, I decided to give it a try and it worked out in the end. Finally, I concluded my blog entry by telling everyone why I decided to write about my blog because I felt like everyone needed to know how my sports career started and how it has help my life in man ways. I also tried to influence people to keep doing what they love by saying "If you have something that you enjoy doing, stick to it no matter how hard it may be, in the end it will all pay off if you really enjoy doing it." I think this quote really explains my journey through life the most. Even though playing sports was rough at the beginning, I never gave up and kept on striving to be the best possible. I also think this quote influenced me to be the person I am today. I rarely start on something, then give up, I have to keep doing it until I can't anymore.
7. What have you learned from your struggles with writer's block? Why do you tend to get stuck? How do you tend to get unstuck? Notice any patterns?
From my struggles with writers block, I have learned that it is not very hard for someone to get out of it. Someone can get out of it just as easy as they can get into it. As long as that person has a good way to get past it. I learned a unique way that my teacher has thought me to get out of writers block. If I get stuck writing about something, I can just start on a different blog, and if the new blog works out to be better, I will keep it. But if it doesn't, I might find out what to write next in my old post. This device has helped me through many of my blogs and is a great way to get out of writers block. I also learned that if I am very concentrated in my writing and have a good format on how to write my blog, I never get caught up in writers block. When I am concentrated, no one can bother me, I can't watch t.v. and I can't eat until I'm done. In my opinion this is the best way to write your blog fast and not get into writers block. I also figured out that the reason I get stuck in writers block is because I day dream and my mind wanders off about something that had happened that day or other stuff. It is extremely easy for me to have my mind wander off and not think about what I am writing about but I am trying to keep that from not happening. I haven't noticed any patterns in my blogs that have gotten me into writers block. I usually get this annoying struggle when I run out of ideas to write about and can't continue. I know it gets very frustrating and you want to stop when you don't know what to write about next but its not that hard to get rid of.I use my method that my English teacher thought me to help me get through that difficult time. Writers block is an devastating process that everyone has to get through but with the correct steps, it will become much easier to get past.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Quickwrite
1. Writing with my peers will help my writing in many ways including writers block, giving me more ideas, and helping me choose what I will write about. When I get stuck trying to write an essay, I will turn to my peers for help and see if they can help me get through it. Writers block is very tough to get past, but with friends helping me out, telling me what I should do next, I believe that I will get through this problem with no problem at all. Writing in groups will also give me more ideas. We can have a discussion about what topic we should write about next. And if we want to write about something different from our group but don't know what to write we can get personal help. We can also brainstorm a bunch of ideas and we can just choose from a wide range of topics.
2. I can help contribute to my writing group in many ways including helping proof read their essays and making suggestions if they need it. I can give them everything they can give me and possible more if they need it. Writing groups is helpful for everyone and cannot be bad. I can help them get past writers block and suggest new topics if they don't know what to write. I may also be able to make grammar corrections and spelling mistakes if I can find them.
3. I would much rather work with friends than people who are writing the same topic as me because writ ting with friends will just make that much more fun. Rather than possible sitting in a group of people you don't know awkwardly. I also will not be afraid to ask them a question, tell them I'm stuck, or ask how to spell a word without feeling stupid. Writing with a group of people you might not know won't be as successful because there might just be a group of students writing silently to afraid to ask for help. But writing with the people who have the same topic as you can be helpful aswell because you can ask a question about the topic and they will know what you are talking about. Writing with friends that are writing the same topic as you is the best way to go becuase you can ask questions, still stay focused and still have plenty of fun writing.
4. Rules that should be enforced in a writing group is to hold off on the put downs, saying that someone is stupid or make them feel taht way. Another rule should be, no one could reject reading someones writing and read and correct another students paper to the best of your abilities. If someone needs help with writers block or something else everyone should try to help that person out until they don't need any help. Rules are very important to helping a writing group be extremely successful and enjoyable.
2. I can help contribute to my writing group in many ways including helping proof read their essays and making suggestions if they need it. I can give them everything they can give me and possible more if they need it. Writing groups is helpful for everyone and cannot be bad. I can help them get past writers block and suggest new topics if they don't know what to write. I may also be able to make grammar corrections and spelling mistakes if I can find them.
3. I would much rather work with friends than people who are writing the same topic as me because writ ting with friends will just make that much more fun. Rather than possible sitting in a group of people you don't know awkwardly. I also will not be afraid to ask them a question, tell them I'm stuck, or ask how to spell a word without feeling stupid. Writing with a group of people you might not know won't be as successful because there might just be a group of students writing silently to afraid to ask for help. But writing with the people who have the same topic as you can be helpful aswell because you can ask a question about the topic and they will know what you are talking about. Writing with friends that are writing the same topic as you is the best way to go becuase you can ask questions, still stay focused and still have plenty of fun writing.
4. Rules that should be enforced in a writing group is to hold off on the put downs, saying that someone is stupid or make them feel taht way. Another rule should be, no one could reject reading someones writing and read and correct another students paper to the best of your abilities. If someone needs help with writers block or something else everyone should try to help that person out until they don't need any help. Rules are very important to helping a writing group be extremely successful and enjoyable.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My Career
I recently decided to quit my schools basketball team. I came to this decision because of many different things. I wasn't getting the amount play time I thought I deserved and I was frustrated. For almost every game I would sit on the bench the whole game not getting even one minute on the floor. This got me very mad which then caused my grades to slip. So when winter break came I had to make a decision, to stay on the team and not play at l or quit and focus on school. It was an easy decision, why would I stay on a team where the coach doesn't let me play a minute. So when school started I had made my final decision to quit but didn't tell my coach. I did not tell him because I felt like I wasn't part of the team when I was on the bench so I thought he would care. It has been four days since I quit and I still have not heard or seen him. So I guess he doesn't mind me being on the team and I don't care. My life has been good these past couple of day and I have noticed an improvement in my grades. I don't think I will ever come back to the team this year but mabe next year I will give it a shot at making the varsity squad. This was one of my easier decisions but I still love the sport. I don't really know what caused me to quit the team other than the coaches. I am still going to play the sport I loved the most with a leauge I joined in the past. But I am wondering if U ever watt play sports for this school again. I have seen what it could do to my grades and I do not want to relive that moment of failure. I don' t know if I will play basketball or even football for this school for the rest of my high school experience. This will be an extremely hard decision I will have to make within the next year and I will spend a lot if time comparing the pros and cons of playing sports for my school. I know I will not get into college because of sports. So I know I have to focus on my grades for the future. But sports are just so fun to do and I don't want to give it up. So this might as well be the toughest decision of my life so far.
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