Semester Final.

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 post I'm going to choose is my post Dear John monthly review. I chose this blog post because I think this is the the post where I actually went in depth about what I am talking and writing about. This is my second monthly book review that I had done for English. This book had questions that were actually at the end of this book. It makes you go in depth about the book and makes you look at things in a different perspective.

This is the second blog that I actually used a quote from the book. Well, the first uses of quotes were for this book too, but the lit circle letter.

The thing that surprised me when I read this was that I didn't sound so childish. I didn't so like a professor either, but I like how this post actually turned out. I think the reason I did so well on this post was that the book was a romance novel. I really like romance novels. No matter what, romance novels are so much easier to read for me, as opposed to the books I read later on, and before Dear John. Bastard Out of Carolina was a very disturbing and depressing book. Ending Slavery was a shocking book. I liked those book, but not as much as I liked Dear John itself.



How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?


Having a blog was definately different. I had to write every week. But I like it. It helps me with my writing. Blogging has changed the way I write now, and the way I type. I remember, I used to not capitalize my "I's" and used the word in the wrong places. I wrote how I usually write when I'm talking to a friend, or something. Now, I have been watching how I write. I actually capitalize my "I's" and know the difference between "you're" and "your."

The things I read has influence the way I write in many ways. If i see someone write really really good, it makes me want to write just as good as them, but if they haven't written really carefully, then it makes me write carelessly too. Over times, I have often thought that my writings were not good enough. I have always thought my posts sounds so childish, as if, some kid from elementary school was writing this. It was not a great feeling. As time went on, I started noticing changes. I'm not sure if it was that I was actually improving or that I was just viewing my writing in a different approach.

I know that most of the times, I don't know what to write, but once I have something to talk about, I think that I could write about it forever. But unless it is a really good topic, I wont even think about writing about it. That is one of the problems I have.

I think I might be writing more on the blog in the future. Next year, it's going to be so weird, because this year, we did most of our works of the computer. Next year, we are going to have to start doing our work by hand again. Hopefully we start doing our homework and everything more often. I don't think our teacher would be as chill as Sutherland is now.

Explain one or two ways your writing has improved (or not) over the semester. Include a few examples from your posts over time, with analysis and links to the original posts, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.
For the second semester only: If you want, you can reflect on improvements you've noticed over just the second semester, the entire year, or even multiple years if you have examples of your writing from the more distant past.

One of the ways that my writing has improved is that last year, my English teacher, Ms. Rudd, had helped us write our essays. Well, more like she basically wrote our essays. She gave us most of the sentences and our thesis to write about our papers. Then she would tell us how to write essays. She lets you try it out first, checks if we have done it right. If not, she helps us out, and tells us how to make it better. I think having her class last year has helped me do much better this year all together.

I remember our essays, she basically did them for us. But there were some parts that we had to do them. She gave us topics to write on, then she told us to write a two sentence summary that summarizes the whole story but not detailed. When we didnt do them right, she gives us one.

We did a lot of annotating in that class too. We had lots of pages from the book Romeo and Juliet to read, then she helped us annotate what they were talking about and how they were feeling at the moment. It helped us understand the book more.

There were lots of changes in the way I write, also. For example, this year, I had to start breaking paragraph up at places. Last year, she told us where we were supposed to break our paragraph. On Ms. Rudd's essays, she gave us specific details to write and talk about. She told us what goes on each paragraphs. This year, I had to actually think about where the paragraph should be. If you look at some of my blog posts from the beginning of the school year, you will see that I wrote the whole blog in one big paragraph. For example, Statement Of Purpose, this post about lying, rain, and my phone. Now, I'm starting to separate my posts.

Monthly review: Ending Slavery

Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves by Kevin Bales is a book about the modern slavery happening around the world and how we can end slavery.

Kevin Bales's purpose in writing things book is to reach out to people that are still so ignorant about slavery and the ones that think that slavery isn't happening anymore. He wants to end slavery, We all do. He tells us that one alone can help. He also explains how there are antislavery movements around the world. He wants us to really think about how slavery is affecting the world. The things we have bought might have came from slaves' work. They don't get paid with anything, but we pay their slaveholders tons of money for those products

There are people around the world who are helping free slaves. Some of them are even former slaves. They have been through the slavery and don't want to see others suffer the way they did.

There are lots of ways that even we can help. We can donate. This website Shows you how much it costs for what. You can also donate throught this site. The lowest is $14, which is for school books, a uniform, and a satchel. This money could pay for a former slave to go to school. We spend at least $14 every week anyways, why not give it up for a good cause. Who said you had to do it all by yourself? You can split it or even ask around, like we did for Haiti. If every kid donates at least a dollar, we probably could have more than 2,000 dollars. That could help in lots of ways.

Without the wasting moral disease of slavery, our ethical dilemas diminish as well. Today many of us are troubled by the ugly fact of slavery in our lives. But imagine never haing that pang of doubt when you buy something you like, never having to wonder "whose freedom was stolen to make this?" Imagine never having to spoil the enjoyment of that selicious truffle in your mouth with the thought of slave chile who harvested cocoa for your treat. Ending slavery won't end crime, but it will mean things will be stiolen, not lives.

My friend doesnt eat anything made by Hershey's because she told me that there were child labor. But there are people that don't care if there is child labor going on. They don't give a shit and not thin twice about it. I think that if enough people try to stand up for this, maybe a huge number of people don't buy hershey's, then maybe they are going to have to do something about it.

In lots of places, young girls are tricked into sex slavery. In places like Nepal and India. In Nepal, since there are families living in poverty, if a person comes and offers a kid a job to their parents, lying about working in the city. If one person can work in a family, then that could mean that they can have a little more money, which means have food or even have an education. Before leaving, the slave trafficker might give the family a little money, making up excuses about how they pay you in the beginning of their working period then more later. Then, before you know it. they have just sold their child into slavery.

Bales states that lack of education and poverty is one of the main causes of slavery. It is becuase if you are very poor and living in poverty, you cannot send your child to school, therefore they will not be educated. If they arent educated, they will not understand that there are people out there that do things like human trafficking. When you are in poverty, you don't have anything of your own. When you are a slave, you have protection, and you get to eat a little to survive, so many slaves that were freed went back to their slave masters.

There are lots of good in the world, too. There are people helping slaves out, and freeing them. There has always been good guys from the start. There was the Underground Railroad, where slaves escaped from.

Yesterday, when I was doing my research paper for my history, when I can came across this website. The title was the first thing that caught my eyes. As I read this, I realized Anuradha Koirala a true hero. She is helping out so many girls and she never says no to anyone. They have their own website.

She and a bunch of other survivors have loads to do in their parts. They go around villages to villages to educate the villagers about sex trafficking. They have lots of people on the border of Nepali/India. They are patroling and they rescue on average of 4 nepali girls a day. Four girls a day! That means they save on average of 1460 a whole year! Every life is precious.

Kevin Bales is lives Washington DC. Kevin Bales is President of Free the Slaves, the US sister organization of Anti-Slavery International (the world’s oldest human rights organization), and Professor of Sociology at Roehampton University in London. I got this information from here. He wrote this book after he wrote Disposable People , which is also about mordern slavery. That book is about the slavery happening, while this book is about how we can end slavery once and for all.

This book is amazing. It gives you the inside story first-hand. There are stories about the slaves and even the Ashrams. Around the world, There are millions of slavery still hapening. We need to free those slaves. No one should be held against their will. No one should have to suffer. Some parts of the slavery I am familiar with, like girls sold into prostitute, and sex slavery, becuase growing up, everywhere, we were warned about this. There were tv shows and movies telling us not to leave with a stranger and stuff.

John Locke

Background:
I, John Locke, was born in the year 1632. I was born in Bristle, England to a Puritan family. My father was an attorney. He was part of the parliamentary army in the fight against the monarch during the English Civil War. I am a protestant. My father wanted me to become a minister, but instead, I studied medicines. I was a student at Oxford University. John Owen was the first to introduce me to the idea of freedom of religion. French Philosopher and Mathematician, Rene Descartes' writing influenced me truly. He proclaimed that all men can reason. I escaped to Holland in 1682 due to my ideas threatening the king's authority. I returned after the parliament’s authority had been respected and the Bill Of Rights had been accepted. Then I die in 1704.
Views On Human Nature & Society
I believe that people have the ability to reason. I write, "The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which [treats] everyone [equally]. Reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind...that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, or possessions." I believe that people have what it takes to govern themselves and to look after others. People should have the freedom of religion and the rights to citizens.
Views On Government
I support the monarch. I do not believe that God chose a bunch of people to rule the countries. They key job of the government is to protect the right to life, the right to freedom, and the right to property. These rights belong to all people, which is absolute. I believe there should be three equal branches of governments, so that one branch doesn't try to have all the power. I think if any of these governments abuse their power, the people have the right to rebel and form a new government. My idea inspired the founders of new democracy, which we know as the United States Constitution.
Answer the Debate Qs
1)I believe humans are naturally good and rational. They have the one absolute important thing, reason. They can compromise, settle their differences, and eventually come up with a solution. Naturally, no one is bad. For example, if you are having an argument with someone, and you use reasoning to settle that argument, it will most likely work because if you reason with them, then you can hear both sides of the story and come up with a compromise that benefits both you and that other person.
6) I believe humans can process . They can improve themselves and their societies. Through compromising and reasoning, they can learn a lot more about other things and people They have the ability to understand each other, which makes communication a lot easier.
7) Yes, humans can be trusted to govern themselves because of their natural abilities to reason and they can settle their differences by seeking a middle ground and compromising. Humans can be trusted to look after one another. They can take care of someone else other than themselves too. That gives a reason that humans can be trusted o govern themselves, they can take care of others.
8) The best type of government is the monarch because it is ruled my a king or a queen whose powers are limited and the rights of the people are respected. It isn’t all about the kings and the queens, it gives the people some freedoms and it isn’t al about the people either. It has limits on both sides.

Lit Circle letter 3

Its amazing how its so easy to point fingers at others, but when it comes to you, you just cant do it. This book talks about how much there are slavery going on everwhere. When we read it, its so easy to say "Oh, it's not our problem, its not happenning near me, its not affecting me." But we are so ignorant of what is actually happenning right under our noses.

With a case like Reina's, the community of San Diego knew they had a problem.
Like citizens of many American cities, San Diegans had a hard time saying,
"There is slavery in our town."

No one wants something like this to happen. But I'm sure that slavery is happenning around us. There is a possibility that even in Alameda, or the Bay Area, there are slavery happenning. As much as no one wants to admit this, we all have to admit it. It is the first step to ending slavery.

"After the shock of finding that they had slavery in the prduct chain of
their cocoa, the chocolate compinies scrambled for answers. Forward movement
showed, however, by the fact that the biggest of these companies, Hershey, Mars,
and Nestle, are fiecely competitive. Because they control so much market, they
are also nervous about ever being accusedof price-fixing or violating antitrust
laws. Some of these companies actually had rules that none of their employees
should ever be in a room alone with a person from another company."

It's crazy how much trouble people will put up with just so that others wont find out what they have been doing. I'm sure it is the same thing with slave owners. Do they make it seem like everything is alright? How do they do that? Like this rule above, wouldn't it sound or look suspicious?

This book is really really good. I can't believe this is the last Lit Circle Letter for the school year.

Rules of Love

There aren't much rules in relationships today. Some of the most important "rule" is to not lie or cheat. Both of the partners should be committed in the relationship. As opposed to the video we watched, if a guy/girl asks you out, it most likely means be their girlfriend/boyfriend. It doesn't necessarily mean go out on dates with one guy one day and then go out with another guy another day. It basically means go "steady" with one guy. There are some cultural rules of love out here though. In some cultural, you can't have sex before marriage, girls can't have boyfriends, can't date anyone outside your religion, or even in some countries, you can marry more than one person at a time. In the United States, you can't have more than one husband/wife at a time.

Back in the days, guys were the ones that asked girls out. They were the ones that had to pay for everything. Now whoever wants to pay, pays. It doesnt matter. You can even share it. You could pay seperatly if you wanted to. Back than, guys would have to go and pick up the girl at her house, then meet her parents. Now, thats not really how it goes. You can decide to go somewhere and meet up there.

Well, "nice guys" are expected to be very respectful towards the girl, and not try to take advantage of them. "Nice girls" are not supposed to cheat or lie. They are supposed to be very kind or something. They arent supposed to have many boyfriends.

As far as consequences go, I think that the girl would probably get bitched at or have people talk shit. She would be called a slut or something. But when it comes to guys, if a guy fucks a girl, its seen as a good thing. But if a girl loses it, she is seen as a slut.

Oh Dear!

Lit circle letter 2

Slaves today are treated like cheap plastic ballpoint pens, the kinds we all
have in our desk drawers or pockets. No one worries about the care and
maintenance of these pens or about keeping a careful record of their
whereabouts. These pens are disposable and because they are cheap, so are
slaves.

blaaahhhhh.

This week, I am going to be working on Friday, Saturday, and SUnday. I am going to be working on mother's day. My mom doesn't have to though. Since I can't do anything in the afternoon, my mom and I decided to go to the mall after I get off work. Usually if she is working, she would be really tired, but since she's not, it would be perfect. I can get her something nice for mother's day, buy myself something. My dad was asking me what my mom would like to recive for mother's day. I think he was either thinking about my brother giving it to her or himself. Either way, it was a nice gesture.

Today after school, my dad dropped me off at work. It was my last day training. Starting tomorrow, I am going to have to work by my self. I hope I can do it.

In spanish, we watched a movie called Goal. It was about soccer. It was about a mexican guy who is really good at soccer, he is discovered by an English man. He gets to go the London and try out for the team there. He had some troubles with the teams and some rough times, but he made it. I don't think I was watching the movie much though. I was too busy worring about my ipod. I broke it. The chargina part broke. It can still play music, but it wont charge. If it wont or cant charge, I can't play it much. If I can't play it much, then I will be one bored ass person in classes. I love music, I don't think I can go a few hours of school without music.

In History, we have this huge project thing we are doing. It is this research paper. There are steps to it. If you don't complete everything else that was due of the project, you can't turn in the final paper. Ms. Casper isn't going to accept it. She has specific ways to do everything, too. You have to do it her way, or you don't get a good grade. I guess it's a good thing, in a way, because she is preparing us for 11th and 12th grade in high school, then in college. The whole thing is due next month. Today, our topic description was due. I am writing about India and Pakistan, nuclear weapon competition. For this project, I am going to try my best to get all my work done on time and turn in everything on time.

when i was little, my family had always wanted me to become a doctor or something. i guess i did wanna be a doctor back then too. but then in 8th grade, i really wanted to be a psychiatrist (sp?). my family was pretty happy with it too. but now, i really dont know anymore. i mean, whats my motivation? whats the point? i do wanna help people out but how can i help others with their problems when i cant even fix my own problems?

Lit circle letter 1

This month, my book is called Ending Slavery by Kevin Bales. This book is about slavery happening around the world today. I picked this book because I have been wanting to read this book since the beginning of the school year. But I never actually got the chance to. I had a pretty good idea about what the book was about. When we watched the video on the TED talk from Kevin Bales himself about slaves around the world today, I really wanted to read it.

"If you could buy a fully equipped, brand new car for $40, do you think your relationship to your car would change? If your car were that cheap, you would begin to treat it as something to be used and discarded. Why even fix a flat tire if the whole car costs less than the repair? Most slaveholders feel that way about slaves today."

This quote gives you a good idea about how slaves are viewed today in this world. That people can just replace them. That they aren't worth anything. Or hardly anything at all. Kevin compares a brand new car with a cheap price to a slave. Just like brand new cars, slaves are able to work and do all kinds of stuff their "master" wants them to do. He talks about how slaves back in the days were expensive because the population wasn't that high. But now that the population is so much higher, it is easier to find slaves.

He also talks about where slaves come from. Its the families that aren't modernized. The ones that are living on poverty. The ones with children who can't go to school because they can't afford it. Then some fancy looking person comes along and tells them about how the children will be working some place far away from there and supporting their families, making them want to go. Only after they leave and have no idea where they are and how to get back home, they realize what they had gotten into. I don't find it very shocking that there are many slavery going on in the world. In fact, I have already known that. I am pretty sure a lot of people have or had already known this too. But none of us are really doing anything about it.

Almost all of us are just going "oh it will never happen to me, so I don't have to worry about it." Maybe you aren't in slavery, but someone you know might be. And you wouldn't be able to help that person get out of it if you are just sitting there doing nothing about it.

Reading the stories of these children in this book was extremely sad and heartfelt. This book really god so far. I think that I am going to really enjoy this book till the very end.

monthly review Dear John

1. In the first sentence of the prologue, John asks: “What does it mean to truly love another?” How does John’s answer to this question change over the course of the novel? How would you answer this question?

11. How do you think John views Tim, and how do his perceptions change by the end of the novel?

12. What do you make of John’s actions at the very end of the novel? Would you have done what he did if you were in his position?


Dear John is a tear-jerking, romance novel by Nicholas Sparks about two lovers, John Tyree, who is a high school drop out soldier, and Savannah Lynn Curtis, who is a college student visiting on her break. Being a high school drop out, John is doing nothing with his life, so he signs up for the army. On his leave, John returns home and goes surfing, which is where he meets Savannah. John instantly falls for her after a few days, and the feeling is mutual. When he has to go back to Germany, they promise to write to each other. John promises to marry Savannah after he comes back. But 9/11 changes their lives and Savannah falls for someone else. Savannah writes a heartbreaking letter to John telling him that their relationship is over. When John returns back on his leave, he visits Savannah. He finds out that both their lives have changed forever.

In the first sentence of the Prologue, John asks: "what does it mean to truly love another?" I don't think his answer really changed that much from the beginning of the novel. Although, before he met Savannah, I don't think he even really loved another person. There was this one girl that he kinda had feelings for, but it was nothing more that a little relationship though.

"Tim had told me-and shown me-that love meant that you care for another
person's
happiness more than you're own, no matter how painful the choices
you face might
be."

In the epilogue, John answers the question. However, I think that he had always known the answer to this question. Whenever John and Savannah got into an argument or a fight, John was always the one that came to apologize to Savannah. Even when it was Savannah's fault. He didn't want to fight and was willing to let Savannah win.

I think my answer to this question would be similar to John's answer. I would say that to love someone is to make them happy, you go out for your way just to make them smile. You don't judge them, and accept them for who they are. Many people confuse lust for love. Lust only lasts for a moment, whereas love lasts forever.

"What most people think or do is that they get to know a person very well
and go out for a bit and have loving and caring affections towards each
other but, you can fall from in love to in lust." -Elaine Tam's Blog

If you truly love someone, you will be willing to risk everything you have for this person. But never asking for anything in return. You can be around them without having pretend like you're someone else. That person can see the real you. Even be able to see through you're lies, well, sometimes. But mostly, they can be around you and you wouldn't mind and feel weird. The happiness of this person is more important to you than your own. Loving some one is also doing what's best for them, and not for you.

Tim had that kind of love for Savannah. He has loved her ever since they were 12. But he didn't try anything or become jealous when John came along. He just wanted Savannah to be happy. Even when he was at the hospital, when he had a feeling he wouldn't survive, he just wanted her to not be sad and lonely in this world. He was happy that John still loved Savannah. He truly loved Savannah. He would have done anything to see her happy and smiling.

In the beginning of the novel, where John first meets Savannah, Savannah invites John to the little party they had going on. That is where John first meets Tim. First he has a feeling that Tim might have feelings toward Savannah that isn't just friendship, but later pushes those thoughts away when he saw how nice and kind he was. John could tell that he was a good hearted guy. But later John finds out that Tim is really in love with Savannah. I didn't think he felt like Tim was a threat because John knew that Tim only wanted what was best for Savannah and wanted her to be happy.

When John found out that Tim was the guy Savannah was married to, John wasn't particularly surprised at the fact. But he was a bit jealous. But the next day, when he found out that Tim was in the hospital, John felt a little bad, and he admits to Tim that he knew that Tim loved Savannah this whole time. Tim apologizes to John, john forgives him. When John goes to see Tim again, and Tim tells john that he should still marry Savannah if he dies, John realizes that Tim is truly a great person. I think John has this great respect for Tim.

John's actions at the end of this novel was absolutely heroic. Selling his father's coin collection to benefit someone he loves' life. John is truly an amazing person, indeed. It shows that he still loves Savannah, even though he can't have her. And he wants her to be happy, even if she is with someone else.

Would I have been able to do what John had? To be honest, I really don't think I would have. I mean, I know it sounds really selfish of me, but I don't think I'd be such a generous kind of person. Maybe if that kind of situation really happened one day, I would consider it, definitely. But if it happened now, while I'm around the age I am now, I have a strong feeling I wouldn't do it.

Dear John was a really good book to read. Once I started reading this, I couldn't stop. This book, to me, was better that the last one I read. But I think it's only because I like these genre so much better than the last. The last book made me really angry whereas to this book brought sad tears to my eyes and smiles, too. I would give this book a 10 out of 10.

Lit Circle 3

The last part of the book, Dear John, is about John's life after he gets the letter from Savannah that she is moving on. The first sentence from the third part is

"She was in love with someone else."

John assumes that Savannah is tired of waiting for John, so she has found someone else. He has yet to find out that she is married. On his leaves, John goes and spends time with his dad. His dad is ill and John is helping him. Even though his dad doesn't say anything, John can see it in his eyes that he is very grateful. His dad later has a heart attack. John worries that his dad wouldn't be able to function on his own, so before he was going to leave and go back to Germany, he sends him to a nursing home to be taken care of. Afterwards, he gets the news that he had died. He leaves to go back for a few weeks. He fixes his funeral, then he finds out that all of the coins that John's dad had collected was left for John.

Not knowing what to do next, John goes and decides to visit Savannah. when Savannah sees him, they talk for a while. He learns that she is married. When john learns that it was Tim, john kinda had figured. he had already known that Tim was in love with Savannah. when he is about to leave, Savannah asks john if he could come back tomorrow so that he could see Tim. the next day, when Savannah gets in the car, john finds out that Tim is in the hospital. Tim admits that he has been in love with Savannah since he was 12. Savannah later tells john that she doesn't have enough money to get Tim to a better hospital. When he is about to leave, John makes a phone call to someone. later it says that he donated enough money anonymously to Savannah, so that Tim could get better.

when john returns, it is full moon and he is staring at Savannah. but she has no idea. john stares at the moon like he always does. when Savannah does the same, he knows that their love is forever.


This book was a really good book. It shows that john and Savannah's love is everlasting. i liked john's definition of the question about love he had in the beginning of the book. It seemed like he had learned something from Tim and Alan.

What is Individualism? Individualism is described as a belief of onees unique thoughts and actions. Itfs a vital part of each personfs life which stresses independence and self-reliance. Individualism was heavily neglected during the Middle Ages after the Classical antiquity since it was considered as heresy if onees opinion objected the Roman Catholic Church. Individualism is important because it allows one person to have a voice and not just have a body of people be in charge. So, how was individualism restored?
The Renaissance was the first to resurface individualism. It included incredible minds of inventors, artists, and philosophers. Beginning around 1350 to 1650, it started in Italy since trades revolved around it due to the crusades. It was the time that humanism arose and art was respected. Around 1440, Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press which revolutionized the spread of knowledge and book-making. This pushed individualism forward since numerous documents were able to become publicized to the world.

The Reformation followed, giving more power to individuals. It began in 1517 to 1650 in which Martin Luther and many others hoped to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther is a key example of supporting individualism since he protested the Church of selling indulgences and the posted his 95 Theses. This started a revolution which spawned numerous protestant sects.
The idea of individualism continued to prosper during the Scientific Revolution. Copernicus was the first to release the thought of heliocentrism in the 16th century. It was then supported by Kepler, with proper reinforcements despite the public thoughts and its contradiction to the Ptolemy system. Galileo Galilei challenged the church authority and with his theories of the earth, which also supported individualism.
The final era that helped shape individualism to what it is today is the Age of Exploration/Conquest. The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes shows the idea of individualism the most. His achievements of conquering a great nation showed the power of an individual and also influencing other individuals such as Pizzaro, whom took Peru. Cortes led the way to a new way to think.
All of these different eras influenced individualism to what it is today in one way or another. Extraordinary individuals of these times contributed heavily to the ideas we cherish today. The Renaissance with the beginning of a new way to think, the Reformation reinforcing those thoughts, the Scientific Revolution continuing on with the legacy, and finally the Age of Exploration/Conquest coming with a strong finish. We owe these periods of time a lot for giving us the power of being an individual in todayfs society.

Lit circle 1 & 2

Dear Lit Circle Buddies,


This month, I'm reading the book Dear John, which is by Nicholas Sparks. The book is divided into three parts. We papercliped them. The first part is about the time he first meets Savannah. This part talks about his father. The whole book is in John Tyree's Point Of View. In the Prolouge, he asks himself this question: "What does it mean to truely love another?" I have a feeling that he is going to be discovering what it means throughout the book. Also in the prolouge, he talks about how he was watching Savannah and how she will never know that he was there that day. That gave me the impression that they won't be ending up together in the end, which made me a little upset. I mean, I've read the summary but hadnt watched the movie or known what will be happenening in the end. I prefer stories with happy endings but I guess its alirght.


Then John talks about his father and how he used to be when John was a kid. John talks about his life with his father and as a kid. His father is a man that does things the same way everyday. He also likes collecting coins. After highschool, he basically is doing nothing with his life so he decides to sign up for the army. Him and his father arent that close, infact, they are more of a stranger in their own house. He is trained in the army and is on his first leave when he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. He and his father are still not that close. I liked the way that Savannah and John met. Savannah's friend knocked over her purse, and didn't want to get it back. It was sinking in the ocean, away from the dock. Savannah was about to jump, but John jumps in the ocean to save her sinking purse. When he gives it back to her, she and him, start talking. Savannah stays with John, even though some of her friends didn't like him. What confused me is that in the cover of my book, and in the movie, Savannah is a blonde, but in the book, it said that she was a brunette. That kind of didnt make sense.


John ends up falling for her & she ends up falling for him too. When he is with her, he feels at ease. Before they know it, John has to go back. Savannah promises to wait for him, & john promises to marry her when he gets back.


The 2nd part of the book is when they are apart. JOhn is in the army and Savannah is back home. On his next leave, John decides to go visit Savannah. At the time they didnt know it, but their love was fading away. Savannah was becoming more independent. They argue a lot more. It was really tough for them. When John and Savannah both are waiting for his next leave, 9/11 stikes. It changes both lives. John rejoins the army & Savannah is dissapointed that he wouldnt be able to leave, but is still proud of him. I think that this is the high point to which their relationship takes a new turn. When he is in the war, after he gets back, he gets a letter from Savannah. That was the last letter he ever got from her. It was the letter telling him that their relationship was over. That she was moving on with someone else. This changed both lives.


I think I should have seen this coming ahead of time because, their relationship was so perfect. I kinda seems like when everything is going great, something stupid or big comes or gets in the way and ruins it.

my goals.

What are my current goals as a writer?

As a writer, I want to make my work sound more professional. Every week, when I write and finish, I look over it. I've realized that most of my writing sounds so childish. And I need more ideas to write about. I always end up writing about my week. I have tried to think about a specific topic, but then I always end up doing my blog at the last minute so I won't have enough time. My other problem is that I dont stick to the topic I originally start with. Like, I will start with one topic and end up talking about something that does not even have to do anything with the topic I first started with.

For the next 2 months of school left, I want to write about something specific. I remember I started out in the beginning of the school year with writing about one particular thing. Then over time, all I wrote about were my weeks. I really want to change that. I think I want to write a little about a few books I've read recently. or maybe about a quote. I have been thinking about that lately. I have found a few quotes on tumblr & basically everywhere that really made me think.
I remember making barely 300 words on my blog when Sutherland told us that we need to start writing 500 word blogs from now on. I was hella scared that I would run out of things to talk about to get enough words to make 500. I think the first time I tried it, I wasn't used to it. I was too used to seeing a three paragraph blog with 300 words. When I wrote 500, it genuinely looked like a lot to me. But somehow, I maneged to B.S. all my writings and hopefully it made sense.

I think the 1000 words essay blogs had me worried the most though. Even though we only did about 3 of them. They are worth a lot more points than a regular blog post too. I didn't think I would make it. But the first time, we wrote about the semester final, I actually made it. I think I wrote even more. I was really surprised and proud of myself.

For Next year, I signed up for English 3, Physics, US History, Current Life, Ethnic Studies/Biology, Pre-Cal, and Dance. I have to retake the second semester of biology because I didn't do really good in bio last year. My counselor is making me retake it next year. I need at least a C- to pass. I want to take 0 period Current life, I really hope I will be able to wake up early enough to get here on time.

So, after spring break, the whole Sophmore class will me watching "Schindler's list" at the Koffman Auditorium. Then the next day, we will be meeting holocaust survivors. I think it will be quite an experience, I am hoping to write about it for the blog post that week.

Bastard Out of Carolina; Monthly Book Review.

The novel Bastard Out of Carolina is about a girl named Ruth Anne Boatwright, who is also known as bone. The story is mostly from her perspective. She is the bastard out of South Carolina. She has no idea who her father is, and her birth certificate has the word "illegitimate" which basically meant that she was born to a mother without a father. After her mother marries for the second time, Bone goes through a lot of tragic events and conflicts with her family for a girl her age.

2. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.

Glen Waddell. He is the Asshole in this book. He is the second husband of Annie, Bone's mother. He is Extremely abusive towards Bone, both Physically and sexually.

After Anney's first husband, Lyle, died in the accident, she had been working at the Diner. She made about enough money. She hadn't been thinking about getting married again. then one day, her brother, Earle, comes into the diner with a friend/co-worker. It was Glen. He is the son of a socially prominent dairy owner. Once Glen sees Anney, he instantly falls in love with her. It also tells or talks about how he would "protect" her.

"The gravy in his stomach steadied him, but it was Anney's smile that cooled him down. He felt so strong he wanted to spit. He would have her, he told himself. He would marry Black Earle's baby sister, marry the whole Boatwright legend, shame his daddy and shock his brothers. He would carry a knife in his pocket and kill any man who dared touch her."

Anney also thinks about her family. She thinks he would be a good father.

Glen starts courting her, and they go out for about two year. Then Glen asks to marry him. But he doesn't know that Anney is pregnant. He tells Anney that he will take care of the family. That he will adopt both Reese, and Bone. At first he did seem like a good guy. He seemed like he would be a good father to Bone and Reese. Once he finds out, he is over joyous. He believes it is a little boy, and thinks of all the possibility of how things are going to be and what the father-son would do. Never did he once stop to think "what if it turns out to be a little girl?" Did he ever think about that? No. That makes me question, what if it wasn't a stillborn child, & what if it wasn't a boy? Would he have loved her any less? Just because of her sex?

Then while Glen, Bone, and Reese are waiting for the baby to be delivered, GLEN MASTURBATES ON BONE!!! This is the turning point of this book I think. While he is masturbating, he tells Bone about how much he loves her and her family, and how much everything is going to be okay. Poor Bone had no idea what was happening. She was scared, and too young to know what he was doing to her.

After Glen Finds out that the baby is a stillborn child, he basically goes crazy. He hadn't done anything sexual to Bones yet. Then one day, when she comes home, he goes crazy on her & takes her to the bathroom where he starts beating the crap out of her. Then eventually starts raping her. HE EVEN SAYS "I HAVE BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME TO DO THIS" !! What The Hell?!

When Anney gets home, She takes Bone away from Glen. Then she asks Bone what SHE did! Later that night, Glen makes up some stupid-ass story about how she talked back, and said she hated him and stuff. Bone couldn't do anything about about it because she knows that Glen is going to make up stories about all the things. She also knows that her mother is always going to forgive Glen and think he has changed but she refuges to believe the truth.

Glen isn't able to keep a steady job due to his short temperness. They had to keep moving around. A few times, the kids would starve. One day, Anney had enough and leaves. But then Glen begs & Anney comes back. After sometime, Glen doesn't want Anney to visit her family anymore. Better yet, He insults them but Anney doesn't do anything about it. Later on, Anney moves out and leaves Glen. Bone tells Anney that she will never go back. Anney tells Glen that she will move back that only if Bone will. Glen goes to Bone and tries to get her to tell Anney. But Bone refuses. Then Glen becomes violent. He abuses her and the starts raping her. She is almost unconscious but he won't stop. Anney sees this, and fights Glen off. Just when she is about to leave, Glen,who had been following her, starts going "kill me instead." Then Anney goes back to him. This part pissed me off the most. I mean, it was your kid that man had been raping. You even witnessed it. So why would she go back to him?! She calls it "love." BULLSHIT.

Anyways, this is what the character, Glen, is like. I think that he didn't get much love and attention he needed as a child. His parents didnt really love him probably. And I think that in the beginning of the book, when Glen first sees Anney, he says that he would kill anyone that dared touch her. I think that Glen didnt like the fact that he had to share Anney with Bone and is jealous of Bone. He also mentions in around the end of the book, that he wants Bone out of the way and that if killing her was necessary, then he would do so.

I didn't necessarily "love" the book, I mean, it did have it's really really intense moments. But all the members of our group agreed that we didn't really like this book. There were too much details & information about different characters.

I really liked the fact that the Author got the courage to talk about the things that happened. This book is kind of based on what happened to her when she was little. I was going to talk about that part too, but right now, I dont have much time left to turn this in. ): This is what happens when I do things at the last minute.

But other than that, the book wasn't that great. I like reading books like thism but this book, I don't know what happened, but it just wasnt the right book, i guess. I would give this book about 8/10.

Bastard Out Of California; Lit Circle Letter # 3

Dear Elaine, Michelle, and Ryan

This week, I read the last part of the book, Bastard Out of Carolina. In the last part, I think it was probably more intense than any of the other parts in the book. I hated most of the parts in this book. I mean, its good but all the intense parts really piss me off. Its not like I have anything against it but its just that it makes me think and realize the fact that so many people might be going through thins ans we don't even realize this. I probably dont make any sense, but its okay.

Around the end of this book, When Glen goes and supposedly "tries" and talk to Bone to get her to come back. But instead of talking, he basically demand Bone to tell her mother that she wants to come back. When she doesnt agree, things get violent. & he says stuff to her, like, how much he hates her, and how everything is her fault. When Bone says, she would rather die, he says he would kill her. Reading this part got me really upset. Then when Glen starts raping her, while he tells her that she always enjoyed it, blah blah blah, That got me pissed. I mean, its mainly because I kind of know someone like this. Someone going through something similar to this.

What made me extremely angry at the book the most though was when Annie, Bone's mother, saw them and what Glen was doing to Bone, She fought him off. & then carried Bone to her truch, i think, with Glen following them. Right when Annie is about to get inside the truck, Glen starts banging his head yelling "kill me, Annie!" Right then, Annie stops him, and takes him back, with her crying! I mean, her daughter is inside BLEEDING HER ASS OFF AND IS ALMOST UNCONSCIOUS, & she is calling for you. AND SHE IS KNEELING DOWN AND FUCKING HUGGING THE MAN THAT DID THAT TO HER DAUGHTER!! How could she forgive him & go back to him just like that?! I mean this isnt the first time that has happened! What the fuck ?!

Why the author, Dorothy Allison, chose to write this book, I have no idea. Maybe something similar to this incident happened in her life? Like maybe to her or someone she knows?

CAHSEE

So this week, we had the CAHSEE, which is short for California High School Exit Exam. Only the sophmores take it, well, you first take it your sophmore year. If you don't pass it then, you take it the following year. But I dont think anyone would fail this. Some people were telling us that if you fail the CAHSEE, then you are extremely stupid. Well, it was basically like insulting us high schoolers. I mean, the questions were basically like middle school stuff. But I guess if passing that will mean I'm going to get to graduate high school, then I'm all up for it.

There were two days of it, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We were assigned to a certain class to take the CAHSEE. I was in Mr. Joo, my chemistry teacher's, class. On Tuesday, we were in that class for about 4 and 1/2 hours. We were in there for 1st, 2nd, and 5th periods. On Wednesday, we were in there for only two periods, 3rd and 4th period. Tuesday, we took the first part of the test, which was English. It was pretty easy, but there were too much to read. I didnt really read the stories or anything, really. I did kinda scan through it. But first, I read the questions, then looked for the answer. The essay was pretty easy too. Since we had 4 1/2 hours, and we were done in about 2 hours, so we got free time, I guess.

On Wednesday, it was math. I was more confident in this test more than I was in English. Mostly because I am way better in math than I was in english. It was really really easy too, it was mostly stuff I learned in 8th grade Algebra 1. After I finished my test, I stared doing my homewroks that I was missing. Then I tried reading my book for English. After a while, I got bored, so I started listening to my ipod. After everyone was done, we got to walk around and talk to people.

On Thursday, When I was in history, when someone came in and gave Ms. Casper a pass. It was meant for me. I had sophmore counseling. I couldnt go during her class because we were doing work or something "important." So during, English, I went to the counselor's office. I had to wait around for a bit. After I got in, Ms. Loy started talking to me about my grades, and how I need to get them up. She asked me about the classes I need to retake and the classes I could take next year.
Friday, today, It was really hot. And most people were wearing shorts or dresses. Classes went by kinda quickly. We did TED Friday in English. It was about how playing more video games actually helps you. It was quite amazing, & unbelievable at the same time. I didn't really understand how that can be so, but I will go along with it.

Tonight, I am going to go see Peter Pan at alameda high. So, I might blog about that next week. I'm not sure yet. good bye now.

Bastard Out of Carolina; lit circle # 2

Dear Michelle, Elaine, and Ryan


What did you guys think of the book? Or at least the second part up to the paperclip of it? I mean I know we all agreed that it was boring. And it hasn't changed much. But there were some intense moments. I have a few questions though. Why did that one girl, Shannon, i think, commit suicide? I mean when I started reading, I thought BOne liked her. Or at least tried to protect her from those kids at school. I knew that she kind of hated her, too. I remember reading that part about how Bone was mad at Shannon but then they eventually made up. Shannon invites Bone to a babeque. Thats where the whole fire happens. Shannon and Bone have another arguments. She insults Shannon back after Shannon insults Bone. I think Bone is becoming more bitchier, or finally standing up for herself, now.

The intense moment is when her stepfather, Glen, rapes her twice. It was intense how the description was, I guess. Some other part that was quite intersting but not really, is when Bone catches her little sister masterbating. It is kind of gross to me that she would be doing such a thing, mostly because i think she is about 10. Is that the age when Bone started doing it too? I don't remember. I don't think that Reese, her little sister, and Bone get along much in the story later on.

I don't think any of us like this book. I wish we would have chosen something else. I mean its not the worst book. But still, I wouldn't recommend this book to alot of people like me, that don't like reading stories with too much details. In terms of details, I think this story focuses a lot on her family. The main character's point of view towards herself and how she judges others.

boredomness

Right now, I'm sitting next to Michelle, who is sitting next to Elaine. Michelle just got up. I don't know where she went. I have nothing else or better to be doing right now, so I'm going to write about what is happening around me.

So there is a freshmen class in front of me. Ms. Romer, the librarian, is giving a lecture about Internets. My class got that last year. I remember when Ms. Hardin, my biology teacher from last year, took us down here and Ms. Romer talked about the same thing. So its kinda like DeJa-Vu, but not really.

Michelle Just got back. She has a binder with her, so I'm guessing she is going to be doing her Geometry homework. Elaine is working on her blog. She always has something to write about. Next to Elaine, is Ryan. He is fiddling with a folder, which probably means he's about to do his homework.

This is 4th period. We only get to stay in the media center computer for about 40 minutes. I think it's because Mr. Wilson's class is going to be using the computer. After we go back to class, we are going to be reading our book, maybe.

Michelle is doing her homework. I have about 200 words, and I was really happy because I thought I was almost done. I thought we had to about 300 words, but then Michelle tells me (reminds me) that we have to do 500. She killed my hope. T.T I just told her that. Then she says "I love you" blahh. Oh wells, I can do it!

Well since I have nothing else to talk about, I am going to talk about Michelle and Elaine. I met Elaine last year. I never really knew her or talk to her much. We didn't have any classes together. Then this year, I have PE and English with her. She has the same math teacher as me. She's really nice. She makes PE fun. (:

Michelle has PE with us too. Well, the same period, basically. She has Thomas while Elaine and I have Pearse. I met Michelle in seventh grade. I had pre-algebra with her. We didn't talk much. Then came eight grade. We started talking, hanging out, then eventually became friends.

Alright, so I'm done talking about Michelle and Elaine. So, today is Friday. Today, it was raining. I wanted to be outside but I couldn't. I waited for my dad to come pick me up. We went to SouthShore. My dad dropped me off at Radio Shack. I needed to buy new earphones. I bought a pair then immediately plugged it onto my ipod and started listening to my ipod again. I missed listening to my ipod with my own earphones. I had been borrowing earphones from my friends ever since I broke my last one. haha! Hopefully I don't break this one, or at least not soon. Afterwards, my dad & I went window shopping. Then we went to go pick up my mom.

Bastard Out of Carolina; Letter # 1

Dear Ryan, Elaine, and Michelle

So the book "Bastard Out of Carolina" was an intersting book. I mean at first when we went to the media center, I thought I would enjoy reading the book after Sutherland described it. But once I started reading, I just go soo boring. There were too much details in it. I know you guys felt the same too. We all thought it was boring. But then after a few chapters, I think it was chapter 5, where I was hella shocked, & went from "oh my god, this book is hella boring" to "oh shit,what just happened?!"

I don't know if Bone's mother did the right thing when she married Glenn, but I think she married him because she thought that he would be a good father to her kids. But it turned out not to be because he changed so much after they got married. One thing I didn't like about the story was that Bone doesn't tell anyone about what Glen did to her in the car/truck.

Michelle, I think Glen targets Bone the most because he knows that she could tell her mother or anyone about what he did to her, and then the mother would end up leaving him, snd he doesnt want that. I could be wrong, but I think that is the reason.

I haven't finished reading the book, but a few questions I have is, Will she ever tell her mother or her aunts what happened? Will she ever get out of that place? Will Glen finally get a steady job? And be able to support the family?

The setting is around the times where black people were still being discriminated against, I think. Because, when One of the Aunt moves out of her husband's house, (for cheating on her) , she goes out and finds an apartment, there are black people living near there place, and the husband and the men tell them to not talk to them and stuff.

So far, I like the story, Hopefully it doesn't give details that we don't really need, or that are boring. and hopefully Bone goes ahead and tells someone about what Glen has done to her.

Well, that's all I have to say about this book for now.

Until next week,
Asmita

blah blah blah

Theres this one chick. Me & her used to be hella cool. We were basically bestfriends. It was in 4th grade. Basically, we lived in the same appartment building. We used to walk home together. 4th grade was the year when I came to usa, & I didnt knw anyone & I couldn't speak any english. So then, my teacher introduced me to her. She was hella nice. We got along & stuff. Then some shit happened. We were both pissed at each other. We werent cool any more, stopped talking, & some other shit went down. I forgot, beacuse it was hella long ago. But, me & her kinda got into a fight, and things kinda got physical. I kinda broke my wrist. My parents didnt like her no more. Shes a grade ahead of me.

When i started fifth grade, she was in middle school. She went to Chipman Middle School. I stayed in Paden. Then I went back to Nepal & returned after about 5 months. In 6th grade, around the end of the year, when it was clear that the Paden Academy was going to close down, I was going to go to chipman because I lived about 2blocks away from it. Around the end of the year, there were people from Chipman that came to Paden to talk about that school & give us a tour & stuff. In one class we went to, I saw her. I knw she recognized me too.


So when I went to chipman, I saw her a few times. We never talked at all. Then I moved to Wood. We never saw eachother for hella long. My brother still goes to paden now. i think it was last year. my brother is in an after school program called leaps. she came to his school to help out. he saw her, I think he recognized her. So did she. I guess, they started talking. When he got home, he told me that she said she was sorry about what happened. I didnt know what to say because we hadnt seen each other in hella long. Then once, this year, before I moved to san leandro, I had to go pick up my brother from his school. On the way, I was on the phone with my friend. I kinda saw her walking home from school. I didnt know what to say, neither did she, so we just kinda walked past each other.


Then, I dont remember when, but she added me on facebook. I saw her online a few times too. I dont think we knew what to say to each other. So today, I got the courage, & IMed her. We started talking again. I dont know, its so weird. Like I could talk to her again. We havent really talked since 4th grade. Its been 6 years. But like when we talked, it seemed like we had been talking forever. Like we didnt feel awkward at all. Well, I dont know about her, but I kinda felt fine talking to her. Maybe Im exaggerating. Hopefully we can put or differences aside and be friends again. But its so much easier said than done though.

cheating

How much cheating goes on at Alameda High? And what are your thoughts about it?


well, i know there are a lot of cheating going on. Almost everyone in this school cheats. the homeworks, their tests, classworks, its all over the place. there are some kids who wont cheat, like, even if it is available. But there are pleanty of kids that are willing to if its available. & it really is available almost everywhere. On book works, there are the back of the book where they give most of the answer. You can ask your friends. Instead of doing it yourself, you can ask a friend that has already done it, and copy it down. This isn't exactly surprising, though. The 'fill-in-the-blank' type work, cheating would be more common, mostly because it's the easiest to copy. For every work being assigned, there are about half or maybe more copying it down from someone else. I dont know what my thoughts are about this though. I mean, I cheat too. countless times. So I'm not really against this.

Alot of people cheat just because they are too lazy to do the work themselves, or if they didn't have time to finish it. Alot of teacher try to catch it, but they get dumped with more works than they can handle to do anything. THey dont have the time to grade each and everyone of their students' papers. Many teachers also make it really easy for us to cheat too. Like they give you work to do and leave you alone for a long time. I'm really not complaining but sitting near a friend thats really smart helps a lot too.

My math teacher assigns us hws, and then the next day, even if we do about two or three problems, she stamps our homeworks, then basically gives us the answers befor telling us to turn it in. it makes it really easy to cheat or just bullshit the homework because as long as we get a stamp, she gives us credit for the assignment.

Are other teachers aware of it? I think they probably are. There are consequences as to what happens when or if you do get caught. Like you will probably get an F on that perticular assignment, and if you copied from someone, they would probably get the same. Or get an F if we get caught cheating in tests. Well in PE, if you get caught cheating in ONE test, you will get Fs in every single test in that semester or quarter.

There are some other ways to figure out if the kid is cheating or not besides geting caught. Sometimes, you can tell by their test grades and their homeowrk grade. What if they do a really really good job on their assignmenst but really crappy on their tests? That can sometimes mean that they werent really paying attention to their homework, or that they copied from someone else. OR it could mean that their teacher is like my math teacher, where she gives you full credit if you do SOME of it. So it wouldn't be accurate.

There isnt much benifit from cheating, I mean, yeah you get credit for it, & you dont have to work on it yourself, but think about it, you wont learn a lot. I mean I guess you arent learning NOTHING, because sometime, you memorize the work you copied, & they might stick to your brain. But cheating can only go so far. You cant go your whole life cheating.

best friend.

A bestfriend is someone who is there for you. They are one of the very special people in your life. They are the ones you go to when you have problems, the first person you think of when you make any plans. Call them just to talk about nothing at all. If the best thing in your life happens, or the worst thing, you can talk to them about it. When either of you are sad, you both try your hardest to cheer the other up. You can look like a huge mess but they wont look at you differently. you love their hugs. Whenever you need someone's shoulder to cry on, they will be there for you. You can trust them with anything. They know your worst habbits or something about you that no one else knows. You can be around that person for the longest period of time and not get sick of them. Have inside jokes with.

A lot of people have lots of bestfriends or different bestfriends throughout their lives. one of my best friends is this girl I met when I was in sixth grade. Her name is Dikshya Dhungana. She is nepali, too. I met her at my cousin's birthday party and it turned out that her mom knew my mom. After some time, her mom invited us over to their house. The first few times we hung out were awkward because we didnt know what to talk about or what to say to each other. But then after a while i found out that she and I had things in common.

I can talk to her about anything. she knows about and seen all my stupidity-ness, yet she still chooses to be seen with me in public. haha. She moved about a year or two ago to San Ramon. She used to live in oakland where it was a short distance and i could visit her whenever i wanted. but its harder now. but its okay. we're still in touch. I think she is staying over at our house for a few days over spring break. i cant wait! (:

weekend

There four day weekend began this morning. Its Friday today, and we don't have school till Tuesday. Tuesday, we gotta go back to school. I am going to be lost completely at school when we get back, i just know it. i wont know what is going on, I think we are gonna have normal schedule. which means that we are gonna have block days Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. then a normal 1-6 days on Friday. I wont have English or history on Tuesday. we have quite a few homework over the break. In history, I have lots of homework to make up. plus i have two tests next Friday, and a quiz on Tuesday. I will have to actually study.

yesterday, after school, i went to the library with Brianna. i was threading her arm when my brother met up with us. he had lots of valentines candies with him from his classmates. we were hungry so we ate all his candies. haha. he ate a few too. he dropped one of his candy and then started tripping about it. Brianna told him to let it go. afterwards, she started listening to my ipod so i played on her games ipod touch. after a while, we went on the computer. the computer downstairs were hella slow so we went upstairs.

today, i woke up around 9 AM. i went downstairs to get something to eat. i saw my brother playing his video game just like always. around 10 my dad called me to tell me to make food. i made dumplings for my brother and me since we were the only ones home. then i went on the computer for a while. Around 2 PM, my dad came home went to sleep. he woke up around 4 PM. after my mom got home, They all left to go to my brother's karate practice. Day one of my four days break is finished. :/

random.

I hate how everyone seems to think that their point wont be made if they aren't the loudest of them all. And I hate it when people think others will listen to you if your being really rude and loud. I especially think its immature when people yell. I don't think anyone would want to listen to you if you yell. It just makes you wanna yell back and then there would be a whole argument going on. I think violent is stupid. I mean, I know everyone says it but they don't do anything about it.

I hate how people think the best way to solve violence is more violence. That wouldn't work at all because that would just cause even more violence than it already is and then the other person would wanna do the same and then there would be a massive destruction and every one's head would get blown off.

This week hasn't been the best week. There has been ups and downs. I finally got my works permit and I was really excited to tell my mom & tell her to go give it to her boss since i would be working there. But instead of being happy for me that I would finally have a chance to prove that i can actually be a responsible person, she starts telling me about how much I need to focus on my school & how much she doesn't think I can do this. She thinks I'm going to quit or I'm going to mess something up. I mean, yeah I know I need to focus on school too. I thought she would actually be happy with me working. I found out that she doesn't really think I can handle this. well, guess what? I am going to prove her wrong. I am going to try to the best I can. & hopefully I'm actually capable of remembering other people's names & all that.

012910

There have been a few things going through my mind for a while now.

Guess what?! This is the new semester! & I'm already slacking. screw this. I was supposed to start fresh. But that never happened. I'm not excatly sure what I got in my report card. But I know for a fact they aren't the grades I want my parents, those people that look at your grades when you apply for colleges, or anyone else to see. So this quarter and semester, I am going to try much harder. And hopefully I do better. The thing I need to focus on the most right now is spanish and history. I really need to start doing my work in those class. I need to start actually paying attention in all my classes, and try to learn everything. Everytime a new semester or a new quarter begins, that is what i always say. But i always end up doing exactly the opposite.

We have about four and a half more months of school left. This school year is going by really fast. I mean, we've already been through the first semester, and before we know it the second semester is going to come to an end. Then we will be preparing for testing. It will be a huge pain. Then school is going to end, & we will be welcoming summer. As soon as we walk of the school on the last day of school on June, we wont be sophmores anymore. We will be juiors. The seniors this year aren't going to be here anymore. Oh man, its scary looking ahead at the future.

The other thing on my mind right now is that I recently got a job offer at my mom's work. She works at Waters Edge Lodge on Bay Farm. Her boss says she will give me the job as soon as I get my work permit. I'm really juiced. I mean, I will have to spend time with my mother more often, but hey, at least I make money, right?

Right now I also thread other peoples' eyebrows. They are actually paying me now. My mom's co-workers want me to come back and do their eyebrows every two or three weeks. Thats actually a pretty fun way of making money. I actually get a job doing what I like.

final.

10. Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you to write?

Most of the times, I write about how my week went. When I can't think of anything to write about, That is what I settle for. Out of my 15 posts on my blog, only about half of them are about a specific topic. All the rest are all about how my days are going, or my plans for the rest or the upcoming days. Sometimes, I get ideas from whats right in front of me and sometimes, i get ideas from my friends. They help me get through my writer's block, and sometimes, they give my good topics to write about. On one of my post, I wrote about my phone. I remember, when we went to the computer lab, I didn't know what to write about and I was playing with my phone. When I looked at it, I remembered all the good things and the bad things that came to my mind about my phone. I thought it would be a good topic to talk about since I didn't know what else to write about.
The thing that inspires me to write is the thought that maybe a few years from now, I can look back to all of my post and hopefully admit and see that I improved a great deal. For example, in the beginning of the year, when I first started writing on my blog, I wrote all my stuff in one paragraphs. There were no breaks, and I had all kinds of off topic things in one blog. It was kinda random and very hard to figure out for some people.
My other inspiration is that since I'm writing about my week or my days, I want to keep track and remember all the events that happened during that week.

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?

Most of the times, I will think of something to write about, then write about 100 words, but then have nothing more to write about. When i think of a good topic to write about, I get the feeling that I will be able to finish it, but at the end, it just ends up sitting in my google docs with me never looking at it again.
I think what I have learned from my struggles with writer's block is that everyone will have it, it doesn't matter who you are. You will get it when you least expect it. Well maybe not, but you will every once in a while.
i learned that to over come writer's block, you have to keep all your options available. If you are writing about one topic, and suddenly something other than that topic pops into your head, open a new tab and write the new thing down. Then if you cant think of anything more to add to it, go back to the original topic and continue working on it as much as you can.
Just keep writing whatever you can think of, who knows, maybe it'll actually be a good thing. I tend to get unstuck my keeping a few tabs of google docs new documents open. On one document, I'd have something I actually want to talk about. On the next, I'd write some random things to get over the writer's block, like how things are going, or how I'm feeling at the moment, or just anything I can think of. I write for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then by that time, I'd have something I want to say or write on my original blog. Sometimes, the other document could actually work as your post for the week and you would have two post, which you could post for two different weeks.

8. How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?

When I first walked into English, I expected us to be doing a lot of hand works, book reading, & all that other crap we did in last year's English. Well, guess what? We kinda do the same thing. We have at least one homework every week, & that is do a blog post. It has to be at least 300 to 400 words. Having a blog isn't bad at all. I feel like I will always have this blog with me, since this is all saved up on the Internet, rather than it being in paper and just placing it in my bag. Placing things inside my bag isn't a very good idea to place things inside my bag. You will never see it again if you do. Before I started blogging, I never had a full reason to blog, & since it wasn't required I would always put it off. Now that its an homework assignment, I know for a fact I have to finish and turn it in, and I actually try to do good on it too.
But anyways, back to the topic. Blogging has changed the way I write because it has made me have to recognize all my grammar error. I just recently found out that Google docs has spell check, so that's going to be a big help, especially since I'm not that great with spelling. It has also made my work and writing go from complete crap to something actually worth reading. Blogging is a much faster and easier way to write rather than on paper, & by doing this, more people can view your work and give you feedbacks. It can make you a better writer.
Blogging hasn't really changed the way I think much. It lets my mind explore into lots of different topics. Since Sutherland is okay with almost any topic. It doesn't have to be on a specific topic.
It also lets you go on other people's blogs, and lets you look at their blogs, and comment on it. It can also give you lots of different ideas for your next blog. It lets you search for people who are doing similar topics as you and you could collaborate with them and talk about it. Try to think of ways to make your writing better.

writing groups

What are some things you'd like to get out of writing more collaboratively with peers?

I'd like help getting through writer's block. My group could help me with things I'm writing about if i get stuck.
My group can give me advice on how to fix up my writing and proofread my works.
They can help me with redundency. Its hard to find things to cut down especially since its my own writing and it feels like everything belongs there.
I'd like to talk through my ideas before writing them down and they can give me some topics to write about. If I already know what I am going to write about, they can add to the things I already have.

What are some things you'd be willing to contribute to a writing group?

I could help edit and proofread there works. I could also comment on their blog posts after they post it up. I could read people's drafts and catch little errors they made. Tell them what's good and what needs work.

Is it more important to you to work with friends, or with people who are writing the same types of things you are? (Of course, it's possible to have this both ways...) Explain why.

To me, I work better when I'm working with my friends because my friends wont feel the need to be hesistant on whatever it is that needs fixing and they will be able to tell you what they thought of your writing.

What are some "rules" (or at least guidelines) you'd like to see in a writing group?

I think it would be better if a lot of the feedbacks or comments were to be privated. Unless you want to show it to the public. We should get to everyone and be able to hear what they have to say. Not just one person.

the week after winter break.

So this week was our first week back from break. I was not ready to go back to school at all. I had not finished my home works. I was sure I wasn't gonna be knowing anything that was going on in the class.

Monday was an interesting day. Pe was not fun at all. The good thing about pe was that we only had to run 25 pacers. We didnt do much in math either. We just took lots of notes. History was extremely boring. We had to go through a really long lecture. English wasnt that bad. But sutherland wasnt here tho. We had a sub, and watched TED. We had to do a quickwrite. it wasnt that bad. Spanish was an okay period. we didnt do much, she went over what was gonna be on the test. Chemistry went by pretty fast.

After we got back from the break, it felt like the break was so long ago or that it never happened at all. Everyone was tired of school. There was so much going on, with finals comming soon. Its in about a week. We only have one more week. great. Its gonna be hell trying to get all my missing assignments and everything else on time before the semester ends.

Today is friday. it is currently 9:32 pm. Today school was good. We had push up test in pe. you needed at least 8 for girls and 115, i think, for the guys. I did excatly 8 of them. We had a group quiz in math. it was pretty easy. my group was smart so we got the work done early. For history, We went over the homework, took some lecture notes, & ms. casper just talked. At the end of the period, we had to turn in our notebooks for her to grade. My notebook was organized okayishly, so i should get at least a C. In english, we talked about the quickwrites and then went over the finals hw. Lunch, I hung out with Daryl and a group of people. We just walked around for a bit. we watched a movie in spansih. I have no idea what the movie was about. In chemistry, we went over the homework and got the finals preparation.

After school, I was with Christina, Brianna, Fifita, Natalie, and Brenda. After a few minutes, I left and called Lizzy. We were talking until Daryl came back. Daryl, Teresa, william, courtney and I were on oak and central. After courtney and william left, Daryl, Teresa, and I walked to ozone. After a while we went to the metro store. Teresa wanted to look at a blackberry. We started walking to park ave. I had to wait for my dad to pick me up so I went over to my friend's house.