Semester Reflection

This year I learned a ton of stuff, most of it being things that I didn’t even know language arts was involved in. Of course I learned core language arts stuff, like how to use commas and things like that, but I can’t really use that in the real world. No, with what I learned from hearing and reading great stories like that of Paul Rusesabagina, will help me a lot more in my social aspects of life than any other tool or punctuation technique.
I learned this year from stories like Hotel Rwanda is how to use your own intellect and charm to bring others to your side or sway them from causing you harm. Paul did this all throughout the movie, and very well at that. The only time I saw him break form was when he threatened to blackmail General Bagostora, but even that was a good lesson in that it showed how sometimes fists and physical harm are not the only way to take down one’s enemy.
One thing, though we studied it very little so far, that really stuck on me this year was the art of telling a good story. For example, in my First Day of School Memoir I originally just stated what had happened that day and left it at that. My story had no characters, no emotion. It was just a lifeless heap of garbage. But, from reading the stories of other students and authors who were masters on spinning a good tale, I learned how to fulfill a readers desires for action and connection even with the most boring of subjects.
Although I didn’t actually take anything huge from the individual debates, I took something from them as a whole. I realized that no matter the subject matter or debate issue there will always be one person who disagrees. The world is made up of different people with different mindsets unique to themselves. And I know it’s just a classroom that I examined with only about 30 kids, but it was a prime example to show how differently people think, not as a community or race, but individually.
One more thing that I learned this semester that has to do with writing more than the rest was how to develop pathos, or to make the reader feel sorry for you. I found this works especially well when you’re trying to get something you want. For example when I said in my Paul Rusesabagina letter, “All of them, men, women, and children slaughtered like animals,” I felt like I made the reader for sorry for Paul and made them want to stop the atrocities he faced. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t but I think it went over well.
Alright the final thing I learned this semester was how often history repeats itself. Think about it, in all of the stories we read or heard there was a group of people that were discriminated or harmed (besides maybe Squirrel Cop) in one way or another. The South Africans, the Rwandans, and the Australians were all just an indigineous people minding their own business until the white man came in and took them out. They all share the same story, besides a few minor details. All relate to greed. I hope this history doesn’t repeat itself again.

Why I Hate Stupid Lady GaGa

First of all what does gagagagagaa mean? Those are some of the worst lyrics to a song that I've ever had the misfortune of hearing. But that's besides the point. Lady Gaga came on the radio like 6 months ago and ever since then all I've heard on the radio are dumb and terrible songs with even worse lyrics. I mean c'mon she doesn't even pull of all of her crazy outfits.
Her songs are not my only reason for hating her. I know that she's bisexual and I have nothing against gay people or anything. She's just so weird. Why can't she just sing her music like a normal person? I like some eccentric stars but she's just too much. Her lyrics are also very odd. In one of her songs she says she'd like to lick someone’s lollipop. What does she mean by lollipop? The song doesn't even have anything to do with lollipops. Please someone explain that lyric to me.
I don’t know how this monstrousity got her start. I remember reading or hearing on either vh1 or MTV that she was doing karaoke or something somewhere when a record producer heard her. What was this stupid guy thinking? Hmmm this girl is a terrible singer who sings terrible music. Just what the world needs. Another egotistical, sillybottoms, lady who will eventually snap due to the mounting pressure to be even weirder.
You know, I hope she does snap. I hope she loses all of her recording contracts, all of her money, all of hyer friends family and everything else she holds dear so she can go rot with all of the other dead pop icons. What has the world come to when a lady with no talent or anything special about her is the lady who girls (and some boys, including my brother) want to be.
Alright just one more rant and then I’m done. Here are the upsides to having Lady Gaga gone, or dead, whatever works. The radios wouldn’t be filled with her nonsensical poopoo lyrics. The music awards, flawed as they may, wouldn’t have to put up with her dumb costumes that give little boys like me nightmares and make me afraid to go to bed. And last but not least, less little girls would want to grow up to be evil, weird, and shallow pop stars who suck at making music. Goodbye

Who Is To Blame and the Debate

(This is about the situation in reality) How would you like to be told you’re going to be the bad guy? My heart sunk when I heard I would be representing the RAF. So, if you can’t tell, I don’t support them and think that they are one of the groups that should be blamed. However, every group, besides the Red Cross, in the debate can be blamed for causing or failing to end the genocide. The Belgians for making the identity cards, the French for supporting the Hutu, the U.S. , Romeo Dellaire, and U.N. for not doing anything, Kugame and the RPF for killing Juvenal, and Juvenal himself for spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda.
Most of the blame however, lies with the Interhamwe. Why in the world would you go outside and kill your neighbor or best friend just because the radio station tells you to. Are the people in Rwanda that easy to brainwash? They may as well be five year olds. I also agree with Alex (or Romeo) that the Belgians are only partly to blame. It doesn’t matter what the people before you did. It’s always possible to change what you’re actions are.
-The Debate
Debate= great. I know that rhymes and sounds corny but that’s what I think. I’ve never been in a serious debate before and this one was really fun. I know it may not have been fun for some groups but it was especially fun for me because no one could touch my group. The only group that ever actually gave us trouble was the RPF and a little bit of Kugame but because no other groups tried or even got close to attacking us I got to sit back and watch the other groups go at it the entire hour.
I think it might have been a bit more fun to have a group that was harder to defend but I’d rather have that challenge in a later debate when I’m more used to debating and defending. Watching the other groups was fun and all, mostly the people who got into it a lot, but I’d kind of like to have to defend myself. Not the Interhamwe though. They just took way to much heat for me to handle. Belgium had that too. I know they’re mostly to blame but c’mon people lay off, it’s just a high school debate.

The American Scholar

I think that Emerson’s theory is still true in today’s America.

One reason I think this is because today most people only do one specific function their whole lives. Emerson says, “ And strut about so many walking monsters – a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never man.” People do one specific function and become it. Another example happened to me. From ages 5 to 7 it had always been my job to pull the weeds. However, when my Dad asked me to mow the lawn for the first time I was flabbergasted. I had no idea how to do it because I only knew how to pick weeds.
The other reason I think Emerson’s theory still holds true is because people are educated to only do one job. Think about this. You are going to college to be an engineer. Once you get out of college what do you think your going to be? An engineer because that’s all you can do and all you know how to do. People today are educated as if they’re part of an assembly line. They do one task all day and at the end that’s all they can do. as it is all they know.

Halloween Blog

Top 5 Best Halloween Costumes

Face it, finding a perfect Halloween costume can be nearly impossible when you’re uninspired or don’t have a clue as to what to be. Sure there are the clichés (zombie, vampire, hippie) but what costume truly makes people laugh or wet their pants the most?

I know that I cannot satisfy everyone with my list but I’ll try my best to incorporate everyone’s opinions. I’m not judging by scariness or how popular the costumes. My judgment will for the most part be based on originality.

5. Cowboys

Cowboys are number five for a ton of reasons. They’re tough as nails and are also the manliest guys in the old west. They’ve got a really good fashion sense too. Just look at their mustaches. Any guy who can pull off leather chaps is alright in my book.

4. Hannah Montana

The number of little kids (boys and girls alike) dressing up as Hannah Montana this year is staggering. And who wouldn’t want to dress up as Hannah? To quote my brother, “She’s only the greatest singer ever made.” Even if her show tanks due to the terrible writing and even worse acting (not that I’ve watched it) at least Hannah will still have a ton of money due to the profits from this year’s Halloween costume sales.

3. Hippies

I had to include hippies on this list as every kid known to mankind has dressed up as a hippie at one point or another. Even though it's not creative or new I still feel the hippie deserves a spot because of it's longevity as a costume. My parents, who are very old, even said they dressed up as hippies when they were kids. If a costume can survive more than 20 years of Halloweens then it's definitly in the top 5.

2. Pirates

The new millennium saw a resurgence in the popularity of pirates with the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean. Although nowadays their popularity may be waning, a few years ago in my neighborhood everyone wanted to be Jack Sparrow. I think it's he swagger that Johny Depp gave to his character that made everyone want to be like him. Face it, without Depp the pirate would never have been a great pop culture icon like it is nowadays.

1. Food Costumes

Every time I see a hot fog or banana walking down the street, I crack up, especially if it's a grown man. Though i don't know it's origins I know that the food themed costume is a favorite of teenagers (like Johnson Yang).

The Variety Show

I stepped up to the stage. Sweat poured down me like a waterfall as I gazed over the what now seemed like millions of people in the crowd.
“Please don’t mess up, please don’t mess up,” I recited in my head as I struck the first note. The lights dimmed and my variety show performance began.
I decided to try out for the variety show when my friend told me that I was good at guitar and that we should play as a band in the variety show. I was skeptical at first, as anyone would be, about how we would pull this off. Two people does not make a band (unless you’re The Proclaimers). My friend and I already had the guitar and vocals covered but a drummer would be hard to find. Luckily my other friend who lived in my neighborhood had picked up drums about a year ago and was actually pretty good. We recruited him and were all set to go.
Of course this was 9 months before variety show tryouts even began so you’d think we’d be well practiced and ready right? Wrong. In the 9 months before the tryouts we practiced maybe once or twice. The whole thing seemed a mess to me and I almost quit halfway through. Luckily I was persuaded not to and rejoined the group.
About two weeks before tryouts we buckled down and really started practicing hard. However, we found ourselves in quite a predicament. We realized that we needed a bass player to make our performance sound good. I searched high and low but couldn’t find one anywhere. Bass just didn’t seem to be a popular instrument.
Exactly a week before tryouts my friend managed to find a bass player and ,although we were barely ready, we tried out not long after.
When we were accepted into the variety show I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. My head buzzed with thoughts of huge stadiums and all of my classmates looking up to me. WE practiced and practiced with the other variety show acts until we were near perfect. Finally the moment came when I got to step onto the stage with my band and play my heart out.
The whole experience of being on stage was nerve racking of course, but well worth it. When I heard the applause at the end of our act I felt great about myself and everything around me. And finally without even a single boo, my band left the stage and the curtain set on the variety show.

Swine Flu

When you think of the beginning of the school year colds you usually think of maybe a runny nose or at worst strep throat. This won’t be the case for much longer. With the swine flu epidemic spreading across the United States and other countries like wild fire Many schools in the western and southern parts of the U.S. are closing their doors. Yes it’s true the outbreak has begun.
The problem with swine flu is that it can “turn from mild to critical extremely rapidly,” (McMaster 1). This means that most of the people who get the H1N1 virus will need it treated very soon if they wish to keep it under control. What will hospitals do once they can provide no more room or treatment to those who have the swine flu but haven’t received any medical help? This could potentially in the same ballpark as the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions. Another striking similarity that the swine flu bears to the 1918 flu is that it targets those who are not young or old but healthy and usually unaffected y most common diseases.
Were everyone to get a dose of the vaccine this problem may be solved. However, those unaware of where to get the vaccine or those who blow it off as just another seasonal cold may help make it more widespread than it already is. If the vaccine were distributed more better than perhaps the U.S. would have a chance of averting this crisis. But t seems like the government or media hasn’t made it well known where to get one.
One way to combat this issue would be t quarantine anyone who got it. I don’t mean a harsh or cruel quarantine, not like prison camps or anything, but anyone who does have the virus should definitely be kept alone with very minimal physical contact with other humans. Maybe a bubble or something like that would work.
Swine flu is spreading and won’t stop unless someone stands up against it and tries to combat it’s deadly blows against the U.S. If allowed to spread the disease could cause the entire infrastructure to collapse around us.
The worlds strongest and most powerful leaders need to discuss what to do about the swine flu and take action instead of just shrugging it off as another small problem. It won’t be worth having any health care reform if no one is around to take advantage of it.



http://www.newser.com/story/71497/swine-flu-turns-critical-with-deadly-speed-taxing-icus.html