Telling The Truth

Mr.Dye presented an interesting prompt about always telling the truth in a story. Such as life in a gang. Should a writer repeat every single worf for word that a gang member would say, should he cut out the swearing and immoral behavior? What I think is, is that immorality for the sake of immorality is dead writing, it has no meaningful effect on a reader. For example, you're watching a commercial about a movie with an interesting story, historical event you learned about or a good book you read, well guess what, at the end of it it says that it's is rated R. Probably because of that "one scene"or something. That's meaningless immorality. Now if you were to write a story about a real life gang experience or something, swearing may not necessarily be a bad thing completely. If the gang members always used clean language wouldn't it set sort of a strange unrealistic atmosphere? Because that's not how a gang life is. Sometimes it is used for the developement of the character or the way the writer wants a character portrayed. I'm not in favor of immorality, don't get me wrong, but there are some, not all, situations in which swearing would be sort of in a way be appropriate. Personally I would never write anything with immoral ideas because there are plenty of good moving stories with no immorality, which tend to be the more powerful ones. So, in conclusion, I would just have to say that it depends on the realtionships, characters, and situtions in a story.

Mistakes

Obviously nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes and have our short comings and impatience with others. Judging others based on appearance is also a limiting factor in our lives. Even just this year, I've judged some people too harshly. I decided that I was going to change my attitude and now they're some of the nicest or interesting people I know. Now, about the picture, it shows a bunch of dead rats all killed by a rat trap at once. It's symbolizing teamwork. Teamwork can be interesting. You can always learn something from working together. I've been in plenty of groups where we didn't win this or that, but I just had a good attitude along with my teammates and we still got more out of it than if we had just sat there and pouted. Other times I've been in a group where it did win. Some cases I had a little bit of a bad attitude, and even though we won, I didn't get much out of it. Just like the picture, we need to share victory or share defeat. It's our choice.

Agency

Class was interesting today because we were prompted to write about agency. One of the questions that came up was something like "can you sell anything?" and "what should we not sell?" To me, basically anything can have a price, in a temporal or physical sense. Land is sold, people have been and are still sold today, goods, etc. Also in a metaphorical or analogical sense, your spirituality can be sold. Do we "sell" ourselves to the devil or to Christ? Do we "sell" ourselves to Daoism or Confucianism? We have our own choice to choose what to believe, when to believe or how to believe in something. It's our own personal submission of our conscience.We can be forced to do something we don't want to, such as if you are a slave, but nobody MAKES you do something. A slave could just quit and refuse to work, even if the consequences are death, that's the free will. You can never completely sell your free will.

Write Now!

Today is the Write Now! Activity thingy mc'bob at UVU. Right now I'm in the text/media workshop. We've been making poster type advertisements about creative thinking, writing or reading. Exciting stuff!Anyway, it's been pretty fun learning about writing!Here's what I sort of came up with....
"One man's garbage
is another man's
TREASURE"- Ideas Are All Around You

Printing Press vs. Gunpowder

It's hard to choose between two very diverse and influential inventions. That's why I both give them the grand prize. No matter what anybody says, saying you have to choose a side (particularly Mackenzie B.), I still think they are equal.
The printing press spread knowledge throughout the common people (particularly Europe), it sparked the beginning of the Renaissance. Which pulled us out of the Dark Ages and into a new thriving era.It made books readily available, news was spread easily and ideas were popping like popcorn. Enabling creative thinking which then sparked great literature and art.
Gunpowder is also influential for revolutionising how the world looked at warfare. Not only was it more dangerous but more convenient also. Close combat wasn't needed as much and sending messages by flares in war was faster. Cannons arrived also, which provided another more destructive way of tearing down the enemy, especially for ships and building. Some say that's a completely horrible idea but if you think about it, it made the world safer but obviously more dangerous. It's just mankind's battle for "bigger and better." That's life and the world we live in, so get over it. Without unrest there is no peace. Without death, there is no life.
Basically I would have to say that both are an equal balance of influences in the course of history. Consider the following picture:
(Think of the iron as "pressing")

My Wu-Wei

Ahhhhhh......peace and tranquility......

Close your eyes like this guy (top picture)


Now as you read this with your eyes closed,imagine yourself sitting lethargically on soft grass warmed by the sun. You're getting very sleepy in this relaxed state, letting your mind wander aimlessly. Take a deep breath and feel the air fill your lungs and leave, now do it again, and again. Ok. Your arms start to feel like they're missing after staying in the same position for so long. Now it's your legs too, then your feet and your head disappears along with everything else.Almost as if you don't physically exist at all.... deep breath, ooooooooohhhhh huuuuuhhhhhh uhhhhhhh huuuuuhhh Ok I'm bored now. How about you? Wu-Wei is definitely a joy of joys fun thing to do. I hope you enjoyed it as much as the old guy did....

Interesting Facts

1. Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
2. Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
3. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.
4. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
5. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
6. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
7. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.
8. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
9. The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
10. A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
11. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.
12. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
13. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
14. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
15. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
16. The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer.
17. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
18. Marilyn Monroe had six toes. (rumor)
19. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn't like being seen wearing them in public.
20. Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
21. Pearls melt in vinegar.
22. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
23. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
24. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
25. A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why.
26. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
27. Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word 'criminal.' The second was William Jefferson Clinton.
28. Turtles can breathe through their butts.
29. Butterflies taste with their feet.
30. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons combined.
31. On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
32. On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
33. Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
34. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
35. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
36. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
37. It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.
38. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
39. A snail can sleep for three years.
40. No word in the English language rhymes with 'MONTH.'
41. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
42. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. SCARY!!!
43. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
44. All polar bears are left handed.
45. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies,
including their eyebrows and eyelashes.
46. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
47. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
48. 'Go', is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
49. If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
50. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
51. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
52. Almost everyone who reads this will try to lick their elbow.

Green

To me green is.....

The brittle aftertaste on your teeth after eating a crisp apple or drinking Hawaiian Punch.
The mist shot from the bottom of a waterfall landing on your face on a hot day.
Feeling nauseous after a huge delicious meal at your favorite restaurant.
Cleaning the toilet(I'll just leave it at that).
A swarm of gnats around my head.
Blowing my nose into itchy scratchy tissue paper.
Needing to go while in line for an intense ride that you're nervous to go on.
A soar throat and a cough.
A math problem or concept that suddenly clicks in your head.
Feeling like nobody is there for you in a hard situation.
The raspy voice of an old lady who finally stopped smoking.
Irritated eyes from dust that's blasting through the air.
A nice clean haircut.
Mosquito bites all over your legs that itch like nobody's business.
A comforting hug from a friend or family member.

Forgetfulness By Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even
forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

The Unexplained

I sat here thinking of something to post on my blog when I realized I never wrote anything about the picture on the top right of my blog. It shows a cartoon kid pulling out a book that never ends entitled "The Unexplained", but how do I explain what I think of the unexplained? Well first of all man is on a quest to discovering new things for good benefit or bad benefit. Examples as the nuclear bomb, iPod, geological and archeological discoveries, ancient people secrets, literature,anyything you can think of! All these things were once amongst the unexplained until we were able to push limits into many types of things. Today in math, Mr.Gilbert shared a great quote by Henry David Thoreau that says
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by concious endeavor." This quote is really helpful in my explanation, how I would take it is that we need to use the unexplained to elevate our lifes by concious edeavor. Break those barriers of question you have. In a metaphorical example, when you hit a wall, break down the wall then proceed through it.

Sorry For Grendel?

Grendel is an interesting character to read from his point of view. We most likely all agree that he's a complete mental car wreck. To me, he's a character that represents all human suffering and imperfections. He's always angry ( besides when he eats people he only gets temporal pleasure). He seems jealous of the creatures if you think of the meaning behind his excuses of hating all of the humans and animals because of their natural instincts. He feels unwanted and wants acceptance. In the book it says that at night in his putrid cave that eyes stare at him, but they aren't giving him attention, they just look right through him. He also can't even accept himself and he's afraid of himself. In the book he yells at the cliffs to take him and kill him but then acts like they can't cause he'll never let them. It says he's afraid of his voice in the dark too. At the end it says how terrible it is for his mom to cradle him in her arms. Anyways, I think you catch my drift, what I feel of Grendel is sympathy for him. He doesn't know what his curse is because his mother won't tell him but I think his curse is what I explained before.

Abraham Lincoln vs. John F. Kennedy

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.' (another president)
Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln.'

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

Is This The Job I'm Meant To Have?

A lot of us wonder "What do I want to be when I grow up?" Lots of us want a job where we can bathe in crisp dollar bills(if you know what I mean), some people want to serve others as a job whether it's voluntary work or paid service. Others want a dream job like an airplane steward or a garbage man(if you so desire). Then there's the average person who just wants to earn money for themselves or a family.
Well today in class (September 5th) Mr.Dye had bell write journal whatever thing on the board that said to write about whatever you want that's interesting about you. I wrote about a job I would like when I grow up. I've always been fascinated with rollercoasters since I was nine when I went to lagoon and rode the Colossus with my aunt(I was balling like crazy when the ride started). Also when I was eleven I went to California with my mom and we went to Great America. Great America is an all rollercoaster ride six flags type park. I had a blast there and went on all of the rollercoasters and some were really intense. Anyways, besides personal experience with real rollercoasters I also played a computer game series called "Rollercoaster Tycoon" with 3 editions of new and improved stuff each one. I loved designing and building the rollercoasters and having people ride them(sometimes I killed them on purpose). That's how I developed the idea of wanting to be a rollercoaster engineer. Don't worry I won't kill you on purpose if you ride one of my rollercoasters. So ya!
I would like to see any of your comments on what you want to be when you grow up! So please comment!

A Funny Joke

Brenda and Terry are going out for the evening. The last thing they do is put their cat out.

The taxi arrives, and as the couple walk out of the house, the cat scoots back in.

Terry returns inside to chase it out. Brenda, not wanting it known that the house would be empty, explains to the taxi driver, 'My husband is just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother.'

Several minutes later, an exhausted Terry arrives and climbs back into the taxi saying, 'Sorry I took so long, the stupid idiot was hiding under the bed and I had to poke her with a coat hanger several times before I could get her to come out!'

My Trip to Havasupai

I had a great idea to tell you about my Havasupai experience.
In June it was a really busy month for me, I was moving into a new house,family reunion and then I GOT to go to Havasupai. I had no idea whatsoever what this place would be like, I was new in my ward and I was really shy being the new kid. The drive was eleven hours to get there and luckily I had my DVD player in the car(the troop had to borrow my family's car to fit people).My brother and I sat next to each other and we never really said anything the whole time. It felt really awkward!
The day after we drove down, we drove about another hour or so at four thirty in the morning, as to beat the heat of the day. As soon as we got there we started down with our heavy packs along the cliffside to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. We then followed along the canyon like a river would.
Long story short, after an eight mile hike and full anticipation to get to the campsite, we arrived at the indian reservation. It was a really cool experience to see how these people lived and it was shocking! All of them were pretty much obese(no offense) and they lived in very humble homes. It was a pretty big village inside this canyon, a little creek ran through it which allowed a lot of green plants and trees to grow. Disappointed, we still had a mile to go after passing through the village.
This was it, I wanted to know what I had gone for all this trouble for. And it didn't just knock my socks off, it left me in my underwear!(Not literally that would be embarrassing!)I've never been so surprised in my life! It was like an amazing paradise down there! I seriously almost cried I was so happy! This was only the beginning! I'm telling you all! You HAVE to come here before you die! Come for a scout trip, with family, or friends, I don't care how you do it. Just come to Havasupai and it will be an experience you'll never forget!There are three major waterfall as beautiful and real as this picture. Also one of the greatest rope swings in America is down there. I don't want to spoil it for you! Just come and find out for yourself.

This trip also made me comfortable with the kids in my ward and now I have some awesome new friends.

Some of My Favorite Poetry

In creative writing we do lots of creative thinking, hence the word creative. This last week we're finding poems to inspire our minds for a couple of our poems.

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer


I think that i shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.


A tree whose hungry mouth is prest,

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;


A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;


A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;


Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimatley lives with rain.


Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.


Fat Is Not A Fairy Tale

by Jane Yolen

I'm thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic,wasp-wasted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.

I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess.

Why bother with Socratic Seminar?

Why bother with world history?

Why not bother with world history? There's a whole world out there within your fingertips!
History is like a never ending vast library of knowledge. It's interesting and exciting! Well at least to most of the people I know.
Through my experiences, history has taught me a lot in life, it tells me stories of battles where brave men fought for the freedom that I enjoy today, who I come from, the influences that brought about my culture, and many other important things in my life.

Why bother with literature?

I can tell you why in my perspective. Literature is the fundamental basis from where we can express ourselves in our minds , writing , and with each other. Literature inspires our imaginations, it teaches us every single day of our lives, it can give a sense of fulfillment in our lives too. So bother with Literature!

Why bother with geography?

First of all you don't want to be on one of those game shows and look like a dummy when you don't know where Mexico is. So let's be smart people, take advantage of learning about the face of the earth. Knowing where things are in the world will help you throughout your life.

Why bother with the Language Arts?

Language Arts can be fascinating if you know how to use them. If you don't know how to use them then you don't know how to read, write, listen or speak. Which would be extremely frustrating, so that's why you need to care about Language Arts.