Hangin' with Haley

Evelyn Glennie: How to Listen

2010-05-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html

What struck you?

I was really struck when Evelyn said that she was deaf! I totally wasn't expecting that because she could play those instruments (a marimba and a snare drum) like a beast! I was also shocked that she could play those instruments just by feeling the vibrations! It made me think that maybe this could be an ultimate cure to deafness?

What did you notice?

I noticed that her body movement changes with the tempo of her playing. When she was playing fast and hard, she would get really close to her marimba and when she was playing soft and slow, she would get really far away from her marimba. It was interesting to watch. I think that maybe that's how Beethoven learned how to play his piano, by feeling the vibrations.

What did you enjoy about her performance? Be specific.

I loved that when she played you could feel the vibrations echoing from her marimba. Even if this performance was in 2003, it made me feel like I was right there with her while she played. Honestly, the humming and buzzing of the marimba made me get goosebumps. I even shivered!

Farmer's Market Visit

2010-05-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

5 . 7 . 2010

What is your name and your role here at the farmer's market?

My name is Cindy Christ and I am a handmade-soap vendor.

Why do you choose to shop here?

I don't really shop here because I work here. I do visit other Farmer's Markets though that have more produce and I do my shopping there.

When did you start coming here?

I started coming here around a year ago.

Do you garden at home? Why or why not?

Yes, I grow my own herbs and flowers for my soaps.

What would be your advice to get others to do what you do?

You have to have dedication to helping your community, and so I suggest finding that dedication somewhere and using it.

Have you seen the movie Food Inc.? What did you think?

I haven't seen the actual movie but it's on my list due to the preview. The preview did look interesting, relevant, and revealed some little loop holes in the government that we should be stopping.

Look up cheap items and expensive items. Were they what you expected?

I looked at over five vending booths but I noticed that out of the three, that only two were expensive. The three booths that were less expensive were the flower booths, the bread booth, and the herb booths. Each one of these were about five dollars per multiple items. On the other hand, the other two booths, the organic almond booth and the organic olive oil and balsamic vinegarette were on the more expensive side. These products leaned more towards the fifteen to twenty dollar range per package.

By the way, I saw Brandon D. on the way out of the Farmer's Market and Andrew P.M. on his bike pedaling down the road towards the Market on my way home! Hey guys! :)

The Senior Garden

2010-05-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Interview with Leland (12th Grade)

What is your role here at the garden?

I'm a Composter. I pretty much move the compost to the garden to make sure the soil is kept rich.

What do you think will happen to the garden when John leaves? Over the summer?

I don't know. Some of the plants might die due to neglect but some of the seniors are thinking about coming back over the summer to keep it up and running.

What is the garden here for (it's purpose)?

To show us how to be sustainable and how we can become sustainable just by creating a garden like the one we have here.

What do you grow?

We grow onions, snapdragons, carrots, squash, strawberries, pumpkins, zucchini, and I think there might be a little bit of peas somewhere in there. We also have lavender and mint though too, so we have some herbs.

What do you do in class relating to this garden?

We study ecological cycles and stuff like the food chain. You know, like the hawk eats fish, fish eats worm kind of thing.

The Response to This Visit

Was the garden what you expected?

The garden was a little less than I expected. I thought it was going to be a little neater in little patches or boxes but I kind of liked that it was kind of chaotic.

What struck you as interesting?

There was a whole bunch of interesting things about this garden! I loved how it had not only veggies, not only some fruit, not only herbs, but also flowers! This made the garden diverse and I loved that they had a compost pile where they could put weeds. By the way I learned that it can sometimes get to be 120 F in the middle of the piles! That's crazy!

What was your favorite part of the garden?

I loved the little banana tree in the corner and the huge rose bush that they couldn't get rid of. I just liked how quirky it made it because it gave the group obstacles by making them plant around those plants. The banana plant couldn't be dug up because it was historical and it was a nice addition and the rose bush was there because it wouldn't die!

What changes would you do to the garden?

I would make it a little neater, maybe put some of the plants in raised boxes where they can grow off the ground. It would make it look nicer and would be easier to work with. I also would have moved the compost pile a little ways away from the plants to help the aesthetics of the whole garden as well.

2010-04-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

My Ishmael & Food Inc.

What has struck you?

I was struck by how many people in the government were previously associated with companies that should be shut down. This shows why nothing is being done about the inhumane treatment of the workers and animals that are being used in these specific companies.

Do you agree or disagree with the concepts? Why?

I do agree with the concepts of Food Inc. because after seeing what is being done in these slaughter houses and farms, it makes me want to rid the world of all CAFOs and fast food joints. I also agree with My Ishamael that we should start thinking about our culture and how it has affected our earth and it's population.

How can you apply them to the real world?

I believe that you can definitely apply Food Inc. to real life because you can make healthier choices and maybe join organizations that take action against this type of food production and abuse of animals. (Thanks PETA!) You can also apply My Ishmael to the real world using psychology and rational thinking about how we should start helping the world rejuvenate by reducing our carbon footprint. We can also think about our actions in a whole new level just by reading this book.

What do your parents or family members think?

My mom thought that My Ishmael was an interesting concept but wouldn't be possible in the real world. She thought that in real life that animal can have empathy but not telepathy. She also considered the topic of the movie Food Inc. and decided that we would all agree that food production in the United States is overall very disturbing and we are all better served (pardon the pun) by eating local, raw, and organic foods instead of processed, genetically-altered, and trucked foods.

School Daze & School Daze II

2010-04-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

" Teachers for the most part would be delighted to awaken young minds, but the system within which they must work fundamentally frustrates that desire by insisting that all minds must be opened in the same order, using the same tools, and at the same pace, on a certain schedule. The teacher is charged with getting the class as a whole to a certain predetermined point in the curriculum by a certain predetermined time, and the individuals that make up the class soon learn how to help the teacher with this task."

When I first saw this quote in 'My Ishmael' by Daniel Quinn, I automatically thought about my teachers Charlotte and Mele. It made me take a pause and think, Isn't this why I came to this school? To escape this kind of thing? I guess I did. I mean our school is based on project based learning so it stands out from the crowd of other high schools. So this quote is both right and wrong. Right because we do have to get all of our projects in at the same time and we are taught the same thing, but the quote is also wrong due to the fact that our school is different than most others and we aren't all taught the exact same way. Also, the quote is right because eventually a class does learn how to cater to a teacher's needs for learning success. So in the end, the quote is right due to most circumstances, but since our school is different it only applies in some areas.

These Tears I Cry

2010-02-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

These Tears I Cry

In Memory of Ann Noel Potocki

As I waft along the blank white of what is paradise, I see what I dreamed of as a little girl. Exotic trees and flowers fill the vast expanse of clouds as I walk, enchanted, through this Garden of Eden. Birds flock through the clouds and fly into these trees like they have not a care in the world. I wish I was the same but I was troubled. I was not a selfish person, so why had I left the realm of the living? It was because I had been blind to the beauty of the world as I drowned in a sea of sadness. I could not see the beauty of the water as it engulfed me. I had loved my family and I still did. I breathed a breathless sigh and continued my walk through the flora of heaven, the sun shining on my back. I saw myself in my old world, with my family and my friends. It was like a television screen in my head as I walked in a trance, unconscious, through the woods, not crushing a single flower or blade of grass.

Immediately, I was thrust back into my body. I was the same and I could feel every emotion my soul had felt, but I couldn’t control my actions. It was like a movie, where you feel as the main character does but you could not direct what they do. Deep down, I could feel a black demon, consuming bits of my soul, but I powered on with the world. I noticed now how I had loved the buzz of the city, like a hive of honeybees humming to a beautiful song but with more rap music and cussing. I replayed what was once boring daily life. Usually it had consisted of work, grocery shopping, and chores. I had never realized just how beautiful these were. Work had just been a mix of stress and coffee but now I noticed how I had loved focusing on my writing and occasionally glancing out the dirty window towards the city. I noticed how grocery shopping had been a maze of decadence and smells. You would walk past the man-made foods and towards the nutrition and work of the land was with the fruit and vegetables. And I noticed the chores, like sweeping, and how you could watch little motes of dust and pet hair fly into the air and twirl, as if dancing onto the previously clean floor. I noticed how my daughter had laughed, like a pixie, clean and clear like a glass bell. I had loved pretty much everything in the world except for the creature inside of me, gnawing and gnashing at my soul. I remembered one time when I had ridden the bus and there had been a crying girl.

Her eyes were rivers, streaming saltwater and sadness from hidden springs deep within her body. She wiped at them hopelessly, knowing more would come anyway.

“I’m such a terrible person…” she moaned.

The people in the bus were averting their eyes, all but me. She had looked up and attempted a watery smile. I hadn’t smiled, I hadn’t looked away either. She was ticking me off and my bad mood hadn’t helped either. The bus stopped and a man came on. He sat next to the sobbing girl and comforted her. He then started up a quiet conversation with her. She nodded and took a package from the man’s hand. At the next stop, both the man and I got off. He looked like a snake, slithery, slimy, and overall scary.

“What did you give to that girl?” I demanded.

“Candy,” He replied coolly.

“You shouldn’t take candy from strangers.” I had said.

“You shouldn’t,” he replied, “but she did.”

I had stormed off that day, in a rage, hatred burning red in my vision, intensified by my little demon inside. It growled and grinned as I let my disgust flood and swallow me. Why had I been so angry? I hadn’t known. So, I went home and started to clean furiously, as I always did when I was angry. It was something about the tickle of the cleaning chemicals in my nose that calmed me enough to become conscious again. I couldn’t stop my rage this time though, my thoughts were red and pulsing. Finally, I gave up on the cleaning and leaned over the sink. I wept, watching my tears swirl down the drain in a miniature whirlpool of sadness.

My will to live swirled down that same drain that day. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but I had to escape the demon pounding in my head. As my soul left my body, I watched the beast thrust itself from my shell. It writhed across the floor, death left in its wake. I watched as it squirmed though a microscopic crack in the wall and back to the world to the living in search of another soul to devour. I wafted towards the sky, like smoke from a chimney, and entered God’s realm.
I opened my eyes and found myself at the Gazing Glade, a place in heaven where the angels can look down upon their families. It reminded me of a watering hole, animals surrounding a body of water. Through the middle of this particular glade the uncorrupted version of the River Styx ran. You could see snatches of life dribbling like individual water droplets through the grass. It had views of my life too. The views I could see only if I dipped my face into the cool water.

I opened my eyes and as I did I gazed upon my family. It was night on earth. My husband was sitting by a fire, watching the fire crackle and spark. I noticed he stole a glance at my picture on the coffee table. A pained expression crossed his face and he leaned closer to my photograph. He picked it up and held it close to his face as if to memorize every detail of my face, and that was exactly what he was doing, scrutinizing my every freckle and pore. When he put the picture down, he placed it face down, because he couldn’t bear to see my face anymore. I blinked and the scene changed to my daughter, lying in her bed. She held a picture of she and I on her lap. She couldn’t take her eyes away from our smiling, sunburned, faces. I couldn’t look away either as I watched her stare. She smiled at the memory and set the picture, face up, on the bedside table. She turned over and switched off the light. I sang to her and lulled her off into the land of dreams.

“Go to sleep you little baby, go to sleep you little baby, your momma’s gone away and your daddy’s gonna stay, don’t need nobody but the baby, don’t you weep little baby, don’t you weep pretty baby, she’s long gone with her red shoes on, don’t need nobody but the baby, go to sleep little baby, go and dream pretty baby, you and me makes two not three don’t need no other

loving baby. ”

I lifted my face from the water and watched the memories trickle off my face in ropes of color. I sat there for a moment, letting their life sink into my skin.

“Are you okay lady?” someone asked behind me.

I turned and saw a face I recognized, but no name came to thought. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. Then I recognized her as the girl on the bus, the one who had been crying.

“Why are you here?” I gasped.

“I don’t deserve to be,” she replied, “here I mean. I should be in hell.”

“Why would you say such a thing?”

“I’m a terrorist, I’m a bomber, I’m a traitor, I’m a liar, and I’m a murderer.” The girl shivered and collapsed next to me.

“Tell me about it honey; it helps to talk to someone.”

“Well that day on the bus, where I was crying, and that man came up to me, was the day I spoiled my life. That thug was a terrorist, and he reformed me. He gave me a bomb and told me to plant it in a building full of people. I did as I was told and I killed hundreds of people.” she gulped for air. “I set the timer too short and I blew up myself too, along with those unfortunate souls. I don’t know why I’m in heaven. I feel like a wolf in a sheep flock, a sinner amidst a flock of angels.”

I thought back to that day on the bus, with the terrorist and the crying girl. If only I had smiled back at her maybe she wouldn’t have been as weak of a target. The terrorist wouldn’t have chosen anyone on that bus and maybe, just maybe, lives could have been saved. My own selfishness and cruelty had ended or wrecked the lives of hundreds, possibly thousands.

“You are an angel doll,” I looked at her, “maybe not a perfect one, but nobody’s perfect.”

I took her hands in mine and told her my story. At the end, we were both crying, tears of an angel, somewhat holy water. We raised ourselves and walked through the Garden of Eden, wiping away the tears both she and I cried.

"Trees" and "Leaves" Clean the Carbon

2010-01-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

Synthetic "Trees"

Technological Advancements

Yes, the big white towers in the picture above are "trees" with a whole ton of "leaves". To you, it may look like just another type of solar windmill, solar panel, or a gigantic fly-swatter but this is different. This invention/project that has already been put in motion and seems to be working perfectly, soaking up 1000x more carbon than an actual tree. This "tree" soaks up carbon through its "leaves" and puts it into a chamber where it is then changed into liquid form. This "tree" could be used to make a CO2 liquid fuel which could be used in planes and cars. When the carbon is soaked up, this leaves cleaner air and more oxygen. The extra plus? This tree doesn't need sunlight to work, it could be placed anywhere and still soak up the carbon! Now, they can be used to help slow or even stop global warming! Now that is a technological advancement.

Rampaging Elephant Restraint System

2010-01-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Rampaging Elephant Restraint System

Environmental Help

Yes, it just might sound impossible, but elephant rampages are actually quite common. There have been many reports on elephant attacks and rampages. They attack their mahouts (owners), cars, and pretty much anything nearby. Some people believe that the elephants are fighting against possible mistreatment (as you can see above with it's legs tied in chains) from their mahouts. Finally, after many attacks, a Mumbai engineer built "violent elephant control gear". This mechanism is wrapped around the pachyderm's leg when bought and if the elephant goes beserk a simple press on a remote control activates the mechanism. The mechanism shoots a wrap around the other leg, and so immobilizes the creature to the point where he cannot harm anything around it. This mechanisim is completely humane and does not hurt the elephant in any way. This object is going to be released sometime soon for approximately $664. The only setback is that some people believe that once an elephant is tamed that it will return to its abusive owner. That may or may not be true based on the physical state of the animal. I would think that if the animal was healthy, it would be returned and if it was abused or hurt, it would be taken to an animal sanctuary for healing.

Mysics Semester Goals

2010-01-06T16:59:00.001-08:00

Don't we all wish that we could draw a whale for an answer and still get it right? Well...at least I do.

Semester II Mysics Goals

1. I would like to fully understand how to use pi but i have no idea if we are going to be learning about it but I hope we do so we can learn about radii and circumferences.

2. I would like to do better on my Mysics tests, quests, and quizzes (this includes group tests as well) because I feel like I do not do well on tests and I think that I should work harder at them by slowing down a little bit and reading the directions a little bit better. I think that would help a lot.

3. I would like to learn more about the principals and laws of this world like Bernoulli's Principal and the Gravitational Laws. I would like to learn more about this because then I could calculate real-life math better than I did before.

4. Convince my Mysics teacher that a whale is a fabulous 100% answer...okay I know it's never going to happen but, hey, i can dream right?

Humanities Semester Goals

2010-01-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

1. I really want to improve on my vocabulary because I love writing and I really want to learn more words so that I can make my writing more professional. I think that better vocabulary makes a story more eloquent.

2. I want to keep my grades as a B+ or higher so I can get into a good college. So, one of my goals is to keep my grades up really high and I'm going to do that by studying more vocabulary and the way of using adjectives, pronouns, etc. I also want to improve on my sentence structures.

3. I really want to improve on my use of personification, metaphors, and similes because those are major parts of an interesting and good book/writing. Plus, if you do not have a knowledge of those three major writing utensils, you cannot see life as beautiful because description helps you visualize just how beautiful the world is.

Egyptian Religion Pillar

2010-01-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

Project Description: My Freshman Humanities class decided to change the history of our race and send a helpful object or tool trough time to help an extinct civilization survive. We would choose either a trebuchet, a modern day sailboat, or a water (purification) system. We would then have to get our object or tool approved and funded by the High Tech High Science Society.

Process: For my group's trebuchet for the Ancient Egyptian civilization, we had to make a couple of posters and, in time, a trebuchet. First, you had to create a blueprint to prove that your design could be applied to the actual object. Once you had that accomplished, you would get the blueprint approved by either one of our teachers. You would make changes if necessary and create the final draft. Next, you would create a concept poster that would explain how the object worked. In my group's case, we explained the laws of projectile motion. We would get that approved just like we did with the blueprints and make the corrections if needed. Next, we would create the actual object or tool based on your blueprint. Finally, you would paint a portrait that would represent your pillar. For example, mine was Ancient Egypt so I painted an Egyptian goddess named Isis over the Pyramids to represent Religion. Of course the others on my team painted representatives of Government, Science & Technology, and Architecture. Then the exhibition would come and you would show off your finished product.

Reflection: What did you learn? Well, during this whole ordeal, I learned alot about gravity and projectile motion and how it affected the real world. Plus I learned what the normal gravitiational pull is (negative 9.8 m/s). What challenges did you encounter? While building this particular trebuchet I had some challenges with my partners. I have to admit it. I argued with them about what we should do for building and creating the posters and I think that I did that too much and I'm sorry I did that. I think that I was really stressed about this project as well and I think I let my nerves get to me too much. What would you do the same or different? If I ever did this project again, I would definitely not let my emotions get in the way of my work (ex. my stress and frustration). That is not an excuse to not work well with others. I take full responsibility for my actions. Next time I would focus on the positive things that were happening like how our trebuchet turned out (gorgeous by the way!). How will this help you later? Well this project has helped me learn about the pros and the cons about working in a group and I think that this would help me in real life because not everyone I work with is going to be perfect and agree with everthing I say. I think that this would help me with making the project to my fullest ability and be able to make it amazing!

Artifact (a.k.a. Picture): Below is a picture of my pillar that I painted for the Ancient Egyptian Religion. As I said in the Process section of this blog post, it has an Egyptian goddess named Isis above the Pyramids of Giza.

What Is A Hero?

2009-11-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

What Is A Hero?

A hero is a person who can help you during times that you really need it whether it's breaking up with your boyfriend or in a fight. They are always there to help you when you are hurt verbally, physically, or spiritually. They are always on your side.

The Hero In My Eyes project was a way of expressing your opinion on what a hero is and who you think your hero is. I think that this project forces you to think about why this person is your hero and why you think that way.

To get to my final product of the Hero In My Eyes project, I had to go through several steps. One, I had to interview my dad to figure out what he was doing in the Vietnam War. Second, I had to write the first draft. This gave me more information of the perspectives of the reader. With my second draft, I had to turn it in through e-mail to Mrs. Charlotte. I was sick at the time and I was feeling dreadful. Honestly, I was just hoping that the e-mail got to Charlotte. For the third draft, I had recovered from my cold (with a fever), and worked on my corrections. This finally came to my very hard earned (and successful) final draft.

Looking back on what I had done to get to my final product, I think that I could have had better questions to ask my dad during the interview. This way, he could give me more information on what he was doing during the war. This will help me get more information from other people in the future. One of my many challenges that kept me from thinking straight was, in part, having a cold (with a fever). I just hate how your head gets all fuzzy when you get sick!

For this project, I think that I used Perspective a lot when I was writing my drafts. Instead of doing second person like most of the other students in my class, I decided to do first person because I thought that people would like to know what he was thinking about while he was fighting a war. This way, I felt like you could see how he was feeling clearer than you would if I had used second person.

To see my blog post on my Hero In My Eyes project, click here.

The Origin of Zero

2009-11-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Origin of Zero

Many civilations have claimed to have invented the number zero. Some of them are right. Actually, three main civilizations created the number zero: the Babylonians, the Mayans, and the Hindus. Surprisingly, the Romans were not on this list of civilizations that had discovered the number zero.

The Babylonians discovered the number zero during the 4th century (B.C.). They announced that this number was real and that it would help them in their everyday life. The strangeness of the idea of another number was so outlandish that the people never accepted it. But, even today, we use some of their discoveries of zero. For example: time. They found out that one minute consisted of sixty seconds and that one hour consisted of sixty minutes.

Between the 4th and 5th century (B.C.), the Mayan people discovered the number zero as well. This knowledge stayed within their civilization. When their culture died, their knowledge of the number zero died with it.

Later on, around 600 (A.D.), the Hindus discovered the number zero. Along with discovering this special number, they discovered position numbering (which they learned for India). Later on, during the 10th century, the Europeans caught drift that there was a new number and decided to study it. They changed up the figure system (position numbering) and we use this system to this day.

2009-11-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

I advanced the throttle on my C-117 plane. The loud roar of the plane filtered through my helmet and into my ears. I trailed along the coast, glancing down at the ocean below. The buttons of the controls of the plane blinked as I turned the plane slightly to get a better view of Vietnam. Immediately, the plane tilted to let me see my first view of the war-torn country. The jungle was misty in the early morning as the sun rose on the horizon. I sighed. How peaceful. I thought. There was no sight of war anywhere near. I had expected torn up fields, fires, communists, and most likely bodies but there was no such thing for as far as the eye could see.

I reported to the Naval Air Station a couple miles away. The radio crackled and snapped as they answered my request. I had a sudden wave of homesickness. I wished for my small concrete box in the bachelor officer quarters. I wanted to be lying on my terrible cot. I wanted to curl up in the sheets I had brought from home and just sleep. I wished I didn’t have to be in a war. I wanted to fight for our country even though I didn’t want to be enlisted in the first place. I wished for many things but right now, I had no idea what I wanted.

On the sunlit horizon I saw the first glimpses of Camranh Bay awaiting my delivery of cargo, the cargo that would later be used to kill communists. They killed people daily just for the heck of it. I felt pride and sadness well up in my chest. Killing was bad, but so were communists. It all equaled out. If we were to be rid of the bad people, we would have to be bad ourselves. I, as a lieutenant junior grade, wished that I could do more than just deliver cargo to Camranh Bay. I wanted to be able to do something more than just fly a plane to various places; I wanted to fly a plane with guns so that I could experience the pump of adrenaline that any young man wanted. I wanted to feel the danger.

I then saw the low cinderblock buildings and extraordinarily long runway of the Camranh Bay Naval Base. Quonset huts dotted the side of the runway, looking like little metal huts. I saw people taxiing a plane out of one of them, being very careful with the wings of the small plane. “Do I have clearance to land?” I asked the man at the other end of the radio. “You’re clear to land,” the radio sizzled. I let down the landing gear and began my approach toward the runway. I landed with a bone shuddering stop, letting the buttons and the breaks do the work. Several people came and rolled the cargo out of my cargo hold, handling them with care like the writing on the sides of the boxes demanded in bright red letters.

I delivered my cargo unknowing that I would have delivered cargo that wasn’t wanted by society. I was oblivious to the public outcry that was demanding us to come back to the USA. I was ignorant of how many lives were going to be lost for no cause. I was blind to the feelings of abandonment, the unappreciative people awaiting my return to the states, and the feeling of an incomplete mission. I was unknowing that I would have a family and a daughter that would miss me. At that moment though, I felt like a hero, ready to defend my country even if it cost me my life as I stepped out of the cockpit and onto the hot runway. I pulled off my heavy helmet and slicked back my sweaty hair. I took in a deep breath of salty air and jungle scent. The smell of rain wandered on the edge of my senses. It was a refreshing cocktail that indefinitely contrasted against the stale air of the cockpit. I felt ready for anything, especially for an ice cold beer. I grinned at my wishful thinking. What I really needed to do was to check with the head of command here to confirm my delivery. Mission accomplished.

My Art Electric Project

2009-11-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

My Art Electric Project: Patriotic

Project Description

For my Mysics (Math/Physics) class, we were assigned a box and was told that we were to make an interactive, electrical component for our box. We could do pretty much anything we wanted to as long as it was save and inventive. The twist: we had to make the box symbolize a character trait that describes us. For me, I chose Patriotic because I love our country.

Process

Originally, when I started my Art Electric project, I had started with the character trait Dance because I love to dance! I started painted my box black and attempted to paint on white checkers to create a dance floor. The checks turned out extraordinarily terrible but, I continued on with my work. To make my little character on top of the box dance, I had to cut a hole in the top of the box. I tried to cut a perfect circle but it didn't turn out too well. Actually, I had to restart my whole box three days before the box was actually due. So, I decided to choose a simpler character trait to portray. I decided on the character trait Patriotic. First, I painted on an American flag because our flag represents our country on many occasions. Second, I painted Freedom on the side of my box along with a star. I painted this because we moved to America because we wanted religious freedom and the freedom of speech. Third, I posted a picture of President Obama because he is at the top of the government and he makes a whole ton of political decisions for our country. Fourth, I painted a list of the armed forces. I painted the armed forces because they are the most patriotic people in our country because they are willing to risk their lives for their country. Finally, for the interactive electrical component. For the interactive electrical component, I decided to put some lights in the stars of the American flag. I attached these lights together with some wires which later formed a parallel circuit. This attached to a button switch so the crowd can interact with my art component. This way, I have met all of the requirements for my Art Electric art project.

Final Product (Pictures)

Recap/Reflection

Now that my Art Electric project is finished, I have realized a lot of things that I could have done better on. Because I had messed up on my first box, I learned that I should have used a compass to draw a circle. An Exact-O knife also would have helped cut out the dancing circle better. I also learned that when you look at your peer's review, you don't always have to do as they advised, but you should also think very hard about why they came up with that critique before you turn it down completely. The drafting and revising of my art component came in handy when I was attempting to plan out my layout of my box though. It helped me see just how difficult this project was going to be. If I were to do this project all over again, I would have paid more attention to the drafts and revisions because they helped out a lot when I figured out that my box was too difficult. It helped me simplify the design of my box. I actually have learned that maybe, sometimes, simpler is better than the extraordinarily elaborate. I think that since I learned how to sauter and how to connect a wire, battery, and light to create a circuit, I think that I can use this in other projects that might occur later on in my school years. Overall, I think that I did quite well on my Art Electric art component.

The Great Dane

2009-11-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting. He, being an old Great Dane named Patch. He licked her hand solemnly and wuffed at a treat she had hidden in her skirt pocket.
"You always seem to find food, wherever it may be." Angela smiled as Patch gobbled down the doggie delicacy.
She'd had Patch for as long as she could remember. Since she was a little cream-puff of a baby with her little cream-colored cheeks. She loved her dog like he was her best friend, and he was. He was her only friend.

My First Horseback Riding Experience

2009-10-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

I mounted my horse. I was quivering, nervous. Why are you riding a horse? My inner-self inquired. You've never rode a horse before! What makes you think you can do it now? It condescended. Get off while you can! I shook my head. No! I yelled back. My inner-self shut up. I sighed thankfully. I picked up the reigns and fumbled with them. Finally I started to steer my horse to the arena. I took a deep breath. "Come on." I whispered in my horse's ear. They flicked back in acknowledgement. I walked about with the other riders. None of them acknowledged me. They know you're a newbie! They don't want anything to do with you! My inner-self yelled at me again. Shut up! I yelled back. It complied.

"Okay girls! Pick up the trot!" My trainer said cheerfully. What the heck is a trot? I asked myself. All the other girls started speeding their horses up and contorting their bodies into perfect poses. They praised their horses in high pitched voices. The trainer approached me and my horse where we were standing in the middle of the ring, watching the organized chaos. The trainer explained what a trot was and how to make your horse obey. I walked to the rail and clicked my tongue against the top of my mouth. You sound like an idiot! My mind screamed. Shut up! "Sit down, heels down, chin up, calves tight, elbows relaxed, wrists straight, fingers closed, backs arched, shoulders back," my trainer barked. All of the girls swirled around me and warped their bodies to flawless positions. To me, it just made them look like people with back problems. I, on the other hand, bounced on the back of my horse, just struggling to stay on. Horses twirled around me like a kaleidoscope of fur, dust, and hooves. Suddenly, time froze. All the horses stopped, the riders kept in position, and the dust settled. I stopped my horse by pulling back on the reigns like the other girls had. I almost ran into another horse in the process.

"Okay girls! Pick up the canter! Haley, your lesson is over." Sweat trickled down my neck. I walked down towards the barn. I felt dismissed, diminished, and flat out tired. I put my horse into the crossties. I slipped off the saddle and thumped to the ground. I leaned my head against my horses' face. See! I told you so! Was that really worth it? My inner-self yelled. Why did it always have to be so degrading? My horse snorted. I looked into her sweet brown eyes. Star was a perfect name for this little mare. I loved her name, it went with her face. She smelled like alfalfa and hay. I scratched lovingly at her little white mark on her forehead. It was shaped like a star. Her long black mane tickled my face. She blinked her long lashes and let me keep my face against hers. I felt a bond that possessed y heart my hazel eyes searched her amber ones.
Don't give up. They seemed to whisper. "I won't give up." I promised her vocally. These girls won't get the best of me, at least not yet. You know what? I'm never going to give up! You can throw all the problems you want at me, but they won't bring me down! Never, ever, ever in my entire life am I ever going to give up! I'm going to be one tough chick. I thought to myself. Bring it on!

Sensory Detail: Sound

2009-10-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

http://margaretnoble.net/blog/choral_top/

A slow moan echoed through the room. Like a ghost from the ether. Crying for its past life and groaning at its future. It hummed as it walked among the fog between the earth and the netherworld. A sigh escaped its lips as it watched the beings living on the earth. Wishing it could join in on the fun yet again. As it travelled back to the ether, it pulled out a small violin. It placed the bow on the strings and played an eerie song. His master, Death, gladly accepted the ghostly creature in its tendrils of darkness once again. It continued to play as it entered the netherworld. It was a song that penetrated the heart with cold gloom. It came with a shock of beauty and solemness. But within the solemness, was a shockingly dark allure. This is the sound that pulls at the heart when Death seduces you with the kiss of death. It is a kiss that is never forgotten time and time again. This sound is the sound of death in a colorful spin.

The Mexican Whiteboy

2009-09-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Mexican Whiteboy

Black, complete black. I opened my eyes slowly and took in my surroundings. A total stranger was sitting by me in a pair of bright turqoise scrubs. To his left there was a girl in a long green skirt. I blinked several times. It was the girl. My girl! My chest tightened and my breath quickened. I heard a strange sound come from her. Clear rivers of saltwater tumbled from her brown eyes. I tried to move to comfort her, but realized couldn't. Lead was spread throughout my limbs and I couldn't move. I was strapped down to what felt like a table but I couldn't be sure. A table? Where am I? That's when I heard it. Sirens. Coming from where? I wondered. The terrible sound rang in my ears, mixed with my girl's crying.

Then bang! It hit me. I'm in an ambulance! I yelled silently. Uno sent me to the hospital! I heard another wail coming from behind me. Oh God. I thought. Uno's brother is in the other ambulance! What have I done? I moaned. My girl looked up from her crying and saw me, eyes open and groaning. She unclipped her seatbelt and dropped to her knees next to me. Her brown eyes searched mine desparately. "Chico? Tu estas no bueno. Sueno." she said. I smiled. What the heck did she just say? I wondered. She brushed my hair back from my face. Her fingers barely touched my cheek. The pain registered immediately. The pain! Oh God the pain! I grimaced and tried not to yell. She pulled back her hand immediately when she felt me tense. "Tu duele mucho. Lo siento." She climbed back into her seat and talked to the paramedic. He came over with something behind his back. He rolled up my sleeve and I felt a sharp prick. Suddenly the world faded to black and turquoise. The siren wailing stopped.

I felt myself being lift up, but I couldn't react. I felt like I was floating. Which I was for all I cared. I heard low mumbling and commands. "Can someone please bring me the sutures?" I heard an american doctor say. Sutures! How bad am I? I wondered. I felt the doctors cool hand, but not the needle that pierced my skin over and over again. I felt myself being lifted again and brought to a soft bed. The pillows felt like air on my cheeks. I succumbed to my need to sleep. I awoke a couple days later.

The Locker Problem

2009-09-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

The Locker Problem

To know which lockers are opened and which are closed is all based on square roots and factors. Every number that has a perfect square root is open. For example, 49 is an open locker. This is an open locker because it is a square root number. The number 49 comes from 7 x 7 = 49. Just because the number 49 is a perfectly squared number does not mean taht there aren't other square root numbers in the Locker Problem. Within the first 100 lockers there are exactly 10 squared numbers. Those numbers are: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, and 100. Why? They are all like 49 where you find them by using the square roots. In the end, this leaves us with 31 open lockers and 969 closed lockers whcih make a total of 1000 lockers.

What do factors have to do with all of my shenanigans above? If you listed all the common facotrs of the square root numbers you could have an odd amount of factors. As an example, I will use my dear old 49 again. The number 49 has a total of 3 factors. Those factors are 1, 7, and 49. All of these numbers could translate into Open, Close, and finally Open. This is because the first person opened every single locker. This means that all the lockers' factors all have to start with a 1, which stands for Open. This can mean that every single squared number has an odd number of factors, including the number 1, the number that if they timed it by itself would become the squared number, and finally the squared number itself.

Included is a table of the first 20 lockers in the locker problem.

Order of Operations

2009-09-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

My problems:

1. 3³ x 8(2) + 1 = ?

2. 3 x 2 + 1 / 7 = ?

3. 6 - 3 x 36 / 6 = 36

My Favorite Fictional Character

2009-09-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

My favorite fictional character is Meggie (the girl reading the book) from the books Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath. In this book, Meggie is the daughter of a "silvertongue". A "silvertongue" is a person where if they read aloud, makes what they were reading come out of the book. The problem is that when something comes out of the book, something else has to go back in to replace it. So Mo (Meggie's dad and also the one holding the book with a serious look), one day, read his wife into the book by mistake. So, I think that Meggie is a very brave character because she is growing up without a mother and I think that is a very tough thing to go through. So soon, a person that Mo read out of a book called Inkheart, turns evil and wants to burn all of the Inkheart books because he likes this world so much. All of the copies are burned except one, which Mo miraculously discovers. They go on this huge adventure trying to escape Capricorn (the bald guy with the writing on his face).

In the second book (Inkspell), Meggie is so desparate to try to get her mother back that she reads herself into Inkheart to find her. When Mo figures out that Meggie has gone into the book, he follows her in. They soon get wrapped up in problems with an evil king within the book called the Adderhead. I think that Meggie was super brave in this book and I think that she symbolizes the stubbornness and rebellion of the typical female teenager.

Finally, in the third book (Inkdeath), Farid (Meggie's boyfriend from the book Arabian Nights) dies. Farid's firedancer/friend/tutor dies in his place. Meggie reads herself back into Inkheart to take Dustfinger (the firedancer guy who saved Farid) back from the dead. Apparently, in this book, it has been done before. In the end, Meggie breaks up with Farid, saves Dustfinger, and returns back home with a man (whom she later marries) who later created the idea of an airplane.

And all is happily ever after!

P.S. There is a movie made after the book (poster above)!

What is Math? What is Physics?

2009-09-04T11:36:00.001-07:00

What is Math?
To me, math is not only a class where you learn about numbers, but a place where you can look at infinity just by looking at numbers. Pi, for example, is an example of math but it goes on forever and ever and ever and never ends! It is like a form of art that is extremely complex and only people like Einstein and Mele Sato (my Mysics teacher) can understand. I, unfortunately, am not gifted with the understanding of math so to me, math looks exactly like numbers on a page.

What is Physics?
Physics is a very complex form of math. I find it quite interesting that math can be put into many different forms and topics and still be numbers on a page. I also think that physics is the study of forces where you learn about gravity and other related topics. And like math, physics is a form of something amazing that can only be understood by certain people (cough cough Mele cough cough). And also like math, I do not quite understand the complexities of it.

30 Things You Didn't Know About Me

2009-09-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

I own 18 rings and I wear most of them daily.*

I haven't worn anything pink or purple since I was 7 (and proud of it!).

I have been in the same school (Mount Helix Academy) since Kindergarten.

There was only 5 girls in my 8th grade class.

My current favorite animal is the zebra.

My favorite colors are...well...everything but pink and purple...and possibly yellow.

I play volleyball.

I also horseback-ride.

My favorite color is green (of any shade).

I have learned how to surf (kinda) but I don't own a board.

I have lived in SD all my life.

My favorite things to wear are skinny jeans, graphic tees, and Converse.

I own 5 pairs of Converse All Stars.

I have traveled to (from closest to farthest) Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

My middle name is Elizabeth.

I have a dog named Toby (who really dislikes me.).

My birthday is April 12th, 1995.

My birthstone is a Diamond (look above for my birthday).

I have never twisted, sprained, or broken anything.

My dad is a retired Delta pilot and my mom is a lawyer.

I am 50% Swedish and 50% Irish.

I have had braces twice (thankfully I have them off now!).

My most played song on my iPod is Lady Gaga's "Just Dance".

I have never worn makeup (except on Halloween.).

I am an only child.

My favorite fruit is a Plum (don't ask.).

I have learned Spanish since Kindergarten.

My pet peeve is having the radio volume on odd numbers.

My favorite number is 8.

I'm a PC and a Mac all at the same time (I'm soo skilled!).

*ammount of rings is subject to change.