2. Choose one of your posts. (Your favorite? Your least favorite? The one that surprises you the most when you reread it? Any one you want to pick.) Analyze it in detail, with quotes etc. And link to it, of course!
Second semester is almost over which means another whole new batch of blog posts are in my blog. Well maybe not new, if you actually read and keep track of my blog posts, but hopefully you all do (yeah right). So out of all my twenty-six blog posts for this second semester, my favorite one out of them all, is probably my Box story that I'm writing about. It's just a made up story that I wrote about two months ago and still progressing by a little. So far there is only three part of my box story and possibly more in the future if I have more time to write about it. I like to write stories about anything that interested me, and it became a small habit of mine whenever I feel like writing some random story in my blog. It's fun, creative, and easy because its your own story, you can do whatever you want with it that will express whatever you like. Mainly, the story is about a young apprentice following and learning from her skilled master in this horrific world, where their planet is dieing from their own species' greediness. Civil war and pollution are everywhere while their technology is still growing strong with mass destruction, disintegrating their world. The young apprentice, Tora, wants to change the world and save the planet from the plague(humans) that's killing it, doing whatever it takes. Well that's all I could come up with for now in my story and adding much more ideas that will come into my head. I was inspired to write this story by my teacher Mr. Sutherland, when he gave us this one line to write in our quick write "She touched the box in her pocket and smiled." After that, we could do whatever we want with it and expand it to your liking. That one line gave me a handful of ideas to write about it, and it drew more on the agency side to me with infiltrating a place to get an object.
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?
Well first of all with what I learned in writer's block is that it suck a lot once you encounter this kind of problem, and I usually do. I will always be stuck on something and won't have anything else to say once this comes into my mind. It usually take some time for me to actually have something to write about once everything is all settle. I think the reason why I tend to get stuck with writer's block is that the subject I'm writing isn't that interesting to me. Look at it this way, if your writing about something that is boring and not so fun to you, your usually going to end up stuck, just trying to scrape off something to write about. But if your writing about something that is interesting to you and not boring at all, your bound to not get stuck easily in your writing, and instead possibly enjoying it. For example, one of my blog post that I enjoy very much to write about is my box story. I rarely get stuck when I'm writing about my story, because I enjoy every moment of it, thinking of something interesting to put into my story. On some occasion, if I do get stuck on these writer's block, I tend to look up the internet or my peers for ideas and other information that will help me in writing. It proven to be a lot useful when I used this, and won't get stuck for hours trying to figure out what to write about. Number one rule, always look for your peers for inspiration or any sort of ideas that would help you in writing. Well I'm not really sure if there are any patterns in my writer's block other than that if it's boring, I tend to get stuck and if not I don't.
10. Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you to write?
I get my ideas from my blog post topics usually by the extraordinary internet or just my peers in class. If I find something that is interesting and worth to blog about, I usually put that into my blog. There are so many fascinating things to learn in our world and your bound to have something that is interesting for you to write about. Once you have that, then everything is all good and you won't be struggling to find something to blog about in your final minute of doing your homework. My ideas mainly comes from my peers giving me ideas or interesting things that have across me. One example was where my friend, Adam, introduce me a subject that pretty much blown my mind. The subject was steampunk, and I was deeply fascinated by the ideas that it talked about. I remember some movies when I was young involving steam punk and it was pretty much awesome to me with all their gadgets of machinery. On other occasions, when I absolutely have nothing to blog about, I usually talk about my day or life so far in school. In my blogs, I mostly aim at talking about reviews of things like my roller coaster blog or my favorite book one. What inspires me to write in my blog, other than the fact that its your grade, is the new experience that we have never done in English before, using blogging as our educational tool to express ourselves or just write about anything else. As I said before, my peers and the internet gives me the materials to write my blog posts which in terms inspires me to go on. This all helps me in writing and as I write more in my blog, hopefully my writing too will improve in the future.
Well to sum everything up, which this is our last blog post for English but hopefully not when everything is over, is that this year was a blast. English was fun and creative in terms of blogging and a whole new experience for us. So thank you again Mr. Sutherland as I said in my previous blog post, and hopefully maybe next year I might get you again to enjoy another awesome experience.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Monthly Review: Maximum Rider: The Angel Experiment
4. How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style? (You must include a passage or two from the text if you choose this question.)
7. If you've read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?
8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a science fiction and the first book in the Maximum Ride series written by James Patterson. It tells a story about a group of kids experimented on mixed with 2% bird's genes and have extraordinary powers that a bird would have. Now their on the run, evading from the evil scientists who created them, and trying to find out about their origin. Apparently Angel, one of the youngest member of the group, was captured by the Erasers(half man half wolf) and taken back to the "school" to be experimented on again. Now Max and the rest of the group, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and the Gasman are trying to rescue Angel and away from the clutches of the evil scientists.
James Patterson's style of writing is pretty weird to me, or just something new, because I thought that all writings of any kind your suppose to stick to one type of narrative. He writes in first person narrative with whatever Max is doing,thinking, and feeling, then switches off to third person narrative a few times on different characters around the book. At first I was confused on whats going on in the book and whether or not the author is still talking about the main character, Max. I didn't know you can write in both narratives form, thought it was bad English if you write something like that. I don't remember at all about learning two forms of narrative in the same story from any teachers I had previously. The writing style was just something new for me that I had to get used to and this wasn't the first time I encounter this. Another book I read called, Pendragon, written by D.J. MacHale, was also similar with this book I'm reading. Pendragon, one of my favorite books, talks in first person and third person also in its series. For D.J. MacHale's style of writing, it's a bit different compare with Patterson, because it doesn't jump straight off to first then third narrative like Patterson, it enter in first person by reading a letter in the past and present time with third. On Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, it just goes straight to third person without a hint or clue for the readers, which I usually get confused at those time. Both of these writing are very unique to me and frankly these are the only books I know that put two forms of narrative person into a story. I will show you two quotes from the book, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, when he uses the first and third person.
Well the closest genre that comes close to my mind right now with Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is The Hunger Games, mostly because their both doing something about survival. Maximum Ride is where Max and the rest of the group are trying to run away and escape from the Erasers who are pursuing them, while Katniss in the Hunger Games is fighting to her death in an arena to survive. These two books share some similarity about surviving in the real world and also with animal mutation like the mockingjay in the Hunger games and Erasers in Maximum Ride. Maximum Ride seem more on the fantasy side with superpowers and evil scientists for young readers, while the Hunger Games seem more realistic that could actually happen in our world set in the future. For me, I prefer the Hunger Games more than Maximum Ride, because it has a more sophisticated storyline compare to Maximum Ride which set on one main thing, trying to save Angel who was captured by the Erasers and their origin. The Hunger Games talks more than just some bloody game with a fight to the death thing, it talks about how everything came to be, their hardships living, and revolution throughout the place. I have more interest for the Hunger Games, because it is more realistic to me and has more of my favorite genres like romance, action, post-apocalyptic, etc. I like the superpower thing in Maximum Ride with their ability to fly, read/control minds, and abnormal strengths, but that is about it so far. Even though both the books share similar genres, the plot and characters are completely different with 98% human 2% bird while the other one is about a bloody game. The Hunger Games seem to catch my interest more on the storyline compare to Maximum Ride with a typical saving the world thing.
The most surprising character that stood out to me was the main character, Max, which apparently I thought she was a boy until page fifty when they actually indicate she's a girl.
So at that time, I thought she was a boy which never cross my mind that she was a girl, probably because it showed a lot of her masculine side with her tough attitude and her actions. The name even seem to trick me, since not a lot of girls I know have the name Max and commonly known for boys. She is the leader of the six member flock including herself, and the oldest out of all the other 98% human and 2% bird. Max have the ability to fly along with the rest of the flock because of the 2% bird genes that the evil scientists experimented on. Max is the type of person who puts family first and than the rest of the other priorities last, because she cares for anyone even strangers she don't even know. In the book, when Angel got captured by the Erasers, Max swear to herself and the rest of the flock that they would bring Angel back safely in their hands. I like this type of characteristic that Max has, and will do anything for anyone when their in need for help like Angel and Ella. She doesn't think and just act straight away to save people in trouble, which is a good thing to do, but I think it may also be a weakness for her, because she won't realize the full danger of what she got herself into and might actually get killed. For example, when Max saved Ella from a couple of people bullying her, Max got herself wounded with a gunshot on her wing which those people apparently had guns. Max needs to be careful when saving people in order to not get herself hurt again, other than that she is very brave for the things she did that she thought was right.
7. If you've read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?
8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a science fiction and the first book in the Maximum Ride series written by James Patterson. It tells a story about a group of kids experimented on mixed with 2% bird's genes and have extraordinary powers that a bird would have. Now their on the run, evading from the evil scientists who created them, and trying to find out about their origin. Apparently Angel, one of the youngest member of the group, was captured by the Erasers(half man half wolf) and taken back to the "school" to be experimented on again. Now Max and the rest of the group, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and the Gasman are trying to rescue Angel and away from the clutches of the evil scientists.
James Patterson's style of writing is pretty weird to me, or just something new, because I thought that all writings of any kind your suppose to stick to one type of narrative. He writes in first person narrative with whatever Max is doing,thinking, and feeling, then switches off to third person narrative a few times on different characters around the book. At first I was confused on whats going on in the book and whether or not the author is still talking about the main character, Max. I didn't know you can write in both narratives form, thought it was bad English if you write something like that. I don't remember at all about learning two forms of narrative in the same story from any teachers I had previously. The writing style was just something new for me that I had to get used to and this wasn't the first time I encounter this. Another book I read called, Pendragon, written by D.J. MacHale, was also similar with this book I'm reading. Pendragon, one of my favorite books, talks in first person and third person also in its series. For D.J. MacHale's style of writing, it's a bit different compare with Patterson, because it doesn't jump straight off to first then third narrative like Patterson, it enter in first person by reading a letter in the past and present time with third. On Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, it just goes straight to third person without a hint or clue for the readers, which I usually get confused at those time. Both of these writing are very unique to me and frankly these are the only books I know that put two forms of narrative person into a story. I will show you two quotes from the book, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, when he uses the first and third person.
I pressed my lips together. I was doing the best I could. "Maybe not," I admitted. "We'll never know. Jeb's dead. Now everyone get your gear together." (35)
"Okay, okay," the Gasman said suddenly. "I have an idea. It's risky, and Max will kill is when she finds out." Iggy raised his head,. "Sounds like my kind of idea." (122)
Well the closest genre that comes close to my mind right now with Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is The Hunger Games, mostly because their both doing something about survival. Maximum Ride is where Max and the rest of the group are trying to run away and escape from the Erasers who are pursuing them, while Katniss in the Hunger Games is fighting to her death in an arena to survive. These two books share some similarity about surviving in the real world and also with animal mutation like the mockingjay in the Hunger games and Erasers in Maximum Ride. Maximum Ride seem more on the fantasy side with superpowers and evil scientists for young readers, while the Hunger Games seem more realistic that could actually happen in our world set in the future. For me, I prefer the Hunger Games more than Maximum Ride, because it has a more sophisticated storyline compare to Maximum Ride which set on one main thing, trying to save Angel who was captured by the Erasers and their origin. The Hunger Games talks more than just some bloody game with a fight to the death thing, it talks about how everything came to be, their hardships living, and revolution throughout the place. I have more interest for the Hunger Games, because it is more realistic to me and has more of my favorite genres like romance, action, post-apocalyptic, etc. I like the superpower thing in Maximum Ride with their ability to fly, read/control minds, and abnormal strengths, but that is about it so far. Even though both the books share similar genres, the plot and characters are completely different with 98% human 2% bird while the other one is about a bloody game. The Hunger Games seem to catch my interest more on the storyline compare to Maximum Ride with a typical saving the world thing.
The most surprising character that stood out to me was the main character, Max, which apparently I thought she was a boy until page fifty when they actually indicate she's a girl.
"Shut up," said the Gasman, and Iggy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Look. This sucks so bad. Max left us here 'cause she thought we couldn't keep up."(50)
So at that time, I thought she was a boy which never cross my mind that she was a girl, probably because it showed a lot of her masculine side with her tough attitude and her actions. The name even seem to trick me, since not a lot of girls I know have the name Max and commonly known for boys. She is the leader of the six member flock including herself, and the oldest out of all the other 98% human and 2% bird. Max have the ability to fly along with the rest of the flock because of the 2% bird genes that the evil scientists experimented on. Max is the type of person who puts family first and than the rest of the other priorities last, because she cares for anyone even strangers she don't even know. In the book, when Angel got captured by the Erasers, Max swear to herself and the rest of the flock that they would bring Angel back safely in their hands. I like this type of characteristic that Max has, and will do anything for anyone when their in need for help like Angel and Ella. She doesn't think and just act straight away to save people in trouble, which is a good thing to do, but I think it may also be a weakness for her, because she won't realize the full danger of what she got herself into and might actually get killed. For example, when Max saved Ella from a couple of people bullying her, Max got herself wounded with a gunshot on her wing which those people apparently had guns. Max needs to be careful when saving people in order to not get herself hurt again, other than that she is very brave for the things she did that she thought was right.
Friday, May 21, 2010
School and Blogging
Well, summer is right at our doorstep and just about three more weeks until our long agonizing, torturing days in school is almost over, hallelujah(Yes!). So hang in there people, salvation awaits us! Haha... well right back to the topic and this is it, school is almost over and this is officially our last blog aside from the final blog were doing next week. So no more homeworks, projects, TEST, teachers (not you Sutherland, your the best xD), and even those presentation where you have to speak up against your own will or else your grades will go down the drains. None of that and just relaxation all summer long with your friends, family, or whatever your going to do on your vacation. Life will be great, until our next school year begins...
Since all of this is going to happen and this is our last blog, I wonder, will any of the us students in Sutherland's class ever continue blogging again? Or are they just going to leave it untouched, since their class with this is over and have nothing else to do with blogging? I bet a majority of the students will just forget about blogging once their done with it. What I mean is that most of the students will just stop blogging once school is over, and only did it because of the teacher's order. Once their done with that, their just get on with their life as if this was just another ordinary homework assignment in the past. Well maybe not an ordinary homework assignment, but a very unique one and that most of the students won't forget about this. This is all about experiences, I guess, something new that we haven't tried at all with posting up blogs as our assignment for English. I'm wondering is that will any of Sutherland's students still blog even after school is over? Has blogging changed their life (hmm... maybe the word life seem a bit exaggerating, something like your way of thinking or something, I guess?) and became a habit of theirs and something more than just schoolwork.
As for me, blogging was a great experience for me and something new that I haven't tried in my whole life. Well since school is almost over and we won't be needing to blog anymore without a purpose, I guess blogging is obsolete to me. Well maybe not completely unused, I might go on from time to time and put up some blog post even if school is out. And If you been reading my blog posts, I would like to continue and possibly finish my made-up story which I started this year. I like to write stories, because you can practically make up anything you want to write about. So possibly in the future, I might post something new and continue my story and hopefully finish. This is pretty much it, and if anyone is reading this (hopefully), want to like share your opinion/leave a comment about school and blogging whether or not you will still blog even after school is over? I want to know other students' opinion on this mostly out of curiosity if they will still blog in the future from time to time. So thank you Mr. Sutherland for this great new experience you showed us in English other than the regular same old routines done like the other teachers.
Since all of this is going to happen and this is our last blog, I wonder, will any of the us students in Sutherland's class ever continue blogging again? Or are they just going to leave it untouched, since their class with this is over and have nothing else to do with blogging? I bet a majority of the students will just forget about blogging once their done with it. What I mean is that most of the students will just stop blogging once school is over, and only did it because of the teacher's order. Once their done with that, their just get on with their life as if this was just another ordinary homework assignment in the past. Well maybe not an ordinary homework assignment, but a very unique one and that most of the students won't forget about this. This is all about experiences, I guess, something new that we haven't tried at all with posting up blogs as our assignment for English. I'm wondering is that will any of Sutherland's students still blog even after school is over? Has blogging changed their life (hmm... maybe the word life seem a bit exaggerating, something like your way of thinking or something, I guess?) and became a habit of theirs and something more than just schoolwork.
As for me, blogging was a great experience for me and something new that I haven't tried in my whole life. Well since school is almost over and we won't be needing to blog anymore without a purpose, I guess blogging is obsolete to me. Well maybe not completely unused, I might go on from time to time and put up some blog post even if school is out. And If you been reading my blog posts, I would like to continue and possibly finish my made-up story which I started this year. I like to write stories, because you can practically make up anything you want to write about. So possibly in the future, I might post something new and continue my story and hopefully finish. This is pretty much it, and if anyone is reading this (hopefully), want to like share your opinion/leave a comment about school and blogging whether or not you will still blog even after school is over? I want to know other students' opinion on this mostly out of curiosity if they will still blog in the future from time to time. So thank you Mr. Sutherland for this great new experience you showed us in English other than the regular same old routines done like the other teachers.
Lit Cirle, Letter 3; Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
Angel nodded, smoothing her bear's fur down around its ears. "Yeah. I just asked her to buy it for me. You know, with my mind." pg 287
That would be pretty cool to have a superpower and all that in the real world. I mean Angel have telekinese power and can mostly control other people by telling them what to do. Her ability is very unique and pretty useful if you ask me. You can easily get information from someone else or just tell them what to do. Read their mind to see whats going on in their head and also another extradinary thing she could do is breathe under water. Angel seemed to be very gifted with her abilities to read/control people, and swim for hours without even drowning, but with great powers comes with great responsibilities. Angel will have to learn how to control her powers and use it for good. Her powers to me seem pretty evil, since she can influence people easily to her own needs and mostly do whatever she wants. Angel being evil? Pshhh that would never happen because she is a sweet innocent little girl who would never succumb to evil, or would she?
"You killed your own brother!" pg 408
Oh man, what a pleasant thing to hear after all these times without even knowing, the one who's been hunting you down and treating you mostly like crap, finally killing him right after hearing the news. Ari is Max's brother (well dead brother now), who is the son of Jeb, and now Max knows the truth that she's in this sick mutation family. Wow what a twist, having a younger brother who's been hunting you down, detesting you in every way possible, now in Max's cold blooded hands realizing that she killed her own brother. Also with Jeb, who helped her and the rest of the flock escape from the school, and acted like a father to Max but in reality he really is; hmm a bit confusing don't you think?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
QuickWrite: The Rules of Love...?
The rules that dictate the behavior of young men and women in relationship today, is probably because of shyness if their actually going out, or be really comfortable with each other. Either their to scared to ask the other person or just have the guts to ask him/her. Nowadays, If the person really like this other person, their going to spend more time with the other getting to know him/her much more. Texting is pretty common in this twenty first century, where people use this for communication and getting to know the other more person. Also friends might be a big influence toward the person you like, because they can change their mind and opinion about you. For example getting to know your lover's friend and making them like you will make them say that your the right choice. Friends can help change and influence others if your on their good side. If everything seem to work and seem all right, the male usually ask the female out on a date or be boyfriend and girlfriend. Well that's how the liking/asking out system works here nowadays I think?
"Good girls" well... I'm not really sure on that and what they shouldn't violate. I mean like stuff to not have sex? Or cheat on the guy? Be innocent and not be mean or something. Well I'm not really sure on this question, and same goes for the "good boys" also with the not cheating and possibly not having sex too? I don't know... Good couples like bring flowers for the girlfriend, don't fight or abuse each other, and get along really well.
If you break any of these rules, well either the boyfriend/girlfriend find you cheating on them, just guess... you break up what do you expect? Well most of these scenario... For the sex thing umm... If their both ok sure? But underage sex is not right for anyone and it's wrong, because what if the female gets pregnant or something.
"Good girls" well... I'm not really sure on that and what they shouldn't violate. I mean like stuff to not have sex? Or cheat on the guy? Be innocent and not be mean or something. Well I'm not really sure on this question, and same goes for the "good boys" also with the not cheating and possibly not having sex too? I don't know... Good couples like bring flowers for the girlfriend, don't fight or abuse each other, and get along really well.
If you break any of these rules, well either the boyfriend/girlfriend find you cheating on them, just guess... you break up what do you expect? Well most of these scenario... For the sex thing umm... If their both ok sure? But underage sex is not right for anyone and it's wrong, because what if the female gets pregnant or something.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Lit Cirle, Letter 2; Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
"If you do see or hear of anything unusual, here's a number for you to call. Thanks for your time. Sorry to disturb you."
Heavy footsteps faded from my hearing. A minute later I felt the front door slam shut.
Hmm for a second there when I first read this quote, I was for sure that the men from the "local law enforcement" (probably Erasers) was surely going to barge into the door and some action will occur, guess I was wrong. Instead the outcome was the men leaving and not even becoming suspicious about the doctor, Dr. Martinez, who was keeping Max hidden in the office. I thought the Erasers were a group of pretty much ruthless predators, expert at hunting down anyone who escaped from the "School," and who wouldn't let anything get in their way, but instead got yelled at to an ordinary veterinarian. The Erasers were all bark, but didn't even bite back to Dr. Martinez. Also, doesn't the Erasers, half-man half wolf, have a keen smell and could find Max pretty easily? Well they sure didn't prove themselves about how deadly they are and their keen nose. The Erasers in my opinion are pretty weak for being half wolf and half men, other than transforming into a hairy person with claws.
"They wanted to help the School," Angel said, gasping out the words through her sobs. "They let them put bird genes in us. And gave us away for money." (227)
Wow this pretty much shocked me, but yet doesn't seem to surprised me that much. How could Angel and the Gasman's parents just gave them away to be experimented on, and let the evil scientists do horrible things to them just for money? That's pretty mess up, but the sad thing is, that it's sometimes even true in this real world. Well maybe not the evil scientists putting bird genes into children, but parents selling their kids off for money or other things like labor. It's horrible for anything like this to happen when your parents would sell you to some stranger only for money, and who knows what the stranger will do to you. What were the parents thinking selling their own children away, couples of sick jerks I say. Well good thing this is a book after all and hope a happy ending will fall upon the flocks.
Deuces
Deuces or as some people call it, big two/thirteen; what a fun game to play right? There are many types of ways you could play it, the types are Chinese, Vietnamese, and ... Well I only know two so thats about it so far. Feel free to leave a comment or so explaining more about this game. Oh yeah forgot to tell you the one thing that is essential to this whole game. Your wondering what type of game this is? Well its a card game and can be up to two through four players. It's actually pretty fun to play this card game once you get the jest of it and understand how to play.
This game is pretty simple, each player gets thirteen cards, and mostly be the first one to win the game by having no cards left. You play by placing down cards that are higher than the last person who placed it, and repeat the steps over again until the first one use up all their cards win. The order of the cards from lowest to highest are three, four, five... etc to jack, queen, king, ace, and two. Two is the highest of all cards, and whoever have the lowest three starts first of the game.
In Viet. style of deuces, the suites from lowest to highest are spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts. You can play doubles, triples, or four of a kind if you have the same number. You can also place a straight if your numbers are in order like three, four, five, and etc. up to ace. The lowest straight you can go is with three cards, and if your lucky and have all the numbers to three up to ace that's called a dragon. If someone place a two you could "chop," as in placing a higher set of cards, if you have four kinds of card or three doubles in order. For example having four of a kind like four seven or any other number could chop the two. Having three doubles like two three, two four, and two five could also chop the single two, but if the player place two twos then you have to have five doubles in order to beat it.
Next is the Chinese style of playing deuces. Its a bit different compare to the Viet. style with the different suites and the five card limit. The lowest suites to highest are diamond, clubs, hearts, and spades. With the five card limit, well the name tells you itself that you can only place five cards which is the limit and nothing over it. You can only play five cards straight from numbers order, instead of having three card straight like Viet. Another five card limit is having three of a kind and one pair called, full house, or four of a kind with one card. A flush is any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence. A straight flush is having the same straight and same suites, which is the highest five card limit you can play.
That's about it on all I know about this game, so sorry if anything is confusing or just bad grammar, because I rushed through this blog
This game is pretty simple, each player gets thirteen cards, and mostly be the first one to win the game by having no cards left. You play by placing down cards that are higher than the last person who placed it, and repeat the steps over again until the first one use up all their cards win. The order of the cards from lowest to highest are three, four, five... etc to jack, queen, king, ace, and two. Two is the highest of all cards, and whoever have the lowest three starts first of the game.
In Viet. style of deuces, the suites from lowest to highest are spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts. You can play doubles, triples, or four of a kind if you have the same number. You can also place a straight if your numbers are in order like three, four, five, and etc. up to ace. The lowest straight you can go is with three cards, and if your lucky and have all the numbers to three up to ace that's called a dragon. If someone place a two you could "chop," as in placing a higher set of cards, if you have four kinds of card or three doubles in order. For example having four of a kind like four seven or any other number could chop the two. Having three doubles like two three, two four, and two five could also chop the single two, but if the player place two twos then you have to have five doubles in order to beat it.
Next is the Chinese style of playing deuces. Its a bit different compare to the Viet. style with the different suites and the five card limit. The lowest suites to highest are diamond, clubs, hearts, and spades. With the five card limit, well the name tells you itself that you can only place five cards which is the limit and nothing over it. You can only play five cards straight from numbers order, instead of having three card straight like Viet. Another five card limit is having three of a kind and one pair called, full house, or four of a kind with one card. A flush is any five cards of the same suit, but not in a sequence. A straight flush is having the same straight and same suites, which is the highest five card limit you can play.
That's about it on all I know about this game, so sorry if anything is confusing or just bad grammar, because I rushed through this blog
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Box -Part 3
"Where is the box?" asked the inpatient man, dressed like the commoners of this city, but seem a bit cleaner and less tarnish than the rest.
The short-tempered man with his gray shady hat and pistol in his holster hand out demanding for the box while his bodyguard keeps watch for any intruders. Tora standing at the side quietly, while watching Syrol and the short man do all the talking. She looks around carefully keeping an eye on the bodyguard if anything goes wrong with the deal and worse to come might have to fight him. Almost twice the height of her, the bodyguard has a firm body and probably more well fed than Tora. Better yet, her only weapon is of a rusty knife concealed in her back pocket compared to the man with a much bigger blade whose probably experienced with swordsmanship. Tora is of absolutely no match against this man and wouldn't stand a chance if he was her foe in battle. Considering his massive size, Tora could probably outrun him and escape safely with no harm done, but she knew she couldn't leave Syrol behind to fend off the two. Her only option is to fight this man even if the odds are against her and hopefully survive the ordeal.
Syrol must live was all she could think of, because if he dies there would be no meaning to live in this despicable world, where every man for themselves. Syrol is a gentle and caring person who is always there for Tora. He took her in when she was just about eleven all alone in the wandering street with no family, just on the verge of dieing from starvation. Syrol took her in, fed her, cleaned her, trained her to survive in this harsh world, and mostly acted like a father to her. He was everything to her and would do anything to save him and return back the favor for everything he had done for her.
On most of their missions, Syrol always try to talk things out with his persuasive voice instead of using force to achieve his goals. His voice is very peaceful and it reaches out to the people like a soothing melody. But if peaceful talking can't solve the conflict and things turn to worse, he is a force to be reckoned with. Syrol is a tough adversary against any foe he fights and is skilled in the art of stealth. As time has past, so did his body and his movements are a bit weary. That's why Tora must stand her ground and protect anyone from harming Syrol, even sacrificing her own life to save his.
Tora's hope was starting to build up, having courage to withstand anything that will come at her. Thinking back now, Syrol has been taking care of himself way before Tora had met him, and is an experienced fighter way longer than her. If anyone was to get hurt easily, it was her. Tora's confident was at its highest peak, nothing that she could think of would scare her and she was ready to fight even the bodyguard that is double her size. Then, one look at the bodyguard's arm and all hopes of winning went down the drain. A tattoo was on his arm shaped like a scythe with blue flames on the blades and a snake curled up on the handle of the scythe. Ekans was all she could say in her head, better yet that bodyguard is one of the Black Reapers. Tora lost all hope of winning.
The short-tempered man with his gray shady hat and pistol in his holster hand out demanding for the box while his bodyguard keeps watch for any intruders. Tora standing at the side quietly, while watching Syrol and the short man do all the talking. She looks around carefully keeping an eye on the bodyguard if anything goes wrong with the deal and worse to come might have to fight him. Almost twice the height of her, the bodyguard has a firm body and probably more well fed than Tora. Better yet, her only weapon is of a rusty knife concealed in her back pocket compared to the man with a much bigger blade whose probably experienced with swordsmanship. Tora is of absolutely no match against this man and wouldn't stand a chance if he was her foe in battle. Considering his massive size, Tora could probably outrun him and escape safely with no harm done, but she knew she couldn't leave Syrol behind to fend off the two. Her only option is to fight this man even if the odds are against her and hopefully survive the ordeal.
Syrol must live was all she could think of, because if he dies there would be no meaning to live in this despicable world, where every man for themselves. Syrol is a gentle and caring person who is always there for Tora. He took her in when she was just about eleven all alone in the wandering street with no family, just on the verge of dieing from starvation. Syrol took her in, fed her, cleaned her, trained her to survive in this harsh world, and mostly acted like a father to her. He was everything to her and would do anything to save him and return back the favor for everything he had done for her.
On most of their missions, Syrol always try to talk things out with his persuasive voice instead of using force to achieve his goals. His voice is very peaceful and it reaches out to the people like a soothing melody. But if peaceful talking can't solve the conflict and things turn to worse, he is a force to be reckoned with. Syrol is a tough adversary against any foe he fights and is skilled in the art of stealth. As time has past, so did his body and his movements are a bit weary. That's why Tora must stand her ground and protect anyone from harming Syrol, even sacrificing her own life to save his.
Tora's hope was starting to build up, having courage to withstand anything that will come at her. Thinking back now, Syrol has been taking care of himself way before Tora had met him, and is an experienced fighter way longer than her. If anyone was to get hurt easily, it was her. Tora's confident was at its highest peak, nothing that she could think of would scare her and she was ready to fight even the bodyguard that is double her size. Then, one look at the bodyguard's arm and all hopes of winning went down the drain. A tattoo was on his arm shaped like a scythe with blue flames on the blades and a snake curled up on the handle of the scythe. Ekans was all she could say in her head, better yet that bodyguard is one of the Black Reapers. Tora lost all hope of winning.
Lit Cirle, Letter 1; Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
First off the book I'm reading is Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment written by James Patterson, hint the title. So far, the storyline is ok for me with the six main characters Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel trying to survive and escape from the half human and half wolf, called the Erasers. Angel, one of the youngest family member got captured by one of the Erasers and brought back to the "School" where they first originally came from or became to what they are now. The whole story seem like something out of those t.v. shows or the old times where a group of heartless scientists conducting in evil experiments on people, stuff like animal mutations. Now Max, Fang, and Iggy are out on a rescue mission trying to save Angel from the evil scientists who will do horrible things to her.
This whole quote was mostly the reason that grabbed my attension from the start. It was interesting that just only two percent of them are bird and the rest human, I wanted to know more about it. I thought it was like an experiment that turned them into this(which I was right) or something like they were born with it and have special abilities from the DNA of the bird. This made me wonder if I had just two percent of bird and have some of their abilities like flying or seeing far in the distant, but mainly about the flying part. At first, I thought two percent of bird wasn't that great of a deal, but so far that two percent mostly changed their life and made a big impact to them, looks like I was wrong.
Haha this kind of got me surprised and shocked, since I read this far to pg 50. First of all Max is a GIRL, It never came to my mind that she was a male since it showed a lot of masculine things about her, like her tough attitude and how she act (not really sure how to explain it). The name, Max, seem more commonly in a male than a female which caught me off guard when I realized it was a girl. I mean it took like 50 pages until it said the word "she," other then her actual name. I'm like WOW it's a girl, who would have guessed that Max was a girl. I can't wait till I read more of the book to find out anymore surprising things that will stun me.
They created us as an experiment. An experiment where we ended up only 98 percent human. That other 2 percent has had a big impact, let me tell you.(2)
This whole quote was mostly the reason that grabbed my attension from the start. It was interesting that just only two percent of them are bird and the rest human, I wanted to know more about it. I thought it was like an experiment that turned them into this(which I was right) or something like they were born with it and have special abilities from the DNA of the bird. This made me wonder if I had just two percent of bird and have some of their abilities like flying or seeing far in the distant, but mainly about the flying part. At first, I thought two percent of bird wasn't that great of a deal, but so far that two percent mostly changed their life and made a big impact to them, looks like I was wrong.
"Shut up," said the Gasman, and Iggy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Look. This sucks so bad. Max left us here 'cause she thought we couldn't keep up."(50)
Haha this kind of got me surprised and shocked, since I read this far to pg 50. First of all Max is a GIRL, It never came to my mind that she was a male since it showed a lot of masculine things about her, like her tough attitude and how she act (not really sure how to explain it). The name, Max, seem more commonly in a male than a female which caught me off guard when I realized it was a girl. I mean it took like 50 pages until it said the word "she," other then her actual name. I'm like WOW it's a girl, who would have guessed that Max was a girl. I can't wait till I read more of the book to find out anymore surprising things that will stun me.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Monthly Review: Catching Fire
Catching Fire is the second science fiction novel of The Hunger Games Trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. This book continues the previous one, The Hunger Games, right after Katniss has won the annual event (the Hunger Game) alongside with Peeta. However, with the actions she took in saving both herself and Peeta in the game, she must now take responsibility for her actions. Only one contender could win in the game, but since Katniss and Peeta both made it through as winners, questions has spread throughout the Districts about their defiance toward the Capitol and a rebellion might rise against their oppressed ruler. Now, Katniss is back in the game alongside with Peeta, facing new and dangerous challenges that awaits them as punishment for her actions.
Catching Fire is intended for young adults, ranging from around the ages of ten through eighteen, but in my opinion, I think it doesn't matter as long as you understand and enjoy the book. However, ten through eighteen would be the best choice to introduce the book to yourself or kids, and for advanced readers you could start a bit earlier with not so many problems on the vocabulary. There could be some slow readers who are having some trouble with the vocabulary and would take a longer time to finish the book, or maybe the reader is just not that interested with it, therefore it depends on the reader's view toward it. This book mainly aims for people who are interested in science fiction, thriller/action, some philosophy, adventurous, and romance. This book is a first-person narrative story where you know exactly what the main character is thinking, feeling, and acting. For me, this book is great and I enjoy every moment of reading this, because of the great length the main character has to do in order to survive and support her family. I like the touch of survival instinct, trying to survive in a poor urban city and doing whatever you can in order to stay alive. I love the action and suspense the book brings into the story, and better yet a bit of romance to mix things up a bit. I could have never thought there will be romance into this story, because of the so many action it brings, but it's only a touch of it and not a serious romantic thing. So don't get your hopes up, for any people who are deeply into romance. The combination of suspense and adventure of this novel will definitely grab your attention as it did for me, and you'll be yearning for more. For that, I personally recommend anyone for this book if your a fan of these kinds of stuff.
The only other book that I had read from Suzanne Collins is the first trilogy, The Hunger Games. Compared with the other book, Catching Fire, I would say the first was more appealing to me, because there more things going on. Out of the whole book of Catching Fire, most of it didn't show much suspense or action until the second half of the book where the second game actually begins, unlike the first book where there were a lot. Instead it shows more about how Katniss's life has changed after her experiences in the Hunger Games and her feelings towards some of her close friends. It talks about how the games has changed her both physically and mentally even after she has won the game, having nightmares every night about her experiences in the games and remembering the bad moments that always appear in her mind. However, the second book is talking more of the main plot of the whole storyline in the trilogy, and it's only the beginning with the rise of rebellion. The first book was all about Katniss's experiences in the game and a little bit before everything all happen with her hardship of trying to survive with her family. The second book delves more about the history and politics between the Capitol and the Districts, and realizing the full length the Capitol will go through in order to crush any sign of rebellion that will start a revolution in Panem. I like how the author put in a before and after affect of the games changing the characters' views, but one of the characters that I thought haven't changed that much to me after the effect. Both of these books of the trilogy series are perfect and provide a good balance between them for the readers to still want more.
The characters I'm interested in are Beetee and Wiress nicknamed, Volts and Nuts, because of their extraordinary mind tinkering with mechanical parts and figuring out complicated things, like showing Katniss on how to spot the force field that the game makers set up. They both are older couples from District three (involving and making mechanics/technology) who won the Hunger Games earlier in their age, and now reenter the games once more alongside with other previous victors. My first impression when I read them were that they were going to be one of those people who won't last that long, mostly because of their age which has taken the fact that they cannot compete with other more young and agile people. However, with their exceptionally smart mind, it could even the odds out a bit and possibly win it for them. Wiress is extremely intelligent and skilled person in the tech arts. She proves her genius toward Katniss by revealing that the arena is arranged like a clock, occurring on a timed chart with new and dangerous disasters that awaits for them. Wiress is a very scatterbrained person and usually has a hard time getting her thoughts across to others, nicknamed "Nuts" because of the people who couldn't understand her. Beetee ends up having to finish her sentences for her and the only one who actually understands her. Beetee on the other hand, is also the same who is skilled with technology, able to invent deadly lightning rods with seemingly innocent materials out of scraps, but without the weirdness. For that reason, he is nicknamed "Volts" because of his expertise of his tech skills. Their both allies with Katniss and prove to be valuable players during the game, who figured out many things which helped their teammates in succeeding. If it weren't for them, Katniss or the others wouldn't have gotten as far as they would have without their help.
Catching Fire is intended for young adults, ranging from around the ages of ten through eighteen, but in my opinion, I think it doesn't matter as long as you understand and enjoy the book. However, ten through eighteen would be the best choice to introduce the book to yourself or kids, and for advanced readers you could start a bit earlier with not so many problems on the vocabulary. There could be some slow readers who are having some trouble with the vocabulary and would take a longer time to finish the book, or maybe the reader is just not that interested with it, therefore it depends on the reader's view toward it. This book mainly aims for people who are interested in science fiction, thriller/action, some philosophy, adventurous, and romance. This book is a first-person narrative story where you know exactly what the main character is thinking, feeling, and acting. For me, this book is great and I enjoy every moment of reading this, because of the great length the main character has to do in order to survive and support her family. I like the touch of survival instinct, trying to survive in a poor urban city and doing whatever you can in order to stay alive. I love the action and suspense the book brings into the story, and better yet a bit of romance to mix things up a bit. I could have never thought there will be romance into this story, because of the so many action it brings, but it's only a touch of it and not a serious romantic thing. So don't get your hopes up, for any people who are deeply into romance. The combination of suspense and adventure of this novel will definitely grab your attention as it did for me, and you'll be yearning for more. For that, I personally recommend anyone for this book if your a fan of these kinds of stuff.
The only other book that I had read from Suzanne Collins is the first trilogy, The Hunger Games. Compared with the other book, Catching Fire, I would say the first was more appealing to me, because there more things going on. Out of the whole book of Catching Fire, most of it didn't show much suspense or action until the second half of the book where the second game actually begins, unlike the first book where there were a lot. Instead it shows more about how Katniss's life has changed after her experiences in the Hunger Games and her feelings towards some of her close friends. It talks about how the games has changed her both physically and mentally even after she has won the game, having nightmares every night about her experiences in the games and remembering the bad moments that always appear in her mind. However, the second book is talking more of the main plot of the whole storyline in the trilogy, and it's only the beginning with the rise of rebellion. The first book was all about Katniss's experiences in the game and a little bit before everything all happen with her hardship of trying to survive with her family. The second book delves more about the history and politics between the Capitol and the Districts, and realizing the full length the Capitol will go through in order to crush any sign of rebellion that will start a revolution in Panem. I like how the author put in a before and after affect of the games changing the characters' views, but one of the characters that I thought haven't changed that much to me after the effect. Both of these books of the trilogy series are perfect and provide a good balance between them for the readers to still want more.
The characters I'm interested in are Beetee and Wiress nicknamed, Volts and Nuts, because of their extraordinary mind tinkering with mechanical parts and figuring out complicated things, like showing Katniss on how to spot the force field that the game makers set up. They both are older couples from District three (involving and making mechanics/technology) who won the Hunger Games earlier in their age, and now reenter the games once more alongside with other previous victors. My first impression when I read them were that they were going to be one of those people who won't last that long, mostly because of their age which has taken the fact that they cannot compete with other more young and agile people. However, with their exceptionally smart mind, it could even the odds out a bit and possibly win it for them. Wiress is extremely intelligent and skilled person in the tech arts. She proves her genius toward Katniss by revealing that the arena is arranged like a clock, occurring on a timed chart with new and dangerous disasters that awaits for them. Wiress is a very scatterbrained person and usually has a hard time getting her thoughts across to others, nicknamed "Nuts" because of the people who couldn't understand her. Beetee ends up having to finish her sentences for her and the only one who actually understands her. Beetee on the other hand, is also the same who is skilled with technology, able to invent deadly lightning rods with seemingly innocent materials out of scraps, but without the weirdness. For that reason, he is nicknamed "Volts" because of his expertise of his tech skills. Their both allies with Katniss and prove to be valuable players during the game, who figured out many things which helped their teammates in succeeding. If it weren't for them, Katniss or the others wouldn't have gotten as far as they would have without their help.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Lit Circle, Part 3: Catching Fire
Reading the last section of the book, "Catching Fire," was very intense, because that's when the 75th Hunger Games actually begins, or as they called it the Quarter Quell. Katniss and Peeta enter the game again along with other previous winners of the Hunger Games. This time, Katniss is determined to protecting Peeta and making sure he wins the game, because the game makers won't make the same mistake as last time with two winners.
So far in the game, Katniss and Peeta joined up with two other victors, Finnick, a twenty-four year old man who is a skilled fighter with a trident, and Mags, an eighty year old woman, both winners from the past Hunger Games in District four. The team soon encountered some deadly traps set up by the game makers, and Mags was a victim to these traps sacrificing her life for the others to live. Soon afterward, the team joined forces with another group of victors that their familiar with. The total number of people in the team are now six including the three people who joined them, Johanna Mason, a winner from the previous games who fought her way through from district seven, and Beetee and Wiress, an older couple like Mags from district three who are extremely smart. Beetee and Wiress told Katniss about how to spot the force field that encircle the arena, and also about the arena's disaster like a clock occurring at a specific time.
After Wiress is killed by other victors, Beetee devised a plan that will electrified the remaining victors or at least kill their food source with just a copper wire. In the final chapter, the plan didn't go according to Beetee, and Katniss tie the wire with her arrow shooting it in the air causing a huge explosion which knocked everyone off conscious. Soon later, Katniss discovered that she, Finnick, Beetee, Gale, and Haymitch are on a plane being transported to District thirteen. She learned that there was a plan within the game to break out the remaining contenders and escape from the Capitol. After that the book ends at the part where Gale told Katniss that District twelve has been destroyed.
So far in the game, Katniss and Peeta joined up with two other victors, Finnick, a twenty-four year old man who is a skilled fighter with a trident, and Mags, an eighty year old woman, both winners from the past Hunger Games in District four. The team soon encountered some deadly traps set up by the game makers, and Mags was a victim to these traps sacrificing her life for the others to live. Soon afterward, the team joined forces with another group of victors that their familiar with. The total number of people in the team are now six including the three people who joined them, Johanna Mason, a winner from the previous games who fought her way through from district seven, and Beetee and Wiress, an older couple like Mags from district three who are extremely smart. Beetee and Wiress told Katniss about how to spot the force field that encircle the arena, and also about the arena's disaster like a clock occurring at a specific time.
After Wiress is killed by other victors, Beetee devised a plan that will electrified the remaining victors or at least kill their food source with just a copper wire. In the final chapter, the plan didn't go according to Beetee, and Katniss tie the wire with her arrow shooting it in the air causing a huge explosion which knocked everyone off conscious. Soon later, Katniss discovered that she, Finnick, Beetee, Gale, and Haymitch are on a plane being transported to District thirteen. She learned that there was a plan within the game to break out the remaining contenders and escape from the Capitol. After that the book ends at the part where Gale told Katniss that District twelve has been destroyed.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Schindler's List
Since most of us watched the movie, Schindler's List, this week why not talk about it
The images/scenes that stand out the most to me in “Schindler’s List” were the cruelty and inhuman treatment towards the Jews. In the movie, most of the Germans showed no mercy toward the Jews and didn’t give a care about them, just slaughtering them all because they think the Jews are inferior along with other non-Aryan (Poles, Slavs, Gypsies, communists, homosexuals, disabled people, and Jehovah’s Witnesses). The Nazis first actions leading to the stages of the Holocaust was classifying the Jews with a star strapped to their arm, passing laws to take away their rights, then transport them to the ghettos, and finally developed their “final solution” to exterminate all the Jews in death camps scattered all around of Germany and Poland. The starvation and diseases was bad enough for the Jews, but massacring many more in death camps was just plain horrible for absolutely no reason, just because their not worthy to the Nazis eyes. I was disgusted with the harsh treatment that the Jews had to experience through all of this and manage to survive the horrible ordeal.
The images/scenes that stand out the most to me in “Schindler’s List” were the cruelty and inhuman treatment towards the Jews. In the movie, most of the Germans showed no mercy toward the Jews and didn’t give a care about them, just slaughtering them all because they think the Jews are inferior along with other non-Aryan (Poles, Slavs, Gypsies, communists, homosexuals, disabled people, and Jehovah’s Witnesses). The Nazis first actions leading to the stages of the Holocaust was classifying the Jews with a star strapped to their arm, passing laws to take away their rights, then transport them to the ghettos, and finally developed their “final solution” to exterminate all the Jews in death camps scattered all around of Germany and Poland. The starvation and diseases was bad enough for the Jews, but massacring many more in death camps was just plain horrible for absolutely no reason, just because their not worthy to the Nazis eyes. I was disgusted with the harsh treatment that the Jews had to experience through all of this and manage to survive the horrible ordeal.
The characters that stand out the most to me were Schindler and Anom throughout the whole movie. It wasn’t because Schindler was the main character, but how his attitude has changed towards the Jews and his experience with them. All he wanted was to make lots of money and saw the opportunity to do so by going to
The things I learned from watching the film was how badly the Nazis were treating the Jews and the horrible conditions they faced. I was stunned on how some of the Nazis killed the Jews without even showing any emotion when they did it. I mean didn’t they feel at least a bit of guilty at what they were doing was wrong and cruel? Couldn’t they have possibly thought up of something else that wouldn’t resolve in killing, or better yet not to blame other people like the Nazis blaming the Jews for their problems? Another thing I learned, was that not all of the Germans in the Nazis party wanted to kill the Jews, like Schindler hiring Jews to protect them from the camps and the little boy, Adam, working with the Nazis searching for any Jews who was hiding, which actually helped saved some of them. People like Schindler and Adam were heroes to me who helped saved many Jews from death during those times, and I just wish that there could be more people like them who would risk their lives to save other people in need.
While watching the movie, I was a bit confused near the ending when Schindler wanted none of his workers to make artillery shells for
I like the film because of the true historical event/facts that was taken place in WWII that shows a lot of details on what happened in
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Lit Circle Part 1 / 2: Catching Fire
After finishing the first book, I immediately went straight to the second book of the Hunger Game series. Everything about the storyline is very interesting so far with all the drama of Peeta and Katniss returning to their own district as victors, and the intensity within some districts rebelling against the Capitol. I wonder if Katniss will really love Peeta, and what will happen next when Gale, Katniss best/close friend, enters the picture? Will something be going between Katniss and Gale under the noses of the Capitol? And also about Peeta's feeling about this relationship.
So far in the story, Katniss and Peeta live in luxury after they won the game, and the people are celebrating their victory for the 74th Hunger Games. Their lives have changed and nothing is back to their old lives. Katniss doesn't have to hunt anymore to support her family from starvation, since she won the game and can buy mostly anything that will enrich their lifestyle. Katniss have a problem with Peeta about her feelings toward him, and while Peeta sincerely love Katniss which he will do anything for her, even sacrificing his life for her. Another problem is with Gale, which they both kiss one time and aren't suppose to because of the fake love she suppose to show to the Capitol with Peeta. However President Snow of the Capitol caught Katniss and told her that he knows the kiss with Gale. He is enraged at Katniss with the threat to commit suicide with Peeta at the end of the Hunger Game that permitted them both to win. Also about the "berry incident" that gave them the tools to commit suicide, has spark some rebellion though out Panem. Some of the districts are already rebelling against their ruthless and evil ruler in the Capitol. President Snow threatens to kill her best friend, Gale, if she couldn't prove to everyone in Panem that her act was not of defiance, but instead was her undying love and devotion toward Peeta which made her did these actions.
Katniss and Peeta went on a victory tour, which was mandatory to visit all the 12 districts of Panem where festivals and celebrations are held for them. Through these tours, they experience the hardship that all the districts had to face from the ruthless people of the Capitol. This made some of the people in all the distracts wanting to rebel against the Capitol, and Katniss gave them hope which ignited the flames to grow bigger with her act of defiance toward the Capitol. Even though she tried to convince the people that it was her intense love that made her do these actions and not an act of defiance, it didn't work. Instead Katniss has made it worse than before and couldn't convince the people.
After the victory tour and a few days past, an announcement came up with news about the 75th Hunger Games called the Quarter Quell, which occur every 25th year of the Games. The creator of the games stated that all the previous victors of the Hunger Games must pick one male and female victor in each district to reenter the game and battle each other to the death again. Of course Katniss and Peeta were the only suitable one to be chosen from their district other than Haymitch who was old, addicted to alcohol, and out of shape. This news devastated them the most that they will have to do this all over again and this time more experience people whom already won the Hunger Games.
I'm pretty surprised at this and never predicted that this will happen, just hope that they will survive the ordeal again or something unexpected that will stop the games from continuing.
So far in the story, Katniss and Peeta live in luxury after they won the game, and the people are celebrating their victory for the 74th Hunger Games. Their lives have changed and nothing is back to their old lives. Katniss doesn't have to hunt anymore to support her family from starvation, since she won the game and can buy mostly anything that will enrich their lifestyle. Katniss have a problem with Peeta about her feelings toward him, and while Peeta sincerely love Katniss which he will do anything for her, even sacrificing his life for her. Another problem is with Gale, which they both kiss one time and aren't suppose to because of the fake love she suppose to show to the Capitol with Peeta. However President Snow of the Capitol caught Katniss and told her that he knows the kiss with Gale. He is enraged at Katniss with the threat to commit suicide with Peeta at the end of the Hunger Game that permitted them both to win. Also about the "berry incident" that gave them the tools to commit suicide, has spark some rebellion though out Panem. Some of the districts are already rebelling against their ruthless and evil ruler in the Capitol. President Snow threatens to kill her best friend, Gale, if she couldn't prove to everyone in Panem that her act was not of defiance, but instead was her undying love and devotion toward Peeta which made her did these actions.
Katniss and Peeta went on a victory tour, which was mandatory to visit all the 12 districts of Panem where festivals and celebrations are held for them. Through these tours, they experience the hardship that all the districts had to face from the ruthless people of the Capitol. This made some of the people in all the distracts wanting to rebel against the Capitol, and Katniss gave them hope which ignited the flames to grow bigger with her act of defiance toward the Capitol. Even though she tried to convince the people that it was her intense love that made her do these actions and not an act of defiance, it didn't work. Instead Katniss has made it worse than before and couldn't convince the people.
After the victory tour and a few days past, an announcement came up with news about the 75th Hunger Games called the Quarter Quell, which occur every 25th year of the Games. The creator of the games stated that all the previous victors of the Hunger Games must pick one male and female victor in each district to reenter the game and battle each other to the death again. Of course Katniss and Peeta were the only suitable one to be chosen from their district other than Haymitch who was old, addicted to alcohol, and out of shape. This news devastated them the most that they will have to do this all over again and this time more experience people whom already won the Hunger Games.
I'm pretty surprised at this and never predicted that this will happen, just hope that they will survive the ordeal again or something unexpected that will stop the games from continuing.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Statement of Purpose 4th Quarter
With a fresh start and finally our LAST quarter of this school year (^_^); possibly some new or old goals I will still have in this quarter. Which means staring off with my new statement of purpose blog again, but this time part three. What are my current goals as a writer? hmm I haven't really gave that much thought about it as time past by. I mostly just feel like typing anything that seem interesting to me and get it over with. Of course the same old goals that I said in the past still implies to this day. Those goals are still typing something that will grab your attention instead of blogging about my life, trying not to procrastinate at the last minute, and last but not least improving my vocabulary and writing.
Well I have been typing other things instead of my life after my last statement of purpose blog that seem to be useful to some people. I mostly just want to blog about any stuff that will be interesting or useful, mainly for the readers. I don't want my blog to be about my life and what I do all the time when people are reading this. I want the readers to actually learn something or at least find it interesting, instead of saying "Oh another thing about his day." So far I have been doing this which I'm feeling proud of, so check that one off.
Procrastinating didn't change for me, I still do my blog at the last minute and I think I got worse. I usually do my blog on Saturday or Sunday, but now... it went to Monday, Tuesday, then Wednesday, and so on to Friday. Haha don't know how that happened, guessing I got to lazy to do it I suppose. Maybe I was too busy with other homework, friends, or even video games to think about doing the blog. It's not much a problem for me since I remember to actually do it at the last minute, but just that I might not have enough time. It's better to just do the blog and get it over with as soon as possible, so you don't have to worry about it.
For my vocabulary and writing, well I'm not so sure if I did improve on it. All my blogs seem the same to me when I read it, and the only person who knows the difference is probably the reader who isn't me I guess. This is one of my important goals I should always remember to keep in mind. I should improve on my writing and hope not to get a "writers block" where I will sit there thinking the whole time trying to write a decent sentence. I do have those sometimes where I ran out of ideas to write and couldn't think of anything else. This got me distracted a few time while thinking of something to write. Later I doze off to doing something else and soon losing precious time forgetting what I was originally doing. Well I'm going to try my best to fulfill these goals for this quarter and hopefully make some progress.
Well I have been typing other things instead of my life after my last statement of purpose blog that seem to be useful to some people. I mostly just want to blog about any stuff that will be interesting or useful, mainly for the readers. I don't want my blog to be about my life and what I do all the time when people are reading this. I want the readers to actually learn something or at least find it interesting, instead of saying "Oh another thing about his day." So far I have been doing this which I'm feeling proud of, so check that one off.
Procrastinating didn't change for me, I still do my blog at the last minute and I think I got worse. I usually do my blog on Saturday or Sunday, but now... it went to Monday, Tuesday, then Wednesday, and so on to Friday. Haha don't know how that happened, guessing I got to lazy to do it I suppose. Maybe I was too busy with other homework, friends, or even video games to think about doing the blog. It's not much a problem for me since I remember to actually do it at the last minute, but just that I might not have enough time. It's better to just do the blog and get it over with as soon as possible, so you don't have to worry about it.
For my vocabulary and writing, well I'm not so sure if I did improve on it. All my blogs seem the same to me when I read it, and the only person who knows the difference is probably the reader who isn't me I guess. This is one of my important goals I should always remember to keep in mind. I should improve on my writing and hope not to get a "writers block" where I will sit there thinking the whole time trying to write a decent sentence. I do have those sometimes where I ran out of ideas to write and couldn't think of anything else. This got me distracted a few time while thinking of something to write. Later I doze off to doing something else and soon losing precious time forgetting what I was originally doing. Well I'm going to try my best to fulfill these goals for this quarter and hopefully make some progress.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monthly Review: The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is a science fiction thriller, action packed, and romance tale about a young teenage girl named Katniss, who lives in a post-apocaltic world and competing an annual event called the Hunger Games. To win the game, Katniss must first fight along twenty four other contenders to the death in a battle royal.
Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.
Katniss Everdeen is the main character and narrator of this book called "The Hunger Games." She is only just sixteen years old and already the main supporter of her family. She takes care of her mother and her younger sister, Prim, in District 12 the mining sector. Her father was killed in a mine explosion, which forced her to support the family at the age of eleven. As for her mother, she was overcome by the death of her husband and unable to take the role to support the family, which made Katniss resented her mother as a failure of parenting. Katniss is a very skilled hunter who hunts in the forbidden forest in order to keep her family alive, and trade some of the games from the community. She is an excellent archer which helps her survive the hunger game, and got one of the highest score in training. She also learned how to gather herbs/plants and set up traps from her deceased father.
I like the characteristic of Katniss for her strong minded personality, and her cunning ability to survive in the horrible district. She is very caring for her family and will do anything for them, even risking her own life to participate in the hunger game to supply her family with food. She detest the Capitol's harsh treatment toward all the districts, while they lavishly spend their lives in luxury, and how they toy with the people in all the district to participate the horrible game each year. Unfortunately she entered the game in exchange for her sister not to be the one. Luckily, with the help of her mentor, her cunning skills to survive in the environment and her partner, Peeta, they both were able to win the game. Katniss is very strong, kind, and will overcome any obstacle that will come in her path.
What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?
After reading this book, the thing that hits me the most is that love will always triumph, even if its fake love. I do agree with this and that love is the greatest weapon to use. The author was very clear in her purpose about love conquering all, and she put it to work in the book. There were many events in the story that explains love is the most important thing and will do anything for it. For example, Katniss's love for her younger sister, Prim, made her volunteer and took the place of entering the game. Against all odds, if it wasn't for Katniss and Peeta love thing going on, they wouldn't have made it that far. The audience who are watching the hunger game wouldn't be that much interested in them if it weren't for their love, which spark some excitement. The tragic love couple who are in the game together and are suppose to fight each other to the death. Wouldn't that grab your attention or at least want them to win together? Well it sure worked for them, which made the game markers change the rules so they can have a chance to win together, instead of a battle royal where last one stands win. Their love was the most important factor in the game that made them both victories.
Reading this book was great, and the love thing going on with the couple certainly grabbed my attention. The idea of putting the element of romance into this was brilliant. I was very intrigued with the love thing going on and that love will always be number one. I kept on asking myself when I'm reading if their plan was going to work, and if they truly love each other. In the end, their love made them won the game and that love will always overcome any obstacles that are in its way.
After reading this book, what do you think will happen in the second book?
There are so many possibilities about what will happen in the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It could describe about Katniss's life on how the hunger game changed her life, or even a rebellion within the districts toward the harsh treatment that the Capitol gives. For me I say both of these will probably happen in the second book. Katniss and Peeta will probably live in luxury for winning the game and will experience a change in their life. Their lifestyle will change and will have to find something new to do. Of course the mass media will still talk about their victory and their life now after winning the game. Katniss and Peeta will still have to play the "love couple" thing going on whenever the media shows up. I think that Katniss's feeling for Peeta will grow later in the book, but will have other problems like her best friend, Gale. Gale and Katniss probably love each other, but can't show it to the media because of the Peeta thing. If the media ever finds out about that, their life will be horrible. The people of the Capitol will mostly likely be upset that two people fooled them into thinking their couples only to win the game and gain their side, which was true. Well some of it since Peeta truly love Katniss, but she didn't have that kind of feelings toward him. There probably be a love triangle going on between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale.
Also, I think a rebellion will emerge in the second book because they talk about people who tried to betray the Capitol called anvox. Anvox are mostly prisoners who serve under the Capitol for trying to betray them. I think something like this will happen in some districts trying to rebel against their harsh leader or the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta will most likely be involved with this and trying to change the ways the Capitol has been doing. Just hope the second book, "Catching Fire," will be fantastic when I'm going to read it.
Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.
Katniss Everdeen is the main character and narrator of this book called "The Hunger Games." She is only just sixteen years old and already the main supporter of her family. She takes care of her mother and her younger sister, Prim, in District 12 the mining sector. Her father was killed in a mine explosion, which forced her to support the family at the age of eleven. As for her mother, she was overcome by the death of her husband and unable to take the role to support the family, which made Katniss resented her mother as a failure of parenting. Katniss is a very skilled hunter who hunts in the forbidden forest in order to keep her family alive, and trade some of the games from the community. She is an excellent archer which helps her survive the hunger game, and got one of the highest score in training. She also learned how to gather herbs/plants and set up traps from her deceased father.
I like the characteristic of Katniss for her strong minded personality, and her cunning ability to survive in the horrible district. She is very caring for her family and will do anything for them, even risking her own life to participate in the hunger game to supply her family with food. She detest the Capitol's harsh treatment toward all the districts, while they lavishly spend their lives in luxury, and how they toy with the people in all the district to participate the horrible game each year. Unfortunately she entered the game in exchange for her sister not to be the one. Luckily, with the help of her mentor, her cunning skills to survive in the environment and her partner, Peeta, they both were able to win the game. Katniss is very strong, kind, and will overcome any obstacle that will come in her path.
What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?
After reading this book, the thing that hits me the most is that love will always triumph, even if its fake love. I do agree with this and that love is the greatest weapon to use. The author was very clear in her purpose about love conquering all, and she put it to work in the book. There were many events in the story that explains love is the most important thing and will do anything for it. For example, Katniss's love for her younger sister, Prim, made her volunteer and took the place of entering the game. Against all odds, if it wasn't for Katniss and Peeta love thing going on, they wouldn't have made it that far. The audience who are watching the hunger game wouldn't be that much interested in them if it weren't for their love, which spark some excitement. The tragic love couple who are in the game together and are suppose to fight each other to the death. Wouldn't that grab your attention or at least want them to win together? Well it sure worked for them, which made the game markers change the rules so they can have a chance to win together, instead of a battle royal where last one stands win. Their love was the most important factor in the game that made them both victories.
Reading this book was great, and the love thing going on with the couple certainly grabbed my attention. The idea of putting the element of romance into this was brilliant. I was very intrigued with the love thing going on and that love will always be number one. I kept on asking myself when I'm reading if their plan was going to work, and if they truly love each other. In the end, their love made them won the game and that love will always overcome any obstacles that are in its way.
After reading this book, what do you think will happen in the second book?
There are so many possibilities about what will happen in the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It could describe about Katniss's life on how the hunger game changed her life, or even a rebellion within the districts toward the harsh treatment that the Capitol gives. For me I say both of these will probably happen in the second book. Katniss and Peeta will probably live in luxury for winning the game and will experience a change in their life. Their lifestyle will change and will have to find something new to do. Of course the mass media will still talk about their victory and their life now after winning the game. Katniss and Peeta will still have to play the "love couple" thing going on whenever the media shows up. I think that Katniss's feeling for Peeta will grow later in the book, but will have other problems like her best friend, Gale. Gale and Katniss probably love each other, but can't show it to the media because of the Peeta thing. If the media ever finds out about that, their life will be horrible. The people of the Capitol will mostly likely be upset that two people fooled them into thinking their couples only to win the game and gain their side, which was true. Well some of it since Peeta truly love Katniss, but she didn't have that kind of feelings toward him. There probably be a love triangle going on between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale.
Also, I think a rebellion will emerge in the second book because they talk about people who tried to betray the Capitol called anvox. Anvox are mostly prisoners who serve under the Capitol for trying to betray them. I think something like this will happen in some districts trying to rebel against their harsh leader or the Capitol. Katniss and Peeta will most likely be involved with this and trying to change the ways the Capitol has been doing. Just hope the second book, "Catching Fire," will be fantastic when I'm going to read it.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Lit Circle, Letter 3: The Hunger Games
Well I finished the book, absolutely amazing by the way, and still I'm craving for more. Of course the main character, Katniss, won the game not a surprise there, but the outcome was different from what I thought it would be. Not just one winner but two with Katniss and Peeta, with the help of the rules changing due to the audience loving to watch the "couple" in the game, and Katniss's sly plan to outwit the gamemakers. I'm surpraise on how the book ended, because I thought it would be something more tragic or romantic, like Peeta sacrificing his life to save Katniss. Instead, Katniss and Peeta both made it out as winners of this year hunger game. I'm reading the second book "Catching Fire" and everything is getting intense. The ending of the Hunger Game was great, and now another obstacle(second book) is in their way which is the president of the Capitol.
I read some of my Lit circle partners, and I do agree that Katniss seems to be falling in love with Peeta only a little bit. They did spend time together during the game only to fool the audience in order to survive. But I do think they began bonding with each other and knowing them more better. For sure Peeta loves Katniss, but she doesn't have that kind of feeling for Peeta. She might slowly begin to have feelings for him, but not now. The ending where Katniss told Peeta about not having that kind of feeling like Peeta does was a bit sad. After reading this book, I realized that Peeta is kind of useless in the game. The only thing he did was show his feeling toward Katniss and protected her like once. After that, he got himself injured and have to be taken care of for mostly the whole time. I don't mean that he should die, but I just want him to be useful and all.
I read some of my Lit circle partners, and I do agree that Katniss seems to be falling in love with Peeta only a little bit. They did spend time together during the game only to fool the audience in order to survive. But I do think they began bonding with each other and knowing them more better. For sure Peeta loves Katniss, but she doesn't have that kind of feeling for Peeta. She might slowly begin to have feelings for him, but not now. The ending where Katniss told Peeta about not having that kind of feeling like Peeta does was a bit sad. After reading this book, I realized that Peeta is kind of useless in the game. The only thing he did was show his feeling toward Katniss and protected her like once. After that, he got himself injured and have to be taken care of for mostly the whole time. I don't mean that he should die, but I just want him to be useful and all.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is the best post-apocalyptic,action, and role-playing game that I have ever played. It was developed and published by Bethesda Softworks as the third installment in the Fallout series. This game is made only for computer and consoles(ps3 and xbox 360) I love the storyline, exploration, game play, and the free will of mostly doing anything in the game. It doesn't give you a straight forward mission wherever you have to go and mostly do whatever it tells you like a few other games. In Fallout 3, you can do mostly anything you want and gives you a lot of options to keep you occupy in the game, so you will never get bored. You can just forget about the main mission and still have a great time playing it.The storyline takes place in a post-apocalyptic, Washington, D.C after a nuclear war between the US, China, and other countries. It caused a great deal of damage and destruction everywhere on Earth. After a period of time, the lands have changed, and a few people have survived this horror. You start off in the game living with your father as a young inhabitant of Vault 101, an underground fallout shelter to keep the people away from the dangerous radioactive exposure outside. One day, your dad has vanish into the outside world without an explanation, and now your trying to search for him in the dangerous unknown world. You will encounter many things in the game as you proceed forward and explore new things. There are about over 100 locations in this game that will take you hours of exploring every single one. I love this kind of exploring, because it gives you so much things to do and learn while not getting bored easily doing one thing. It's so much fun playing this game, because you will learn new things every time and still have many more to explore.
The game play is pretty unique where you can either play first person mode or third person. There is also a V.A.T.S system where you can fight your enemies in one move, sometimes showing it in slow motion and even the bullet of your gun traveling to the target. There is also a karma system, which affects your player's status in the game. You can be either good or evil depending on your action toward conversation and combat choices.
In the game, you get to customize your character on how he/she looks which gives you a lot of options for the person. You get to customize every detail of the person to the head, eyes, nose, mouth, and even the size of every part on your face. Its just incredible on how many things the game gives you to do. I love playing this game every time because of the many different possibilities you can do and still be something new to you. This game will never get old to me and I'm already excited for the new one coming out called Fallout: New Vegas.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Lit Circle, Letter 2: The Hunger Games
So far, reading this book never gets old. The storyline is getting intense with the Hunger Game starting (where the contenders or tribute fight to the death with each other) and mostly every man or woman for themselves. I love the plot-driven blend of suspense in this book every time I turn the page. Its unpredictable and you won't knows what's going to happen. I love the action and romance in this book because it gives a spark to this which makes it very interesting. I love every part of it as I keep on reading and can't take my eyes off of the book.
In the book so far, the game has just began and already its a bloodbath where eleven tributes were already killed. Of course the main character, Katniss, have survived the ordeal, and now just getting everything prepare for surviving this horrible game she's in. Other tributes, called career tributes, were trained for these games just to win and take the glory for the pride of their district. The career tributes mostly stick together and hunt down all the other regular tributes in the game. Once done, they fight each other in the end. Katniss discovered that Peeta, her partner and "lover" is working with the career tributes. When I read this, I was surprise, since they were working together and suppose to be lovers for the audience that will help him ensure their survival.
I came across a question that one of my partner have said before which I'm going to answer. The question is do you think the people who are "betting" on the winner, knows if its scripted or not? Well when you say the "people" you must mean the sponsors, however there are some people in their own district also giving money to help the contenders, but they usually don't have enough money to actually help them due to them being poor. My answer is no, they know its all real and not scripted, since each contenders are randomly picked from the twelve districts. The game makers don't make the script and it's mostly a reality show or something. The gamemakers make a lot of profitable money that way, when the people bet to help their player to win, by buying expensive items that will help the person in the game. It would be a complete waste and nonprofitable to the gamemakers if the people who are betting knows it is scripted. Because if they know, the gambler will just bet on the winner side instead of some unlucky players that will make them lose their money for nothing.
In the book so far, the game has just began and already its a bloodbath where eleven tributes were already killed. Of course the main character, Katniss, have survived the ordeal, and now just getting everything prepare for surviving this horrible game she's in. Other tributes, called career tributes, were trained for these games just to win and take the glory for the pride of their district. The career tributes mostly stick together and hunt down all the other regular tributes in the game. Once done, they fight each other in the end. Katniss discovered that Peeta, her partner and "lover" is working with the career tributes. When I read this, I was surprise, since they were working together and suppose to be lovers for the audience that will help him ensure their survival.
I came across a question that one of my partner have said before which I'm going to answer. The question is do you think the people who are "betting" on the winner, knows if its scripted or not? Well when you say the "people" you must mean the sponsors, however there are some people in their own district also giving money to help the contenders, but they usually don't have enough money to actually help them due to them being poor. My answer is no, they know its all real and not scripted, since each contenders are randomly picked from the twelve districts. The game makers don't make the script and it's mostly a reality show or something. The gamemakers make a lot of profitable money that way, when the people bet to help their player to win, by buying expensive items that will help the person in the game. It would be a complete waste and nonprofitable to the gamemakers if the people who are betting knows it is scripted. Because if they know, the gambler will just bet on the winner side instead of some unlucky players that will make them lose their money for nothing.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Box -Part 2
Walking side by side, away from those goons, and disguised in the tight crowd of people in the street. Tora and Syrol dressed like the commoners of these people with raggy clothing, obviously not a rich and wealthy town. Poverty and famine roam these streets as Tora and Syrol walks by, seeing the sick or the homeless on the sidewalk. Merchants and venders pass by the city once in a while trying to sell something decent to live off by. All of them at least hold any sort of weapons to guns, knives, or a wooden nail board to defend themselves against thieves or the poor which occur commonly here. One without a weapon, would mean certain death to those sellers.
Syrol leading the way to their destination, and Tora still following with absolutely no clue on where their suppose to deliver this box to, or whats inside of it. She scanned the box carefully to get any piece of information about it on why to risk their lives on a small little box, instead of stealing something more valuable that will surely enrich their lifestyle. The box was nothing special, only a few stripes of colors at each side all connecting to the center of the box with a golden crest that's shaped like an old fashioned winged shield. Next to the golden crest, is a small initial label as J.M., it must belong to someone important since it was guarded by those people that were ready to kill if anyone stole it. Tora's curiosity was killing her, she really wanted to know what's inside of that box that made Syrol so serious in this mission. Syrol, her only hope and savior from this horrible life she lives in. If it wasn't for him who found her on the streets clinging to life, she would've been dead long ago.
This world, where the human race is overpopulated, the earth can't sustain this kind of amount. Natural resources are being depleted, trees are being cut down for homes, pollution is everywhere killing our environment, animals are being extinct due to the low level of food, and last my not least global warming. The government don't even try fixing these problems, and instead compete with other nations for resources or land. They care for no one, only to become stronger then the rest. The people of this world too seem to not even care anymore, and just live on with their life trying to survive. Of course there are a few people who actually do do something to help this inevitable world, but its futile. Their number are small and no one seems to actually listen on what their saying anymore. Soon those people too, just stopped trying and joined with the others who don't even care, losing hope. This made Tora detest everyone in this world and just want them all to die, sick of seeing these people destroying their own world and not even care. If it weren't for Syrol giving her a meaning to live in this despicable world, who knows what she would do.
Finally, Tora couldn't stand the agonzing mystery that was in the box. Tora glance at Syrol making sure he won't look back and catch her opening the small box. She tried to open the lid of the box, but it won't budge. She gave it another couple of attempts, furiously she still couldn't open the box.
"You know, you can't open that box without a password. It's voice command" laugh Syrol. Tora jumped and was surpraise that Syrol already knew what she was doing. Better yet, Syrol is back to himself again and not all serious
"What is the password then?" responded Tora, trying to regain her composure.
"Not sure, but the person who were going to deliver the box do." said Syrol walking away from the crowded people and into another alleyway "Come on were almost there"
Tora followed him and soon after saw two men standing at the sides, assuming their the people they are suppose to deliver the box to. Tora immediately saw one man with a sword and thought to herself, this could be troublesome.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Lit Circle, Letter 1: The Hunger Games
Well since my other LC (Lit Circle) partners have already told you the summary of the book called The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (Which I highly recommend others to read), might as well just tell you what I think about it. Oh before I tell you about my opinion, here are some of my partners websites about this book's summary/etc., Annly and Nathan.
The book is amazing and I'm loving every part of it as I keep on reading, even passing the checkpoint for the first week already. The story is exciting and thrilling mostly about survival in this particular game that the Capitol (Rich and powerful city) had set up for the twelve districts (poor cities and under the Capitol rule) to fight to the death in an arena. The book is not too slow or too fast for readers that makes you not understand what's has happened and have to reread it again to finally get it. It's easy to understand and have no special writing style that some authors do. As I kept on reading, it's grabbing me every time that makes me want more and more to find out what will happen next. I like mostly every part of this book with its amazing storyline, the detailed background, and the characters in this books.
I like to read these kind of books of post-apocalyptic where a civilization is set after a devastating disaster, just like The Hunger Games. Their world is so much different from ours and who knows, maybe something catastrophic might happen to us that might be similar to this. So far I'm pretty ahead of the book with my partners and have no questions at all as I'm reading this, just that what will the outcome of the winner in that game be (directed to my partners)?
The book is amazing and I'm loving every part of it as I keep on reading, even passing the checkpoint for the first week already. The story is exciting and thrilling mostly about survival in this particular game that the Capitol (Rich and powerful city) had set up for the twelve districts (poor cities and under the Capitol rule) to fight to the death in an arena. The book is not too slow or too fast for readers that makes you not understand what's has happened and have to reread it again to finally get it. It's easy to understand and have no special writing style that some authors do. As I kept on reading, it's grabbing me every time that makes me want more and more to find out what will happen next. I like mostly every part of this book with its amazing storyline, the detailed background, and the characters in this books.
I like to read these kind of books of post-apocalyptic where a civilization is set after a devastating disaster, just like The Hunger Games. Their world is so much different from ours and who knows, maybe something catastrophic might happen to us that might be similar to this. So far I'm pretty ahead of the book with my partners and have no questions at all as I'm reading this, just that what will the outcome of the winner in that game be (directed to my partners)?
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Box
She touched the box in her pocket and smiled.
"There she is!" the man pointed, running toward her and a few other following behind him. "Don't let her escape or our heads will be on the line!"
Tora put the small box back into her pocket and starts to run off into the condense alleyway. She twist and turn in every direction trying to lose her persuaders in every step she takes. After sprinting a great deal, Tora looked back and saw no one was chasing after her, thinking she lost them in the complex maze. She finally relaxed and began walking as if nothing had happen in the last thirty seconds. Before taking a few more steps until she could get out of the maze and onto the crowded street safely, she stopped. Two men appear in front of her, blocking her only exit to escape and away from danger, probably working for the others who were chasing her. At the corner of her eyes, she was looking for the entrance where she came from while her body was still facing the two, but the others who were chasing her have caught up blocking her only exit left. She had no where to run, but only took a step back from the two men who were starting to come toward her. The man on the left took out a knife from his pocket looking at her with his blood thirsty eyes just waiting to have a chance to slice her. Tora was in a bad situation and was trying to think of anything to get out of this mess. There were no misplaced bricks that stood out or any kind of obstacles she could jump onto the roof top to escape. Her only option was to fight, even though she was outnumber and weaponless to the armed enemies. Tora was getting ready as the two men in front were now charging at her, suddenly a small ball drop from the sky in front of Tora's toes. The black smoke violently burst from the ball, rushing in, filling the ally with its dark cloud. Tora was as confused as the other men who stopped in their track, distracted and unable to find her in the hidden smoke. The men desperately tried searching for her, but kept on bumping into each other thinking it was their target. Even though Tora was confused, she was calm and used this to her advantage to analyze the surrounding.
"Pshhh hey! Up here" whisper the voice Tora knew for so long. She looked up and saw the dark silhouette up on the rooftop.
"Hurry up before the smoke clears." he tossed the rope down and pulled her up as fast as possible.
"Thanks Syrol" she said, still breathless from the previous run, as Syrol walk off to the stairs, leaving those confused men still down there.
"Come on let's go, we still got work to do" responded Syrol emotionless. Tora listened and followed right after him still clutching the small box in her pocket.
"There she is!" the man pointed, running toward her and a few other following behind him. "Don't let her escape or our heads will be on the line!"
Tora put the small box back into her pocket and starts to run off into the condense alleyway. She twist and turn in every direction trying to lose her persuaders in every step she takes. After sprinting a great deal, Tora looked back and saw no one was chasing after her, thinking she lost them in the complex maze. She finally relaxed and began walking as if nothing had happen in the last thirty seconds. Before taking a few more steps until she could get out of the maze and onto the crowded street safely, she stopped. Two men appear in front of her, blocking her only exit to escape and away from danger, probably working for the others who were chasing her. At the corner of her eyes, she was looking for the entrance where she came from while her body was still facing the two, but the others who were chasing her have caught up blocking her only exit left. She had no where to run, but only took a step back from the two men who were starting to come toward her. The man on the left took out a knife from his pocket looking at her with his blood thirsty eyes just waiting to have a chance to slice her. Tora was in a bad situation and was trying to think of anything to get out of this mess. There were no misplaced bricks that stood out or any kind of obstacles she could jump onto the roof top to escape. Her only option was to fight, even though she was outnumber and weaponless to the armed enemies. Tora was getting ready as the two men in front were now charging at her, suddenly a small ball drop from the sky in front of Tora's toes. The black smoke violently burst from the ball, rushing in, filling the ally with its dark cloud. Tora was as confused as the other men who stopped in their track, distracted and unable to find her in the hidden smoke. The men desperately tried searching for her, but kept on bumping into each other thinking it was their target. Even though Tora was confused, she was calm and used this to her advantage to analyze the surrounding.
"Pshhh hey! Up here" whisper the voice Tora knew for so long. She looked up and saw the dark silhouette up on the rooftop.
"Hurry up before the smoke clears." he tossed the rope down and pulled her up as fast as possible.
"Thanks Syrol" she said, still breathless from the previous run, as Syrol walk off to the stairs, leaving those confused men still down there.
"Come on let's go, we still got work to do" responded Syrol emotionless. Tora listened and followed right after him still clutching the small box in her pocket.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
SteamPunk
A friend of mine, named Adam Redfield(probably want to be known) showed me something intriguing that I thought would be of interesting for anyone on blogger to read. It's a sub-genre consisting of both science and speculative fiction, involving elements of fantasy, called steampunk. Steampunk is generally a world where steam power is still being widely used, while other advance technology like electricity for power or computers are not yet known. The people mainly focus on technology or inventions involving with steam power and making them out of gadgets. Stories of steampunk is usually taken place during the Industrial Revolution or the Victorian era has begun but electricity is not yet widespread. There are other stories involving different alternative history style where pure imagination and fantasy is taken place of using only steam power. Some of these examples of steampunks include movies such as the anime film, Steamboy (2004) and Disney's film, Teasure Planet (2002).
Steampunk is sometimes connected with cyberpunk(similar to steampunk, but in the future where technology has evolved to high-tech) which shares a similar fanbase and atmosphere to the stories, but both of these happened as a separate sub-genre. While both of these have different time period and level of technology advancement, steampunk is less dystopian(like an opposite or negative version of Utopia) than cyberpunk or sometimes not at all. That is mostly the big difference between steampunk and cyberpunk, but they do have a considerable amount of influence toward each other since they share some of their ideas that might be familiar together.
Steampunk became known around the 1980s and early 1990s, where as I only known this for a couples of days. And already I am fascinated on the artwork and the inventions of their amazing gadgets. They even made some of these devices with regular technology of today purely out of steam power like the watch, computer mouse, headphones, and even ipod mini. Steampunk looks amazingly cool and I like the fantasy in stories/movies involving steampunk. It makes everything look exotic and I love how it shows all the historical looking antique accessories in the past. The details of any steampunk gadgets are amazing because it shows you all kinds of parts that are in it and functional. I wished I had one of these gadgets, but unfortunately don't have the time and money to buy these stuff. Steampunk is very unique in their arts and designs, because its relatively new or different compare to other designs. I love the fantasy and the idea of using steampunk inventions into their movies. Most common inventions that appear in steampunk movies are flying machines power only by steam engines. Steam punk is also involved in some video games like Bioshock and Final Fantasy VI.
Here is a website to show you all kinds of steampunk gadgets and designs that were created only using steam power. Some of these designs are the ones I have told before like the computer mouse and watch. http://www.toxel.com/tech/2009/07/12/12-steampunk-gadgets-and-designs/
Friday, February 19, 2010
Memoir Project: A Crisis of Faith
When I was little, my family and I went to a temple or church where we pray to several gods. As I saw my parents pray, I wonder to myself what is god and why do we pray? I asked my parents about that, but they couldn't really give me a good explanation about god, it's just something you have to know on your own. They did answer one of my question though as why do we pray. All they said was to pray for things you want or something as in a good fortune like finding happiness, get rich, safety for your families, and etc.(seem like a good enough answer for me). Afterward, I came to a conclusion about what god really is. I think that god is something sacred and spiritual, something like a role model that gives guidelines or rules to help people in life to find happiness. This is the conclusion that I came across, but isn't the final thing. Of course there might be other people who might disagree on this and say I'm wrong, and so I am free to open opinions if they care to explain it to me.
Another question appeared in my head, I asked what kind of god do I believe in? Well my family believes in Buddhism and one other god possibly called lady of god (not really sure on the name). We even have our own little corner filled with miniature statue of gods to pray every now and then. We used incenses whenever we pray for something good, and then place it in front of the statue. Letting it burn down to ashes in a tray, hoping that our message have gotten though to the gods and making it come true (or so that's what I think). I guess my family and I are polytheism in which the belief in multiple gods and goddesses. We aren't monotheism where we believed in one god like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But rather in multiples of gods in Chinese folk religion, where there are a lot of them. Then again my family focuses on mainly two which I said earlier. I am not that much committed to religion overall as in going to temples/church praying all the time or even at my house. I don't practice that much or even know that much about my religion, but I do have my curiosity of asking question about it and learning more about its history. It's very interesting and I love to learn about any history that comes across me even about religion.
Well after my family and I were finished praying in the temple, everyone mostly went to a vegetarian restaurant or held vegetarian food at temples for everyone to eat. I'm not really sure why we only eat vegetarian food on that day, but I guess it's special for that specific day of praying, where we don't eat anything involving killing any animal for meat. It's pretty cool that there were so many varieties of dishes that don't involve any meat, only just vegetarian food. It was very delicious, and I enjoyed every moment of eating the amazing food. My family and I rarely go to any big temples to pray, only like once or twice a year. The rest is at home praying or either at my grandma's house where my relatives all meet and have a big feast. We all take turns praying, afterward just enjoy the day with our relatives having fun and communicating. It's pretty fun having these kinds of events both at the temple and at home or relative's house. Just to pray, relax, and communicate with others to get to know them.
I'm actually ok with any religion and am open minded to any of their beliefs. If it seems all right and logical, I would agree with it. I don't have any issues that bother me about my religion. There might be times when I question myself about it, but it will sooner or later all come to me and I will know. Any kind of religion or god(s) is pretty great to have because it gives you hope. It makes you strive for a better life for yourself and for anyone else.
Another question appeared in my head, I asked what kind of god do I believe in? Well my family believes in Buddhism and one other god possibly called lady of god (not really sure on the name). We even have our own little corner filled with miniature statue of gods to pray every now and then. We used incenses whenever we pray for something good, and then place it in front of the statue. Letting it burn down to ashes in a tray, hoping that our message have gotten though to the gods and making it come true (or so that's what I think). I guess my family and I are polytheism in which the belief in multiple gods and goddesses. We aren't monotheism where we believed in one god like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But rather in multiples of gods in Chinese folk religion, where there are a lot of them. Then again my family focuses on mainly two which I said earlier. I am not that much committed to religion overall as in going to temples/church praying all the time or even at my house. I don't practice that much or even know that much about my religion, but I do have my curiosity of asking question about it and learning more about its history. It's very interesting and I love to learn about any history that comes across me even about religion.
Well after my family and I were finished praying in the temple, everyone mostly went to a vegetarian restaurant or held vegetarian food at temples for everyone to eat. I'm not really sure why we only eat vegetarian food on that day, but I guess it's special for that specific day of praying, where we don't eat anything involving killing any animal for meat. It's pretty cool that there were so many varieties of dishes that don't involve any meat, only just vegetarian food. It was very delicious, and I enjoyed every moment of eating the amazing food. My family and I rarely go to any big temples to pray, only like once or twice a year. The rest is at home praying or either at my grandma's house where my relatives all meet and have a big feast. We all take turns praying, afterward just enjoy the day with our relatives having fun and communicating. It's pretty fun having these kinds of events both at the temple and at home or relative's house. Just to pray, relax, and communicate with others to get to know them.
I'm actually ok with any religion and am open minded to any of their beliefs. If it seems all right and logical, I would agree with it. I don't have any issues that bother me about my religion. There might be times when I question myself about it, but it will sooner or later all come to me and I will know. Any kind of religion or god(s) is pretty great to have because it gives you hope. It makes you strive for a better life for yourself and for anyone else.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Roller Coasters
Roller coasters are the most thrilling rides in any amusement parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson made the first coasters on January 20, 1885. Soon it evolved and revolutionize all the amusement or theme parks. It became one of the most popular attraction that drew people into amusement parks. For me, I absolutely love to ride on these whenever I go to an amusement parks. Its fun, scary, and it gets you energetic because of the adrenaline rush when you sit on one. At the beginning of mostly any roller coasters, there is a point where you slowly descend up to the highest part of the ride and then drop down rapidly.
I remembered when I first rode on one of these rides, I was very scared because of the height and speed of it going; even though it wasn't a real roller coaster just a kiddy one with sharp turns going around and around all the time probably around 20mph or 10mph. But hey, I was just a kid back then and it looked pretty scary, since I saw all kinds of incidents involving with roller coasters... I blame the movie "Final Destination," especially the third movie. As time past by when I'm getting older and less scared, I finally rode a REAL one with my cousins. It was scary at first since you were slowly going up and dropping down, but afterward it was a blast. I had a fun time riding roller coasters with my cousins, and someone or something that I can hold on to really tight.
There are two main types of roller coasters which are steel and wooden roller coasters. Steel coasters are more smoother rides and mostly turn the rider upside down. Wooden coasters are much rougher rides and more "air time" produced by the negative G-forces where the ride reaches the top of the hill. The people even make a hybrid coasters combining both steel and wooden together. Out of all roller coasters are the number one thing you should do whenever you go to an amusement park.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Pendragon
When I first got the book "Pendragon" by DJ MacHale, I wasn't to thrill about getting the book for Christmas. As a kid during my Christmas year, I was hoping for something cool and be able to play with others. Something like laser tag or video games would had been great, but all I had was a stinking book called "Pendragon" which I never thought I would read it. As time past by, I finally read the book out of boredom and guess what? I liked it. I kept reading it until I was done with the first book and onto the second book and so on (ten books in all). The storyline of "Pendragon" is great and exciting, it makes you want more and more. I couldn't stop reading until I had to go get the other book to continue the story. The book is a young adult series of fantasy novel.
Basically it's about a young teeneger, named Bobby Pendragon, who discovered that he is a traveler (travel to different universe), and help save the universe from the evil antagonist, named Saint Dane. In each book, the location takes place in a different universe where they battle each other to save the world. For example, in book two it takes place in Cloral, a world where the planet is covered in water and no land at all. The people of Cloral lived on immerse, floating cities growing all kinds of food on the sea floor. The protagonist(Bobby) is trying to stop the antagonist(Saint Dane) from ruining Cloral from a catastrophic disaster that will kill millions of people. Alongside with Bobby his friends, Mark Diamond and Courtney Chetwynde also help him in trying to defeat Saint Dane from destroying the whole universe.
I enjoyed every moment of it as I was reading. It was a great book for me and I think others should read it also. If you have any time, you should give it a try and start reading it, because you never know that you might actually like the book.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Cyborgs? (Quickwrite)
This quick write is pretty old and a bit late to talk about it, but why not since I got nothing in my head to talk about right now.
I do agree that technology have mostly taken over our lives when time has move on. Were mostly cyborgs relying on technology and that it's apart of you. Since I was a kid, not many people had cell phones, but later on more and more kids started to have cell phones in a growing pace. Now I'm in high school and when I walked past an elementary school; I see like five or six year old kids having cell phones in their hand calling other people like their parents or friends. I mean damn... back when I was a kid, I never had one in my whole elementary years. Now seeing mostly every kid having one and letting it become apart of their life seem natural. It's pretty crazy that technology have grown so much with us during these past years. Were mostly cyborgs already having technology in our hands using it, relaying, and mostly anything else that could be used with it. This is like a new age of technology where their taking over and humans are using it as much as they can.
For me, I mostly share a cell phone with my dad. I don't really use it that much but just call other people instead of going on the internet and etc. Texting is also one of the big things that mostly everyone is getting. I'm like the only one without a texting plan among all my other friends who have texting. Everywhere I go, I see people with cell phones in their hand either calling or texting to someone. Probably in the future, everyone will use technology and can't even live without it. They will be like cyborgs having any kind of technology in their hand using it all the time.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A Fresh Start? For our Grades...
Well done with finals for first semester and now back to regular old blogging. No more studying for each subject to get ready for(if you even study) or even for some people stress, and Ace the test hopefully... Now just back to our regular old routine and wait to see whats our result on the test. Yay...
Having a minimum week during the testing was great, because we get to go out earlier and do more stuff (studying, hanging out with friends, etc.). But during the testing it wasn't all that great since it rained mostly for that whole entire week. Not much to do when were getting poured down on hard with water and hail, also thunder/lightning striking down on us during that one day. Hate getting my socks wet when I walk around outside. Its annoying and a hassle walking with cold wet feet every time you take a step down the street. Plus you might even get sick from the rain and have to stay home trying to get better. Rain is nice every now and then since we need it, but having it all the time 24/7 is pretty troublesome. There is going to be floods all over the place, leaks in your house that you have to clean up, not much activity you to can do outside, traffics in the street, and etc. With all those problems with rain, there are also good outcome having rain. When it rains, it will help the environment like the plants giving water to help it grow, and also help our shortage of water that were having in Alameda (That I think its still going on or not?).
I'm pretty surprise that I did okay on my finals, I thought I was going to fail most of the subjects, but I didn't. There was only one final that I failed, but overall my semester grade for that class is passing so it's all good. Well were done with first semester, and onward to second semester with a fresh new start that has all new grades which are all A's!!!(For now... T.T) School year is going pretty fast and it's almost February, just can't wait for the second semester finals haha got to study this time...
Having a minimum week during the testing was great, because we get to go out earlier and do more stuff (studying, hanging out with friends, etc.). But during the testing it wasn't all that great since it rained mostly for that whole entire week. Not much to do when were getting poured down on hard with water and hail, also thunder/lightning striking down on us during that one day. Hate getting my socks wet when I walk around outside. Its annoying and a hassle walking with cold wet feet every time you take a step down the street. Plus you might even get sick from the rain and have to stay home trying to get better. Rain is nice every now and then since we need it, but having it all the time 24/7 is pretty troublesome. There is going to be floods all over the place, leaks in your house that you have to clean up, not much activity you to can do outside, traffics in the street, and etc. With all those problems with rain, there are also good outcome having rain. When it rains, it will help the environment like the plants giving water to help it grow, and also help our shortage of water that were having in Alameda (That I think its still going on or not?).
I'm pretty surprise that I did okay on my finals, I thought I was going to fail most of the subjects, but I didn't. There was only one final that I failed, but overall my semester grade for that class is passing so it's all good. Well were done with first semester, and onward to second semester with a fresh new start that has all new grades which are all A's!!!(For now... T.T) School year is going pretty fast and it's almost February, just can't wait for the second semester finals haha got to study this time...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Finals
2. Choose one of your posts. (Your favorite? Your least favorite? The one that surprises you the most when you reread it? Any one you want to pick.) Analyze it in detail, with quotes etc.Out of all the blogs that I published, my favorite blog is not just one but several. The Australian section is my favorite portion of the blogs. Typing all those blogs about my trip to Australia was fun and refreshing. It made me remember all the good times I have done there and all the exciting things I experienced over there that I couldn't do in California. I had a great time in Australia meeting my relatives that I haven't seen for like a decade and for the first time meeting my cousins there too. I got along with them very easily and bonded with them during my stay. They were all very nice and welcoming which brightened up the atmosphere when we arrived in Australia. Staying over there was a blast and something new because this was my first time getting out of the United States. I learned new things (history of Australia), saw beautiful animals (koala, kangaroo, etc.), magnificent tour sites (Kiama Blowhorn, Three Sisters, etc.), and meeting my relatives as if it was the first time.
My least favorite blog is "Classes" because I had to rush and it was a last minute blog post. I had a hard time and was trying to think of something to type, and when you have nothing to type about, why not just talk about your schedule since it was pretty early in the school year. During that time, typing blogs was long and boring to me. I was just trying to get it done and over with my homework. And when it was complete, I felt relieved that I finally finished.
The one blog that surprised me the most when I reread it was the Dim Sum blog, because I never thought I would talk about it in my blog. It was something new that someone could learn and not something about my life. I like how I described what it meant and there’s a small description on what it’s about down below.
"Back in the old days, Dim Sum (touch the heart) was originally not supposed to be a main meal, only meant for snacks, thus only touching the heart. Now it has evolved serving a wide variety of light dishes (dumplings, congee, rice noodle rolls, etc.) alongside with Chinese tea (bolay, oolong, and ect.)."
I like this line the most, because it's a short and simple description. I don't really know why I started typing the Dim Sum blog; it just came in my head and so why not just write about it. This is also my favorite blog right after Australia because whenever I reread this, it always surprises me that I wrote about this kind of blog.
5. If you used any quick writes as blog posts, how did they change from what you wrote by hand in class to what you published on your blog? In other words, how did you go from rough draft to final draft? Explain your revision/rewriting process.
Whenever I write a quick write and published it on my blog, it's always the rough draft to final draft. The quick write is a rough draft where I put in my ideas and thoughts about it on the paper. I mostly check all the basic stuff like grammar, redundancy, and etc. on my rough draft. Sometimes my paper is full of ideas about that specific quick write, saying what my opinions about it and why. When I feel like putting it on my blog, I reread and edit it to the final draft. I analyze my rough draft by crossing out anything that doesn't make sense or not significant with the quick write, and put in the important facts onto the computer. I then rewrite the ideas into summaries of that quick write and adding a bit more information to the final draft. I make sure that I'm staying on topic with the quick write and following on what it's trying to say.
Making quick writes into blogs are much easier and faster, because you already have a rough draft to begin with. You don't have think up of something off your head while you’re doing your blog, and instead have something you can work with that you already started. This gives you an advantage when your already one step done and have something to write about if your comfortable with that quick write. I like writing quick writes occasionally with pictures on trying to find out what they mean. It's much more fun and mysterious, because you’re trying to find out what that picture is trying to say or mean. It's very easy once you write about something you like and can connect easily with it so you won't get stuck. For example, there is one quick write that I typed onto my blog (http://ninjanathant.blogspot.com/2009/12/picture-hmm.html), it was easy, fast, and I didn't had any trouble getting stuck on it. It was easy for me to connect with it, because it gave out lots of opportunity or clues to talk about the picture.
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?
Having a blog is pretty useful and it’s also something new since we’re using this for our English class which is bizarre, but good at the same time. The reason why I said it was good, because we’re involving modern technology into our lifestyle of working in school. I never thought that we would use computers so commonly on the internet to do school work other then just projects and reports. It looks like the times of technology are evolving more into our school and the old ways slowly fading away. For example, I heard one of my teacher talking to us about a device called "Kindle 2" where it stores a lot of books in just one device. My teacher said that a school has ordered the Kindle 2 for students, and replacing the normal books with it. It's pretty amazing and astonishing that worldwide were letting technology more into our school little by little. Blogging is one of it which proved to be very helpful, because this way it's much faster when you share with other individual's work to get ideas from.
Blogging changed my way of writing, because it's much faster then having to write on a piece of paper. This way by writing, more people around the world can just look at your post by reading and leaving comments. It's more efficient and easier by publishing it online where anyone can read it. When I type on my blogger and don't know what to write about, I can just look at other blogs to get ideas from. Blogging didn't changed my way of thinking about writing other then typing fast and sharing with other people more easily. It just made my life easier in doing my work in English, and reading things that seem to be interesting for me. To sum this up, having a blog is pretty cool and helpful in my life. Blogging is much easier to share with your friends and letting the whole world know about it.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
QuickWrite: Writing Groups
1. What are some things you'd like to get out of writing more collaboratively with peers?
I hope that by doing this method of working together with peers will help me on my writing style. They will give me tips on how to write better and help fix your work. Also help you stay on focus, because I tend to write different things and don't stay on the right subject.
2.What are some things you'd be willing to contribute to a writing group?
Well I'm not really good at spell checking and grammar, so I wouldn't be much helpful in that part. But I do give tips/comments that will help the person, and I'm not one of those people who are lazy and don't care. I don't slack off and actually do things that will contribute to others.
3. 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.
It would be great to work with friends which you can communicate easily, but you tend to slack off or not stay on the right subject. The wise choice would be with people who are writing the same types of things with you, because this way you stay on focus and they might actually understand what you are trying to say. They will give ideas or comments that will be helpful since both of you have a common thing to write.
4. What are some "rules" (or at least guidelines) you'd like to see in a writing group?
Well a good guidelines I would like to see is don't slack off or not pay attention to the other person. Be supportive and actually help people with good comments/ideas.
I hope that by doing this method of working together with peers will help me on my writing style. They will give me tips on how to write better and help fix your work. Also help you stay on focus, because I tend to write different things and don't stay on the right subject.
2.What are some things you'd be willing to contribute to a writing group?
Well I'm not really good at spell checking and grammar, so I wouldn't be much helpful in that part. But I do give tips/comments that will help the person, and I'm not one of those people who are lazy and don't care. I don't slack off and actually do things that will contribute to others.
3. 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.
It would be great to work with friends which you can communicate easily, but you tend to slack off or not stay on the right subject. The wise choice would be with people who are writing the same types of things with you, because this way you stay on focus and they might actually understand what you are trying to say. They will give ideas or comments that will be helpful since both of you have a common thing to write.
4. What are some "rules" (or at least guidelines) you'd like to see in a writing group?
Well a good guidelines I would like to see is don't slack off or not pay attention to the other person. Be supportive and actually help people with good comments/ideas.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Back to School
So it has been exactly two weeks ago that I last wrote a blog. Relaxing, eating, and sleeping no worries of getting any homework in those past two weeks other then the homework given before (-_-). Now those times are over and back to school to do all kinds of work and homework that they send at us, great... The good news is that you get see your friends more often, but you might have already done that during the past two weeks... Well you will go and see your favorite class or teacher again if you even have one, but that's about it that I can think of to be back in school. English is the only class that I enjoy being in, because it's fun and I learn interesting things in there like Ted Friday that we always watch every week.
Well might as well write about the past two weeks that I have been doing over the winter break so far. Mostly all those days I have been spending was with my family and little on my friends. I went to my relative's house to have a Christmas party meeting my cousins mostly, who I didn't see for a long time. It was pretty fun and their were lots of food at there house especially the desserts yummy. They were very delicious that my cousin made, some of the desserts were gingerbread and oreo cheesecake. I had a great time and met other people from my cousin's side.
For happy new years, I mostly did nothing on that day and just watch the countdown on the TV for like ten minutes. Well I don't really celebrate it, but just enjoy the fireworks they put out. The reason why my family don't celebrate this day because our happy new years is next month. I celebrate the chinese new year instead and will do something similar to the first new year with fireworks.
Well might as well write about the past two weeks that I have been doing over the winter break so far. Mostly all those days I have been spending was with my family and little on my friends. I went to my relative's house to have a Christmas party meeting my cousins mostly, who I didn't see for a long time. It was pretty fun and their were lots of food at there house especially the desserts yummy. They were very delicious that my cousin made, some of the desserts were gingerbread and oreo cheesecake. I had a great time and met other people from my cousin's side.
For happy new years, I mostly did nothing on that day and just watch the countdown on the TV for like ten minutes. Well I don't really celebrate it, but just enjoy the fireworks they put out. The reason why my family don't celebrate this day because our happy new years is next month. I celebrate the chinese new year instead and will do something similar to the first new year with fireworks.
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