Global Issues Project

Due to our current project in English, we have been hypothetically climbing up the mountain of success, as our process of writing an essay on Global Issues.  Each student chose their own issue, and thoroughly researched it in Social Studies.  Now, all of that information has been taken from Social Studies and now it is being turned into a paper for English.  

I have gotten very far in the past few days.  Each class period allowed, I have taken every minute possible to work on climbing up the mountain.  In three full class periods (55 minutes each), I have gone from having the average amount of research, to a fully expanded outline that is full of detail, and now I am almost done with the rough draft of my paper.  I have also taken time at home to work on my rough draft, probably about 30 or so minutes, and if I must say so myself, it has come a long way.  With 195 minutes of work, I am fairly happy with what I have so far.  I am excited to see my paper transform from my rough draft into a final draft, and I look forward to future work on this project. 

Free Write: One Direction

Recently, there has been a new recognized boy band in the music industry.  Reigning from various parts of Europe, the boy band is made up of 5 older teenage boys, who were all contestants on the X Factor.  Originally competing as individuals, the 5 boys had only enough talent to get them so far by themselves.  One of the judges, Simon Cowell, told each of them that together, they would be amazing.  They finished the competition as one band, called One Direction.  One Direction is made up of Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Liam Payne. Together they sound like melted chocolate, a sound that is rarely found with boy bands today. 

My friends and I have been obsessed with One Direction recently, we have opened up our minds to the world of  Tumblr, because One Direction likes Tumblr.  We have found their best pictures, videos of their funniest moments, all of which makes One Direction even more lovable.  They have their own album, Up All Night, but they also do covers of famous classics (Forever Young, Summer of 69, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Torn, etc.) Their music choices and taste puts them higher above any other current boy bands, they give their audience what they want to hear.  It also doesn't hurt that the majority of the band is extremely attractive, and their English accents help too! If it weren't for One Direction, last week probably would have been very boring, I honestly don't know what I would have done if I hadn't been exposed One Direction. 

_A Walk To Remember_ by Nicholas Sparks

I haven'y been a big fan of Nicholas Sparks books, the only one that I have read fully so far has been Dear John, and I wasn't very interested.  I have seen almost all of the movies that have been made from Sparks' books, however, and have always loved them.  I recently watched "A Walk to Remember", featuring Mandy Moore, and instantly thought to read the book.  My friend Emily told me that the book was way better than the movie, and that it helped you get a better understanding of the book.  I ordered the book on Amazon, and got it 2 days later.  Of course, I dove right in. I have never been so intrigued by a book, other than The Clique series, by Lisi Harrison.  The beginning of the book starts off like most books do, but you get a sense of nostalgia, or at least I did.  Set in North Carolina (like all of Sparks' books do), the town is described as a sort of "Mayberry".  Everybody knows everybody and their brother, plus all of everyone's business. They all see each other in church, everyone's kids go to the same school, and every father takes his son fishing in the same spot in the Pamlico Sound.  The story is about a high school senior, Landon Carter, and how his life is changed through a series of events, all by the help of his friend Jamie.  I feel connected to this book so much already because ever since I was 7, I have gone to a sailing camp in the Pamlico Sound of North Carolina.  When Sparks' talked about the crystal clear coast of North Carolina, and the waterway into Moorehead City from the Neuse River, I got a clear perspective of everything that was happening, how it looked, etc.  I am looking forward to getting deep into this book, it has been something that I have looked forward to for a long time.

Free Write: Disney World with Mallory

The day after Christmas, my family and I woke up early and started driving to Orlando, Florida.  Mallory and I had been looking forward to this for weeks, because we were both going on the same exact days! We knew that we had to spend at least one day together in Disney World, and we were going to have a blast.  On the first day that I was there, my family and I decided to go into Universal Studios.  We went on the roller coaster side, and rode every single ride before 6:00 that evening.  It was definitely something to be proud of.  However, while walking through The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I accidently asked "What's butter beer?" really loudly, and people looked at me like I was a nut.  The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom.  It was a fun relaxed day.  We also park hopped and went into Disney's Hollywood Studios.  We did everything in both of those parks in little time, which was surprising because there were so many people.  The next day we met up with Mallory and her mom in Magic Kingdom.  It was so much fun because we rode all the rides that we wanted, plus we had our friends there! Later on in the day, Mallory's mom and the rest of my family went to go do some other stuff, while Mallory and I went shopping near Cinderella's castle.  It was so much fun! We got matching monogrammed Minnie Mouse ears, and we got covered in glitter, and it was a fun day for the both of us! We met back up with everyone else, and then when Mallory's mom had to go, Mallory got to stay with my family and I for the rest of the day! We rode some more rides, and watched the show at the castle.  We finally made our way to the ferry boat, and then went home.  For the rest of that trip I didn't see Mallory any, but it was still a lot of fun! Looking back on my trip to Orlando, I remember all of the great times that I had with my family, but also all of the great times that I had with my best friend.

__The Da Vinci Code__ by Dan Brown

In search of a good book that I can actually read the entire thing, I have come across a copy of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.  More than one person has told me that I should read this book, and I have been thinking about it a lot lately due to an upcoming trip to Europe over Mardi Gras break that I will be taking.  So, this past week I sat down and started to read it.  Starting with the prologue, I noticed that I had to go back and re-read every paragraph or so.  Not that Brown's style of writing is hard for me to understand, but that I want to fully comprehend the book, so I re-read hoping to capture in details that I missed the first time through.  In the beginning of the book, we meet Robert Langdon, a professor at Harvard, and well known for his works with religious symbology.  I pictured Robert as a scruffy man, who probably looks older than he is.  I would imagine him to be the type of person who looks tired, too.  While reminiscing about his past works, and lectures, he gets a phone call.  The concierge at the hotel he was staying at in Paris told him that he had a visitor, and he was already on his way up to his room.  To much of Robert's surprise, it was a member of the French equivalent to the American FBI.  The agent had to show Robert a picture of the man that he was supposed to meet with that same day, but never showed up.  The man, Jacques Sauniere, had been killed. The FBI agent and Robert immediately had to go to the Lourve, the location in which Jacques had been killed.

While I am not really a fan of this book so far, I feel it will widen my reading capability more than a book written by Snooki would.  So far I have learned about a few famous artists, which is always interesting, and I have learned about what someone like Robert Langdon does.  I do look forward to finishing this book, however, so that I can read Dan Brown's sequel to it, Angels and Demons in preparation for my trip to Italy.

Toddlers and Tiaras

In the past few months, I have rediscovered my love for the TLC television show “Toddlers and Tiaras”. Though some people think that the show encourages young girls to be shallow and only care about their physical beauty, I personally think that the show is quite entertaining. It is not like the girls are being forced to compete in beauty pageants, some of them really enjoy it! My personal favorite toddler is MaKenzie Myers, a 6 year old from Montgomery, Louisiana. Her attitude and personality have landed her a spot on the show three times in the past two years, and she is becoming really famous in the pageant world because of it. MaKenzie was even recognized on the famous comedy website “Funny or Die”, and was portrayed by Ashley Tisdale as a 23 year old pageant princess. MaKenzie is widely known for being the adorable little girl from Louisiana with a lot of attitude and a lot of sass. Her most famous line in all of her “Toddlers and Tiaras” experience was “You are drivin' me nuts.”, which she expressed to her mother during her debut on the show. Recently, MaKenzie was featured in the new season of the show. She was competing at a candy-themed pageant, and when she arrived at the location she discovered that she had an entourage of young girls who looked up to her. She enjoyed the attention at first, but then she quickly realized that having a mob of children following her and wanting to be her best friend was not ideal. She took advantage of the girls by making them get her candy after she walked on stage, bringing her what she wanted, and entertaining her. By the end of the episode, MaKenzie ended up snapping at the girls because all of the attention that she was getting made her anxious, and she just wanted to play and be herself. That attitude that MaKenzie portrayed in her most recent episode is what has made her famous. If you're ever flipping through the channels on your TV and come across “Toddlers and Tiaras”, you should watch it! Who knows, maybe you'll even see MaKenzie!

New Year = New You?

At the end of each year, we often find ourselves evaluating the things we did, the food we ate, the money we spent, and how we can make good (well, better) decisions for the year to come.  Most people make their New Year's Resolutions keeping their new self in mind.  When I was little, I used to make an entire list of the "new me". I would pick a new favorite color, a new favorite TV show, a new favorite movie, and a new favorite snack.  Of course, there would be more to the list, but these are just the things that I can remember 8 years later.  If I didn't make a list, there would be no "new me", therefore I would be unprepared for the new year.  Looking back on it now, those lists were silly.  They put me in the mindset that if I didn't have a set of guidelines for the next year, it wouldn't be a good one.  But, like every other person who makes New Year's Resolutions, less than a week later I would continue to live like I had years before.  I would go back to the same favorite color, the same favorite TV show, the same favorite movie, and the same favorite snack.  People often say, "With a new year comes a new me!", and sure, maybe for a week or two there is a "new you", but 90% of the time, the resolutions that are made, are forgotten.  I know for sure that the next time I sit down and make a list of my resolutions, there is only going to be one. Be yourself, because who else is going to be you?