G=Gateway Diner

Gateway Diner has to be one of my favorite Diner's. Everything is as close to perfect as it can get. Bubbly waiters/waitresses that will make anyones day at least a little bit better. One of the largest and variety filled menus out there, with breakfast lunch and dinner served around the clock. Not expensive at all so you get way more then what you payed for. It's a friendly environment as well as it is neat. The foods always good no matter what you order, I guarantee you it'll take you a good amount of time to order due to the large variety. Everything sounds, looks, smells, and tasted superb. I would recommend this diner to anyone from the ages of 0-110, any older then that and I recommend you inform the Guinness Book of World Records because that must be a world record.

The Book That Changed My Life

The book that had the largest impact on my personal life would have to be Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm not really sure why, I guess because of the interesting point of view and subject. I've never read a book like that before and I really enjoyed it. It was written for a more mature audience then the books I had read previously. I loved how it put things in a new perspective than the average human brain would usually think up. I also enjoyed how it would make an attention grabbing statement then back it up with facts on facts on facts. It made something absurd and skeptical sound absolutely reasonable and correct. Malcolm Gladwell went through great lengths to make the information understandable and comprehend able to his readers. I know many people in our class are not on the same boat with this book as I am, but I'll always remember that book. It really got me thinking and was very time consuming in a good way. I'd like to see/read more books by this author because I loved his writing style and it was a great read. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes to expand their thinking and has a good mental capacity.

Bucket List

1.) Get married- So I can have a wife and never be alone, i'd always have someone in my life that I knew loved me and that I knew I loved
2.) Have a kid(s)- To feel like I've left my mark on this earth and even when I'm not here anymore my kids will carry on the family name
3.) Have a 100k salary job- To be able to get things I want and be successful
4.) Own an escalade- I've always loved this car and it would show some class
5.) Go to college- To make my dad proud and open doors in my future
6.) Be successful- To have some self-worth and feel accomplished
7.) Sky dive- Because anyone that's experienced this says it's an experience of a lifetime
8.) Travel- My mom was always big on travelling and has gone to multiple continents and many different countries. It seems very unique and worthwhile
9.) Buy a house- This symbolizes settling down and achieving a milestone in my life
10.) Storm the court after a march madness upset- March madness (college basketball) has been one of my favorite sports to watch since I was a kid and it would be a dream come true to storm the court after an underdog upset one of the top seeds

The Language of Song

Song used: Paradise by Coldplay

Song lyrics English and Spanish: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/paradise-paraiso.html

There was once a young girl who was constantly moving. Her parents weren't making enough and had to travel from place to place looking for work that provided them with the amount of money that they needed. Every time she felt settled in and comfortable at their new home, they had to move again. It got to the point where she didn't want to get close to people anymore because she knew that would make it that much harder when it was time to say goodbye. 

She dreamed of a life where she could do the things everyone else did. She was sick of moving around and being the new kid at school that everyone judges and criticize. Any time she got bored in class or had free time on our hands she'd close her eyes and disappear into her fantasy world. In this world she imagined what it would be like to go to the same school for longer then a year. She imagined what it would be like having real friends that she could have long term relationships with. 

Eventually, when she reached 10th grade her parents finally landed solid jobs. They told her it was almost a guarantee that they would stay there. For the next 3 years she enjoyed the company of friends and being close to someone her age for once. Her fantasy world, or paradise, had finally become real.  

Irish Blog

I couldn't figure out how to get the writing over the 4 leaf clover so I just listed facts next to a 4 leaf clover instead. 

-St. Patrick was kidnapped at age 16

-He escaped via a pirate ship that brought him back to Britain, voices told him to do so

-St. Patrick died March 17, 461

-Until the 1970's, St. Patrick's day was a minor religious holiday

-On St. Patrick's day the number of pints of guinness consumed is around 13 million pints, more then double the usual daily average

-Steve Bailey came up with the idea of putting green dye in the Chicago river

TU Tuesday-Crime

MY QUESTION: How many Afghanistan's were massacred? Where and Why and by which american soldiers?

http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Obama-Afghan-shooting-inquiry-will-be-thorough-3402644.php

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/12/soldier-suspected-in-afghanistan-massacre-like-to-be-tried-in-us-could-face/

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/afghanistan-massacre-horrible-crime-serious-setback-article-1.1037732

According to the 2 articles I read to gather more information about the massacre, 16 Afghanistan civilians were killed. Obama intends on fully investigating the killings and will not treat it lightly. "Defense secretary Leon Panetta said he could face the death penalty." Neither of these articles reveal the name of the soldier being investigated for the massacre. The most specific line reads, "More details emerged Monday about the suspect, an Army staff sergeant who is currently detained in Afghanistan." Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, didn't take lightly to this massacre. He expressed his thoughts about it by saying, "When the Americans are killing civilians intentionally, this is called terror and it is an unforgivable act." The massacre was done in the most cruelest of ways. The staff sergeant entered civilians homes in the middle of the night, shooting and killing multiple innocents. Among these innocents, 9 were children and 3 were women. The suspect "suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2010 after a vehicle rollover accident in Iraq." He also had family problems, revolving around his marriage, before he was deployed for the 4th time. Despite all this information about the suspect, it does not even come close to justifying his awful and stupid actions in Afghanistan.

Creative Contest 2 Blog

It looks like a poster you would see in a health class. It promotes individuality. The square headed stick figure is supposed to stand out. I feel like if there was facial features, the square headed one would be the only one smiling. There hands were always connected but the square headed one was the first to raise his arms, and they all followed. I imagine if there was a caption it would read "Be a leader, not a follower."

SCRUPLES

9. You find a wallet containing $300. By the address, you can tell that the owner is wealthy. Do you keep the money?


I wouldn't keep the money. Any time I've found money or another person's personal belongings as a child, my parents made me return it. I developed a pattern of always returning things I found that didn't belong to me. I would rather make the person happy and show them people do good deeds rather than have 300 dollars. One good deed can have a chain reaction or ripple effect and make people I'm unaware of do nice things, as a result of my good action. Also, if the person is wealthy and sees my act of kindness there is a chance they would let me keep the money anyways. I would feel guilty if I pocketed the money, I wouldn't want that on my conscience.  

My Blog Idea

My blog idea is to watch an episode of your favorite T.V. show and then blog about it, whether it be a reflection or comparison to your own life or a free writing based on the creativity it inspired. This combines watching T.V. with doing homework and I think it'd definitely be helpful in coming up with something to write about. Seeing as a lot of students watch their favorite show on a nearly daily basis, it wouldn't be time consuming and it would be a writing assignment that doesn't stray far off the students day.

I chose an episode of scrubs. Scrubs is my favorite show because all in one episode it can make you laugh, be sad, understand something you could never understand before, and it's extremely emotion yanking. At the end of every episode, J.D., the main character sums up the episode into a deep life lesson. In this episode the lesson at the end was "It's hard to own up to your shortcomings. Like, for instance, your own hypocrisy. Still, once you do own up, you might be surprised to see that you did make a difference. I always assumed that growing up happened automatically as he got older, but it's really something you have to choose to do." I love that last line, it's been stuck in my head. I feel like I can always relate/learn from this show. It gets me thinking, I don't just brush it off and start up a new episode. I felt the same way until a couple months ago when I finally realized growing up is a choice. Since then I've been working on my bad habits and trying to break them. I go to college in a few years and I want to really be absolutely ready for it. This episode really made me reflect on my own life, which every now and then is extremely important. Instead of waking up and doing the same things over and over I've been trying my best to try and do the things I've been doing forever, but just slightly better. Change doesn't ever come right away, and I'm an impatient person so I get frustrated easily when I spot a personal flaw and it won't go away immediately. With patience and commitment though I should be able to slowly but surely make some positive changes.

Revisions

Hopeful Reality

I am unstoppable                          

Nobody can beat me                    

That's improbable                         

Nothing special about me              

An unwavering will to win              

Nobody can beat me                    

Addicted to sin                             

Sacrifice needed to succeed          

An unwavering will to win              

Nothing is guaranteed                   

Doubt will fill your mind                

Sacrifice needed to succeed          

An unwavering reason you need to find     

Keep you going through those times          

Doubt will fill your mind                             

Victory isn't always, just sometimes

I am unstoppable

Keep you going through those times

That's improbable

Golden Goal

Fighting viciously for freedom

for liberty

for the day the unstoppable

is stopped

Chief walking with swag

in his infinite power

be powerless

use Stealth to achieve liberty

lose everything to gain everything

infinite

equality

Rafael - I think your poem Hopeful Reality would be wonderful set to music.  You have some nice repetition and rhyme to work with.

Your second poem is a manifesto of sorts, and I think needs to be expanded to fit in all that you have to say.  Try to add imagery to fill out the poem.

Mimi Moriarty

Golden Goal revised

Fighting viciously for freedom

Heart filled with valor

Never backing down

Sacrificing everything

In hope that one day

You will make a difference

Be of importance

Remembered

Respected

A piece to a whole

Something way bigger

Than you alone could ever be

I think the revised version is better because like you said, Mimi Moriarty is a gifted and published poet. Her possessional opinion definitely assisted me in revising my poem to make it the best that it could be.