twilight279

Reflexión de Cocinando

Tue, 31 May 2011 21:42:35 -0700

En clase de español nosotros cocinamos para dos días. La primera día nosotros hacemos salsa. Un grupo hacieron salsa rojo y el otro hacieron salsa verde. Yo era en el grupo salsa verde y me gusta cocinar mucho. Trabajo con Tatiana, Sofia, Antonio, y Max. Haciendo la salsa esta muy facil, solomente cortar las verduras y mezcla. Yo pienso es bueno que tratar cosas nueva en clase. Creo que estan un poco dificil a cocinar para un grupo grande pero todas las personas tienen un oportunidad a cocinar. En el fin la salsa era muy bien, y nosotros termina lo.

Ingredientes:

12-14 tomatillos
1 diente de ajo
1 chile jalapeño pequeño
1 racimo de cilantro
1 aguacate o palta
1 lima
1 cucharadita de sal

Para el segundo día nosotros hacemos sangria sin alcahol. Sangria es simple tambien. Necesitas mezclar jugos de naranja, uva, manzana, y fruta. Permites el jugo a enfriar un poco y tomas. Sangria esta divertido hacer tambien, y esta simpatica hacer una pausa para el negocio y cocinar un poco. La receta era bien y la sangria era muy bien.

Ingredientes:

3 tazas de jugo de uvas
¾ taza de jugo de manzanas
½ taza de jugo de naranja
1 cuchara de jugo de limón
1 limón, cortada en rodajas con la piel
½ lima, cortada en rodajas con la piel
1 naranja mediana, cortada en rodajas con la piel
1 manzana pequeña, sin el centro, cortada en octavos, con la piel
1 ciruela pequeña, fileteada, con la piel
2-3 tazas de agua mineral con gas o soda, a gusto

Willy Wonka Better Watch Out

Wed, 25 May 2011 16:51:38 -0700

In science we had made it a goal of ours to use the kitchen we had been given in the lab. After a long break from our first cooking experiment, we decided our next cooking session would be with candy, which we could tie in with our chemistry studies. We started by looking up sugar aliases (of which there are many), and learning about the stages of sugar during the cooking process. Then we split up into groups based on what we wanted to make. I worked with Tobin and Sydney, and we all decided on taffy as our final product. After looking up recipes we settled on the abc news website, as we thought it could be a reliable source.We were the last group to cook, and all of the burnt sugar that had gone before us had me worried about what ours might turn out like, especially sine we had another step the other groups didn’t do, which was stretching the candy.

It was a long and painful process waiting for the candy thermometer to hit 275, sugar boiling only being slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry. Finally though we were able to take it off the stove, add the flavoring and coloring, let it cool, and then start to stretch our taffy. Let me say I have a new found respect for any candy makers. We had to deal with the mixture before it had fully cooled, since we let it cook too long. It had gone from the stage we needed it to be in into a hard candy form, so we had to start pulling it before it lost its malleability, and dealing with the burning taffy was a little difficult. The stretching got tougher the more you pulled the candy, but as it cooled it became more fun. After we were done, we laid out the strips and cut them up. Yes they ended up being hard candy, but both the butterscotch and apple flavors turned out tasting fine.

As far as the recipe goes, I would give it a positive review with just a few adjustments.

1) Cook mixture in a deeper pot for more even cooking, and take it off the stove at least 10 degrees before the 275 mark.

2) Add more flavoring. You could double (maybe even tripple depending on the strength of the flavor your using) the amount that’s called for. With the apple taffy as an example, the butter in the recipe over rode its flavoring a bit.

3) I would suggest putting the mixture from the pot onto a large piece of wax paper once the butter, flavoring, and color has been added. Make sure that it spreads out to be nice and flat, so that it’s easily peeled off when you need to start pulling, and spares you from scraping the remnants the candy will leave behind off a bowl.

4) When stretching, be sure to use bigger chunks of you mixture, and do not over stretch. If you pull it to thin the taffy may harden and or snap.

All in all I think my group was pleased with the results we got though, and made for excellent bragging rights.

Mock Trial - The People vs. Hewitt

Mon, 02 May 2011 22:33:00 -0700

This year for mock trial we had a more free rein method of going about the case. We were split into groups for defense or prosecution. In these groups you had a partner which you’d split the work with. The case was about the murder of Jennifer White, who’s parachute chords were cut and resulted in her death during sky diving. The city of San Diego was prosecuting Monica Hewitt, who had been believed to be in love with Jennifer’s boyfriend. We started off our process with our trial manuals.

The manual was a thick packet that held the contents of the case. It had the depositions of our four witnesses, evidence, jury instructions, etc. It was an extremely vital part of each sides platform. Though intimidating at first, once you read your way through it, you got the basic idea of what you needed in favor of your case. Though this made this years trial more work, it was all so worth it. With the script taken away, we were able to use our liberties to have a say in what was going to go down in the courtroom, which individualized each trial. We had to create our questions for two witnesses, and an opening or closing statement, as well as develop the skills to deliver them properly in court.

I was on the prosecution side, so my mentor was John Fraher. For three days of the week he worked with our side, helping us with the fundamentals of our case, and how to present them in court. Though overwhelming at times, he knew how to get the job done and pushed us through our babbling discomfort to more efficient strategies. The days were full of stress but at the same time entertaining. There was a lot of repetition in our work, revising, and it seemed that no matter how long or how hard you looked into the case, your work was never done. I could have probably continued to prepare to this day, and that was a new twist for an assignment, more realistic.

I worked with Taelon as a partner, and created the examinations of Martin Imbramovich (The manager at the skydiving club) and Monica Hewitt, as well as the closing argument. I believed that we worked efficiently and his positive attitude was always a nice influence. Even through our work though, we ended up with a unanimous not guilty verdict when it came to the trial. It was definitely a painful blow after the week of preparation, and I still don’t know how to interpret it. At first I was relieved due to the fact that the other prosecution team that had been in trial at the time also lost their case, until the second half went by and both prosecution pairs won . Even with the burden of proof prosecution carried, it was clearly still possible for our side to win, and in the end only made me wish I worked harder.

Our opponents were Charlie and Maxx, and we went in with confidence that we had a chance. But by the middle of the trial, I knew what our fate was. Charlie and Maxx did deserve their win though, especially after their closing argument. I just remember Taelon and I looking at each other as he passed me a note that read “We’re screwed”.

Even though my trial ended on a sour note, overall I was a lot more keen on this years work. There are only a couple of things I would want to change. The first would be to have a more balanced case (though keep in mind I do have a bias of being on a losing prosecution team).

I think that even though it was possible for prosecution to win, it would have been nice to have been given at least one fact that was a bit more solid. Each piece of evidence seemed to have a strong contradiction to it. The finger print we had was partial and indefinite. Our one eye witness needed glasses, had an error in his testimony, and his claims seemed almost geographically impossible. The scientist that tested for fingerprints on the parachute had only worked for six months in criminal justice and had missed other possible candidates fingerprints on the pack. There was an error in the chain of custody. Monica’s Facebook page status was pushed as lack of maintenance. Her psychological evaluation saying she was a narcissist and manipulative was over looked due to her being a nurse for children with cancer, and there were at least two other candidates that could have cut the chords on Jennifer’s parachute.

Secondly, I think we should try and find a way to have different jurors each time. No matter how unbiased the jury promised they’d be, I find it extremely hard to believe that the 10 and 11 year olds didn’t carry anything from the first trial they saw to the next. They already new what happened and most of the facts, and I could see their attention slipping as it was all relayed out for them a second time around. I’m not sure as to who might else be able to do it, but I’m sure the eighth grade would be willing to do it next year. Either have more jurors, or have two different cases, which was proposed in our meeting post trials. All in all though, it was a great experience.

Jealous Belgian Skydiver Convicted of Parachute-Cutting Murder - TIME

Mon, 02 May 2011 17:32:19 -0700

Jealous Belgian Skydiver Convicted of Parachute-Cutting Murder - TIME

Debates Reflection

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:01:03 -0700

Recently in class it had been discussed that we were sick of doing project after project, so we decided to try a different way to learn. We made a list of topics of interest on the board and picked the ones that we wanted to debate. The class split in half each time for pro and con sides, studied their platforms, and came back to humanites for a discussion. So far we have completed two of these debates, our first topic being about capital punishment, and the second about Libyan intervention. At first the debates seemed like something I would have a lot of interest towards, since I had enjoyed our debate at the beginning of the year with politics. Honestly though I’ve been slightly disappointed with the results so far.

We started off each debate by pairing up with someone from the opposing side, in order to have a short debate with them prior to the real thing. It was a 10-15 minute period for warming up and testing theories before you brought them to the group. Though the idea of these warm ups sound like a productive method, each partner I was assigned with seemed rather unprepared. The conversation always came to an awkward end as it became clear there had been a lack of studying. That showed the most during the Libya debate. Originally about four or five people (including myself) had voted against doing it due to lack of interest, but it was chosen anyway. Even though I wasn’t interested in the topic, I still studied, so it was extremely frustrating to see that some of the opposing side wasn’t talking back to us, because they didn’t actually know what their side was. If I’m putting in any effort, I expect the same from someone I’m working with as just a matter of respect.

I don’t want to quite give up on the debates yet though because I know that with a little work it could be something interesting. Some more people need to start stepping up though, because frankly arguing with someone who can’t defend their own point is very unappealing.

Liu Bolin is a Chinese based artist who gained international...

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:36:02 -0700

Liu Bolin is a Chinese based artist who gained international attention in 2005, when the Chinese Government shut down his studio. Born in Shandong, China, 1973, Bolin attended the Central Academy of fine arts in Bejing. After setting up shop in Suojiacun, the Chinese Government bulldozed the buildings of the village for Olympic redevelopment, leaving him as well as hundreds of others homeless. In protest to what was being done, Bolin returned to the wreckage with two friends who painted his body to camouflage into the scenery as a silent protest. This was the inspiration for his work “Hiding in The City”, along with many other exhibitions, representing how easily one can become invisible when they don’t fit in with society. His work has been exhibited in China, France, Italy, The United States, and Korea, and continues he to use it as a silent messages to his cause.

I did a mostly straight-forward adaption of his work, though I focused more on head shots as opposed to the full body, because Bolin spends up to 10 hours masking himself completely. For logistical reasons, I mostly relied on other people as my canvas rather than using myself (although I did experience of being a canvas one time). These are examples of the more successful pieces.

¿Que animale serías?

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:32:30 -0700

Si yo sería un animale, yo sería un león o cualquier tipo gatos salvajes por que me gusta la elegancia de los movimientos y el velocidad. Yo no querería comer carne, pero yo pienso sería unos de los gatos.

Simulation Reflection

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:31:00 -0700

For our most recent project, I decided to work alone, and looked at game simulations. This was the shortest amount of time that we have had, so it was rather difficult for me to try and figure out how to use my time in a way that would get the project done on time. I thought about what I might want to simulate, and decided that I was interested in forms of government, pulling from the idea of my government election project earlier this year. The first week I focused on looking at the forms of government, and had created a list of different possible styles I could recreate:

A section from my notes

Military Dictatorship: Stratocracy

Religious: Enlightened absolution - Theocracy

Singular Leaders: Monarchy, Elected Monarchy-Self-Proclaimed Monarchy, Despotism, Regent,

Dutchy

Multiple: Diarchy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Ochlocracy, Isocracy, Democracy, Consociationalism

Alternatives: Isocracy, Anarchy, Tribalism

After writing out different game plans I finally decided to just make the government a dictatorship, simplifying things by having only one person in power. Then I sat down and finalized the rules to the game so I could explain the game thoroughly:

The situation is that you are creating a new society. This is the dictator version of the game, so the first step to start playing is to elect your dictator. The now elected dictators table represents the dictators government. There is the second in command, The Foreign Minister, and The Interior Minister, all of which the dictator will decide. The rest of you are the people of this new society, and each of you will be assigned a profession. Now you know what you are, your going to have to split into groups. The government will be given the ten amendments of the constitution in which they can add to or take away from at any time. They will also be given a type of budget they deal with. 20% of government money goes to each branch of professions (Education, Construction, Farming, and Business). The government also starts with 20% of the budget. The dictator can alter these percentages at any time, and the more money the government keeps, the more powerful they are.

The people will be discussing what they want from the government, and sending requests to the dictator. The people want cheaper food, then they need to increase the farming budget, but the increase must be taken away from another branch. The dictator has veto power over any requests, and has a final say in what happens. In order to keep the dictator in check there will be a catch. The people can revolt at any time. The conditions are that there must be a two thirds consensus as to wether or not to revolt, and there is risk that if the government catches any individual person conspiring, the government will cut your salary to what ever they would like.

At first the game functioned well, but as it progressed there were some considerable flaws I could see. First of all, there was no motivation to keep your percentage high. If you were to have a small percentage of money, there was no consequence to it. I just couldn’t think of incentive to drive the game. There were also some lolls in the game between deliberations, and it left people wandering without purpose. I’m still deciding whether or not to continue improvements on the game, or start fresh with a new simulation. Either way I am interested in pursuing these game simulations.

La Casa en Westbourn Street

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:47:58 -0700

Yo viví en Westbourne St para ocho años. Me gusta la calle y mi casa por que estan poqueños y simple. No conoce mucho de los vecinos pero tengo unos pocos cuentos para durante todos los años. No esta mucho acción y esta aborrido, perro es mi barrio.

El casa despues miyas estan nosotros amigos. Marsha y Pablo viven en la casa y los hijos de ellos se llaman Zeta, Nessie, y Rex. Otros personas vivieron alli antes de la familia y no estaban bien. La famila estan muy athletico y simpatica y solo estan uno problemo. Ellos tienen dos gatosmuy mal . Un gato es blanco y un es negro y juntos hacen muchos problemas. Yo tengo seis perros y dos odian gatos. Te gusta sentar contra de la ventana para horas y mirando a los ojos de los gatos. Los gatos instegar mis perros y cuando yo deja fuera los dos perros carrera los gatos. Yo deja ellos a veces. Mi madre odian los gatos tambien. Mi madre es obsesiando con su pez, y tan es el blanco gato. Mi madre compra nuevo pez para el patio charca y el gato aprende entrar en el charca y vuelve los organos en el patio. No persona te gusta los gatos.

Las personas en la casa detras de mi casa es un hombre y su esposa. Las personas no te gusta nosotros por que mis perros. No es simpatica. Años pasados ellos tiene grande disputas en la noche. Ellos despertan los vecinos con la gritan. Ellos usado tienen un perro tambien y sería corteza son las tres en la mañana. No piensan mucho de los vacinos que duermen. El más grande problemo es ellos se quejarce sobre nosotros, nosotros perros, y quieren la casa de nosotros. Con tristeza, Nate es el hijo de nosotros dueña y el puede se quejarce. Nosotros tratamos de ignorar ellos.

El otro casa contra de mi casa esta muy misterioso. Yo nunca se quien viven hay. En ocho años de vivo en el calle, yo solamente ver dos familias vivir hay. El primero familia era viejo y no salir la casa mucho. Ahora esta nueve personas en la casa. No se cuanto personas estan en la casa, pero yo se eran una señora y una bebe. Yo oigo el bebe llora a veces, pero no mucho más. Los factos yo recogido sobre las personas esta ir a la cama temprano, por que yo veo las luces apagados, y se uno de las personas cumpleaños la semana pasada, por que yo oigo ellos cantan. Yo pienso las personas al lado siempre estan un misterio.

Mi madrina vive en el calle tambien. Se llama Cindy. La casa de ella tiene dos pisos y el jardín en el patio afrente es bonita, pero no me gusta ir a la casa mucho. Cuando yo mudé a America, yo vivo en la casa de ellas para un poco tiempo. Ella siempre tiene tres perros, todo el tiempo yo se ella, y los perros siempre cocker spaniels. En general los perros estan viejo, enfermo, o te gusta mordida, tan no me gusta ellos. El interior de la casa es oscuro y olores como perro y orina. Estan muchos fotos de familia y amigos en los paredes y figuras alredo de la casa. El tele es siempre encendido en el tennis channel. CIndy te gusta sentar afuera con los perros, y ellos corteza a las personas que caminan cerca. Los carteros no te gusta la casa de Cindy por que los perros mordedores. Yo estoy cuidado alredor los perros.

A la final de la calle es una tienda se llama Seven Eleven. Seven Eleven es una tienda conveniencia y es bueno para poco ir de compras cosas como leche. Por lo general yo voy a la tienda y traen mi perro se llama Auto con me. Cuando estoy con Auto yo tengo mucho atencion, por que el es un blanco, cien libras, german shepherd. Yo oigo personas comparan Auto a un caballo. Por que de Auto, todoas las personas saben me a Seven Eleven. Ellos estan muy simpatica y te gusta compañía Auto. Un hombre te gusta me mejor, y habla con me en español. La policia van a la tienda a menudo tambien, y encanta Auto. Me gusta visitar mucho.

Arriba de la calle es La Jolla High. En la mañana y tarde los estudiantes caminan abajo de la calle donde los carros estan y donde Seven Eleven está. Las personas es muy bullicioso cuando ellos charlan. Mi hermana Hannah no me gusto un grupo de los estudiantes. Una día el grupo dicide a sentan a me patio afrente y Hannah no te gusta. Hannah decidío venganza en el grupo. Ella abierto el puerto, pero mantana la pantalla de la puerta por lo que no ve ella. En el voz de un persona viejo Hannah grita “¡Niños aléjense de me patio mequetrefe!”. Los niños eran muy miedo y se escapó rapido, se fueron tropezando mientras corrían. Hannah y yo reímos para un largo tiempo.

En el siguiente calle se llama Nautilus Street vive un hombre quien tiene un cerdo. El cerdo se llama Clementine. Cuando el hombre Ted va a un viaje, yo cuido los animales en la casa. Con el cerdo iba un faisán se llama Rootie, un gato se llama Lexi, y un tortuga se llama Caesar. Dos veces un día, yo voy a la casa y dar comida, nueva agua, y juego con las animales. A la noche yo era supone que poner Rootie en una casa de perro para su a duermo en y saco él en la mañana. Un día, yo era abrir la puerta de la casa de Rootie pero Rootie no deja. Despues de un poco tiempo, yo empiezo a pánico. Yo veo en el casa de Rootie y veía Rootie en el piso. Yo pensaba yo muertos Rootie. Muy miedo, yo coré a me casa y explica a mi madre. Más tarde mi padre vino a la casa de Ted y tomar el cuerpo de Rootie. Yo nunca sabía por que Rootie murió. Yo continua cuido a las animales cuando Ted deja.

Una otra cosa en Nautilus Street esta la tienda se llama AAA. Esta una preparación del perro tienda donde mi madre trabajaba en. Cuando yo era la edad suficiente yo empezar trabajo tambien. Es divertido de trabajo a AAA. Yo lavo y secar los perros, hago lavandario, lavar cajas, hago papeleo, y camino los perros. Es una interesante trabajo por que yo juego con los perros y es divertido a ver todos los animales y su propietarios. Cuando yo dobla la ropa lavada, yo la gente mira. Yo voy en sabado.

Yo tengo muchos cuentos de cosas a pasar en mi casa, y mucho divertido recuerdos. Es un tiempo cuando Hannah, la amiga de ella, y yo eran aburrido, y decidir disfrazarse en trajes, fuimos afuera con equipo de Rock Band y tocar música en la calle. Una otra vez yo tiré ciruelas a la casa de el vecino no me gusta con amigas. Yo tengo bloqueé personas afuera de mi casa cuando yo era frustrar. Mi hermana y yo compitieron en carreras en la calle y jugamos deportes en el patio enf rente. Tengo buenos recuerdos y mal recuerdos, pero me encanta vivir en Westbourne Street.

In science we looked at the elements and created super...

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:54:44 -0700

In science we looked at the elements and created super heros/villains out of the element of our choice. Here is my comic, staring Nita as nitrogen (N).

My great artist this year is Liu Bolin. He is a 35 year old...

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:51:39 -0700

My great artist this year is Liu Bolin. He is a 35 year old artist from Beijing, China and has become famous for his camouflage art. He is known as the ‘Invisible Man’ and uses his art as a stance against the Government after having his art studio shutdown. His photos are now globally based and his work is internationally appreciated.

Science: Chromatography

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 20:58:00 -0800

I sat on my porch, smoking my fancy pipe, draped over a dickens novel. I looked around the room noting my trench coat hanging on the rack and my pot of tea sitting in front of me. What a wonderful man I am I thought to myself, too clever for all of those foolish criminals. Slowly my vision was impacted with waves in the air and a white mist covered my site as I drifted into a flashback.

earlier that day

“Shmitty, we have your next case!” exclaimed Holmes, “Sherlock will bring you up to speed when you arrive at the scene. Your destination is The Buttery Money Bank, the most reliable bank out there!”

I grabbed my briefcase and was on the road in two seconds flat. Precisely 43 seconds later I approached the crime scene. Inside the bank stood six mysterious persons and a hysterical bank teller.

“Good day Shmitty!” Sherlock approached me in his warm british accent, “We have quite a case. There has been an attempted robbery! The criminal handed the bank teller a mysterious note implying thievery”, he handed me the note.

Pardon the inconvenience

please deposit the cash in the bag

S.W.A.K.

The Robber

“Well Sherlock, we better get started with the interviews”.

*** The Bank Teller ***

“Ma’am,please try and tell me what just happened” I asked her.

“I-I-I w-w-was and and and he he was all a-a-and th-then I-” she continued to break out into sobs.

“Ma’am please! Your cooperation is vital! Pull yourself together!” I felt this was a good time to slap her like your supposed to do with people in shock, but I had a slight inclination that that would be a bad idea.

“AHHHHH I-I C-C-C-C-AN’T!”, and then she fainted.

“So this is how it’s gonna be…”

*** I.C. Yootoo ***

I waited at the interview table for the first suspect. A suspicious looking character approached the table pierced and mow hawked, quite peculiar.

“Your name sir?” I asked the shady character.

“Dowg Ima rockstar yo for realz. Everbody knows my name. I.C. Yootoo!”

“I never said I saw you sir, I’m asking your name please.”

“Homeskillet I.C. Yootoo, das it!”

“Is this some sort of game for you?”

“Whatchoo talkin bout fool? I.C. Yootoo, das da name, and yalls fo show wearin it out!”

“Oh so your name is I see you too?” that had officially become the worst interpretation of who’s on first I’d ever heard.

“Yea, yea man”

“Alright well, I’ll just call you…I see…Icey, Eisen? Yes that works. Okay Eisen, did you or did you not try to Rob The Buttery Money Bank?”

“Nah man that ain’t me.”

“Well I have to admit your a bit suspicious. How am I to believe other wise?”

“Dude, I’m justa intenational sensation! I came here to set up a high interest funding account for all the dough I be rollin in, man. I gotta knitting project waitin on me at home yo, so if you could speed dis process up yalls I’d be much obliged!”

Though I had never met someone so odious as this man, it was hard to believe he could think up such a ploy. Besides, what would he need the money for?

“Alright, we’ll just need to put your bag in evidence and your free to go” I said reluctantly.

“Ah thanks homey” he fist bumped my shoulder and handed over his stuff. This was going to be a long day.

Three hours later

I thought I was at a loss. I had interviewed all six suspects with no confessionl. There was Mavis Salinger, the computer repairer, who sadly looked twice her age. Joyce Ann Perrin, a sweet lady and stay at home mom. Vinnie Trally, a young boy that had been running errands. Reggie Chartworth III, the delusional spy who seemed too paranoid for his own good. And there was Rocky Charger, a delivery man coming to cash his check. Nothing was adding up. Luckily I am a genius and was finally inspired by a series of notes we had found carried by each suspect.

“Sherlock I know just what we’ll do. Thanks to my expertise, we shall use the science of chromatography to help unveil this criminal!”

We alined all of the notes we had received, including the robbers, and dipped them into an isopropyl alcohol solution. Each note was written with a different type of pen, and we were able to establish who was guilty of the crime with the pattern of the running ink.

I burst through the door dramatically with a slip of paper in my hand which held the results of the experiment.

“I know who is responsible for this travesty! After several hours of interviewing and experimenting, I have discovered what has occurred. From the beginning I had eliminated Eisen as a suspect, and I was right. He couldn’t of thought up such a crime. Then I looked at Mavis and Vinnie, also two unlikely candidates, who were proven innocent as well. That left me with Joyce, Rocky, and Reggie. If Eisen was the most odious man alive then Rocky takes home the prize of most oblivious. So that only left Joyce and Reggie…”

“It was Joyce! I know these sort of things! She’s the kind of woman that watches you in your sleep and reads your mind to find out how to trick you, she’s been plotting the whole time!” Shouted Reggie.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Clearly it was Reggie. He’s a spy, and he’s paranoid, and he’s desperate. I have children and a loving husband. I will not stand to be accused!” Responded Joyce.

A rumble of unanimous agreement went through the air.

“Oh but wait,” I added in deviously, “did I forget to mention that there were two perps?”

This time a gasp went through my audience.

“Yes, yes, two perps! It all made sense. Joyce was desperate for cash since she doesn’t work, and Reggie isn’t really a spy. He’s a psychiatric patient that escaped and thinks he’s on a mission right now! Joyce just used him to assist her. Reggie probably doesn’t even know where he is!” I exclaimed.

“Ah! The storm troopers! They’ve found me! We’re all doomed! It’s 2012!” He judo rolled towards the door and took off in a sprint while Joyce glared at me viciously.

They were both later taken into custody and sentenced to time in prison and parol.

“I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you Shmitty! You clever and handsome deviant!” Shouted Joyce as she was being escorted into the police car.

And that is exactly what happened on that fine day at The Buttery Money Bank.

Science: Cooking Reflection

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:41:57 -0800

The week before break Carwai proposed that we take the time to start exploring our new kitchen in the science lab. We planned to do a series of cooking experiments throughout the next few weeks to see the science behind cooking, like our yeast experiments from last year. We used one day from that last week of school to test the waters and see what cooking experience we were working with, if we were able to collaborate together, and how spacing might work out with the oven. We split into four groups rather easily to our surprise and started our planning on Monday.

There was the pizza group, the tamales group, the burger group, and the burrito group (which I was in). Together, Anthony and I, after a short period of bickering and establishing eating restraints, were able to decide upon burritos. We used the variety of stuffing options we had to create three different burritos to our specific pallets; the vegetarian choice, the meat lovers choice, and the hybrid of the two. On Tuesday we made our way down to the market to gather our supplies. This was another surprise, as it was less chaotic of an event than what I imagined it to be, considering there were twelve of us traveling in public. The only hiccup we encountered was that there were limited supplies at the market closest to us, thoughiIn the end we were able to collect all the ingredients within a reasonable budget, and able to do the cooking on Thursday.

Thursday was a fun day. Due to our planning of different types of foods, there wasn’t too much over lap when it came to the use of burners and oven space. The one thing that was difficult to plan out was timing when it came to cooking the food and making sure that everything was warm by the end. Our tortillas were a little bit of a fail too, as they didn’t actually bend but rather break into pieces. I think the end product was okay though. Besides complaints of my soy meat replacements, I didn’t hear anything too bad about the food. I didn’t eat it but that’s what I heard! Anyway, I think that day was a success, and I look forward to many more like it.

Immigration Reflection

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:21:00 -0800

For our first project this trimester we decided to look more towards US history than government. I was in a group with John, Charlie, and Tatiana, as we were drawn together with the interest of learning about Native Americans, the history of immigration, and racism. It was a lofty goal to tackle, even in six weeks, and we slowly scaled away until we were left with what was most important. It was hard for us to decide what we were going to do due to the variety of topics we had chosen. We connected the three topics with the idea that the Native Americans were the first in America, and then the British immigrated to start the colonies. That could lead into the history of all immigration starting at that point, and then going on to look at the struggles faced with the move, including racism. We talked about writing pieces and documentaries , but in the end decided that our main focus would be interviewing people, so that we could get the full scope perspective.

We started off the first couple weeks with straight research, looking for facts we could ask about and starting to assemble a book for our project that at the time we thought would exist. I was miserable those first weeks, and had major regrets about the project. Though I hadn’t lost interest in the concepts that we had agreed to study, I had become more bored with looking things up on Google, searching through web page after web page, and going to the library filtering through all the information. I eventually gave up on research and went into looking for interview candidates. I emailed a few reservations, but never got a response. The lack of contacting resources we had for Native American interviews lead to its removal in our project.

We had divided up subtopics to look at, and I felt like I was in a difficult position with such broad subjects as immigration law, current immigration debate, and the process of immigrating, that I wasn’t sure where to turn. My first approach was to contact lawyers to cover the law aspect of my part, and kicked off day one with a good start of one response out of only five emails with a willing interviewee. When I look back, that automatic success probably lead to my depression with being ignored for a continuous two weeks. It wasn’t until the last week of the project that I was able to get two more interviews that would complete my three interview quota. At the end of the six weeks when we had to present I was told that what we had done was enough, and yet I still felt that the project was a partial failure. However the feeling wasn’t toward the finished product, and more so to the weeks that had lead to it. There were a lot of issues in my opinion, and that’s not just me trying to be negative.

Problem A) The fact that I covered earlier that I was researched out practically by day two. During the middle of the project I thought that we had illuminated the writing portion of it, only to find out in the last week that John and Tatiana had taken the liberty of writing essays. On the last Friday of the project in the afternoon a conversation with Charlie implied that we should probably write essays too. Charlie completed his Monday, and though I tried to write it a couple of times I felt like I was sent back to the first few weeks of painful writing and research. The thought of writing it brought me pain, and so I finally decided not to write at all. When I try and explain my thoughts now I feel like a slacker trying to make excuses, but I know that in the end it was the best decision. I already felt like the interviews were great, and writing wasn’t bettering the project, as well as the fact that if I wrote it I would hate every word I typed and end up with a mediocre result. Now that I think about it though, it does brings me to worry about what this could mean for me later. Yes I am so content with NMYs learning style and loose philosophies, but is the fact that I didn’t do something because I didn’t want to anything good? Am I proud of it? What will this new take do to me in later schooling? Have I become complacent? I don’t know.

Problem B) The next problem didn’t necessarily take away from the project, and although we were reassured that what we had was good enough, rejection still left a bit of a sting behind. I can’t see really any solution to being ignored other than to continue on with projects like this that make us require outside assistance, and get use to being turned down. At the time I wasn’t thinking it could get better, as I felt so down from the cold shoulder I thought I was getting from the universe, and I practically turned religious with my praying as I waited for my email to load, envisioning a response from anyone I could get. I do realize though that I just need to practice.

Problem C) In my opinion, the biggest problem. I think our group dynamic sucked. For God’s sake I didn’t even know what John was doing until the last few days of the project. He had written three essays, and I wasn’t even aware that I should write one. Tatiana and I were okay, but I knew what was going on with her due to our outer school relationship. As for Charlie, I think I felt the most frustration towards. Maybe it was because I had worked with him two other times prior to the project, but I felt a lot of irritation with my desk neighbor/partner. There was a lot of bickering, a lot of contempt filled comments, and not a lot of teamwork. There was definitely some clashing…

In the end I don’t know what to say about the project.I was told it was good, but from the perspective I went through, I’m not sure what my thoughts are on it.

Baseball

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:26:09 -0800

Baseball is what I was told to fill my thought

So now I am driven to utter distraught

For I have no recollection to lead me to see

How to write about what baseball might possibly be

And all though I can pull from those that are around

When it comes to the game I’m far from the ground

Where the athletics will take place with its hitting and running

I’d rather read a book that is much much more cunning

So take no offense all lovers of the sport

For I’d rather be amused by some other sort

Of rhyme or reason that brings me such joy

So I’ll leave the game to my desk neighbor boy

There Was an Old Man With a Beard

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:58:25 -0800

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, “It is just as I feared! -

Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a

Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard.

Morning Meeting Spelling Bee

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:35:00 -0800

100 Most Often Misspelled Words

questionnaire

until

vacuum

Winter Olympics

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:01:19 -0800

William Shakespear

When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When Blood is nipped and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Wild nights - Wild nights!

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:06:00 -0800

Emily Dickinson

Wild nights - Wild nights!

Were I with thee

Wild nights should be

Our luxury!

Futile - the winds -

To a Heart in port -

Done with the Compass -

Done with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden -

Ah - the Sea!

Might I but moor - tonight -

In thee!

A Dream Within a Dream

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:25:39 -0800

Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?