Monday, September 29- I'm weirded out

                     As soon as I arrived, I could tell something was out of place. I had just walked downstairs because I though I heard someone open our garage door. My parents were both at work and would not be home for another four hours. I walked around and noticed that a fresh, cold glass of water was on the counter. I called for my Dad because he could possibly be home. He had training that day. Nobody answered. A feeling of terror suddenly arrived in my heart. I quickly ran upstairs and locked myself in my bathroom. I tried to call both my parents and neither answered. This was also a sign they were still at work. I heard heavy foot steps walking around downstairs and I called for my dad again praying it was him. There was still no answer. I got as far away from the door as possible when footsteps started towards the door of my bathroom. I again called out for my dad because I could not accept the reality someone who I did not know was in my house. No answer. I screamed when the door started shaking and then relief flooded me when I heard my dad say, "Open the door, you're crazy." He told me he was joking with me. It worked, I was scared out of my mind. I was so thankful that nobody was really there.

Thursday, September 25 - Bad Mistake

                                              The Goldfish
                              Drake and Josh was my favorite show when I was in third grade. It still would be if it was still on to be honest. One day when I was my eight year old third grade self, I was watching Drake and Josh upstairs in my room when I suddenly had the strong urge to have some goldfish. I wanted to watch Drake and Josh but I also wanted to goldfish so bad. I knew I wasn't aloud to have food or any type of drink upstairs but, as soon as it was commercial break I tiptoed down our carpeted stairs to our pantry sneaking past the living room where my parents were. I opened to pantry door and quickly opened the bag of goldfish and got a huge handful. As I was walking up the stairs with my overflowing handful of goldfish, I smiled thinking I was just so smooth. I continued to watch Drake and Josh for about ten more minutes stuffing my face with the goldfish when my dad barged into my room. Immediately, I shoved to goldfish under the covers on my bed and my dad calmly asked me if I had food up hear. "No," I had replied, my voice shaking.  He asked why he saw a trail of goldfish going up the stairs with my dog following. I said I didn't know. It's a shame I didn't have any siblings at that time to blame the goldfish on. He asked me to stand up and as soon as I did he peeling back the covers on my bed exposing the goldfish. He was very strict on no food or drink upstairs. Not even water. This was a major mistake and the fact I lied to him made it even worse. I wasn't aloud to watch Drake and Josh for the rest of that month and I had my bedtime moved back. This is awful for an eight year old. Now that I'm in high school my dad still talks about that incident almost every week. I wish I had never done that because it is quite annoying to have my dad still talk about it.  I wish I was more sneaky with my small crime.

Wednesday, September 24- Endearing Quality

                                 Endearing Quality
              I am a very loving person. I am very committed in my relationships. My friends and family are very important to me and I feel it's important to be nice and accepting to everybody. I am likely to pick up on if something is not going well with a person before anybody else. I have very few relationships because I think it is important to really get to know a person and make time for them.

Tuesday, September 23- Strange Fruit

                     Dragon Fruit

                          This is actually not strange to me at all. This fruit is called a dragon fruit. It is actually quite good. The texture is that of the inside of a grape and it has a very mild, sweet taste. It is an Asian fruit and is actually very common there. The reason I do not think it is weird is because I am half Vietnamese and have grown up eating this. It has tiny seeds on the inside that are fine to eat. The taste on the inside is rather disappointing given the vibrant look on the outside.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya LINK TO INFORMATION ON DRAGON FRUIT

Tuesday, September 16 - The Spoon's Perspective

                                                    The Spoon

                        Everyday I lay in this drawer awaiting the horror that is being used to eat by these nasty humans. Some days they do not pick me up depending on how recently I have been washed. Oh no the burning light is back! This means they are opening the drawer. Today I am the first spoon in the pile. I silently scream as the grubby hands of the small child pick me up and dump me into the cold, sticky yogurt. It smells rather bad and I can't seen a thing except the cloud of pink. However, this is far better than peanut butter. The child takes for ever to eat and it keeps using me as a drumstick on the table. This is my life. Pure torture everyday. This is not even the worst part of the process. The worst is what comes next. The vicious storm of water I will be thrown into. The child throws me into the sink and I make a loud sound as I hit the bottom.  All day I sit in silence in the smelly sink until it in finally night. Hands are coming towards me. These are the hands I hate the most. The hands of the child's mother. She picks me up, runs scolding hot water over me and dumps me into the small basket in the dishwater with my other friends. We all sit grimly in silence as a the door to the dreadful machine closes. I hear buttons being pushed then it starts; oh the horror. I still am just as scared every time as the angry waves of water and burning soap engulf me. I hear my friends screaming. The spatula has the most raw horrible scream. She is new. This is her first time being washed. The water burns for what seems like eternity. The screams of me and my friends turn into whimpers. Eventually, it stops. We are all left sitting cold, wet and violated. The woman pulls us all out one by one, dries us off and throws us back in the dark drawer that we call home. I sigh and wait for the next day. I wait for the vicious cycle to start up again as it always does.

Monday, September 15 - What the Deuce?

                                        La Mariee

      La Mariee or "The Bride" in French is a very complex painting. Marc Chagall did not usually use such contrasting colors in his pieces, but this particular piece was meant to capture your attention. The bride is wearing a bright red dress with a traditional white veil and flowers. She stands out because it is as if she is be presented directly to the viewer of the piece. Compared to the rest of the picture, she is rather bright. The rest of the picture is very blue and muted. The characters seem to be celebrating the bride. Perhaps this is how Marc Chagall viewed his fiancée who, at the time, was separated from him. The piece is very beautiful and a stand out in Chagall's collective works.

Thurday, September 11- Music Critic

      
       "Pumped up Kicks" by Foster the People

                                  "Pumped up Kicks" by Foster the People is a good song if you are just paying attention to the music. It has a very indie - alternative vibe to it. That being said, the song's lyric's require understanding. Foster the People have no comment on if the song is about a specific person in the group or someone they knew. The song is about "Robert" (a metaphor for any angry- crazy kid overwhelmed with these feelings). His home life is awful, he has an abusive father and Robert is jealous of "all the other kids with the pumped up kicks" are the normal kids with lives Robert wants to have. His anger is directed at them and they better run because Robert has a gun in hand. This could be interpreted as reckless song that individuals should not be exposed to or it could be looked at as a message. The message is  that you never know what is happening inside a person. The instrumentals and different auto tunes the voices are put into represent this persons mind well.  In an interview for this article, Foster the People said they had no comment on specifics of the song; they want people to interpret it the way they want to. They do not care about the hate they get on the song. Everybody views things differently. "Pumped up Kicks" is a very attractive song instrumental wise however, lyric wise it depends on how you choose to view it.

Tuesday, September 9 - Film Review

                                   HUGO
                                  By: Ingrid Butler

        Hugo was a poor representation of the imaginative story in the book, Hugo Cabret.
The writers for the movie obviously had no passion for the story- they were only after money. This fail of a movie did not get nearly the money the expected nor did it tell the story correctly. The characters were of in their individuality. Hugo, the main character was not at all like he was in the book (a spunky, imaginative boy.) In this movie adaptation he was simply a reckless child. Save yourself the time and money and do not go see this film. One minor pro of the movie was the fact that they at least got the setting right. It is in the city with clocked all around. I do not however, remember Hugo singing in musical number in the book. This is not a musical it is meant to be a lesson teaching story. Not everything has to be turned into some cheesy Hollywood adaptation. The author of this book deserves an apology as I'm sure people are not going to go buy his book after the absurdity of the film. In the end, Hugo was a major disappointment and I would strongly recommend not seeing it. Save your movie for something worthwhile


                              

Monday, September 8- America, Fairyville?

                                            The Color of the Leaves

                Mariska the fairy looks out her dorm window as she wakes. She looks over distastefully at her human roommate, Ana. Ana doesn't know Mariska is a fairy. Mariska came here to the human world for adventure. She wanted to experience what the humans had. However, the human world was not as magical as she expected. She is in an art college of course. Her talent as a fairy is the art of the seasons. Those beautiful, warm colors you see at fall? That is all Mariska. Mariska thinks she won't stay in the human world for long. It gets uncomfortable to hide her wings all the time and, she would rather pant with her magic than a paint brush. Ana is awake now, she rolls her eyes at Mariska. It is safe to say the roomates do not get along. Mariska stays up all night and causes Ana to lose sleep. Ana always makes a mess out of the room. Mariska slams the door on her way out. That will teach her she thinks. Mariska drags herself into her first class, Modern Art 3. These humans have no talent. They simply paint with paint brushes on dead trees and the paint is manmade. 20 more mintues of this dreadful class. Mariska fiddles  in her seat. She is itching to fly. The leaves outside are not changing colors as they normally do at this time. Mariska finally can't take it. She pops out her huge, luminescent wings and smiles as the naïve humans all stare and gasp. Mariska flies out of the school returing to her normal tiny shape as soon as the crisp air hits her. With a wave of her finger the leaves change into the orange, red, and even burnt yellow colors that they are supposed to. The sky gets a little darker. Mariska promises herself she will never return to the human world again.

Friday, September 4 - Aliens in Egypt

                                                       King Tut and the Aliens

                        King Tutankhamun is sitting on his throne beside his wife, Ankhesenpaaten, he smiles. For the temple that honors their god, Amun, has just been finished. He can see it from his throne. King Tut stands up and walks towards the temple, his papyrus sandals scrape the ground as if moaning. "Everybody Out," he commands. Finally he alone. He bows his head and prays to his God. He prays for good fortune and a better rule than his father had. He prays that the child his wife is pregnant with is in good health and is a boy. As Tutankhamun walks out of the temple the ground shakes. All the sudden a blinding light and strong wind over takes him. An odd silver ship appears in front of him. "Show your face now," he exclaims. A green, bony arm with three fingers extends and so does the body attached to this arm. It is very tall- taller than King Tut who stands at 5"11. This creature must be at least 7". King Tut's hands are trembling but his dark eyes stay as hard as stone. "What is it you want?".  The alien starts speaking rather clearly actually. It says, "We are hear to honor you, for your people brought the God Amun back who we also worship." It went on to say it wanted to build a monmument in the King's honor. King Tut, after much thought, agreed. The catch was it would only be built after his death so his people would remember him.

                    (20 years later). The people of King Tut are in grieving. For their great King is dead. Somehow his body has already been places in the three giant pyramids. A note was left outside saying- we promised, now honor your king.

Thurday, September 4 - Historical Accuracy

                                                            The Martians

           "I like this one," I say. My mother and I are in a local clothing store in New York. She glances at my light blue, high necked dress. It hits right below my knees. I have a white jacket with a ruffled neckline over the top. My mother smiles approvingly. She says,"That should do for the party tonight." I almost feel guilty as the cashier rings up the clothes. Money has been tight since the stock market crash started a few years ago- it is 1932 right now. My father was unfortunately a banker when it happened. Thank goodness we got out hands on our money before it was all gone. As we start to head out the door, an urgent voice comes on the radio that is in the corner of the shop. My mothers blue eyes look at me concerned. " Stay where you are!",the voice says, " There has been speculation of an extraterrestrial species atop the Empire State Building!". I clicked my tan heels on the ground nervously. These things have become more prominent in our society since the crash. People seem to only believe that something out of this world could cause it. "Let's just go," my mother says rolling her eyes. These things are merely fictional to her. We are stopped dead in our trackers when we open the door of the shop. Outside, it is as if it is the day of the crash all over again. Hysteria.
         People are running and frantically screaming. Oddly people are physically fighting everywhere. Police block the streets and the store we are in. Their whistles only all to the chaos. What is happening I think. The police sees us trying to get out and he pushes us on the shoulders roughly back. If we were men he would not be handling us like that. He informs us the rumors are true and an entire team of police has already been killed by the Martians. "They are somehow controlling people," I vaguely here the officer say. All the sudden my vision and mind go blurry, a voice so foreign and disturbing rings in my head. Your mother will die if you do not kill that officer it tells me. I am scared but it is as if everything is underwater now and in slow motion. I have no control over my body. I am screaming for help but no one hears me. I see my hands grab a pair of scissors that are on a table beside the sewing machine in the store. I try to put the back but my hands only grip them tighter. I see my feet running to the officer. I don't want this! Get away from me! He can't hear me. Since you would not corporate I had to take control of your body, don't worry this is only temporary. Our species needs to wipe out every force of power in this country before we can take control. My mother and the officer are still talking and don't notice me coming behind them. Right before the scissors are buried in the officers neck, I mentally push this force in my mind away with all my might. It only gives me a second but now the scissors are coming towards me I see blood and hear my mother yelling at the officer to help her. She is crying. I smile at her then everything goes dark.

Wednesday, September 3 - Newspaper Article Rewrite

      Uncureds and Contamintated Foods

                                           By: Isabella Burlingame

           

            As the work months end and the uncureds are out of the cureds constant supervision, they will be tempted to eat contaminated foods. At their assigned academic course where they will be during the day, only decontaminated food will be provided. However, when the uncureds are out of academics on weekends they have potential access to contaminated food. Studies have shown uncureds consume 30% more contaminated foods on weekends. In order to stabilize our uncureds and keep them healthy until their curing day comes, we need to restrict their time away from us cureds so we see everything they are eating. Uncureds are in desperate need of a nutritious diet consisting of highly processed foods and sugars.

-Example of a healthy day of decontamina-ted  food

            How are the uncured getting access to these contaminated foods called “fruits” and “vegetables” ? They are receiving these foods from your so called friends or family. In the Old Country people used to grow up uncured forever. People are still doing this now undercover. We call them the resistance. Your own uncureds have had blood tests that show traces of evidence they are eating these foods from these sick people. A diet of these “fruits and vegetables” can cause you to be weaker, have loss of vision, and even cause death. The cure may not even work correctly with these foods in your uncureds bodies. It would be a shame to have to have them sent to The Cells.

            Do not allow your uncureds to go out on their own anymore. They need constant supervision. These resisters are not only feeding them life threatening foods- they are teaching them the ways of the Old Country. How has the New Country of U.S. found all of this out? We discovered a teacher at one of the most looked up to academic courses giving out free what are called “apples” to their students. After the entire group and teacher had tests and samples taken they were thrown into The Cells. Do not let this happen to you or your uncured.

                        Contaminated v.s. Decontaminated Diets

            The results from the test of the group of resisters were astonishing. The resisters    had traces of vitamins and protein in their blood. These “vitamins” and “protein” are    things that cause you to have muscle weakness, loss of vision, and depression. The people acted like animals. This is what happens if you go against the cured. You hurt only yourself. Decontaminated diets allow you to be more relaxed, energized, and overall healthier. Do not let your cureds out of sight. Protect them and feed them a healthy diet. Their cure depends on it.