The Future

The other day, I met a boy named Phil and his family. They were on vacation from the 22nd century! Phil told me that they got a rented a time machine and they were on their way to a time way back in the day.
So I decided to call him Phil of the Future. Oh, Phil. He was keeping it together just as best as he can. What can I say? He's a 22nd century man!

So I asked Phil when he had to go back to the future. He said that he and his family were on a holiday through history, but the final destination was a mystery. Apparently, something on the time machine had blown, so they ended up right here in our time zone!

Phil of the future. He never knew in history just where he would land, but what can I say? He's a 22nd century man!

I Love My Sister

       Unfortunately, I never went to the writing center this semester. However, my sister, who is a writing fellow, was able to edit and revise my papers on many occasions. I felt that this was sufficient, and I received sold grades on my papers, all thanks to her.
       One of the papers my sister helped me with was the literacy narrative. At first, I didn't have quite enough dialogue, and she quick to point that out. Also, many comma splices were ousted thanks to her.
       Another paper my sister helped me with was the literary analysis. She felt that I was summarizing too much, and guided me in the right direction. I am so grateful for her help!

Guess What?

I read Lord of The Flies for over two hours.

Stock Market Game

So, the other day I had the great idea of creating a stock market game with a couple of my buddies. No real money is involved, but it is a great competitive way to see who would fare the best in the stock market. The way we are doing this whole competition is through a great website called MarketWatch. The website consists of actual trading and investment advice, but there is a game on it that deals with virtual money, and private games can be made. Last Friday, Elijah and I started the whole thing, and so far we have seven guys in the game.

Things have been rough so far. Everyone started out with 100k, and the only one to make a profit after day one is Parker. Second place is Wilbur, then Kazuki, me, Squid, and last is Elijah. Apparently Parker is a stock genius that actually knows what's going on and makes conscious and well though-out investments. Anyway, today was a down day anyhow so I won't worry too much about it.

What is your favorite holiday and why do you like it?

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and it is especially apropos that it is because it is creeping around the corner. Some years I eat a huge meal with my dad's side of the family, which is scattered throughout Louisiana. Other times, we travel to San Antonio to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom's side. I like Thanksgivings with them better because they are younger and more fun.

Aside from the traditional turkey, I always eat a different kind of meat, especially when I eat with my dad's side. We are avid hunters, and elk is usually the choice meat at dinner, because it is in season and my dad just killed an elk last week in Montana. In San Antonio, it is usually turkey and ham with tamales and enchiladas, which I can't complain about.

This year, my uncle's family from San Antonio are coming to visit us for the first time in years, and I am super excited. His two kids are named Guy and Ana, and are seven and five, respectively. I can't wait to have a blast with them!

My Day

Hey, guys. I want to tell you about my normal weekday.

5:50 - Alarm goes off. Snooze

6:15- Actually get out of bed and take a shower. I have to make haste now that I slept 15 minutes too long.

6:30- I'm going through the motions. Get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put shoes on, grab a pen (not a pencil, even though I know Mrs. Sabotke will yell at me for not being prepared), and walk out the door and into my sister's car.

7:25- Arrive at school, hopefully without a near-death experience (my sister's just starting) and hear the spiel about how Jared Swetnam's huge car gets it her way.

7:28- Walk to Perkins, passing the eighth graders playing nine square, Mr. Williams in his golf cart jamming to some rap, and hopefully Coach Rhea so I can strike up a conversation.

7:30- Enter the Perkins upstairs locker hall. To my left is the usual guys updating each other with the fantasy football rundown from Sunday (most activity on Mondays). To my right is the girls that I don't talk to that much, and down the hallway are people cramming for the Spanish test that they didn't study for last night.

7:45- Time to get to class. Let's say today is an E-day, and Monday, so I have Geometry first. I sit in the back with Barton, Kazuki T, and Garrett. Basically, Garrett and I quote Home Alone the whole class Occasionally we do things to piss Barton off, like everyone's favorite game "How many pieces of paper can we put in Barton's hoodie before he notices!" 27, if you were wondering.

8:45- Next up is AP World History with Mrs. Harper. I sit in the corner and mostly goof off with Azha, but I enjoy listening in on Jackson Davis' talks about life.

9:45- Since it is a Monday, I have advisory with Subashi, which basically speaks for itself. But I really get rankled when it becomes a complaint fest about Mrs. Pulliam's latest antics.

10:15- Time for a quick snack and leisure time before PE

10:30- Time for dreaded PE, where I have to lift weights three days a week for basketball. It's easy to get annoyed by Coach B's default response-"You know why you asked me that? Because you're a freshman." But he really is starting to grow on me.

11:30- At last it is time for Spanish, the zenith of my day since seventh grade. It is quite easy for Camille and I to be regaled by the word of the day, or Will McCarthy in general. I really cannot talk about Spanish all that much because 1. I would get in trouble, and 2. it would take days, even weeks of writing to sum it all up.

12:30- Lunch time! Always a good part of the day, especially when the food is good. After lunch, nine square is a good way to pass the time, but sitting on the planters and making Laurel Ann mad is also a good way to go.

1:30- Time for bloody Biology with THE DocHawk. I can't tell you how useful my knowledge of cells will be in my later life. Oh yeah, Brooke and Rory also.

2:30- Time to produce in study hall with Coach Stevens. Sometimes I do work, but other times I watch Clayton play headsoccer, Motorbike, or Kickoff Returner.

3:20- My academic day is over, but two hours of basketball awaits. I enjoy it, though.

5:30- Leave Basketball and head for the late bus, hopefully on time (sorry Alyssa).

6:00- Hit the shower, change into comfortable clothes, and have a nice meal.

7:00- Homework

10:00- Hopefully in bed.

Desert Island Simulation Reflection

I really enjoyed the simulation in class on Thursday. We identified people who were strong in areas, and assigned them to jobs. For example, Azzie wanted to take care of the little kids, so we decided to put her in charge of them. Meredyth showed valuable survivor skills, so our leader Trevor designated her as head survivalist. We made groups of three or four and assigned them jobs like hunting, making shelter, making fire, and getting rescued.

I think that our class could make it a while on this island, but realistically, we would all die fairly soon. After some time, the group members of no assistance would leave us no choice but to eat them. After a few meals of our peers we would start to go a little crazy. Meanwhile, our waning food supply of whatever bony animals inhabited the island would act more gingerly around humans, thus becoming harder to kill. Plus, two of the people that we ate were hunters, so we had to move some of the water collectors over to the hunting group, leaving us with not enough water to drink, cook, and bathe with. We would get bored on this island, inevitably. Stupid actions lead to consequences, especially when there is no medicine on the island besides the First Aid Kit on the plane that the person we killed used to defend herself with. Who wants to inject themselves with needles splattered with blood? Not me.

LOTF- 2 hrs

Reading Times

Editing/revising short stories-2 hrs. +

my...name?

Well, it's homecoming week.

Yup.

Hundreds of colorful kids trying to make it to class. Oh shoot! I forgot to do that worksheet.

It's cool, just do it at tutorial. But I was going to play nine square! It's okay, Beckman ruins it anyway.

Day=RUINED.

Try to incorporate a red ribbon in your costume! (insert Yao Ming meme)

Want to be my twin? Oh that's cool, you're being quintuplets. NO. BIG. DEAL! But is it really?

Hold up, where are the eighth graders? Oh yeah, Mo Ranch.

You just realized that one year of your life flew by.

Oh, shoot! Here comes Coach Richard. Hide your gum!

Too late, lunch duty.

Camille, what's the difference between preterite and imperfect tense?

Ermahgerd. Gonna fail this quiz.

Barton, does basketball start at 5 today?

*ring ring*

Mom we have practice from 5 to 7. Can you pick me up?

Long night.

I still have to do my blog posts, too. I love to put in things to make Trevor chuckle, but sometimes I just don't give a toss.

I was expecting some candy today, maybe she forgot. nbd. But a zero out of two? Really? Good thing I did the bonus notes.

I hope mom didn't make quinoa.

I hate that stuff.

When is Christmas? (give me a second while I check my new calendar on OS X Mavericks. It's pretty cool)

52 days until Christmas. what? I bet there will be a ton of new Vsauce videos by then.

Was I talking about hoco week?  Pong, lol. I had a pretty ridiculous costume though.

Ok, I am itching to check out all my friends' revines.

Do it for the vine?

Nah, I do it for me.

Short Story Reading Response

In Sucker, Carson McCullers uses darkness to symbolize how Pete feels, especially after he is rejected by Maybelle. There is frequent darkness in the bedroom when Pete and Sucker are talking, and there is mention of Maybelle smoking in the basement, a notoriously dark place. The impulsive  and hateful acts of Pete throughout the story made me feel uncomfortable. As I am typing this, I also am starting to think that he is bipolar. One minute he is at an unexpected zenith, the next he is despondent. Woah, too much? Time to go home.
 The way Pete takes out his anger on defenseless Sucker tells me that just one girl (or boy) can have a hugely negative impact on someone. He got so caught up in trying to impress the beautiful Maybelle, and when he didn't succeed, he took it all out on Sucker. In the end, Sucker moved on. He made new friends, and acted and looked different.

Lone Survivor) 1 hr
Test corrections) 30 mins
Coming up with homecoming outfit ideas) 30 mins
Short story annotations) <1 hr

Hmmm...

   I understand that this is a broad and somewhat unanswerable question, but why is society the way it is? Why do people do things the way they do and why do other people respond differently? I have always been interested in these types of philosophical questions of life and want to learn more about them over the course of the year.
  Also, why do I like certain types of books like mystery and action? Of course I am a guy so I don't expect to be reading Fifty Shades of Gray, but I wonder what draws me to that style.

Maximum Ride- 30 mins
Siddhartha- 1 hr. 30 mins

Reading Times

Siddhartha) 1 hr
Maximum Ride) 1 hr

Plot

3rd person

Exposition-

Chad and Donovan are introduced as they traverse through the October wilderness. Chad is new in the small Oregon town on the outskirts of Salem, and Donovan has befriended him. They decide to go camping in the forest over fall break.

Rising Action-

After a while, they stumble upon a cave. Both are interested and want to explore. They make the mistake of going deeper and deeper into the cave. At the bottom of the cave, the two find an iron door welded into the rock. They find a hidden lever that unlocks the door. Inside is millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs.
The story is flipped to downtown Salem, where prosperous drug dealers are alerted of the opening of the vault. They send men to investigate.

Climax-

The men arrive at the cave and the boys are forced to hide. Eventually, they are found.

Falling Action-


Chad and Donovan are taken to a warehouse and questioned separately. The criminals know that both boys are innocent, but they can't take the risk. They will have to be executed. Two men take them out in the middle of the night to do the job, but Chad pulls out a pocket knife and kills the men in heroic fashion. The boys bolt for town, but the blindfolds they were wearing have disoriented them. Luckily, Donovan is a skilled outdoorsman and is able to navigate out of the woods. By the time, they reach the edge of town, morning has broken and two search parties have been sent. One made up of local police, one of the drug dealers. The two parties meet up and a firefight ensues. The police are victorious, and are alerted that the boys have been found. They tell of their discovery of the drugs and forensics lead to the capture of the drug ring, which turns out is one of the biggest in the country. The boys are heroes.

Reading Response

     I have really enjoyed all of the short stories we have read over the past few weeks. They have all been very different and each one had a certain aspect of it that made me enjoy it. However, my favorite one was the first one we read: Harrison Bergeron.
     The whole idea of the dystopian society in Harrison Bergeron made me wonder if one day America will be like that, which scares me. I thoroughly enjoy our class discussions and feel that they help me understand the deeper meaning of the story. I want to continue to read short stories!

Siddharta) Saturday- 30 mins
Siddharta) Sunday- 30 mins

Maximum Ride

I've recently started a new book called Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. In the past, I have read James Patterson books and liked them, so I thought I would give this series a try. In the first two hours of this book, the main characters are introduced. They are a family of mutant kids that were made by mad scientists in a lab in California. After escaping and living reclusive lives in the wilderness, Angel, the youngest child, is kidnapped and brought back to the lab for further testing.

My first impressions of this book is that it is going to be filled with fast-paced action from cover to cover. I hope that this is the case, because that is right up my alley. Surprisingly, this was hard to put down, and I was wondering what would become of innocent Angel. I like how James Patterson's books have short chapters; never more than about five pages, but can be as short as one. Each one of the children are unique, and definitely not flat characters.

Sunday) 1 hr
Monday) 1hr

Chad...Woah

Oh, man! What a day.

Ho hum.

I sure hope I can fall asleep so I can get some rest....Or I could watch Netflix!

...

Man, watching Netflix was fun! Now it's time to reflect on the day. Let's see, First I stopped by Coach Rhea's room and helped him with some stuff. Then I went to the library to study. But then procrastinated and played games on my computer, which was WAY MORE FUN!!!

Let's see...How did my classes go today? Well, I got a C+ on my geometry quiz. Yay me!!! That might have brought my grade up to a solid D. I hope Mrs. Sabotke likes me. She's super cool and I don't want to be bad in her class.

I can't wait for the GTA V game to come out. I'm gonna play it so much! Gee wiz, I hope mom will get it for me. She wants me to try harder in school, but I just don't care. Why do I have to be such a slacker?....

Homecoming is just around the corner! Jenny has been looking pretty hot lately. I might ask her. How could she resist me, right? I'm sexy.

Ugh! I have to go to basketball practice tomorrow! Coach said if I miss one more practice then I can't play. How am I supposed to go to basketball if I have to help out at the animal shelter too?



Life sucks.

Camille's Literacy Narrative

     I didn't read my free reading book this week because I spent all my time making my paper the best that it could be.  During class, I read and edited many a paper. They were all very good, but I thought the best one I read was Camille's. Her narrative was about a book that she really loved. Camille used very vivid details in her paper and I enjoyed it. She went to the library and bought her book, and sat down and read it. She talked about how it was the first book she really was attached to and could never put it down. Camille overall had a great paper and I'm sure people will love it in the E-Book.

Time spent on literacy narrative) 2 hrs+++
Time spent revising) 20 mins give or take

E-Book Thoughts

I have to say I am super excited about our E-Book. I know it will be just wonderful! During the presentation about it last Friday, I was filled with ideas for the title and was glad I could bequeath (that one was for you, Trev) some on the class. After reading and revising a few papers, I see how great this class is as writers. I know that any parent reading our Literacy Narratives will love every one! Regarding my own paper, there are no names that need to be changed. I do not think their needs to be any further revisions, but I will not be sure until my graded paper comes back. 

Free Reading #4

    In Lone Survivor, Marcus and the team have been ambushed my the militia and all of his friends are now dead. This part of the book made me feel sad for Marcus even though I have no idea what that feels like. He explains the slaughter in great detail, which only put images in my head of what it would have been like. After Marcus escapes, he talks about his hatred for the Taliban and how much pain and suffering he was in. He is truly a lone survivor, and I can only imagine how much suffering he went through and the willpower he had to make it out alive.

Lone Survivor-
Wed) 45 min
Sunday) 1hr 15 min

Three-Word Dialogue

 “Ready?” Gus whispered as he gingerly entered the van. Richard looked around and started the engine.

“Yeah. Let’s Go.” 

“That was close.” said Gus

“Too close” Richard snapped back, not satisfied that they had escaped only by the skin of their teeth.

“What happened anyway?” asked Richard.

“Guards caught wind,” Gus replied. They had only left the bank with a few hundred bucks, a lot less than planned.

“Boss’ll be pissed,” Gus said as he riffled through the fresh green bills, checking for anything fishy.

“No kidding.”

“It’s your fault.”

“Mine?! You crazy?” Richard shot back, and now the two men were angry.

“Shoulda warned me.” 

Richard was supposed to be watching the security cameras from the safety of the van, but the connection was lost mid-heist. 

“S’not my fault,” Richard shouted, and neither one of the men wanted to back down. All of a sudden, Gus pulled out mis 9mm handgun and pointed the barrel at Richard’s face.

“Don’t your dare!” shouted Richard, still irate but now scared for his life. Both men knew that pulling the trigger would most likely send the whole van into the bay, hundreds of feet below.

“Shut up!” barked Gus. The two men were as good as dead anyway. The boss’s orders were specific. No less than 10 grand or it was their heads.

“We’re dead meat!” cried Gus, dropping the gun and breaking down.

“Pull yourself together!” Richard commanded, as he looked into his rearview mirror at the San Francisco sunrise. 

“We gonna die?” Gus was petrified. He read the boss loud and clear the night before.

“No. I gotcha.” The two men turned left, the opposite direction of the warehouse where the boss was expecting them any minute. 

“Where to next?” asked Gus, sobbing. 

“Anywhere but here.”

Free Reading #3

        Reading Lone Survivor has really opened my eyes to the absolute hell that the SEALs have to go through in training. In my reading this week, Marcus Luttrell flashes back to his days through the most anticipated week in training: Hell Week. Basically what it is is a whole week in which the teachers test your mental and physical ability through non stop drills and exercises.

The first night is kicked off by an infiltration of the camp by officers armed with blank-loaded assault rifles and fire hoses. After that, a three mile run down to the beach for exercises in the freezing Pacific. Meanwhile many men have quit by either refusing to cooperate or just fleeing the premises. Looking back, Luttrell appreciates the torture because it equipped him with the skills needed while fighting in the sweltering Afghanistan climate.

Saturday- Lone Survivor) 1:00
Monday- Lone Survivor) 1:00

Response to "This is Water"

After reading the assignment on Dr. deGravelle’s blog, I decided to watch “This is Water”, a 10 minute video recommended on the page. Looking at the title, I expected to get a science lesson on H₂O, but it was surprisingly different from that. The narrator talked about the idea that we are the center of the world and everyone else is just in our way. The example he used was a late night run to the grocery store. Of course the default setting in our heads is to think how gross and stupid everybody is and not empathizing them and realizing that they are no different from you.

I liked how the narration was real and not to text-booky (is that a word?). I could understand how it is easy to feel that way and we can’t be blamed for it. However, I remain bewildered as to why the name of the presentation was called “This is Water” because it didn’t have anything to do with water. I’m sure it’s some deeper meaning that I am just not getting and would appreciate some help from someone who watched the video in the comments.

Free Reading #2

    As I get deeper into Lone Survivor, I get more and more encompassed into the plot. By now, Marcus and his teammates are camped out behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. They find what they are looking for: the village of Ahmad Shah. The team scouts the surroundings and tries to determine a game plan. All of a sudden, three goat herders stumble upon the SEALs and are quickly tied up and gagged. The team finds themselves in a debate on whether to kill the innocent shepherds, or let them go and risk being found by the small army in the village below. Marcus, the team leader, ultimately decides to let the herders go. That is as far as I have gotten but I am anxious to find out what happens next. 

Lone Survivor- 1:50

In-class reading- :10

Free Post #2

         Last night I went to the Élan Back To School Dance. Élan is one of two Cotillions of Baton Rouge, the other one being Baton Rouge Cotillion. The theme of the dance was “kickoff back to school”, so everyone wore their spirit gear. Me, being the flamboyant kid I am, wore Carson Saurage’s cheer uniform. My guest, Thomas, wore a baseball shirt and shorts (I know, pretty mainstream), but we both were looking pretty sharp.

When we got to the dance at the Marriott, I got plenty of looks, but nobody was too hostile. After about an hour of listening to songs from 2008, My tight-fitting outfit got super itchy and uncomfortable. Not to mention the bow flopping around and tugging my hair out every time I moved. What I liked about this dance was that it was pretty wholesome. Everyone was just having a great time and being friendly. There was no inappropriate dancing, drinking, smoking, etc. It was a great night!

Free Reading #1

          My Free Choice book is called Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. It is a first-person nonfiction book about the author, a navy SEAL, and his struggle to survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan after his team was killed. In the prologue, Luttrell recounts his journey from state to state breaking the devastating news of his friends' untimely deaths to their friends and family. In chapter 1, Marcus talks about the journey from the base to the mountains, through cities with angry looking locals, onto a huge freighter which he calls the "flying warehouse". The target of the mission was an Al-Queda leader named Ahmad Shah.

Lone Survivor- 1:30
Biology Textbook- 0:30

Free Post #1

        I had a great summer this year. I went to Montana and Washington D.C. I learned a lot of new things while enjoying my time off from school.

Every year my family goes to Northwest Montana for the entire summer. We have a house on the Swan River in the Flathead Valley. Pretty much everything about it is different from Baton Rouge. The people, the scenery, and especially the food. We have many friends and family come and spend time with us. There is a huge lake called Flathead Lake, and we love to waterski and tube on it. My dad and I have become avid fly-fishers over the years, and take an annual two day trip in June on the Missouri River where we catch all kinds of trout. Our house is about an hour away from Glacier National Park, and we love to go hiking there.

Normally my family and I take a one or two week trip after we arrive in Montana. This year, it was Washington D.C. I went with my mom’s sister and her three sons who are seven, nine, and twelve. We saw all the sights like the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol, and various museums. My favorite part of the trip was the Newseum, a museum of major news in history. It covered everything from sports to politics. 

This summer was full of fun and knowledge, and I loved every second of it. But even though it ended too quickly, I was glad to be back home to see my friends and start high school. 

Reading Response to Knife of Never Letting Go

I thought that Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness was a great book! I am really beginning to enjoy books about dystopian societies and hope that they stay as popular as they are now. When I read books, I like surprises. KONLG has many surprises along the way and each one made me want to keep reading. However, I was confused what planet the book took place on. Is it post-apocalyptic Earth or a completely different planet? Did Viola come from Earth, or was she visiting Earth from another planet? All questions that I feel like could have and should have been addressed.

I really enjoyed the sense of urgency throughout KONLG. It kept me encapsulated in the novel and had me rooting for the kids (even though I secretly wanted Todd to die). If there would not have been a huge army after them, the book would not have been nearly as good because Todd and Viola could take their sweet time on their journey to Haven. As I was reading, I constantly was expecting things to take a turn for the worst at the most unexpected time. I was sure that Aaron or Mr. Printess would pop out, or even a Spackle! This is similar to Divergent, as Tris was always looking over her shoulder.