12-21-12-24 Blog#3

Probably one of the greatest movies ever made is, How to Train your Dragon. It is so cute and funny and it really makes your imagination run wild. Not even kidding you, I watched this movie about 20 times within the week I bought it.

This movie takes place in a little town called Burk. This place has always been invaded by dragons. Their leader, Stoick the Vast, has been trying to find the dragons' nest so they can destroy it and make the dragons leave. Unfortunately, Stoick is always distracted by his son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. All Hiccup wants is to be one of the other vikings, but he gets into trouble with dragons and his clumsy being. He is very small and he is looked down upon by all the other vikings. So he gets the chance to kill one of the fiercest dragons the vikings know about; a Night Fury. This dragon has not been seen by anyone. It never stole, kept hidden by the night sky and never missed its fire shots. Hiccup made a machine that took down this dragon, but no one saw it go down. After Hiccup got in trouble for trying too hard and messing up, he went out to look for the dragon. He finally finds it tied up in the forest. At first he takes out his knife and is ready to kill the dragon, but then he and the dragon had a long stare with him and Hiccup knew he couldn't kill that dragon. He ended up untying the dragon only to get forced against a rock. It seemed like the dragon was going to kill Hiccup, but it just left after scaring Hiccup. The rest of the movie gets very funny and interesting about why the dragons really steal food from Burk. I love this movie because of its originality and the fact that it has such a cute storyline.

12-20-12-24 Blog#2

Today, December 22Nd, was probably one of the most fun days so far this school year. So in 3B lunch, I was sitting at my table with 7 other of my friends, Melissa, Julie, Emma, Emily, Daria, Makiah, and Madeline, and we were just talking a couple days before the 22Nd of December. I believe we were talking about Christmas and how we didn't know my friend Emma was Jewish. She was explaining her heritage and how her family did only one day were they get all their Hanukkah presents rather than everyday for a week. They do this because their family from out of town usually only come for a couple of days and not a week. Obviously, my other friends and I were amazed by her explanation of the Jewish heritage. Then my friend Julie decided to say that she wished she knew how to play the dreidel game, and Emma said that she actually had a dreidel from her family. Melissa then said super loudly that we should have a Christmas Feast like on the Grinch. So of course we decided to plan a party. We all offered suggestions for food, and I made little notes to each person as a reminder to bring the food. Melissa was going to bring brushetta, Julie was supposed to bring Whoo Hash (like on the Grinch) but ended up bringing strawberries with chocolate dip. Emma brought her dreidel for us to play with and ornaments for a miniature tree that Madeline brought along with salsa dip and chips. Emily brought a delicious icing covered cream cheese treat. Daria then brought a German treat that she brought here when she left Germany. Makiah forgot to bring her pasta stuff unfortunately, but we still let her sit and eat our food because its that kind of season. Then I brought pulled pork and cookies. The pulled pork was courtesy of my mom, Liz. Anyways we had a fantastic time and we played with the dreidel and basically everyone in that lunch was jealous!

12-20-12-24 Blog#1

When asked to blog about anything I want, I completely blanked out. Unfortunately, I'm not the type of creative person that just writes about whatever they think about. I need some sort of idea of what to write about. Apparently, Mr. Currin didn't realize that the comments some people had about the blogs meant simply that we didn't want to write about people we don't know or about art; not that we wanted to make up our own ideas. The most difficult thing about this week's blogs are probably the fact of not knowing what to write about. I could think of a couple things to write about, but these things are very simple and don't take 300 words to write. By the way, I looked at the first week of blogs we had to do and we only had to write 150 words. How do we go from 150 words to 250 words to 300 words? I'm just saying, maybe we should minimize the word length because I feel like when I'm writing, I just repeat a bunch of things to fill up room and to fulfill the requirement of 300 words. Kind of like right now, I feel like I'm repeating myself about repeating myself. Obviously I'm going a little crazy because I'm talking about myself repeating myself for the third time. This is what this week's blogs do to me! I'm slowly going insane thinking about what to write about for the week of December 20th to December 24th! O.K. I'm done now, but still it is pretty hard to just think of something to write about all on your own. Even though some of the blogs we write about are different and a little odd, they still make me think more about my creative side. I just think some students, like myself, need some type of guidance when it comes to blog writing ideas.

12-14-12-17 Blog#3

I really like the poem A Dandelion for my Mother by Jean Nordhaus. It basically describes the dandelion, how stubborn it is to get, and how beautiful it is compared to this author's mother. I like this poem a lot mostly because it shows the love one can have for a mother. It also makes me think about my sisters because we always talk about dandelions because Andi, my oldest sister, wants to add on to her tattoo that says, "I watched the beauties watch the fire, and the fire burned beauty in their eyes." This lyric is about me and my other sister, Alli. But it's mostly about me. Anyways, she wants to add a dandelion to her tattoo because Alli drew a picture of a dandelion and Andi really liked it. Unfortunately, Alli lost the picture (big shock) and forgot how to draw it. Andi is still determined to remind Alli about her drawing. Besides the fact that this poem reminds me about my sisters, it obviously reminds me of my mom. She is thebest mom I could ever have. She always supports me in everything I want to do. She is at every chorus concert, volleyball game and school occasion. I can't remember a time when she ever skipped one of my volleyball games or if she every missed a concert, which can get boring sometimes. She never grounds me because she doesn't think it works at all. She even helped my volleyball team make our tie-die shirts for warm-ups and she even made pink tie-die shirts for our game that was dedicated to breast cancer awareness. Without her, we wouldn't even have half of the apparel we have for volleyball! She also had spaghetti made for one of our spaghetti dinners. She's pretty much a big deal in Alden, so I'd say she definitely reminds me of this poem. When I read this poem, I pretty much think about my mama, Liz Breyer!

12-13-12-17 Blog#2

My definition of beauty to me is a little odd. I think beauty is symmetry. Think about it. Most species of animals and bugs prefer the animals with the most symmetrical wings or eyes. It may not seem like a common way to describe beauty, but it is logical to say that a person prefers another with even eyes rather than their mouth being where their eyes are supposed to be. Beauty isn't only being symmetrical, but I think it is also being tan, skinny, and other features that make someone look smaller and more like a model. Beauty definitions differ and everyone has different opinions, but I think people have to have personality rather than just be pretty on the outside. I think that someone is truly beautiful if they are nice-looking and have a funny, and kind personality. I also think that beauty is taken too literally sometimes, like when girls think that being super skinny is the only way to make themselves look good and be happy. I understand that they are disorders, like anorexia or bulimia, but I would never ever think about doing that to myself. I love food way too much to give it up just for the sake of just looking good. I understand if someone wants to eat healthier, but the point of starvation is a little more serious. I think beauty is sometimes a blessing and other times a curse to reach what you think is beauty. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks they are pretty when they really are, so they starve themselves and make them think that they aren't good enough or they need to do more becasue they aren't beautiful. However, they are mostly just thinking too much about each little detail about their body.

12-13-12-17 Blog#1

During this year in Online Publishing, I've learned that writing articles isn't completely horrible, if you're writing something interesting to you. Even though I wouldn't start out writing about things I want, it's still a great experience. I've learned a lot more about myself as a writer in this class than in English 9! My writing process involves my making an organizational, messy web of all my ideas that relate to my thesis. This is for a regular essay though. For articles, I usually just start writing and then modify them as I go along. I myself read it over to make sure there aren't any misspellings or sentence errors. Then I have to have someone else look it over because I might have missed something. I personally love writing creative responses that force me to get my creative juices flowing. I love writing stories and using different types of themes. For example, I really liked when we wrote letters from Santa's elves. That made me think more about my inner child and it was really fun to write about. I don't really like writing research papers just because they are really time consuming and they take longer that a week. Well, they could take a week, but you'd have to have all your sources ready. I don't mind some of the topics to write about, but it still can be a little boring. This class has had a huge impact because I really like writing the blogs and some articles. Even though some of the writing material was really general, like "what is art?" or if they were about someone in the class we didn't know, it was still really fun to give opinions, responses, and write stories. This class was such a good environment too. The random jokes that are said in between the class made it more interesting and a lot less serious than just writing on a computer all class. This class was sincerely one of the more fun classes I've taken in High School.

12-8-12-10 Blog#3

I was relaxing with my friend in my living room one snowy December evening. My friend went in the kitchen to make more hot chocolate for us to drink, and I stayed back and waited. As I was waiting, I began to hear whispers or someone saying, "Psst!" I was really confused so I stood up out off the couch and started walking towards the noise.It was coming from outside so I quickly got my hat and gloves on with a coat and walked outside to see who was calling me. When I got outside, all I saw was my neighbor's garden gnome sitting on my porch. I got really creeped out and picked it up to return it to my neighbors, the Gnominskis. They really like garden gnomes. They liked them so much that they would keep them out all year and dress them up in different seasonal outfits. Anyways, I walked over to the neighbors, and I felt something speak again. This time it said, "Hey, do you want to know what's going on?" I screamed and threw the gnome at the closest tree. It got up and continued to say that it was sent from the ISGP or the Intel Security of the Gnome Population. to help the gnomes next door escape their dredid lives outside during the winter. I told them I would try to help, but how. Then the gnome told me something so drastic and completely overwhelming that I just couldn't do it. He told me that I had to sneek into their house, steal their seasonal outfits for gnomes and burn them on their oven while I tie them up in two chairs and force them to watch. After that I had to find seasonal clothes and dress them up in them and throw them outside where the gnomes would throw them in the snow and do whatever else they wanted to them. I was so confused at the gnome and I don't know if I had a spasm or an impulse, but I just kicked the gnome into the road where he rolled onto the other side ofthe road. He couldn't get back over becasue gnomes can't walk or move. He got on my porch because he was dropped of in that spot. I just went back inside with my friend. She asked me what I was doing outside, and I just told her not to worry about it and that I hope that never happens to her!

12-8-12-10 Blog#2

My favorite childhood game to play when I was at home with the kids my mom babysat would have to be the Lego wars we held. It wasn't an everyday type of thing, but we always played whenever one of my friends would come over. It was me and my friend against the rest of the kids my mom had that day which were about four seven year olds when my friend and I were ten. Anyways, we would start off by building forts on the two sides of my living room. Unfortunately we weren't very fair in separating the property of fort area. The younger kids usually got the smaller section, but it wasn't smaller by much. Their fort wouldn't be that intricate, but It worked for them. My friend and I would always make the biggest fort and most intricate planning. We had three rooms where we could hide from the aerial Lego attacks. The point was just to throw Legos at each other's fort. We would divide the Legos in half for each side to have. Basically we just threw Legos to try and pelt each other with a Lego, and dodge the rest of the Legos coming at you. I don't know why we had so much throwing Legos at each other, but it just made us all laugh at the end of the day. Eventually my mom thought the Legos were a little dangerous to throw at each other, so we modified it to soft sock wars (SSW for short). This wasn't as good as the Legos, but it still let us get our childhood angst out.

12-7-12-10 Blog #1

My favorite childhood television show was definitely Zaboomafoo. This show was about two men who lived in Animal Junction and they always called for a lemur named Zoboomafoo. Zoboomafoo would leap from tree to tree to get to the clubhouse where the two brothers would offer him a treat that lemurs eat like mangos or garbanzo beans. Then a little cartoon would come on to show that a mystery animal is coming on to the show. Then there would be another skit by Zoboo, a character from another cartoon. They would talk about the animal on that day. Then the two brothers would go on an adventure too. They would go to Africa or India, or to whatever place the mystery animal is from. I loved this show mostly because I loved animals when I was younger. I still love animals, but unfortunately Zoboomafoo is never on anymore so I have to watch other shows. When I watched Zoboomafoo, I would get so in to the show. I would dance around with my mom as we watched it with the rest of the kids she babysat. I remember that the kids and I would have Zoboomafoo parties where we'd pretend we had our own little Zoboomafoo lemur that played with us. I know we were a little creepy, but we were young and just having fun (p.s. I know I just rhymed there). Anyways, despite the creepy pretend games I used to play, Zoboomafoo was probably my most favorite childhood T.V. show.

12-3-12-3 Blog #3

Art to me is a form of expression. Artists today are really different in the way they draw or even their ideas of what to draw. For example, artists like Leonardo Da'Vinci were mostly about people and old time concepts. However, today's artists like in school and around cities are bolder about their work. They use a lot of abstract work and more specific concepts. To these artists, drawing, painting, and molding is their way to express themselves. There aren't just artists that pertain to legitimate artistic things, but there are also musical artists and makeup artists or even performance artists. Musical artists find that playing an instrument or singing releases their expressive feelings through song. Makeup artists think as though a person's face is a canvas (as said by a friend of my sister, Ashley). Doing makeup is a very relaxing, but stressful at the same time. They do what helps them express themselves, but they also don't want to mess up, because the makeup they are doing decides if the client will pay them money or not. Makeup artists have a little more ease because if they do mess up, they can always wash it off the persons face. Artists that paint, however, have to blend their mistakes rather than just erase them completely. Artists that draw would be able to erase with pencil, but would have more problems if their project involved markers or sometimes paint. Finally, performance artists mostly show their expression through dance and song. These artists are more emotional in their acts. Some of them can do theatre to express their feelings and emotions. These people are more interesting in the way they act and feel.

Despite the fact that each of these types of artists are very different and special, they all are related to art by one form; expression.

11-30-12-3 Blog #2

Leaves were turning brown, red, and yellow while animals were preparing to hibernate on a very gloomy fall day. What made this day different wasn't the fact that it was the day before snow would begin to fall, but that Apollo, a very kind and passionate Bowerbird, was preparing to ask his perfect match, Nova, to spend the rest of their lives together. He decided to pick flowers for her in her favorite color, white. Because these birds live in the wilderness, they don't propose with rings, they use anything they can find that is meaningful or relates to their lives. For Nova, white reminds her of her favorite season, winter. Most birds fly south for the winter, but Nova stays back and enjoys the glorious snow fall right outside the tree she has her nest in. Apollo planned on proposing to Nova, he didn't realize that Nova doesn't go south for winter. He was planning on proposing in the air as they took off to the South. Nova and Apollo met at the place where all the birds begin to leave for winter. Nova went to say goodbye to her friends and to ask Apollo to stay for the winter with her. Unfortunately, Apollo hates the winter season. He always wished the day to leave for the south would be in september so he wouldn't have to endure any cold weather. Apollo met with Nova about two minutes to takeoff. Apollo gave her the flowers right before all the birds opened their wings to prepare for the very long journey, but Nova kept to herself as she talked to Apollo. Apollo questioned Nova on why she wasn't getting ready, and she finally told him that she would remain in their little valley and asked if he would stay with her. Apollo didn't know what to say. The rest of the birds were about to leave and Nova was staying back no matter what Apollo said. Realizing this fact, Apollo quickly decided to go with the rest of the birds to the South. He couldn't stand the cold to the point where he left his true love at the takeoff area without any explanation. Nova dropped the flowers and flew away to her little tree. All Nova did that winter was watch the snow fall and Apollo stayed in his tree regretting his decision the entire winter season.

11-30-12-3 Blog #1

My reaction to this picture of a husky would obviously be that this dog is so adorable. I think that it definitely makes me react positively because of the really cool cloud patterns in the background and the husky's stance. I think the stance makes you want to know what it has been through or even what it's looking at during this picture. I like this picture because I planned on getting a husky when I grow older and have a family. I was attracted to this picture also because it made me think more in depth of this dog rather than just thinking it's cute. I think that is a very captivating picture and a very strong picture. It makes me think about what this dog has gone through in its life. All the struggles and the hard times that it has gone through just seem to disappear. When I see this picture I feel like the wolf is a confident, strong, and independent animal. It doesn't follow anyone, yet it can't lead anything because it's alone. Even though the wolf is alone, I think that it is still very content with its life because of the great view and the fact that it can do anything in the wilderness. I really like this picture because i guess it's kind of what I hope to be. I hope to be a confident, successful, and happy person when I grow up which is what I think this wolf has accomplished throughout its life. I mostly chose this picture because of what I think it represents which is confidence and beauty. I can see in this picture that this wolf has been through a lot but it has come out of it all and made this fascinating picture. Its simplicity is what makes it so intricate and beautiful.

11-22-11-24 Blog #2

TOP 10 THINGS ABOUT NATE ZOBREST

1. His sense of humor

2. His athletic ability

3. Mr. Currin brought up that he is the only guy in his A.P.English class

4. He is very familiar with good music groups

5. My friend tells me he is very good at drawing and art

6. His sense of style

7. He likes Star Wars

8. His deep voice

9. He shows leadership in Online Publishing

10. He is very close with his friends

11-22-11-24 Blog #1

The statement, "Fear builds walls," is a very general statement in my opinion. This basically means that when someone shows any type of fear, they are building a metaphorical wall to block out others from seeing their "weakness." I don't fully agree with this saying for the very reason that it is so general. What this statement is saying to me is that every time my sister, Allison, finds a spider, freezes up, and calls for whoever is there to kill the spider, she is putting up a wall and is shutting people out of her life by her reaction. I think she is showing more of herself when she reacts to a spider because she is sharing something intimate about herself. She wouldn't be building a wall to cut someone out. She is more inviting them to help her rather than shutting them out. However, I do think that a more serious fear could close some people out. For example, a person with a mental disorder could shut people out just because they are afraid of germs or had a traumatic experience is their life. These people can't always control their way of dealing with their fears because of their mental disorder. A person could be a hoarder, or have serious O.C.D., or obsessive compulsive disorder, and not be able to hold any baby whether it was theirs or not. Unfortunately, these diseases would force them to build walls because of their fear, even if they don't want to.

11-16-11-19 Blog#3

My favorite holiday has to be Christmas. I think Christmas is a personal favorite for many people because it's just so cheery and happy. These are partial reasons why I love Christmas, but I also love that Christmas always brings the family together. For example, this year my sister Alli isn't coming to St. Louis this year for Thanksgiving because she has to work, but she always comes to our house for Christmas and thankfully Jared, her boyfriend, can come too and that always makes Alli happy when he's around. Christmas also brings my mom's annual Christmas Party for the little kids she babysits including kids she used to babysit. The best part about this party is that Santa comes. Mr. Currin was there last year because my mom babysat Jack Currin. Mr. Currin got to sit on Santa's lap and fortunately there is a picture of him with Santa as well. Anyways, this party is always so fun because everyone gets one early present and a picture with Santa. I also get to see all the older kids that I played with when I was younger and when my mom babysat them. This holiday also makes everyone excited. I wake up every Christmas morning probably at 6 and try to wake my mom and dad up because they never wake up on Christmas. Then Alli and I make hot chocolate with candy canes in them for me, her, and Andi, and we make my mom some coffee. Usually we just wait for my dad to come inside after the horses are fed to open our stockings. Then after we are finished looking through our stockings, we move to the tree and sort all the presents under the Christmas tree. After we're done sorting, we all open them at the same time basically. I mostly love the reactions of my family's faces to my presents for them.

11-15-11-19 Blog #2

To me "winning" means trying your best at some type of sport or competitive activity where more than one team or person participates. However one team has to come out on top or "win" because if one didn't, it wouldn't be called "winning." It would be called a tie. For example, if a hockey team is ahead 4 to 1 against another hockey team, the first team would be "winning." Being a winner means that one person, wins at a certain sport, activity, or just in life generally. Not many people win at life generally, but there are some. A winner can also refer to a team. For instance, the Alden Volleyball team was winning throughout the 2010 season. The team had 13 wins and 4 losses. Other words for "winning" include being victorious or being charming and engaging according to the Free Dictionary by Farlex. I would have to disagree with the being charming or engaging. My reason is because some teams or people that are winners aren't really engaging. They mostly keep to themselves and stay independent or secluded. Some winning teams may be charming, but some of the best teams seem pretty intense and focused. I also don't really see some teams as approachable as others. For instance, in my sister's soccer league, she claims that most teams are really nice and fair with certain calls in the game, but one off the teams just get angry all the time because of a call in Andi's team's favor or they get called for obvious fouls and give the ball to the other team. Many times some teams can be misjudged, but even the way they act isn't a "winning" effort. True winners would tell the truth and accept their mistakes. Plus real winning teams show good sportsmanship which is the entire point of sports in the first place.

11-15-11-19 Blog#1

I am thankful for my family, obviously. I am also thankful for my education and my friends. My family is most important to me no matter what because they will always be there for me. Without my mom and my dad, I wouldn't be here in the first place. Plus they always do what's right for me and they let me live my own life. They don't interfere too much in my personal life thankfully. In contrast, my sisters get in my business more than my parents do, but not usually. Yesterday I saw my sister Andi for the first time in a while and she finally remembered my birthday present! Keep in mind my birthday was August 12th and she got my present November 14th. Though it was a little bit late, I still loved my three seasons of NCIS and my giant hockey duffel bag. I don't play hockey, but it looks like i do because the bag can probably fit an entire person in there. Without Andi and Alli, I aslo wouldn't even be known in High School. I was always called Andrea in Spanish Class and my English class. Then I was called Allison in my Earth Science and Biology classes. I never ever minded be called my sisters because they were great students and I do kind of look like them. It also brings up conversation in class. I am very thankful for my education and my teachers. Without my teachers, I would never be able to get all the good grades I get now. And Finally I am thankful for my friends because they are the highlight of my day in school. They never fail at making me laugh and they're always there for me if I need to talk to them or if I just need cheering up. For example today, my friend, Melissa, brought paper and colored pencils to lunch where we all just drew pictures the entire lunch period. Now most people don't usually do this, but it kind of made my day and gave me something to do during lunch other than doing my homework.

11-9-11-12 Blog#3

"They laughed at Louie Armstrong when he wanted to go to the moon, now he's up there laughing at them." -Will Ferrel from Blades of Glory

This quote always makes me laugh and obviously this movie does too. What I think Will Ferrel means in this quote is that anyone can overcome anything despite the fact that some people will put you down and not help you at all. We need to be able to overcome these obstacles if we want to succeed in life and move forward.

"I'm pretty sure there's more to life than just being really, really, ridiculously good-looking." -Ben Stiller from Zoolander

Zoolander is probably one of my most favorite old movies. Ben Stiller was a male model in this movie and basically talked like this the entire time. It made the movie that much better. I believe that this quote is saying that there is more to life than appearance because looks will fade away but personality can never leave you.

"I was hiding under your porch because I love you" -Doug from Up

I love the movie Up because not only does it have funny parts, it has really meaningful parts as well. This quote by one of the dogs, Doug, is important to me because of the way Doug says it. He looks upset and says it like he's in trouble. It just made the quote even cuter. This quote tells me that even though times can be tough, we should always forgive and forget because one day things might completely change.

11-9-11-12 Blog#2

Three people that I would want to have lunch with would be Amanda Bynes, Hilary Duff, and Antoni Gaudi. Amanda Bynes has always been a favorite actress of mine and my family. We watch her movies whenever we have family get-togethers. Not only does my family love her movies, we have the Linsenbiglers and the Luekes over all the time, and they agree that Amanda Bynes is fantastic. Some of her movies that seem to find their way into our DVD player would be What a girl Wants, Hairspray, Love Wrecked, and She's the Man and the T.V. show What I Like About You. In my older blog about favorite movies, I mentioned She's the Man as one of my personal favorites. This just shows how much of a good actress she is. Plus, she's super funny and I think lunch with her would be pretty entertaining. Hilary Duff.....Oh Hilary Duff. She's just so awesome. Like Amanda Bynes, Hillary Duff is on my family's favorite movie list. Movies like A Cinderella Story, Beauty and the Briefcase, and Raise your Voice are just great movies that show off her acting skills. I think my family has liked her a little longer than Amanda Bynes, but just a little bit. These two actresses have also been in really old T.V. shows called the Amanda Show (Amanda Bynes) and Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff). Again, it would be a huge deal in my house if we every met them. Then there's Antoni Gaudi. Honestly I would only want to meet him to have him help me with my Spanish Final since my essay is all about him. But besides that I would want to know more about his architecture because it is interesting.

11-8-11-12 Blog#1

Thanksgiving with my family is a pretty big deal. Every year for Thanksgiving, my family packs up and gets in our car and goes to St. Louis, Missouri to visit my cousins. Usually my mom, dad, both sisters, my sister Alli's boyfriend, and I travel by car for about 10 hours to their house in a little suburban town they live in right outside the city of St. Louis. My cousins include my Aunt Eydie, Uncle D.J. which is my dad's younger brother, and my two younger cousins Abby and Jared. It's pretty funny that my cousin's name is Jared and Alli's boyfriend's name is Jared too. At the last Thanksgiving there, my family decided that we would nick-name our cousin Jared Tater, and Alli's Jared, Tot since when we had this discussion, we were eating tater tots. Not only do we see those cousins, but we also see the families of my dad's other two older brothers, Tom and Bob. My uncle Tom's family involves my Aunt Susan and my cousins Sarah and Lauren. Sarah is the same age as me and Lauren is younger.They live in Washington D.C. My Uncle Bob and Aunt Julie probably ave the longest ride from Colorado with my two older cousins Patrick and Dana. We all get together for thanksgiving break because usually everyone is free that time of year. We have a huge feast with turkey, stuffing, jello, pie, potato soup in bread bowls, and my personal favorite, Sparkling grape juice. We also do different activities in St. Louis. For example, we play walleyball, or racquetball and volleyball mixed together, and board games. We've also gone to the arch in St. Louis. I really like going to this ceramics place called You're Fired where we get to paint our own mugs, plates, figures, and bowls. Then the place fires them to make the paint stick, and we wait for about a week for them to be done. We don't usually get them that week because we only stay for four days, but my uncle D.J. sends them through the mail. I always have a blast when I go to visit them. I can't even remember half the hilarious jokes and sayings we come up with there.

11-3-11-5 Blog#2

Respect, to me, would be about that one person you can look up to or just to a certain other person. For example I respect all my friends because I can always count on them and look to them for advice. Another example of a person I respect would be my dad (Da Papa) because he's a person I can look up to for guidance. Each example is different because one is about how I look up to them because of their accomplishments and the other is about how I can depend on them for anything. Even though sometimes Da Papa and I don't agree with everything, I know he loves me and I think he knows I love him. We don't really say we love each other, but we show affection by butting heads and saying "Mer" which I believe is saying "Love you." Sorry my family is really odd but whatever. Anyways, sometimes my friends and I may not talk because one of us is mad at another and they force us to pick sides, but in the end, we resolve everything and end up not picking sides at all. Respect in general means to feel like someone has more experience or the same experience in life as you. For instince a person could be your hero or an athlete that you look up to. This person, like for me, could be a close friend who you've gone through a hard time with or just any special time with.

11-3-11-5 Blog #1

My dream job would have to be either teaching High School English or being a crime scene investigator. I know that these professions are extremely different, but I would like the chance to be great at either. I love watching the C.S.I. T.V. shows and I'm really interested in the crime solving and mystery. Unfortunately my dad gave me the trait of fainting at the sight of blood. This trait would kind of hold me back if I was a C.S.I. investigating dead bodies because most are bloody. I thought about being a C.S.I. lab technician, but science isn't really that interesting to me as other subjects are. For example, English has always been one of my stronger subjects and a more enjoyable one for me. When I wanted to have a career in English, the only job I feel that I'd enjoy doing every day would be teaching. Teaching is also a good family job and I am planning on having a family so that concept also helped my decision. I would rather teach high school students because I believe that kindergarten students would be really cute, but also difficult since they have such wild personalities. Middle school students wouldn't be that bad, but I think High School is a more fun experience. Some high school students have a level of maturity that I would really need. I basically live with four year olds at my house since my mom babysits, and I think that is all of the little children I need for the rest of my life.

10-25-10-29 Blog #2

Many questions arise during Block 4, Online Publishing, or the News Room about Ryan Pinkowski's free time. Where does he go that stops him from doing his blogs? What does he do that halts him from completing his articles? Well, it may be hard to comprehend, but Ryan Pinkowski is actually a secret evil villain named "The Pinky Monster." This name does indeed sound like the tickle monster, which is exactly his power. He basically finds each person's most ticklish spot and takes them down from the inside. Pinky has not been caught since he was in sixth grade, which was also when his first attempt in school and it was bound to fail from the start. But Pinky never gave up. He decided that he wouldn't try to tickle people in school since he was caught the first time. After school every day, he jumps in his secret tickle mobile that has green flames and pink and blue feathers surrounding each seat. He then travels to his ultra uber secret lair in his bedroom.
"It's so obvious that no one would expect it" claims Pinky.
When he he finally gets to his room, I mean "lair," he usually takes a quick five hour nap. Then he awakes around 8:30ish and the crime begins. He gets into his red and yellow jumper with blue tights. He speeds away to his tickle mobile and travels to the dark and mysterious streets of Alden. Thankfully there aren't many heroes in Alden so Pinky never gets stopped. His usual tickle attacks average to six people a night. So the answer to the question, "Why does Ryan Pinkowski never do his blogs or articles?" is simply that he needs to tickle the innocent. Surely everyone can understand this.

10-25-10-29 Blog #3

A time in my life when I was injured would have to be this year before school started. I've never broken any part of my body, but I feel like I've gotten pretty close to doing so. Anyways, I was with my friend Connor and my friend Emily at Connor's house. She was having a family party and she invited me and Emily to come. When we were there, we mostly played outside with the volleyball, the basketball, and the soccer ball. Then Connor's cousins came and we started playing soccer since they both played soccer. I was on her little cousin's team and he was probably in third grade and was completely better than anyone there and Connor was on her other cousin, Paul's, team. We were playing two on two for a while and my team was basically destroying Connor's team. Though her little cousin was carrying the team, I contributed a few points.

Then Paul got the ball, and I ran back to be goalie. So I was there, not expecting him to go crazy and kick the ball in warped speed, and of course he did. So me, being an awesome goalie, stopped the ball with my hand, but unfortunately the ball ended up hitting my wrist and pushing it back to my arm. It hurt so bad at that moment, but I stopped Connor's team from scoring. However I had to sit out and my wrist didn't get at all better. It started to swell and I realized that the following week was volleyball tryouts and I got so mad. I iced it everyday for almost an hour each time and then I went to my home dog TK for medical advice during tryouts. Thankfully he wrapped it for the practices and games and now I think I just bruised my wrist, but I am never playing soccer with Connor's cousin Paul ever again!

10-25-10-29 Blog #1

I would say that I look up to my mom. I look up to her the most because she is just awesome. She always looks after me and my sisters and she accepts each of us for who we are and not what we do. She never grounds any of us which is good, and even though she doesn't ground me, she still has a way of making me think about what I do before I do it. Most of the people I know who get grounded don't seem to learn anything from it and just keep getting grounded. My mom also is a pretty darn good cook. As most people know, her cupcakes and every type of food she makes end up gone in three minutes. I can't wait until I grow up and get to make food for my family just like her because there are some seriously good dinners at my house. For example, we have pizza night every Tuesday and taco night every other Wednesday and the rest of the week we get random homemade meals like lasagna and beef tips with mashed potatoes. I also look up to my mom because she does everything in my house and my school. And when I say everything, I legitimately mean everything. She has become the MVP of my volleyball team because she has put together more activities than she has for my old girl scouts group. She has her own fan club in Alden High school called the "Liz Breyer Fan Club." Mr. Currin is the president since she basically raised his son. And my friend Julie and Melissa are the vice presidents and obviously I would be the secretary. I just hope that one day I can be as great a mom as she is to me now.

10-19-10-22 Blog #3

I would have to say that the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life, so far, is a C.S.I. Las Vegas episode. I don't really like scary movies or scary stories that much, which is why a T.V. show is the creepiest thing that I've seen. Anyways, the episode began with a house, but there is a shadow on all the wall of a man crunched over walking through the house. The camera changes to a bedroom with a woman sleeping. The man creepily sneaks on the bed and pulls out a straight razor and attacks her, but doesn't kill her. The C.S.I. team tried to find fingerprints, shoe impressions, or anything that could lead to the guy, but they couldn't find anything. All they found out was that he had been hiding in the woman's house for a while because they found a dust resistance under the floor in the shape of a body with a zipper and trace of latex. The latex ownership came back to the name "Ian Moone." There were no hits on the computer to the name, but one of the team members figured out that the name was intended to unscramble and say "I am No One."

They concluded that he was living in the attic and always wore a latex body suit. Then the C.S.I team came across another case of a woman with a daughter that was killed with a sharp razor, but had attack wombs before. Then, they found out that before she was attacked, the killer whispered to her, "I know and I'm going to tell everyone." The team then got a D.V.D that showed her having an affair with another guy other than her husband. Then another case came with a paramedic that was a firefighter as well that was killed with a straight razor but was placed under the bed of a crime scene in latex to distract the team so the killer could get away. This paramedic's secret was that he started fires and saved people in them to make him look like a hero. The woman who was just attacked had a secret about her son. He had a very bad disease that put him in a wheelchair and caused him a lot of pain. She decided to push him in the pool one day to put him out of his misery, but the man in latex finally confronted her in her house. He walked very spider-like. He moved with his feet and hands, and squirmed a lot while talking to her. Then he almost killed her with a straight razor (big surprise) until she pulled out a gun and shot him. However, the killer thought she would do that and replaced the bullets with just casings and he got away. The very last thing the killer said was "I am No One."

10-18-10-22 Blog #2

It was a dark, cloudy night when Nate Bailey decided to go outside to play some basktetball outside his house. Even though it was Halloween night, Nate didn't think anything of it. No one every comes to his house to trick-or-treat. It's not like anyone would sneek up on him. Then he heard a noise from the bushes at the end of the driveway.


"Hello? Is anyone there?"


Right as he turned his back to the bush there was another noise, only louder.


"Seriously, this isn't funny."


No matter how much Nate ignored the sound, it just kept getting louder. The noise sounded like a deep male voice saying "Boss." Nate decided to go inside the house and watch some T.V. to get away from the sound. As he sat on the couch and turned the T.V. on, the screen was really blurry. He tried to see what the picture was on the T.V. and eventually he got a signal. When the screen became a little more clear, Nate saw that the picture on the screen was a picture of him in his living room at that very moment, as if there was a video camera taping him. Nate jumped off the couch and ran to his bedroom. He shut the door as quickly as he could and locked the door. He stepped away from the door slowly, but as he walked backwards the noise came back, but it was screaming at him saying "Boss" and a flash of extremely bright lights were in his window. Nate screamed such a high pitch that a girl couldn't even sing it. Then he fell to the ground. As he hit the floor, he just heard a bunch of laughing. When he got up, Tyler and Brian Stodlt were outside his window with a bunch of flashlights, a video camra and a megaphone.


The last thing Tyler said before Nate got up was, "Dude, I'm sorry are you really a girl? Because that scream was way to high for a guy."

10-18-10-22 Blog #1

I wouldn't know how to answer this question because I don't really know Nate Bailey. He interviewed me for a blog once, and apparently I had a look in my eye that meant I couldn't believe that he was interviewing me. Then he had to pinch me to remind me we were in an interview. I don't remember that happening, but the again I don't remember what I had for dinner last night. So I guess I would have to say that Nate Bailey is, and isn't the boss. I believe "the boss" is someone who is in charge, or in control of something. Being the boss means owning something as an action. For example, Mr. Ryan is the boss of Mr. Currin. A different example for being the boss would be being good at a sport or having a talent. In Nate Bailey's case, he is very good at football, but isn't really in charge of it. The quarterback, I think, would be in charge because they decide where the ball goes and who it goes to. However, being a receiver is a hard task, and Nate does a really good job doing that which is why most people call him the boss. But I wouldn't say that he is the one who is in control of every play. Either the quarterback or the coach would be in charge of deciding each play. I don't want to break Nate Bailey's character, but I'm just saying that this question can go two ways, but it depends on how the person knows Nate Bailey. I mean someone who doesn't know Nate at all could think he's just a jock, but a person closer to him might see him in a different way.

10-14-10-15 Blog #3

My favorite musical group right now would be Mariana's Trench. I really like that their songs are really uplifting and happy. One of their songs is called "Cross My Heart." It's just one of those songs that makes you get up and sing along with it. Another song that I like from Mariana's Trench is called "All To Myself" and again it's one of those songs where you just want to dance. I would say that my favorite song from Mariana's Trench is called, "Celebrity Status." I love this song because I started to listen to it by watching the music video. The video started with a guy waking up and watching some T.V. Then as each channel goes by, the people in the group seem to be the characters in each commercial and show. The lead singer stars as a spokesperson for K-Mart, a crime scene investigator, and a salesperson. The rest of the group is usually with him in each commercial, but a few are by themselves. Anyways, these songs are all really good and fun to listen to. I, personally, love to listen and think about myself in different instances with the song. I honestly don't think I could survive without my i-pod because I get in my own little world I guess when I listen to my music. I just enjoy thinking about each song and getting taken away in my thoughts. However, sometimes it doesn't work out because people are trying to talk to me and I'm not paying attention because I'm still in my own world of music with Mariana's Trench.

10-14-10-15 Blog#2

I would have to say that my favorite class right now is Online Publishing with Mr. Currin. When he comes into class everyday yelling, "Best Class Ever," he really means it. It's also very exciting when he spits on me and Alyssa while speaking. Most people would oppose to that and get very disgusted and angry, but not me! Obviously, we have better self-control. Anyways, back to the point, my favorite part about this class is that we always laugh at one point in the day, which is really encouraging. I also enjoy writing creative stories, and sometimes more serious works, like articles. I never really thought writing articles was fun, but now I see that it is pretty exciting to work in a News Room. Though I wouldn't want to actually work in a News Room to be a journalist, since it's so hectic, it's a nice experience. Plus I enjoy all the people in this class because it's a plethora of personalities. Each person has their own unique way of making others laugh, which is important in the best class ever, to me. The teacher, Mr. Currin, for Online Publishing is pretty good, but just needs to work on his excessive salivary glands. Other than that, he's a very positive teacher, and always makes this class more fun than the day before. I also think I like this course because I want to be an English major, so this class really helps me with my writing skills and it helps my creative abilities.