Writing Exercise #1

The air inside the car is cool, and the upholstery, beige, maroon, green, ugly, is fuzzy. I run my hand over and over and over in mild agitation...
We always park down the road and across the street. I am not looking forward to the place I am going but am glad that I am going there, anyway, it is the right thing to do, and I know I would feel worse if I skip it. I slide on the plain black flats, which I discarded once in the car. I step out onto the sidewalk of Troy and close the car door, my back to the old bowling alley. I feel mildly self-conscious in the pouffy beige skirt which rustles in the wind and black shell-and-cardigan set -- definitely not what I would wear voluntarily.
The wind flutters the hair of me and my family as our dress shoes clip-clap-clip quickly across the sidewalk; we are late. We walk past the storefronts, a butcher's shop, a comical gift store with letters on the door spelling "NOPE," a scrambling of the usual greeting. Crossing the street, I see down the road in one direction black asphalt and buildings, more high-society than the places on the other side of town. Down in the other direction, tall, rectangular, squashed-together city apartments, their color washed out. We cross the street and smile at the suit-clad door-opening congregants. "Happy New Year," we exchange. Above us, the tall, ornately decorated, beautiful sanctuary part of the synagogue rises. We walk through the wide, maroon door and greet more congregants (why are they here, just waiting for latecomers? Did they grow tired of the service already?).
Of course, being late, and not inclined to stay the whole hours-long service, we are seated downstairs from the sanctuary to watch the rabbi and cantor conduct the service by means of a television screen which films them upstairs. To our right is the kitchen, with its kosher sinks and huge refrigerator, and farther on is the Trope, Sunday, and Hebrew School classrooms. I can hear the singing and chanting wafting from the upstairs. We sit.
Our rabbi, smiling, talks and leads and chants from the bimah which we watch on the screen, and we follow her lead..."We recite the Amidah on page 37 of the blue siddur..." The cantor's rich, vibrant, loud and incredibly powerful opera-worthy voice comes down from upstairs, rattling my eardrums and forcing me to suppress a giggle. Behind them both I see the ark. Across its top, "In Memoriam" of a boy who had a fatal canoe accident is written in gilded letters. On the sides, the illusion of golden columns is created by bending stripes of golden paint. On either side of the ark, seven-spoked electric candelabras are; and hanging from the top of the ark, in which the Torahs are held, is the electric eternally burning light.
In what seems a short time, we decide to leave. As we leave, we vow to stay for the whole service next Rosh Hashana. We would return in thirteen days for Yom Kippur.

Syllabus-kinda sorta

Blocks 6 & 7.

F451 Part One for 12/4
Part Two for 12/6
Part Three for 12/10
Any two short stories from the back of book for 12/12

Territor Paper #2 with rough draft and final draft due 12/10

Planet Research Project Question #1 due 12/4
Question #5 due 12/20
Questions #6 and 7 due 1/9/08

Block 8

Stargirl up to page 100, Other Names Poster, due 11/30
up to page 125, Pledge, due 12/4
up to page 145 due 12/6
finish book for 12/10

Territory #2 with rough draft and final draft due 12/10


ALL CLASSES: Weekly vocabulary quizzes and EXTRA CREDIT reading logs.

ooooo yay a writing exersise for a blog!

Well right now we are supposed to describe stuff. and seeing that i cant think of anything to describe i shall choose a random object in the room. Hum de hum hum... oooooooo! a coputer keyboard!

well i love keyboards, the keys are arrenged so ordery and yet so abstractly. all of them black with the thin uniform white lines that we have interpreted to make some sence. i love the way they feel against your fingers, how at first their is a delicate resistance but then they just give way to the force of your hand like pulling 2 magnets away from each other. and the sound of someone typing quickly even if it is noncense it always has the sound of something meaningful. i cant tell you what they smell like because my sence of smell is weaker then Bob Ewell's case against Tom Robinson (do i get extra credit for the TKAM reference?). as for taste well i have never tasted a keyboard and frankly i never intend to, it would seem a sort of blasphomy to befoul an instrument which has helped many inspired thinkers record their thoughts (even if it was just for homework and against their will).

well then that is i see a coputer keyboard. i haope you found it enlightening and that you will view this extraordinaraly common item in a different way now.

My Dogg

My dog has gott to to be my favorite part of my family. She is also my greatest achievement against my parents. This is because it took me 7 years to convince my parents to get me my little puppy is is currently one and a half years old. Her name is Arabella but we call her Bella for short. She is a pugle meaning her father was a pug and her mother was a beagle. She may look a little weird but she is one of the neatest breed there is. She is brown, golden and black, she has a straight black tail and a short nose with medium sized ears. Her favorite thing to do is destroy anything that might have stuffing. She is born killer and sleeper, and unfortunately digger of gardens. Although she can be a huge pain the times where shes asleep or tired or wants to sit with you make remember why you got a dog in the first place. There is nothing (no other word to use) cuter than seeing a dog fall asleep standing up and then fall on their face. In conclusion, I think my dog is one of the best things that I have ever gotten. And that if you arent allergic to dogs you should definitely get one yourself.

Holidays and Winter

Well...I'm not sure what to type about, so I'll just do Winter/Christmas/Holidays.
Descriptive in italics. (I'll try.)

I'm not sure if I like winter so much, but it is a pretty cool season I suppose. Snowdays and delays, who doesn't love those? Anyways, the snow flakes are always a good sign to us kids. It's wierd how we hope theres a blizzard, which is dangerous, just for the sake of getting out of school. I'm sure a lot of people think of winter as magical..but for me I just think it's a bitter cold season just trying to torment me...until Christmas comes around. I love Christmas, because it's the one day I can count on my family getting along. Seeing everyone's bright, warm smile is a rare thing at my moms house, so I try to make the most of the moment. Thankfully ther's an aftermath with Christmas, where everyone still feels happy about the day before, and are even more happy for the new year. A good part about winter is that, when it's not cloudy..well it usualy is but when its not, you can still see the sunrise and sunset with the crimson, bright yellow, pink, and orange colors. It's just nice to see it. My mom lives right near Hudson Valley college, and theres also the stadium there too. It's fun to stand outside and watch the fireworks every year on holidays, exploding in the air with sometimes blinding shine and loud, booming noises. All in all, I love the holidays and I can tolerate winter for the most part..the freezing temperatures that make your whole body tremble just annoys me, but other than that it's ok.

My Bedroom

My bedroom is SO cozy. The walls are pink with light green and light blue sponge painted on the pink. My bed is a canopy bed but i took off the canopy. My bed has a big fluffy pink and white comforter on it. Next to my bed is my teddy bear lamp and my pink alarm clock. Across from my bed is my big brown desk. The top of it has a palce where I can put pictures and the the pictures wont fall out because it has doors on it. Underneath that is a desk that opens out and three drawers underneath that. Next to my desk is my walk in closet and my window. My full lenght mirror is next to the walk in closet. My mirror is brown and it rotates up and down. My dresser is next to my mirror. It holds my clothes and on top of it is my small black TV. Also ontop of my dresser is my straighter and other stuff like that. My room is bigger than my brothers and I love it.

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball, one of the most amazingist sports around. There is so much intensity in a game its unbelievable, you need to have passion to play this sport. you put so much sweat, tears, and surprisingly blood. If you don't have a great team you can easily get beaten no matter how good you are. When you have a team you can Trust, love, and pretty much act like sisters with then you know nothing can stop you, and even when you do lose you know that you tried your hardest and so did your "sisters". They root for you when you serve, spike, dig and save the ball, they are there for you no matter what. When you play volleyball in a competitive game you have to be " in the groove". Because if your not then you cant pay attention, serve as good as you would, and spike the ball as hard as possible. Volleyball is a committed sport, its almost like you need to marry a volleyball and say i will be with you for the rest of my life. When you love Volleyball as much as my team does the next pre-season is very much anticipated. Volleyball is mostly the love of my life, without volleyball I would be lost, and I thank the person who told me I should.

My bedrooooooom.

My room is incredible. At least I think it is. The walls are a horried red that try to cover up the sky blue they once were. The body length mirrors on one of the walls are covered in smudged and faded lipstick love notes my friends leave me. I've got a few posters, random pictures, and the cove my bed is in has tons of pictures of my friends. Speaking of that cove. Oh how I love that cove. Yasee, there's this little cut out next to my closet that is like a little cubby/cave thingy that we put my bed in. And it's pretty dank cause it feels like you're secluded and have like complete privacy.The door has pictures my friend Emily has painted me while we watched/sang Hairspray on my living room floor. The carpet is the worst shade of blue/green you will ever see and has too many burn holes to count. And my room smell fabulous. Not just good, but fabulous. It's a combo of vanilla, mint, and Texas. And I'm sure you know what Texas smells like. My bedroom always seems to be cold too. I mean, not just chilly but the kind of cold where you need like three blankets to keep a normal body temperature. But that only goes on in the winter considering that one of the two windows I have is broken. And the other window is non-existant. It's just a rectangle cut out of my wall with some cheap plywood to keep out the cold. During the summer my room gets to be pretty darn hot. If you close the door and don't turn on a fan/A.C., my room is like a suana. Beside all the stupid temperature changes my room goes through. It's the neatest rooom ever. Not neat in the clean way, but neat in a cool way. I adore my room and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Stuff about me

My room is kind of a mess. My room is ont only messy but has its shares of holes in the wall and ceiling. theres are also a couple bad attemps at trying to cover them up. As for my house goes it is alot better looking then my room but for my house it is concidered an acomplishment if two things dont get broken in a day. But my house has light blue green walls with a leaf trim going arounde on the windows. Now in the addition it is just a place for me and my friends to hang out and talk, but mostly we just play guitar and other instruments up there. There are three guitars two of them are red and the other ones is black. There is also a nice drum set that is black and gray with gold symbols. Life is never dull though at my house sepecial with the people that are always arounde to make things funny. One thing though that is funny about my house is you can tell when my parents have decorated the house. It then changes into a place you could tell was decorated by kids.

Stuff

I live in Averill Park, about 2 miles from the middle school. My house is brown and kind of big. The only reason my house looks huge is because of the 3 car garage. My house has a sort of big backyard and a good hill for sledding down when it snows. Inside my house there is the family room, living room, dining room, kitchen, on the first floor. And on the second floor there is my room, my brother's room and my mom and dads room. And then theres a basement.......

In my family room there is a 52" TV that we just got yesterday, and a couch and a laptop. In the living room theres just a computer and 2 chairs. In the dining room theres a table, and in the kitchen theres another table (the one that we eat at) and a bunch of chairs, and a tv. (Not very exciting).

On the second floor, my room has a big bed, a 19" flatscreen comp, and a TV. In my brothers room there is an Xbox 360 (it's OURS but he uses it ALL the time, just kidding) and a TV and another big bed. In my moms room there is a huge bed, a bathroom, 2 dressers and a huge amount of empty space.


In the basement there is 3 TV's and and bunch of workout equipment things that are rarely used.

Thats it...

My story of fire

One day as I was sitting in my woods i said " Im gonna make a fire." so i did. It wasn't a really big fire it just caught to stuff and then got pretty big, but don't worry i had it under control, so I thought. The fire was so pretty and i couldn't put it out so i had to keep adding wood and stuff. Then I went way out of hand and i decided i wanted to through a spray paint can in the fire, i was like alright when i droped it in but then i realiezed before it blew up the i was in the deep dry woods. BOMB!! Uh-oh , it just caught to some trees and is now spreading, so i said to myself "I'm movin to Canada", but then i realized again that i hate canada, oh well i just burn it down too.

I ran on my bike to the train station in my backyard, and i climb to the top of a big red box car and I headed out for Canada. I went to the middle of the boring country in a big forest isolated from everyone and i cut down some trees with my awesome muscles and made myself a cabin, and i lived on a lake with fresh water, and fish, and i could hunt like a fox. So my life was good up there and i became a colorfull outdoors man.

One day when i was about 16, a bear came to my house and he became my friend, and we had tea together and talk about sports. So me and my Bear friend, Arnald hung out alot. Arnald was big and fuzzy, and ate other animals and humans just not me and whoever i tell him not to eat. Me and Arnald soon discoverd oil and we got rich and moved to Germany and then we took are money and we bought germany. So Arnald and I became the Dictators of Germany. We grew our Empire and we took over the world and became overlords, we owned everyone.

We have brought peace to earth and then we made space ships and took over the galexy, but that was easy because THERES NO OTHER LIFE.

The End

By the beutifull Jonathan R. Cretaro

My Bedroom

My bedroom is one of my favorite rooms!! It really reflects who I am. It is pink, my favorite color and most of the time it is completely unorganized. I have two average sized windows and two extremely small closets. My room is freezing cold in the winter because I keep my door shut to keep my dogs out, and in the summer my room is extremely hot because it is upstairs. I have a twin bed that always seems way too small because my dog shares it with me. On my bed there are two good sized pillows and two small throw pillows and there is a puffy white down comforter and a pink fluffy fleecy throw blanket. I have a small book shelf and two average size dressers. On one of my dressers has an extremely small television on it and there are MASSIVE amounts of clothing all over the place. My walls have an off-white wall paper with pink flowers all over it, and my carpet is also pink. I love the smell of my bedroom, but I don’t know how to describe it. It smells comforting. I always know that when I get home my room will be there in all its disgusting glory and my bed will be waiting for my every single night.

the bus ... AHHH!!!!!!

The ride in and out of school is very interesting when your ride the bus. Some days there are times were you are ahving alot of fun, when you want to shoot youself, or when your just looking out the window. Personaly the bus that I ride is all of the above. The bus is loud... very loud. If you had a head ache before you got on.. chances areits not going to go away anytime soon. Alot of people ride me bus... some of those people being Rebekah G., Jimmy W. his sister Steph , Larry and nicole perez , meagn v ( the only sane one there) and chris k. there are a TON more people who ride but if i continued, YOu would be the one who would want to shoot yourself. We have a really nice bus driver named Bill and a not so nice buss monitor named regina. lets just say some of us dont agree with her all that much. well all of us dont agree with her that much, but thasts a different story. Our bus smells, im not gonna lie. The worst case of the smell was when someone flatualed if you will and stunk up the buss. the smell reaqes all the time so dont think it was just that one time. People on my bus can be eather cruel to you, or nice to you. Theres really ni in between. Its kinda sad but i guess that just how it is. The bus had cliques, naturally. 6th gradersw stay with 6th graders. No i take that back. middle schoolers stay with middle schoolers and high schoolers stay with high schoolers, for the most part. For some reason people like my brother. Thats really scary. And then he tells high schoolers thing that arent true about me... and they believe him. It took forever for people to stop thinking I beat my brother. Yes my brother went that low and made that one up.. i dont beat my brother. I get made fun of alot on the bus. Like a couple years ago, people called me mark the crapping bald guy thinking it was funny ... but its not. And now, people think its funny to pluck my hair out... NOT FUNNYY!!!!! they say there saving up enough to make me a sock .. out of my hair!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!! According to the people on the buss ( cough cough jimmy w and chris cough cough ) i guess my voice is too high and very annoying. i cant help if my voice is high.. thats how god wanted me i guess. Yeah i get worked up about these things and get really annoid.. they think its funny. im very loud when it comes to these things. VERY loud. The bus is a very exiting place to be... well mine is anyway.

Snow

You know that feeling you get when the first snow comes? It's there for only a moment or two, but it's a feeling that you don't forget. Just the other day-- Saturday I think-- I had that very feeling...

I woke up at 7:00. I looked outside and at once, a smile spread over my face. I ran to the tree and turned on the lights. Then I sat on the couch and looked out the window for a few seconds. I turned on my mini tree and then the outside lights. I sat, curled up in the corner of the couch for a little while longer. I then noticed that Frosty, the inflatable snowman, was looking kind of dead. It was covered in snow and could not blow up: So, of course I crept into the garage, slipped on my cozy boots and coat, came back into the house, and tromped out the front door. I brushed the snow off of Frosty until my fingers were numb, and then turned to go back inside. When I came to the front porch, I turned around. I looked at the whole of my world for that moment. Then my mom knocked on the front window, smiling at how I did this, and smiling because she enjoyed my enjoyment. I yanked off my snowy boots and went inside to the warm atmosphere there. What a great way to begin December...

You know what's really fun? Well, a lot of things are, but here's one: Twirling around in the falling snow, almost until you fall down, letting the snow catch in your eyelashes, catching other snowflakes on your tongue...Spinning. Spinning. Spinning...The whole world is spinning... You're on the ground, but you're in the sky.

Winter Wonderland

SENEY'S RESPONSE

Come December, I anticipate the snow coming down flowing swiftly to the ground. I wait by the window so anxiously, with my nose practically on it. I feel the cool chill from the frosted window go through my body. I smell the sweet aroma of my mother's pies that were just taken out of the oven. The aroma picks me up and sprinkles me with sweetness.

Then, out of nowhere, I spot a snowflake. Flowing so innocently, no place to go but down, down...
My mother calls to me to come set the table. I try to block out everything as to spare the moment of winter's beauty. She yells once more, and I get up almost wishing I could pause what I've seen. I rush into the kitchen, clanking dishes as I try to hurry. I'm done. I run back into the living room, and what I see fascinates me. Once I walked into the room, the clouds let lose all of its contents. The snow flowing so vigoriously down like bullets from a gun. It amazes me how something so simple like snow can almost tell a story. In the beginning, the single, crisp snowflake, and now the bustle of hundreds. I run to the door in sheer excitement. I run outside in my socks and try to catch every snowflake that comes to me. It's crisp and frigid outside, but I feel so refreshed by the air. I run around, frolocking and kicking the snow as I go. I want the moment to last forever, with no worries tearing me down.

to be continued...

Winter is my favorite season. One reason for that is my birthday is december 9th :]... but there are alot of other reasons too. Snow is my absolute favorite type of precipitation. I love to look outside and just see white. The first day that it snowed, I was so excited oh my gosh!!!!!! I like to look outside the window when its snowing, and it's dark out. If you look up it feels like your falling. This season is also the wonderful holiday season. I love it when you can just feel it in the air. Also, everyone is just happy around this time of year, and everyone is in such a giving mood its crazy! Another thing I love is the FOOD. Now I love food on a regular day but the food at the holidays is 7895785 times better. It's great to be hanging around with the whole family, since it's not that often that I get to see everyone. There is only 19 days left until christmas ( and 3 days until my birthday ) so you better be good because santa will be here very soon. (:

The "mystery" man (har dihar har har)

Note: three people in Block 6's advanced class will find this totally hilarious. Please, do not give away who I'm talking about because I may have to shun you in Art. :]

(descriptions in pinkish)

The mystery man is someone that some people have seen around and have commented on his short, but obviously adventurous and daring choice of hair. It's a beautiful bond of blond meets black (and not Boy Meets World... kidding) with a weird wave-ish look to it, despite the fact that it's about an inch and a half off of his head. He has an artistic stubble of hair that's not quite a beard but not quite unshaved, with his natural black hair color. He's a bit shorter than most average kids his age but his lustful looks make up for his lack of altitude. His voice sounds like a thousand angels mumbling under their breath in a soft, low tone that any other gentlemen would tip his hat to jealously.

His love for the "I wish I was a little bar of soap, I wish I was a little bar of soap, So I could slippy and a slidey down everybody's hynie, I wish I was a little bar of soap" song would make a kid in a candy store seem like a metaphor of the past. And his artistic ability, my gosh. The way he draws is so beautiful and so crisp that Vincent Vangoh would be jealous. The way he paints is perfect and he looks so concentrated, relaxed, and focused all at the same time.

The boy is a walking Oreo--a treat everyone would love to have, if they could just get the nerve to ask for money to go and buy one for themselves... or "borrow" one from their best friend (of course, the best friend will not get their Oreo back unless they want it covered and disoriented by stomach acid and body fluids).

Christmas

Christmas is my favorite holiday and it is almost here. We always decorate my house inside and outside. We also put up our tree and decorate it every year. We actually just put it up last saturday and decorated it.I like how the tree gives the room that outdoors and great smell.
My favorite decoration is this blow up thing that is a carasal with reindeer and the christmas characters with them.But when you go outside to put it up along with the other decorations it is freezing . Also my brother put up our lights on our house when he came home from college last week. Then we have these candy cane light up things in our front yard along with another blow up thing that is pooh-bear dressed as Santa. We also have lights on our little trees outside too. Also, on our tree it is filled with colors, of blue, red, green, white, yellow, and many other colors too. They mostly come from the lights but their are plenty of color from the decorations my brothers, sister and I made from elementary school. Also, on Christmas eve we always go to my aunts house and exchange presents and have dinner their. But before then we usually go to my grandmas and exchange presents there too. Then we usually get up early and open presents Christmas day. After that we invite alot of our family over for dinner. I also love the smell of the cookies cooking and dinner being made. Then the candy canes taste great and sweet

Christmas Time

I love the Christmas Season! I love christmas time because most people are happy and nice during Christmas time. I think its a proven fact because I think I read it somewhere, but who knows for sure. People are generous during Christmas time too, I know that whenever i walk buy a salvation army bell ringer i give money even if its only 50 cents. I also like putting up my christmas tree with my family, which isn't a real one by the way because my family has allergies, but i don't. I like putting together the tree and putting ornaments on with my family while we listen to Christmas music. At the same time my brother and i argue over who put the angel on top of the tree last year and who gets to put in up this year. It's all part of the fun! I also love playing in the snow, although my brother has lacked enthusiasm over the years as i have been forced to drag him outside to play with shadow, our dog, and myself. I feel anxious and excited when hearing the "jingle-jangle. jingle-jangle." of the bells on my doggy's furry, red and white Christmas colar as he charges in the snow to find where I am. there is so much more excitement in christmas time but not enough time to tell you =)

The house was big, not huge but big. It had five bed rooms, a parlor, a sitting room, an entertainment room, a study, a basement, a kitchen, and a cathedral ceiling entrance. The house was once filled, but now is empty. The house does have furniture, but still is empty. The house was once alive with people, and emotion, but now is dead. The lawns once freshly cut on a regular basis, now a desert of waste. The pool, untouched for soo long, the tennis courts mangled with the sludge of the elements. The deck was once nice, but nothing was to be seen of it now. The eeriness grew with each passing second. Everything was scentless, unlike anywhere you would ever go. To touch the walls made you feel like you shouldn't have. It seemed that you could have explored the house for soo long, and get lost within its walls. Although I was too bashful to ask, there was a feeling that something bad had happened to those who once lived in the house. As I drove away I had been burdened with a feeling. A feeling that it was a mistake in coming, the house was scary. The great house was once a home, I could never have known.

- KYLE G.!!!

My House

I live on Main Street in Poestenkill. I have a big house, I would say. My house is mainly blue but there are parts that are white still. My house is getting new windows, siding, roofing, and some doors are being changed too. In my house there are sixteen rooms. There is an upstairs, downstairs, and cellar. In the upstairs there is a small empty room, which is blue. Next to it is my sister Nicole's room, which is white. Next to her room is a bathroom. The bathroom is made up of all wood. Then there is my sister's room, Heather. Heather's room is white with a tiger carpet. Connecting my sister's rooms and the empty room there is another hallway with stairs leading downstairs. Then there is a hall downstairs leading to the dining room. Next to the downstairs hall there is my parent's bedroom. Next to the dining room there is a kitchen. After you go past the dining room there is a living room. Next to the living is three rooms. One is the laundry room which also has a bathroom. Next to that is the utility closet and my room. My room is all blue. After the living room, there is the final room. That room is the Family room. In the family room there is a door that leads to another hall, which goes down to the cellar.

There is a door in the family room and the hall downstairs that are being replaced. All of the windows in my house but, the family rooms and living rooms were replaced. All of the floors in my house are hardwood. After my house there is also an apartment that my family owns(they are the landlords). In the apartment there are two bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two other rooms. My house also has a big backyard. There is also a side yard(2 of them), and a front yard. In the driveway there are four vehicles. My sister, Heather's, my sister, Nicole's, my mothers, and my fathers. On our land we have a garage.

My slightly different cat

Okay, so I have this cat named Willow. We've had him for around 2-3 years. He has a really sweet personality as far as cats are go and often I come home from school to find him sleeping on my bed very ready to cuddle. He has a petite build with silvery gray hair and neon-green eyes. He doesn't smell very nice all the time. Sometimes I think we should give him baths instead of him trying to do it.

Something happened to him not last winter, but the winter before that. He went out hunting like normal on night and didn't come back for about 6 days - that's not normal. It was probably the coldest stretch of that whole winter. It was bitter out. My younger sister and I had gone out and looked for him while he was gone but couldn't find him. It was sad. We thought he was dead. He meant allot to us - it's rare to find a cat who gets excited when you come home and sometimes just sits there meowing until you come and cuddle him.

When he came back, there was much rejoicing. I was gone when it happened but apparently he just poked his little gray head in the window and meowed his high little meow and came in. There was just one thing - he came in limping. In his front left paw (when you're looking at him from the front) paw, there were two identical bloody holes that looked pretty deep. His leg was also bent at a weird and slightly unnatural angle.

After many trips to the vet, we were able to make the assumption that Willow had been attacked and bitten - it was an answer to our many prayers that he was alive! The bight had punctured a bone and damaged a nerve so that the paw simply died. Talk about gross! The paw just hung there, slowly rotting with no feeling at all! We had to have it amputated in order to save our beloved feline.

That's right - I have a three legged cat. He is a wonder cat! He still kills birds, climbs trees and leaves us presents on our sidewalk. Our neighbors (who have a hobby of bird-watching) bought us bells for his collar to help him stop killing birds! I love him and am so grateful to God that he is alive. He is such a comfort when I'm digging my way through Earth Science Homework.

my living room =]

During the Christmas time my living room is the center of all the bustle in my house. Everyone gets together to watch the classic Christmas shows [Rudolph,Frosty], to wrap presents and to sit by the fire. My favorite time is when the fireplace is roaring with the screen on, the tree is lit, twinkling, some of my mom's little holiday lights are lit, casting their shadows on the honey colored wall and I have a huge,latte cup full of my secret hot coco.I just sit there by myself with the lights and fire and coco. The light casted by all those lights is so warm and soft and homely. It's a photographer's dream. And then if it starts snowing.. that just makes life so much better. But if I walk outside and catch a snowflake so crisp,cold,beautiful and awe inspiring. Even better is down the street there's a powerline that reaches from Albany to Massachusets. When snow falls on these powerful wires they make a buzz. This buzz is not the annoying buzz of a fly in your ear but rather the spft buzz of a bumble bee bouncing from flower to flower. I just abour adore the Christmas season. I take pictures like mad crazy. So this year is my dream. I love it alot. Like alot alot. And I just love it and the shadows on the snow and the foot prints left by little creatures. AH! <3333

The beach

Hmmm... What to write about?????? Well, I guess I'll write about one of my favorite places to be; the beach. I love the beach, and everything about it. Especially at sunset...

You walk along the sand, as the yellow-red of the sun makes shadows over the dunes. They appear to be watching you, as you take your stroll. The sand feels warm, still hanging on to the heat of the day. It warms your feet, and massages them as it caresses between your toes. It is soft, until you reach the water's edge. Then the rough sandpaper slime of the seaweed nips at the bottom of your feet. The shining water is beckoning you, calling you forth to the shallow sweetness, gently sloping to the never ending depths of the black hole below. You walk forth, to touch the chill of the evening tide. It is not uncomfortably cold, but it is like the rain that falls in the late spring, before the sweltering heat of the summer engulfs the world. It is quiet. The only sounds are the gentle sloshing of the waves, eating away the sand on the shore, and the obnoxious yells of the seagulls, as they fight over one insignificant piece of marine life. The wind blows, you hear the rustle of the dry sea-grass. it seems to be wispering to you, a gentle reminder that there is something more than life onshore.

Detailed writing assignment thing!!

My family does crazy things during this holiday season. My mom decorates the house with Christmas decorations when its the first week of November. Thenon the day after Thanksgiving my family goes out and gets our Chritmas tree. We get up very early, before the sun rises and it's still pitch black outside, and decorate it the next day. After this we bake Christmas cookies. My great great grandma passed down this secret recipe that is so good that it makes your mouth start to water just thinking about it. After the cookies bake we put brightly colored sprinkles on them. Then on Christmas eve we visit all of my family that live close enough. Then after a long and very boring visit we go to church which is also long and boring but very important to my family and myself. Then on Christmas day we get up, at about two o'clock in the morning when even the mean and dangerous chickens that live outside are asleep, and run as fast as we can downstairs to open presents. Then mom makes a Delicious breakfast. You can smell the delicious aroma of the cooking all the way outside. She always makes the best bacon in the world on Christmas day. Its crisp and doesn't have too much grease on it so it tastes absolutely delightful. Then if there is snow on the ground we go slay riding down the sleek snow top of our huge hill that we own. I love to feel the cold and fluffy snow on my face as I fly past everything on my sled. I think that the Christmas holiday is the best. It makes you feel all warm inside knowing that there is something fun and exciting just around the bend waiting for you to come and be a part of it.

~Chelsea

This is a very hard topic to write about. So many things are interesting, and details are bountiful. Ideas flow from my head like fruit from a cornicopia. And emotions from these ideas slide down my consciousness like a a mudslide. See, ive already added plentuful detail to my not knowing of what to write.

Perhaps i will write about gum, since i am chewing some right now. I could tell you of its flawvor, its texture, the aroma, and even what brand it is. Or maybe ill tell you about the fabulous game of airsoft, a sport hailed as a way to relieve trigger-happy impulses around the world. Yes, i think i will.

The first time i heard about airsoft was from my friends Peter Keller and Andrew Kowal. Andrew had recently gotten one nad so had Peter. After a while, hype began to build as it was supposed to be extremely fun and more realistsic than a war video game. Newer and better models were aquired by my friends and people got more excited.

A day passed. A few days passed. A week passed. A few weeks past. Slowly, i had show interest in this new topic, as one of conversation and intellectual thought. I inquired as to what they were, and how they worked. Apparently, a spring in the "gun" pulls back and launches a 6mm pellet at high speeds. The better the gun, the faster and longer the shot became. Of course, airsoft is completely safe, and from the research that i did, the pellets only give off 1 joule of kinetic energy, as opposed to the 12 joules given off by a paintball.

So, i looked around and found a website that sells these wonders, airsplat.com. i sifted through the pages of meaningless blather including add-ons, mods, and throat mikes, and found what i was looking for. The WELL L96 AWP Spring Airsoft Sniper Rifle. All black and mostly metal, weighing in at twelve pounds, this puppy is a behemoth in the airsoft world. A metal bipod supports your aim, and the 3x-9x scope allows for miraculous headshots. In the scope, large and clearly visible crosshairs aid in target aquisition, which im sure ill need. The perfect airsoft rifle in existance. Well, probably not but, plenty powerful enough to break your nose at medium range. With 500 fps, thats feet per second for you non-airsofters out there, it would get to my target in a half a second, since the maximum range is 250 feet. That may seem like a short range, but it is very good for airsoft. In fact, some believe it to be a tiny god of sorts, one which shall guide your aim, so that you may strike true. I have named it the Gossamer, which is a non-temporal spirit, but with the ability to interact with things on the material plane.

As with all sports that revolve around shooting each other, the neccesity for safety is ever present. That is why i purchased a WELL face mask, made by the same company as the rifle. Perfect for sniping, the goggles are thin but durable, allowing me to get my eye close to the scope. Patented sniper gloves keep your hands warm in the winter months, (exactly when ill be playing this since im going to get all of this for Christmas), but still keep the ability of fine touch, good for my job in the squad. A Tactical Vest housing my back-up fire arm, the UHC Ruger P89 Spring Airsoft Gun, a pistol with 280 fps and 26 rounds, and an ammo case. The vest is black, and has many mag slots for various types of clips. However, since i have only one clip, which i would re-fill when its empty, i needed a place hold ammo. Thats why i decided to get the ammo case, a square atachment that would go onto the back of my vest, which is MOLLE (pronounced Molly) compatible. MOLLE is the military name for the modular armor and load-bearing equipment.

Well, i think that i have been very descriptive in my decsribing of my ecounter with Airsoft. I will be getting all of this on Christmas, and soon afterward i will be able to start gunning down my friends and performing advanced squad tactics. That is, if i dont shoot myself before that.
Neil signing off.

Writing Exercise

In my house, dwells a magnificent creature. This being has a head of cascading blonde hair, which just misses the shoulders. If you view this life form from the front, below the hair you'll see two Sapphire drops of perfection which radiates the color of an azul Caribbean sea as he peers out across the looming countryside. He sports a nose of perfect angles, and lips of lustrous wonder. He possess' the build that the gods only hope to obtain. A beautiful pale complexion intrigues even the most jaded fans of perfection. He walks a confident and comfortable stride as he works toward success. He has the undeniable intelligence of a PHD certified astrophysicist and the personality of a saint. Never has there been such a divine being gracing the earth with his presence. The ground he walks on is instantly glorified and made holy. Legions of women and assorted men worship his path. The name alone is sacred: Peter Keller. (Note: THIS IS SIMPLY AN EXERCISE. THE AUTHOR IS BY NO MEANS THIS CONCEDED.) With mucho love
Peter Keller

My Bedroom

The walls of my bedroom are the colors of dark purple and a warm gold. The top half is purple, and the bottom half is gold. I have a large bed up against the back wall that has a smooth white net canopy over it. The comforter is purple with flowers and very fluffy. I have a white desk with a computer, and a small table next to that with my slow, noisy, old printer. I have a white bookshelf with my new iPod base and the books that are important to me, and my music books along with my alto saxophone under the big shelf. I have a white night-stand next to my bed, and a large wooden armoire that hold my clothes. My closet is on the other side of my bed.

~Madeline

Writing Excercise #1

My favorite place to go to is a certain spot in my yard. There is this one tree that is huge and kind of branches off into two trees. It's big and brown with a ton of really deep green leaves on it. It looks over my driveway on one side and my yard on the other, but is still hidden by the other trees around it. I can see past my driveway, into the woods and can see part of my neighbor's house. The other way I can see my house, my screen house, the dog fence, and part of my other neighbor's house. It's kind of hard to explain, unless you've been to my house. I love this spot because there is this one branch that is low enough to the ground so I can sit on it and let my feet hang off. It's just long enough for mybe two people to fit and there are branches above it that would be good for climbing. I used to go there all the time when I was younger, but not so much anymore, which I regret. I used to go and just sit and think, or write-I got some really good ideas from that spot. My two cousins, little sister and I built a "tree fort" on it a couple of years ago, so now there are two planks of wood (from a fence) on the branches. One plank is laid across the branch that I used to sit on and the other is angled on the ground to hold the first one up. When it snows in the winter the tree gets really pretty, with sparkling white snow all over the branches, except for that one branch that I use for sitting. I think I will have to go back there today to fix the fort which finally fell down (we thought it would fall down a week after we made it-it's not very stable).

My favorite season is winter. I really like winter because of the snow. I love waking up in the morning in a warm bed and looking out my window and seeing white. The trees,ground and road are all just covered in a blanket of snow. Then when the sun comes out it makes the snow sparkle. Its so pretty. When I go outside the cold air hits my face and its refreshing. The white fluffy snow is just so much fun to tromp around in. Then after being outside in the cold, it feels sooo good come into a warm house. Since it is also Christmas time someone is always baking so when I enter the house all I smell is cookies or some other time of treat. When I smell the evergreen and hear the Christmas music playing softly in the background and see the snow outside it really puts me in a good mood. During the holiday season I can never be in a bad mood, but if I am, I can never stay that way for that long. =]

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, my family has many traditions. My dad and I go to the noisy, crowded mall to finish our last minute Christmas shopping. We have to hury throught the mall so that I have time to wrap all of the presents, big and small, that we bought. Sometimes, I have to be creative to wrap the uniquely shaped presents. After a yummy, but quick dinner, we light the sweet smelling bayberry candle for good luck. Then we rush off to the Christmas service. I am usually in the short pageant with the cute children. Towards the middle of the service, everyone lights the little, "handhleld" candle that they have and we sing silent night. It is beautiful. We go home in the cold and hang up our stockings that we've always had. Then my Dad and I read The Night Before Christmas from a large, old book. I put the intriguing Christmas presents from my grandparents under the tree and try to sleep and wait for Christmas day.

Christmas

Christmas is an awesome time of the year. I mean,...you get presents, and there id great food. i love seeing my family, especially my new baby cousin, who is 11 months old. I am good at baby sitting, so I have to baby-sit him while the rest of my family is doing other stuff. My favorite picture is Christmas morning because there are so many colors. there are the colors of the trees and lights, the colors of the presents, and the wrapping paper, the color of the family room, and the color of everyone's clothes. Also, I love sitting at the kitchen table and seeing everyone scurrying around, trying to get the Dinner ready before everyone else complains about how hungry they are. and of course, it is awesome seeing all of the colors of the food on the table. the red of the Ham, the green of the esparagus, the yellow of the corn, the white of the potatoes. And of course, the deserts. The brown of brownies, white of the vanilla ice cream and so much more. And of course, the temperature change, it is always hot in the kitchen, warm in all the other rooms, and cold in the cellar. I always have to run down to the cellar to get all the frozen foods, or re-park the cars, or see if it is still snowing. i always have to see if it is still snowing. After i get back in the house, i have to go to my room and change clothes.

Peace To The World,
Christian

At twelve o'clock I lay in bed and stared out the window. From high above, the moon shone out from upon the clear, icy, celestial emptieness, and in through my window. It was a great, bright disc, usually silver, but on this summer night it was tinted with a pale, glden-orange. I loved it's color, and the way it shone over the earth and with it's rays, bathed everthing it touched in a whitish glow, and in their absence, created black shadows. But even these shone, somehow. It's radiance attracted me, fascinated me, and left me staring at it, hypnotized. I was drawn to it. Slowly, quietly, I slipped out of bed, letting my feet drop to the soft rug. Like a ghost, I walked through the hallways of my darkened home, and eased open the door to the screen porch. I walked out and stood upon the wet grass, breathing in the night.

my room

I would describe my room as a blue room with three average sized windows and two closets. I have a wooden, queen sized loft bed with a black futon couch and my laptop under it. There is also a bulitin board that is part of the loft bed were i keep picture and tickets from places i have gone. I have shelves with little statues, mostly of dolphins, on them and a dresser which is placed in an indent in the wall, were i keep the statues that hold candles. There is also a black, foldable landry hamper were i keep all of the dirty close but the clean close iare usaully in a chair or on the ground. Personaly, i think my room smells the best in the house because i dont let any of the pet in it. i also like were my room is in the house because its right over the heater and airconditioner, so in the winter its warm and in the summer it is cool. Its also on the west side of the house so when the sun rises i dont see it there for i can sleep in with out being disterbed, although it isannoying in the after noon because the sun is very bright and always tries to blind me when i walk into my room.

Window Pane -- Warning! Old blog that somehow never got posted!!

Cool, refreshing is the glass against my cheek, my nose
As I press my vigilant visage to the pane.
A deep, dancing blue that is reflected in my eyes,
And which my eyes reflect to the sky.
A sweet, swirling solid mist of darkness that ripples and whirls,
Foams and curls, twists and twirls.
And each sharp blade of grass pierces my eye
But together they create soft, gentle, rolling hills
That taste so sweet to my body.
And each flower is a color of feeling, of emotion,
Orange, yellow, blue,
Wild, happy, sad.
A tree stands tall,
Tall and strong,
Its leaves dancing lightly in the breeze.
Outside is inside,
Inside is outside,
I am the window pane.
My window painted me.

Writing exercise 1

My room is the best place in my house...accept the garage.....When people walk into my room they usually get cold because I keep my window open 24/7 because I like the fresh air to be in my room, also at night i listen for coyotes which i can usualyl see from my window. My dog and I both sleep in my bedroom so sometimes it smells like my dog but that's not a bad smell it usually goes away because my window is open...the smell usual takes longer to go away if my dog was passing gas that night...My walls are sponged light and dark blue.. with posters and pictures all over the walls...on one wall there is more posters and pictures than there is visable wall. my window faceses the woods in the back of my house...so somtimes me and some friends will be four wheelin, burning stuff, or wrking on a zipline, etc., and I will go inside for a little while go up to my window and start shooting at them with my pantball gun....this usaly leads to a paintball war the next day. It is also good that my window faces the woods becasue i can sit on the edge of my window that is upstairs and i can look out for turkeys, cyote or dear.

lasly i would like to say about my room is it is an AWSOME sleeping area. I sleep really good in my bedroom and if yu cant sleep good in your BEDroom what is the point in having a BEDroom?

Christmas

I love the Holiday christmas. It is a time where families come together and spend time together. It is a time of good food and gift giving. It is a great time off school. You can just it home and relax, and do whatever you want. I also love the snow. I love what it does to the ground it makes it into a new kind of landscape. I also love the christmas tree. With all the lights and ornaments it is just cool looking. Nothing is better though than comming downstairs in the morning and seeing all the presents from Santa =]. Although i dont get may anymore because the stuff i want are so expensive it is still really cool. The best part about Christmas has to be family though. I get to see family member i some times dont get to see for a few years, depending on how the plans for the holidays go. I just lo0ve everything about the holiday season, everything is so cool looking at is a time of joy.

Every year i look forward to putting up my families christmas tree. We used to get a real tree every year but now we have an artificial christmas tree. I like real christmas trees more becuase i love the the distinctive scent and glow of a real tree. My mom trys to compramise with me by buying yankee candle tree scent but its not nearly the same. Still i love out christmas tree. The tree is now so full of ornaments you are lucky to see any of the tree. My favorite ornament is my orange MM. I also love our angle. he is sopposed to be a bad angle and he has a sling shot and a black eye. i also love how our christmas tree take up room in our living room so the entire room is more crowded. i guess it just feels more homey to me and i love the glow the christmas tree glows. i think just the mood a christmas tree sets is something i enjoy. I love on christmas eve when its cold outside and out living room is filled with warmth from the crackling. I guess christmas time is my favorite time of year becuase of all the decoration and traditions. I also love all the small details that briong everyone together. I can't wait for christmas.

Writing 1

Walking out onto the dark green turf, eying the enemy. Feeling the rough texture of the ground. The smell of rubber engulfs you and the tempature of half freezing chills you to the bone. Walking to the assignes postion you get your mental focus together. Your stance is of that of a bull ready to charge at your target. As the colorless overlooker strolls onto the arena your wait, heart pounding, legs flexing for the sound. The simple sound that starts a battle over the weapon. Your enemy stands confident in their colors and in vainity. As the sound blows the battle commences, sudden rush of adrenaline rushes your legs and your thoughts race. Like a simphony of brush strokes and spinning colors, your team weaves the black and white weapon in and out of the enemy.
Panic rushes the enemy at the sight of your team and they retreat to defend their precious goal. Thoughts racing, legs moving, the voice of your teammate echos in the stadium, the pass comes at high speed and in the last second your shut down by the fowl smelling keeper of their goal. Acting instinctivly, your legs dig into the turf, running backwards to try and retrive what was lost. At this moment perspertation is layering your skin to make an oder and the taste of salt touches your lips and your body tempature is increacing. Then your leader beckens you to the safety. Another teammate takes your place. As you sit you think. Thoughts about the most powerful enemy and how to defete them pounds into your head. You throut burns with the longing for liquid. As you reach into your torn, oder stained bag you grab the liquid of revival. The taste is that of cold ice, colorless in form and the liquid slips down your parched neck.
The battle carries on and the stadium seems to get colder as the time runs out. Each side is straining for energy and the color of their face is drained as the final bell rang.

My Powerful Lunchbox

Today, I am going to discuss the amazing "powers" of my Superman Lunchbox. It is a tin lunchbox that I recently got in New York City. It is relatively small and has the red superman logo on the front and the back. The frontal Superman symbol is slightly three demensional and sort of "pops out". The majority of the lunchbox is blue, but there is a little bit of green near the logos. There is a navy blue handle. On the sides of the lunchbox there is a small white figure representing Superman. On the bottom it says "SUPERMAN" in big bold dark blue letters outlined in red. There is an effect on the lunchbox to make it look vintige due to the little scartches thoughtout it. But, despite this look, the lunchbox feels completely smooth because it is tin. The inside is silver and always smells like prestles, apples, cookies, and my sandwhich of the day. The hinges are silver too, including with the hinge that actaully opens the lunchbox. The opener makes a snapping sound when shut. My lunchbox itself makes a loud sound when dropped on the ground (like yesterday in Geometry class when everone jumped in their seats startled from the noise). I would never taste my lunchbox, but the things inside it are always dilicious! I really like my lunchbox because I wish I was Superman, or Superwoman...I want to save the world, with my lunchbox by my side.

Thingy

My room is very cool. It is medium size I think. I like it very much it is sweet. It has many things in it, it has a bed a TV that only works for movie and a radio/cd/casset player. That let me chill and sleep in it I like it a lot. I think my room smells, it smells like chocolate stuff. My room also has a bed with covers that are sweet looking. My room also has a clothing drawer that has clothes in it that is made of wood.

christmas

Christmas is in 19 days. My family and I always decorate our tree. This year our tree is tall and fat. My mom and I always decorate a gingerbread house. The gingerbread house is all colorful the roof has skittles, and stars, and gumballs of pink, purple, blue, orange, yellow, red, and green. We put snow on top of the house to make it look more realistic. the house is the size of a toaster. I usually make cookies with my mom and her friend but this year im not going to be able to all my days are booked. I told my mom to bring me back cookie dough! We usually make stars, ginerbreads, candycanes, and bark that we put frosting and sprinkles on.Tonight im going to see TSO (Transsiberian Orchestra) with my dad and my cousin Charlie. Im excited because people said the light show was really good and colorful. On christmas moring i wake up at 7 and open presents with my mom and dad. Then at like 9:30 we go over to my grandmas house and my aunts uncles and cousins are there. We get to open more presents and eat quiche! It's the best food ever and i only get it twice a year. Theres ham, egg, chesse, and sausage in it. YUM!

Kristin.<3

Christmas (writing excircise)

My favorite time of the year is Christmas time. I love being with my family and seeing everybody that comes up from South Carolina. I love the delicious smell of the ham coming fresh out of the oven and all of the desserts being made. Even though sometimes there is a strong blizzard or it is extremely cold outside you would never know it by the warmth and love inside the house. My favorite part of Christmas time is seeing both sides of my family. On Christmas eve I always gather with my moms side of the family and we exchange gifts and eat dinner. Also, we all play games together and have a good time. Then, on Christmas day we go over to my aunts house on my dads side. We always have a huge dinner with so many delicious foods and desserts, but of course not untill after we open all of our wonderfull presents!! All of the kids usually play with their gifts or just hang out. All of the parents hang out and talk to each other. One year when it was really bad outside and it was snowing really hard some of the people that were coming from far away would stay and sleep over and have a good breakfast in the morning. All of these things are tradition every year. Very rarely do we change what we do on Christmas, and I love that!!

CliQuEs

I apologize for this being so very late.

Cliques are a part of everything everywhere whether we realize it or not. In school the cliques are easy to see. In the workplace, there are groups based on not only what a worker specialty is, but also there gender and just friendship. I am not sure of how others view me, so I don’t really know if I am part of a clique or not. I hope that I fit into many different groups. I feel like I have manly different friends. Unfortunately, I do judge people based on what group they hang out with, unless I specifically know the person. I have been trying very hard lately not to judge though. But I find myself looking at a person, and who they hang out with and judging them and then realizing that that person is nothing like how they first seemed or how they were acting with a certain group. Everyone will act differently with different people. I know that I act very shy around teachers or classmates that I don’t know very well, but around my friends I am crazy and laughing. So, judging people by who they hang out with and how they act with those people can be very misleading. One can never really know the true colors of someone without spending great amount of time with them. I don’t even know everything about my friends. So, in reference to the question, Is stereotyping ever good?, obviously I would say no, but I would also say that is worthless. One can spend all of their time looking at a person who might dress strange or hang out with the “geeks”, and never realize that this person is the best listener or the greatest artist or musician.

I don’t find myself judged incorrectly by my friends, I hope!!! However, I do think that courage is an awesome trait to have. With courage one can do anything and be friends with anyone. Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of courage, but I’m working on it. I find myself shy some days and going up to people I’d usually would be too scared to the next day. I thank my friend Stephanie for this as she has opened my eyes to the greatness of certain people. She has also increased my courage level by encouraging me to talk to certain people. Although we do judge people a little, as everyone does, she has made me think about not judging just by talking to me about how her sister can be judgmental sometimes. She also accepts anyone and encourages me (without realizing it) to talk to these people also. (Thanks Steph!!!)

So, I really have been thinking lately about how I treat others. My friends have opened my eyes in both good and bad ways.

Traditions and Family Values

Good morning (or afternoon) students of English!

Today I want you to think about traditions and family values. We are going to read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "Thanksgiving in Polynesia" soon-ish and we will be discussing these issues.

I want you to consider these questions. What are traditions? What do they mean to a family? To a specific society? Are they important? Do we tend to follow them without questioning them? What tends to make us question them? Does your family have any traditions (for holidays, birthdays)? What are they? Do our traditions tend to show our family values? If so, what? If not, why not?

Enjoy!
Mrs. Gaboury

Please post as a comment, not a new post.

Freaks and Geeks

In high school, whatever you clique you "belong" to is prettymuch who you are and will ever be to other kids. It determines where you sit at lunch and who you're friends with to everyone else who is not "part" of that clique. Cliques can impact how peope view you, as a person, in high school and beyond. I'm sure almost everyone belongs to a clique. I know I do.And every clique seems to have it's own symbol or maskot. It's weird how we can associate an entire group of people with just one object, image, or word. I don't believe that I have ever judged a person by the friends they have or who they hang out with. It's not my thing. I judge a person by their personality and attitude. I don't think that stereotyping has ever and will be good. It's a problem more than anything. Stereotyping hurts people and effects how they think about themselves and others around them.
My friends don't judge me at all, that's why I'm friends with them. Because they like me for who I am and not what I stand for or am viewed as. I look at the "ggek" group and think to myself "Wow, I really admire these kids. They take so much crap from everyone else but they keep on going and brush it off." I kind of look up to them. When someone says something about/to me, I flip. I get angry and can't handle it. But those kids just take it in stride and let it go.
I'm not too sure on who I consider my role model. But whoever it is would have to be strong willed, out going, funny, and is able to take a joke.

Jon Cretaro's family traditions

Traditions are what brings families together on whatever holiday, they are when people seem to do something every time something important to them happens. They usually mean allot to families and are really important, because if a family forgets to do one of their traditions it could be really sad and they could miss awesome stuff. My family does have some traditions like we always have dinner together on thanks giving and we always are together for Christmas, but this year that wont happen, my older brother Jordan is a United States Marine and is not aloud to return home because he will be on duty so thats a few let downs but oh well, he will be back soon, around June and i haven't seen him since July. Traditions do show family values like how much everyone means to one another and how much they all love each other, so traditions are what really makes a family closer

Cliques + Courage

I'm not part of any clique exclusively, I hang out with whoever I choose to. I also try to judge a person on their personality and character, not who they're friends with. My only wish is that everyone would extend the same courtesy to me, that they do not stereotype me by the people I hang out with or the way I look. Though, this is often exactly what happens. People assume that because I dyed my hair that I must do drugs, that is like saying that just because you're a republican you're political views are intelligent, it is just not true. In fact when making assumptions like these they are often times the opposite of the truth. People make these assumptions because they want to be able to put you in a box that they can understand, rather than try to understand, or even accept, the person you are.

I believe that there are many definitions of true courage, that different people have different definitions. My definition of courage is doing the right thing even when it is hard to do. This is one reason I admire my sister. Throughout her two years at APHS my sister was harassed by certain teachers because of the way she looked and her non-conformist attitude. While most people would have been worn away by this harassment, my sister didn't change to these teachers' ideas of what a student should look like and how they should act. She stuck through for two years of high school until she and my family finally came to the conclusion that she should get her GED. My sister did this and also took a college art class. Such a path might have been looked down upon by many, but I believe that this was the right thing to do in my sister's case. Also, because this path is looked down upon I believe it took courage for my sister to do this knowing she would be judged and stereotyped for it, and that it was a far better choice than letting some tyrannical teacher tell her who to be.

Freeks and Geeks and True Courage

Hello all!
This week in light of one class reading Stargirl and two classes completing To Kill a Mockingbird, we are going to talk about our ideas about cliques and courage.

What role do cliques play in socializing/education (high school) and the rest of your life? Do you consider yourself a part of a clique? Do you judge people by the people they hang out with? Are there certain symbols for different cliques? Is steroetyping ever good?

What does 'courage' have to do with every day living? Do you find yourself judged incorrectly by your friends, activities,religion, polititical stance? Do you look at some groups or individuals and look up to them because they do not follow 'the road most taken'?

Who is your role model? Why?

Enjoy!
Mrs. Gaboury

PS Please respond as your own post. Feel free to comment on other's post--politely and so that no one feels attacked. This is a writing/sharing forum. Do not become The Silencer. Encourage the voices of your peers. If not you, who?

GEEKS AND FREAKS

Well, me personally dose not have a clique, i just hangout with anyone that im close to. I don't get picked on and i don't have a weird trait about me, other than the fact that i think Ninjas are awsome and pirates are bad people, but really im just a regular person who wears regular cloths and i don't persicute other people based on what they like or do, sometimes i do because they are my friends and im joking around. I don't think sterotyping is a good thing, because if someone dresses weird or acts weird dosn't mean they aren't cool people, so i think we should just get along, but i don't understand when people try to be people they aren't, just be yourself and im sure someone will like you for not what you look like but whatt your like on the inside.

freaks and geeks

the roles cliques have on education and students are bad. I think this because when you put two and two together then it just isnt a good working enviorment for kids and teachers. When your in a clique you feel great because you feel like your in with the crowd that you fit in now and when you dont have that you feel that any word could break you. When a clique starts stuff about you, you feel horrible you feel like you wana crawl under a rock and die and you also feel so depressed. i think that its not good because after you get picked on alot you just wana retaliate. but most of the time you dont and you still feel down.

I do think that i am part of a clique but we do not start stuff or pick on people just from what they wear or do. The clique that im in is the Vballas, it sounds pretty funny but its great, for a volleyballer. We hang out with each other and do things, but we also have friends who are not volleyballers and thats fine because its always good to have more then one friend.

To be honest i do judge people but im learning its wrong to judge people from what they wear or what they do. My role model is a Varstiy Volleyball player named Megan. She is my role model because everything she does i want to follow in her footsteps. Megan is a very good Volleyball player and good in school she doesnt do stupid things and she mostly a very nice girl. I hope that she gets into a great college because she deserves it and i hope she makes it onto the Volleyball team because she is a great player. I hope that shes does make everything because then I would want to follow her, i want to get into a great college and make a Volleyball team in college.

Freaks and Geeks

Cliques are a huge part of high school because we naturally just stay with certain people that we are like. Everyday someone stereotypes someone else and no one can say that they haven't because we all know that everybody does. People definitely judge each other by the people who they hang out with and also what they wear. I know that I do it all the time. Like if you wear all black and chains and stuff people classify you as goth. If someone wears hollister and American eagle the are classified as a prep. People should never stereotype because its never good.



Courage has a lot to do with everyday life because everyday people are pressured and have the courage to stand up for whats right. Sometimes I do get judged incorrectly because of the people I hang out with or the activites that I do. I really don't have a role model but I do look up to my older cousin because he is really successful in stuff that he does.

Family Traditions

Ha, that's kinda funny. (Not in a mean way.) I was just talking about family traditions with my mom yesterday. We talked about the fact that my dad finally has a house of his own that is big enough to support the family for Thanksgiving dinner, whereas before, he always lived in small apartments and we always ate Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma's house. Now we are eating it at his house this year, and it feels like such a strange thing. I am so used to having dinner at my grandma's house, that it is like... wierd to have it anywhere else. My mom says that that is what happens when you break a tradition that you are used to for so long. It just feels different.



Traditions are created when a certain action or talk are used over and over again around the same time of year, creating a ritual. At least that's what I think. Traditions are something that unify a family and create a time when everyone is doing the same thing, therefore creating a "family bonding". :] Some examples are: always going to a certain place on a holiday and making a food item together, or listening to "gramdma got run over by a raindeer" on X-mas eve with your grandma, (hee hee, that's another one of mine.) They can be little things that may seem insigificant to other people, but mean a lot to the family, or they can be large things involving the community.


UMM>.......... Ok, I have to go now bye

Stereotyping and Cliques

Sorry if this isn't as good as my first one. I'll try and make this one just as good, but no promises. Cliques and Stereotyping are a huge part of highschool and every day life. Stereotyping can be found just about every where that there are people. It is practically impossible to ever stop it, you may even be doing it with even realizing it. If you really think about it, stereotyping is basically any thought you have about any other person, negetive or positive. As for cliques, they are just a result of stereotyping. I think that I'm a part of many cliques ranging from Prep to Geek. I like to do some stuff with one group and other stuff with another. Even though I am part of several cliques I still judge other people by who they hang out with. It isn't that awful to do so. By looking at the people someone is with I can figure out what their interests are, and see if I would get along with them. Stereotyping can also help to get you out of trouble sometimes. If you know that a group has a habit of getting hurt or in trouble you can avoid it. I don't that I am judge incorrectly by my friends, but that some people tend to think I am more quiet and shy than I actually am. It sometimes even surprises people how much I talk when I get started. The thing is I don't talk unless I have something I think is worth saying. As for going the road less taken, I think that it is a very courageous thing to do. It doesn't happen that often unfortunately because it isn't an easy thing to do. Although there are plenty of people now and in the past who would make great role models I can't decide wich one I would like to chose. But I look up to people who make a good difference in the places around them. Poeple who influence others.
Emily Tucci

Freaks and Geeks and True Courage

Unfortunately, it seems like cliques play a very important role in high school, and a somewhat more minor role in the rest of life. It seems to me like cliques can play a role in socializing, but they don't have to. If someone has the courage to go and talk to a member of another clique, or just to someone that they don't know, it seems like they might be able to hit it off quite easily. Of course, that all depends on the people. But from what I've seen of people, well - they can be quite a bit more versatile than they seem.
And speaking of courage - it has a heckuva lot to do with everyday living. From the smallest bit - like finding the courage to try that leftover meatloaf at dinner - to the largest amount - like, hmm, let's see....I don't know, like a love confession or standing up to bullies. (Those seem everyday enough for me.) I don't know if I have ever been judged because of my friends, religion (or lack thereof), or any of the other things mentioned. I suppose people do think that I am a geek just because I happen to be smart and to use said intelligence to the best of my ability, but I really don't care. So what if I am a geek? Nothing wrong with that if I think it's okay. So, to sum it up, if people have judged me, I either haven't noticed or have ignoring them and erased it from my memory.
As for role models and looking up to people, I really don't tend to do that sort of thing. The closest thing I have to a role model is that thing that was mentioned in health class last year - my "Ideal Self". Basically, I don't look up to individual people, but if a person or fictional character or animal or whatever has a trait that I admire, said trait gets added to my "Ideal Self" - me at my best. So you could say that I have no role model, or you could say that I have an absolute plethora of role models. (Hey, I just used one of our vocab words. Fancy that. Go plethoras!)

-Ali

P.S. I am so a geek. But I am a cool geek. I am a flippin' awesome geek.

ps..

i had said in my previous post that it was 10:01 and it really was but i thin kthe time is messed up on the clock .. ok just clearing things up it is now10:06 good night

Cliques... wow. Cliques definitely play a humongous role in high school.... and middlee... and thankfully not elementary, at least for me. [the word] clique was just an innocent word with high hopes to have a beautiful definition and be said proud and loud. But this poor 6 letter word was given to be the word with the meaning of -being judged or ridiculed or harrased i guess by what you look like,how you dress, and who you hang out with.
Cliques affect people everyday, every school or job, everywhere. Whether at work or at school people are judged by the ways i had said earlier. I mean common now, it doesn't matter if you have even said 2 words to a person, because you know them RIGHT? because they hang with the"jocks" or the "Goths" and that makes them THIS WAY ! Because they dress a certain way or hang out with a certain crowd they are like e v e r y o t h e r "geek" or "skater" that you have never said two words and yet someone how just know.
Cliques effect education because there are sooo many people who have friends who don't acheive in school. Who don't try and fail every class.and must think to themselves" you know what I had better not get that easy A in math class because i am actually intellegent, i meen i might not be accepted by my own [so called] "friends". i might make someone confused on which group i belong to , yeahh i deffinitely don't want to do that" ..hmm " if i got that A it might actually make a small chip away at my own stereotype, small but powerful, w a a a i i i t
I forgot that would be achieving something though so.... i had better just stop this nonsense."

OK so I am most likely considered to be part of a clique. and if you disagree then i think your awesome. I don't really know what to say , i wish i wasn't considered to be part of a clique and who knows maybe I'm not. But i know that sometimes when i share something about one of my friends[ like a funny story] to another friend who doesn't particularly hang out with those people and i say my friends name i usually get a .. ohh i don't like her, shes a snob, a look
or you know something along those lines.
and i just think to myself wow how you ever talked to this person because they are really nice or wouldn't be hanging out with them. i try my best not to judge people in anyways but what can i say it happens but when it does happen i actually go up and talk to the person .. people always say as do i that you shouldn't judge someone when you have never said a word to them.
so i really do go up and talk to the person who i have judged because i guess in my mind i want the judgment to begone, disappear because 50/50 chance its wrong. and usually they turn out to be really nice people. i remember in 7th grade art i sat next to a person who shall not be named[ lord voldemort] haha just kidding but i thought of that after saying the shall not be named thing] and they would be considered emo or goth and i was pretty scarred and bummed that i had to sit next to them but i decided i was going to talk to them and see how they were . and i did and it turned that that person was soo respectful and kind.He or she just had a bad rap/stereotype.

wow i have to hurry up ivebeen typing for like an hourr.

alright symbol would be nerd=smart jock=muscles Goths= wear black and another iss umm popular= snobby

i really don't think that any good could ever come out of stereotyping.

Courage.
people need courage everyday to get through the put downs and to be individuals. i thikn i am constantly judged incorrectly because of the people i hang out with. and because of religion i am a proud catholic teenager. people have asked me " ohh are youu realllllly religous" iand i just think to myslef youre either religious or not, practicing or nonpracticing. yes i do go to church and religion every sunday and you no what its not something i dread to go to either. and also i went away for 4 days to ohio on a pilgrimage to find god and discover the way and i will never forget it becasue it was amazing and unforgettable.

I do look up to some individuals because they have not followed the road most taken. One idividual is my brother aka my hero. He is an awesome person who is interested in so many things and is always nice to everybody. except for the occasional fight for the bethroom then things can get ugly.But he is so smart and plays sports, loves classical and jazz music and is a killer sax player and has a deep faith. He is my role model along with my parents but i can't get into detail becasue its 10:01 pm and im drifting to sleep.

see youu tomorrow mrs gabouryy - melissa roff and wow this is extremely long

Cliques (by Sara) Cont.

People who don't act like everyone else is a lot of the times considered odd, but they're just being themself. There's nothing wrong with that. Why waste your life being someone you're not? I dont' think stereotyping is ever good because it immediately takes away the chance for someone to get to know the person for who they are. Instead, that someone will meet the other with wrong expectations.

Courage. I think courage is a HUGE part of high school. I think courage shines when people decide not to follow their peers because they know that's the right way to go. I think courage is in those who act like themselves with people they don't even know. I do occasionally find myself being judged incorrectly. Many think I'm REALLY shy at times, but they are wrong. Sometimes I don't have much to say in a conversation, so many just assume I'm too shy to
speak up, but that's not true. Those who know me really well know how wacky I can get.

I do find myself looking up to those who speak and think for themselves because it's nice to see someone not following the crowd. Kit Collins, for example, is someone who I look up to. She doesn't care what other people think of her. She has her own style and I love it! She's so original with everything she does. There's only one Kit Collins!

I would have to say my role model is Holly's older sister, Amanda. She is like a big sister to me. She is always doing what SHE thinks is right. She doesn't judge people; she gives everyone who she talks to a chance. She wasn't voted class angel for nothing! :)