A whole assortment of topics... OH FUN

Alright, seeing as how i just deleted what i just wrote... we are gunna start over again.


Well... about the united states helping out other countries... I am all for people helping other people. but i think there needs to be a line. what is saying that the United States is the world police? i mean yeah, it is good to help people and i think that everyone should help someone in the world. just not everyone. one person cannot help the entire world. but i think that we should all try to help someone.



a few quotes that effect my life:



"Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not okay, it is not the end." (QUOTED BY SARAH GOLDBERG WHO WOULD KILL ME IF I DIDN'T SAY SHE WAS THE ONE WHO TOLD ME... BUT IN ALL ACTUALITY IT IS AN ANONYMOUS QUOTE!!) I have found this quote so true in my life. and i think if you sit down and think about it, it is true in your life too. I do not think that anything in my life has not been "okay" in the end. It is just the point of waiting for "the end" you know? i think that a lot of people expect things to get better overnight, but a lot of times, things take a long time to get better. it is just actually being patient. If more people acually waited before jumping in with both feet, i think the world would be such a better place. At the time when something happens, i think that this world as a whole just think it is the end of the world, (granted, there are a few people in the world who learn to chill out, and i have a lot of respect for you people. because even though i know how much better it would be if i chilled out, it is still hard.)You have to realize that nothing stays bad forever. and i think that this quote really shows that. if you actually sit back and think about your past experiances in life, i would like you to comment me back. because i think you will realize that nothing stays bad for forever. please comment back, and take some time to think about what i have said to you. you may learn that, hey, maybe i was right. :]

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that we never feel the heat until we get burned. But we try so hard not to die. Sometimes we forget to appreciate life..." (APPRECIATION AND THE BOMB BY THE SPILL CANVAS) This is a song that i have learned very recently, (try... tuesday?) But it is so true. i mean honestly... I offer no explination of this quotation. I expect you to use your... oh what are they called... brains. (this is where 95% of you stop reading... lol) All i can say is that sometimes we are all so focused on what we can see, we forget about the blessings we cannot. Like love. or hope. or true happiness, which lies in the hearts of the ones who love you.

And, a final one...

This one i have remembered from like... february... i want to say? From that critical lense on "What A Wonderful Life" or something like that...

"Faith means believing when common sense tells you not to. Everyone can have faith when everything is fine, but real faith means believing rain or shine..." This one plays such a large part in my life. Because a lot of times, things come around that require you to believe against all odds. And true faith is when you believe reguardless of the situation you are in. no matter what everyone else says. no matter what everone else does. no matter if the odds are a million to one that whatever it is that you are believing in will not amount to what you expect it to. no matter if everything in the world is pulling you from the thing you are believing in. even if it means that you are holding on for dear life to thin air at times. and i believe in my heart that when you truly have faith, you become a much better person for it in the end. and by not giving up, you may just prove to someone that... i dont know... maybe you were... right. that against all odds you stood up and took the blows of everyone who didnt believe. maybe, you will find that it will all be worth it in the end. but you will never know, if you do not hold on... I guess it is Romeo and Juliet in a nutshell. But as i go through life, i see that Romeo and Juliet can be applied to... real life situations. (although, these real life situations do not end in a double suicide. and i hope that they never will.)

Well, i think that is enough. this does not say everything that i want it to, but then again, what ever does?

that little thing called forgiveness.

When people do bad things to one another, sometime it may be harder to really forgive. I mean yes if somebody stole your pencil and you got mad at them get over it. But if its like somebody lied to you and or backstabed you in some way, its hard to forget. I know some people said in there blogs to forgive and forget and that is totaly legit for certian situations, and for others its not. Personaly i give my trust out bery spearingly. When i do give it out i have full trust in a person amd really hope i can truely trust them.

now people like hitler and stallen can never be forgiven. there is no need to go in
to more detail because basically everybody knows what they have done. when you refer to somebody as hitler or stalin you know thats bad. its just a common fact of modern day that people have to deal with.


Trust is a hard thing to give out for some people. and for others its like saying the alphabet. And when they break that trust and do things that really hurt you its hard to forget. i mean yeah youll get over it and be happy again, but every time you try to go back to having what you had before with them, its hard to no listen to the voice that says remeber that thing they did a while ago. I try so hard to not let that affect me as a person and i know alot of people are the same way. its a hard thing to do and the fate of what is to happen next is in your hands.

My Favorite Quote

"Deciding whether or not to trust a person is like deciding whether or not to climb a tree. You may get a wonderful view from the highest branch, or you may get covered in sap; and for this reason, many people choose to stay indoors, where it is harder to get a splinter."
~Lemony Snicket


I think this quote is so cool. It makes light of a serious topic, becuase trusting someone can be a very hard decision. You have to know that you can leave your deepest secrets with someone, and they will be loyal to you. People are always so afraid of trusting people because they are afraid they will get hurt or betrayed ("...many people choose to stay indoors, where it is harder to get a splinter."). If someone is hurt from disloyalty they may learn to never trust people again, which leads to broken friendships. I'm no realtionship expert, but I've been in this situation before and it took me a while before I could start trusting people again.




The other side of this, is that you could find that the person you trust is a friend for life. That is one of the best feelings, when you know you have a true friend who will listen to you and stay by you (...You may get a wonderful view from the highest branch..." ). When you're younger, you tend to expect trust, but as you get older, you learn that loyalty is not a quality found in everyone. And that is why trusting someone can be an extrememly hard decision because you are taking a risk. You are sharing your secrets, your beliefs, your differences with someone. And you trust that they will take it seriously and take it to heart. Trust is a very personal topic, and I think this quote makes light of a situation that can go in many directions, good and bad.

Choice #2

I think people should help out each other no matter who they are or where they live. If there is something that you could do to make a difference than you could make it no matter how small or large your difference is. I think the USA is doing pretty good right now helping other counties out with their problems. There is room for improvement but the problem is that we are already millions of dollars in debt right now so it makes it harder to help others. I think that it would be a very good idea for the government to send over boxes of supplies to China and other countries but we can't really afford to right now so it is us to people like us to start a food drive or something for the people in China. If I had the power and the money I would defiantly donate or give the money to people who where in need. But unfortunately I don't so more than one person will need to donate and help. People must work as a team to get things done like this.

~Chelsea

I feel that everyone does something wrong at least once (mabey a couple times) in their life. When something wrong is done I believe that someone sould at least try to fix it. I don't think any one should be judged on something that happened a long time ago, IF they have changed. Also I feel that even though they are not judged by it, the action w/e it maybe should not just be fogotten by the person themselves.

I kinda feel that this is like a person who use to be an alcoholic...

Actions, consequences, world events and quotes. Ohboy. :]

Alrighty. Last year in advanced English with Mr. Herubin our class had many terrific discussions. We once talked about consequences of actions. We talked about a woman who, as a teenager with her friends, bombed a building and she was never caught. She then left town, changed her name and apperance. After many years she got married and then had children. She became a good person and put together fundraisers for different causes. She never told her family about the bombing when she was younger. Then one day, they found her and took her away. Her family found out about her past and it was total chaos. We were discussing whether she should still be punished for something she did when she was young before she became such a wonderful person. I honestly don't know the answer to that. Everyone needs to accept the consequences for their actions. But it seems a little too late. I'm not sure...it confuses me immensly.

I feel terrible that there are so many natural disasters occuring now! It's random. So many people are dying and it's horrible...the bell rang....

Wrong doings being offset by rights is a fine line to draw for me. I mean of coarse some wrong doings can be offset by rights as everyone makes mistakes. But no matter what good deeds hitler or Osama do i will always hate them. This is becuase nothing good can justify thoise incredible wrong doings. But a mistake car accedant when some is killed, the person must be forgived. Also as a freind you cannot hold grudges as they get you no where in life except for a stagnant state. Standing still in hatrid. Progress to me is in forgiveness and moving forward. Although i believe rights can offset wrongs, i believe some wrongs are just to great to forget.

Action, reaction, consequence, reparation

Can the good things a person does make up for the bad things? Well, that depends on what the bad things are. If one were to refer to Stalin, the good things he did (industrializing Russia, helping to defeat Hitler) do not make up for the millions and millions of people he killed during his regime, the ends just don't justify the means. However, hypothetically if someone had killed Stalin before he had killed all those people, I would say that killing one man is justified if it saves millions of people.



Now, about the natural disasters in China, Burma, and Myanmar, I think that the United States should be helping, and i think it is trying to, but i know that in Burma, the government is not allowing the united States' aid workers to distribute the supplies. It is good that we are not forcing them to allow us in their country, but it is obvious that their people need more aid, that their government cannot or will not distribute. So, obviously our country is in a difficult position of wanting to help but not being able to, if we were to force their government to allow us to help in aid distribution that would defeat the purpose, and if we deny them aid if they don't allow us in their country it would mainly harm the people that need the aid. It is difficult to know what to do at these times, if I were in power, I wouldn't know what to do, it's so frustrating that suffering people cannot recieve aid because of a paranoid government, they should at least let organizations like the red cross in. I suppose I would probably try to give as much aid as possible, in the the hope that people in need would benefit from it.

Making Up for Wrongdoings

This first question regarding making up for wrongdoings, I find, is an interesting one. I think that most Americans should say yes, one should be able to make up for wrongdoings. It is not because that is my belief, or because it is the right belief, or because it is the majority world belief. Rather, it is because this belief is the ABSOLUTE BASIS of Christianity. You are born a human sinner, and you try to make it up by doing the sacraments. Basically, if people don't believe this, their existence as Christians is pointless, because their fate is already set. Those that don't believe you can make up for wrongdoings are more along the lines of fatalists. Just some thoughts on making up for wrongdoings from the perspective of a Christian.

Personally, I think that one bad deed should not cross out a life of good deeds, nor should a life of bad deeds by waved away by one good deed. The best way I can say my beliefs, I think, is that everything should be taken at face value. For example, Arthur was a good king and did much for his people, and in that respect he is good, but he did try to drown children, in which case he is selfish. So he is a leader that is partly selfless and partly selfish. Both should be recognized, rather then them both simply nullifying the other. In another, better example, say you have a man who served his country as an activist for civil rights and did community service and then robbed a bank. He should not be excused from robbing the bank because of his past deeds, nor should his good deeds go unrecognized for his robbery. Rather, he should be jailed for a time for robbing a bank and praised and given awards for doing his community service for 30 years. Someone is not good or bad, which is why each action should be handled appropriately, rather than the total of all actions being composed into one blanketing description of "good" or "bad."

~Tyler

I don't like how people are always remembered for the things they did bad, especially when it was a really good person.

It is hard to explain how I feel on this subject, because I don't really know exactly how it should work. I think that people should focus on good quality's but i also understand when a person doesn't trust someone, or has suspicion about someone because of what they did. In other words if a person was a known child rapist, and was trying to turn his life around and do the right thing, but a parent wouldn't let there kids alone with them because there is that sense of "would he do it again." I am not saying that this is a bad person because of that. This person could really be on the right track, and is doing allot of good things, and that is what he/she should be remembered for, but there may be a sense of distrust from a parent because they are concerned about there kid.

Also there is also a matter of law, no matter how nice someone is and how much they may help people, to certain point the law must abide no matter what.

I think with natural disasters if everyone comes together, which we see a little bit of, they could all get the job done and help each other out.

whether or not you send people i guess that depends on the heart of the person, if someone feels led to go and help that is great, but if someone does not have that on there heart then that is there choice.

again with donations, what ever you feel you need to do, some people think they should do money drives and others don't, so it is all dependent on the person or group.

IF I had the power I would probably send some help just because that is the right thing to do, and if a doctor or aid volunteers i think that the government should allow them to go over and help, but no one should be forced.

Can You Make Up Bad With Good??????

If i had the power and mnoney to make a difference in a counrty less fortunate, i would help to a certain extent. I would help enough to get them back on thier feet. Once you start caring for them completely they get dependent on you. They need to be able to fend for themselves.

I think the United Nations should be stronger. I believe they should be the relief of the world. We need to come together as one world and help eachother out. They should be the ones countries can turn to. If all the countries of the world contribute to the UN it would be a powerful system.

good actions/bad actions

I think it depends on what kind of bad thing you did. If what you did isnt that big of a deal then maybe you could make up for it by doing good things. If someone was to do something life changing or dramatic I think it would be very hard to make up for it by doing good things. Also, I think it depends on if you did a bad deed to someONE because they may forgive you if you do good. If you were to make it up to someone than I think you could cross-out the bad. If you did something to change someones life or the lives around you, you cant do good deeds and expect for everything to be okay. In King Arthurs case I dont know if he could make up for the bad thing he did. However I think it would depend on the people that need to forgive him or to let him "cross-out the bad". Basically what I am saying is that it depends on a lot of things weather or not you can do good things to make up for the bad.

Fixing Wrong With Right

I think that any mistake can be cancelled out by good deeds. Even if you make one giant mistake, or if you make a bad choice, you can always fix it. All it takes is one good thing to change a persons life completely. In King Arthur, King Pellinore's family and the Orkney clan are in a feud, because they keep killing each other. But then one of the pellinore's decides not to kill an Orkney, so he fixed one of the mistakes that his family made. I think that one person can do something and cancel out someone else's mistake. I think that that is one of the best things a man can do for another man. To fix his mistake. It is in my opinion, fixing someone else's mistakes is the bravest things you can do.

Peace,
Christian

Can You Make Up Bad With Good??????

I think it depends. With some bad but horrible bad thats bad and you can not make up for that. If you have an accidental bad you can make it up with a bunch of good. But if you have a terrible bad like a Genocide you can never make that up everl. It is impossible unless somehow you kill milions of people then have millions of kids that replace the people you kill exlactly but that is pretty close to impossible if it isn't a 100% impossible. You can make up a accidental by doing a lot of stuff that benifits other people and you do not repeat the bad that you did. I think Arthur could of made it up because he didn't sink the ship it was a accident and he could of made that up and I think he did. But like a Genocide you can never make that up so the sooner you die the better.

A Quote of Love

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” - Dr.Seuss


It is hard to pick a favorite quote, but this is definatly on my top five. This quote just explains that feeling you get when you are in the beginning of a relationship. It sums up the butterflies, the constant smile, the day-dreaming about the other person (wondering, "Are they thinking about me too?"). I know I am only fifteen, but I don't think that there is an age requirement on love. I don't think that once you are considered an adult, then you can finally experience it. I think that there are different degrees of love. There is a "puppy-love", which is when people are young and careless, and totally happy to have met the other person. There is the love bond that marriage creates, but that is something I have not yet experienced. From what I've seen with my mom and dad, it seems to me, like despite everything that goes wrong, all the arguments over responsibilities of work, paying the bills, taking care of the kids, etc. you can get through it because you love that person, and you know they will be there for support.


So yes, there are different degrees of love in my opinion, and therefore I do believe I've been in love. I can realte to this quote, because there have been times when there is someone in my life that makes me so happy, I can't fall asleep. I'm thinking of him...his voice, his smile, the thing he last said to me, or whatever it may be...but for once it seems like the reality of our relationship is better than a dream, that may not be real. Knowing that the love I feel is real, and true, is the best feeling in the world.


Dr. Seuss is one of my idols, and this is an amazing quote by him. I know it doesn't have crazy words unknown to the English dictionary...but it speaks to my heart. <3

Living Forever?

Death is a scary thing. No one really wants to die, deep down (I hope not, anyway...). It terrifies the human mind to even think of someone we know being taken away from us. We even us phrases that don't make sense to cover up "she/he is dead". Example: "Timmy, Grandma passed away..."

Oh, right. My ranting about our bizarre death terms is not the assignment. Topic shift!

I think living forever would suck. No kidding. Who wants to live forever to see their best friends/family/loved ones grow old and rot away when you're still prancing around but not doing anything important with your life? Uh. No one. Put your little hands down.


I would choose to live in the moment. Not only do I want to be a writer, but I want to do something important and rememberable with my life.

Something great: something that will save someone's life. Not a big heroic OMGZ RESCUE FROM BURNING BUILDING kinda deal; but more of a small, simple... be there when no one else is kind of thing, except maybe on a larger scale.


A person who lived in the moment and did something that changed the world (or at least my world), is... well, actually, I don't know his name. As only a few of you may know, I got into a what-could-have-been serious car accident Thanksgiving night. My family and I (family being my dad driving, my grandma in the passenger seat, my brother back seat left, my mom back seat middle, I was in the back seat right) were on our way to see Lars and The Real Girl at the Spectrum (best place to see a movie ever). My dad started to go through a yellow light and then the car hit. I was listening to music and to this day, I can't listen to the song all the way through without wanting to cry and fall to my knees.


Anyway, the guy claimed he was going the speed limit, but if he was going the speed limit we wouldn't have crashed off of the road and into the transformer box. And I swear, I don't remember any outside noise. It's one of those things where it seemed like it was going in slow motion, but speeding past you at the same time.


It seemed like as soon as the car stopped, my mysterious life saver was right outside of the car, knocking on the window and calling if all of us were alright. We were... physically. The car that got wrecked in the accident had this "safety feature" of locking the doors once you get over fifteen miles an hour. So when MLS (Mystery life saver) tried to open the doors and he couldn't at first, we freaked out a bit until we realized "Oh. We should hit the unlock button".


He and his friends (who lived across the street), got us out of the car and told my brother not to get out of his side, because his side was ontop a hole of livewires (!!!). MLS and his friends got us across the street because everyone was scared to death that the car and transformer box would explode. Some cops that got there before everyone else even put caution tape around the corner just to ensure everyone's safety and keep everyone on the other side of the street.


But, that did not stop MLS. He went across the street in his vibrant orange turtleneck, snuck under the tape and searched through our car for my grandma's glasses and cellphones and such. He brought whatever he could find back to us and after that, he wished us well.


My brother said he saw him hanging out until the ambulance took us to the hospital. We figured he lived across the street and was watching the game when he heard the crash.


I thank him for my life, even if what happed didn't seem so significant to anyone else. But if you were in that car... God.


I was talking to my friend Christine about him at school the day we got back. I talked to her about the crash the night it happened... when we got home. She smiled at me and said "He's your angel, Sarah."


I still believe that to this day and thank him for living in the moment and doing something to change someone's life in a big way.


I hope he finds those words from me to him somewhere... Thank you.

Day of Prayer

I honestly did not know about the Day of Prayer. I do not plan to do anything special with this day. I am Christian, but I do not think that a day of silence will do anything but make people argue. I see it as a way to make people come together for a common cause, but it will more likely separate people.

I am all for tolerance. I try to not judge people, but honestly it's very hard not to see others as different and weird. It is human nature to see those who are different as strange, but the problem is that people treat them as if they are stupid and not worthy of living on the same Earth as them. Everyone was put here on Earth for a reason and everyone has an important job. So, making fun of someone does nothing but cause hurt feelings. And a lot of times the person you are judging is nothing like you think they are.
I think that it is perfectly OK to see others as different (we are supposed to be different) and perhaps not agree with there ideas (when is everyone going to agree anyway?...NEVER). The problem is that people start sharing those feelings and making fun of the person out loud. If we all just kept these opinions in our heads things could be better. If we don't come out and say these things but instead just realize that things are never going to perfect, things could improve. That way if someone does want to make fun of someone, they can...inside there own head. And those who want to accept everyone...well that's just awesome.

If the Day of Prayer came to our school, it would just cause more trouble that it's worth. I think that instead there should be a time for silence, even just a minute. Those who want to pray can, and if you don't believe in that you can just reflect on the world problems. In Middle School, they would always start the announcements with, "Please stand for the Pledge and remain standing for a moment of silence". I think that was a great idea, but no one would ever be silent.
So, I think that instead of a time for prayer, we could make a time for silence, and that would avoid conflict.

First they came for...

Still trying to catch up on blogs...

For me the Day of Silence is not a big deal for me. I understand where the people who are being silent are coming from and I think that they have to right to protest tolerance for everyone. I glad that they are doing something about it. I just wish that they could have explained it more to everyone because I don't think that people realize what it is for. I think that it was wrong for those who didn't believe in it to stay home. Just because someone doesn't believe in that doesn't mean that they should say mean things or stay home from school. It was not really affecting them anyway. If you didn't want to be silent, you didn't have to be.

For my example of someone who stood up for the underdog...
In the book Speak, Melinda Sordino was the silenced. She was an outcast throughout almost the entire book. Sorry for giving away the story, but she had been raped by Andy Evans at a party, and had called the police. So, at school she was known as the one who had ruined the party. She was ignored by her old best friends and was treated like she was invisible. She did not tell anyone about that night. She lives her life depressed, until she is able to finally admit to herself what had happened. Then she learned that she was not the only one who had been affected by this boy. At the end, she finally stands up to Andy and is considered a hero because she had done what no other could had the courage to do.

I see Melinda as a someone to admire because although it took her a while to get confident with herself, she accomplished her goal and in turn helped out other girls too.

What would your choice be?

What would you choose and why . . .

A) Would you choose to live forever and do nothing special or live for a 'moment' and do something that changes the world?

Then choose a character from a book/story (TKAM, F451, "Harrison Bergeron," TO, OAFK, any free choice book, any person in real life -- in the news or your life, like your mom -- or the person for your research paper) we read this year and tell what you think he/she would choose and why.

OR

B) In OAFK Wart (King Authur as a young boy) learns life lessons when Merlyn turns him into a variety of animals. For example, he learn to dig and love one's home from the badger, he learns how lifeless life is as an ant who always obeys and never asks questions. So . . .if you were to be able to change into any animal, what would you choose and what lessons do you think you would learn about life. You may research an animal for supportive information.

Don't forget Mother's Day!

Enjoy!
Mrs. Gaboury

Earth Day Blog

Hmmm...Earth Day...seems like so long ago...

I definitely believe 100% in working towards "fixing" the Earth. I would love to work on some huge project and save the world...but that's kind of hard at 15.

So, I guess I'll have to continue to turn off lights and turn off the water. I try to do the most to be environmentally conscience. My family recycles and I don't litter! I also try to not drive everywhere and waste gasoline, but it's hard to walk or ride your bike to school or the mall here in Averill Park. I also try to encourage others, especially family, to do little things too. But, without everyone in the world being conscience, how can we change the course of Global Warming? Everyone needs to help out.

For Earth Day, I didn't do anything special...I personally think that everyday should be thought of as Earth Day because the Earth and these problems are not going away. The rising prices of everything is quite depressing and scary.

So, I try to make a difference, but sometimes it's hard.

Endless Life of Special Moment?

This is a hard question for me, because I see both advantages and disadvantages to living forever, as well as for living for a limited time. When it comes down to it, though, I think I would go with the living forever thing. I know that this is the odd choice, because many would prefer to live a fulfilling life than a long one. In fact, I originally started writing that I would want the short, accomplishing life. However, after thinking about it for a bit, I realized all of the countless times that I wished I could live forever so that I could see how the future turns out. If aliens really exist, or if global warming will really destroy the planet. After thinking about it I decided that I really want to see what is going to happen in the future. I do not feel the compulsive need to accomplish something, and I would be happy as an immortal, simply observing the progress of the world, and perhaps influencing the occasional lucky fellow with an infinity of knowledge. As much as accomplishing something would be awesome, I would want to have infinite life. Death is not an attractive option for me, to be frank. So, yes, my choice would be to life forever.

Guy Montag, from Fahrenheit 451, would, I believe, contradict my choice. I think that Guy Montag is not as obsessed with knowing things as much as I am, and would rather choose to do something special, such as bring literature back to his world, than to live out a hollowed existence. This can be seen in his risky behavior and determination to do things to correct what he believes is wrong.

Either way, my choice stands because knowledge holds a place in my heart, and I’m sure Montag’s choice would be the opposite of mine because he does feel obsessively the need to do something special. It would be great if I could live forever and do something special, though, you know. But then, that isn’t the point.

~Tyler

my choice

if i could be turned into any animal, I would choose to be a pig. no jooke. I think that pigs must have an absolutely horrible life being fed slop, getting fattened up to be eaten one day, being forced to mate, and not being allowed out of the farm. I think that, from the pigs point of view, I could learn about what it's like to live in absolute slum-like conditions. I might not enjoy this transformation much, but I think I would gain alot of knowledge from this experience.

If i had to choose between living forever and not doing anything special or living for a moment, but doing something that would change the world i would choose to live for a moment. I would choose this because when you do something that changes someones life its like living forever because you will always be remembered.

If Aticus from To Kill A Mockingbird had to make this choose i believe he would choose to live for a moment. I believe this because he spent most of his life helping people and then passing on his beliefs to his children. And even though he didnt change the world he made it a little better for the people in his town. If he couldn't do this he would have no point in living, which (because of the type of person he is) would make him extremely unhappy.

Day of Prayer

OK, I never heard of this thing until it was mentioned in this post. And it kind of annoys me. I mean, I have no problem with other people being religious, but I am NOT because that's just not the way I was raised. So the fact that we're having an entire day just for people to pray means pretty much nothing to me. I really don't think that schools should celebrate it or anything, simply because there are people like me who don't pray, and who don't want to because they don't have any idea what it entails.

The thing in the actual question about whether we'll be extra tolerant of people who don't pray kind of annoyed me. There are actually some people in this class who don't! I don't know if this is what you are trying to do, but it seemed as if you were assuming we are all good Christians here.

Though it happened ages ago, it seems, I am pretty sure that that day was full of homework.

--Ali

Good Doggie

humans have given almost all amimals several qualities that we always associate with them: a serpant is evil, an owl is wise, and a lion is kingly. These are the things we would expect to learn if we like Wart could be turned into that animal.

If i had that chance to become an animal and to learn from them i would become a dog. Dogs are assosiated with loyalty, kindness, obedience, and when the time comes they can be vissous and powerful. These are qualiities that I sometimes need to work on. I like to be a leader a lot of the time and tend to not follow directions unless i see the imeadiate benifit of it. This can be agrivating to a lot of people my parents because i do not always do what they want me to do like clean my room or put a napkin in my lap (see "The Great Napkin Wars" for more detail). It can also be annoying to my friends because i can be a bit bossy. Also to my group members in a school project because i can take over. So the qualities of a dog would help me in these areas to humble myself.

But dogs when needed can be powerful, which is something i need to do because i deal with my fare share of verbal abuse.

Choice B

If I could change into any type of animal I would like to be turned into a bird. I think that it would be a good experience because it would be fun and I would learn something at the same time. I could see places all across the world that I have never seen before. I would learn about patience and determination because it would take a long time to travel to those places. At the end of every trip though I would get to enjoy being at my destination. I would learn that if I worked hard it would eventually pay off.

I would live for...

This blog makes me think of my 5th grade graduation. I think all the former PES students remeber this, we had to sing the song "One Moment in Time." And that is what I would choose. I would much rather live for a moment and be remembered or help someone, than live for an eternity and do nothing. I wouldnt want to live for an eternity, I would get board espesially if I wasnt doing anything special. I want to live a life filled with fun, and I would love to help someone or something.

My Mom is a nurse, and she works on the maternity unit. She always says that she sees god everyday when a new baby is born. She has helped so many women deliver their babies. I really look up to her, and I know that both my parants would choose to live for a moment and help someone rather than live for ever.

For my research project I choose Dr. Jane Goodall a.k.a. "The Monkey Lady." She has helped so many chimpanzees, and she has already helped to change the world in her moment. She is 74 years old, and is still devoting her life to inform people about animal conservation. I definatly want to live for a moment rather than an eternity.

Forever Nothing or One Moment?

If I could live forever and do nothing special or live for a 'moment', I'd choose to live for a moment. Living forever would be pretty awesome I guess; you could see how the world changed over the years, help teach others so they don't make the same mistakes made in the past,you could have the time to travel anywhere you want,and more.But living forever with nothing special would just make me suffer.I wouldn't be able to live without the people I love and care about.So I'd choose to live a moment instead of forever with nothing special so I could spend the time I have with the people I care about.Life isn't about how long you live,it's about how you spend it.I'd rather live a few years with my friends and family then forever without them.

If I did live forever though,I'd try to help change the world into a better place.Maybe I could have the time to spend researching to help people with illnesses and the time to help create a better enviroment so people can live alongside animals without any problems.I'd probobly like living forever if I could...but only if I had my friends and family with me =P

(some parts sound kinda mushy o.o but yeaaa those are some of my thoughts on it lol o.o)

~Sadie :3

If I had to choose live forever and do nothing special or live for a 'moment' and do something that changes the world I would live forever. I'd rather live forever ever and o nothing specail because I thin kit would be cool to see all the changes in history and all the new inventions. I mean eventually it would get kind of boring but if lived forever then you would never have to fear of dying...unless the planet was going to blow up haha. But if you could live forever it be cool to tell people about the past and things they wouldn't have known.

choice B

If I could turn into any animal it would be a cat. The reason I would want to be a cat is because cats are like ninjas and as you may no i am a ninja. The lessons i would learn is that no matter where i fall from i would land on my feet and i could be stealthy like a like a cat. The things that i would learn about life as a cat is that cats think humans are stupid and that cats have a underground missile silo aimed towards a island off the coast of western Russia.

Choice A

if I had the choice to live forever or live for a moment and change the world.. I would choose to live for a moment and change the world. I would do this because I think that if I could change the world for the better I could benefit millions of peoples lives, but if I chose to live forever and do nothing for the world at all, that would just be a bad descision on my part. I think that if I chose to live for a moment lots of peoples lives would be saved or animals lives would be saved, I dont understand why someone would want to choose to live forever, if they would just continue to age and age, then eventually not be able to do anything, and still live forever, I think that would just be torture. But I suppose, if you did live forever, you would be able to share stories with the world about past times, and get it completely accurate, with no changes at all.

A and Malcom

I would chose A and pick the one where i would live for a "moment" and then do something that changes the world because i would want to be a bigger impact and have peoples lives change for the better then live on earth forever and not be able to impact or change the world.
My research person Malcom X would also pick this because he was someone who would live for a short time and change the world. He wanted to make a big impact and change the world for all african americans to have a better life. Malcom would not chose to live an eternity and not change the world because he was a civil rights activist and he wanted to make change to everything and everyone.

choice b . . .

It seems like all the creatures of this world modile one or two qualities that we as humans could seriously benefit from. It's like each animal has it's own good characteristic that's different from other characteristics. If humans could master all of these characteristics, we may be a bit better of.

If I could be any animal for a little while, for the sake of learning a lesson, I think I would be a canadian goose. This is a hard decision for me because I have a deep dislike for candian geese. I think they're nasty, dirty, greedy and arrogant!! Ugh. As a little kid, I was very scared of them. However, for this blog, I will look past my feelings torward geese and acknowledge some of there good qualities.

First, there V-formation says something. They have strategy and know how to work together as a team. On goose flies in front of the formation, cutting through the wind to make the path for the rest of the geese. When he gets tired, he falls to the back of the formation and the next goose takes the lead. Talk about teamwork!

Also, if one of the geese falls behind and is not able to fly, one of the geese stays back with them and waits for them to be ready to fly. When the hurting goose recovers, they together fly down south. What an example of loyalty and friendship!

Okay, so the canadian goose has some decent qualities. I admit it.

A.
If I got to choose whether to live forever and do nothing special or to live for a moment and do something that changes the world I would rather to live for an moment. In the book The Odyssey ,Odysseus is not a god so he isn't immortal and he won't live forever. But he still made a huge differance in the world. He showed he was brave and strong that he went to help rescue Helen risking his life. Then when he returned he killed the people wanting to marry Penelope. People in places he went knew who he was because he made a big differance. So, even thought he was mortal people respected him and knew him all over becasue of what he did. But the gods that were immortal got bored and would try to stop him on his trip. Such as Poseiden, even though he was mad at Odysseus he probually didn't have to try so hard to get revenge that almost killed him. Also Athena seemed to do things for no reason too. A time was when he let Telemachos go to look for Odysseus, because it was dangerous since the people wanting to marry Penelope wanted to kill him especially when he returned from him trip. Another example is that whenever he reached an island all the girls liked him because they haven't seen a guy in so long and they are immortal. So, I think it would get boring if you were immortal. Especially if all of the people you knew were mortal you would always need to make new friends and you couldn't keep them forever.

A

I would choose to live for a moment and do something that could change the world over living forever doing nothing any day. What's the point of living forever if your not gonna do anything? I mean it would be cool to live forever but if you couldn't do anything, that is a long time. Personally I think you should live in the moment anyway and do as much as you can in your lifetime. It would be so amazing to do something that changed the world. Even if it meant you could only live for a moment.
I think Margaret Sanger would choose to live for a moment and make a change. She did not give up easily and not being able to do anything for her whole life, she would definitly not enjoy that.

This is so weird. I just watched "Tuck Everlasting" last night (it's a good movie, ok?). That's pretty much the theme of the movie.

Personally, I'd rather have changed the world and die tomorrow than live forever on the earth. I think of this picture (it might sound a little cheesy, but deal with it) : The world is kind of like a giant pool of water; all the tiny drops: people moving this way and that. Sometimes it's a raging sea; other times it's a clear lake in the cool of the quiet morning. I like to picture my life as a pebble being "thrown" into the water... my "ripples" spreading over the entire world. One small pebble, my small life, moving the world...

Cheesy?... Sorry. Right now I'm listening to "The Water Buffalo Song" (I don't know why I just included that). Anyway, my life is God's and I want Him to touch peoples' hearts through me. I don't need nor do I want an eternity on earth when with God I can change so much in my pebble of a lifetime. I'd way rather spend eternity in Heaven than in earth, anyway.

Fun and Easy???? Thanks Mrs. G.

Wow, so much for fun and easy...



Choice A:



Definatly live for the moment. I want to make an impact on the world in a way that i know best. I would rather die doing something that benifits and helps another person than to live forever knowing i did nothing. If you think about it, everyone has an impact on someone and the thought of going through life not imacting anyone... that just seems like such a useless thing. like, why live at all? kind of thing. I guess i spend my life or most of my life trying to make everyone elses lives around me better that i dont know what i would do if all of a sudden i couldnt do that. i dont even think that it would be a possibility. but that is just my opinion. and i think this also comes down to if you are afraid to die. some people i know would choose to live forever on the simple basis that they are afraid to die. I am not afraid to die. I have to reason to fear death. (i have a reason to fear painful death, but then again, who doesnt?) so i think that plays a large part in it as well. but i do not know. this was a tough one Mrs. G. thanks a lot... :P

A Moment for Others vs. An Eternity for Oneself

This was really easy for me to decide on. I think I've already determined, in lieu of any specific careers, what I want to do with my life. Although I have a lot of non-charity-oriented interests, I've actually been thinking about this or situations like this in recent months/weeks, and I know that being accomplished is what really makes me satisfied, and that knowing I've helped others and helped along a positive change -- and that phrase is so vague and dull it makes me cringe, but I hope it gets the point across -- is what will really make me content and at peace at the end of the day, at the end of my life. And so there are no logical reasons for me to choose the second option.

What would I do if I lived forever, anyway? Trapped inside the cage of my physical body, I could only experience the world for eternity through my own two eyes. And although I usually hold the perspective that (almost) everything, or at least everything organic, is a miracle, I'm sure it would become stale after a while. What good is the miracle of the earth if you can't contribute to it? In my mind, at least, I wouldn't be able to enjoy life like that.

Plus, I don't really believe in death anyway, at least not in the conventional sense, and although I do fear dying before I have taken full advantage of my this action-enabling life, I don't want to live forever, because I think everything does anyway. (Yeah, that was vague, sorry; I've got this whole theory/philosophy that could go on for a while that I tried to condense into a sentence.)

Putting that aside, in summation, I would rather live for a powerful moment than an eternity; surely the people I'd help would appreciate my sacrifice. And so since I deem it a total possibility that my soul could have been born in the body of anybody else, I would hope that who I actually turned out to be would help instead of living forever. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. 

From the musical "Man of La Mancha" or the book "Don Quixote," I choose the character Don Quixote to illustrate my point. For those not familiar with that story (whether in its play or literary form), a synopsis: Don Quixote is a dude in Medieval times who is kind of off his rocker, in that he has hallucinations and a general distorted perception of reality. For example, he thinks he's a knight, while in truth is the laughingstock of the community, runs around in tin and a shaving basin for a helmet, and his sidekick Tonto is not really the sharpest arrow in the quiver either. So when our dashing Don meets an angry, crusty prostitute, Aldonza, he thinks she is his long-awaited, dearly-beloved Dulcinea, a sublimely good and beautiful maiden. 

So anyway, here Don is, chasing after Aldonza, bravely picking fights with windmills, as he thinks they are actually fearsome foes of humanity. The point is not that he's crazy, though; it is that in this sad, underprivileged primrose, he sees the good of her soul and the beauty underneath it all; in his delusional quests, there is a sincere motivation to protect others and simply make the world a better place. As Quixote sings in "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)": "To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe/...To right the unrightable wrong.../To try when your arms are too weary.../...To reach the unreachable star/...This is my quest, to follow that star/No matter how hopeless, no matter how far/To fight for the right, without question or pause/To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause/And I know if I only be true to this glorious quest/That my heart will lie peaceful and calm, when I lie to my rest/That the world may be better for this..."

From this, I think it's pretty clear what Don Quixote would choose. The line "to march into hell for a heavenly cause" by itself is fairly telling. I have much admiration for this Man of La Mancha for his willingness to put all and any others above himself, and so would choose the same, I hope. 

Choice A!!

It is very hard to choose between living a long uneventful life or a short 'heroic life". I think I would choose a shorter life than the long boring life. If I would have chosen the long life I wouldn't really be happy but the worst part of that life is that I would live a long time not being joyful, happy, or any thing else that the other life may have. The long life would being the very boring and I hate being bored (especially at school). The shorter life would be mean that death would being showing at my door step more sooner than I would have liked but I would get more out of this life than the other life and therefor I must be happier in it. the only down fall of this ( besides for dying early) would that I wouldn't see how my "deed" would effect the rest of the world. But NO life is perfect.

~Chelsea

i choose a

i definatly wouldn't want to live forever. Id rather live a full life and live till I am old and be remembered rather than live for entirety. Im not going to say i want one special moment because I think those type of moments are sooooo overplayed in the movies and get way to many peoples hopes up. If i could just live a really fun and great life that would be wonderful. Im not going with the "do nothing special " option cause i want to do something special. When i dye i want to be remembered some how... for good reasons of coarse. If it takes one moment to fufill that then so be it. I dont just wanna live a dull boring life. id rather have it be something to be rememembered.

What I would choose

I would choose to live for a 'moment' rather than living forever. I would help anyone that I am able to help. I would get all of the homeless people off the streets, I would definitely find the cure to cancer, I would become a doctor, so that everyone could be helped medically. I also would be the president. I'm not saying that the president does a bad job and I'm not talking politics. But, I would pull all the troops out of Iraq, and unite peace around the world. I want all of the homeless people off the streets because I feel so sad when I see many homeless people worldwide and I know that people are trying to help them(Salvation Army, by the way for all of the people who donated, I raised thirty dollars for the Salvation Army). I would become a doctor, to help everyone in the world no matter what color, race, gender, or ethnicity. I would find the cure to cancer, every cancer because I feel so sad when I hear that someone has cancer, I know that you can't feel what a person feels with cancer but I really do feel sad. Cancer kills many people and I want those people to stop dying because it's extremely sad.
I would choose my mother. My mother would choose the same choice as me. She loves helping people and loves everyone that gets to know her. Many people thinks she's mean but that's because they don't get to know her. She really is an amazing person inside and out. She would help many people and currently does. I don't mean medically or physically but mentally. She gives you confidence and courage and tells you to stick up for yourself. I don't say how much she means to me enough but she means the universe to me.

I Choose A

I would choose to live forever. I choose this because i would never die and i do not want to die. Also cause I could see everything that every happened and a moment is too short. So i would never die and get to see everything that ever happened or whats going to happen.
I choose Morgan Stampfli. I think he would choose to live for moment. I think this because thats what he said so in his blog. Also i think he would choose this cause he wants to be a hero type person.

Hands down i would want to live for a moment and do something special. Not even close. Living forever would be inslanely boring as you would become grossly old and be a vegtable. Just taking a thirds eye veiw of life. Also for me life is all about leaving your mark on this earth. Something for people to remember me by. When i die i want to leave a legacy behind. Something to show that Andrew fasoldt did live here on earth. Really that is the only reason why, i just want to be remembered.

Choice A

I would want to br a person who lives for a moment but does something extraordinary. I always talk about D-day and how many young men died. I always say that i wouildnt mind if i was there as long as i did something special even if idied. I wouldnt want to be someone who never made it to the beach and deied in the boat. I would want to be the person who was all alone and died making sure 5-10 guys lived. I would want to be remered for something special like that.

I think that Arthur would be the same way. I think that he really just want to do something amazing. Even if it means he dies he wants to show the world what is truley right.

Change the world<3333 !!!!!!!!!

If I had the choice to either live forever, and be nothing special, or live for only a moment and do something that would change the world, I would without a doubt chose to only live for a moment so that in that one moment I could make a difference in the world.
I find it extremly hard to believe that someone who was living forever wouldn't change the world. I want to make something of myself in the time that I'm alive. I want to make the lives if others better. I want to make new discoveries. I want to learn about life and help others. I want to really make a difference, especially with my words. Much like John Lennon did in the time that he was alive. He was able to make people feel with the words from his songs. He held peace rallies, and if he changed the mind of one, he did his job. Although, he changed the minds of many more than one person.
If I had to choose one animal to be I would choose a doggy. Ahaaa. That might seem cliche, but dogs are loyal. It would teach me to be loyal and stay by my owner's side. It would teach me the importance of being protective.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ON SUNDAY MOMMYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <33333333333

Love is all you need.

A. Choice

If I had to choose between living for a moment and doing something special or living forever and doing nothing significant, I would choose to live for the moment. This is because I would get bored after an infinity, and would enjoy the idea that something I did would be remembered for generations.
Recently, I have been reading Dune, and I just finished it yesterday. If the main character, Paul Muad' Dib had to make the above choice, then I'm pretty sure that he would choose to live for a moment, because he sees the future and often does thing that endanger his life to accomplish what he thinks must happen.

I would...

If I had a choice between living forever, and doing nothing, or living for a moment and changing the world, I'd live for the moment. Even if I only made a small difference, I would at least have an impact. If I were to live forever, I'd learn so much, and to be unable to put those lessons to use would kill me (not literally). Living foreverwould mean I would have to live on after all my family and friends die, I would be soooo depressed, and even if I had previously wanted to use the lessons I learned I would probably lose my motivation if everyone I knew died. Also, knowing I have one chance to get everything right makes me want to try that much harder to make a positive impact on the world.



One person that changed the world even though he will probably not live forever is Al Gore. He has made a huge impact on our country's view on the environment with just one movie. It made people more aware about what was happening outside their own little bubble, and made them realize that if they weren't directly affected by global warming , than their children or grandchildren would be. Also, that it is each person individual responsibility to make the Earth a better place to live, that there is only one Earth, and we're the ones that've screwed it up and we need to be the ones that fix it so that other generations and other species don't suffer for our mistakes. If he had the option to live for ever and never have had made any impact I doubt he would choose to do so. Life is meant to be conditional, that's what makes it exciting.

Choice B

If I could change into any animal, it would have to be....hmmm...this is hard. I guess I would have to be a bird of prey. I love the way eagles can fly so far without flapping their wings at all. I also love that they can see their prey from so high, to the ground. It's awesome. They are in total control of everything that happens. I wish I could be in control of everything tht happened. I think I would love to be an eagle.

Infinite Life or Short and Accomplished?

Please view other post

I would choose...

A)

If given the choice to live forever and do nothing special, or to live for a 'moment' and do something that changes the world...I would most definatly live for a moment and change the world. I love life, but I have no desire to live forever. I think that it is wasteful to go throughout life without taking risks, making the most out of your time, and making a difference. I don't know how long a 'moment' would be, but I am guessing longer than a minute, because in order to make a change in this world, you have to realize the problem you want to fix, and work to fix it. The point of this would be that one could not hold back in working to fix this issue in the world. They must risk everything (their life) for the right of the cause. I would do this.


A person that did this in real life, was Martin Luthur King Jr. He was never given the choice to "live forever" but becaUse of his fight for civil rights, he lost his life, and in doing so he changed the world. I know that if given the chance, he wouldn't change his ways, and he still would have fought for his dream. Martin Luther King Jr wanted African Americans to be accepted in society and equal to white people. He didn't use fighting or force to show people his views, he just used his powerful words. And he was shot, for fighting for the right thing. But he is honored and respected to this day, because he took a risk and changed the world.

what would your choice be?

This is really hard to choose. I think I would choose to live forever and do nothing special. I have always wanted to live forever and I would like to see everything that happens. I would make my life special so that way I could make it more interesting. I think it would be kind of weird to live for just a moment, even if I did do something that changed the world. I dont think I would like to be known for something I did before I died. I would like to be known for me and the life that I live. If my mom was asked this question she would probably choose the same thing as me. She is a very simple person and I dont know if she would would like to be remembered for a very long time. That's what I would choose

a) If I had the choice to live forever and do nothing the special or live for a moment and change the world, I would rather change the world, and do something that could help allot of people.

A person that I think would choose to live for only a moment and change the world is my uncle Joe. He is always trying to help people and change things for the good. He always helps me to look at the positive side of things and how I can make a situation better, he is truly a person that wants to make the world a better place.

what whould your choice be>

Katie Schultz

A) I would no doubt chose to live for a short amount of time and change the world. I chose this option because living forever would be dumb, especially if you did nothing. I think that living forever and doing nothing would be so boring. You would see every single person that you know die and it would keep going on over and over, becuase you would out live. I think too that it would be hard to go through every single on e of hte worlds problems and not do anything. I would want to change the world and live for a moment because as soon as I changed the world I would know that I did exactly what I had to do and I would be proud that I did. Then I would go right up to heaven with God.
I think that the person I did the project on (Martin Luther King) would chose the same option that I did because he had very strong beliefs and he did what he could to spread them. He made his "I have a Dream" speech, one a Nobel peace prize, and donated the money to further the civil rights movement. He was later assassinated. That is why i think that he would chose the same option as me.

I think that I'd rather live for a moment then live forever and do nothing. As for changing the world I don't know what that would be but it would have to be something pretty big. The idea of living forever is kinda intriguing but at some point i think I'd go insane. (not that I'm not already)
As for a character I'm going to choose my own character Miles (name might change). I've been taking a while to develop the character Miles and I've kinda based him off myself. For example, He's cocky, insane, lazy, but smart when he wants to be. There's a lot of differences though because i think he would want to live forever. Living forever would be meaningless because all you friends and relationships would change as time goes on.

A

If i had the choice to live forever and do nothing or live for a 'moment' and do something that changes the world i would live for a 'moment' and do something that changes the world. I would do this because why would you want to do nothing with your life when you could be able to do something great. I think life would get boring after awhile of not doing anything. You would also have to keep making new friends because all of yours would eventually die. I also think that Coco Chanel would choose to make a difference because she did change the way women dress. I think that she would enjoy her success but she wouldnt want to live forever.

kristin bradley

With all due respect . . .

I think there is a misconception about what the assignments are. This is not a platform for preaching beliefs OR rights.

Writing assignments carefully considered. That's what I want.

So, please enough is enough. Stick to the assignments and please do not tell people what is right or what should be accepted.

Just do the assignments.

Thank you,
Mrs. Gaboury

My apologies

I apologize to anyone who may feel I have been callous about their thoughts, feelings and beliefs. That was never my intention. I strive for our classes to be an open forum where we share discussions on whatever is going on in the world. I never meant for anyone to feel as though I looked down on them, their philosophies, their ideas, or their religion. Because I certainly do not.

Enjoy the day.

V. Gaboury

Ali's Late Late-Earth-Day Blog

Ali luvs Earth Day.

My family and I recycle all the time, and we plant a lot of trees and such in the yard. I want to start a vegetable garden, but nothing yet - at least, we buy a lot of food from farmer's markets to cut down on the gas required to move food to supermarkets, etc.

My parents are always complaining about gas prices, and I really hope that we can use more alternative fuels soon. I, personally, am pretty scared to learn how to drive, because I am a klutz and I don't want to have to start worrying about gas prices. Can't I just learn how to ride my bike a bit better? Or Apparate, or something? Hmph.

I hate it when my sis has one of her little friends over and they're playing in the basement, then in a little while I'll look into the basement, and:

• It'll be a mess - stuff will be all over the floor
• The lights will be on, even though they have LEFT!
• And the TV will still be running, even though they weren't even watching it in the first place, just using it to make background noise

Grrr.

--Ali

P.S. I'll get those other 2 blogs done soon *ahem* :)

last mondays blog

The national day of prayer was thursday and for this day me and some friends and a few other people..with a total of 13 came into school early and we prayed around the flag pole. I wish that becasue the school was so invloved in the day of silence, they were more invloved with the national day of prayer.

I hope that in the future the school will show just as much suport to christians along with other religins as they do with the national day of silence. (i can think of christian events that we also could use bus trips for)

It bugs me a little bit that the day of silence however is an all day thing that is reconized by the school and and in order to show my christian belif i have to come into school an hour early on my own time